Soul

You could be right. They might think if they get Floyd then they can switch in/out with Murton to gain a little pop in the lineup, allowing Pie to work in as the CF even though he's very young. Question would still be: what happens to Jones in this scenario? Do we just dump him for a prospect, or package him with one of our young pitchers for something more?

I'm surprised Grossman still has so much support. I voted for him too. One more start----he's really under the gun now with Griese getting some snaps in practice. Let's see if he responds, otherwise <*yank*>

I like Palermo's. The real thin crust one. Does Papa Murphy's offer a frozen pizza? The ones from the store are freshly made, not frozen.

The fact that Pepsi has 40% of the vote is horrifying. Are you people really human?

I'll go 80-85 wins, keeping in mind that apparently the Marquis deal isn't done yet.

Unless they put him on the IR, I'd imagine they won't really have a good sense of things for a few weeks. Vasher's hamstring is getting better, but it sure doesn't sound like he'll play Monday night. Nor should he. Yes but they said he was going to Dallas or something to check out his hammy, did they ever have any news after that? I have heard no news on this. And I assume it means the doc said "yep, it's really bad you're out."

Minny was just firing on all cylinders tonight. Hitting everything. Bad game for Deng as well, and I was just pimping him earlier in this thread. :( Minny is tall with a good inside presence (or at least, better than the teams we have been feasting on lately). And the Bulls, with their lack of size and scoring in the paint, have difficulty against teams with big men.

I'm aware the Central is producing the Wild Card in many seasons----one of the reasons why I believe the objective in Hendry's mind is to grab up that Wild Card, or sneak out a weak divisional win. If this wasn't the case, and Hendry was truly trying to win the World Series ASAP, then I strongly believe (though of course I have no proof) that Hendry would have looked at the lack of talent available in the FA market, and put the Cubs on a 2-year rebuilding plan.

I'll take it. Bill James for teh win. 8-)

Best news I've heard in awhile. That is, of course, assuming they're negotiating vesting clauses/incentives that might make the deal worth 3/$21 (or let the Cubs off with a third of that if he sucks), rather than negotiating the last $7 mil. that would make it worth 3/$28 gauranteed. xxfingersxx I'd say Sullivan, who had this as a done deal @ 3/28, has alot of explaining to do if this is the case.

I think it's a given at this point that Floyd will be on the team next year. He's from Chicago and Hendry has a mancrush on the guy. I'm still wondering what Hendry has up his sleeve because even with a Floyd addition I don't think this team is strong enough to compete for a World Series. I don't think winning the World Series is on Hendry's radar, if you caught him in a moment of honesty. He could save his job with a miracle Wild Card appearance, and I believe that's more along the lines of where his sights are set. Floyd's last year of playing regularly was 2005, where he put up 34 HRs, somewhere in the neighborhood of a .360 OBP in 150 games. I guess the plan would be to use Murton to keep Floyd fresh in LF then. Pie would be the CF, with Soriano in RF. Assuming Hendry didn't also go after some kind of CF option. Seriously, the offseason spending spree is up to 305.5 Million and he's hoping for a MIRACLE wild card appearance? The Cardinals won 83 games last year and won the WS. It's not just on Hendry's radar, it's the goal of the organization. I find that difficult to believe frankly. This team isn't close to a World Series team. I chose not to believe Hendry doesn't know this, but rather that he is finally able to spend like the Cubs were able to all along, and he's just trying to save his job to fight further in the coming years. What the Cardinals did last year was a gross aberration. Rarely if ever been done before, and there's no reason to think it's going to be happening regularly. I don't know of anyone out there who is seriously expecting to win World Series rings with .500 ballclubs as a matter of course.

Sorry if this has been mentioned already. I'm just back from an X-mas party. How old is Marquis now? He's not been outstanding for at least 5 years. Give me a freaking break. I guess it's fine to be a contrian but at some point it becomes absurd. I think that post of his was sarcasm. Sorry if it was sarcasm. However, Marquis is just another in a long line of "lightning in a bottle" signings by the Cubs. I'm tired of the Cubs mentality, to go with the least worst option. Soriano is not what the Cubs needed. Neither are Lilly, Marquis, Morindini, Blauser, Gieatti, Cey, Scott, and on and on and on. In all fairness though, the Cards just won a World Series with a few of those "lightning in a bottle" signings, including Marquis himself, who was run out of Atlanta with his tail between his legs after his 1st regression ('02 and '03). Some of this is about what the Cubs do with the players once they get them, which for too long has simply been "OK you're supposed to know what you're doing so just carry us to a World Series" instead of a team like the Cards, who follow more of the "you've got some tools, let's see how we can maximize your effectiveness and make you better" school of thought. I think I like the latter way of doing things much better.

I think it's a given at this point that Floyd will be on the team next year. He's from Chicago and Hendry has a mancrush on the guy. I'm still wondering what Hendry has up his sleeve because even with a Floyd addition I don't think this team is strong enough to compete for a World Series. I don't think winning the World Series is on Hendry's radar, if you caught him in a moment of honesty. He could save his job with a miracle Wild Card appearance, and I believe that's more along the lines of where his sights are set. Floyd's last year of playing regularly was 2005, where he put up 34 HRs, somewhere in the neighborhood of a .360 OBP in 150 games. I guess the plan would be to use Murton to keep Floyd fresh in LF then. Pie would be the CF, with Soriano in RF. Assuming Hendry didn't also go after some kind of CF option.

Actually, most of it has been fans fed up with garbage baseball. Speaking of melodramatic posts. It is what is is. The past two seasons have been nothing but bad baseball on the northside. I try to be positive. I loved the Soriono signing. Didn't mind the Lily aquistion, then Hendry pulls this off. 7(maybe 9) million for Jason Marquis. Cubs fans have been putting up with this type of thing for a long, long time. I have been for 20+ years, and I love the Cubs as much or more than anyone. I kills me (not necessarily referring to you, since I don't know how old you are) when 18-20 year old kids start crying about how "sick of it" they are. I am as frustrated and angry as anyone over the events of the past few seasons (in which we actually HAD talent and largely squandered it). Having said that, after being tempered by abject failure for so long, you'd think Cubs fans would be able to respond to incompetence like this with a bit more equanimity. Hand wringing and hyperbole isn't going to accomplish anything, except maybe exacerbate the negative emotion. Thing is though, if you've been watching this club as long as I have, the whole "overspending" thing is a recent development. Most of my history as a Cub fan has been watching the team do pretty much nothing, including letting their best players get away because they were afraid to ink top-money deals. Not that paying out busloads of cash for Marquis is any better. I do find it interesting that Royals fans are overjoyed that their GM just spent the farm on a mediocre guy just because it represents a change.

Wild wins it 5-4 in OT

oh fer cryin out loud hawks penalty with 2:10 left :x

OK let's try this again then: Hawks don't have the horsepower to win a tie game late in the 3rd. 8-)

Why are they at least a .500 team. So far no one has been able to really prove that the Cubs have improved their 2 biggest problems last year much at all. Nobody can prove it, but I know for me I'm hoping Lee plays the whole year and that helps OBP a little bit. I'm also hoping Piniella doesn't have violent aversion to the concept of walks, as Dusty did. I'm of the opinion that we would have been better in the OBP department with just a little better hitting concept, even with the same players.

Yeah the Hawks just don't have the horsepower to come back late.

the problem is, there's probably no way hill pitches like he did in the 2nd half. I've heard a few scout-types say Hill is possibly the best pitching prospect in the majors right now, based on his K/inn numbers in the minors and what he did in the last 2 months of the season. I'm no scout, but I don't think it's a stretch to think Rich Hill can be a solid pitcher in this league. hmm...qualify "pitching prospect in the majors" Hill doesn't qualify as a rookie, so you can't use that to differentiate between him and, say, Felix Hernandez, Liriano or Verlander. I'm thrilled to have Hill on the team, but I could list at least 5-10 young pitchers with comparable experience that I'd take in front of him. I don't know. I'm just relaying what I heard a few people say on the radio a few weeks back.

Based on what I saw last year from those kids? Honestly, no I would rather bring in a couple vets. None of the 3 Marshall/Marmol/Guzman look ready to compete with the big boys to me. Do I like this deal? Of course not. But I absolutely do not want to be relying on the junk we got from our prospects last year. That's even more insane than giving Marquis $7m/yr, IMO. Especially given the market. Do you really believe that this team is a Jason Marquis away from competing? Jason Marquis will be a difference maker between whether we make the playoffs or whether we spend the October and November at home again? Best case scenario is that Marquis is average, worst case is that he's terrible. His three year average is trending down. From above average, to average to terrible, and he got a raise. Read that last sentence again and tell me why there should be any positivity over this signing. Because the pitching coach that most people were ready to string up by his balls thinks he found a flaw that can turn Marquis around? A flaw that apparently Duncan never got around to finding? I never said Marquis was the difference to anything. Just that I think it would be more insane to try and do what we did last year again. I've already said I don't like the signing. If you're trying to draw me into some kind of pro/anti Marquis argument, you're barking up the wrong tree. I'm not "barking up" any tree. I made a post, you responded and I did likewise. Why so defensive? Because I don't think this signing is the end of the world, and it's becoming obvious that some on this thread are ready to crucify anyone who won't join in the "weeping and gnashing of teeth." That's why I'm defensive IMB.

the problem is, there's probably no way hill pitches like he did in the 2nd half. I've heard a few scout-types say Hill is possibly the best pitching prospect in the majors right now, based on his K/inn numbers in the minors and what he did in the last 2 months of the season. I'm no scout, but I don't think it's a stretch to think Rich Hill can be a solid pitcher in this league.

Based on what I saw last year from those kids? Honestly, no I would rather bring in a couple vets. None of the 3 Marshall/Marmol/Guzman look ready to compete with the big boys to me. Do I like this deal? Of course not. But I absolutely do not want to be relying on the junk we got from our prospects last year. That's even more insane than giving Marquis $7m/yr, IMO. Especially given the market. Do you really believe that this team is a Jason Marquis away from competing? Jason Marquis will be a difference maker between whether we make the playoffs or whether we spend the October and November at home again? Best case scenario is that Marquis is average, worst case is that he's terrible. His three year average is trending down. From above average, to average to terrible, and he got a raise. Read that last sentence again and tell me why there should be any positivity over this signing. Because the pitching coach that most people were ready to string up by his balls thinks he found a flaw that can turn Marquis around? A flaw that apparently Duncan never got around to finding? I never said Marquis was the difference to anything. Just that I think it would be more insane to try and do what we did last year again. I've already said I don't like the signing. If you are trying to draw me into some kind of pro/anti Marquis argument, you're barking up the wrong tree.

How much does Marshall make? That is just mind boggling that we are going to give 9 or so million to a guy who was outperformed by someone who is probably making under a million. Sorry dont know where to find the exact numbers that Marshall makes. That's not a very fair comparison to make because it leaves out one very important item - IP. You simply cannot count on Sean Marshall to hold down a rotation spot for a year when he has yet to complete a season without significant DL time. Now, you could make an argument that the pitcher who threw less innings at the above quality level was better, but that's kinda beside the point. :D When I quoted this initial post, I had no idea it would become such a lengthy argument point! Sorry to have rubbed this in. :oops: Nah, it was a valid point to make. Even Felita is saying Marshall just wasn't ready to take on the full load. He's trying to get stronger now. I think he will benefit more from a little more seasoning. Many might not realize----Marshall didn't even have significant minor league time. He was pressed into service too early, as was Marmol.

Based on what I saw last year from those kids? Honestly, no I would rather bring in a couple vets. None of the 3 Marshall/Marmol/Guzman look ready to compete with the big boys to me. Do I like this deal? Of course not. But I absolutely do not want to be relying on the junk we got from our prospects last year. That's even more insane than giving Marquis $7m/yr, IMO. Especially given the market.