Outshined_One

I've always been more of a fan of the Illuminati. ;)

I'm not entirely sure. These are the only pages where I have seen it... Link 1 Link 2 Interesting prospect, albeit a bit on the older side. Lemme see what I can dig up on him...

Hence the reason why I think the Orioles were the one to leak this rumor.

The thing is, Quentin can't play CF all that well, according to most reports. Chris Young, on the other hand, can play CF quite well, from my understanding.

1) To my knowledge, Hendry has not officially said anything about trading Prior for Tejada. There was an article not too long ago that said that the Cubs asked about Tejada at the winter meetings, but made no firm offers. However, I don't remember if that source was unnamed or if it actually was Hendry. 2) Thanks to the miracle of plausible deniability, clubs could get away with this kind of action if they so chose. I'm sure that if the above scenario were true, it would entail all sorts of ethical violations and break plenty of rules, but teams could easily deny doing this sort of thing and not get into any trouble for it.

As many as it takes. :P

Things haven't been adding up for me in this whole episode. Tejada is a fine player and arguably the best SS playing SS in the game...but the Cubs already have a halfway decent guy ready to go at SS (Cedeno) who at the least would be defensively sound and, if he performs to his potential, could be a fine offensive player for this team. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense that Hendry would so doggedly be going after Tejada to the point of being willing to give up Prior and prospects. Moreover, apparently he's unwilling to budge on a deal for Tejada involving Zambrano, who is more proven than Prior is, but has less time left on his contract and also has had enough of a workload in recent years that there is plenty of concern for him injury-wise. Also, neither Prior nor Zambrano would turn the Orioles into a legitimate contender in the AL East. What's also struck me is the fact that the Cubs have indicated that they have asked about Tejada's availability, but that they never put a firm offer on the table for Tejada. Yet, sources have adamantly indicated that the Cubs HAVE made these offer and that all of them have included Prior in one way or another, essentially. We've gone over a lot of possibilities for this scenario. Maybe Jim Hendry is going to make a last ditch attempt at improving this offense significantly and keeping him own job in the process by sacrificing some pitching. Maybe Ken Rosenthal threw a random rumor to the wall and the national sports media has run with it. Maybe this was just all a case of miscommunication between the various people involved in this deal. Yet, this whole time, neither fan base wanted this deal. Orioles fans didn't like it because they'd be sacrificing a former MVP whose production at SS would be impossible to replace. Cubs fans didn't like it because Prior was under the Cubs' control, was young, and that acquiring Tejada at the cost of pitching depth and talent was not worth it. Very few people seemed in favor of this deal on either side. But, I had an idea about this trade. It works well for both ends, although I think it would make more sense for the Orioles than the Cubs. What if these were rumors that were intentionally planted in order to up a player's trade value? Boston needs a SS. They just offloaded Edgar Renteria as well as their best SS prospect in Hanley Ramirez. They also have a somewhat disgruntled but incredibly talented LF in Manny Ramirez as well as some prospect. Boston fans have been drooling over the idea of acquiring Miguel Tejada wearing a Red Sox uniform. However, he was not going to come cheap; it would cost more than just Manny to get him. What if Peter Angelos or people within the Baltimore organization decided to plant these rumors about Jim Hendry being willing to trade Mark Prior for Miguel Tejada in order to hold the Red Sox hostage for more prospects or players in a trade for Tejada? That they have intentionally leaked these rumors in order to try and have the Red Sox panic and overpay for Tejada? It could work equally well with the Cubs and Mark Prior, although who the Cubs were holding hostage with this deal is some one I'm unaware of. Still, it's food for thought. I could be off about it, but this is an idea that seems to make the most sense right now.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Naaaaaaaaaaaaavin... :D

There were some interesting guys down in the Arizona Fall League this past season, but no one of particular note in terms of Non-Americans. Can't say I know anything about the recent signings, though. GO BADGERS!!!!

I'm curious as to what the cost will be to acquire Zito. I can't say I'm overly familiar with the Athletics' farm system and their needs as a team...so yeah. I like the idea of acquiring him at a fair price, though. He'd make an excellent addition to this rotation.

You are certain? I am certain that no one tells nor reminds him "Hey, our numbers are slipping, why don't you cook up some absurd article today and get more subscribers!" The voices in his head take care of that on their own, imo.

I'm still hoping Kenny Williams swoops in at the 11th hour and takes Tejada to the South Side in exchange for some ludicrous package. That's my only hope now. :(

Markakis and Hayden Penn, then, it had better be. Markakis and Loewen would be preferable, imo. Loewen is like Hill, only with a sinker and younger.

Honestly, most people saw that Pierre trade coming a mile away. We all knew Jimmy boy coveted a solution to top of the order, speed, and CF. We also knew the Marlins were looking for pitching that was ML-ready (or close to it) and would be cheap for a reasonable length of time. Plus, sports writers are awesome at throwing crap at the wall 365 days a year. Thing is, the one time it actually sticks, you proclaim yourself a success and then everyone worships you for it.

Oh noes. PRIOR IS NOT FREAKIN INJURY PRONE. He got hit in the arm by a freak line drive. NOT INJURY PRONE. Therefore the chance that his arm falls of is highly highly highly HIGHLY unlikely. Then again, Dusty could always trot Prior out there and set all kinds of pitch count records. Great mechanics or not, there is the Baker Factor to take into account.

To have his 3-4-5 look something like... Lee Jones Ramirez Just to split up the two righties?

Felix Hernandez for me if that were the case.

I'm with you on this one.

See, I'd think that, but considering most Cardinals fans on this board would be pleased to see the Cubs make this move and most of the rational White Sox fans over on WSI also would like to see the Cubs make this move, I'm inclined to doubt that.

First half, imo.

Taking a shot at the end zone on 4th and 1 was going for the jugular. Moose has the Packers' throats in his hands, then had it slip out of his hands. How far were we for a field goal? ~46 yards.

I've never seen it called before in my life. Now I've seen it twice in one game.

Taking a shot at the end zone on 4th and 1 was going for the jugular. Moose has the Packers' throats in his hands, then had it slip out of his hands.

Well, the Packers are making this a bit too interesting for my tastes.

Huh? That came out badly. Change it to: "Merry Christmas from the Bears' special teams, Packers fans! Have some of your dignity back. :D"