soapy

Yeah, actually it does. Stocked has no reference to quality, just quantity. The Cubs have more than 5 starters going into the season, and will have Wood and Miller joining as the season goes on. They have more than one kid who could plug-in a spot start if someone else goes down in April or May. That very easily qualifies as stocked, regardless of whether you think the quality is just mediocre across the board (which it isn't - it's killer at 1-2 and average from 3-5, which incidently makes it better as a whole than 80% of the league). Maddux is the number 3, even with decline. With similar ERAs, but with a vastly superior strike-out to walk ratio and lower WHIP, Maddux is still better than Williams. Even if they are "stocked" (I disagree with your definition), I wouldn't want to trade someone of Williams' talent for someone of Kearns' talent, period. It's not selling high at all. Williams is 24 years old. Maddux is 39. I'm sorry, but I totally disagree that Maddux > Williams. Looking at 2005 alone, they were pretty equal. Williams only got better as the season progressed and is much more likely to continue to do so. Maddux has declined in the last few years and is much more likely to continue to do so. Frankly, (I'm going to be in the minority here) I'd rather trade Hill or Brownlie before I traded Williams. Maybe even Guzman (I doubt it).

Well you can't just let him sit in the bullpen when there isn't a save chance. He's got to get out and use him arm like any other pitcher every once in a while. I'm not advocating sitting him for long stretches. I'm talking about pitching him for a 2nd or 3rd day in a row when the Cubs are up by 5 going into the 9th. I seem to remember that happening often last year and it drives me crazy.

If the pen turns out to be as deep as it could be, I hope that Dusty starts getting away from using Dempster in non-save situations (unlike last year) unless completely necessary.

Marco was getting double-teamed, Cacique. That should leave a player in good shape for an open shot. With Kline as your 5 for most of the second half and Suhr playing over 20 minutes, Iowa was able to take advantage of multiple mismatches. Kline may be 6-8, but he plays like he is 6-4. That said, Indiana had NO ONE on the floor that could matchup with Brunner OR Hansen OR Haluska. Indiana was only down 3 points at the half, and Killingsworth was taken out of the game soon after the beginning of the second half. You can cuss Killingsworth for not finding the open man, but you will NOT win with on the bench. The game was not over when Davis benched Killer, IMO... I'm all for benching him for a couple of minutes when he isn't in foul trouble (or tired) to prove a point. Benching him for ten minutes in that scenario is a death sentence for you team when there is no legitimate 4 or 5 on the court. I don't necessarily disagree with you on any of this. Erik Suhr is terrible. All this pepper-pop crap makes me want to puke. He stinks. I don't care how "smart" he is or how much he "hustles". He's still bad. Problem is, they didn't really have much choice with Strickland injured and Ratliff playing only nine minutes because of foul trouble. Kline can be thrown into that same catagory (though he played respectable last night). They were only down three at half, but Iowa opened up with what, an 11-0 run to start the 2nd half? That's when Killer got benched. He obviously wasn't getting much help from the outside, but he was being out worked the entire game. His defense was terrible, at best. As far as being double teamed, he better get used to it. He needs to be able to pass out of that double team. Right now, that part of his game seems kind of hit-and-miss. Davis is not without blame either. The coach is ultimately responsible for the product on the floor. If his players aren't motivated, he needs to either find a way to motivate them, or figure out a different rotation to put on the floor. I absolutely agree that having Kline as your only "big man" on the floor is a terrible idea. There were a few times last night where Vaden was basically the only legitimate scoring threat on the court. I thought Allen was okay last night too. I hope he'll get some more minutes as a result.

I would like to have Kearns on the team. I see no reason why he, Murton and Jones can't split up playing time between the three of them. However, I wouldn't trade Williams for him. Call him "surplus" or whatever you want, but I think he's being extremely underated here. He's, what, 23 years old? If Wood isn't healthy, Williams is probably the Cubs' 3rd best pitcher.

I actually thought that benching Killingsworth, et al. was a pretty good move. They clearly weren't going to win that game the way they were playing. Killingsworth wasn't just off, he was playing poorly defensively, and was getting out hustled/out worked all night. I felt like Davis was sending a message to everyone on the team. I don't care who you are, if you don't bring your best effort every night, you won't play. He was basically pulling a Bob Knight.

I love it when people open threads (that are clearly marked, mind you) only to complain that they are sick of reading posts about said topic. It's dynamite.

As a Pistons fan, yes, yes, yes.

Hill and Guzman could also conceivably be added to that list.

The Yankees clearly need to upgrade their offense.

Congrats to Marco. Big one tonight. IU is going to have to win a few tough road games to have a chance at the Big Ten title. Tonight will be a tough game for sure. Vaden and/or Ratliff are going to have to show up on the offensive end for them to win.

A tidbit from Bruce Miles this morning: http://www.dailyherald.com/sports/sportsstory.asp?id=146300 Not sure what he means by a "good chat", but maybe Walker will be kept around. I still don't think so. He'll be traded sometime during spring training, IMO. At this point I'm just hoping for a big performance from Hairston.

Williams is definitely not getting enough love around here. I think he's going to surprise a few people. I think the Miller signing is fine. It's not much of a loss if he doesn't pan out. As many have said, if he does pan out, it opens up several trade possibilities mid-season.

My guess is either Soriano or Vidro will be traded before the season if Vidro is healthy. Probably sometime during Spring Training so that teams can (sort of) verify that Vidro is in fact healthy.

Yes. He'll be traded to Baltimore for a mid-level prospect with the Cubs picking up most of the salary.

It appears that Hendry values Rusch over Williams so the speculation about his departure may have legs. That's unfortunate. If Hendry feels that way, I really disagree with him. Williams > Rusch. Having said that, I kind of figured Rusch was penciled into the rotation when he was signed. I doubt Hendry invisioned three LHP in the pen when he signed Glendon.

I'm interested in knowing if those questions are screened. I've never been so I'm not familiar with the proceedure they use. If they are, most of those questions I'm sure won't be asked. Anybody know? Questions are not screened. People line up at microphones and wait their turns. Okay. Thanks, Bruce (and Jon). It will certainly be interesting to see what is asked. I hope someone in attendance can give us a nice summary. I'm particularly interested in the MI situation and what they have to say about Wood's use last year.

I'm interested in knowing if those questions are screened. I've never been so I'm not familiar with the proceedure they use. If they are, most of those questions I'm sure won't be asked. Anybody know?

Actually they'll just say they are not assuming Kerry will miss any time. Sad but probably true. Edit: Also, they'll mention that Kerry "wanted" to pitch.

This is where you'd need a follow-up. Okay, so he said you couldn't do more damage, but given the likelihood that Wood will not be ready for opening day, would you not have been better off having him get the surgery a month earlier and starting his rehab earlier? And even though the doctor said he wouldn't suffer anymore damager, wouldn't common sense tell you that a pitching injury could be made worse by pitching? And given your terrible track record of having pitchers stay healthy, and get back to healthy after injuries, don't you think that taking the cautious approach with this one, would have been the wise approach? Expected answer (which is complete BS): Well, of course hind-sight is always 20/20. There is no way we could have known that would delay his rehab for the 2006 season. Also, we were still in the thick of the wildcard race at that point and thought having Kerry in the bullpen pitching one inning every third day might be just what we needed to put us over the top. On top of that, it was very important to us to finish over .500.

Although I do think that Walker is more productive then Lugo, that doesn't bother as much as including Williams in the deal bothers me. I think he's a lot better then he's getting credit for from some people. He's young, cheap, and effective. Honestly, I prefer him to Hill (and even Guzman if you take injuries into account).

Very disappointing. Mike Davis teams have typically been pretty good at that end of the floor. They also got murdered on the boards. MSU drove the ball into the lane at will. Once they figured out they could do that, the game was over. Despite his offensive prowess, Killingsworth had only ONE rebound all night. That's unacceptable IMO. I'm again dissapointed that Strickland couldn't step up in a big game. He made a few nice plays here and there, but nothing to get excited about. Killingsworth and Vaden are the only people who look like they really want to make a play.

As of right now (I'm going to assume Walker is gone): Pierre Hairston Lee Ramirez Jones (ugh) Murton Barrett Cedeno I hope that either Murton or Barrett can step up and maybe move into the 5th spot. That, or Jones has a bounce back year (which I think is less likely then the former). Also, Murton could find himself in the 2-spot if he continues to show that he can get on base at a high percentage (with Hairston moving down to 7th or 8th). If Neifi is starting, he hits 8th and Murton or Cedeno hit 2nd. Overall, a pretty unimpressive lineup. It could possibly be productive, but it could also be pretty terrible. There are several question marks (Hairston, Jones, Murton, Cedeno, maybe even Pierre).

It sounds like Hardy is done with Basketball. From what I read, he only really practiced once, but couldn't really get it going because of the injuries he was carrying over from football. Maybe he'll change his mind now that White it out, but I doubt it. He's missed too much time IMO. I really hate the idea of Kline getting more court time. Unfortunately, that's what has to happen at this point. I'm sure Allen will get plenty too, but I can't really see him bodying (word?) up with some of the big men in the Big Ten. So, is it time to start worrying that White is going to be the next Grant Hill?

true? please no. It's somewhat true. Nothing about re-breaking his foot. Completely different injury, but yeah he's gonna be out for a while, I doubt we see him back this year. http://iuhoosiers.collegesports.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/010906aaa.html Peegs' version... http://indiana.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=499366