XZero771679666304

This actually bums me out.

No different than Soriano. Soriano is under contract through 2014, ARod through 2017, and I'd bet the farm ARod won't be anything resembling a 3B before long. He's averaged 119 games played over the past 3 years, an increasing amount of those as a DH. Soriano is coming off of a decent year, ARod is coming off five consecutive years of decline, and his OPS (since you don't like WAR for this comparison) was 40 points higher than ARod's last year (and about the same as ARod's in 2011). Of course it's not likely Soriano will repeat those numbers and I would love to see him traded. But if he were traded for ARod I'd be sick to my stomach. That'd be trading one albatross for another more onerous one. I'd much rather ride out Soriano's remaining two seasons than sign on for ARod's age 39-42 years beyond that, all of which will cost more than Soriano does now.

That's not true. They've were -5 pythagorean wins, they had 17 wins worth of sub-replacement players, and they have $60-75 million to spend if they want to. They could contend if they felt like it was a priority. But what is there to spend it on? The only way I see them contending in 2013 is if they sign 2 of the better SP on the market, Upton, trade for a 3B (Wright) and sign/trade for another 2-3 relievers. Even then it'd be iffy. Cincy and St. Louis probably aren't going away, and the Brewers probably aren't going to be that bad, either. There would be a chance, but as David put it, it'd be a puncher's chance at best. But the point is that 2013 being approached as a likely lost season shouldn't be surprising, and very modest ticket price drop isn't indicative of anything that wasn't already perfectly clear. Who cares if it's "iffy?" It's not like they were only adding those pieces for next season and couldn't keep building/changing going forward. I prefer "iffy" than "crap hole." That scenario was probably as optimistic a scenario as could be semi-realistically painted. Of course all of those things would be good for not only 2013 but the next several years, But even if it were Theo/Jed's intent to do all those things, they probably couldn't. The point I was trying to make as it pertains to the topic was that even if the FO "tries", we're still probably looking at another season of non-contention, and that the meager ticket price drop being reflective of that isn't some sort of grim revelation, or portentous of anything we didn't already know. Expecting improvement in 2013 is perfectly reasonable, expecting contention probably isn't.

And Paterno, and the administration, all of whom were culpable to varying degrees. It wasn't a Jerry Sandusky problem, it was an institutional problem, and that's whay the ill will persists. And I agree with all the ill will against the administration. But that administration is now gone. Please someone let me know when I'm allowed to support the school again. Again, supporting your school is one thing, reveling in the hate is crossing the line a bit.

And Paterno, and the administration, all of whom were culpable to varying degrees. It wasn't a Jerry Sandusky problem, it was an institutional problem, and that's whay the ill will persists.

You getting all smug about people getting an icky feeling about a school that harbored a child molester for years is a little gross. I'm not smug about anything. Rooting for this current team =/= supporting child rape, no matter how many times people say it No one said that. But a reasonable response would be to quietly wait this dark period of your school's history out, not take a "your hate sustains me" heel turn stance, which in this case, comes off about as badly as possible.

Yeah, Sandusky was the only party at all culpable and everyone else is just a victim. I feel bad for the players and new coaches, but the school deserves the derision it has gotten and will continue to get. PSU as an institution earned this, and those who come in the next few years will have to wear it. But don't worry, fewer and fewer good players will be wasting their time signing on for it. And ftr, I said I would be rooting for Iowa because you are making such a twonk of yourself in this thread, not because of pedo-gate.

I love that everyone roots against PSU now. Makes every win that much better #TeamOutlaw ed from bowls for 4 years. Which means PSU and Illinois will be going to the same number if bowl games the next four years Fortunately for Illinois the school isn't defined by its football program.

This whole thing is making want to root for Iowa, which really, really doesn't agree with me.

The only hard part is Wright. There's plenty of decent CFs and second-tier starters out there. I think to contend we'd have to land 2 of the better SP (think Sanchez/McCarthy/Jackson) and not the lesser SP (Marcum/Blanton/Villanueva). I also think adding an offensive 3B would be almost necessary. The Cubs had a very hard time scoring runs late in the year, and adding a decent CF wouldn't do much to fix that. I have hopes, but I don't think it's a given that two of the better SP are signed even if Theo decides to spend. There is going to be some fierce competition.

That's not true. They've were -5 pythagorean wins, they had 17 wins worth of sub-replacement players, and they have $60-75 million to spend if they want to. They could contend if they felt like it was a priority. But what is there to spend it on? The only way I see them contending in 2013 is if they sign 2 of the better SP on the market, Upton, trade for a 3B (Wright) and sign/trade for another 2-3 relievers. Even then it'd be iffy. Cincy and St. Louis probably aren't going away, and the Brewers probably aren't going to be that bad, either. There would be a chance, but as David put it, it'd be a puncher's chance at best. But the point is that 2013 being approached as a likely lost season shouldn't be surprising, and very modest ticket price drop isn't indicative of anything that wasn't already perfectly clear. Well, since you added in Wright, if they did all that, I'm not sure why they wouldn't be considered to have more than a puncher's chance... LF - Soriano CF - Upton RF - DeJesus 1B - Rizzo 2B - Barney SS - Castro 3B - Wright C - Castillo SP (this is where it gets pretty good) - Samardzija, Garza, 2 of Sanchez/Marcum/McCarthy/Jackson, Wood RP - Marmol, those guys you mentioned trading for/signing plus some other guys, just way less terrible than 2012's version I don't see why that team isn't legitimately in contention for the division You're probably right. But let's say Theo & Jed set out to accomplish those things, what do you think the chances are that they'd get it all done? There's going to be heavy competition in the market for the better SP (including from teams who can spend), and if Wright goes on market, there will be heavy competition for him as well. Upton is going to have some suitors as well. This idea that the Cubs can be contenders in 2013 is Theo and Jed simply decide to "try" is gross oversimplification. The sea isn't simply going to part so the FO can get whomever they decide to target. Not even the Yankees and Red Sox have/had 100% "get" rates. The Cubs can absolutely get better in 2013, and there's no reason they shouldn't. But any expectation that they will or could realistically contend through simple effort is probably a tad misguided.

That's not true. They've were -5 pythagorean wins, they had 17 wins worth of sub-replacement players, and they have $60-75 million to spend if they want to. They could contend if they felt like it was a priority. But what is there to spend it on? The only way I see them contending in 2013 is if they sign 2 of the better SP on the market, Upton, trade for a 3B (Wright) and sign/trade for another 2-3 relievers. Even then it'd be iffy. Cincy and St. Louis probably aren't going away, and the Brewers probably aren't going to be that bad, either. There would be a chance, but as David put it, it'd be a puncher's chance at best. But the point is that 2013 being approached as a likely lost season shouldn't be surprising, and very modest ticket price drop isn't indicative of anything that wasn't already perfectly clear.

The Cubs are not going to contend in 2013 (virtually regardless of what the FO does this offseason, and we knew this), are coming off of 100 losses, and the ticket prices are going to be marginally lowered to ease the pain of two consecutive losing seasons. I don't see any horrid revelation or ill omen here.

I think Holliday is that kid on the little league team who can't play defense and sits out there going "please don't hit it to me, please don't hit it to me..." He's brutal, makes Soriano look like Mays.

Having a kicker who can't make any kicks is why they lost to Virginia Well, that and playing poorly enough that the kicker was a huge factor in losing to Virginia.

I just feel like many people in Illinois cherry picked the Cardinals because they are nearby and win a lot. I find it rather annoying. It's ok if you don't. A lot of people in Southern Illinois probably picked the Cardinals because of proximity. I think that is much more of a factor than where the state lines are, or some notion that because you live in a state it means you have to be a fan of teams within it. If some yokel from Belleville or Centralia or something is a Cards fan, I don't the controversy.

We had a 3-WAR projection out of CF and nothing out of 1b. Now we have a 3.5 WAR projection out of 1b and nothing out of CF. But you couldn't project 3 WAR from CF going forward, and Jackson was already a hit or miss proposition. It's not like CF being an issue was a shocking new development. It was already an issue. Byrd going (further) to [expletive] and Jackson busting were clear possibilities going in.

I'd sign Youk if he'd take a 1-year, "re-build value" deal. Maybe a 1 year deal with a mutual option. We've got nothing else at 3B and he couldn't be much worse than what we ran out there in 2012. He'll never be a 4-6 WAR player again, but the peripherals seem to indicate he may not be done being somewhat productive.

Clearly, the only reason we call the Cards lucky is because we are hopelessly bitter and deeply dissatisfied with our own team's futility, and aren't smart or well adjusted enough to separate our sentiments.

Somewhere between pixie dust and thinking the Cards have been just that good the past few years lies the truth. They have been a very shrewd franchise that has made the most of their market standing, and placed themselves in favorable positions with regularity because of it. But they have gotten more than their fair share of positive breaks, with a knack for consistently advancing past teams with superior rosters in often improbable fashion. This cannot be denied. But when a team is in or around contention consistently, good things can happen, which should be the takeaway.

That didn't look good for Jeter. No weight placed on that foot/ankle at all. It's funny, I hate the Yankees and Yankee fans, and hate how grossly overrated Jeter is/has been (though he has been undeniably great), but I can't hate Jeter.

Yeah, you don't know what you're talking about. WSR ignorantly talking out of his ass? Inconceivable.

A little late with my two cents, but that was some played out, new jack horse crap. Descalso? Kozma? Where the [expletive] was Davey Johnson while Storen was melting down? Eh, whatever. I can't even muster any outrage over it anymore. Frankly, the Reds were the team I wanted out the most, and there's still the Giants to get through.

Those non-Baez whatevers better include Soler, Almora, and Maples. Soler & Almora can't realistically be part of the deal due to not signing until mid-summer. And I'm not sure Maples would bring much at this point.