Soul

That was you?!? http://forumimages.footballguys.com/style_emoticons/default/bowtie.gif LOL.....sorry Chocolate :) No Rex-bashing allowed, darn it!!! ...but colorful nicknames are. Will it be Turnoversaurus Rex next weekend? 8)

Who's your closer? Woody?

Again, it's a pattern: $4.15 to Izturis $4.5 to DeRosa $3.25 to Rusch $2.5 to Blanco It's $14.4 million. It's not the "littlest thing" You're assuming that those four positions on the team would be adequately filled by people making $0. You have to assume that the people there are at least making something. 4 players at an average of $400,000 each, combines to $1.6m. Make one of those guys a millionaire veteran and the total cost is $2.2 million, leaving $12.2 million on the table for somebody, or somebodies, who can actually help the team get better. Yeah, I was going to say 14.4 million is the better part of the Marlins entire payroll---spent on 4 players who can't help the team and have no future potential. It's a big deal wrapped up in small pieces. It's Hendry, in a nutshell.

Again, it's a pattern: $4.15 to Izturis $4.5 to DeRosa $3.25 to Rusch $2.5 to Blanco It's $14.4 million. It's not the "littlest thing" Lots of money, yet won't shell out an additional mil for a larger acquisition like Furcal. It makes no sense, and is one big reason why the Cubs have fallen so far, so fast.

you assume he considers those past contracts "mistakes" Exactly. It's not that he is forgetful; he just isn't all that good a GM.

I just went and looked at his stats, and you're right. Somehow I thought he was much better. He had a nice start to his major league career, and was credited with a good amount of the glory for the White Sox world series. He was a good, but not special minor leaguer. Now that he's in the last years of arbitration, and coming off two bad seasons, I don't see much value in him. If Philly non-tendered him, or took back a less valuable trading chip (Dempster?), then I could see trying to use him as the 4th OF, subbing for Jones and Drew. A few Sox fans seem to think Rowand is the spark they're missing and want him back. I do like the kid's guts, but I wouldn't be pining to bring him here unless it was a real reasonable deal.

That's so funny I was just thinking this sounds like the Chris Carpenter philosophy. Meche didn't have the surgeries though I don't think. I don't know if his stuff is as good. He did eat up some innings last year, and his numbers looked a bit better than the year before. I dunno........if this were to happen, would Meche be the much-talked-about Prior hedge, or would he be expected to be, you know, an actual productive guy from the start?

Problem is, Lou Pineilla and Jim Hendry might think otherwise. It probably doesn't matter what they think. Izturis's body won't allow it, and DeRosa's probably won't know how to do it. Izzy's body will probably hold out long enough for us to sink 10 games under .500 and out of the race. DeRosa might not be all that bad, but the real question has always been "where's the pitching, Jim?" I find it highly likely that the answer to that question is simply, there's not going to be any significant pitching acquisitions.

What do you think the effect was? Were the rain droplets knocking his throws off course? Was the water getting in his eyes? The ball would have been wet even when it stopped raining and it was pouring during the last drive in the first half. Rex's effectiveness is related to one thing: Pressure. In other news, Tom Brady got pressured last weekend too and he also sucked hard. Not saying Rex doesn't react worse than many others to pressure. But important to note that all QBs numbers start to look worse when the opposing D is able to get in their face-----even the mult-superbowl-winning variety.

You don't remember last year's team being extremely inconsistent in November? The 2004-2005 team was consistently bad at least. There are eight new players on this team, including two rookies whom I expect to be solid contributors by season's end, and the team's November schedule is brutal. Maybe I'm the only one who wasn't expecting the Bulls to win on the road in Dallas when the schedule was released. Finishing the month at 7-7, 6-8, and making up some ground in December is my hope. This team needs some time to gel. I agree. It's just frustrating to watch them play so great at times and so horrible at other times. I think the lack of consistency stems from not having an inside prescence offensively nor a player who can drive to the hoop and draw fouls consistently. Because they lack both of these things, it gets tough to score at times. If the jumpers aren't falling, they're dead. I'm not going to say we need to make a trade already, but it may be necessary if we want to go deep into the playoffs. Obviously the lack of an inside scorer is a concern, but there are at least 10 points per game they are losing by pulling up for stupid jump shots in transition instead of just passing it down low. Part of the problem is their execution as well. I hope this will improve.

Guess it's time to change avatars, eh? :wink:

Yeap. That's me in a nutshell too.

I'd rather have derosa at 4.3 than neifi at 2.5. Honestly. That's like saying you'd rather be stabbed than shot. True. I would though 8)

Looks like we are getting Izturis and Derosa next year up the middle. 2007 is over before it even had a chance to begin. Nonsense. That is silly. Why does it end anything? Because I think getting guys like Izturis and DeRosa indicate next to nothing has changed in Hendry's mind as to how to build this team. I have zero confidence in him finding anyone for the OF except for another Jones or Pierre-esque player and a couple of average journeyman pitchers. As soon as I see something that indicates he's adjusted his team building policy, hey, I'll be jumping for joy. Sadly, with the last 2 positions we've needed to improve significantly and he's made changes at, 2nd and SS, he's tanked miserably. Why is he going to be any different improving the OF or the starting rotation? With the exception of the bullpen, Hendry hasn't indicated at all he has what it takes to make the drastic improvements this team needs. Almost all of his trades and signings in the last 6 months are just staying the course and not rocking rhe boat at all. He's taking no chances on anything even remotely close to a big signing or trade. Hendry gets a high OBP guy for 2B and everyone is acting like the sky is falling. I'm very suprised at the reaction to the DeRosa signing so far. I'll admit his numbers haven't always been that great, but last year was a fine year and I can't imagine everyone would be that upset at having a .350+ OBP at 2b. Not the sky falling, but rather just knowing we had miles & miles to go, and really needed a perfect offseason to get there in '07. DeRosa on his own? Meh....I could make a place for him on my ballclub I suppose. But when you've got limited funds, a huge FA bat to sign plus 2 starter-quality arms? It's not an '07 winning move, IMHO.

I'd rather have derosa at 4.3 than neifi at 2.5. Honestly. Well, DeRosa fits more of the Walker role and Izturis is the nu-Neifi. My point is we've barely improved the middle infield, if at all, at too much cost. Welcome to Hendry's world. I wonder how Lou feels about this. Just gotta wonder, that's all. I've got to hold judgement on DeRosa himself, but more money is now off the table, and we obviously need at least one more top FA bat and a couple starters. Pretty clear that's not going to happen now. So '07 is all but guaranteed to be a marginal year, especially because of the pitching, but also because we just don't have the pop and we can't satisfy both concerns with the resources available. Just wheels turning, that's all. I'm thinking Lou has that little voice in the back of his mind......"uh-oh, did I make a mistake?"

That's cool. I realize the Bears are a hot commodity----as they should be, but they can't make us play every Sunday night. I think there are some rules regarding this, too, but I don't remember them. Last week was fun, shutting up all those NY homers. Lord, grant this Bear fan a double dose of Chicago sending NY home crying. Just this one year.

For me it was sticking it in Hoculi's face. The guy obviously hates the Bears. Up yours, Ed. What was his problem? That manufactured call against Briggs, picked up the holding on Gilmore - good call yet, Ed and his crew missed Daneial Manning having his jersey ripped from his shoulder pads during Barber' long 3rd quarter run. I've never seen a worse game called from an offensive holding standpoint. After the Giants' tackle went down, the replacement was horse-collaring Alex on every play. Seriously: EVERY PLAY. That's holding, and it's Ed's call since he's the guy who stands back behind the line. He was letting it happen all damn night until the 4th quarter. That's just unacceptable. And then to hear Madden call him the best. It made me sick. The guy is just a horrible, horrible ref. But you have to admit that Madden did call them out on the bad horsecollaring call on...was it Briggs? I believe it was Briggs. Madden called him out on the poor review of Tillman's knee, too. Which made it all the more puzzling that he went on to call Ed one of the best referees in the game. He's the most physically fit ref---I'll give him that. But he needs to get his eyes and his brain in as good a shape as his biceps.

Wastra, I thought someone had posted that Lou was on the radio saying pitching is the number one priority now. Maybe I misinterpreted that (I did not hear the actual interview).

I'm definitely disappointed in his testimony too. I'm just not sure it really proves much. I do think there's still a language barrier with Sammy. I know for myself, it seems sometimes he doesn't respond to the nuances of questions well sometimes, and some of his English doesn't seem to come out right. I know I would be nervous as heck being in that situation. I'm not giving him a total pass, but he seemed really overwhelmed to me. Yes, he had a chance to make a 100% denial, but we saw where that got Raffy, LOL! He didn't do it, and it was disappointing, but I have always wondered if Sammy really understands everything that's swirling around him sometimes. I don't think he's a real sophisticated person, and that's fine.....I think that can tend to compound some of his difficulties.

i dont really get the cedneo theriot comparisions. cedeno had 80 ab's in 2005 and ended up with a .731 ops. ryan had 134 ab's in 2006 and ended up with a .934 ops. theriot is 27 and has had some success in the minors hitting .304 twice and has had 3 season with obp above .360. he doesnt strike out, is above average on defense, steals bases and runs well, gets the bunt down and moves guys over. the instincts and fundamentals that theroit showed in his short time in the bigs far surpass anything i've seen from cedeno. i know it's human nature not to want to get burned again by getting our hopes too high and that ryan most likely wont see a .900+ ops in the majors but i dont think .280 with a .750 ops and 40 sb's is out of the question. that is a vast improvement over the .610 ronny put up last year. They aren't great comparisons for players. But there is a comparison for how the Cubs need to handle the situation. That is, there is nothing wrong with going with either player to start the season, but you have to build a team that can withstand them not doing anything at the plate. You don't know what Theriot will be able to do, and we didn't know what Cedeno was able to do. You can take a risk with such a cheap player, but you have to use the money saved to buy some guaranteed production elsewhere. You can't go into a season with a mediocre OF and risk getting nothing out of a middle infielder. I agree with that, and I know Theriot had more ABs than Cedeno, but it's still only 130-ish ABs. But I also agree we just might not be able to make that choice. It might be our best option to shore up the lineup elsewhere, or get solid bench help who could come in if necessary, and then just give Theriot the shot.

That would be a bad move. There's not a catcher on the market who could replace Barrett's production while there are CF who are as good if not better than Wells. Sign JD Drew and you can have both Barrett and a good CF. Yeah, I think that would be a positive move. Then pray for JD's health..........at least weekly :)

Interesting stuff. It's been Tribune for so long, I can't really wrap my mind around a change of owners until it actually happens. Also, I should just throw this out there: careful what you wish for. I'll bet not all these bidders would make good owners. Sounds like the Trib, if they sell, will be selling in the same mode they bought the team: FOR ALL THE WRONG REASONS. And that doesn't give me much comfort. When you buy the team because you love baseball, and then you sell it with the idea of ensuring the city has a continued winner, then that's one thing. When you buy for profit, and sell because you're tanking........that's another story entirely. Sounds like the Trib is squarely in this second category.

Tough crowd? You make it sound like Sammy just got off the boat. He's a high-profile superstar with thousands of interviews under his belt. There were no difficult questions, no curve balls, right? If he were clean, every single question was a fastball in his wheelhouse. What "case", exactly, was he asked to make? What is your excuse for him saying "That's not for me to say" to the zero-tolerance question? And to the direct issue of whether he'd ever used ... if he was clean I'd expect him to JUMP at the chance to answer that. A simple "Absolutely not." would have been nice. Instead, we got a pretty clear indication that the question (from CUMMINGS about halfway thru) was off-limits. Yes, thousands of interviews. And each one of them showed Sammy speaks in broken english which is barely understandable many times. You said you expect strong statements in clear english, and that's not fair to ask of Sammy, IMO. As for zero tolerance, I don't need to make an excuse. It's not for Sammy to determine the policies of major league baseball, and Sammy said as much.

Hmmmm.... I don't see how it's cynical or just hating on Jimbo to not give him much credit until the team wins. It's a perfectly well-reasoned, logical stance to say the guy has not been a good GM for the past 2 years. And also to refuse to say he's accomplished anything until he.....well.......accomplishes something. Do I acknowlege he has done well in the early going this offseason? Yes, of course I do. But overall he's presided over a withering collapse and until he pulls the franchise out of the fire and at least makes the playoffs, I'll temper my enthusiasm, thank you very much.

I'd rather Barrett hit higher than that, though. Maybe swap him & Jones. All this talk about Theriot starting smacks of Cedeno part deux. I would make him work for the job, not give it to him by default. But then again, we might not really have the option since we need to fill holes in the starting rotation first (accoring to Lou, that's first on the docket).