Soul

why do you keep using wins as a stat that a pitcher should have? for the most part, he can't control that. zambrano is an elite starter and to say otherwise shows ignorance of the facts. Z has elite ability. 1 elite pitcher then Maddux doesn't come close to making us a competitive ballclub. uh....wow. please show me where i said we were going to be competitive. without wood and prior, we're not going to be. Wasn't trying to refute you, man. I was agreeing with you, then adding an additional point. Sorry for confusion.

Um, yeah. All I'm gonna say is Marte is on the Cleveland Indians. Other than that fact, his overall point makes some sense to me. It may be only March, but it's clear this is not a contender. I'm not sure what sense there is to throwing guys like Neifi and Grissom out there day after day. What purpose does it serve on a 3rd or 4th place ballclub? Sure, there could be some miracle and the Cubs could win some games. But it's a real outside shot now with the injuries. Doesn't a youth movement at least need to be put back on the table as an option?

I think you start thinking about the unthinkable: Trading Wood and/or Prior. We need to somehow build a rotation that will be able to take the mound regularly. Z should be the anchor. I say give Wood & Prior the rest of this season to see if they can become more reliable. If they both spend the season on & off the DL? Blow it up.

A baseball team is definitely for life. I can't even understand people who have changed teams, or are able to root for more than one team with all their heart. It's like they are from another planet. There's no going back. We are made to suffer. We are Cub fans.

I'm not saying it's a bad article. But the pitch-count argument against Dusty Baker is extremely old news. It was insightful in early 2004 when we were experiencing the results of Dusty's handling of pitchers for the first time. But in 2006 its old hat, we all know about it and its a strike against Dusty. The only real question regarding Dusty Baker is why has he been allowed to continue as manager of this ballclub in the face of such failure combined with causing harm to the heart of our franchise? In short, the horse Rogers is speaking of left the barn long ago.

He's been trying to leak the truth to us for years, and the Cubs have been trying to unload him for fear that the TRUTH will be known!! Todd Walker power to the people!! 8)

None taken. I want the Cubs to be 100% healthy for 2 reasons. #1 I want the Cardinals to beat them when both are at full strength. Winning the division by 15 games over an injured rival doesn't prove much. #2 The last 2 years the Cards have spent September trying to figure out how to stay sharp. Fighting for a playoff spot is important. Sad to say, but it's true. We've been so far back (& even the Stros) there's been nothing to motivate the Cards in September. I'm not sure how that affects a playoff run, but it probably isn't all that good to be strolling into the playoffs and then suddenly have to go full blast. Still, it's a problem I sure wish we had ;) Certainly not in '06 unless some kind of miracle happens.

That's pretty much the reality of the situation. As a Cub fan, it's not a whole lot of fun to be on the other end of the lies. I don't think it's too much to expect honesty for the money we give to this franchise. If they want to protect injured players' rights to privacy, I'm fine with that. Make a blanket policy statement: We will not discuss player health unless league rules dictate we must. Don't come out on the radio & in the newspapers with blatant lies: "He's fine" "There's no injury, he's just building strength" yada yada yada. Just report the truth, or state it is not club policy to disclose. There's no excuse for lies, over & over. Other teams don't do this. Pretty much it's only the Cubs who have institutionalized lying about player health.

I didn't realized NSBB was the reason for all the injuries last year. If Zambrano & Lee get injured, this site should be removed from the internet. ;) .......Lee is already injured.

why do you keep using wins as a stat that a pitcher should have? for the most part, he can't control that. zambrano is an elite starter and to say otherwise shows ignorance of the facts. Z has elite ability. 1 elite pitcher then Maddux doesn't come close to making us a competitive ballclub.

I don't see any way this team finishes above 4th. It's easy for a Cards fan to be positive about our situation---he knows it means an easier road for his team in any event (no offense meant). Prior & Wood will remain on and off the DL all year long. No way do they just magically heal and put in serious innings. Neither one of them was ready to do anything more than pretend-pitch in pseudo-simu-games with a towel when spring training began. They aren't ready for anything close to MLB baseball even when they "heal," and that's a fact. It would take months to get anything close to normal levels of production---especially Wood. I know little about Miller's chances to come back, so I will remain positive about him until proven otherwise. But this team needed Wood & Prior to have any chance whatsoever. Both are done----it's over, book it. Negativity? When it's warranted, you bet.

LOL! :lol: That was actually very funny. Good one bhogg :lol:

Cutting out quotes to spare scrollbars :) I look to management first though, Blue. I wouldn't expect a player to contradict management----which also leads me to placing the blame on management instead of the player. Certain members of the media learned of this a long time ago, and it very likely wasn't directly from Prior. I'm sorry, but this seriously does not sound like a case of a player keeping everyone else in the dark. Others knew......which tells me management knew. I agree we're speculating, but the track record is too severe to overcome. Too many times this has happened. The deception has become policy, IMO.

Come on. This is like the bazillionth time guys. How many more until we face up to the fact that the Cubs habitually lie about player injuries?

A friend spreading false injury rumors would be pretty unnerving. Either way, your case is pretty speculative. It seems more plausible that the team was less than forthcoming, especially in light of the very slow pace the Cubs took with him. The team would have more reason to shut him down. I don't know how people can continue to blame the team when the player is echoing their sentiments (if not defending them). BTW,everyone here is speculating. It might be speculation, but it's beyond a reasonable doubt type speculation given the track record of lies. BTW, they did shut Prior down. That's why he was throwing simulated-simulated games with a towel. Sorry, I don't know what else to call a "simulated" game that takes place among other simulated spring training games. Sub-simulated games? Penultimate simu-games? :? Towel drills are a common arm strength building technique. The Cubs had not shut him down before now. He was always pitching to build strength. If we're to believe that there were lies why aren't we willing to believe that Prior is at the center? Afterall, he had been saying all along that he was fine. If we are to believe that the team has a hidden agenda (ticket sales for instance) for not making this issue public earlier then I'd like to know what Prior's motivation is for going along with the ruse? He would be jeopardizing his future. Like I said, he probably had some level of discomfort initially but ignored it figuring it was all apart of the normal rigors of ST. I think today's revelation was Prior feeling like the pain was bad enough to have a doctor checkit out. Because the media caught wind of this weeks ago, and the Cubs deliberately squelched it. Hendry deliberately squelched it, if you remember. That's why Prior is not the source of the lie. And on the Towel: you are right, but I've never seen "healthy" pitchers use the towel drill in spring training to build strength while other healthy pitchers are throwing in games. Only rehabbing, injured pitchers do this.

No, I think it's more about the absence of credibility of this franchise more than ticket sales. Ticket sales are basically on auto-pilot. The Hendry era will be remembered as the era of lies, and lost potential.

....this probably isn't the last, or the most serious, injury that will come out of the WBC. I would rather have my best player preparing for the season than sitting around for long periods then trying to go full speed at the WBC. Maybe if this thing took place in the *middle* of the season every few years it would be better. I thought these players would treat it as an exhibition. It's clear they are going full speed (which is cool to see, but still). This isn't the right time of year for full speed. That's why we have spring training in the first place.

A friend spreading false injury rumors would be pretty unnerving. Either way, your case is pretty speculative. It seems more plausible that the team was less than forthcoming, especially in light of the very slow pace the Cubs took with him. The team would have more reason to shut him down. I don't know how people can continue to blame the team when the player is echoing their sentiments (if not defending them). BTW,everyone here is speculating. It might be speculation, but it's beyond a reasonable doubt type speculation given the track record of lies. BTW, they did shut Prior down. That's why he was throwing simulated-simulated games with a towel. Sorry, I don't know what else to call a "simulated" game that takes place among other simulated spring training games. Sub-simulated games? Penultimate simu-games? :?

Same way I've always felt - It's a joke that proves nothing. It just cost us our best player for who knows how long. And for what? So we can have a shot at the Dominicans? I agree. This is madness. I can't believe we are sending our best players to get injured when they aren't even in baseball shape yet. Madness.

So how are we feeling about the WBC now, eh?

Well, Prior was hurt all along, just as I suspected. The act has gotten old. Next time we see a pitcher doing something silly like throwing simulated games in ST (which is an oxymoron since all games in ST are simulated) I hope we can just jump past the B.S. and call an injured pitcher an injured pitcher.

So Z can finally come back to Arizona now? Yay!! :D

I wouldn't say pennies. The Dolphins are going to have to pay Culpepper $8 million on Friday if they can't renegotiate his contract. I think the Vikes did pretty well on a player with three of four torn ligaments in his knee. I thought it wasn't determined whether Culpepper would even be able to play........ever. Certainly he won't be back by the opener----maybe mid-season from what I heard. But I also heard he might not ever be the same. If his legs don't work like they used to, he's nothing. I hope the Phins got more than just one medical opinion, because that's a big contract. Still, possibly very high reward---I can't totally blame them for taking the shot. Anyway that just further weakens the North. Brad Johnson was fine as an emergency substitute when opposing teams were expecting Culpepper. He won't go anywhere with teams gearing up for him from the start. I'm glad we aren't overspending in Free Agency. The way I see it, all our rivals are rebuilding with new coaches, new primary skill players, new everything. I see no reason the Bears don't run away with this division in '06. Rookie coaches very seldom are able to grab a division crown from an established club, especially when they have to deal with a new QB and other skill players, along with new offensive schemes and the whole bit.

1) They don't like his defense. That's well documented. 2) They don't like his mouth. That's why there is a battle at 2nd. Not saying I agree with it, but that is why.

He's obviously rehabbing an injury. Thanks to the Cubs organization for once again trying to pull the wool over everyone's eyes. Nobody throws simulated games and "throws with the towel" in Spring Training when you can easily send him out there for 1 inning in a B game, for Christ's sake. That's unheard of. The Cubs aren't reinventing how Spring Training is conducted. They're rehabbing an unreported Prior injury and aren't telling anyone what it is. You can take that to the bank.