UMFan83

Like give him another chance to not embarass the team and himself?

What about the last three years? how about 4? Last 4 years, a 4.2 combined WAR. Last 5 years, a combined 7.8, Last 6 years, 13.5. So if you want to say that over the last 6 seasons, Soriano produced more than the average player has, then you'd be correct, even if 42% of that production came in the one year he wasn't on the Cubs. Maybe he was going by Fangraphs? They have him at 4.4 the last two seasons, 8.5 the last 4 and 20.8 the last 6. Whoops I always forget Fangraphs has different numbers. I will now drop this discussion because the masses want me to fellate Theo Epstein, which I have no problem doing

Sure....there are plenty of head shops down Clark Street. I'll find him a nice bong as a reward for his fine work.

ok, the last 2 years he's been 4.4 What about the last three years? how about 4? Last 4 years, a 4.2 combined WAR. Last 5 years, a combined 7.8, Last 6 years, 13.5. So if you want to say that over the last 6 seasons, Soriano produced more than the average player has, then you'd be correct, even if 42% of that production came in the one year he wasn't on the Cubs.

ok, the last 2 years he's been 4.4 Where do you see him having a 3.1 WAR in 2010? Baseball reference gives h im a 1.6 WAR in 2010 and a (-0.9) in 2009. Meaning in the last 3 years his overall WAR has been 2.0. In the last 3 years he has produced the value of what an average player produces in 1.

This...except "two years". I haven't been this excited since the beginning of 09... so probably 3 years. Even in August when we were in first place, I was less excited than I am about this. Wasn't that for like a day and then the Cards ran off? Yup, Soriano hit a 12th inning grand slam to beat the Astros at Wrigley on, I think, August 1st as the Cubs peaked for that season. They soon ran into a couple of series with the phillies and other tough teams and quickly lost hope of the playoffs.

I find it hilarious that some sources earlier said that compensation would not be a hurdle, while some sources say that its a hurdle but likely not one that would trip it up, and now Phil Rodgers saying that compensation could kill this deal. As for what the compensation would be, we've heard that it would not be any major league player, that it would be a mix of prospects and cash, that it would be a couple of prospects, that it would only be cash, and now that its possibly they demand Castro or Garza. Great reporting guys.

How the hell is an article by Jim Bowden given insider status? Have they stashed it behind the paywall as a favor to their readers?

Overall it seems like the Vikings havent played that bad despite the 1-4 record. They hung with the Chargers despite a lack of offense, they could have and maybe should have beat TB, they had a 20 point lead on Detroit and while a bad loss, the Chiefs have gotten it back together a little bit. Are the Vikings just unlucky and better than their record, do they just have a fatal flaw that kills them in these games, or are they just plain bad?

All rumored sports news goes that way in the twitter age, as reporters rush to present the newest info, many times without confirmation. So a lot of the info you read is clearly wrong.

Which isn't that impossible. NFC West is not getting a WC team NFC East involves the 1-4 Eagles, the 2-2 Cowboys who have horrifically blown 2 games and appear to be in turmoil, the 2-2 Giants who just lost at home to the Seahawks, and the 3-1 Redskins who havent seemed too impressive despite being 3-1. NFC South involves the Saints running away with the division and the 2-3 Falcons who appear to be directionless and the Bears hold the tiebreaker over, and the 3-2 Bucs who don't seem to have a lot of offense and the Bears have a chance to win the tiebreaker over as well. So you're basically hoping that the Bears finish better than Cowboys/Redskins/Giants/Saints/Bucs. It's not unlikely that a 9-7 team gets a wild card spot out of the NFC. All that said, the Bears have to play a ton better to even be in this discussion in December.

If Theo went this far and backs out for personal reasons, he can [expletive] off. You don't go this far down the road with a job unless you know you are OK moving your family, especially when money is not an issue or consideration. He didn't accept anything, he just interviewed and was offered a position. There is nothing wrong with not taking the position because you grew up in Boston and the Red Sox were the only team you wnted to work for and you decided that you'd rather not move your family. People interview for positions that they don't end up accepting all the time. I actually did this just last week. No one told me to [expletive] off when I declined.

That would be make sense, considering what the Sox got for Guillen. I'm kind of expecting that we've seen the last of Josh Vitters once this deal goes through The Cubs did everything right in the courting of Theo and are offering him a promotion. The Marlins were tampering with Guillen for over a year before Guillen forced himself out of Chicago to go to the same position in Florida. There is no way that the Cubs should give up anything near what the Sox did.

I honestly wouldnt be too upset taking Lackey if we give up Z in the deal. I still think there's a potential upside to him moving to the NL Central and getting past his marital issues. Might backfire too but I can't see him being as bad as he was last year as a Cub.

http://fullcount.weei.com/sports/boston/baseball/red-sox/2011/10/11/report-theo-epstein-on-cusp-of-leaving-red-sox-for-cubs/ found this on SOSH Hah it figures

And Soriano... and Casey Coleman, Rodrigo Lopez, etc. I think it's just going to be money. I hope so. I have a bad feeling that the Cubs will give up something stupid like Cashner. I don't think Ricketts would be dumb enough to give up Starlin or Garza and ruin all the good press this is gonna bring them.

Sweet. I feel pretty comfortable about this news.

So we would have finished 85-77 if our starting rotation was Dempster, Zambrano, Garza, Wells and Cashner all year. Or we could have finished 40-122 if our rotation was Coleman, Russell, Davis, Lopez, and Ortiz.

Updated article from the Globe. Doesn't give us any new news regarding Theos decision but it does make some good points about what's going on right now and what sort of time table were looking at. Plus it makes fun of sullys article. http://t.co/xEWxb8sE

I understand the argument that they will load the box to stop him since McNabb has a wet noodle for an arm these days, but I don't trust the Bears to stop any RBs these days.

Whose twitter was that?

If we somehow confirm that the Purple Shirt guy's story was correct, it just proves that sometimes rumors that are way too insane to be believed just end up being true. (i.e. SAS' Lebron, Wade, Bosh rumor everyone mocked)

They're going to hold AP in check after failing to hold D'Angelo "60 rushing yards in the first 3 games" Williams and Javad Best in check?

Just for fun...the Packers over that time frame: (1) Bryan Bulaga, T - Starting T (2) Michael Neal, DT - 3rd or 4th string DT (3) Morgan Burnett, DB - Starting SS (5) Andrew Quarless, TE - Backup TE (5) Marshall Newhouse, G - Backup LT (6) James Starks, RB - Pretty much starting RB (7) CJ Wilson, DE - Backup DE (1) BJ Raji, DT - Starting DT (1) Clay Matthews, LB - Starting, DPOY caliber LB (4) TJ Lang, T - Starting G (5) Quinn Johnson, RB - Not on team (5) James Meredith, T - Not on team (6) Jarius Wynn, DE - Starting DE (6) Brandon Underwood, DB - Not on team (7) Brad Jones, LB - Backup OLB (2) Jordy Nelson, WR - Backup WR that is on pace for 1,200 yards this year. (2) Brian Brohm, QB - Not on team (2) Patrick Lee, DB - 3rd string CB (3) Jermichael Finley, TE - Starting pro bowl caliber TE (4) Jeremy Thompson, DE - Not on team (4) Josh Sitton, T - Starting G (5) Breno Giacomini, T - Not on team (7) Matt Flynn, QB - Backup QB (7) Brett Swain, WR - Not on team I count that as 17 out of 24 picks still on the team, 9 starters drafted in 3 years (for the Bears I did 4 years and got 7), and at least 4 above average starters at their position.

2010: (3) Major Wright - Disppointment so far. Not starting quality at the moment. (4) Corey Wootten - Promising player who is never able to stay healthy, which is a big part of the reason he wasn't a 1st or 2nd round pick (5) Joshua Moore - Doesn't see the field (6) Dan LeFevour - Didn't make it past training camp last year. (7) J'Marcus Webb - His best quality is the fact that he's somehow a starter, annoying people who are trying to make a case against Angelo by listing the number of starters he's drafted over the last few years. Supposedly a raw talent that was forced into a starting role due to a lack of competent options 2009: (3) Jarron Gilbert - Not on the team anymore (3) Juaquin Iglesias - Not on the team anymore (4) Henry Melton - Solid player, but ideally a good 3rd DE that rotates in and out during the game (4) DJ Moore - Not sure how good he really is, but he's clearly found a spot on the team and finds himself in a position to pick off passes. Seems like he'd be a good Nickleback in the Ricky Manning Jr mold (5) Johnny Knox - May never be a superstar but he would have a role on most teams. (5) Marcus Freeman - Not on the team anymore (6) Al Afalava - wow I completely forgot about this dude. Another safety in Angelo's quest to find 2 competent ones (7) Lance Louis - Similar to Webb the year after, a 7th round raw talent being forced into a starting role. (7) Derek Kinder - Who? 2008: (1) Chris Williams - A bust relative to his draft position but I guess he's NFL backup caliber on many teams (2) Matt Forte - An obvious home run by Angelo here. I wouldn't be surprised if someone else advised him on this pick. (3) Earl Bennett - Probably the best overall "receiver" on the team even if he doesn't have the most talent or the ability to learn the playbook in a timely manner. Solid yet unspectacular guy. Would be a good 3rd or 4th WR on a team with actual WRs on it. (4) Marcus Harrison - Not on the team anymore (4) Craig Steltz - Another mediocre safety that is nothing special at all. (5) Zac Bowman - I guess he's ok. Marginal starting CB. (5) Kellen Davis - He's ok but he's not a starting quality TE in the league IMO. (7) Multitude of names that never played for the Bears all drafted in the 7th round - Yeah. 2007: (1) Greg Olsen - Solid pass catching tight end that was somehow expendable because Mike Martz didn't need him. Yeah... (2) Dan Bazuin - Thus begins the greatest draft in Angelo's history!!! (3) Garrett Wolfe - Remember the infamous "Garrett Wolfe" packages Turner used to employ? (3) Michael Okwo - Ha (4) Josh Beekman - Proof our line was almost as bad 3 years ago: Many were calling for this dude to start and were angry when we released him. (5) Kevin Payne - Ha (5) Corey Graham - The special teams wiz until he pulled an Ayenbadejo and prices his way out of town. (7) Trumane McBride - Ha (7) Aaron Brant - I doubt even his college coach remembes who this dude is. I don't know...I don't look at other team's drafts and evaluate them. Do other teams have this many random 3rd-6th round picks that are complete non factors in the NFL? Out of this list of 31 names, only 14 (i believe) are still on the Bears roster, 7 are starting for the Bears, and there's only 1 player that you could honestly say is an above average starter in the NFL (Forte). That's just not acceptable.