jersey cubs fan

WHAT IS A CLOSER? Wow, my point does get better with all caps. IS A CLOSER A SHUT DOWN PITCHER? COULD TEAMS IN NEED OF A CLOSER CONSIDER MARMOL AS ONE OF THOSE GUYS SHOULD THE CUBS BE SILLY ENOUGH TO ALLOW HIM TO BECOME? I'M YELLING AND I DON'T KNOW WHY!! Joey Devine? Ok, when he follows up his 45 IP with 100 IP and improves his K ratio this season we'll include him. Dotel, I could buy though the K rate is lacking so no. Marioano? Absolutely. Lidge? Close but no. Anyways, it's becoming clear that Marmols production is not just very good, but exceptional. How many of those types of guys have hit the FA market without at least one year of "Closers Role?" Not many, and I wouldn't be holding by breath for him either. Marmol is a long way off from free agency. He'll take over the closer's role before that becomes an issue, provided his arm doesn't fall off. But that's an entirely different story. When he hits his first year of arbitration, if he doesn't have save totals on his resume, it will cost him money.

The Yankees had Mariano in relief for a couple years until they let Wetteland go.

Is anyone saying that? I get the impression that most of us are happy about this decision. Yes.

Start the thread the evening before the game. Okay, that's what I usually do. Just didn't remember if the Opening Day thread was expected sooner Well, let me temper that just a little. Any time the day before should be fine. Why wait? Just start the thread now.

It's silly to think he might regress? So it's silly to be anything other than absolutely certain that he'll at least match his numbers from last year? Am I reading that correctly? youre reading it literally. what i meant, and i guess i couldve been more clear, was that it's silly to operate on the assumption that he could be worse (not that you were). when talking about predicting the success of the 2009 cubs, i think it's pretty safe to assume that your 26 year old second year catcher is going to improve on his rookie campaign. I think it would be rather irresponsible to operate on the assumption that your rookie of the year couldn't take a step back in year 2.

Not if they keep all of Vizcaino, Gaudin, and Guzman. I think Jeff to AAA is assumed right now but the Cubs still have to clear even more room. Vizcaino, Guadin, Guzman Cotts, Marmol, Gregg Oh, I'm missing Heilman. I think Guzman may just be a lost cause at this point. But Harden starting on the DL (using 4 starters for a couple weeks) allows you to start with those 7 plus Patton, and gives you time to trade. Or, if Patton falls on his face once given the job, you can live with returning him if you have to.

The Cubs are screwed if Soto misses a good chunk of time or somehow regresses. They are screwed if Ramirez misses half the season or if Bradley can't make it through April. But they aren't screwed if Lee has to give way to Hoffpauir for a while.

You think you can count on Bradley to play a full season? Something he's done exactly once when he was 24. Both Soriano and Aramis have spent time on the DL in the last few seasons. The other guy you are counting on OPSing 850+ is a catcher, last year there were exactly three (in 2007 there were 2) who put up those numbers, fortunately one of them was Soto, but he's no lock to do it again. Last year the Cubs got remarkable (lucky) production out of CF an 2nd. They'll not likely see that again this year. If Lee can't play and Hoffpauir doesn't cut it the Cubs are in trouble. Considering Bradley is essentially replacing Edmonds, he doesn't have to play a full season to help improve the team. Lee didn't cut it last year, and the Cubs coasted. If Hoffpauir has to play 100 games and he's a 600 OPS player, that's a problem, but I don't think either situation is all that likely.

Samardzija probably doesn't belong in the Cubs bullpen right now. Couldn't they keep Patton by sending Jeff to AAA to get innings as a starter?

That's absurd. "I know no arbitrator on earth would give me this contract, but I'm asking for it." "Sounds great!" It is not absurd. There is more to an arb hearing than just saves. There are a wide range of things that go into these hearings and Marmol has all kinds of numbers to warrant a contract worth "closer money". He's going to get quality reliever money. Not being a closer, and not racking up saves absolutely will cost him money in arbitration. Saves aren't the only thing, but they are a meaningful this in this discussion. If he put up the same numbers as closer or set-up man, he would absolutely get more money doing it as a closer.

actually it's very silly for grown men to complain that they can't swear on a baseball site. no it's not. it's talking baseball. if i'm at a bar and start talking baseball with the stranger on the stool next to me, i couldn't care less if he swears. when's the last baseball game you went to that you DIDN'T hear people cussing? and i'm not complaining at all. tim can run his site however he chooses, it's not my place to offer advice on how to do so. i just responded to the point that someone else brought up. if i really felt like i HAD to cuss while discussing the cubs, i'd just go to bcb or desipio or the countless other forums. What evidence do you have to support the notion that this site is solely comprised of grown men?

Why don't you just come back in a few weeks when it's 42 in April?

Yep because we were getting above average quality Major League production at 2B, C, CF. For at least two of those positions, the jury is still out on how they will perform. Plus although Lee wasn't giving us adequate offensive production, he still gives us presumably much better defense at first than Hoff would. Neither Fontenot, Soto, nor Johnson have shown us any indication that they wont be able to produce this season. You don't think there's a reasonable chance that Fontenot and Fukudome/Johnson don't match the production we got from 2B and CF last year? Not to mention the possibility that Soto regresses a bit this year. The point is Lee's health isn't the determining factor. He was healthy, and sucked last year. If he's unhealthy, and doesn't play as much, that's not going to be the difference between the Cubs succeeding and the Cubs struggling. Other positions are far more important.

The Cubs did pretty well last year without a major league quality 1b for 5 months, I think they could live with Lee going down for a bit this year.

How much does he drink though? You don't have to be drunk to be over the legal limit. If he's going out and getting plastered every single night, sure, he's probably got a drinking problem. But if he's having a few beers per night, might be over the legal limit and doesn't want to risk a DUI, I don't think that's a drinking problem. Actually being responsible enough to not put yourself in a position where you are going to drink and drive suggests the opposite of a drinking problem.

Leave Vincent alone. He didn't think the t-shirt fit the scene, no harm.

So Fukudome's career batting average is going to be locked in at .257 now? Batting average doesn't really mean a whole heckuva lot. There are other more important things.

Well, they just fired Tubby Smith. Well not really he left before they could. But, they wanted him out because he wasn't getting talent in there. How in two years should Gillespie have been able to turn that around? JOhn Wooden wouldn't have won a ton with the Kentucky team there now. Isn't college basketball all about the young-uns? 2 years seems like plenty of time to bring in 2 or 3 difference makers that will change a program.

Yea and Foley pisses me off every time he tries to pronounce it. Butchers the crap out of it. Hjalmarsson... you don't pronounce the damn J! Actually, the J is pronounced. He's played in Rockford for the better part of the past two seasons, and I listen to or attend just about every game. The announcers on the radio, and even the PA Announcer at the Rockford MetroCentre pronounces his name with the J... I'd assume that someone in the organization would correct the announcers if the name was being erroneously pronounced. Sorry man, this is just incorrect... Here is the Swedish pronounciation of "hjä´lpa": http://www2.hhs.se/isa/swedish/9-74.wav (NOTE: hjä´lpa is a perfect example to use. If you take the dots off the "ä" it is pronounced "yahl'pa" or how "yahlmarsson" is pronounced correctly. The ä makes the sound of a long "a" like in cat.) When a "tj" or a "sj" come together it makes the "shhh" sound (See Frederik Sjöström - prounced Shoe-strum). The only time you even get close to the English "J" sound is in a word like "kjol"... but even then its a word most Americans can't pronounce on their palate as it puts the tongue in an awkward position on the roof of the mouth. kjol - http://www2.hhs.se/isa/swedish/9-79.wav Sorry to be nit picky, but I speak Swedish and Finnish ;) I'm not discrediting your knowledge in any way shape or form... I'm just telling you how it's been pronounced by every member of the local media here, and by every employee of the Rockford IceHogs organization that I know! Gotcha! Well now at least you know the proper way to say it ;) Talk to the Hawks about it, maybe the guy comes from the Swedish version of a family that pronoounces/spells their names differently just for the fun of it. Phonetic: JAHL-muhr-suhn http://blackhawks.nhl.com/team/app?page=PlayerDetail&playerId=8471769&service=page&tab=bio

I didn't read it, but judging by the headline, it's stupid. A prominent writer in a major chicago paper says "last thing Bears need is crybaby Cutler." When you go to the sports section it refers to him as a quitter. And the opening paragraph on the artice tries to compare it to how Bears fans would react if Kyle Orton demanded a trade. This is asinine. Yes, he's looking a little like a crybaby. But he was clearly the best player on his team, and not just by default. He's very good. A new coach comes in and tries to replace him. That's pretty stupid. Coach/QB is a relationship unlike any other in sports, especially when that coach is offensive minded. The QB is easily the most important player, and probaly qualifies as 2nd most important coach on the team. Cutler is very good at it, and Orton isn't in his league. Bears fans would rightfully react negatively to Orton demanding a trade because Orton has built up very little credibility.

wgn tv

I think it's more of a Cubs issue than a San Diego issue on whether this trade happens. The Cubs are the ones who turned down a deal, and went into pause mode while under ownership changes.

I agree he's looked awful against LH pitchers when I saw him play this spring. He had alot of trouble making contact against Zito tonight and even Buerhle last Sat. If this keeps up, I'm sure we will see alot of Aaron Miles against LH pitchers. I think that was going to happen all along.

I made this comment as a purposefully lame "fukucopter" spinning around and creating winds joke. Didn't realize how apropos it would actually be. That reminded me of a game I pitched in high school. It was the third consecutive time I faced the same exact team. And the wind was absolutely insane. It was blowing straight in, and felt like it could have added 10 mph to my fastball, which wasn't fast anyway. It didn't help me at all though as the only thing I could rely on in high school was control and changing speeds. My slow breaking stuff was worthless in that wind. But at least the hitters were incredibly uncomfortable the whole game.

Yeah, you really run the risk of people bashing you for predicting big things for one of the best players on the team.