jersey cubs fan

you're going to be flushing as much money down the toilet per year on a player like pierre or drew as you are on soriano until the last couple of years of his contract. That's the point though. $18m per is bad enough. 8 years is where it kills you. The Cubs can live with it right now, only because of how much their payroll has skyrocketted. Years 6-8 are really going to hurt.

that's not true at all; nobody with an eqa around .290 to .300 is a "decent enough complimentary player." that more accurately describes a guy like matt murton (.270-.275 eqa.) plus soriano is a good fielder, and murton is average at best. i agree that soriano is not the superstar that he is made out to be, but his offensive value is not far off from aramis ramirez, who i don't think anyone considers to be a "decent enough complimentary player." The point of the description was he better not be your stud. It's fine to have such a dangerous, yet highly flawed player as your 3rd or 4th best hitter. If he's your marquee guy though, you did a horrible job building your team. My original point is that Ankiel's numbers last year were not "very very good". They are complimentary numbers. Soriano is a better version of that complimentary hitter.

i didn't mention the yankees, and the red sox' budget isn't as unlimited as you think it is. they do have a very high payroll; however, they would not be able to afford all the guys like manny, j.d. drew (not worth anywhere close to $14M per year), ortiz ($13M per), lowell ($12.5M per), varitek ($10M per), beckett ($10M per), lugo ($9M per) and daisuke ($8.5M/$17M per, depending on how you think about it) is because they also have guys like youkilis, pedroia, ellsbury, buchholz and several bullpen arms who are productive players at or near the major league minimum. same with the dodgers, who are more on par with the cubs as far as revenue/payroll. the pierre contract is abominable; they're also flushing money down the toilet on nomar and jason schmidt. but again, the dodgers have mined very good prospects out of their farm system like matt kemp, russell martin, jonathan broxton, andre ethier, james loney, chad billingsley, andy laroche and (soon) clayton kershaw. so they can handle the bad contracts that EVERY good team inevitably has, because they also have the ability to generate their own young talent. you'd be hard-pressed to find a team in the top 10 payrolls that doesn't have a contract that is either bad or has become bad as a player aged. But there's also a difference between a bad contract, and a laughable one like Soriano has. Wasting $10-14m per for a few years isn't the same as throwing $18m per at a player who is going to be as one dimensionally weak as Soriano is going to be in a couple years.

That can't be good for the 'ole trade value. What would possibly give you that idea? He was never going to make the opening day roster. Optioning back to AAA changes nothing.

Nope. He's a decent enough complimentary player though. And hopefully he'll be closer to the .340 OBP area for at least a little while.

Most of the lineup is going to be bad, but 2-3-4-5 is going to be very very good. You sound awfully sure that Duncan and Ankiel can come close to repeating last year's production. I don't see it happening Even if they do, nobody with a .328 OBP is very very good.

As an aside, 1 month in and we're still referring to some sort of disease? Can somebody change the title?

12:30 according to my guide. I thought it was always 11:30 (eastern).

That was a bit of a non-sequitur... I turned on CBS expecting basketball, and instead found a very bored sounding Drew giving away a trailer.

What? That's what Lou said. He didn't want Kerry to sit on the bus and get a stiff back (that is, if he'd pitched in the first game of yesterday's double header). The question was about Wood potentially pitching in game 2. It was a split squad game. It wasn't a doubleheader, and nobody played in both games. The more established vets typically play in the home game, where Wood could have pitched if he was fine. I agree with the general sentiment of your post, but there was no way Wood was getting on a bus and potentially pitching in the 2nd game of a DH. The bus ride was about the game on Friday. They didn't want him pitching Thursday, then driving Friday and pitching again.

Drew Carey is horrible on Price is Right. And I like him in general.

What?

I read something about a peeled up hood, and from what I saw on Comcast sportsnite, it looked like something more than bats did the work.

Wuertz + for this guys doesn't seem very sensible. "This guy" was #3 in rookie of the year voting last year. Yeah, and in 89 Walton and Smith went 1/2. ROY and other voting is meaningless to me. We're talking about a guy who has done a decent job hitting for average and getting on base at an old age for every level, and he hits for no power. I don't see him making much of a career out of his skillset. Wuertz, as a middle reliever, may be of equal value, but I'd much rather include Wuertz in a deal for something meaningful, not another 4th outfielder. Coming from a GM who so grossly overvalues veteran relievers, I can't imagine how he can justify trading one of his best + prospects for this guy. From what I see, he was 5th in voting.

A) The Kendrick thing was the closest borderline funny/mean thing I've ever seen. Hysterical. B) If the players took bats to the car....and Wood is suspectively involved.... And Wood's back starting getting stiff on Tuesday, the same day the car demolishing happened. And his back got worse on Wednesday.... It's elementary, my dear Watson. It seems to me the damage was done with something other than bats. I can't imagine they all stood around and beat the crap out of it.

Wuertz + for this guys doesn't seem very sensible.

I'd take my chances that Marquis can start the season solid and drive up his trade value. Contrary to conventional wisdom, trades do happen in April, May and June. And teams are looking for pitching help at that time.

It's funny how little chance they have to make the playoffs despite a fairly good record, while the Bulls are just a hair outside and horrible. They aren't completely comparable, because of the overtime rules, and how they prop up many records. But it's been a fun season. It's nice that they've had so many sell-outs, and are moving in the right direction. But they still need to find more offense and stabilize the defense. And Khabi is still grossly overpaid.

When all is said and done, I probably wouldn't mind seeing him on the White Sox when his career is coming to an end, 6-8 years from now. The Cubs will have gotten his best years anyway.

Wow, it must be pretty sweet to be able to demand such compensation for going on a business trip. Insane. Didn't feel the least bit of sympathy for the coaches.

But I'm pretty sure the networks might want a refund if the games aren't played. Networks? What could they be paying for games that will air at 3am?

HOw do you know? I thought that the draft date had not been finalized yet? Regardless, you can prerank your players. I thought it was supposed to be the weekend of March 29. If that's the case, I will not be able to do it. I guess my real question was, where on the site is the option to prerank eligible players?

Unless he has a clause in his contract that asks for his release if he's not on the major league roster by a certain date. I think that's when fate forces their hand.

Woo, another 10 days Who is we all?

I will not be able to do the live draft. Is there an option to prerank players?