jersey cubs fan

Weren't the off field issues after he was essentially dumped?

How was it dumb to platoon two decent players for a full season and get great production from the CF slot? If anything, using a platoon like that to such great effect was pretty atypical for the Cubs. Well they gave up on Pie before anybody knew they'd get freakish production from Edmonds Or, it was obvious that Pie wasn't going to be able to contribute offensively in 2008, so they looked elsewhere for production. Personally I don't see how that was obvious. Guys struggle early, develop and improve. Pie has a track record of adjusting to higher levels with playing time.

Probably Warner and Brady. Brady has 3 rings, which all but guarantees his enshrinement. His totals are still a bit off, but he should have multiple good years ahead of him. Warner has fewer postseason numbers, and only 1 ring (and 1 loss to Brady in the SB). Yup. QB A is Warner, QB B is Brady. Their postseason numbers actually aren't that different: Warner: 63.9%, 2991 yards, 23 TD/12 INT, 8.3 Y/A, 97.8 rating Brady: 62.5%, 3954 yards, 26 TD/12 INT, 6.6 Y/A, 88.0 rating I think winning the Super Bowl has to get Warner in if Brady is assumed in as of today (which I think is correct to do). Warner would have one less Superbowl win than Brady, but he also would have been the driving force behind both of his Superbowl teams, which it is questionable if Brady was or not. I think Warner's reputation has suffered though by the unique way his career has developed. Yeah, it doesn't help that he developed late, then after 3 great seasons playing in a dome, he turned to crap, then disappeared, then struggled to get back to the level he is at now. But Brady has done considerably more in the postseason. QB's get rewarded for getting there and winning, and Brady has done that, with the 1000 more yards to his credit. Although, yes, if Warner wins this year, I think he's definitely in. I still think he's a year or two away for being hall worthy on his own accord - ie. not because his team won the SB.

Probably Warner and Brady. Brady has 3 rings, which all but guarantees his enshrinement. His totals are still a bit off, but he should have multiple good years ahead of him. Warner has fewer postseason numbers, and only 1 ring (and 1 loss to Brady in the SB).

If the intention is to bring in a veteran who can compete with, and probably end up backing up Orton, fine. Garcia's name is always at the top of the list of journeyman short-term help at QB. But he's nothing special and I wouldn't want him playing more than a couple games at most. The Bears aren't a wily veteran QB away from contention.

True, though I purposefully didn't provide a link so as to save others.

Barry Rozner wrote a column talking about the Bears really not bing all that close. And the reason he gives is a lack of really good and really hungry players, like Troy Polamalu, Big Ben and Larry Fitzgerald. He says Mike Brown and Olin Kreutz used to be that type of player. He ends the thought with: And in true Rozner fashion, completely loses any sense of reality. 6 Polamalus? Pittsburgh doesn't even have 6 of those. Arizona doesn't have 6 Larry Fitzgeralds. I understand that the Bears are lacking something like what Mike Brown used to be. But they aren't 6 Mike Browns away from being a contender.

I'm not quite up on NFL rules, how much of his big rookie contract would we be responsible for with Leinart? If that's not a problem, I'd take a flier on him Both teams would be responsible for whatever is left on the deals, both teams would take cap hits related to the pro rated portion the signing bonus, I think. I'm pretty sure the team trading the player away takes the full hit on the bonus and them the team getting the player is responsible for the rest of the contract. That's what I was saying, I guess yours was more clear though. Leinert has been a pretty big disappointment for Arizona. I think Warner is still a solid year or two away from being Hall-worthy on his own, but multiple super bowls have a way of swaying voters. I see him staying in the league. If he was willing to come back at the relatively cheap price he signed for last year, I don't see why he wouldn't reap the benefits of one last contract. I think the Boldin injury thing is behind him.

I'm not quite up on NFL rules, how much of his big rookie contract would we be responsible for with Leinart? If that's not a problem, I'd take a flier on him Both teams would be responsible for whatever is left on the deals, both teams would take cap hits related to the pro rated portion the signing bonus, I think.

I don't know why Sproles has to be the only replacement. RBs aren't that hard to find, and aren't that hard to replace. Draft somebody this year and you're fine.

Everyone (including myself) who didn't give this a chance forgot A.J. Smith - one of the dumber GMs out there, apparently - was making the decisions in San Diego. Why would people scoff at the idea that a team would give up on an expensive RB with a ton of miles on his legs who just can't stay healthy or produce anymore? If I could remember which thread I suggested it in, I could go find out. I know Truffle really though I was dumb for suggesting it. I'm not necessarily advocating it. But I don't understand how anybody who has paid attention to the NFL for the past decade could scoff at the idea. RBs don't last, they fall apart in a hurry, and LDT has shown signs of wearing down after taking on a huge workload for years.

Dawson hit a granny! Cubs up 12-7 in the bottom of 11. No way they blow this, right?

Everyone (including myself) who didn't give this a chance forgot A.J. Smith - one of the dumber GMs out there, apparently - was making the decisions in San Diego. Why would people scoff at the idea that a team would give up on an expensive RB with a ton of miles on his legs who just can't stay healthy or produce anymore? 1,110 yards and 12 total TDs is not producing? He's not the greatest RB (possibly) ever anymore, but he's still a whole lot better than Darren Sproles. As for staying healthy, he's played in less than 16 games in a season one time in his career - 2004. He got hurt in the last two playoff appearances for SD, but three games out of 35 doesn't indicate he "can't stay healthy." He's averaged what, 400 touches a year for 8 years? He went under 4 yards per carry this season and his production dropped a lot, and he hasn't been able to finish two seasons in a row. These guys fall apart quickly. NFL teams can't afford to pay exhorbitant dollars for pedestrian numbers. He's got Shaun Alexander written all over him. Teams can get in a lot of trouble from trying to squeeze every last yards out of a RB.

The bigger problem is they are paying a mediocre reliever to pitch for them to get rid of Marquis. Hendry acts as though fan ridicule forced him to trade Marquis. If he didn't think that was a bad contract, he'd have kept Marquis instead of acquiring Vizcaino.

Everyone (including myself) who didn't give this a chance forgot A.J. Smith - one of the dumber GMs out there, apparently - was making the decisions in San Diego. Why would people scoff at the idea that a team would give up on an expensive RB with a ton of miles on his legs who just can't stay healthy or produce anymore?

For the 2nd time this week I stumbled across a Cubs/Pirates game from 2001. I looked it up on baseballreference.com last time. Skinny Barry is up and struck out looking with a chance to win in extras.

I feel like that sentence is missing something.

why are the fans dumb, because they don't want their franchise to be a laughingstock? steinbrenner paid off a small-time bookie to dig up dirt on dave winfield; he was behaving like an idiot and if i were a yankee fan i would've wanted him gone too. he was acting like an ass, sure, but he was also putting the pieces together for what the Yankees became. The Yankees didn't become anything because of Steinbrenner. They were already the Yankees. The money his group payed for them was a pretty big sum in 1973. Yeah, Steinbrenner wasn't putting pieces together. He lucked out by having the richest fan base in a time when that fan base's net worth was growing exponentially. He hired a bunch of guys who routinely make idiotic decisions, but they've always been able to spend their way out of their mistakes. The Yankees were essentially the Orioles in the mid-90's, then went on an obscene spending spree. Fans weren't dumb for criticizing him in the 80's.

Not a chance. How many people here even played beyond high school? It's either you believe that a random A baller could come up and perform like Andruw Jones did, or that many people on here are good enough to play semi-pro baseball. I would say the vast majority of people on here are probably below A ball level of ability. And even if you were of A ball ability at 19/20, if you're 30 now, that's gone, and isn't coming back.

1. They already have a questionable reputation for developing young players. 2. What choice do they have?

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/arash_markazi/01/16/carroll/index.html

Definitely. Just saying it's not necessarily true that 99% of posters here would OPS 000. But I'm just in an argumentative mood. Yeah, that was definitely an exaggeration, some people would draw a lucky walk or get some lucky contact. But even pitchers are around major league pitchers everyday, and they take batting practice. There may only be a handful of people here who ever played professionally at any level, and probably only a couple that have done it recently. Batting ability can disappear in a hurry, and never having seen major league pitching could be freaking nuts. That said, nobody would be able to do what Andruw did.

At this point, I agree. They can't hide him in the rotation, they can't hide him in the minors. I'd try and see if he can throw strikes to one batter at a time.

I'm fairly certain 99% of the people on this board would have OPSd 000 last year.

Really? Where did you hear this? Any more info regarding why? Happens more than we know... but the practice was an open practice today so people actually witnessed it... I am sure Comcast Sportsnite covered it? I don't know, I didn't tune in. http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=264804