UMFan83

1. Michigan State 2. Indiana 3. Illinois 4. Michigan 5. Ohio State 6. Wisconsin 7. Minnesota 8. Iowa 9. Northwestern 10. Penn State 11. Purdue Of course the Big 10 is shaping up to be pretty damn good this year, I could we way off.

agreed that vidro is a suitable replacement for Walker... but i dont like chronic injuries from 30 year olds edit: This post was made from a PSP :)

Hmm you mean exactly what we'd likely get out of Walker except Walker is healthy. I guess thats a reasonable trade off for a guy that can 'catch the ball'

We need to keep the starters sharp with the bye week coming up. I say play them 2.5-3 quarters and pray no one gets injured. Would also be interesting if the Bears opened up the offense and passed long and hard next week to see if there is anything there. If there is, the Bears will look like a VERY imposing team to opponents who will have twice as much scouting to do. If it doesn't work, you stick with your 'get the lead and run the ball' game plan. Either way, Go Bears! Takes my mind off that other team I like

Actually thats pretty interesting. Still not a big fan of the signing but if his BABIP goes up this year, that can be a good thing. Still don't like his day time and outdoor splits though

Did Busty Olney provide any good material while we were in our outage?

My friend told me that he just saw on ESPNnews: "theres a hold up in the cubs/orioles trade....the orioles want zambrano more.....but the cubs wont do that

Has anyone gone to OriolesHangout.com and checked out their opinions on this trade? Almost EVERY poster is against the trade as well. I think there should be a rule that MLB.com puts up a poll for every trade made, and if 80% of of fans on BOTH sides hate the trade, it has to be recinded. Anyways, hopefully the Cubs can get Prior back after he's washed up like Maddux.

Wasn't there a game where Prior was taken out of the game strangely early, and then after the game Dusty said that his arm or something was sore, and then when they went to question Prior he had no idea what they were talking about? I can see why he hates this joke of a franchise.

2B isn't the most obvious place for him to move. SS move because of decreased range, 2B still need range. I'm thinking 3B or LF. Regardless, once you move him out of SS, the premium you pay for production at SS is more than you should pay for production at 2B. You don't trade young top 10 pitchers for a guy you might have to move in a couple years. I hate when other people post "I have a source" stuff, but I'll do it anyway. Take it with a grain of salt. I would do the same if I were in your position. I have a source I respect who tells me that Mark Prior absolutely hates everything about the Chicago Cubs organization. It's almost a 100% sure thing that he's leaving as a free agent the very instant he can. You could be looking at Tejada for four years versus Prior for three years. Obviously, I don't know this for sure. Just something to consider. Are you serious? The Cubs are driving me to HATE them. I've followed this team all my life, and I've watched them suck terribly. But right now, I hate every single thing about them (except Z)

He knew that Jones was coming up and said 'why bother'?

Great the baseball world is already making fun of us: http://www.baseballthinkfactory.org/files/oracle/discussion/35073/

Wow, Damon sure is cocky. Check out some of these quotes I pulled off of BDD: Woah woah woah Mr. Primadona. Your a good player, one of the best? hardly. The best leadoff hitter in the game? Don't make me laugh....

Just for fun lets compare the 2003 Cubs with the 2006 projected Cubs C - Miller = Barrett. Miller was a terrible hitter but he clearly got the best out of the Cubs staff 1B - Karros/Choi/Simon < Lee 2B - Grudz > Walker SS - KGonz < Cedeno. Gonz was a better fielder probably, but his .210 or so after the ASB average killed the Cubs. Cedeno is an unknown, but projects to be better then KGonz 3B - Bellhorn/ARam < Aram. If healthy LF - Alou > Murton. Even though Alou had a down year and was slow and couldn't run the basepaths, this time the unknown variable works against a young player. Murton could end up better though CF - Patterson/Lofton > Pierre. Just a gut feeling RF - Sosa > Jones. Even as bad as he was.. SP Prior > Prior. Guess its unfair to compare the same player 3 years later, but that Prior was healthy and has not put up the same numbers since, no matter the reason Wood > Wood. Obviously Zambrano < Zambrano. Don't get me wrong, Zambrano was awesome in 2003, but I think he is more mature and more dominant now. Clement > Maddux. Sadly... ***** (name should be banned from the forum) < Rusch/Williams BP 03 < 05. We've improved I'll grudgingly admit Bench 03 > 05. No power in the 05 bench. Sadly, Troy O'Leary-like player is needed. Overall, I think the '03 team is better, but not by much.

I might have been scared for this game if I didn't watch MNF. I predict: Bears 20 Packers 6 Grossman 15-28 175 yards 1 TD 1 INT T.Jones 101 yards 1 TD Favre 13-28 183 yards 0 TD 2 INT

BTW, i dont know how this pertains to yearly salary, but the AP article says that Jones gets a 4 million signing bonus to be paid from 2006-2008 and an annual salary of 3 million in 2006

Intersting...thank God there is something that will take away from news nationally the signing of Jacque Jones.

I hate sports.... the Cubs and Bulls are trying to take the good vibes from the Bears

I bet Lance Berkman demands one in his next contract.

Start a campaign similar to the one in Detroit about Millen. :) Personally, I want to organize a day where we get as many people as possible to not buy tickets to one game as a protest...anyone interested in joining me? I can print out flyers at Kinkos for free

Where does the other about $15 million go? You think the Tribsters will actually pocket it?

At least our dominating bullpen will keep most teams within 3 runs of us... Seriously, I'm not spending a dollar on the Cubs next year.....or maybe the next 3

Jacque Jones has caught the most balls for active players with over 1,000 strikeouts with a career OBP between .326 and .330 who play their home games North of Springfield, IL with a last name of Jones

Lets give Jones $22 million for one season so we can at least say that we spent all our excess money this offseason

Haha that would be hilarious. Don't think we need a RF that bad... BTW, didn't Sosa or his agent mention about 3 weeks ago that he had some mystery teams bidding for his services and that he would reveal them very soon?