Felix Leiter

You have to admit that Aiyana's rack is pretty impressive, especially since she has a small waist. She was hired because she's nice looking and then when someone points that out, they get their panties in an uproar. If you think people would watch the Fabulous Sports Babe(Jeez..was she large) then you're delusional. You're in a male concentric field where looks matter. Goodness, Comcast has April Rose doing Champagne Lodge commercials for chrissakes. Stop yourself. Yup, B&B used to rip Hub a new one for his opinions and the terrible Dick Jauron Show. Now I guess all is forgiven.

If Olt can produce .260+, 25-30HR and play good defense, Bryant will start out in LF. I know that's probably not where he and Boras want him to be, but the lineup would really be stacked. That leaves Mendy as the Swiss Army knife and probably the minors for Junior Lake.

Watched Thursday's game. KB's first HR was really crushed, way up beyond the LF berm. He is still learning at 3rd, think Olt will always be a better defender. Soler looks bigger than last year, taller and more definition. Russell looks really good in the field and gets it at the plate. Angels announcers were very praising of our younger players, but called Almora 'ALFRED Almora'. They mentioned that Castillo has shown up in better shape, but should be traded before camp breaks.

lol what? no. that was never in the works and baez was getting reps at 2b long before we got russell. i have no idea who the better defensive SS is of the three, even though you seem to be absolutely certain based off some scouting reports. if management thinks russell is better by a significant enough degree that they decide to move an established major leaguer off his position, then they'll do that and that's great. or castro stays at SS and russell probably plays 3B. either of these scenarios could easily play out and the latter is probably more likely, if i had to guess, despite your certainty otherwise. why you are always so eager to condescend by starting posts that way is beyond me. And why are you always wanting to move Russell to third when it's Castro who should move? Plus with Bryant and possibly still Olt at third it doesn't make sense. Castro brings us pitching later in the year.

Norris is in no way "a serious hole at C." Also exactly ONE player in their starting 8 is 30+ (he is exactly 30) and that is Matt Kemp. Please stop. You need to do your research. Quentin and Venable are 30+. Norris had 2 HRS in the 2nd half of 2014 and now you put him San Diego's huge park. His defense was so bad, GSoto started for him the playoffs against KC. Please go away.

Shields needs to decide whether he wants a ring or not. I don't see it with San Diego. They're further away from the WS than the Cubs. A lot of their starting 8 are 30+ and have serious holes at C and on the left side of the infield. Living back in your hometown is great, if you win. If you know you won't win, how happy will you be?

You're right, it's pretty one-sided towards Starlin. He left off his many mental lapses where he seems disinterested at times and brushes with the law. How convenient. And while this would be the perfect time for him to step up and be a leader for the young Latin players like Baez, Almora and Soler, I don't think you want anyone to emulate him. Look how Rizzo has stepped up and is the clear leader. It's the front office's job not to bad mouth Starlin to keep his trade value up, but if he is worth so much and so talented-certainly other teams would pay established starting pitching to get him. Theo is playing this right. Go into 2015, play Starlin at SS and check on the development of Addison Russell. When he's ready to be called up, you start offering Castro around.

I wonder if he did it as a precursor to batting helmets. I noticed several shots on MLB network that it appears he is wearing a padded hat. Here's a portion of the story from BR. The first known use of batting helmets in the majors was by the 1941 Brooklyn Dodgers. Two of the Dodgers, Joe Medwick and Pee Wee Reese, had suffered severe beanings, so General Manager Larry MacPhail made the entire team wear protective helmets. Those helmets were based on jockeys' helmets, and were much like a normal baseball cap with a hard liner. In 1971, Major League Baseball made helmets mandatory, though some veterans continued to wear cloth caps with liners under a grandfather clause. They included Norm Cash, Bob Montgomery, and Tony Taylor. Starting in 1983, players were required to wear helmets with flaps extending down from the crown to cover the ear of the batter that was closest to the pitcher. Players who had previously worn flapless helmets were allowed to continue doing so. Tim Raines Sr. was the last active player to wear a flapless helmet. I think Ken Henderson when he played for the White Sox in the early 70's wore his hard liner under his cap in the field. I will always remember Sammy Sosa's game in Pittsburgh where he got drilled in the helmet. Life saver.

2 MVPs when Musial, Mays and Aaron were all also in their prime in the same league. Frank Robinson was coming on strong then too. Ernie was more important to Chicago than Jordan or Payton, IMO. Jordan left town. Payton left the world too soon. Ernie spent 62 years in Chicago and around the Cubs franchise. Ernie did leave Chicago for awhile, as he lived in California in parts of the 1990's. I think he moved back about 15 years ago. Ernie hit 5 grand slams in one year, as many as Ryno hit in his entire career. He would flick those wrists and the ball would jump off his bat. A gentleman in every way.

The IRS just auctioned off Darryl Strawberry's 1985-90 agreement with the Mets to pay off Straw's debts. The winning bid was $1.3M and will pay the bidder $8,891.82 monthly for the next 18+ years. That comes out in the long run to $1.9M. So the agreement lasted almost 50 years.

Wouldn't Myers coming to us make sense? Maddon and Hoyer have connections with the principals and if Myers wrist is satisfactory, isn't he the kind of guy the Cubs are eagerly collecting? In a three-way deal, Alcantara, Castillo, Wood and Castro for Myers and Hamels? Myers can't play CF and barely average corner OF. The Phils have no OF prospects and want to get younger. Would Castro and Almora be enough for Hamels?

Scherzer is waiting to see how much Gomes and Ross get.

I like the deal. We really don't have a seasoned closer other than leaning exclusively on Rondon. Motte could provide a bridge to developing the younger relievers into potential closers. Plus considering the cost of Robertson(Sox) and other closers, this could be a true bargain.

Gotta say, I love Lester getting #34--hopefully it will help some of the false Kerry Wood hero worship from Cubs fans and hopefully ends any chance of it ever being retired for a guy whose on-field stats don't come close to earning that honor. Nothing against Woody, but those are just facts. scorching hot facts Cubs fans overrate Kerry Wood. Not sure what objective measure you can come up with, but I'm about 99% sure it's true. Look, the guy is responsible for 3 or 4 unbelievable moments and 3 or 4 outstanding seasons, but he in no way, shape, or form, deserves to have his number retired, but you'll find people arguing for it. good for you taking the lead on setting the record straight. the concept of a retired jersey is a stupid one, if it's going to happen there's nothing wrong with honoring guys fans really liked. You retire a jersey for someone who has actually accomplished something over their career. Wood did not. Under your criteria, Tuffy Rhodes' and Mickey Morandini's jersey would be retired.

Again David, Cub fans are being screwed. The Blackhawks paid The Score to carry their games for at least a year(before Old Man Wirtz passed), because they were bad and no one wanted to pony up broadcast fees. Seems to me the White Sox did something like that too. I think the last thing you want is 'King Crane' anywhere near the media rights contract discussion. It will become a disaster.

Because of the contract with Comcast, the Cubs can't cable broadcast any other non-Comcast games until 2020. This just screws the out of market fans who relied on WGN-TV. Plus it's selling season for all the ad agencies to ink 2015 annual contracts.

No DH in the NL. Thanks, Kap.

Why are you so gullible? That's revealing nothing. Give me a name or it's a mindless rumor.

Like goony said, Kaplan's boy is Kenney (although he's claiming a source outside the organization on this one). Also, your boy Levine who you start threads about is reporting a very similar thing, so... Why would Theo/Jed confide in Kenney anything about FA talks? He's a bean counter. And if Kenney is leaking this stuff out, he should be fired. Bruce Levine often provides sources for his stories. Kaplan gets his stories off of Twitter. Provides sources? What does that mean? Kaplan was the first to report anything substantive on the Cubs and their offer to Lester yesterday...that was then followed by a flood of other reports on the Cubs/Lester situation from local reporters, including Levine. So who exactly is getting stories off Twitter? When they report rumors, they are always from unnamed sources. You're not getting a direct quote from Jed Hoyer or something with anything substantive. You're kidding yourself if you don't think Kaplan has plenty of access to this organization. He's practically their mouthpiece. You're wrong, David. Kaplan has NEVER broken a story by himself. He makes up a lot of rumors and things he wants to happen, simply to get people to listen to him. How many Cubs stories he has claimed to have intimate knowledge on have turned out to be non-stories? But Kaplan has moved on to the next load of b.s.. He's not a journalist. He's not a beat writer. He's rarely in the clubhouse. He doesn't travel with the team. But we're supposed to believe everything he says over people whose jobs are to cover the Cubs. You don't see Len Kasper doing that kind of nonsense. Isn't Len more wired in than Kaplan? Theo/Jed don't leak, unlike Hendry. They're professionals.

Like goony said, Kaplan's boy is Kenney (although he's claiming a source outside the organization on this one). Also, your boy Levine who you start threads about is reporting a very similar thing, so... Why would Theo/Jed confide in Kenney anything about FA talks? He's a bean counter. And if Kenney is leaking this stuff out, he should be fired. Bruce Levine often provides sources for his stories. Kaplan gets his stories off of Twitter.

Kaplan is a moron. He just throws dog sh*t against the wall knowing it's all made up. He drove WGN-FM 'The Game' off the air. He does not have the 'secret man-crush access' to Theo/Jed like he did with Hendry. Who are these secret, unnamed insiders? The janitor? A clubhouse boy? Laura Ricketts? He also told us that Melo was signing with the Bulls. Theo/Jed keep things close to the vest, especially when it comes to FA negotiations. Why would they leak something that potentially cost them more $$$? They don't. The Lester thing will go another week or two. A decision might hinge on a potential trade for SP by the Cubs.

I'm thinking the Giants will be talking w/Lester before it's all done.

This really makes no sense. He can't play SS any more and Panda's at 3rd. So they're going to stick him in LF which is tough w/ the Green Monster. What happens when he decides he doesn't like that anymore? He's becoming more injury prone and his attitude can be a little shaky at times. This is not a good deal for the Sox.

I'd add the Dodgers to the list of those trade partners for Starlin Castro. What about Pederson, Chris Reed and..

What is the world coming to? Ronnie Woo-Woo has his own bobblehead. WooBobbles.com Kapman wants 100 of them.