WilcoFan

He played 2B. He was replaced by Tommie Herr.

That one was tough because I didn't want to double up on Rookie of the Year. He should get points for being played by crazy Gary Busey, though.

http://fiveoutstogo.com/2008/03/i-could-have-just-used-entire-roster-of.html I've tried to put together an all-star team of fictional players from movies and/or TV for this column I'm writing for a website. Here's what I've got. Any suggestions?

Hendry was one of the few GM's who had money to spend during that time frame. From '99 to '02, salaries and inflated contracts went crazy and DLee was one of them. I recall sometime in 2002 that there was a deal in place for Lee to go to Baltimore, but the deal fell through because Florida wouldn't pick up part of the contract. Lee was very much on the market. Florida practically dumped their whole team after their trip to the World Series, minus Cabrera and a few other cheap players. Just about every team in baseball was strapped with at least 1 really bad contract during that time. Hendry pawned his off on LA and the Trib has opened up the wallet a little more every year he's been the GM and he really doesn't have a whole lot to show for it. He's made some good trades. I won't deny that. But, the full body of work leaves A LOT to be desired. Regardless, Hendry is the one that pulled the deal off-he took the risk on the "overpaid" Lee, and it paid off. Baltimore didn't. The Yankees (who decided on Jason Giambi) didn't. The Red Sox didn't. The Cubs did. You can't ignore good deals because, in hindsight, they may seem like they fell in a guy's lap. There are myriad deals that seem a lot more one-sided with 20/20 hindsight. Like I wrote above, I don't think Hendry's made a good trade since the Nomar deal. I don't want him as the GM anymore, and the moment the new owner takes over, I'll be happy when he's fired. However, I can't begrudge him the good deals he did make.

Actually, it was Hee Seop Choi and Mike Naninni. But, that trade basically fell into Hendry's lap. Lee was on the market a full year before he was finally traded. Either no one wanted Lee's contract or very few could afford Lee's contract. Hendry had money burning a hole in his pocket and I just can't bow down at his feet for that one. The Aramis one fell into his lap even more than the Lee trade did. Pittsburgh was dumping anyone who made more than league minimum that year. Patterson got hurt, and practically the day after that Lofton and Ramirez were on a bus. Its not really fair to try and devalue any trade that might make Hendry look somewhat better by citing rumors and/or innuendo that surrounded the situation at the time. First of all, no one knows what really happened, who was really available, and to what extent any of them was a salary dump. More importantly, even if it was a salary dump, Hendry, not any other general manager, was the one who took on the salary. You need to take the career as a whole, not just a part of it. If not, you fall into the same trap that those who say "Ryan Theriot was a solid player last year if you take out his September" do. I don't think Hendry's made a good deal since Garciaparra deal, but I'll give him credit for being the one to get Lee and Ramirez, especially because I certainly doubted Ramirez (and over-valued Bobby Hill) when the deal happened.

ELAINE Donna Chang? JERRY Should've talked to her; I love Chinese women. ELAINE Isn't that a little racist? JERRY If I like their race, how can that be racist?..

Bands at the annual Len and Bob Bash: Year One: Ryan Adams Year Two: Son Volt That alone gets my vote for them...

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080304/SPORTS02/80304119/1050/rss15 Some discussion here about the Cubs sending bullpen arms to Detroit for (writer speculates) Inge or Thames.

Tell Larry Hughes to stop shooting the ball so much... He's a chucker, eh? And not quite a good of a scout as Cubs head scout Gary Hughes.

Tell Larry Hughes to stop shooting the ball so much...

That's utterly ridiculous. If you want to argue that spring training should be cancelled, that's one thing. But players come into spring training in shape-this isn't 1934 where they're pulling a double shift at the factory in the offseason. The only thing that can be accomplished during Spring Training is for management to get a feel for the team, especially new players. Aside from that, you're taking the quote waaaaaaaaay too far. In no way, shape, or form did he state that a decision had been made. He simply stated that he MAY make a change TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS. That's about as noncommital as possible. To imply that he simply made a snap decision and has completely made up his mind is dishonest. If anything, Piniella has shown a penchant to think out loud with reporters, and speculate as to some possible changes that, realistically, won't come to pass nearly as quickly as he states (see Dempster situation last season). This is a non-story.

Steve Stone is a very solid color guy who has been ridiculously overrated to the level of some kind of guru by a huge chunk of the Cubs' fan base. As such, many other fans have gone to equally ridiculous levels in undervaluing his contributions to a broadcast and general baseball knowledge. I think its fair to say he's one of the better color analysts in baseball with an ego that is far too large. That said, I'm very happy with Bob Brenly, who I think is an equal if not better color analyst with somewhat more relevant non-baseball anectdotes to add to a broadcast. As a young(er) listener, this is much appreciated.

I think this is kinda ridiculous. You wrote it yourself-this is Spring Training. The whole point, especially with players a manager has never seen before, is to try various things out and see if they work. Piniella said himself: "I might drop him back down to the two-spot and see what happens." It sounds like he's tinkering with things to see what works best. The last time I checked, that's the point of practice games. Why not? I'd much rather have a manager who tries things (ESPECIALLY in Spring Training) to see what might work best over a manager who is so wedded to his stupid philosophies that he refuses to try anything new. I think his quote here is telling: "Maybe the three-hole might be asking a little much too soon. We might drop him to the two-hole, and he might be more comfortable there." I don't think this has anything to do with "protection," or anything else we flippantly label "old school." I think it has more to do with the fact that Piniella probably believes that Fukudome is trying to drive the ball too much, thus expanding his strike zone, instead of remaining patient and trying to simply get on base. Putting him in the #2 hole might be a way to allow Fukudome to re-establish those facets that make him a good hitter. Most importantly, however, I think an Allen Iverson quote is probably the most important to remember for some perspective here. Practice? You're talking about Practice... Not the games. Practice...

No matter how many wins the Reds get this year, it'll be about 3-5 wins less than they would have gotten with a competent manager.

I think a moment must be taken to give Kudos to whatever scout has the foresight to get Hendry to target Ceda in the Walker deal. Pretty darn good get, especially if he either turns out to be a solid MLB pitcher or gets them a decent MLB player in a trade.

So is everyone going to go back through the old posts in every thread and highlight their amazing prognostication abilities now? As someone who has been rooting for Hill throughout the last two years, I hope he has a great year this year as well. But not because it would prove me right and I could shove it in people's faces-because it would help the Cubs win games.

He's one of the reds top 3 catchers paul bako is one of the reds' catchers, so david ross is one of the reds' top 2 catchers. Dusty Baker is the reds' manager, so paul bako could be the opening day starting catcher.

So my sense of things is that, whether or not this trade goes through, the season (at least from an offensive standpoint) hinges upon Pie's progression as a hitter, correct? If Pie puts together a decent offensive season from the 7 or 8 hole, the whole lineup takes on a different character. Theriot's lack of offense becomes more palatable, and the end of the lineup doesn't become one black hole after another. I guess, in a perfect world, I would prefer a GM that could produce a team for $120 million that doesn't have two potential gaping holes in the lineup, but I guess I can be (somewhat) comfortable with this right now. Hopefully Pie realizes at least some of the potential the Cubs scouts think he has.

We just posted a ton of spring training pics on our blog, and made it possible for you to browse them without having to scroll through a ton of posts. Feel free to check it out...the address is in my sig.

Not writing off the season, but not giving Lou the benefit of the doubt on every decision just because he made the playoffs last year. I got burned by giving Dusty the benefit of the doubt on every decision until "I'd rather see Guthrie vs. Lowell instead of Veres vs. Lenny Harris" and I'm not making the same mistake again. "In Dusty We Trusty" was a bunch of garbage and so is all of the man-love for Uncle Lou. I haven't seen Pineilla get nearly the man-love Baker ever got here, and I don't think most people who defend him rely simply upon the fact that the team made the playoffs to justify their belief in him. BTW, if the Brewers start off 24-10 again, it'll be really hard to not be 6-7 games out of first at least.

If Wrigley23 didn't intend to post the same comment twice above, its about the best unintentional comedy I've read on here in awhile.

"Facts? Who needs facts! You can use facts to prove almost anything that's even remotely true!" --Homer Simpson

Here's the problem: if you have an opinion that doesn't have a ton of support and is based mostly on your own biases (we all have them-I know I do), simply state your opinion and move on. Continually beating that opinion into everyone without even attempting to engage in a discussion about it is rather pointless, and no one should be surprised when people begin to react strongly to it. Its one thing to have an opinion, but its a completely different matter to restate that opinion over and over without addressing any of the counterarguments. Threre have been NUMEROUS counterarguments made, from the fact that Roberts and DeRosa have almost identical numbers over the last two years to the fact that there are other holes in the lineup for which the prospects available might be used in a trade to upgrade. These counterarguments may or may not have merit, but to simply disregard any and all other arguments and essentially repost the same argument over and over again is utterly ridiculous. I think its fairly clear why people are getting annoyed with him, and it has little to do with the merits of his argument.

You absolutely hate Soriano as a leadoff hitter, but love him as the #2? This is just getting ridiculous...you're just trying to get a rise out of people, aren't you?

This is why "Arrested Development" got canceled.