UMFan83

Will Bonds get to make his HOF acceptance speech via Closed Circuit TV?

I would love Kevin Millar. People would play up the "OMG it was his attitude in Boston that got the Red Sox over the hump and won them a championship", but I have to feel like there is some value there. That said, his numbers were awful last year.

btw, not a bad lineup that you can make from unsigned FAs: Orlando Cabrera, SS Bobby Abreu, RF Manny Ramirez, LF Adam Dunn, DH Joe Crede, 3B Jim Edmonds, CF Orlando Hudson, 2B Rich Aurillia, 1B Jason Varitek, C Ben Sheets Oliver Perez Randy Wolf Braden Looper Tom Glavine Juan Cruz, CL

I was going to say that I'd love to sign Joe Beimel to a cheap deal, but then I looked at his WHIPs in recent years. How the hell does he sustain that ERA?

Who the heck did you expect the Cubs to get for Rich Hill, Matt Wieters?

Should have gotten Adam Dunn for him while we could have :) I never would have thought that when Lou came and pulled him in the first inning vs. St. Louis last April that it was the last time we'd ever see Rich Hill in a Cubs uniform.

Why does LA give the Hawks so much trouble?

Why does this mean Hendry is a failure? He didn't have to have Peavy, and when it came down to it, he likely didn't have the money to spend on him. Cmon, the entire offseason has been a failure. This ballclub did NOT improve in the offseason. We coulden't scratch out any runs in the playoffs for two years in a row. Jim Hendry is a giant failure. If 3 playoff appearances in 6 years is a giant failure, what do you call the previous 60 years of Cubs GMs? I have my serious gripes with Hendry as well, but theres no need for a massive overreaction.

Why does this mean Hendry is a failure? He didn't have to have Peavy, and when it came down to it, he likely didn't have the money to spend on him.

Winning less games while still making the playoffs seemed to work for the Cardinals.

WGN 720

From Starks most recent column. Not sure how plausible that really is. The Cubs weren't part of the bankruptcy filing, and all the articles indicate the bankruptcy process is pretty friendly so far. So I doubt the bankruptcy proceedings will be involved much. Not to mention this is something that was obviously contemplated beforehand. Shouldn't it still matter even if the Cubs weren't in the bankruptcy filing? They are still an asset for the Tribune Company and likely the powers that be want the sale to the person whose offer is the most beneficial to the TribCo. But then again, as we've read, the Trib chose Ricketts likely because he was able to offer the most cash up front, which I'm sure is something they want too.

Not much news but worth reading: From Starks most recent column.

I was wondering why Hill's name was not listed to begin with. Could be had cheap, has MLB experience and had success, only needs mental tweeks. Why not take a flier on him when he could start 30 games this season for them. Well he doesn't have options so that's one thing. I'm not saying he wouldn't go in a Peavy trade, just that he doesn't really add much value to the trade, especially since the Cubs pretty much have to trade him anyways.

I doubt we'll let the Pirates potentially burn us by acquiring Hill.

I was just thinking.....who do you think has the bigger inferiority complex in the rivalry? I see stuff like this from Cardinals fans all the time. From the "Hey Chicago, how's the TV reception signs" during the 2004 playoffs, to a bakery I went to in St. Louis selling "1908 cookies", they seem to be more inclined to point out the rivalry and make a big deal out of it. You would think will the successes of the Cardinals far outweighing those of the Cubs, the inferiority complex would be the other way around, but I think a lot of it has to do with the vast differences between the two cities that our respective fans call home. So we basically have 3 rivalries (Cards, Sox, Brewers), and in all 3 rivlaries, a majority of observes would say that the non-Cubbed team seems to have the inferiority complex, and yet the Cubs are the lovable losers with the 100 year title drought. I guess we can say we have a 4th rivalry with the Mets and we probably have the inferiority complex there, but that rivalry is dying off and basically non-existent to anyone not alive in 1969, or at least not fans before 1993 when we left their division.

I don't really think its Lou prefering "proven veterans" as much as it is Lou choosing his favorites and stubbornly sticking with his first impression. When the Cubs won the division in 2008, Lou was lauded for winning with players from the farm system who weren't exactly regarded highly. Theriot, Soto, Fontenot, Marmol, Samardzija, even Gallagher all played key roles. He just traded his .860+ OPS second baseman to make more ABs for Fontenot. However, the other side of the coin is players that he seems to not favor from the start for whatever reason. Players like Pie, Hill and Murton for whatever reason were out of favor from the start and Lou just never gave them the chance they deserved. Lou gave Hill every shot possible, including letting him start in the playoffs. For some reason or another Hill just completely lost it. I seem to recall Lou liking Pie very much his first year, but you are right his leash was very short and eventually Pie got into Lou's doghouse. Gallagher had a couple of rough outings, but Lou continued to give him chances. Overall, Lou plays whoever is producing. He wasn't shy about giving Hill the start over Marquis in the playoffs, simply because Marquis was a "proven veteran." He wasn't shy about benching Kendall for Soto. He wasn't shy about benching Izturis for Theriot. He wasn't shy about benching Fukudome at the end of last year. Lou is nowhere near as bad as Dusty used to be in regard to veterans. I agree, for the most part. But it's much more about first impressions with Lou than proven veteran. Also, yes, he was shy, and almost apologetic about starting Soto over Kendall. He had every intention of sticking with Kendall down the stretch until Soto made that option virtually impossible with a huge breakout. It's troubling that people have to be great from the outset in order to unseat such mediocre players as Kendall. I guess to hurt my first point, starting Tracshel over Marshall down the stretch in 2007 was pretty inexcusable, but then again so was even have Steve Trachsel to begin with.

I don't really think its Lou prefering "proven veterans" as much as it is Lou choosing his favorites and stubbornly sticking with his first impression. When the Cubs won the division in 2008, Lou was lauded for winning with players from the farm system who weren't exactly regarded highly. Theriot, Soto, Fontenot, Marmol, Samardzija, even Gallagher all played key roles. He just traded his .860+ OPS second baseman to make more ABs for Fontenot. However, the other side of the coin is players that he seems to not favor from the start for whatever reason. Players like Pie, Hill and Murton for whatever reason were out of favor from the start and Lou just never gave them the chance they deserved.

Don't think we have the money. We have to think beyond this year. Would signing Hudson for this year be worth losing Lilly or Harden next year?

How clever you morans... http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/deadspin/2009/01/01cubssuck03.jpg (for the record if someone from Chicago did that about the Cardinals, I'd think it was awesome)

Your team usually has to be, you know, good to win Big Ten POY.

That's ok, we'll just do what we do best, which is build a farm system! Oh wait.....

ESPN Bottom Line had a blurb tonight that said DePaul's AD gave Wainwright a vote of confidence for 09-10. That is sometimes a good sign right? I was pretty sure that his contract runs out after this year though...

Remember when we all called him Dutchvalue?

Yay DePaul only lost by 22 tonight. What a dead atmosphere at Allstate tonight. Nice Fire Wainright chant though.