jersey cubs fan

Well yeah, their production is evenly spread out, but none of it is really that great. It seems like they have a bunch of complimentary type players, at least that's the way they performed last year. They don' really have a meat of the order. Loney was under a .340 OBP last year, and Casey Blake was just .313 for them last year. He's .334 career and is already 35. Those guys make lots of outs. Furcal is a post 30 middle infielder with some mixed results and health issues in his history who could be a mediocre player. Hudson is another post-30 middle infielder who isn't a 162 game type player and hasn't been a stand-out. They were 13th in the NL in runs scored last year, and while Manny will make a difference he's not going to SLG 700 for them again, and they still play in Dodger Stadium. They aren't what I'd call stacked, although they should be good. I'd hate to face a Manny team in the playoffs again.

They're talking about it on Sportscenter right now. Which only reports facts.

I dunno that the Bears are good. As a 9-7 team where a quality WR could make a big difference, I think they qualify as good, and a good fit.

Spreading touches between TO, Moss and Welker seems like it could be a tough fit.

I've heard people talking New England, but Moss/TO does not sound like it will work well. Minnesota could work well, depending on the history between TO and Childress. But with all that money invested in Berrian last year, it would seem a bit odd. The biggest problem with the Bears is an unstable QB situation and the fact that Lovie pretty much lets these guys do whatever they want. There is no discipline. Angelo has shown a willingness to make big investments in free agency (Tait, Moose) and has traded for other people's holdouts (Adawale). But they seem intent on bringing back the status quo this year. Maybe it was a ploy while awaiting the TO decision. But if there was one thing they needed to get in free agency this year, it was impact WR. This would allow them to take a WR in the 2nd or 3rd instead, and concentrate on line help.

At the time of the signing, Abreu would have wanted the same years and money. So the question is not would you rather have Abreu for 1 year, the question is would Hendry have been OK starting the season with Hoffpauir in RF and trying to trade for someone later on if necessary. This is absurd. Who cares what he wanted? What matters is what the actual market was. A lot of guys didn't get what they wanted because the demand for their services just wasn't there. Once the Yankees and Cubs made their moves, nobody was out there signing. If the Cubs don't sign Bradley, they could have had any of these other guys for less. That being said, we know all this about Bradley. You hope he can play 300 games over the next three years, and be ready for the playoffs. That probably means lots of off-days in April and May, again in September, and potentially a missing month in between.

I'd be all over the TO situation. There is very little to lose. It's not like they have a lot invested in the QB and will fear crazy Owens ruining the guy. TO had a ton of options the past few years, and probably felt great freedom to act however he wanted. He didn't fit in all that well in Dallas, but a big part of that was he wasn't the big guy, he split that identity with several others. I know the Bears don't have the balls to make such a move, but TO would be the only big time receiver on the field, and the only guy capable of giving space to Hester. Orton can give him the ball early and often without fearing others demanding touches. His presence on the field could probably make Orton, Hester, Forte and Olsen all significantly better players. Teams will not be able to go 8 in the box every play and tee-off on Forte. They have the cap space, and they don't have big money invested anywhere else on offense. TO's career is going to end in a couple years, and he will probably be motivated to make a positive impact on the field. I'd take the gamble on some sort of 3 year deal big signifint upfront guarantees, as well as financial incentives to keep him interested in producing right away to get paid next year.

It would be nice to have another shortstop in the Cubs system, even if he isn't left handed.

The Score (take it for what it's worth) reported Kontiola is a piece in the deal on their last update. Again, take it for what it's worth. Tim Sassone's article http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=276715&src=149 http://blogs.dailyherald.com/node/1551 I'm not the least bit qualified to judge the deal, but in their payroll situation, with several top players due bigger deals within the next year, it makes perfect sense to deal Wiz. They needed a center, and there didn't seem to be a lot out there.

I would think so. He really didn't have much of a role did he.

Nothing in Florida is a 20 minute drive away. Desolate matters. Football teams can survive playing 8 games in a place nobody really wants to be. Baseball teams have a much harder time. Everyday sports need to make going to the field on a regular basis enjoyable. Dolphin Stadium, like all football fields, is a horrible place to watch baseball (the only upside is the easily available "good seats" since nobody goes).

Thats why they went to Madoff in the first place, they thought they were protecting themselves. Its like calling a cop to come protect you, only to have him rape you. They didn't go to Madoff for protection, they went to Madoff because they heard he could get them terrific return on their money. If protection was their concern they would have put their money in a much safer institution. They were looking for profit.

Pro-Player is a quality location as anyone who's lived in South Florida will tell you. Miami isn't a "Center city" with good public transportation. It is spread out pretty good north to south. If one factors in Broward county Pro-Player is centrally located. Do they need to develop the area around the park more? Yes. The place they play is not that bad to watch a game. It's no worse than Yankee Stadium. The reason why they want to move is because Loria gets only the gate receipts and has to pay rent. The rest of what you said was accurate. The funny thing is that where they are proposing to move is worse than the location that they currently occupy. It's hard to get to, congested, and crime infested. I suspect the reason they want to move there is due to organized crime's involvement in city govt. more so than it just happens to be where the old Orange Bowl was. Nobody I know who lives in south florida will say that. It's desolate. And watching a game there is terrible. It's a football stadium, and a bad one at that. I did not like Yankee Stadium, but it was considerably better. However, if you put that same stadium in say, the Meadowlands, and had an expansion team play there, nobody would go. It's a bad stadium in a horrible location, just like Dolphins Stadium.

I think I miscounted relievers anyway. If they break camp with 12 pitchers, that would be the 5 starters+ Gregg, Marmol, Heilman, Vizcaino, Gaudin, Cotts/Stanton/Lefty, and 1 more. I guess Guzman could easily be that last guy, unless Shark dazzles his way through ST. The problem is, Gooz better be impressive, because we all know how fast Lou looses patience, especially when it comes to young pitchers, and if it comes down to it, I doubt he'll care that Gooz is a one time top prospect, and ship him off to wherever. That's not true. As long as the pitcher throws strikes, Lou has infinite patience to let that pitcher struggle to come up with a way to get hitters out, even if those outs are line shots to the wall. and your example of that would be... Bob Howry. Guzman's problem may very well be throwing strikes. He's got about 4 innings pitched over the past 4 years and he wasn't the greatest control pitcher in the world before then. His minor league BB totals were relatively low, but he's walked nearly 5 per 9 in the brief amount of time he's been in the majors.

It would be interesting if it became popular. But I don't think it has at all. Perhaps in another 15 years, after a couple rivalries build and a few "classic" games are played, and remembered, it will become popular. But you'll need far more stars playing in the tourny and not skipping. So if a tourney becomes popular with more stars playing, but how do you get more stars to play if the tourney isn't popular? don't ask them to play in it when they're supposed to be preparing for the regular season I'm not sure what other time frame would be a viable option for the WBC though. You can't really hold it in the winter unless you want to play everything indoors. They already play in domes in Asia and Toronto. Then they have Mexico City, Puerto Rico, LA, SD and Miami, places that can easily handle winter baseball. But to your previous point, time is probably the only way you get more stars to play. You can't expect this to be huge in its second incarnation. If there are some big games and a US team that makes noice, 4 years from now you might have a couple more guys who are interested. But it'll probably take at least 4 or 5 run throughs of this tournament before it really turns into a must event for the players, if it ever does.

I was using the Cubs as an example because this is a Cubs message board. There are only a couple teams that have major attendance issues and Florida is the only one that actually has won World Series and still can't get the fans. If a team in the desert like Arizona or teams in Atlanta (similar weather to Florida) can get the fans then the big reason why Florida can't becomes the fans. They just don't have the fans that want to go to the game no matter the conditions. How can you say "no matter the conditions"? There isn't another team, let alone expansion team, that has an absolute dump of a stadium located off the side of a random highway where it's 90 and humid with rain darn near every day. Had the team sustained some level of success, rather than gutting the team after winning, they would probably be much better off. If the Blackhawks fall on their face in the playoffs and gut the team, attendance will go right back into the toilet. And that is a longstanding sports franchise with a rather large established fan base. You can't built a fan base by making the gameday experience complete crap and fielding the lowest payroll team in the league on a regular basis. They did draw 3 million in their first season, and 2.3 million in their 1997 season. They gained 500,000 the year after their last WS title, but they quickly went back to being a below .500 team with lessening attendance. Arizona has no less of a problem of no "real fans", yet they built a very nice ballpark and made the experience much more enjoyable, and built a team that could enjoy a sustainable level of success over time (4 postseason appearances in 11 seasons compared to 2 in 16). They had a pullback in attendance during the lean year, but it was not nearly as dramatic. Baseball is an everyday sport. You have to give fans a reason to show up everyday (comparing it to football is nonsensical), and that entails a quality location as well as decent stadium. They have a horrible location and horrible stadium in the most unpleasant climate in the country during the summer.

The spring numbers are meaningless. But Rosy did OPS over 1000 at Iowa at age 25. He was also over 1100 in his first real time at AAA at 23.

Do the chefs have a coaching staff yet? No idea who the Chefs are, but the Chiefs have yet to officially terminate Herm Edwards. :wink: That said, the rumors are flying that he'll go either this year or next. The Chiefs fired Herm Edwards in January: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/2009/01/23/2009-01-23_chiefs_fire_herm_edwards.html They hired Todd Haley to take the job in early February: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/football/nfl/02/06/haley.ap/ You are responding to posts written in January.

I know, I know. I thought Britton, Beaty or Unger would be too big a reach there, though. If we could, I'd have traded down to the end of the 1st and drafted an OL. Sadly, I can't see Angelo taking an OL in the first round in consecutive years. Everything to me points to a DE. Pass rush was weak last year. Ogunleye, Brown, and Anderson are all FA in 2010. Marinelli brought in to coach the DL. With him being the biggest offseason addition so far, I think they will give him another player to work with. Pass rush was a need, but I view the Marinelli signing as the move they make to get that pass rush, out of the same players. Angelo has struggled with first round skill position guys, as well as ends. Their core skills guys who have had success are 2nd/3rd round types (Forte, Berrian, Hester). His first round selection of Columbo was somewhat vindicated with him starting at tackle for a contender years down the line. I could definitely see him taking another lineman this year, unless one of the top two QBs drop.

I hope he's the world's greatest bubble screen receiver because the Bears passing game won't have more than 1.5 seconds to get any plays off.

A big part of that problem is it's located in St. Pete and ugly as sin. But with a good team, they were drawing fans toward the end of the year. The stadium is a big part of the problem with the Marlins. It's located off the side of a highway near absolutely nothing. It's a football stadium. It works for once a week (or more accurately, 8 Sundays a year) tailgating. But it doesn't work for an everyday sport like baseball. The Giants and Jets have no problem drawing fans to their isolated stadium venue every Sunday, but the Devils and Nets struggle a lot more to get people there on a regular basis. Additionally, the stadium is oppresively hot. I've been to a couple Dolphins games in September, and the crowd is absolutely drained from the insane heat/humidity/sun. It is not at all the same as other locations in the country. Miami might work as a baseball market without a dome, but they'd need a stadium that provides a ton of shade in the stands, Pro Player seats are all exposed, and in another location. But it takes time to build a fan base for an expansion team, and if you make attending a game a real pain the ass, it'll take all that much longer.

Generally speaking, I would agree with this. They don't need to have a 5th starter until April 25. However, with Harden possibly not even starting the season in the rotation, or if he does, unlikely to go past 5 at the start. And also a 5th starter who in all likelihood did not start much, if any last year, they are going to be burning through that bullpen early and often. As it stands now, the bullpen is more about quantity of arms rather than quality. And with as much as Marmol was used the past couple years, I don't want to see them in a position where he's throwing every other day. You can start the season with your 5th starter in the bullpen, but once you've stretched that guy out, does it make a lot of sense to then use him in short stints over the first three weeks, and then go right back to starting? I'd like to see them go away from the 12th pitcher, but I doubt they do.

The offensive line starved Chicago Bears are now on the clock.

The J - E - T - Ss spent money on the defense this weekend and are in the process of reinventing their version of the 3-4. But the big story with this team remains QB, with Favruh retiring again. New Jersey's favorite team selects senior Mark Sanchez from USC. He's taking crap for "leaving early" but all he's doing is foregoing his 5th year at USC. Go earn your money big fella.

whoa, you guys are fast. I haven't looked at this since Friday afternoon, so give me a few minutes to figure out the Jets pick.