UMFan83

So you want Crane Kenney and Gillick working side by side in the front office? I mean I'm not completely against that but I'd assume that they don't want to pay 2 people for pretty much the same position, even if Gillick is a pure baseball guy and Kenney is a purse business guy.

Acknowledging that we could be putting way too much emphasis on "direction of the franchise" as a particular quote, how in the world is Wrigley renovation part of "direction of the franchise"? Ricketts has always put an emphasis about renovating Wrigley for the next generation of Cubs fans, so I'd think deciding on what to do with our 100 year old aging ballpark and where the Cubs are going to play baseball for the next 50 years fits a loose definition of "direction of the franchise". Just brainstorming all possibilities here. And yeah, it doesn't make any sense to decide to fire Hendry today, leak an upcoming announcement through sources and then 10 days later finally give him the axe. Now that draft picks are signed, what is Hendry going to do in the next 10 days to help the Cubs if it's already been decided that he's not going to be our GM anymore?

I highly doubt it's firing Hendry. That's one of those things that when you make the decision, it happens immediately, not "in the next 10 days or so". If its front office movement, the most likely would have to be hiring of a team president, like the rumored Gillick hiring. Hiring Gillick would have to lead to a reshuffling of Crane Kenney, as he is a cockroach and would not be fired, and unfortunately the Trib doesn't own the team anymore so you cant reshuffle him to a non baseball side of business. Maybe Tom can send him to Omaha to work at the Ricketts main company. They could also be reshuffling Hendry to a director of scouting role or something, or VP of baseball Opps and hiring a new GM (or promoting Bush). I think Ricketts is fond of Hendry's scouting roots and that probably factors into his evaluation of his job performance. Maybe he says "Jim, we are going to go a different direction at GM, however we value your scouting and would like you to stick on running that dept." I don't know. The only non-front office thing I can think of is that they are announcing they secured the funds/got the approval for a massive wrigley rennovation. I'm guessing that would fall under "direction of the franchise"

Time's up. Pencils down.

For the more informed: do most 1st round picks normally go right to the wire like this? I know some did but not sure to what extent

yeah i know he has always been a good guy (charitable off the field) and he was beloved in cleveland and well-liked in philly (don't know much about his time with the white sox or twins, but i assume it's the same). and umfan is right, this definitely flew under the radar. i knew he had a shot at 600 coming into this year but didn't realize he was so close. i'm sure there would have been more attention if he'd hit 599 tonight and then were sitting on that number for a couple of games, but still, his dad and family have been travelling with him for a while to be there when he hit #600, so there was always the chance he could hit 2 in a game. Disregard the breaking news graphic, as it wasn't there at all this week... but here is where ESPN had their "Thome-counter" I probably haven't scrolled that far down ESPN.com in a long time.

Probably wouldnt end up working but what would we have to lose? We have the cap space, we have a need. Sign him as a backup and give him 2-3 weeks to evaluate. But as I said, I doubt it would happen. Angelo just passed on an opportunity to sign proven talents through FA, I doubt he'll admit he made a mistake and start taking on projects 3 weeks before the season starts.

Colvin since the Fukudome trade: .195/.227/.439/.666 41 PA Meh

He was a Pro Bowler just 2 years ago. I say take a flier on him and bring him to camp. Could be a lesser version of Reuben Brown. That said, I doubt they get any FA lineman at this point. They've repeatedly said to the media that they are giving their young guys a chance to develop, and nothing short of the line failing as bad as they did on Saturday for the next 3 preseason games, will get them to change their stance. Then again, they might bring him on as a backup and as soon as one guy isnt getting it done in the regular season, replace him.

I had no idea he was getting close. When Jeter was like 15 hits away from 3,000 they were having live look ins for his AB. I didn't even see a "Thome is close to 600" article on ESPN.com. anyways good for him. I always liked Thome.

He's probably trying to make the Cubs believe he is helping with a problem player so the Cubs will forgive Sosa and retire his number.

St. Louis trailing 4-2, Brewers and Dodgers scoreless still. wait, did I really just do that? lol

Yeah, apparently Enderle got 2nd team reps today, and Hanie was visibly upset as he left the practice field, and didn't talk to reporters. Not saying it was or wasnt the right decision but boy to the Bears treat Hanie like crap. I can't think of anything he's ever done terribly wrong. He's played well just about every preseason he's played and in his biggest moment in his career he played admirably for a guy who hadn't been in a live game situation in 5 months. And what does he get? Behind proven washed up garbage Todd Collins. I don't watch the practices and see what the Bears see but after the performance in the NFC title game (yes I know he made some big mistakes but he moved the offense better than the other 2 QBs that played) which came after being third on the depth chart all season the Bears would at least let him be 2nd in the depth chart until he plays his way out of it during an actual game where he might see action.

The only poster you could say implied that only the Phillies pitching is awesome which doesnt make them an awesome team is Mojo, and he didn't come out and say it like that. You can certainly believe a team is awesome and point out areas where they are less than awesome.

If he's so ashamed he should drop his appeal to the players union and accept the ~$3 million loss of income during the next 30 days. For the more statistical inclined, how much is the value of a win? I always forget how that works. $4.5 mil per win? Zambrano is has a 1.0 WAR this year, so in reality he's pitching like a $4.5 million pitcher

And as I said above, a key thing to point out is that Soriano's contract would come off the books 4 years into Pujols' deal. Even if Pujols all the sudden started breaking down and turned into the later part of Griffey's career, the Cubs would not be strapped for cash. The only reason the Cubs had such a dire situation the previous couple of years is because of a flurry of high priced 30-some players the Cubs signed back between 2006-2008 where Zambrano, Dempster, Soriano, Fukudome, Lee, Ramirez, Lilly were all signed to 3+ year contracts all making 8 figures annually. And out of all those contracts, there is not one ace quality pitcher or one dominant .950+ OPS hitter gained from all that money thrown out. Assuming the Cubs don't go 0% in spending money for premiere talent, and assuming the Cubs space out the handing out of huge contracts, hypothetically there should never be an issue where the Cubs are both crappy and cash strapped at the same time. But then again, these are the Cubs we're talking about.

OPS+ at age 38: Ruth: 175 Williams: 233 Musial: 121 Aaron: 147 Mays: 124 F. Robinson: 141 Griffey: 119 Brett: 101 Schmidt: 112 Average (taking out the outliers): 134 If Pujols is giving us a 134 OPS+ at age 38, I think most of us would live with that. Obviously its a gamble, but history has shown that a majority of the best hitters in baseball history have played well well into their late 30s

126 110 93 80 78 74 53 Those are the OPS+ numbers of the non-Pujols regulars on the 2006 Cardinals. Despite that, the Cardinals finished 6th in the NL in R/G. If you can sign an impact bat that has the ability to pick up the slack of an entire offense like that, I think you have to go for it, even if its a risk due to age. If he starts a heavy decline 4 years into the contract, you at least have 3/4ths of that salary coming off the books in the form of Soriano's contract. And for Pujols, "heavy decline" probably puts him at the level Soriano was the first 2 years of his Cubs contract. The Cubs can afford to deal with one really bad contract on their books, and honestly looking at the careers of generational players like Pujols, it is highly unlikely that Pujols descends into Soriano territory even in the final years of his contract.

And yet that still doesn't make a lick of sense when trying to pretend the Phillies are not a very good team. The fact that their offense is only above average doesn't change the fact that the team is excellent. Of course they are. They are a fantastic team who will probably win the World Series. Who said anything but that? did you not read the thread? Yeah and no one is saying that the Phillies are anything but awesome as a team, just that its the pitching that makes them so elite. Their offense has been slightly above average and their pitching has been otherworldly. Sounds like a winning combo to me.

And yet that still doesn't make a lick of sense when trying to pretend the Phillies are not a very good team. The fact that their offense is only above average doesn't change the fact that the team is excellent. Of course they are. They are a fantastic team who will probably win the World Series. Who said anything but that?

I wonder how solid the interest in Colon was for the Bears. The beat writers seem to be throwing "well they went hard after Colon but couldn't sign him" around every time someone questions the lack of FA moves for the o-line. I'm sure the Bears liked him and would have signed him, but once they got rejected, why didn't they target anyone else? It's not like there was a huge talent gap between Colon and other FA G's and T's. I don't recall the Bears being in on any other FA OLer's besides Colon and Spencer, who they signed. So their plan was to....go hard after Colon and if they don't get him just stick with an inexperineced young line protecting the franchise QB for a team with Super Bowl aspirations?

Ibanez and his 88 OPS+ can sure rake it. I think Cub like offense is a pretty good description, outside of the fact that the Cubs have no one hitting like Victorino is It's also about what these guys are capable of. Utley, Rollins, and Howard are all in the primce of their careers, and have been underperforming for the most part, as opposed to our guys, like Soriano, Byrd, and Pena, who are putting up the numbers that can pretty much be expected of them at this stage in their careers, although Rollins is somewhat more questionable judging by his past 2 seasons. Utley is 32, Rollins is 32, Howard is turning 32 this year. Not all that different from the Cubs you mentioned. Pena is 32, Byrd is 33, Soriano is 34. In the post-steroid era 32 is around the time the downside from peak performance starts for many, but not all players. But the fact remains, these are better players than the ones we have, and really can't be compared to our guys. Yeah, they don't have a ton of talen built around those 5 guys, but looking around the NL, there arent exactly a lot of offensive powerhouses like they have in the AL. This Phillies offense should be good for at least 4-6 runs per game, and when you have the pitching they have, that should be good enough. I'd hope they'd be good for 4-6 runs per game, since the top 19 offenses in baseball fall into that range (including the Cubs). Saying they are similar to the Cubs is not an insult, its basically saying they are mediocre. And in terms of Utley, Howard and Rollins being better prime players than Soriano, Pena and Byrd, this is true but the margin is not huge. Howard always struck me as the kind of guy that when he slips he's done, so it doesn't exactly shock me he's been hovering around .800 OPS most of the year. That said, he's had a lot of seasons where he's been mediocre well into the summer only to get hot the rest of the year and carry the team. As a hitter, Rollins has always struck me as a little overrated. In terms of WAR, Byrd has actually outplayed Rollins over the last 4 seasons (11.3 WAR for Byrd, 9.6 for Rollins), and that includes defense. But yeah, even including what I said about Howard, both him and Utley are clearly better players, and are both performing better than Pena and Soriano this year. Despite that the Phillies offense is right around the same level as the Cubs. Cubs have the higher OPS, SLG and PA. Phillies with a higher OBP. And that includes taking into account Victorino's MVP caliber season, of which the Cubs have no match. If you look at the Cubs lineup by OPS+, the Cubs have/had 6 of their 8 regulars above 100, with Soto at 95 and Barney at 89 being the lowest regular. The Phillies have 4 regulars below 100, with 2 players with a worse than Barney's 89, Ibanez at 88 and All Star 3B Polanco at 85. Even if you factor in improvements to Utley and Howard, it doesn't really do much to discredit the statement "I think Cub like offense is a pretty good description, outside of the fact that the Cubs have no one hitting like Victorino is"

Anyone who wouldnt have megatron in their top 10 WRs is a complete moron. Calvin Johnson is probably my favorite non-Bear NFC North player, he is just a beast. With a real QB (stafford?) he would put up Randy Moss 2007 numbers.

Ibanez and his 88 OPS+ can sure rake it. I think Cub like offense is a pretty good description, outside of the fact that the Cubs have no one hitting like Victorino is It's also about what these guys are capable of. Utley, Rollins, and Howard are all in the primce of their careers, and have been underperforming for the most part, as opposed to our guys, like Soriano, Byrd, and Pena, who are putting up the numbers that can pretty much be expected of them at this stage in their careers, although Rollins is somewhat more questionable judging by his past 2 seasons. Utley is 32, Rollins is 32, Howard is turning 32 this year. Not all that different from the Cubs you mentioned. Pena is 32, Byrd is 33, Soriano is 34. In the post-steroid era 32 is around the time the downside from peak performance starts for many, but not all players.

Ibanez and his 88 OPS+ can sure rake it. I think Cub like offense is a pretty good description, outside of the fact that the Cubs have no one hitting like Victorino is