UMFan83

I forgot all about him, this is now my primary reason for wanting Pujols. Though he might go on a killing spree at his local Walmart prior to making the video. Haha, that would be awesome. Less than 24 hours to the deadline now. There is talk here that not signing him now doesn't foreclose the possibility of signing with the Cardinals after the season. I don't see how it doesn't. If the team goes south this year, he's gone. If the team wins it all, he's accomplished what he needs to (two titles in five years) and he's gone. Anything in between, he's already got his ring, so no "unfinished business" argument to make. This is obviously oversimplifying things, but the team will be in just as much of a financial bind in November as they are now. It's going to be so awesome when he leaves, and I don't care what it costs, he needs to be in Mesa next spring. I strongly disagree. IMO, the Cardinals are still the heavy favorite to retain Pujols if the season passes without a deal. But it would be more like 70-30 instead of 95-5. It's not unprecidented for a star player to become a FA and then resign with the same team. ARod did it a few years ago, Aramis did it with us in 2006 to give 2 examples. All it means is that Pujols put a deadline on a new deal, the Cardinals didn't meet it so now they have to wait until after the season to negotiate. Don't forget they have an excluside window to negotiate with him before other teams can. By then, after 6 months of evaluating what Pujols means to the Cardinals, they might find a way to offer him the money he wants to stay there. Or they might decide its too much, and stand firm with their offer. If that's the case, I can't see Pujols at that point, refuse a contract offer from another team that might make him $50-100 million more over the life of the contract than what STL is offering.

this made me smile Definitely a choice of song that I approve. What did Lou play in his office, Frank Sinatra? He seems like a Sinatra guy.

Get that [expletive] the [expletive] out of here. You just made me a sad panda. With that rotation and an offense featuring the likes of Sammy Sosa, Moises Alou, Nomar Garciaparra, Aramis Ramirez, Derrek Lee, and up and comers Corey Patterson and Micheal Barrett, the future was nice and bright. It was hard to imagine not winning at least 2 World Series with that bunch. It's hard to imagine not evening making the playoffs with that team Unfortunately, it was Dustiny. That preseason, after we signed Maddux, was probably the most excited I've ever been as a Cubs fan, and also the proudest I've been as a Cubs fan. We had finally done something in the offseason, came 5 outs from the World Series and added Maddux, Lee, Hawkins, Dutchvalue (not to metion a full season of ARam and getting Patterson back). The Sox hadn't won in 87 years, the Cardinals in 22 years, the Red Sox in 86 years, so we still had company (which at least to me was comforting. Now we're just alone). And we had a dominating pitching core that would compare favorably with what the Giants have now and could put a #1 or 2 quality starting pitcher out there every night (I guess Maddux was more of a 3 or 4 at that point but whatever). Since then, Zambrano is the only one left in that dominating rotation as Wood is a setup man, Prior is playing A ball, Clement and Maddux are retired. The Cubs didn't make the World Series or the playoffs that year and had a really annoying season, the Red Sox, White sox and Cardinals all won the World Series in the next 3 seasons (not to mention another long sufferer the giants winning it last season). The Cubs have won 2 division titles since then but have yet to win even a postseason game. Good times.

Speaking of DePaul, if it weren't for a semi-flukey buzzer beater against Marquette last year, DePaul would be going for it's 50th consecutive Big East loss in their next game. As it is they are 1-48 in their last 49 (regular season) Big East games. How is that even possible?

I'm sure that DePaul didn't really have a strong shot of getting him, but damn you for stealing him away from DePaul. We need him a lot more than you!

We could use Versteeg much more than you could. I think it's a good move. You can never have enough depth. But yeah there's still the goalie issue. But you made it to the finals with an awful one and the Hawks won it with a mediocre one.

FML Versteeg was traded to the Flyers

ouch. Wonder what Tice thinks about that.

Is this like when the Brian Roberts deal was being help up out of respect for Goose Gossage getting into the HOF?

why does hendry love backloading contracts so much. I realize that in this case its probably supposed to mimic what he'd get in arby, but yeesh.

The early front runner is never the winner. Did the Yankees get Cliff Lee? Did the Knicks get LeBron? Did the Cubs get Peavy? I'd rather be the sneaky underrated team that swoops in and steals him.

Agreed. Why isn't there more outrage against them? I throw rocks at them whenever I get a chance.

Brian Roberts Jake Peavy Kobe Bryant Amare Stoudemire LeBron James I made a decision to never get excited until a player is at a press conference holding up my team's jersey. It's fun to speculate though. Maybe I'm wrong, but I just think Pujols has enough respect for the Cardinals organization to run to their most hated rival. Especially if the money and years are similar to what is being offerend elsewhere. If that's not the case, then all bets are off.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/spring2011/news/story?id=6120783&campaign=rss&source=MLBHeadlines Bob Nightengale said that when the contract was presented to Pujols, his camp immediately rejected it as it was short in years or dollars.

If/when Pujols announces he's breaking off contract talks, that would be a very enjoyable thing to wear during Cubs/Cardinals games at Wrigley this year.

Pujols. I'd probably be making a terrible mistake but whatever. I'm not big on Fielder as a long term investment and I'm not a big fan of Sabathia in general. I wouldnt be thrilled paying Pujols $30 mil at age 40 but if the choice was between those 2, I'd choose the guy that's almost guaranteed to put up .950+ OPS for the next 4-5 years.

Yeah that was pretty bad. But I think people don't blame Wade for staying in Miami and I think most people, other than Chicagoans, were pretty much convinced he was going to stay in Miami from the start of the process until he signed. I'd be willing to bet most casual NBA fans didn't even realize that whole halfday drama that was Wade's second visit with the Bulls.

Pessimistic spin: 6 of the Bulls last 8 losses have come to the 20-34 Clippers, the 17-38 Nets, the 26-28 76ers, the 23-31 Bobcats (twice), and the 24-29 Warriors.

I definitely agree with all of that. I can't really blame him for leaving Cleveland, but the way he did wasn't just a dick move to them; it was a dick move to everyone. Honestly, the whole FA process left a sour taste in my mouth. Some of it is his fault, most of it is not. The shoddy reporting in the media really started it. There were actual articles in respected media outlets that said that LeBron James was going to be a Bull (see: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/27/sports/basketball/27draft.html). And ESPN was just a ridiculous farce the way they went about their reporting. Then you have the whole specticle of LeBron. At first it was rumored he was going to fly to each city to hear pitches, and Nike was going to make a shoe in the team's colors to commemorate his FA visit. Then, after backlash there, it was decided he was going to invite everyone to visit him in Cleveland (not Akron either). That was another specticle. But all of that wouldn't have resonated with me without the shameful event called "The Decision". Rightly or wrongly, that turned me against him. Not even because he ditched Cleveland on national TV, but just the entire event of him having an hour long special on ESPN to announce where he was going to sign. It even sort of angered me that he was donating money to charity for the event because it was an attempt to limit the backlash. Blah, I'm over it now. I think LeBron realizes what his actions this summer cost him in terms of reputation, even if he won't admit it.

And he's got a really, really, really good chance to win at least one while he's in Miami. And really, is it LeBron's fault that Cleveland constructed such a horrible team around him? If anything, their poor play just makes me understand better and even sympathize with why he wanted out. He would have had a chance to win a bunch of championships with the Bulls. He's got a good chance to win a bunch with the Heat, too. They're not going to be always as restricted as they are now. Probably not, but no one knows for sure until the new CBA is settled on. My belief is that LeBron probably knew the Bulls offered him the best immediate opportunity to win, but the Heat were right behind the Bulls. The problem with the Heat was that for the first year or two they were going to be really limited beyond the big 3. But get a couple of MLEs under their belts and suddenly their supporting cast is going to look decent. So LeBron took the option where he plays with his friends in a warm climate and hopes the star power of those 3 are enough to overwhelm everyone for a title this year, and if not, they will only improve the next couple of seasons.

obviously not

Incorrect. It will be when their leadoff hitter reaches on a seeing eye single in the top of the first on opening day.

how about you take him and we get ron adams back You are obsessed with Ron Adams (and rightfully so). But you act like we stole your homegrown product. He was the Bulls assistant coach (as im sure you know) for 6 years before going to OKC for not even 2 seasons. We just took back what was rightfully ours after VDN stupidly decided not to keep him on the staff.

So Washington finally won a road game?

Whatever, its still in the same region. It has more importance to LeBron than like Chicago or something. You can't deny there is an emotional tie to Cleveland, as he mentioned quite a few times when he still wanted to be a Cav. I could be wrong but the quotes about Cleveland not being his hometown only came the last year or so.