soapy

That is a possibility, however, the Cubs are notoriously short-sighted and schizo with guys. They knew Bradley was a combustible nut job with inconsistent productivity and health concerns. and after one year of him doing almost exactly what many thought he'd do, they are trying to get rid of him. When they acquired Harden they acknowled he need to be treated cautiously, given extra rest between starts, and for the most part they did that in 2008. Then, in 2009, they throw all that out the window and expect him to be an every 5th day pitcher, and seemingly sour on him when that doesn't turn out to be a good idea. They gave up on Pie in a heartbeat, introduced Patterson to the public as a middle of the order hitter then allowed a bad manager to try and turn him into a slappy Otis Nixon wannabe. They change their minds and give up on guys really quickly when they don't fit into whatever flavor of the month "need" they feel they have to fill. It's possible they know Harden's shoulder is worse than it looks, but it's also entirely possible that they just don't want a guy who is guaranteed to not give you 33 starts and 200 innings, even though that's exactly what they knew they were getting when they traded for him. oh that's certainly a possibility and i wasn't attempting to dispute that. there is always the possibility (maybe even probability) that they are just handling it poorly.

seems like Thomas and Maroney are the way to go. sooo...at what point do I bail on Forte and bench him? my other options to replace him aren't much better being Hightower (or Wells) and Ricky Williams.

Unless the Cubs know something about Harden's health that's not public, the answer seems obvious. The fact that there seems to be some speculation that they won't attempt to bring him back makes me wonder what they know/think about his shoulder. The situation with Lilly would seem to cement the fact that they should bring Harden back.

i'd say mixed, for me. i don't have anything against Orton and i wish him the best, but there is definitely a part of me that feels...glad (maybe not the right word) to see him struggle a little. partially because i'm bitter about the Bears and partly because i don't want to hear people prop up Orton as some sort of mythical "winner" who just wins no matter what while Cutler gets the whole "he's not a winner" rap. if the Bears had Orton instead of Cutler at QB this year they'd probably have two wins.

sigh...i'm pretty deflated at this point. i'll be in Miami Beach so i probably won't worry about watching this one. i'll probably end up being glad i didn't. i guess i'll try to come up with something positive...uh...the o-line didn't seem quite as worthless yesterday? i got nothin. edit: if i can just vent for a second; i really freakin' hate it when the colts have a great season in conjunction with a terrible bears season. just makes the whole thing even more painful. of course they eek out another win yesterday to remain perfect. i usually don't have much venom toward the "home" team, but my frustration with the bears really brings out the worst in me.

We have, really? So me and you, along with the other people on this board have not only been around for two centuries, but we've spent it screwing over black people? Funny, I don't recall being 200 years old and I don't recall screwing over black people. Have you, someone else on this board? Please enlighten me. 45-50 years ago a black person couldn't even sit in the same restaurant or drink from the same drinking fountain as whites in many places. It's disingenuous to act like civil rights injustices in this country took place eons ago in a time that nobody can remember. Fair enough, thats still a generations difference and its still something that the majority of white people either weren't aroud for or didn't support. Blatant racism or hatred towards white people is no more justified than any other form of racism. maybe i missed someone saying it is, but i haven't seen that. of course it's not. i've tried not to comment too much in this thread because i'm sure this is a topic people will never agree on, but i think expecting hundreds of years of oppression (to put it very mildly) to be completely swept away and forgotten by the parties involved (particularly the oppressed) in a generation is completely irrational. i think you also underestimate the number of people still active in our society who lived through some of these things.

We have, really? So me and you, along with the other people on this board have not only been around for two centuries, but we've spent it screwing over black people? Funny, I don't recall being 200 years old and I don't recall screwing over black people. Have you, someone else on this board? Please enlighten me. 45-50 years ago a black person couldn't even sit in the same restaurant or drink from the same drinking fountain as whites in many places. It's disingenuous to act like civil rights injustices in this country took place eons ago in a time that nobody can remember.

Sounds like Hester missed practice again yesterday and may not go.

I'm not sure how the "It happens in other cities too" stuff matters. I don't read the article to indicate that this is a Chicago-only thing and I don't really see how the notion that it probably happens elsewhere makes it any more tolerable.

I got Forte at #5 in my draft and I'm about ready to give up myself. I think this would be another selling low proposition though. I'm starting Benson and Westbrook this week and leaving him on the bench. Forte also faces Baltimore and Minnesota weeks 15/16 (playoff time) which further reduces his value IMO. If you can get another elite back for him and a WR I would certainly consider it. Currently have an offer of Ronnie Brown for Forte and Jennings but I'm pretty cold on it.

This feels like the Milton Bradley thread. Heh...

How could the Bears have blackballed him, when hes on a team? The veterans treated him like crap. The Urlacher/Brown/Kreutz triumvirate apparently thought he never should have been drafted and they did their best to not welcome him into the team. Was it that they didn't think he should've been drafted, or they didn't like that he held out? I always thought it was the latter. I mean, he freaking cried like a baby on national TV about being treated like a piece of meat after he got drafted and then heldout. Then when he signed he was pissed that he wasn't automatically the feature back and whined that the vets were being hard on him (which they probably were). I hate to sound like a meathead, but the guy acted like a bitch from the moment he got drafted and then wasn't productive on top of it (due in part to the poor offensive line). He brought it on himself.

When you're the [expletive] fourth pick in the entire draft and you can't even get 700 yards rushing in a season with the amount of carries you got and then you go out and drive and boat while drunk, you shut your mouth! YOU SHUT YOUR MOUTH AND KEEP YOUR QUOTES OUT OF THE PAPERS! Haha, nice. Somehow I don't think Benson is the type to do that :) The Pisa news really sucks. It seems every year this team can't really stay healthy. I don't know what could possibly be done about it at this point. We've got the strength/conditioning coach everyone says is a guru. It's a pretty helpless feeling. Who will be next? Probably someone who is having a good year. I don't want to say it. I don't want to even think it......

and the hits keep on coming...

I'm actually trying to figure out a way to trade Jennings as well (or one of my other receivers) for a running back. For whatever reason, he's just not being targeted as much as I expected. Driver has seven more targets than him thru five games. The problem with Thomas is it looks like Bell may be vulturing his TDs moving forward. My guess is he's probably a good bet to be pretty productive though and I'd probably do that trade considering your other WR/TE options available. EDIT: Having said that, Thomas has a tough matchup this week against the Dolphins. If you're looking at him as a one-week replacement for Rice, the timing could be better. Not to steal your thread, but in a similar vain, I have Jennings, S. Smith (NYG), Colston and Breaston (we start three WRs). I'd love to unload one of them for a solid RB. I'm thinking of trying to include Forte in a deal so I can go after an elite-type RB in return, but I'm not sure if it's too early to give up on him. The other part of it is deciding which WR to part with. Part of me wouldn't mind unloading Smith in an effort to sell high, but Jennings is the guy I'm probably down on the most. At this point I'm wondering if I can still bill him as a #1 WR to my trade partner. Thoughts?

My guess...........Soriano, then Soto, and perhaps Fontenot. IMO, it has to be in the order for the Cubs to have a successful offense next yr. I hope Milton Bradley is one of this projects. Looks like Jim is still trying to let everyone know how desperate he is to unload Milton: Link Seriously? You could've just left it at, "No. The two aren't necessarily related."

Yeah, I mean this seems like a good idea and all, but I never really considered the other two hitting coaches a problem anyway. I don't see how this changes anything, other than the fear that Hendry would hire someone detrimental.

Hey Lou: AHEM... CS: Ryan Theriot - 29

This offensive line should be downright embarrassed by this team's complete inability to run the ball. It's been the same story all season, save for the Lions game. If I was Forte, I'd probably be tentative at this point too. He has to dodge people in the backfield on most of his carries. The turnovers were a big problem last night, but the o-line has been a disaster all season and certainly didn't show any signs of improving their run blocking last night which I was hoping for coming off of a bye week.

Sounds like Thomas might be pretty limited so your decision might be made for you. Other than that, it's a pretty tough call. I'd probably bench Jackson. My turn: Colston v NYG or Breaston @ SEA?

i remember thinking at the time that Sosa had quite possibly just saved the season on that play. guess not.

I've been thinking more lately that one of the first things I'd do is see what the market is for Marmol (already mentioned by TT). Particularly, can a significant SS or 2B upgrade be found for a cheap closer like Marmol? I don't have time to look into this at work right now, but presumably I'd have a little more time to do so if I was GM of the Cubs.

I'd personally stay away from Julius Jones, even though he's been better at home.

I'm getting: "Internet Explorer can not open the Internet site http://www.312sports.com/. Operation aborted."

Okay, if you're going to keep insisting that the Cubs can only get absolute garbage for Bradley without getting any salary relief then I'm going to keep insisting that they don't trade him. We'll call it even.