XZero771679666304

Maybe this will convince Miggy to back off his trade demand:

If you would seriously take Spivey over Castillo, you are a fool. Junior has had one really good year, one slightly above average year, and has been decidedly mediocre the rest of the time. Castillo is a better hitter, is more patient, strikes out less and is a much better defender. Castillo >>>>>>>>>>> Spivey. Ponson has a career 4.81 ERA. He has had two good seasons in the middle of an 8 year crap sandwich. Miles absolutely stinks. Looper is just another reliever with one really good season under his belt. Bigbie's ceiling is that of a slightly above average OF. Ricardo Rincon is the only acquisition with a decebt overall track record, and he is years removed from his best numbers. Encarnacion stinks. No matter how you spin it, this is the worst offseason Walt has had in a long while, even in terms of risk/potential upside signings.

Oh noes. This is where al hell breaks loose. No, that happens if it is confirmed.

I disagree with Leivne. He gets that a lot... Haha, no kidding. This, however, provokes the question. who are your top five players in baseball? For me its: -ARod -Vlad -Johan Santana -Miguel Cabrera -Albert Pujouls Not particularly in that order, but they most likely fill out the top five in my book. What about Bonds? At this point it's difficult to say what Bonds is going to give you, both in term of health and production.

Manny just isn't realistic at this point for a lot of reasons, not the least of which being that there isn't nearly enough payroll left to assimiliate that contract. I think a lot of people would rather have Manny, but it's a pipe dream at best. It might be, but for Manny, I think they might expand the payroll a little. Hendry basically had a blank check for Furcal according to Levine. And Mad Dog will come off the books after this season. A little? It would have to be at least 10 million, IIRC. Plus I think he could demand a trade after next season, and probably would. And then there's the fact that Boston would want a big bat in return, which we can't give them (if you trade ARam or Lee, acquiring Manny doesn't really make us any better). And there's also the fact that Hendry wants guys who can catch the the ball, and Manny is a butcher. All in all, I think the Cubs trading for Manny is about as unlikely a move as you are going to see, IMO. I can dream cant I? :lol: Every time I think about a Lee, Ramirez, Ramirez middle of the order I get chills. =P~ Sure, but if we're talking about a dream scenario, you could do better than Manny.

Manny just isn't realistic at this point for a lot of reasons, not the least of which being that there isn't nearly enough payroll left to assimiliate that contract. I think a lot of people would rather have Manny, but it's a pipe dream at best. It might be, but for Manny, I think they might expand the payroll a little. Hendry basically had a blank check for Furcal according to Levine. And Mad Dog will come off the books after this season. A little? It would have to be at least 10 million, IIRC. Plus I think he could demand a trade after next season, and probably would. And then there's the fact that Boston would want a big bat in return, which we can't give them (if you trade ARam or Lee, acquiring Manny doesn't really make us any better). And there's also the fact that Hendry wants guys who can catch the the ball, and Manny is a butcher. All in all, I think the Cubs trading for Manny is about as unlikely a move as you are going to see, IMO.

Manny just isn't realistic at this point for a lot of reasons, not the least of which being that there isn't nearly enough payroll left to assimiliate that contract. I think a lot of people would rather have Manny, but it's a pipe dream at best.

I drive a GM car, my third concesutive. I anxiously await the day when I can afford to buy a nice Japanese or German car.

Would Santa still be angry if Prior and others brought us Manny and Tejada? The money isn't there for both Manny and Tejada. Hell, the money isn't there for Manny. Not to mention we'd have to give up a lot more than Prior to get both of them.

It seems to me that Cpatt has been trying to denegrate the Illini's competition at every turn. After Illini beats Mizzou by 32 he says: "Welcome to the same plane as powerhouses Sam Houston State and Davidson." Now Mizou isn't a pwerhouse by any stretch, but Mizzou's previous three losses were by a combined total of 15 points. Insinuating hat Illinois is on the same plane as SHS and Davidson is just inciteful. Questioning the Illini's level of competition is one thing, but statements like that are just stupid. And UNC is better than Zona and UK. Gonzaga and BC are better, but not elite. I say UK isn't that good because of their total losses and that they just aren't that impressive without Morris. Zona started out in the top 10 and now isn't in the top 25. A lot more went into that fall than a squeaker loss to MSU. As for IU, I guess my main complaint is Mike Davis. I just don't expect much with him at the helm.

The TEAM, not Dee himself. I addressed THE TEAM in the first half of my post. You say Illinois is untested, but other than Gonzaga, all the other teams that MSU has played have proven to be overrated. Arizona isn't even in the top 25 anymore. BC isn't in the top 10. Even the Zags are just squeaking by teams. One of your losses was a really bad one. Don't even say it was because of the cramps, because the Hawaii starter played as few minutes as the MSU starters. IU was beaten by the oly really goodteam they played (UK is mediocre until Morris comes back), and lost to Indiana State. UNC has proven to be better than Arizona and in my estimation, UK. The Illini brike their home wining streak while playing a piss poor game. MSU hasn't played a team with the caliber of defense that Illinois is going to bring, nor have they defended nearly well enough to win a defensive dogfight. IMO, MSU is vulnerable to any team with a really good defense. IU is inconsistent. Iowa just isn't that good. Illinois has traded an outside game for an inside game, and while weaker in some ways, in a lot of ways they are even stronger than last year. They won't live and die by the three, and can handle the post much better than they have been able to in years. Their offense hasn't gelled yet, but the shooting is still there with Dee, Jamar and McBride, Randle is as athletic as they come and will only get better as the season goes on. Augie is a bit better, and now he will be helped out by the rotation of Pruitt, Arnold and Carter, so he won't be as alone defensively in the post. Last year, the Illini really only had one big guy, and few fouls to give in the post. Now the Illini are very big, and have a ton of fouls to give. Guys like Davis and Killingsworth will have a much harder time with this year's Illini than pevious years. Now the Illini have been vulnerable to a good zone, but their defense is good enough to hold teams down and keep them in every game. As an Illini fan, I have heard every year how the Illini have been less talented than MSU, or how we are untested every time we get off to a hot start. It's getting kind of cliche. Every year it's "We'll se how good the Illini are when the play the good teams", and at the end of the year, we are always at or near the top of the conference. I guess we'll just have to wait and see if history repeats itself.

He didn't have surgery, but I'd characterize missing 2 months of a season as a "significant" injury. It was, however, an injury to the bone and not the muscle and tendon structure. It is unlikely in the extreme it would have any effect whatsoever in the future.

last time i checked, dee was still the reigning B10 poy. C'mon, you're smart enough to know awards like that don't mean anything, especially when they are playing the year after. Would Brown win that award right now for the year to date? Would he be in the top 5? the big 10 season hasn't even started yet. So is Brown going to up his play because it's the B10 season? I'm not going to claim a clear memory of last season, but Brown was much better last year before the B10 season. The losses they sustained are real, and it's a very real possibility that because of the lack of Williams and Head around him he won't be able to produce at the same level. Obviously, like I said before, that doesn't doom the Illini at all, but it's worth pointing out that they may struggle with the best players in the conference. Ager might play better against the Illini than he has in the past, but Davis won't. While the Illini are weaker on the perimeter, they are much stronger inside. The Illini defense is even better than it was last year, and to be honest I don't think MSU has seen anything like it yet this year. The rotation of Arnold, Pruitt and Carter can hamper any one big man, and it takes some of the pressure off of Augustine. And say what you will about Brown, you won't see any guard he is defending scoring 25 or 30 points. Let's not forget that Illinois has had the better of MSU for a while now, even with MSU's "superior" talent. Goint into every year you hear about how much more talented MSU is, and every year Illinois handles them. Ager is a senior, as is Davis. They've been around for four years with other talented players like Hill, Anderson and Trobert. In that time frame, the only true marquee players the Illini have had are Cook, Brown and Williams. Yet in those four years the Spartans have manged one win against Uof I, and by three points. Illinois has won 3 times, all blowouts. Now Brown is a great player. Augustine is really good and Randle could explode at any time. But once again MSU as superior talent. But don't be surprised if they are just another one of Izzo's loaded teams to fall to the Illini. I'm not saying the Illini will win, but I am sick to death of hearing about how MSU has more talent every freaking year. And as for Dee Brown: 2004-2005 Junior: 2005 Consensus First-Team All-American ... Wooden Award All-America Team and finalist for the John R. Wooden Award, finishing third in voting for the prestigious Wooden Player of the Year Award ...National Player of the Year and First-Team All-American by The Sporting News ...USBWA First-Team All-American ...Sports Illustrated.com and CBS Sportsline.com First-Team All-American ... Associated Press Second-Team All-American ...NABC Second-Team All-American ...Basketball Times Second-Team All-American ...Just the sixth Consensus First-Team All-American in UI school history, and the first since Rod Fletcher in 1952 ... Big Ten Player of the Year and First-Team All-Big Ten selection by both league coaches and media ... Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year ... Oscar Robertson (USBWA) Player of the Year finalist 2003-2004 Sophomore: Second-Team All-Big Ten selection by coaches and media ...Honorable mention All-American by Associated Press ... Big Ten All-Tournament Team ...USBWA All-District 5 selection 2002-2003 Freshman: Second-Team All-Big Ten selection by the media and Third-Team All-Big Ten by league coaches ...Named to first-ever Big Ten All-Freshman Team ...Named All-Freshman Team by CollegeInsider.com And now he is going to struggle against the best players? He never has, so why would he start now? Sure he lost Head and Deron, but now he has an inside game to work with, plus Randle. Don't hold your breath waiting for Dee's demise.

I can't, even if I wanted to. I'm like one of those dumb chicks who sticks with their scumbag man even though he beats the crap out of her every freaking day. I'm in this mess for life.

Yeah that was pretty sweet. Pruitt just looks lost sometimes. Randle was solid sans his passing early. I mean he missed some shots, but he isn;t a shooter. McKinney is great. They are still better than illinois and he is still better than dee, just ask him. We are gonna roll on MSU we play this thing called defense and even Izzo will admit if the Spartans don;t start playing some they will underacheive all year. Agreed about MSU. Their defense hasn't been impressive, and they aren't going to rack up points aganst the Illini. If they don't hold Illinois under 65 points, they will lose. I'll bet on it.

The level of venting that trade would require me to have could not be done on a computer. In fact, I'd be as far away from the expensive electronics as possible. I think such an occasion would call for breakables and a baseball bat.

I can't imagine why you would put Huff in LF and Jones in LF. Jones is far and away the better defensive player. Well if they are both in LF nothing should fall, but Pierre better cover a whole hell of a lot of ground to his right. :lol: :wink: D'OH! :oops:

Welcome to the same plane as powerhouses Sam Houston State and Davidson. I can't wait til next year when we actually have a coach with an offense. Did they beat Mizzou by 32? Cause that would make me think Quinn is an even worse coach than I already did (didn't think that was possible). No. If you add the margins of Mizzou's previous 3 losses, it comes to less than half of the margin tonight.

I can't imagine why you would put Huff in RF and Jones in LF. Jones is far and away the better defensive player.

I assume Baltimore would want a SS, and while I like Cedeno, I wouldn't have a second thought about shiping him off as part of a packge for Tejada.

1)Probably 2)Probably 3)I'd bet on it 4)Unfortnately, no

If that bat has Tejada's name on it, yes, he'll move whatever he has to move to get him. Beyond that, he'll look for some backup help. What is the word on Baltimore's willingness to move Tejada, and Miguel's desire to be moved?

I haven't forgotten Hairston, I just assume Dusty would run a strict platoon and Neifi would get the lion's share of the starts, even though Hairston is much better offensively.

If this team is 10 wins better, Hendry didn't do a poor job. Unfortunately your claims for more wins based on the acquisitons made aren't really all realistic. Nor are things as bad as you make them out to be. If you can look back at last year and honestly say that a full season of Dempster at closer and adding Howry and Eyre to what was probably the worst pen around doesn't constitute a 8-10 game improvement on its own, I think you are crazy. Our bullpen was pitiful, with a ton of blown saves and few holds. It has gone from horrid to good because a lot of the pressure is now off guys like Wuertz, Ohman and Novoa. And Prior will probably give us at least 32 starts, and with Williams around we won't see a starter merry-go-round when Wood is out. Hill, Mitre, Koronka, Dempster and Leicester were all terrible as starers, and we won't have to resort to that again, barring any unexpected line drives. Add in the meager offensive improvements and take into account what CFICT posted about how we should have won 86 games last year, it is hard to imagine how the Cubs aren't likely to be at least 10 wins better, unless you are just being as extemely pessimistic as you can be. Add to that the fact that the level of competition in our own division is likely to be less than it was, and my assertion looks a whole lot more realistic than yours.