Little Slide Rooter

Not when there's a 700+-page politics thread and a 900+-page movie thread in Social. I do think it could become the longest thread actually related to baseball, though. Well the 2 big ones in terms of baseball threads to aim for are of course... Jake Peavy Thread (208 pages) Brian Roberts Thread (309 pages) True, but each of those threads lasted for about an offseason, give or take before being locked. This one will likely last this offseason, through the regular season, and well into next offseason unless it degenerates into a bunch of random personal attacks and such.

I guess if Buerhle signs takes the ultimate hometown discount "League minimum" and Aramis signs for 3 or so mill it could happen OK, Ramirez would be going overboard unless he really tanks this year, but Fielder and Buerhle are not at all unrealistic. Also, Lohses contract, which would have made '06-'09 Jim Hendry cringe has to be coming off the books in the next year or 2 as well.

Lord only knows what goes through WSR's mind. This is the guy who just said the '06 Cardinals seemed "unstoppable." Lord knows why N&G doesnt understand the concept of exaggertion. The Cards seemed to be running away with the divison at one point, and at one point ran out of gas, however, ended up winning it all in the end. To be honest, Ive done my best to block out the 2006 season, but thats how I remember it. And Im not saying that they wouldnt try their best to build around him, but the question is, can they get the guys to do so. Off the top of my head, I cant think of what free agents will be avaialble to fill the holes in the next few years, but I do know that as always, multiple teams will be after them, especially once our fellow underachieving big market teams, the Mets and Dodgers are ready to spend again.

Maybe this can hold us over until next winter http://www.foxsportsmidwest.com/gallery_images/5389_106435.jpg

The Cubs, obviously. They clearly don't have the same financial constraints as the Cardinals, which would preclude form your scenario in the first place. Not to mention we have at least some talent on the way, potentially. The Cards' system is pretty barren, so they won't be filling positions from within anytime soon. And in a few years, we ditch the Soriano contract as well. We're in very different financial situations down the road. And how long before we aquire or produce an Edmonds or Holliday? We have some very promising guys in the farm system, but nobody who really projects to be that guy, or even close. A lot of people seem to talk as though Pujols=World Series, but he only got the Cardinals 1, and remember, while the '06 Cards seemed unstoppable at one point, they pulled it off by the skin of their teeth. And then there was the 2004 team as well, and they had 4 guys with OPS over 1.000 in Pujols, Edmonds, Rolen and Walker. My point is that if we do sign Pujols, which I hope we do, I hope that their ready to build around him. Who knows, maybe Soto and Castro really do come into their own as stars, and Soriano can OPS in the .800s for the next few years. On a side note, when all is said and done, is there a good chanc that this becomes the longest thread in NSBB history?

Or it's just a ridiculous sum of money to those making middle-class wages. I certainly don't begrudge certain classes of people for what they make as it is what the market will bear. However, I just can't empathize with someone making $10 million dollars a year wanting to make $20 million. I want my bills to get paid on time. you don't really have to empathize with it as long as you understand it. you're talking about someone who lives a very wealthy lifestyle and would like to continue to do so for the remainder of their life... when you consider how much they lose to taxes, a personal trainer, nutritionist, agent, etc, they lose a pretty good chunk of that every year, and their potential to earn mega-bucks playing basically is basically done by age 40. albert pujols isn't worrying about how to pay his bills; he hasn't worried about that since his first year in the major leagues. plus guys just basically want to get paid what the market determines they are worth (unless they're negotiating with jim hendry, then they want more). Plus, each sports team is basically a company, and the company makes its money, and tons of it based on how well the company does, and how marketable it is. A guy like Pujols makes tone of money for his company, by helping the company do well, and is very marketable for not only the company but the city that thecompany is in, so in turn, the company willing to pay him the most will win his services.

too late for that. I'm just hoping he can contribute at this point. yeah, I think that train left the station 5 years ago.

Fielder, Buerhle, and Ramirez would cost more than $30 million in 2012 unless Buerhle and Ramirez really bomb this year. Ramirez is a long shot, but I could definitely see them go for Fielder to replace Pujols, and Buerhle has been all to vocal about his desire to play for the Cardinals. Hes good, but not good enough for the players union to hassle him too much about giving them a hefty discount.

OK, so say all of our wildest dreams come true and the Cubs give Pujols an A Rod like deal. Meanwhile, we waive goodbye to Aramis and Kosuke. Are we then in the same situation as the Cards were between Edmonds and Holliday giving pitcher no reason to pitch to Pujols in significant situations and find difficulty building an ofense around him? Meanwhile, say the Cards take that money, and sign Prince Fielder and Mark Buerhle, and still have money left over to improve on one of the other 3 infield positions. Maybe even Aramis Ramirez. In this scenerio, whose the better team in the long run?

Could it be that The Cards bras know that they cant afford him and build a quality team around them, and they made these offers they knew he wouldnt take just to make it look like they're doing all they can for the "greatest fans on Earth"?

Thats a hell of an obligaition for a guy whose had 1 good season. I guess as long as there are teams willing to bail the Blue Jays out of these contracts, they'll never learn.

Get that [expletive] the [expletive] out of here. You just made me a sad panda. With that rotation and an offense featuring the likes of Sammy Sosa, Moises Alou, Nomar Garciaparra, Aramis Ramirez, Derrek Lee, and up and comers Corey Patterson and Micheal Barrett, the future was nice and bright. It was hard to imagine not winning at least 2 World Series with that bunch.

Rumor has it, Mark Paweleks step dad let him move out of the garage and into the basement.

they asked him about playing football and he conceeded with all the ups and downs he thought about it. but seriously even three plus years away from the game he would probably be a starter with the bears. More realistically, he could go the Chris Weinke route, who after toiling in the Blue Jays farm system for several years went back to Florida State and eventually made it to the NFL for a few years. I think he was like 28 years old in his senior season.

Just out f curiosity, what was the deal with the Reds anyway?

If winning a World Series and the President of the United States cant make this a "Sox Town", nothing will.

I didnt suggest that The Cubs would have assumed that Hamilton would become what he did, just that they had seen the opportunity when he was available in the Rule 5 draft. When a former 1st overall pick becomes available for peanuts, and I believe that he was 22 or 23 at the time, and he could potentially fill a need that youve gone through crap like Jeromy Burnitz and Jacque Jones to fill, then theres no reason not to give the kid a look, personal problems or not. They could have invited him to spring training, and he likely would have made the club, again, instead of throwing a few mil at Cliff Floyd or Dayle Ward. Chances are that he would have spend most of 2007 as a 4th or 5th outfielder and left bat off the bench, but hopefully he would have then turned enough heads for a chance at a starting job.

Regardless, I cant imagine anyone rather having the undervalued Fukudome over Josh Hamilton. If nothing else, we could have kept him on as a 4th outfielder rather than signing the 58 year old Cliff Floyd. Hed have likely ultimately won the starting RF job, and we would have found that lefty power hitting outfielder weve been searching for since Sosa left. Fukudome and Bradley never would have happened, and there would have been an extra 20 mil or so in available payroll the past 3 years, and who knows what that could have become.

OK, I knw this as been beaten to death, and Hamilton was never meant to be a Cub, but still, its hard not to want to live in a world where the Cubs Rule 5d Hamilton for themselves and not the Reds. In this world, Hed have made a hell of a difference, and who knows how '07-'10 would have panned out with Hamilton in the lineup instead of the likes of Jacque Jones, the productive but grossly overpaid Kosuke Fukudome, and Milton Bradley. That lineup could probably have looked something like: CF Felix Pie 2B Mark DeRosa 1B Derrek Lee RF Josh Hamilton 3B Aramis Ramirez LF Alfonso Soriano C Geovany Soto SS Ryan Theriot Oh well, back to reality.

Assuming Young can play 2nd, would Soriano for Young be a possibility? Sori had some great years in texas, and he can play some DH as well as OF. Some cash would have to switch hands, but I think it would be a decent deal.

Prett much every player on the team is a question mark. If Ramirez and Pena can be a solid 3-4, the rest of the team should be able to build well around them. Fukudome and Castro should be a very good 1-2. If they can finally get over the catcher bat 7-8 crap, Soto should be a great number 5 guy, and a lot of managers would love to have Soriano and Byrd as their 6-7 hitters. As for the 8 spot, DeWitt and Baker could platoon to be a very solid bat at the end of the order.

Apparently these guys think that Starlin Castro morphs into Ryan Theriot.

Interesting list. It would suck if the Cards got him, but while their struggling to retain Pujols, I doubt they can afford to take on any extra money, and they dont have the prospects to make the deal worth the Rangers eating enough money,unless they were willing to add Shelby Miller, but then again, if Rasmus wants out, Young for Rasmus might not be the worst trade in the world as long as the Rangers send over enough cash. Between Freese, Theriot, and Schumaker, Im sure the Cards would love an upgrade at 1 of those 3 positions. The Yankees have nowhere to put him. The Astros are in a mess of a rebuilding phase, so he wouldnt make sense for them given his age and salary. Twins and Padres would probably be good fits for him, but neither team is known for taking on other teams big contracts. The Angels just took an awful contract off the Blue Jays hands, so I dont think theyd want to eat another one. I guess they could use some help on the right side of the infield, offensively. THis leaves the Dodgers and Rockies as decent fits.

This is part of the reason that we'll never be able to trade Soriano without eating the majority of his salary. By then, he'll only be good as a DH, and as long as there are guys like Vlad, Manny, and Thome willing to to take 1 year deals at 5-8 mil, who the hells going to want to give up any more money for Soriano?

Adding Jim Edmonds, and Lance Berkman to Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday, this would have been one hell of a murderers row in the early-mid 00's.