NCCubFan

And his total for last year (his career high to date) was 127.

If the Cubs keep him they WILL offer him arbitration and we'd at least get draft pick compensation. I know that hasn't been Hendry's MO in the past but I don't think even he is stupid enough to let Lilly go for absolutely no return. Hopefully Ricketts wouldn't even allow him to do that. I've heard that he'd accept arb if offered. That's fine with me if he does. It would only be for one year and they could try to trade him again next year.

So Hendry finally realized that there was a reason Howry couldn't even stick with a team with a historically bad bullpen.

If the Cubs keep him they WILL offer him arbitration and we'd at least get draft pick compensation. I know that hasn't been Hendry's MO in the past but I don't think even he is stupid enough to let Lilly go for absolutely no return. Hopefully Ricketts wouldn't even allow him to do that.

I think Cowley tweet suggests that the Sox are trying to do something different knowing Jackson trade is still available. With KWs track record, it will be a deal no one has a clue about until it is completed. I don't know if I would classify this as "big" but could Lilly be going to the White Sox? It was the site for my CBS Sports fantasy league where I read the Jackson for Dunn rumor. I didn't post the link because only members of the league would be able to access the site. It may be posted on the main CBS Sports site too; I didn't check.

I read that the Sox would flip Jackson to the Nationals in a trade for Dunn.

I don't think so. No big deal if that's the case; it's not like I'm going to win this week anyway. Garza took care of that Monday night.

I don't see that. I believe Larry stays as pitching coach regardless of who the manager is.

I'd rather have Z take over Cashner's roll and have Cashner start a couple of games. It sounds like Z's going to be in the bullpen anyway. But what if Cashner has already eaten that roll? If he hasn't it's probably stale by now anyway.

Rauch lost the closer job in Minnesota due to the Matt Capps trade. Is that a legitimate reason for replacing him with a free agent midweek?

You're next in line if there is.

Time to retire this thread since the preseason thread has been started.

In the end he may single-handedly make the DeRosa trade a winner for the Cubs regardless of what Stevens and Gaub eventually develop into.

Cantu's still playing in the game for the Marlins. Rosenthal's tweet says "Marlins' return for Cantu will be..."; maybe I'm reading it wrong? I interpret the wording as indicating the trade hasn't been completed yet. Maybe it's still being negotiated. I think "will be" may be the key words here.

I'm sure it's happened, but I can't find (or don't know how to search) for an instance of a pitcher and catcher having the same name (though possibly different spellings). I'm not sure if they were ever teammates, but one possibility is Scott Service and Scott Servais.

I know there's at least one opening (Jim Sorgi posted that he isn't playing this year), so I sent you a PM with the information to register.

I don't see that happening. The Cubs could then allow the claim to go through and the claiming team would be on the hook for the entire remainder of his contract. From the Cubs' perspective that would probably be the best possible outcome.

Traded by Chicago Cubs with Jamie Moyer and Drew Hall to Texas Rangers in exchange for Mitch Williams, Paul Kilgus, Steve Wilson, Curt Wilkerson, Luis Benitez and Pablo Delgado (December 5, 1988). Great trade If I recall correctly, Drew Hall was the Cubs top prospect at the time, also. Hall was the Cubs' first round draft pick (3rd overall) in 1984. I think he was considered a bust by the time he was traded, though. He pitched in 21 games for the Cubs in 1987 (6.89 ERA) and 19 games in 1988 (7.66 ERA); all of his appearances both years were in relief. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/halldr01.shtml EDIT: I wonder if you're actually thinking of Mel Hall. He was a top prospect who was traded to Cleveland in 1984 as part of the Rick Sutcliffe trade.

So far dew, Andy, and da Bum have registered, and we know there will be at least one opening for a new member. Three of the four current members are Ball State grads.

I have renewed the league and sent invitations through Yahoo to last year's members. If anybody participated last year but did not get the invitation through Yahoo you can send me a PM through NSBB and I can provide the information you need to register. As I explain in more detail in the invitation through Yahoo I made a few changes to address issues that were raised last year. I changed return yards and TDs from team defense scoring to individual player scoring; this should address the issue of bad defenses putting up good scores because of kickoff return opportunities after giving up TDs. And I added a couple more active players (and correspondingly reduced the number of bench positions, which I thought was a bit excessive anyway, to keep total roster size the same). This should reduce the impact of one player (usually a QB) on total team score. If anybody who participated last year sees this post and does not plan to participate again this year I'd appreciate your posting this so I know if there will be any vacancies to be filled. If there are any vacancies I'll fill them on a first-come, first-serve basis, so if you are interested in joining the league please post so here and I'll invite the appropriate number of new members if anybody doesn't return. The only requirement for participating in the league is that you must be committed to remaining active all year regardless of whether you remain in playoff contention or not.

Former Raiders safety Jack "The Assassin" Tatum has died of a heart attack at age 61. He may be best known for his tackle of Patriots' WR Darryl Stingley that left Stingley paralyzed for life.

The article has her current position wrong. She's Secretary of State, not Attorney General.

And even more changes for you to make in tomorrow's lineup. :D

The Cubs have a major role in the Mets not having a no-hitter. In 1969 Tom Seaver had a no-no against the Cubs through 8 1/3 innings, but pinch-hitter Jimmy Qualls got a hit with one out in the 9th.

Yep, longest current and longest in history at 44 years, 321 days as of today. Second longest was the Yankees at 44 years, 263 days that ended in 2003. The Cubs were no-hit twice in two weeks in 1965, the latter of which was on September 9, 1965 by Sandy Koufax, and haven't been no-hit since. The no-hitter by Koufax was a perfect game (back when that was a special accomplishment). The Cubs' pitcher that day, Bob Hendley, pitched a one-hitter.