Wilson A2000

I think Smoltz is going to be a good color analyst someday.

I see your point, but you weren't getting Soriano offering a contract for 4-5 years. I think Soriano will still have numbers worthy of starting, but worthy of starting on a bad team as the worst outfielder. Hendry betted that the Cubs would win it all in 80 or 09 and the contract wouldn't matter because the fans would be on cloud 9. Just didn't happen. How could he make that sort of bet with the downside of the risk being a horrible player for 3-4 seasons? Remember they signed him coming off an under 70 win season and had a ton of holes. Signing Soriano alone wasn't putting the team over the top. It was obvious to everyone in baseball that Soriano, while a good player, was not a franchise player. Never was and never will be. People on this board were not thrilled with the signing before they even know how many years he got. So not only did they sign Soriano to a ridiculous annual salary, but they signed him to that salary until he was 38 years old. Hendry did it to make a splash and save his job. We rip on Hendry all the time for dumb moves, but Hendry had to know at the time what he was getting with Soriano, and that was a complimentary player, not a superstar. If we didn't have a GM trying to save his job, Soriano is not a Chicago Cub. I thought Soriano was a superstar before he got here. He was putting up arguably superstar numbers. I thought he was going to put the Cubs over the top cause the 70 win team played a lot worse than they really were. The Cubs haven't won a WS in 103 years. Dusty overused the pitchers cause he wanted to bring a WS to Chicago. He had to gamble. So did Jim. Neither gamble worked.

I've never heard of this Peachtree TV. I don't think I get that channel. Aren't you in Mississippi or something? That's further than I am from Atlanta so I'm confused why you get it and I don't. Sucks. EDIT: Never mind I just found it. Time Warner Cable doesn't have a search option like DirecTV. I had gone up to channel 150 whcih is the highest I had ever gone and is when it gets into the premium sports and movies channels. Found it at 168 and I indeed get it so :yahoo: I'm in Atlanta and there are commercials. What are you watching the game on?

I see your point, but you weren't getting Soriano offering a contract for 4-5 years. I think Soriano will still have numbers worthy of starting, but worthy of starting on a bad team as the worst outfielder. Hendry betted that the Cubs would win it all in 80 or 09 and the contract wouldn't matter because the fans would be on cloud 9. Just didn't happen.

They won't be playing the Cubs every night. Seriously though, I think they'll win the WC. They have maybe the best pitching staff from top to bottom in the bigs. Tommy Hanson is the real deal too, and Jurjens had a great year last year but didn't get as much pub as he should have because he got almost no run support. I'm not confident that Wagner and Glaus can stay healthy. They don't have a guy who can hit 20 homers outside of Heyward and you can't win with no power. Similar team to the Giants who are good, but not good enough. I like them for the WC, and because they have a great staff could be a great playoff team.

Very true. Defense is like the new OBP, which doesn't mean the Cubs have to follow it blindly. But the Cubs look like they've payed almost no attention to defense while constructing this team. unfortunately it looks like they've paid very little attention to offense or pitching either. But we lead the league in giving out no-trade clauses and huge obscene long-term contracts, so there's that. It sickens my stomach to think of the production the Cubs could be getting for Soriano's money. They should have a guy who can absolutely rake. Soriano's contract is bad for that reason, but he could make the situation so much better if he could play according to his talent.

Hendry siad he would keep Castro down if he gets a Web Gem once a month. Theriot thought he would try.

how did ramirez get thrown into that equation? In my book, and no one else agrees, but I don't like how he lopes at times. He has his shortcomings, but the fact is, if we lose him, its time to start scouting for our top 5 pick in the 2011 draft. Does Pittsburgh have any people Hendry can steal after the Cubs have failed to develop their own prospects?

Were you one of the reporters interviewing Ortiz yesterday?

as a 19-year old in AA, he walked 28 times in 162 at bats and only Kd 19 times. His OPS was 1057 there's no chance he isnt a blanking stud yup... people are acting like we're being victor diaz or jeff blausered here. Lol, yea. He sure looks like he can get around on anything. At least from what little I've seen. For a guy who is going to hit a lot of homeruns, I like that he really keeps his weight back and has a small step with his right foot as the ball is coming. He doesn't seem to guess as much as other power hitters. That allows him to decide if he wants to swing a fraction of a second longer and coax more walks out.

how did ramirez get thrown into that equation? In my book, and no one else agrees, but I don't like how he lopes at times.

Peachtree TV is pretty low quality from what I have seen living in Atlanta. The good thing is that Ernie Johnson, who I love, is doing the games (at least this one) and not Chip Carey.

The Cubs have to be one of the most fundamentally challenged baseball teams I have seen. This has been going on for years. How many teams have success and pull the crap that Fontenot, Ramirez, Theriot, and Soriano pull on a weekly basis?

If they would have tagged out Jeter at second, which they had him by a few feet, he would have been out before the runner got home and it wouldn't have mattered. But was Jeter slowing up for a run down? If so, smart play.

They won't get anything better than Campbell who is still young. I can't believe they traded him to a division rival. I thought Arizona would have been a good fit.

A 3rd and a 4th. How did the Bears not jump on that?

Broncos have been holding out for a first rounder for him. What did Boldin get traded for? A first rounder? I would have liked Boldin better and he didn't get crazy money once he signed. If they released Brown to go after a top flight receiver, I would be happy. But from what I have heard, the Bears are comfortable with their receivers. And that is exactly the problem with the Bears' front office.

Today's move is for all the people who said, "In an uncapped year, I don't care how much they paid for Peppers cause it aint my money." The Bears are still two steps forward, one step back. But they could have been two steps forward. Have fun stopping the run with Anderson and Peppers on the corners.

No, not even close. We knew all along that the most important position on ice was a gigantic weak link. The 08 Cubs showed for the entire season that they were the best in the NL with no weakness as great as the Hawks weakness in net. Maybe the 2004 Cubs is a better comparison.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/Pat-Venditte-throws-with-both-arms-in-appearance?urn=mlb,231182 I've always wondered when another would come along. In the minors, he faced a switch hitter and Venditte wanted to face him lefty/lefty, but the hitter kept switching. So did Venditte. It went back and forth before a pitch was thrown until the umps finally made the pitcher declare what way he was going to throw. Is it true that a hitter can switch during an at bat, but can't switch once he has two strikes and the pitcher has to declare before the batter steps in but can't switch in the middle of the at bat in major league baseball.

A week ago they were tied for the best record in the conference. Yes they are playing terribly, but from the stats I have seen, it doesn't matter how well you play going into the playoffs. Being hot or cold near the playoffs is not indicative of playoff performance. The playoffs are a weird animal. It's possible that the Hawks don't win again in the regular season and then turn on a switch of some kind. It's hard to be optimistic right now though. Yes, but only two teams have given up fewer goals in the NHL. With that said, you can't really win the Stanley Cup with below average goaltending. What could they have given up for Vokoun?

A week ago they were tied for the best record in the conference. Yes they are playing terribly, but from the stats I have seen, it doesn't matter how well you play going into the playoffs. Being hot or cold near the playoffs is not indicative of playoff performance.

Releasing Brown in an uncapped year would be stupid. They have the money. Anderson has shown that he is not a full-time DE. With Peppers and Anderson starting, you are going to be able to run all over this Bears defense. Adrian Peterson is licking his lips.

I am pretty sure they know the goaltending has been particularly poor. Do you think they were going to come out and say it and risk further hurting the fragile psyche of a Huet? I just don't think they could really afford to get a netminder like Vokoun. What would the Hawks have had to give up?

Yes you are. What do you think a Chicago sports talk station is going to talk about? Former well liked Blackhawk gives ex-teammate a cheap shot, injuring one of our starting defensemen one game after another player who plays the same position is injured by another semi-cheap hit, or Blackhawks player gives another teams player a cheap shot and other player is left uninjured. I was listening to the Score all day and I never heard one person even put the hit in context. Not until I watched the video myself did I see what Seabrook did to initiate his hit. Was Wiz justified in doing so? No, but it definitely played a part and any good sports talk host would have at least mentioned it. yeah, it really got the conversation going the wrong way also. There ended up being a lot of talk about how the Hawks need a good enforcer. Which is really out of context of what happened last night This is where Dan Bernstein is wrong when he rags on having a goon on the team and all the fighting involved in hockey. Dan can say, "retaliate by scoring goals and taking the hard hits out on them that way," but you can't score goals and win championships if two of your best defensive players are out, one possibly for the regular season and the playoffs. I would not be surprised if the Hawks are targeted in this way the rest of the season. This isn't a matter of just being tough and playing blue collar, old school hockey. It's a matter of keeping your players healthy and you have to do more than retaliating by scoring more goals than the opponent to do that. It wouldn't hurt if the Hawks didn't head hunt themselves.