jersey cubs fan

I don't know about the lining the coffers idea but it's pretty much an irrefutable fact that they have pulled back payroll they can afford to provide, but choose not to for now. A media member following this team absolutely should include statements like that in a discussion of the circumstances surrounding the team.

2016 is possible, but they'd probably have to mess up pretty bad to not be any good by 2015. They should get an impact player this summer, who could be contributing by the end of 2014, and the way things look to be going this season, they may get another one next year. They should have been able to field a decent team by now, and will be able to field a decent one next season, if they try. There's no reason why 2015 can't at least contend. They probably won't be 2008 good for a while longer though.

And of course Wittenmyer with the dig at ownership at the end. Is that what you are referring to? Because I don't see it as a dig at ownership at all, but rather a dig at a crappy baseball team.

Uh, yeah. Weirdness retracted. Now back to just a bit odd with the roster/lineup comments by the manager.

Could Emery work a deal with the guy that booted him out of his job in Atlanta before recommending him to KC?

Maybe they just wanted him to debut at home, not in a more *hostile* environment. Just spitballing. Not crazy, but I'm not sure how hostile a minor league park would be unless it was the one where the incident took place.

Paul Sullivan ‏@PWSullivan 5m Soler to return to lineup Thursday, two games after end of 5-game suspension, reports Daytona Beach News-Journal's @KernanSean http://www.news-journalonline.com/article/20130417/SPORTS/130419789/1001?Title=Cubs-farm-director-Soler-will-be-in-Daytona-starting-lineup-Thursday

I was saying I thought the whole thing was weird. Being written in but not actually there. Not knowing when he may be available. The apparent unofficial addition to the suspension, which indicates they think they can change the guy's personality by sending a message. The entire open ended nature of the situation. I would have expected them to send him back to the team with a mandate to play and not be a douche.

I love that quote. He's a country boy right? He had to have been just as close to lightning at some point in his life.

as weis21 said, there is a better than nothing chance he'll be an average-ish. To answer your question, the answer depends on the team. If you have some more quality elsewhere, those guys are probably acceptable. Everybody has weak spots. I think there's two ways to be good, having quality everywhere, even if you don't have any studs, or get a number of really good guys to offset your weaknesses. The Cubs have all sorts of weakness and not nearly enough really good guys to offset them. Any individual weakness they have is actually acceptable on an individual basis. But it's the collective weakness, and limited strength that hurts them.

Oops. Thought it was a different look for Carimi, but didn't know who else it might be. Carimi is slimmer(weaker looking) and walks around with a limp on his bad knee. Tough to see a limp in a still picture. Just an FYI, do not google image search the word limp.

Its strikes me as some sort of amateur psychiatric treatment.

Are we supposed to pretend we didn't already know this roster sucked before the season started?

That's just weird. What part is weird? That he's off suspension, back on the roster, listed on the lineup card but nobody knows when he'll be allowed to return to the team. I guess we could pretend that's not weird, if you'd prefer.

Last night brought me to a similar question. We spent all off season worrying about a RH infield platoon, especially a corner guy who could spell Rizzo against really tough lefties occasionally. We find lillibridge and Gonzales, then I hear that Baker signed a late minor league deal with texas and made the club in spring training. Now Baker is no long term answer but he hits lefties. He would have been cheap, and he is another bat off the bench when not platooning. Heck, we even got something in trade at the deadline last year, so we could do it again this year. Certainly we could have done without one of the little guys, or clevenger (since he is a lefty bat, we have that covered at every spot-1b,3b and c). It's just aggravating that his #1 skill- hitting lefties, is something that we seriously lack on this roster I could see somebody like Baker not wanting to go through another Cubs season if he was only getting the same kind of contract others were offering. It has to be tough to be a veteran on a team that isn't even trying to win and basically planning on a midseason firesale. They probably also factor in things like the early season miserable conditions, the team coming off three straight miserable seasons and an increasingly frustrated fan base and just don't want to deal with it, unless there's a financial benefit. Might as well sign with a team that has a chance.

He's got an absurdly high BABIP and had a pretty high one last year, too. Also, hasn't drawn a walk yet this year (probably just a SSS oddity, given his history). Either way, Soto didn't need that much luck to look good and still didn't end up being a solid starter for 5 years. Just saying it's a bit early to say that. Not too worried about the walks. His pitches per plate appearance are similar to DeJesus and, like you said, his history shows he'll take a few. Catchers are obviously one of the hardest positions to predict, but between his second half last year and the start to this year, I'm encouraged. There's reason to be encouraged but I still can't see penciling him in as a starter for 5 years at this point. Guys come and go at that position all the time. They will need to acquire depth at the position.

Neither of them have played organized baseball in quite some time. I don't think signing either would be a very good idea. Could make it easier to get that #1 pick though.

Don't remember, but maybe had something to do with the expansion of the passing game, and thus more receivers being on rosters. The teens were pretty much just QB's before, right?

That's just weird.

Yeah...lots of meatball whining about that. Can't retire every number from the 85 Bears. You really can't retire more than a couple. There are rules about what numbers players can use. There are 90 players on offseason rosters, 53 guys on the regular roster and as many as 60+ players on your roster at any point in the season. They already have more than 10 numbers retired so you start under 90 available to begin with.

It's hardly a flood. But they do run the risk of ruining the novelty of the event. It's like when Elmo wished it was Christmas every day and then nobody cared about Christmas anymore and it ruined it. It's a risk. But most teams still aren't involved and/or want to get involved. There's only a handful of teams playing. And it's in the dead time of the sports calender. There are no other options.

I like your ideas. One issue with opening night is that in a normal year that is October, the start of baseball playoffs, middle of NFL and College seasons. You won't be able to get access to any of the stadiums they have been wanting to use. MLS arenas could work, but the spectacle is playing in Wrigley Field, Yankee Stadium, Michigan Stadium, etc. Nobody knows what Red Bull Arena is. You could probably use something like RFK. Also, if you wanted to do it NFL style, with last year's Cup winner opening the following season, the lag time may not be long enough to do it. They would have to get creative with stadiums to make opening night work.

Print it out and put it on a t-shirt.

the reason being to elicit this type of reaction

It's hardly a flood.