jersey cubs fan

If they can get Havlat on a 2-3 year front loaded deal, which makes sense with the cap situation, I think they will try. But I highly doubt they will negotiate once some other team offers 4 years. The best thing they have going for them is they are in the best, or at least one of the best financial situations in a bad economic environment. And, after reaching the third round. Wirtz is seeing a return on his investment already this year.

They have a chance, but it's going to be more complicated than just sitting back and waiting for the youngsters to develop. They have some awful cap decisions to make in the next few years, starting with this offseason when they will almost certainly have to let Khabibulin go. My biggest fear is that Buffalo will throw a ton of money at Kane when he is eligible and we won't have the cap room to match. Khabi is a goner and I'm ok with it. Let's face it they made the decision to sign Huet last offseason probably because they felt he was a better goalie than Khabi and younger. I'm not saying I agree with that but they already made the decision to move on from Khabi last offseason. I think they thought they could have trade Khabi for something good, and as a fallback thought Huet could help push Khabi in a contract year. The only way they do keep Khabi now is if they find a way to deal Huet, which is doubtful.

This is why they were looking for a RB in the third and ended up trading for Greene. Jones has probably overplayed his contract ever since he joined the Bears. But that came after he underperformed his rookie deal. He's probably just about on his last legs, so it makes a lot of sense financially to get whatever he can this year, because he'll probably never get another chance to sign a big deal.

I'm not even 100% convinced he'll throw that much more than the Bears did last year. If you figure in what should be a better defense, preventing them from getting in the crazy shootouts, and a more dependable running game, Cutler shouldn't have to throw a ton. If you factor in what should be an increased completion percentage and increased yards per attempt, the number of attempts doesn't necessariliy have to go up all that much. 550 certainly isn't out of the question, but I think that might be the upper end of the range.

They have a chance, but it's going to be more complicated than just sitting back and waiting for the youngsters to develop. They have some awful cap decisions to make in the next few years, starting with this offseason when they will almost certainly have to let Khabibulin go. My biggest fear is that Buffalo will throw a ton of money at Kane when he is eligible and we won't have the cap room to match. With McDonough in charge, I think the least likely outcome in the next few years is Toews/Kane leaving. They will sacrifice their remaining cap room to keep those before letting their meal tickets they worked so hard to market leave. The most important thing is I think they are going to have to get solid goaltending from one of the young guys in the not too distant future, like possibly by the next playoffs. They also might need to trade a guy like Buff, who has raised his value this postseason, but still has a relatively rich deal. Also, they aren't going to be able to keep both Sharp and Havlat around for long. But Toews and Kane are going to be here.

All he had to do was pitch well the first time Lou used him for Lou to have confidence in him. He's pitched really well in AAA so far this year and pitched reasonably well down there last year. Considering the pool of talent that teams tend to draw on for relievers, it's seems somewhat reasonable to have some hope for the guy.

What about piggybacking the 2 for 3-4 innings each, then they are both available in between starts to face a batter or two here and there.

Personally, I'd prefer the Cubs win 125 games in the regular season and go 11-0 in the playoffs to win the whole thing. Count me in for that bandwagon.

That and he was drafted and developed to be a bit of a slugger, but then when he reached the majors coaches said he should turn into a bunting/slapping leadoff hitter. There probably couldn't have been a worse team for him to enter the majors on than the late 90s/early 00s Cubs. There was never a chance they were ever going to fix his most glaring weakness.

Sounds like double counting. I don't recall Soriano ever having "lazy baserunning" issues unless it was being slow out of the box thinking it's a HR. Those are two different things. Well who cares if he's posing on a HR unless it's because it makes him slow out of the box? Guys get ripped for posing on HR all the time.

I saw on ESPN when I was at lunch that he was suspended. ESPN covers hockey? Here's the NHL.com story: I love that line.

I remembered there was an NBA team in Oklahoma but had not idea what the name was. And Atlanta was my last of the 13 with 4 teams. Surprised that more people got Dallas than Chicago, considering Dallas is the one with a team that doesn't carry the city's name.

I don't understand the point, of course he's going to say he predicts a game 7, when the only other option is their season ending.

Looks to me like the guy that got knocked out was trying to sucker punch somebody else, during the actual course of play, a couple seconds before.

Sounds like double counting. I don't recall Soriano ever having "lazy baserunning" issues unless it was being slow out of the box thinking it's a HR. Those are two different things.

According to Cots he can opt out after 2010. If he does not, the Cubs owe him for 2011, and then have a team option for 2012, or $2m buyout.

He's only signed through next year, so if it were a condition that hampered him long term his contract would only be an issue in 2010. I thought he had a player option for 2011. He gets to void the deal after next year if he wants. If he's banged up, he's not going to let the Cubs off the hook for money they owe him (including the 2012 buyout).

I have a hard time believing 4 weeks is at all reasonable. And it seems to me that such an injury for such a player whose entire game is dependent on an extremely violent swing, is going to need a lot of time to get back. I feel like we might be lucky to see him performing well before August. I really hope they don't rush him back. A deteriorating condition for him with his contract could kill this team's chances going forward.

Last time Versus joined a Hawks game in progress, they did not immediately cut the CSN feed. But overall, I agree with you. It's maddening. The good thing is that if you try to record something on Directv, if it's blacked out the DVR knows this and will just stop. So I usually just set both channels to record. Did they eventually cut the feed? No. Good, I set it to record and won't be home until about the 2nd period, so hopefully it stays that way.

Last time Versus joined a Hawks game in progress, they did not immediately cut the CSN feed. But overall, I agree with you. It's maddening. The good thing is that if you try to record something on Directv, if it's blacked out the DVR knows this and will just stop. So I usually just set both channels to record. Did they eventually cut the feed?

Was that retaliation though? If I remember correctly, at the time whoever was throwing couldn't find the the strikezone with a GPS system. My memory could be off but I thought I remembered him being kinda wild at that point. If I had to guess I'd have to think every pitcher would have trouble finding the strikes zone using a GPS system. They just aren't that precise. Mine can't tell if I'm in the cars only lane of the turnpike or the cars and trucks, which at times are 20-30 feet apart.

I didn't see the game, but the game story I read on my phone said his homerun made up for his play that turned an RBI double into a triple, to Kendall I think. But considering Kendall didn't end up scoring, I'm not sure how turning an RBI double into an RBI triple made any difference, or how he needed a 2 run HR to "make up for it". A 2 run HR more than makes up for a missplay that doesn't actually result in any runs scoring.

I hate that such a big game is not obvious about when and where I can see it. I'm fairly certain it will be on CSN Chicago's feed of the center ice package for me. But I'm concerned that when versus switches over to this game, after the Pitt game, the CSN feed will get blacked out, and my recording options will get screwed up. Hope that is not the case.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/nfl/specials/preview/2005/scout.report/ http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/nfl/specials/preview/2005/scout.report/bears.html It was after Grossman went down. But it was still a questionable prediction, at the extreme low of forecasts that I remember.

Dr. Z had the Bears picked for last that year. King's feeling on the Bears fluctuate greatly. He's really loved them at times and really hated them at other times. Speaking of Dr. Z, does anybody else have a weird reaction toward the fundraiser King and others have organized to get Z his post stroke rehab? Z is a bitter old man who has been in the football writing business for decades. By all acounts he should be financially well off. The stars of the business, at SI and other major publications, were pulling down 7 figure salaries at the peak. Z had to be well into the 6 figure range. Anyway, they are trying to get fans to pay thousands upon thousands of dollars for some fairly mundane auctions items, like tickets to trainings camps and lunch with management types + King. There's a super bowl trip in there and tickets to a Cowboys game and some other stuff like signed books and junk. But again, we're talking about what should be a financially fit old man who has to be insured with some pretty decent coverage. And King wants people to pay tens or hundreds of thousands to get him even better treatment. It seems to be a poor use of charity, to try and raise all that money to get top of the line treatment for a ~75 year old man who has already lived a very nice life. I understand the motivation to try and help your friends, but pushing all the peole you are paid to critique to donate items and then trying to take advantage of your customers' passion for the sport you write about seems odd to me.