UMFan83

That's a good point, but I'm sure the money would be backed up by MLB in a legal dispute.

So I must have missed it....did they respond to your request to them to talk Blackhawks?

Also, the Cubs first televised game is this Saturday night against the White Sox. Unfortunately, the White Sox announcers will be doing the game.

Keep the PBP coming. I am enjoying it

If you survive this one Sammy, I'll start to believe you.

I know that of all the playoff "runs" we had the last few years, the one I enjoyed the most was the second one when we lost in 6 games to the Heat. A season where we went 41-41. It was fun because that team was really on a run at the end of the regular season, and the team had no business being in any of those games against the Heat, but they won 2 of the games, and stayed very close in 2 others.

Hey now I hooked up a fellow board member for basically face value for opening day, I don't want to hear it! Why not by extras so you can end up going for free? Not really TOO much profit involved... just some beer money for the game. Free > Paying for. With all due respect (as the person that benefited from Cyno's generosity), I think bragging about it in front of people who were not as fortunate is what people are put off by. I have profited from ticket sales and previous years, and I don't think there is a problem with it if you get lucky enough. It's capitalism. Plus you obviously brought your karma back up by helping me out :)

A friend of mine plays in a wood bat league every summer in Rhode Island. He got to play against Oil Can one game last summer and basically said you wouldn't believe he's as old as he is. Not that that means he's capable of playing at the major league level again, but apparently he's kept himself in very good condition over the years. Yup that's how my dad knows him. Him and Oil Can play in traveling tournaments with other ex-major leaguers (of which my dad is not), mostly around NE but sometimes Arizona and Florida too. My dad says he can still hit 90 at times with decent control.

uuuhhhh.....sarcasm I hope? Oh yeah

Cubs win! 1-0!

Time to stand!

Pain of ending a 97 win season = spoiling the dodgers first spring training game

The command is an issue, but I'm not worried about him giving up runs in his first spring start. Lou will murder him if his command is off though.

Give up some runs?

Yeah I am watching that game on MLBTV and DeRosa looks like he put on a few lbs. Muscle or fat?

That is definitely midseason form for the best offense in the NL by a wide margin (and second best in baseball) last year. Figured I'd be the first to complain about the chicken littles. :) GAME OVER grand slam in 3...2... The Cobs suck

In other baseball, Mark DeRosa is 0-1 with the Indians, and neither Felix Pie or Rich Hill has played in the Baltimore game. A-Roid also homered

I think we're going to have to agree to disagree here As opposed to giving minutes to a bad old guy who can't develop and will struggle? Huh? None of these players are old or bad besides maybe Brad Miller or Tim Thomas but he's only on the team for a contract. A lot of these players could easily become role players on the next Bulls contender. Two max deals? No. Barely one max deal. The salary cap will be shrinking the next 2 seasons, as Stern hinted last week. The Bulls won't have more than $20 mil under the cap, and that doesn't include the fact that Tyrus will be a restricted FA, and if he keeps improving he'll probably get a decent sum. Reinsdorf won't go over the luxury tax unless he's sure the move will make them legit contenders. Will Chris Bosh convince JR that the Bulls are an NBA finals team? That depends. I'm not telling the Bulls to sell their draft picks, I'm telling them to trade them. Sure we could pass on a Rudy Fernandez or Rajon Rondo, or we could be stuck paying $3 million a year for the next Thabo Sefolosha. Given Pax's draft pick history, I'm thinking its likely it will be the later. Again, we don't really have too many old players, and there is a strong possibility that some of these players could be excellent role players. You think John Salmons wouldn't be a great role player on a contender? They wouldn't be worse, but they could stand to gain confidence from a playoff appearance. They obviously have issues with confidence as evidenced by Deng's sulky behavior after the Kobe trade talk and not getting his extension. Pax has changed his opinion on these players, and I doubt that he's going to hesitate to trade any of them if we make the 8th seed and get bounced in 4 games Good luck proving that. And that's why role players on contenders and title winners are often described as "winners" and "character guys" that contending teams would love to have. No there's no quantifiable way to prove this, it's just an opinion. If that's the case, why didn't Tim Duncan or Tracy McGrady or Grant Hill come to Chicago when we were basically throwing money at them? Tim Duncan stayed in warm San Antonio for a winning nucleus and McGrady went from Toronto to Orlando, Hill from Detroit to Orlando. Why did Kevin Garnett reject any trade to Boston until the Celtics acquired Ray Allen? Because he didn't want to play in a cold weathered city for a bad basketball team. Tell me how many major FAs have signed with Detroit, Chicago, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Minnesota, Boston, etc. Part of that is because most big names get acquired via trades because the team that can pay them the most money is their own team. I get that. All I am doing is providing evidence that it would be more beneficial for the team to make the playoffs than get the 14th pick in the draft. Plus, because I enjoy basketball, and I am a fan of the Bulls, I would feel dumb rooting for a semi decent team to lose all their games, rather then experience the fun of a playoff run. If there was a large benefit to getting a low draft pick, I'd reconsider, but I don't see it.

There is no value to having a higher first round pick. There are several disadvantages: 1. Another young player to develop/give minutes too/watch struggle 2. More money tied down past 2010 3. An extremely shallow draft so unless you get lucky on a lightly regarded prospect, the pick will bring little to the future. However if we make the playoffs: 1. Entire team gains confidence 2. Rose gets playoff experience 3. Our players will have marginally higher trade values 4. Chicago because a slightly better FA destination. No one wants to sign with a lottery team that plays its games in a frigid winter city. If they come here its for the large market, to follow in Jordan's footsteps, and to play for a competitive team. Making the playoffs will slightly raise the perception of Chicago Besides, basketball is supposed to be entertainment. I don't care if Brad Miller or Tim Thomas will be on the Bulls the next time we are competitive. I am going to enjoy their contribution to the team and root them on in hopes that they make the playoffs.

I'm sure WGN Radio online will have the game. I believe since it's spring training, they will be able to broadcast it. If not, I'm sure MLB.com will broadcast spring games for free (hopefully). Any word on a lineup today?

Good point. We tried that last year. He had a decent run, but Mr. Edmonds couldn't do enough for us in the postseason.

Everyone ends up with 41 and 41

Playing Devil's Advocate, every year except last year. But I definitely think he will be competent depending on your definition of competent.

Well I believe most/all Cactus League games start at 2 CST, so it could be any game played in Arizona that day.

Here is 2008s. Unfortunately, try as I might, I can't filter out April splits from a range of years. If I play around with the splits box on the right hand side and try April splits from 2002-2008, it ignores the "only April stats" filter. I would just go through each year individually and find which batters are consistently showing up. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/stats/batting?sort=avg&split=40&league=mlb&season=2008&seasonType=2&type=reg&ageMin=17&ageMax=51&minpa=100&hand=a&pos=all