Little Slide Rooter

Of course a lot can happen, especially injuries. My point is that I can't see anybody not picking the Phillies in the NL East at this point. If Halladay and/or Lee gets seriously injured, then obviously I might reconsider. Thats pretty much true with any team, take out one of their pitchers, and it hurts their chances, IE The Cardinals and Wainright. Besides, if there was such a thing as a lock or a sure thing in baseball, wed be looking at the 2004, 2008 and 2009 World Champion Chicago Cubs.

League min is 414,000 for 2011. Good GOD, how can these men afford to feed their families? With gas prices the way they are, some of them might not even be able to afford a yact.

In related news, it looks like the Mets are about to finally cut Big Game Ollie. As opposed to Zito, I wouldnt recomend going near him for any amount of money.

Cant find a link right now, but Ive read or heard multiple reports that the Giants are considering dumping Barry Zito all together. Now dont get me wrong here, Im not suggesting that the Cubs go after him, although at league min, it would be hard to blame any team for taking a chance. Still, I dont get why theyd do that. They owe the guy another 65 mil through 2013. Now if I understand correctly, if they cut him, they eat that anyway. While Zitos been hugely dissapointing, there are enough teams desperate for starting pitching that theyd probably be willing to take him off the Giants hands, especially if the Giants are willing to eat all, or at least a good portion of his salary. If they're willing to pay the money anyway, why wouldnt they try to at least get a few solid prospects out of the whole mess? I bet the Yankees for one would be willing to send them a few prospects and a few million dollars.

Whatever happened to that guy? he was...interesting.

Yeah, I have them on Twitter, so I jumped a bit before I checked it and realised that it was the guy on the Astros, which sucks for them because hes supposed to be pretty good and theyre not exactly swimming in talent.

In a perfect world, it should be Leon Durham, Alex Gonzalez, and Jim Hendry. You should be very afraid of a perfect world. How did this gem go unnoticed? Maybe because people are getting bored with random attacks. Just a theory though.

I can't hate on Leon. He was my favorite player as a kid. When Mark Grace "replaced" him (or so I saw it as a kid), I stopped watching the Cubs for a while. He had himself a very good career, but he was our Buckner. Its kind of surprising how Bill Buckners error is so legendary, but Durhams, which was just as crucial, despite being in the NLCS instead of the series is not. Everyone talks about goats, black cats, and foul balls, but Durhams error seems to squeak through the cracks. As does Alex Gonzalez True. Gonzalez squeaks by because of Bartman, but Durham didnt have a Bartman. Dont get me wrong, Im not one of the blame Bartman people, just stating that thats the reason why Gonz gets forgotten. That and he kind of sucked to begin with, as opposed to Durham who was pretty good.

In a perfect world, it should be Leon Durham, Alex Gonzalez, and Jim Hendry. In a perfect world, those 3 wouldn't exist. I can't hate on Leon. He was my favorite player as a kid. When Mark Grace "replaced" him (or so I saw it as a kid), I stopped watching the Cubs for a while. He had himself a very good career, but he was our Buckner. Its kind of surprising how Bill Buckners error is so legendary, but Durhams, which was just as crucial, despite being in the NLCS instead of the series is not. Everyone talks about goats, black cats, and foul balls, but Durhams error seems to squeak through the cracks.

In a perfect world, it should be Leon Durham, Alex Gonzalez, and Jim Hendry.

I nt mind it being the Yankees. Better them than the Cardinals, White Sox, or Brewers. I wont even say Reds, because I dont think hed go anywhere near that man again.

Its an exhibition game in the middle of the afternoon. I definitely have interest in the team, but it will take a while to get me back to the point where Ill hang on every game from the first game of spring training until the end of the season when the E# hits 0 or they roll over in the playoffs.

looks like the bullpens picking up where they left off.

I remember Sean Burroghs. Never heard of Ryan Anderson, and had no idea that John Rauch was ever a top 5 guy. Is #19 the same Jerome Williams we got in the Latroy trade? I never ever knew he was a one time top prospect.

Zambrano has pitched well in the past when the Cubs weren't out of it, when there was pressure, and when people really cared what was going on. Doesn't matter. Too many fans only see him as some kind of bloated psycho who is a much, much worse pitcher than he actually is. I think hes a great pitcher. I didnt blame him for getting fired up last year, although Derrek Lee wasnt the guy to go after. Im truely relieved that they didnt trade him for some fringe prospects and salary relief or something awful like Oliver Perez and/or Luis Castillo, although if the Cubs do fall out of contention early on, I wouldnt be surprised to se them dangle him in front of the Yankees. Hes one of the main keys to the 2011 Cubs success.

Someones bound to need a 3B next season, and looking at the options, unless Aramis falls flat on his face this year, its hard to imagine him not getting at least a 3 year deal from somebody.

Lets try this again here with a bit less douchebagery shall we? Erik raises a legit point. Yes, Z came back at the end of last year looking like an ace, but by then, the Cubs were wel out of it, there was no pressure, and nobody really cared whats going on. Lets see how he comes back for a fresh season when people start paying attention again, and hopefully, the team is relevant again.

curses, Ive been Nuts&Gummed.

83-85 wins may take the division, but it won't be because it sucks. This is the best it's been a long time. Im suddenly feeling pretty confident about this team, at least within the divison. Dusty lead teams have a habit of crashing and burning after a postseason appearence. As for the Brewers, you have to like that rotation, but the entire offense is incredibly streaky and inconsistant, plus you have a very rocky bullpen, and 3 blatent black holes in the lineup at CF, SS, and C. As for the Cubs, you have a solid rotation, a potentially shut down bulpen if they can stay healthy, and while we dont have a Pujols, Braun, or Votto, we have capble bats 1-8, even a DeWitt/Baker platoon is better than most 8 spots in the NL, plus if Quade can look past the grittyness of Koyie Hill and Fernando Perez and puts Reed Johnson and Max Ramirez in their place, we have a very solid bench as well. And of course the Hendry factor, if its close in July, he can pull off a big trade, which the Brewers likely cant do after emptying out the farm for Greinke and Marcum. Sadly, one the playoffs arrive, I fully expect the NL Central representative to be dispatched of as quickly as it has since 2007.

In '08 it was Hoffpauir. In '09 it was Fox. In '10 it was Colvin. Who will it be in 2011?

Welcom back to 2007. To be honest, I dont think that The Cards were much more than a 82-84 win team to begin with, and this pushes them to more like a 75-79. Any game that Pujols or Holliday miss, may as well chalk up as a loss for them. Despite what LaRussa says, Im sure that theyre feverishly persuing Milwood, and possibly Fausto Carmona. I mean the only offer Milwood had was a minor league deal with the Yankees who are also desperate for some pitching, so how expensive can he be? Im sure hed sign for 8.25/hour for the priveledge of playing for Dave Duncan and the best fans ever. Mediocre at best as the division may be, it will also be a competitve and exciting one.

Wasnt there an entire thread at one point about whether or not Aramis should practice bunting? Couldnt help but think of that when I came across this one. http://d.yimg.com/a/p/sp/ap/7c/fullj.e71d96c7386961a98ec86fa5811f24a1/ap-35c4d0eb71ce4db9acc2daf8809738c6.jpg

I really can't blame scalpers for wanting to make easy money, but I philosophically agree with your statement. I know a lot of people who buy tickets only to re-sell them, but I personally would feel a little shady making a large profit at someone else's expense. If only the folks who ran the oil companies thought like you.

If Vitters isn't ready after this season and Ramirez performs well in 2011, instead of taking a chance on Smith for a season, why not pick up the option on Rammy? With all the other money coming off the books next season and the level to which Ramirez performs when healthy, I think the Cubs could afford it and it would likely be worth it, especially if Ramirez plays more than 130 games. For 6 consecutive seasons prior to last year, he posted an OPS of .898 or higher. Setting the money aside for a moment, ask yourself if the Cubs could find a replacement at 3B who could put up that kind of production? If it were possible to have Ramirez on the team in 2012 and still sign Pujols, I would want to do it. Fukudome 13.5 million Silva 9.5 million (11.5 million - 2 million buyout) Pena 10.0 million Grabow 4.8 million Samardzija 2.0 million Total 39.3 million The nice part about the players above is that their replacements are already on the team or in the system, meaning they're all expendable and they won't cost anything to replace. Sign Pujols for 30 mill and use the 9.3 million for raises, and keep Ramirez. C Soto 1B Pujols 2B ? SS Castro 3B Ramirez LF Soriano CF Jackson RF Colvin SP Garza SP Dempster SP Zambrano SP Cashner SP Wells RP Marmol RP Wood RP Marshall ? ? ? That's not a bad team. The Cubs are only paying 6 million for Silva this year with Seattle paying the other 5.5 so that takes some money out of the equation. But I would agree that they would at least consider keeping Ramirez even if it meant raising the payroll a little bit (or maybe trading Byrd who you don't have in your lineup). I agree fully. Ramirezes 2012 option is for 16 mil, but why not pick it up, sign Pujols, trade Byrd and call it an offseason? I agree with the 1-4 in the rotation, but I could see Jay Jackson, Carpenter, Coleman, or even McNutt giving Wells a challenge for that 5 spot. Even if we do stick with DeWitt at 2B, hes no worse than the majority of 8 hitters in the NL, hed probably be one of the better ones. I could see: Jackson Castro Pujols Ramirez Soto Soriano Colvin DeWitt P

Link Bautista just signed a very ill advised 5 year extension and I could have sworn that Corey Hart signed an extension with the Brewers last season. Sizemores the only guy on that list that Id really want, assuming he bounces back from injury. However, if Sizemore really does have a bounceback, nobody not called the Yankees or Red Sox would be able to work him and Pujols into the budget.