SouthSideRyan

That BS is getting real tiresome for me, wait till next season' playoffs when we'll read and hear crap about how despite being the best team in the 2008 NL they couldn't manage a playoff win, etc. There have been more than 1 team with the best record who lost in the 1st round. Funny how we don't hear anything about those clubs right now. I believe the Braves in '03, when we bounced them. Weren't the Randy Johnson Stros also tops in the NL? I don't think it's all that unusual, yet you would think it's never happened before. I think the way we lost is pretty unusual. We didn't even win a game. How many team with the best record in their league got swept? Does it matter. Would it be any less of a kick in the nuts if they lost in 5? FTR, either 1 or 2 best teams in the league have been swept before. And as I mentioned elsewhere, teams with better records have losing records in divisional serieses. Same with teams with HFA.

Not that hard when the Cubs picked this time to play their worst 3 games of the year when it mattered the most. 97 wins means jack squat right now. The Cubs are eliminated and will be watching the NLCS and World Series from home. In that context yeah. In the context of what the team should do about next year, the 97 wins means a hell of a lot with regard to what you should do in the offseason.

Trade him and get a left handed bat that can hit and put the fear into opposing pitchers. Can Mark Teixeira play LF? I think he played their some in his rookie season. If only Jim Rice was left handed. FEAR

Sure would be nice if Samardzija didn't have a NTC.

The bottom line is that we weren't good enough. I stand by my statement. Any team that wins 97 games during the season is good enough to beat another team in a 5 game series. Which team is hot or when a team is going to slump are factors that are impossible to calculate. Jeff's of the (insane) belief that the 161 game season was a fluke and the 3 games were the true talent level.

Since the switch to 2-2-1, the team with HFA loses more serieses than they win. Team with the better record does too.

They didn't wear or break down at the end of the year like Harden and Z. They're more likely to stay healthy next year, Lowe and Billingsley will likely be better than Z and prob. Dempster. How did Harden wear down at the end of the year? Because he gave up 3 runs in Game 3? Zambrano was terrible after coming back from the injury, and then he threw a good game in game 2. It seems you're placing a lot of weight on how these guys threw in the NLDS rather than their body of work. In a vaccuum you'd trade our 3 for their 3?

Actually, scoring more runs than your opponent does. Oddly, scoring runs factors into that. I completely agree... but our starting pitching did the job more or less... our offense and defense killed us. Regardless, this team was built to win it all... Soriano is wrong. The starting pitching was awful. 15.1IP 15H 10ER 12BB 13K That's the combined line of the 3 starters. Take out Dempster's start and Harden/Zambrano did fine... but again... it still doesn't make a difference, who thought Dempster was going to bad? I had nothing but confidence in him... The argument at hand is that Soriano said we weren't built for a short series, and that is false. WE WERE BUILT FOR IT... just didn't execute. So now it's down to Z and Harden doing well... 11.2IP 11H 6ER 5BB 11K That's an era of 4.6, that ain't going to get it done either. Offensively, they're built for beating up on bad to medicore pitching staffs. Pitching, they're close to where they need to be for short-series but like most teams they lack a true ace, if Harden could stay healthy, it would be him. Look at LA. Combined over the course of the year, I would take Lowe, Billingsley and Kuroda over the Cubs 3. Although several factors loom over next year (Lowe's age, Z's workload, and Harden's health, Dempster's regression). Let be honest Z never had a shot at anything but failure in his start. His defense let him down. Z never had a shot at anything b/c of the defense and Billingsley pitching great, but he had 2 outs with the bases loaded with only two runs and gave up the bases clearing DB which brought that total to 5. He didn't make the pitches when he had to either. This is utter tripe Ping. He made the pitches 3 times when he needed to. He threw 3 double play balls that inning and due to the hit and run and defensive incompetence he got 0 outs from them. Yet, show me that pitch to Martin and where that was located and I'll show you a 3 run double. Then you're asking him to be perfect. Under normal circumstances, he makes that mistake and gives up a bases empty double. What pitcher is able to go out there and get 9 outs in an inning without making a mistake?

And I have no clue how you look back at this year and take Lowe, Billingsley, and Kuroda over Harden, Dempster, and Z. I have no clue how you look to next year and do it either.

Actually, scoring more runs than your opponent does. Oddly, scoring runs factors into that. I completely agree... but our starting pitching did the job more or less... our offense and defense killed us. Regardless, this team was built to win it all... Soriano is wrong. The starting pitching was awful. 15.1IP 15H 10ER 12BB 13K That's the combined line of the 3 starters. Take out Dempster's start and Harden/Zambrano did fine... but again... it still doesn't make a difference, who thought Dempster was going to bad? I had nothing but confidence in him... The argument at hand is that Soriano said we weren't built for a short series, and that is false. WE WERE BUILT FOR IT... just didn't execute. So now it's down to Z and Harden doing well... 11.2IP 11H 6ER 5BB 11K That's an era of 4.6, that ain't going to get it done either. Offensively, they're built for beating up on bad to medicore pitching staffs. Pitching, they're close to where they need to be for short-series but like most teams they lack a true ace, if Harden could stay healthy, it would be him. Look at LA. Combined over the course of the year, I would take Lowe, Billingsley and Kuroda over the Cubs 3. Although several factors loom over next year (Lowe's age, Z's workload, and Harden's health, Dempster's regression). Let be honest Z never had a shot at anything but failure in his start. His defense let him down. Z never had a shot at anything b/c of the defense and Billingsley pitching great, but he had 2 outs with the bases loaded with only two runs and gave up the bases clearing DB which brought that total to 5. He didn't make the pitches when he had to either. This is utter tripe Ping. He made the pitches 3 times when he needed to. He threw 3 double play balls that inning and due to the hit and run and defensive incompetence he got 0 outs from them.

I think everyone should be required to post their salary with every comment they make about Soriano. Then I can whine that they make too much money to be sitting on nsbb.

How are they not set up for a short series? Best 1-2-3 punch in baseball as far as starting pitching (pitching wins championships, folks). And the best offense in the NL with arguable the best depth... how are they not set up for a short series? And a good part of the offense was dictated on streaky hitters. Soriano, Ramirez and Edmonds. Heck, even Soto were all susceptible to slumps in a short series. Everyone in baseball is succeptible to slumps in short serieses. Because they're short. I don't see how Soriano's "right" here, but the reason everyone's pissed at him is because he's making a lot of money, it has nothign to do with what he said. It's the standard throw your highest paid player under the bus when things don't go your way. It's sad. Soriano was offered a lot of money and he said ok. Don't be pissed at him for that. Be pissed at Jim Hendry.

how so? injuries? or has he lost speed on his pitches? I havent seen him pitch much this year, so I only really know he is healthy.. Because Jeff has us pegged for 110 losses without him.

I too would like to know how much Jennifer Lopez weighs. But seriously, a quick 40 man article would be great Meph.

Wisconsin is ahead of them with both their losses being to worse teams, and losing to a Michigan team that Illinois blew out.

Please be kidding. What would you have them do? It doesn't matter what they do, Jeff will be back calling them terrible all season long and brimming with glee at every misstep along the way.

Impossible, for the 4th week this year I've been told how stupid Notre Dame is going to unfairly be a top 15 team because they're Notre Dame. As is usually the case, the AP poll makes a lot more sense than the coaches, but Pitt does not belong in the top 25 and neither does Wake. It'd be nice if Auburn won something to have that top 25 spot, but there are only so many good teams out there.

I would love this move as a challenge trade. Both are going to be better next year, but Swisher has the higher ceiling.

I like your thinking, but it'll never happen. Hank Steinbrenner had an article in the Sporting News that suggested putting the top 4 records from each league in the post season -- no more of this winning 83 games and getting in mess. I very much agree with him there. That's a great way to eliminate the excitement of pennant races down the stretch. Feel the drama as lesser teams fight it out for 4th place.

This is going to be the problem. The vocal idiots(from fans to sports radio to ESPN) who rant and rave that you can't bring back the same team that got swept in the playoffs.

I agree that he was a cheapskate when he first bought the team, but that's because the purchase of the team was a tremendous burden. He has since shown that he is willing to spend some money. They overspent for Andruw Jones and Juan Pierre, and they signed Hiroki Kuroda, Furcal and Jason Schmidt, then also traded for Manny (not sure how much LA was on the hook for with that deal). The investments have been rather curious, but he has started to spend. LA is paying Manny nothing. It was the only way they could get the deal done. McCourt parking lot entrepeneurship isn't quite enough for him to afford Manny. It's a joke that this guy was given a baseball team.

I only read 2 pages, but you'e all [expletive] idiots.

He's right.

I'm not here to bitch about how 5 games series are largely up to chance(they are) I'm mostly here to complain about the local sports media that are undoubtedly going to call this team(the Cubs) a bunch of gutless choking dogs when in actuality they are a team that hit a rough patch at the wrong time. Make no mistake about it. This was the best team in the National League. Similar to how neither the Cubs nor the Marlins were the best team in the National League in '03. There's no sense in complaining about a short series meaning nothing and the unfairness about it You take your pride in your having the best record and you go back at it next year. The Atlanta Braves in the 90s-early 00s may have been the greatest dynasty in baseball history(Yes I'd compare them favorably to the Yanks) They won 1 World Series in 14 tries. Sometimes you eat the bar, and sometimes the bar eats you. The best way to ensure you win a world series isn't to loadup with "pitching and defense" It isn't to get some grinders and winners on your team. It isn't to get some guys who've "been there before and know what it's like" The best way to win a world series is to get to the playoffs every damn year, take your 10-20% chance of winning it, and hoping things break your way. Like I said earlier, I'm not going to complain about this season, as this was pretty much the most memorable Cubs season ever, and it would take a world series winner to beat it. It's a matter of appreciating what it takes to build a team as good as what I saw over 161 games. And yeah, over 3 games, they played like horse [expletive], but in the grand scheme of things it's entertainment, and by God did they entertain me and keep me hooked for all 161 games of this season. Feeling confident in them being back in the hunt over the next few years cushions this blow somewhat, but being statistically inclined and knowing how things play out really does help matters. So I walk away from this season incredibly pissed. Not remotely happy, and feeling incredibly empty. But knowing what I know, I know that [expletive] happens, and it's nothing I or the players(partially) can control. I know that they give their all and care as much as I do and that no sports cliche can sum up why they lost other than sometimes you lose, sometimes you win and sometimes it rains. Things I do know is that this is a franchise that can build a farm system(as long as ownership doesn't screw with them) This is a franchise that is willing to spend money(as long as new ownership doesn't screw with that) This is a franchise that wants to make money, but it's a franchise that wants to make the Cubs into a name brand second only to the Yankees(if new ownership doesn't screw with that) The only thing that should derail a Cubs world series trip right now is an owner that sells everything off to appease Dark Lord Selig. Because of this it's both an exciting and terrifying time to be a Cubs fan. I personally sit and pull for the bewigged Satan to know better than to bury one of the top 3 profitable franchises in baseball with some cheap owner, but history tells you to never root for Seligula. So instead, we sit and wait, until someday is today

On his first post. So will snorky play the "no really I'm a cub fan, just frustrated" card. Or will he come guns atrolling until he gets banned later tonight.