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Peavy's the key for me. I'll consider the DeRo trade bad even if we get Bradley and don't get Peavy. I hate downgrading at one spot to upgrade at another.

Unless we end up with Peavy, I sure wish the Cubs hadn't traded DeRosa.

Howry had an ERA+ of 84 last year with a WHIP of 1.458. Vizcaino posted an 87 ERA+ and a 1.457 WHIP. Howry's been better most other years. I don't see Vizcaino being an upgrade over Howry. I think Vizcaino struggles had to do with him being hurt last year. He also said he wasn't used enough late in the year, which caused his pitches not to stay sharp. If you look just at Vizcaino stats from June though August(pitched just two games in April before going on DL), his numbers aren't nearly as bad(1-0,4.21 era, 36 IP,39 SO, 9 BB, 226 average against). Howry had a reason why he was bad last year because his stuff dropped off alot compared to years past. While Vizcaino stuff was still pretty glld last year when healthy, and just had a bad year despite his stuff still being solid. Which happens to middle relievers all of the time, and they bounce back. For Howry to bounce back next year he needs his stuff to come back or figure out another way to get hitters out. It didn't occur to me that he was hurt, but his peripherals were similar last year to the rest of his career. Considering he's now mid 30s, he may be regressing as well. I hope you're right, but I don't think it's a safe bet.

Because we don't want to waste 2.5M on a backup catcher? Especially a back up catcher who might only get 110-120 AB's. Thats a huge waste of money, when you have a catcher like Soto around. I dunno how anyone can say the Cubs free spending has came back to haunt us yet. I think it depends on how things work out this season. If Fontenot/Miles platoon is productive(should be), Gregg pitches well and our bullpen is good then losing Wood/DeRosa doesn't hurt. I know both guys are fan favorites so it feels alot worse losing those guys and replacing them with guys like Gregg/Miles. But I really don't think we downgraded those spots as much as people are making it out to be. Especially when were adding a potential stud hitter(when healthy) in Bradley, and hopefully another good to very good SP. I think he was talking about the offseason in general, not just the move from Blanco to Bako. And we have most certainly downgraded throughout the roster. Miles has OPS'd .704 in his career against lefties, while Fontenot has OPS'd .852 against righties - that's an average of .778. DeRosa OPS'd .857 last year. He may regress a bit, but there's just as much of a chance that Fontenot declines with more ABs. There's little chance that the Miles/Fontenot platoon will come close to DeRosa. And Gregg may pitch decently (he did have an ERA+ above 120 the last two years), but his K:BB ratio was pretty poor last year and was barely better than 2:1 in 07. And if this moves Marmol to closer, it hurts more. If we bring in Bradley and Peavy, I think the overall offseason might be a net plus, but that's assuming alot apparently. Plus, Bradley's value is far less because he's extremely unlikely to play more than 80-90 games for us. Without DeRosa, that's Gathright, Reed or Hoffpauir playing those other 70-80 games.

MSU has been in UGA territory most of the day, it seems. Looks like the Bulldog offense may have woken up, though.

3rd and 24 for Michigan State, Hoyer throws about a 10 yard pass to set up fourth down - and then UGA commits a roughing the passer penalty. 1st and 10 MSU. #-o

I think the Cardinals defeating Atlanta will be one of the home wins and I'm probably least confident on the Philly over Minny pick. If bad Philly shows up (which is very possible) then the Vikings will win.

The question is, though, how will Miami and Minnesota do playing at home?

I'm definitely going to be rooting for Penn State. I think it'll be much closer than most think - this PSU team is not the same OSU team that got blown away numerous times by athletic teams. Thank you. This "Big 10 teams get killed in BCS games" nonsense has to end. Since when are all teams from a conference over multiple seasons exactly the same? I still don't think PSU matches up great with USC, but there's not really a team out there that does. Plus, JoPa has won 63% of his bowl games. That has to count for something, eh? :wink:

I'm definitely going to be rooting for Penn State. I think it'll be much closer than most think - this PSU team is not the same OSU team that got blown away numerous times by athletic teams.

http://chicagocubsonline.com/archives/2008/12/cubsrumors1231.php#more Not so enthusiastic about the 3 years, but 10 mil a year isn't bad I guess. We'll be paying him $100,000 a game! (best case scenario)

All SC QBs suck.

You were looking for positives on Chaney earlier, and though I'm not sure I can sell him as a great hire, I like him on this staff. He's a pretty good recruiter (did pretty well as RC at Purdue- not an extremely easy school to recruit to, imo), and while he's not a stellar play caller, he won't have that responsibility in Knoxville. I think he's a fine addition to the staff, and I'd like to see what he'll do with the OL or TE's (whichever he coaches.) Yeah, I haven't found a lot of stuff on Chaney, but Purdue seemed to be productive while he was there. I'm a bit worried that I'm glad Kiffin will be calling the plays though. I would be very happy if Norton came to UT. He and Gonzalez being added to the staff would be awesome - though, like you, I'm skeptical of adding Gonzalez since we've filled the OC spot. Losing Oku would suck, but overall I'm not sure if I prefer Gran or Drayton. Gran's got an impressive resume (coached Cadillac, Ronnie Brown, Kenny Irons, etc) that Drayton cannot match.

Wow, South Carolina is sucking it up. Not a real surprise, though.

Eagles They're a very streaky team, but I think Philly will be good in this one. McNabb will likely rip the poor Viking secondary to shreds and the Williams boys (if both are playing) could well be non-factors since the Eagles don't pound the ball that much anyway. I don't see the Eagles going all that far, but I think they'll win this one.

Cardinals I realize I'm going out on quite a limb here, but the Cardinals have gone 6-2 at home this year and generally play quite a bit better in Arizona. They've posted the fourth most points in the NFL at home (242) and I have to think the Cardinal fans will show up and be rowdy - possibly rattling young Matt Ryan. The Falcons are the better team overall, but I think the home field advantage may be enough to push the Cards over the top.

Ravens As impressive as the Dolphins have been with their 10-win improvement, the Baltimore defense will be too much and I don't think Flacco will make enough mistakes.

Colts The Chargers' talent will keep it close, but I think Norv Turner will do something dumb late (or just not have the team prepared) and the Dungy/Peyton duo will prove superior. And yes Colt fans, I realize SD won last year - I don't think history will repeat itself. :D

What would it be that you like about him? i think his entire career he's been dying on the vine. if he got a chance to be a regular starter in the NFL, i think he'd be rich gannon. I tend to think he's been dying on the vine because he's not very good. He's never posted a better than 59 completion % (save for his first year, when he played two games) and his rating has never been better than 90.4. Granted, it's all in extremely limited playing time, but this is one area where I'll trust the "football people" (I guess that's what they're called). Though his best numbers did come last year, when he played in seven games and started four. you're talking yourself into liking him, too. Eh, I wouldn't be pissed if he were Vince's backup next year, but I don't think he's worth starting for two to three years to see if he can be anything. There are far better bets than him out there.

Not a problem. Can't blame you, though, since I've seen stories over the past three days saying he's interested, not interested, interested and now not interested again. Far as I can tell, this is the latest news, though.

He's not. Since when? Last thing I read was there was mutual interest. Has another report came out since I read that(last night)? Here you go. Posted at 3:28 p.m., Dec. 31

What would it be that you like about him? i think his entire career he's been dying on the vine. if he got a chance to be a regular starter in the NFL, i think he'd be rich gannon. I tend to think he's been dying on the vine because he's not very good. He's never posted a better than 59 completion % (save for his first year, when he played two games) and his rating has never been better than 90.4. Granted, it's all in extremely limited playing time, but this is one area where I'll trust the "football people" (I guess that's what they're called). Though his best numbers did come last year, when he played in seven games and started four.

I don't think Georgia Tech showed up quite ready to play today (or maybe they're just not great and the win over UGA was a fluke).

What would it be that you like about him?

This is all very discouraging news. I'm hoping more than ever that Lane calls his own plays. Heard this on the radio this morning and was hoping it wasn't true. Disregard the Orgeron info. He's a Vol. Lane Chaney Reaves Kregg Drayton (?) Kiffin Orgeron Lake(?) It's taking shape. Yes! ESPN was reporting it on their bottom line a little earlier when I got in. I still don't like the Chaney hire, though. Any word on why he's a good idea?