Soul

*sigh* It's sad to see Sosa leave the league without so much as a press conference. For quite a few years, he was the only reason to watch the Cubs. I will remember the good times, not the way it ended.

Yay! Now Spring Training is called the "World Baseball Classic." Yet another excuse to charge higher prices.

It will be interesting to see how it plays out. In my view, it's pretty sad that the two main players from that awesome HR chase in '98 are now mired in disgrace. I guess that's what happens when you cheat your way to success: eventually you have to pay the piper. It's just too bad the rest of America has to pay with them----in terms of losing the lustre off what was indeed a very enjoyable Summer.

Can't wait for that annual stretch where the Cards get to play the Royals and we get the White Sox. Always works out well to hand the division to the Cards. Love that unbalanced schedule!! :roll:

Does anyone know if any other major league teams have similar songs? I know the White Sox have that "Go Go White Sox" song, but I know nothing about the rest of MLB. The Cards version is done by Dolly Parton. I think it's called Redbird Nation. That would have been cool 20 years ago when Dolly was hot.

Looking at how he deflated physically and the massive falloff in numbers... It's very suspicious. He's not the only one, of course. Not trying to single Pudge out. It's very suspicious, that's all.

My understanding is, Walker's defensive metrics are among the worst in the league.

I know what you mean. Unfortunately, it will be so difficult to quantify. My guess is nobody will be able to tell if late-season injuries/falloff were due to the WBC. Maybe if there's a huge statistical difference, but I don't see it. More likely, fans will suspect the WBC contributed to their favorite player dropping off, but nobody will be able to show a definite relationship.

The Twins are a candidate because their owner wouldn't oppose it. He's 90 years old and his family is growing tired of dealing with the Minnesota legislature. So you're saying because he's 90 he no longer has the intellect to grasp the concept of selling?

The 84 playoffs would surely have killed him if he hadn't died when he did. ](*,) Almost killed me and I was just a kid.

:shock: I guess to break a curse, somebody has to die. If the Cubs make a W.S. game 7: watch the game from home! :lol:

Same guy who did "Go Cubs Go" apparently :) Cute song. Made me think of my Dad----who died having never seen a Cubs Championship. A fate which I suspect we will all share.

That's great. I can't wait until August when he starts to pitch well 8)

Wait a minute. So Williams should win the World Series and get no credit for it? The man made the moves, and they paid off. Good for him.

I would like to see if Pierre has anything left before signing him to a multi-year deal. Makes more sense to me if we treat him as a 1-yr experiment unless he proves he's worth more. But, this is Hendry. So sign him to a 5-year, $40million deal right now

The Yanks gave Contreras away for a bag of beans, and now the White Sox are on the verge of turning him into Abreu? :shock: If that happens, Kenny Williams is officially a genius. There would be no possible way to argue against it. I can't believe he would be able to pull this off. Is everyone sure this is the actual deal that has been discussed? Did someone hit the Phillies with the stupid stick or something?

Has anyone heard a single *valid* reason why Todd Walker is on the trading block all the time? How can a cheap, productive player who appears to exhibit a goodly amount of clubhouse leadership be unwanted when there's nothing but junk behind him? Makes no sense to me whatsoever. I could see if we had a great player to start, and Walker was just going to sit the bench for $2.5 million. But that's not the case. He's clearly head & shoulders above any other 2nd baseman on this roster. As a starter, that salary is pretty cheap. Hendry & Walker must have gotten into a screaming match one day or something. That's the only thing I can think of.

I don't mean to nitpick, Soul, but in 2004 Aramis didn't really miss any extended time beyond 5-6 games straight games due to injury, and in 2003 he was pretty healthy for both Pittsburgh and us. 2001-158 games 2002-142 games 2003-159 games 2004-145 games 2005-123 games It's not like he's a china doll. If he's worked on his flexibility and lower body this winter, you shouldn't see any nagging injuries this year. No, I totally agree. And he's still young, too. Alot of times a young ballplayer will pick up the offseason discipline as his career progresses. There's definitely alot to look forward to with ARam as long as he plays his cards right. I remember 2004, and he did play. But I remember many of those games he was in pretty bad shape. He tried to tough it out which is a good sign as well. I just want to see the kid take the next step and become the perennial superstar he has the talent to be. I think it's time for him to make that move. He's too young to be this slow, too-----men in their late 20's need not become slow pokes no matter what they do for a living.

The Padres made it really easy on Mike. "Hey, basically play whenever you want and we'll give you $2million." Who could refuse that? Plus, he gets to go back to So. Cal. Let's face it, San Diego is a much better place to live than NY.

The 2004 team was clearly the best team he put together. 04' & 05' the Cubs were decimated with injuries & teams like the Astros & Cards, had very healthy pitching staffs. Health/depth will be the main determining factor on how good the Cubs will be in 06'. Right now, there is no depth in the outfield. Maybe he still plans on addressing that before they head into Spring Training. If not, the outfield is going to be a major concern for the 2nd year in a row. Might be a little late now, BBB. Not much left to pick from I fear. TBCF: Everything comes back on the GM in one way or another. Even injuries. Especially when you string multiple seasons of injury-plagued baseball together. At some point, a good GM would look at health as a factor in his decisions and bring in ballplayers and staff to ensure more players are healthy. Hey----look at a ballclub like the Bears. Injured for years. Then they finally address the issue and wind up with a healthy playoff team. You can't control every injury that takes place, but you can control the overall picture in order to minimize the potential for injury. So, while I agree injuries are unpredictable in the short term, over the longterm a GM must have a successful plan in place to minimize their impact. And Hendry hasn't done that. Can you site examples where JH has ignored or hasn't had a long term plan on minimizing injuries? BTW, JH has readily admitted that LY was not successful & he didn't get the job done & wouldn't use injuries as an excuse for that. In my opinion, he has taken more ownership of the failure of the 05' Cubs than Dusty. It's more a matter of whether people can site specific examples of how Hendry has improved the injury situation. The totality of the DL lists, taken over the course of 2 seasons, are the proof that the Cubs have been an injury-plagued ballclub long term. I've gone through this over & over with fellow Bear fans as well. Injury after injury, year after year........and fan after fan insisting it's just a fluke. Then the club gets serious about it, hires some people with a proven record of success, and the situation dramatically improves. I've seen no such hire (or hires) from Hendry yet. I'm telling you. This club is not serious about player health. Not as serious as our rivals, anyway. I haven't heard much of anything but platitudes from Hendry these days. But if you say he's taken more blame for the '05 failure than Baker I have no reason to doubt you. Injuries are a big part of those failures, though. And I'd like to hear what the concrete, detailed plan is to minimize those going forward. I don't think there is one other than just hoping they don't happen again. That's not a plan, it's a prayer.

Well he drafted a couple position players that turned out OK. That sounds like a welcome change to me.

The 2004 team was clearly the best team he put together. 04' & 05' the Cubs were decimated with injuries & teams like the Astros & Cards, had very healthy pitching staffs. Health/depth will be the main determining factor on how good the Cubs will be in 06'. Right now, there is no depth in the outfield. Maybe he still plans on addressing that before they head into Spring Training. If not, the outfield is going to be a major concern for the 2nd year in a row. Might be a little late now, BBB. Not much left to pick from I fear. TBCF: Everything comes back on the GM in one way or another. Even injuries. Especially when you string multiple seasons of injury-plagued baseball together. At some point, a good GM would look at health as a factor in his decisions and bring in ballplayers and staff to ensure more players are healthy. Hey----look at a ballclub like the Bears. Injured for years. Then they finally address the issue and wind up with a healthy playoff team. You can't control every injury that takes place, but you can control the overall picture in order to minimize the potential for injury. So, while I agree injuries are unpredictable in the short term, over the longterm a GM must have a successful plan in place to minimize their impact. And Hendry hasn't done that.

This is basically the exact same thing we did with Dempster. Signed a guy who had, at some point in his career, pitched well and was dirt cheap and rehabbing. This is a good signing. A million dollars to the Cubs is akin to buying a soda from a vending machine for most of us. Would you drop $1 into a vending machine if you were really thristy but unsure of what would come out? Of course you would. Even if it was something undrinkable---you could just toss it and lose minimal $$$. Well----the Cubs are really, really thirsty for pitching. Especially starters. Pretty much no risk, and possible reward. Can't beat that.

Where are you going? He must have already left :) Anywhoo......fast forward to July/August and I wonder if NSA will be feeling so unlucky to be away from Cubs baseball. ;)

Jim Hendry: how could such a promising GM go down the tubes so quickly? Truly sad. I want the 2003 Hendry back. This other guy is a joke. :evil: