jersey cubs fan

http://rumorsandrants.com/2009/03/jay-cutler-wants-to-be-a-bear-he-just-doesnt-know-it-yet.html

I stumbled into a bar after the Devils/Hawks game and saw the last couple at-bats. The bar got all excited for about 3 minutes.

They haven't had any other option than going with vets, because Angelo ignored the line for 5 years. There hasn't been a single young talented guy kept from playing because of seniority. Then why did JSC continue to play when Williams was healthy in weeks 10-16? Because Williams hadn't practiced yet. They were all set to give that job to Williams before he went down on day one. I have doubts he was really ready to start late. But midseason switches are rare. The point is they haven't kept young guys from taking line positions, because they haven't had young guys around to take those positions.

That's an opening day promotion? It's going to be a tough year if they need to pull that stuff out that early.

He was regarded by many, including me, and I believe Tim, has a really good option for utlity player. A good deal of the Theriot hate dates to his 2007 season when he was absolutely horrible and a significant factor in the Cubs getting bottom of the barrel production from shortstop. And for a guy with so little production, he doesn't even "do the little things right" - namely, defense and baserunning. He was better in 2008, but he's still not a standout in any form. Given his low salary, he's fine for now. But they better not plan on keeping him around once he starts making money. Also, the shirts he wears in clubhouse interviews, you can just tell he's a douche in real life.

That's not exactly hard to predict. Very few players have Soto-like breakouts. But he wouldn't have to have a Soto-like breakout to actually have value and prove worthy of a major league job someday.

Yeah, their are a limited number of businesses that can benefit from being in there. Taxi/car services are probably the most frequently used.

run on receivers

Not literally, but yes, they need to get some points soon. They still have a game in hand on everybody and 2 on just about every potential 8 seed. If they do lose, or fail to at least get a point, then the Edmonton/LA games become must wins, because next week they play SJ and NJ again, and will probably get housed.

I just heard this story last night for the first time ever.

They haven't had any other option than going with vets, because Angelo ignored the line for 5 years. There hasn't been a single young talented guy kept from playing because of seniority.

I don't know about the fans, but I didn't get the media's aduration. They were practically begging the Bears to resign this guy after Tait's retirement rumors started, insisting it was the only option. People have an infatuation with continuity on the offensive line. But that's what got this team in trouble in the first place. Instead of trying to improve the line that showed signs of decline in the super bowl season, they stuck with the same 5 guys, when more than one were ripe for replacement. Continuity of mediocrity should not be a priority. They need to play the five best lineman.

Williams isn't essentially a rookie. He was on the team last year. He practiced and played, and he's with the team now in mini-camp. He is inexperienced as a starting NFL player, but he's been around veteran players for a good amount of time and knows the ropes by now. I don't really see an issue with starting him and a rookie at RT. I would be a little surprised if they started two rookies on the same side of the ball, RG/RT, LG/LT, but each will be next to an NFL veteran and playing their respective natural positions. At this point, the only reasonable option is to start Williams at LT and a rookie at RT. Nobody else on the roster should be the starting RT, and no free agent is worthy of the position. If they draft somebody in the first, or maybe the second, he is most likely going to be the best option for the position, and the guy they choose to start.

3/1/2008: Signed a six-year, $36 million contract. The deal contains $13 million guaranteed, including a $4 million signing bonus, a $3.75 million roster bonus in the first year, and annual $250,000 workout bonuses. 2009: $1.1 million (+ $4.75 million roster bonus due in March), 2010: $3.145 million (+ $3.3 million roster bonus due 6/10), 2011: $3.65 million, 2012: $3.75 million, 2013: $6.25 million, 2014: Free Agent. Cap charges: $6,766,667 (2009), $7,361,667 (2010), $4,566,667 (2011), $4,666,667 (2012), $7,166,667 (2013). I think the Bears could easiliy fit Cutler's contract under their cap. They have no money tied into offensive players as is, and are way under the cap right now. If they traded Briggs, I think his 2009 cap number would skyrocket though.

Probably, but given the salary cap ramifications one year into his deal, I'm not sure it would work. The Bears gave Lance a sizable signing bonus. How far into his deal is Cutler? I am not sure the Bears would want to give up a good player, lose the signing bonus, and have to pay another to Cutler is he only had a few years left. Seems like he's played 3 years of a 6-year deal. Don't think they'd need to extend him until 2010 at the earliest. 7/27/2006: Signed a six-year, $47.86 million contract. The deal contains $11 million guaranteed, including a $1.7 million signing bonus. 2009: $1.035 million (+ $100,000 workout bonus), 2010: $1.4225 million (+ $4 million roster bonus), 2011: $1.81 million (+ $12 million roster bonus) 2012: Free Agent. 45% of the deal's max value is performance incentives. Among them is a $1.95 million escalator for any year of 2006-2010 that he finishes in the top five in any of the NFL's major passing categories, as well as a $4 million bonus for taking 70% of the snaps in 2009. There also is a $500,000 bonus available 2006-2010 for taking 70% of the snaps and either taking 70% of the snaps in a Super Bowl or winning a Super Bowl.

Probably, but given the salary cap ramifications one year into his deal, I'm not sure it would work.

http://web.worldbaseballclassic.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090316&content_id=4002004&vkey=wbc&team=

I've heard that the Broncos don't want draft picks. Is that true? I think they want an actual NFL quarterback, but they'd also want picks to try and even out the trade. What I don't think they want is to essentially trade Cutler for Sanchez or Stafford.

No kidding, the inter webs are so much easier to use. Phone books make great door stops. It's so much more convenient to take the 30 seconds to open the book and find what you are looking for than going to the computer. I use whatever shows up at my door once a year, no idea what it is. But it has restaurant listings and liquor stores.

Let his record fall another night. I'm going to the Pru. If I were you I'd want to see it live. I want to see the Blackhawks win a hockey game. It's been several years since I've seen that live, and I don't really care about things like records.

Let his record fall another night. I'm going to the Pru.

When your last franchise QB is Sid Luckman you'd think a different tack might be in order. One would think we'd at least give something like this a try. Throw the house at a franchise calibre QB, just once. See what happens. But. It never goes down like that around here. Instead it's more of the "we need to fix the QB position" rhetoric from the GM, followed by the signing of Basanez-type junk. I agree. The lack of aggression on trying to improve this team at it's MOST IMPORTANT POSITION is quite disturbing. I get that Angelo wants to reward the players in-house, I get it, for the most part I agree with it. You should reward you own good players before going outside the org for players, but when you know for a fact that a QB upgrade is potentially available, I can't see how you let it pass, especially when you have guys like Kyle Orton and Basanez. If Cutler goes to another team for a package the Bears can beat, I would be pissed off. To be fair, this Cutler thing has more or less come out of nowhere, and it's quite recent. There was little to be gained by making offers for him all offseason. That being said, if Angelo isn't in on this, in an offseason where he ignored easy upgrades at receiver, and virtually ignored the offensive line, it will be incredibly disappointing.

Of course the Cubs should. Also make sure to turn off the trade reject option before creating your team.

I think it's rather ridiculous to dismiss the inordinately heavy workload and mistreatment of Prior simply because the evidence isn't conclusive. At his age, the amount of high pitch count games, back to back, and going back in after a shoulder injury, was bound to contribute to injury. It's not just three random games. It was something like a 20-game stretch of just ridiculous treatment. Ask yourself this: Why is a 120 pitch count a high pitch count? I'm not sure why you ask this random quesiton that doesn't address what I wrote in my post. I didn't say 120 was some magic cutoff point. It has to do with the fact that pitching is an inherently risky endeavor, the more you do it, the more you open yourself up to injury. It is unlike any other motion in major sports in that it, in and of itself, can end your career. Most major football injuries involve getting hit by somebody else, or trying to avoid getting hit. But pitching is just a guy injuring himself. Young pitchers are especially vulnerable. You can't just give a guy the ball and tell him to pitch his balls off to a modern major league lineup, where a mistake to the slightest hitter can be put in the stands, and ignore limits. 120 is high because it's more than most are used to throwing and more than most throw. 120 pitches means 120 high intensity pitches, but another 50-100 more warm up tosses in pregame and 10 or more in between innings. It is probably possible to build up stamina and avoid the pitfalls of too much work with time, and proper guidance. But jumping right into the big end of the pool, with a manager who routinely rides his pitchers harder than others, and continuing to have a guy throw after already sustaining a shoulder injury, is just asking for more trouble. Mark Prior was a 120-130 inning pitcher from age 19-21, then, at 22, threw 212 regular season innings, and another 23+ postseason innings, many of them in extremely high intensity situations. Absolutely no care was taken to try and limit the wear on his young arm early in that season, and quite obviously very little thought was put into trying to prevent or monitor injuries, considering he landed on his effing should in the middle of a game and was still thrown out there. Dusty Baker treated an extremely valuable organizational asset with absolute reckless abandon, trying to squeeze every possible pitch out of him early and often, and quite obviously contributing to the destruction of his career.

He's not exactly an ace.