jersey cubs fan

How is it hard? They are getting one of, if not the best defending players back after losing him midseason, in Harris. They are also getting Brown back from injury, a pro bowler. They added Archuletta to the safety depth. They replaced Tank Johnson, who for some reason is being talked about as some super stud now that he's gone, with a guy who is most likely better than him, and replaced the other two depth DTs with a couple guys are at least as good as them. The defense lost nobody of value, and gained a starting S and 3 previously injured players. The offense added Greg Olsen (who wasn't even mentioned in that article). They lost Thomas Jones, who is another guy who is being talked about as a much bigger loss than he was ever considered an asset. And they have a 1st round talent RB taking his place. They also "acquired" a year of learning for Grossman and their young receivers. On a net basis, I don't see how this team lost more than it gained, and frankly I think it's easy to see why people may view them as improved. Maybe they aren't any better, but if it's hard for you to think they might be, then I'm guessing you spent the offseason stuck on the overplayed story of a terrible offseason and just haven't been willing to accept that the coaches and players they lost were nothing special, Briggs is in camp, Walker and Archuleta were added to the starting rotation on D. Or maybe they were just pissed Grossman hasn't been released yet.

I also remember a time several years ago that his then-current team put Jose Canseco on waivers to trade him. A competitor of the team he wouls have been traded to claimed him to block the trade, assuming that his current team would simply retract the waivers. Instead, they allowed the waiver claim, and the team claiming him therefore was stuck paying the salary of a player they didn't even have a spot for in the lineup. That's the risk teams take when claiming a player they don't really want just to block a competitor from trading for him. Thats' how he ended up a Yankee.

Give me a break. A 38 year old adult kills himself doing coke (I'll rescind this if the toxiology shows anything different but I'm pretty confident given the circumstances and his wife's statements that it won't) and it doesn't change your opinion of him? A guy so self-centered and immature that he puts his need to get high and the related risks above his wife and young daughters? Yeah Shooter did some good things for AIDs but the stupid decisions he made which resulted in his wife becoming a window and two young girls being without a father make him less of a "good guy" in my book and definitely changed my opinion of him. While I certainly understand your view, I don't think you have any idea of what being an addict truly entails. It isn't as if an addict makes a choice to get high. It's a part of their brain structure, and even with rehab, it's a daily struggle some times. It doesn't make him a "bad guy" as you say. It makes him tragic because he couldn't stay on the wagon despite at least one publicized attempt at getting clean. People choose all the time not to do drugs or to do them occasionally without becoming an addict. The fact that Shooter choose to take the steps that ruined his and his family's lives is indeed tragic. Unless he was tied down and forced to take the drugs by bad guys, that's exactly the choice he did make.

insert rhetorical comment here

The commisioners office. They had to get the ok from baseball to put him on the list. I agree it walks the line between abuse and not abuse but they actually got the ok from people in charge of deciding if its abuse or not so you can't really blame the team for it. The commisoners office could have just said no, thats not what the list is for if they thought it was abusing it. Seriously, the commish allowed the Brewers to get around a rule. You don't see what I'm saying here? I guess I just disagree, if the person in charge of interpreting the rule says that its ok, they aren't really abusing it. I do get where you are coming from, I kind of think Bonds and Biggio are abusing the rules when they wear their body armor even though they obviously have the ok to wear them. Bud Selig is the commish and has strong ties to the Milwaukee Brewers. Do I need to spell it out for you?

teams put whole blocks of players onto waivers to mask which players they want to deal. If the Cubs wanted to move, say, Rich Hill after the non-waiver deadline, they'd put him on waivers along with Lee, Murton, Ramirez, Kendall and Dempster (for example) in hopes of having him clear while not tipping their hand as to what player might be on the block But in the case of Manny, and others, teams are looking to get out from under a contract, spark a trade market, or possibly light a fire under the player.

The commisioners office. They had to get the ok from baseball to put him on the list. I agree it walks the line between abuse and not abuse but they actually got the ok from people in charge of deciding if its abuse or not so you can't really blame the team for it. The commisoners office could have just said no, thats not what the list is for if they thought it was abusing it. Seriously, the commish allowed the Brewers to get around a rule. You don't see what I'm saying here?

They've had some recent successes against Glavine, but he's sporting a 3.64 career ERA, a WHIP around 1.2, and a record slightly over 500. I wouldn't say that's owning him. Glavine's record against the 1987-2002 Cubs probably shouldn't apply, since not one position player on the current team was on the team then. They've owned him for a few years now.

Usually you cannot use it for a baby, the fact that his wife had a C-Section let them file it as a surgery and the commishioner's office allowed it. There were no complications from the C-section though so it is kind of walking the line on whether or not it should be allowed, but the people in charge said it was ok so its not like they are sneaking around doing something wrong. And who are the people in charge? Seriously, I can't even begin to imagine what you were thinking by including those tidbits as support. It's abuse. Not saying nobody else has tried, or will try. But it's abusing the system.

His wife had a C-section which technically is a surgery so he was allowed on the list. Good to see teams abusing the bereavement option. How's that an abuse? He wasn't in last night's game and was expected to miss the entire series anyway. It's not like they were using it as a way of stashing a tired pitcher for a few games. It allows them to bring up somebody else. If teams could put all their starters on the bereavement list when they aren't scheduled to start, they'd do it. I doubt he's bereaving the birth of his child. It's a convenient way to allow him to get on the list by bypassing was it was truly intended for.

I highly doubt that.

Getting Wood back this week' date=' getting Ward back sooner than expected, but taking longer to get Blanco back. On the whole I'll take that deal (especially since, unbeknownst to the Cubs, they have a catcher named Soto tearing up AAA).[/quote'] I get the feeling Blanco is repaying Hendry for overpaying him by taking his sweet time to return after September 1 callups are allowed.

His wife had a C-section which technically is a surgery so he was allowed on the list. Good to see teams abusing the bereavement option.

he was actually quite unlucky. the first run was the result of some soft singles that found holes, the second was a result of a high fly by Iguchi that Jones lost sight of, and the third came on a dinger by Burrell when the pitch before very well could have been called strike three. he got away with a couple pitches, but also struck out Howard and got Rowand to gidp to get out of a couple of jams. it wasn't a great performance, but it wasn't like that game in Milwaukee really either. The single up the middle looked like it should have been a tailor-made double play. How far in the hole was Theriot? Against a LHP, I would think the SS would be cheating up the middle to help with the DP. Marquis hurt himself a bit, but pitched well overall. The Burrell at bat was annoying because he was basically pitching around him after he got crippled. So he lets it get to 3-2 and throws a fastball above the belt. I have a feeling anything on the groun,d either to the infield or outfield would have resulted in an out there, given his leg problem.

Bruce Chen?

Given his struggles against LHP, I'd definitely consider it. Maybe find a way to get Fontenot in there. I'm not sure how though. Neither Jones or DeRosa has done a thing against Glavine.

The story I've always heard is many players are passed through waivers long before any trades are put together. And teams put guys on waivers to light a flame under the potential trade market. Bottom line is post July 31 trades are much more difficult and complicated to pull off, and rarely result in any meaningful transactions.

He's been awful for most of the year, yes. But he's shown signs of being more than he's shown. For one, if Jacque is truly going to be the CF against RHP, I'd rather have Cruz platoon with him than Pagan, who, aside from this year, is typically better against RHP than LHP. Plus, if Murton is just going to get the occasional start against LHP, I'd rather he go back to the minors and have Cruz up there filling that role. Additionally, Cruz has always hit LHP, as much as Jones has hit RHP. And he's hit a bit better away from Petco than in Petco. I think Cruz is a better Pagan, and better suited to the role Murton seems to be playing as well. He's owed about $200,000 the rest of 2007, and I think he'd be a great pickup.

Especially from NY teams. I think their ineptitude against lefties could very well trump this long-standing and storied trend. Glavine is a strange lefty though. I think lefties hit better off him, which may give the Cubs a chance. He hasn't owned them in recent years the way most lefties have.

It'll drop. I'll predict it right now that the Blackhawks are going to disappoint and not make the playoffs. Mr Negativity always gotta ruin it...:P It's called reality man. Sure, the WS is likely the Cubs to win, and the Bears are a lock for the Super Bowl, but I'm telling you and all the other happy happy, joy joy everything is perfect newbies that the Blackhawks young players are going to disappoint this year and the team will be drafting high again next year. Oh, and the Bulls won't win the East either.

should be an option

It may have been me looking through rose colored glasses, but the highlights of Wood pitching on CSN (maybe 2 pitches) had me thinking his motion was much more calm and quiet than in the past. Wonder if he can maintain that with the inevitable surge of adrenaline the first time he pitches from the mound in Wrigley during a standing ovation.

The Cubs are good against guys going for 300.

It'll drop. I'll predict it right now that the Blackhawks are going to disappoint and not make the playoffs.

The intent is to throw to one of the two, and he succeeded in doing so.