Soul

I could care less. Tear down the Ivy and put up billboards across the entire outfield if you want. What's the difference? Some of you act like this is still the Wrigley field of yore. It's no longer close. And more pieces are scheduled to be replaced in the coming years, too. The Wrigley of our childhood is gone, people.

Even White Sox fans would not do this to us.

The one thing he has to consider is injury. If he doesn't sign before the year starts, and he blows out his arm during the season, that's a ton of money blowing out the window. Isn't that what every player in Z's position has to think about? They might sign with their current club for many reasons, but the biggest one is because they can get a little less guaranteed right now-----if they play Russian Roulette with their arm and come up lame, that's something that haunts them for the rest of their life.

I'm going to guess none. Hopefully he's on offense by next season. I think he can be a servicable nickel back, simply based on speed. Even when he got beat this year, he was in a position where a better CB could have made a play. Torry Holt never flat out burned him in the StL game. The TD he gave up in the Probowl is a perfect example of a play that a more experienced CB could have broken up. Hester has horrible technique and can't tackle. I don't think he'll even play nickel. He might be good on offense for gadget plays, though. Just faking it to him could put someone out of position.

http://baseballcritic.wordpress.com/2007/01/22/zambrano-on-the-zito-trail/ I never saw that quote before. Is there a better source than a blog? Sure-here you go. http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/220720,CST-SPT-csep20.article Thanks. I'm going to take the optimistic stance on this one, and believe that Z would very much LIKE Zito money, but isn't opposed to negotiation. I hope I'm right. After all, I would very much like Zito money too. But I think my employer can ultimately secure my services for a great deal less 8-)

I know what you mean, and I don't think either of our guys run down the field with their arms flailing because they have no clue, but yes Vasher in particular shows great body control. Both our CBs had very few pass interference calls, which is a real credit to them with these rules. I think we'll get them back without much trouble, mostly because I feel they are both slightly underrated.

There might be some real........issues, defensively, in the OF this year.

I know the Raptors have been playing well, but I'm looking at this Bulls team and seeing an early exit. We need something. Obviously a big man who can score would be nice. How about a commitment to playing 48 minutes per game at 100%? Something's not right here. I feel we should be better than this, even without the big man.

"GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR FIRST POST." 670 the score radio I know at noon every day Mike Murphy talkes about the cubs ALOT. He focuses on the cubs mostly because he is a cubs fan. People will tell you he is stupid and a moron. But I find that unfair. He is just a crazy cubs fan. Maybe not stupid and a moron, but he finds these little details and blows them up into a holy crusade. I've never seen a guy who can take something as minor as which foot a guy led off first base with, and turn it into an hour of ranting and raving about why the manager should be fired. It's patently ridiculous at times. That said, I still listen to him, so Murph wins.

What was the Indinas' record in 1-run games? Hasn't it been accepted that one's record in 1-run games has a lot to do with luck? I think luck can play a big role in a team's overall record. How much of it is luck though? For example, hasn't it also been accepted that teams with very good closers will win more 1-run ballgames than those with terrible closers?

Sullivan should know better than that. The last thing we need is more rampant, un-informed speculation about pitching injuries.

Teams don't throw at Vasher nearly as much as Tillman-I've heard that Tillman got thrown at twice as much as Vasher this year-in fact, Tillman was one of the league leaders at balls thrown his way. Because of this, it seems to reason that Tillman's stats would be a lot better than Vasher's, but he's not necessarily better. Edit: Here's the quote, from Football Outsider's Superbowl Preview: http://www.footballoutsiders.com/2007/02/01/ramblings/game-previews/4913/ He did a good job then, I don't recall a high profile mistake such as with Steve Smith a year earlier. He had 11 PDs, and topped both NFC pro bowl CBs in INTs.

http://baseballcritic.wordpress.com/2007/01/22/zambrano-on-the-zito-trail/ I never saw that quote before. Is there a better source than a blog?

There are plenty of people calling him a selfish prick (or similar) and questioning his loyalty (to the point of ridiculousness, IMO). All for expecting to be paid the same amount as someone who is performes below his level. To each his own, I guess. We'll see what happens. I'm sure there are some people on the board who were hoping that Zambrano appreciated the Cubs and truly wanted to be a Cub for a long time. I think from a fan standpoint, it is easier to cheer for a player that truly enjoys playing for the team you root for rather than a guy that is simply looking for the biggest payday. And yes, there are more things involved than money regarding a contract extension. There are many examples of players that signed home town discount deals for below what they could have gotten on the open market. In the NL Central alone, Carpenter and Oswalt could have possibly made much more on the open market than the deals they signed. Wood could have made more signing with another team this past off season. I don't blame a player for being soley about the money, or wanting to get the biggest payday he can get. But I can see why many fans would be or are upset over a player only concerned about money. Did Z mention specifics about what he wants though? I thought his main difficulty was that there hasn't been any real negotiating taking place, no real push to get a deal done and he wants one done. We're all speculating as to what he would really sign for. I thought he mentioned having a Zito like contract. Here's what I saw: Maybe there's something else that I didn't see, but I don't view that as laying down the law that the money must be Zito's.

I do like Cleveland. I think the deal is whether 4th place means 4th place. I think it does, though I realize it's likely they will do better this year. And I hope they do-----for some reason I like Cleveland. I went to an Indians ballgame a few years back and just had a lot of fun there. Actually, I shouldn't pretend to not know the reason. I like the Twins too. And the Royals. If you catch my meaning :)

There are plenty of people calling him a selfish prick (or similar) and questioning his loyalty (to the point of ridiculousness, IMO). All for expecting to be paid the same amount as someone who is performes below his level. To each his own, I guess. We'll see what happens. I'm sure there are some people on the board who were hoping that Zambrano appreciated the Cubs and truly wanted to be a Cub for a long time. I think from a fan standpoint, it is easier to cheer for a player that truly enjoys playing for the team you root for rather than a guy that is simply looking for the biggest payday. And yes, there are more things involved than money regarding a contract extension. There are many examples of players that signed home town discount deals for below what they could have gotten on the open market. In the NL Central alone, Carpenter and Oswalt could have possibly made much more on the open market than the deals they signed. Wood could have made more signing with another team this past off season. I don't blame a player for being soley about the money, or wanting to get the biggest payday he can get. But I can see why many fans would be or are upset over a player only concerned about money. Did Z mention specifics about what he wants though? I thought his main difficulty was that there hasn't been any real negotiating taking place, no real push to get a deal done and he wants one done. We're all speculating as to what he would really sign for.

If I had to choose, I'd take Tillman over Vasher. Tillman had a good year, 81 tackles, 5 INTs. People just can't let the Smith thing go-----no cornerback can cover Steve Smith 1-on-1, unless we're planning on signing God to play CB it's time to let it go. Vasher had a down year in 2006/2007, only 45 tackles, 3 INTs. I still think he's fine though. I doubt we'll be put in the position of having to choose, because neither is considered an elite corner, so neither will break the bank. Whenever our breakdowns occurred this year, it seemed to be the safeties blowing it. I really think we need to replace Harris, or Manning, or both.

Buffone and Holmes were on the Score a couple days ago questioning Benson's toughness and commitment. Their argument was, if you can walk yourself off the field and it's the Super Bowl, that's got to raise some eyebrows if you don't return to the game. Not sure if I agree, because I believe these days the training staff on the sidelines can make a call of yea or nay and that's the end of the story. I have no idea what the training staff said, if anything.

I agree, this is where stats people need to leave because Carlos's emotions and the ability for them to pump up a team and fans is worth 4.8 million alone And Izturis drives in runs with his glove.Stupid stat heads. From what I'm reading, the trade Z talk is coming from the assumption that he's ripe for injury. One doesn't need to rely on Z's emotion to grade him a top pitcher. His ERA+ of well over 100 for 5 years running is very convincing. Especially when you stack it up against Zito's.

It's not just Sox fans. I was watching Chicago Tribune live and all the "experts" had the Sox winning well over 90 games, Thome 30+ home runs and over 110 RBIs, Konerko the same, Dye an MVP candidate, etc. etc. Just an amazing amount of Sox optimism considering they just gutted their starting rotation and don't know if their starting SS will even be allowed to return to America enough to start regularly. I believe Detroit's the favorite to win that division, although I wouldn't want to throw my hat in that ring because one-year wonders do happen.

Are there many people who are angry at Z? I'm not angry at anyone, since nothing has happened yet ;) I'll be upset at Hendry if he can't sign Z because he overpaid such riff-raff as Marquis and Lilly, though.

I'm sure he will "wow" them with his 2 page defensive playbook. There have been a couple jobs where Rivera was at the top of the list or very near it, and didn't get the job. It's starting to look like Chico is a solid candidate when viewed from afar, but once he gets into the interview he falls a little flat. Which doesn't suprise me.

Hmmmm.....way fewer ABs in '06. Was he possibly nursing an injury? I don't think you are looking at his line correctly. He had 120 ABs in 05 and 199 in 06. And 199 ABs at short-season A-ball is about 2/3 of the season if not more. He played in 56 out of Princeton's 64 games...second highest total on the team. I must have read it wrong. I thought the first number was ABs, hence 2005 = 325, 2006 = 256.

Gawd. Maybe the refs won't "find" the hotel tonight.....ehem, if you know what I mean.

The first step is admitting you have a problem. I did. I admitted I'm a hopeless Cub fan. That's when I started shooting up.