jersey cubs fan

Why? DeRosa was the versatile veteran making a few million to play regularly at 2B and fill-in at multiple positions. But he only hit RH. Miles is the versatile veteran making millions, who replaced him. Miles was brought in to play many positions and bring "balance" to the lineup. They wanted to get more LH and he is the only guy on the roster brought in to replace a RH in order to accomplish that goal. There's no reason not to compare the two.

why? why should the cubs have kept the 34 year old mark derosa? look, i like mark quite a bit. but we have to remember that he's just mark derosa. and he's 34 coming off of a career year. it's awfully unlikely that he repeats last year. i think people are getting carried away here. admittedly in about half the at bats, sure, but mike fontenot was better than derosa last year. he's also younger and much cheaper. it's really not that hard to see why the cubs traded dero. i'm thankful that they did when his value was at an all time high, which isn't exactly hendry's normal m.o. If his value was at an all time high, why on earth did DeRosa only net 3 guys I had never heard of prior to the trade? And I pay pretty close attention to the minor leagues. My take on this is I have absolutely no problem with trading Mark DeRosa. I do have a problem with what they got back, and that the replacement was Aaron Miles. It seems to me the primary motivation was getting more left handed, which is just a stupid motivation for any trade. You make deals to get better players, and if you can get a little more LH (or RH if you are LH heavy), great. But the key is getting better bats, regardless of which hand they use. They turned DeRosa into Aaron Miles and a couple guys they hope can one day contribute to the bullpen, that's disappointing.

I don't know what percentage of a brain I have, but I think he won't be terrible.

This was the most talented team in the NFC in 2006. But time flies in the NFL and Angelo is nuts if he thinks the talent is there now to win. The offense cannot succeed without an influx of talent, and the defense is no longer good enough to win on its own. The wasted draft picks the past few years have caught up to them quickly, and they absolutely must find 2, and maybe 3, immediate upgrades either through the draft or free agency.

Oh God No. At least if he comes back he will be at RT and not left. I hope. Keep in mind that years on an NFL contract are not meaningful since they're not guaranteed. 3 years allows them to stretch out the signing bonus and gives them some flexibility in case, God help us, they want to keep St. Clair past this season. St. Clair might be serviceable at RT. Can he really be much worse than Tait? Of course getting better at a position would be nice but with many other needs it's better the Bears take the best available and make it work than reach for an OL. He might also be moved to guard.

Would you be able to tell tell any others while leaving out specific names, or without even hinting at the names?

I do. I don't get the antipathy to the WBC among baseball fans. They spend decades writing about how the offseason is "The Void" or "The Dark Time of the Soul" or other such poetic stuff. Now they are offering you a competitive baseball tournament. In early March. And instead of getting on your knees crying in thanks, you spend months hoping your team's best players don't play because of the fractional increase in injury risk over playing in spring training. It's competitive baseball. In March. Hooray! Who is they? The idiotic myth makers who try to make the sport of baseball something that it is not? I don't care much for that BS. I'm a Cubs fan, first and foremost. If another game is on and I've got nothing to do, I might watch, but I don't care about the WBC. You can't just invent tournaments and expect people to care about them. The excitement over the world series built over time, the excitement for the super bowl built over time. The only reason people care about the olympics is because of the tradition. The primary reason people care about the world cup is that's about the only sport those countries have to follow. The USA has baseball, football, basketball, college and pro, hockey and a whole slew of minor sports. Brazil has soccer. Most of Europe has soccer, and maybe one other lesser sport with some level of popularity. And they have the tradition of the world cup. They just invented this tournament, and the best players don't want to play in it. Plus, it gets in the way of the the season that matters, by both pushing back opening day, and forcing guys to adjust routines. Pitching is probably the only motion in sports, that in and of itself, can injure the player. You can get injured in any sport, but almost all other injuries are the result of fluke collisions and twists, when something goes wrong. Pitching injuries are caused simply by pitching (much of the time), and the injuries can be season and career ending. People don't want their pitchers to get hurt in the WBC, or sow the seeds for getting injured later that year due to irregular strain on the arm at an earlier than normal point in the preperation schedule. I don't see how anybody could question why people don't care about the WBC.

that's dirty

Correct me if I'm wrong, but even if the new guy gets similar money to Williams, that is still dwarfed by veteran franchise tackle type money. I would love to have two young bookend tackles operating under their non-top 10 rookie contracts. I don't get your concern about moving one of them to the right side. The Bears neglected the offensive line for far too long and they absolutely must be aggressive in upgrading it. They absolutely need a tackle this year, and will need at least another guard and a center in the next couple years. I would take one of those first round tackles in a heartbeat. Yeah, they do have to get a tackle. But do they have to get a potential franchise LT at 18 and play him at RT, where is value isn't 100% maximized? Or do they wait and get a guy that projects as only a RT (but a good one) and also get a top WR, DE, whatever in the 1st? If they go OT, they can get a top OT but not a top anything else. If they go WR or DE, they can get a top WR or DE and get a top RT, which is where they are playing the 1st round guy at anyway in the other scenario. I personally would get the franchise LT again. I don't think the difference from left to right side is as big as it used to be. Well then we are in agreement. I don't think the Bears will be able to 100% maximize the value of a WR, given their QB and OC issues. I'd be fine with DE, but with three capable players on the roster, it's simply not as big of a need as offensive line. Personally I'm not convinced Williams is a franchise LT. He was drafted last year A) because better guys were already gone and B) he was considered the most ready to start in the NFL. It's not like he was the best of the bunch. He might be the one whose best position ultimately is on the right side.

Since always. It's pretty much the textbook definition. If I had said "proven chronic cheater," then your "one time" defense would make sense. But I didn't and it doesn't. Well then Joe Morgan is an admitted cheater as well.

Do you really think so? I am not sure if I believe that. The team is young and talented, and quite a few of their key pieces are locked up. My thinking goes back to the Penguins two seasons ago. They broke through and made the playoffs as a 5 seed in 06-07, but lost to the 4 seed Ottawa 4-1 in the first round. The next year, the finished 3rd (or 2nd?) and made it to the Stanley Cup finals. I think it really depends on how they take to the playoffs. If they press and get a case of Cub-itis, I can see them losing in the first round quickly. But if they come in with a fearless, nothing-to-lose mentality, they could become giant killers and advance a few rounds. Yes, I do believe it could hurt the progress. Chicago fans have seen teams emerge from the depths and contend, then bust out in the playoffs (Hawks earlier this decade, Cubs, Bulls a few years ago). If they come right back next year and have a great regular season and succeed in the playoffs, they should be fine. But next year is not guaranteed. Winning in the playoffs this year will build more goodwill. Losing early could be a problem though. With the economy in the state that it's in, and no guarantee that it will be much better by October, they might lose some of the fans they gained. The novelty of seeing the team on TV is going to wear off some time. It's going to have to be about winning playoff games.

I'm no hockey expert, or even knowledgeable novice (what I know about hockey I learned from sega, frozen ponds and the occasional backyard rink). But my expectation is they win round one and struggle to win more than 1 game in round 2. It's up to the goalie though. It's possible they could make more noise than that. I wouldn't be surprised if they won round 2. That sort of thing happens in hockey all the time. I highly highly doubt they manage to beat both big dogs, but a conference championship matchup isn't out of the question. That being said, from a strictly hockey standpoint, I think it would be really smart to trade Khabi. Get what you can and build for the future. But for this organization, it's absolutely a must that they win a series this year, and for that, they might need to keep Khabi. A first round flameout could really hurt the progress they've made.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but even if the new guy gets similar money to Williams, that is still dwarfed by veteran franchise tackle type money. I would love to have two young bookend tackles operating under their non-top 10 rookie contracts. I don't get your concern about moving one of them to the right side. The Bears neglected the offensive line for far too long and they absolutely must be aggressive in upgrading it. They absolutely need a tackle this year, and will need at least another guard and a center in the next couple years. I would take one of those first round tackles in a heartbeat.

if....it's your ball? I don't think so.

Perhaps the least reliable way to judge a professional athlete's worth. Not including yesterday's game, Huet was facing five fewer shots per game than Khabibulin. So the team plays a more offensive-minded game when Khabi is behind them. Looks like their eyeballs work. That may or may not prove that they are less confident with Huet in net. That does not prove that their eyeball test is accurate or that their lack of confidence is appropriate.

I got all of mine.

There's still over 20 games that are already sold out according to the system, so the demand will still be there. Since the 90's a good portion of the initial demand has been people assuming they can sell for profit on the secondary market. It will be interesting to see how that will work this year, and what kind of prices people can get for those tickets.

Jake Fox can't play C. I didn't mean Fox as the 2nd C, I meant only as an emergency catcher. If by emergency, you mean we don't plan on winning and want to watch a lot of dropped pitches. ok. That's pretty much what an emergency catcher does.

Perhaps the least reliable way to judge a professional athlete's worth.

I'd bet Lee gets first dibs on the 3 spot.

There is a pretty big difference between "I'd rather see Khabi out there than Huet" and "Oh god, we have to watch Huet flopping around out there tonight...great". Look through the thread. It's even been admitted by a poster that he irrationally hates Huet. Two, at least. I hate Huet and I accept that he's an above average goalie. He's also a bad fit for this team and has a huge mistake of a contract that we will regret very soon. Sounds like a great game tonight, though. Got in the car just in time to hear the radio highlights. How does a goalie become a bad fit for a team? Is this some sort of groundball pitcher on a team with bad defenders thing, or a slinging QB on a team that only runs? I don't get it. As for the contract, the time to regret it has passed. They made it work with Khabi and Huet on the same roster, and after this season, Khabi is gone. Prior to this season, Khabi was nothing special for the Hawks, and it would have been a huge risk to sign him to an extension regardless of Huet's status. The fact that they pretty much can't resign him could be a blessing in disguise. Huet will be the primary goalie starting next year. He's pretty good, and not at all expensive.

It would be convenient to have a backup 3B, however, it still leaves the Cubs with one backup for MI, something I doubt they would like. Ironically, the Cubs are pretty short of RH bench bats, and could probably use one. However, Marte has really sucked.

Can't you do that buying online? I'm pretty sure Ticket Master charges extra fees for tickets purchased online. So people wait in-line to save the couple bucks? I'd think the time wasted would be worth more to them.

Can't you do that buying online?

I still don't get why people go through the effort of dealing with the wristbands and showing up in person.