David

I think that infield is more "athletic" than the Cubs'. That obviously doesn't come close to equating to "good at baseball" though. I read "athletic" there as "good at football", which is as meaningless a metric as any that's been used to describe any form of White Sox aptitude in recent years. It's a joke article about talking yourself into the White Sox being contenders as presently constructed.

Read this in an article over on The Ringer and immediately thought, that probably isn't even the clear most athletic infield in Chicago. I think that infield is more "athletic" than the Cubs'. That obviously doesn't come close to equating to "good at baseball" though.

yeah, montero catching lester would be a disaster (it probably wouldn't be as bad as i'm picturing but it's funny to think about)

yeah...he was directly asked about it a little while back and he basically sounded like somebody who had been told he wouldn't be catching this year (made it a point to talk about how little playing time there would be there with two very talented catchers on the roster).

i don't see it. they're going to want to be cautious with him. and on top of that, they have contreras and miggy...and miggy really started to come on at the plate once he made some adjustments late in the year. i could actually see him playing himself into a little more playing time than we expect (both because he's good and because it'll keep willson fresher). if there's an injury, maybe he works his way into the mix if his knee feels good enough, but idk otherwise.

hmm i wonder if they would do TJ (if it is the UCL) or if they'd do the maness procedure. Were the Cardinals proponents of that procedure that Maness had or did he go off by himself and do it, since he was a FA and since has signed elsewhere? Just wondering since it's a guy the Cardinals control, I could see them making Reyes have the standard TJS since it's more of a known procedure and giving up this season for Reyes might be in their best interest instead of going with what's a experimental procedure to maybe get him back this year but hurt him longer-term? I know it was a St. Louis based surgeon, but I'm not sure if it's an actual Cardinals affiliation. It might depend on the nature of the ligament rupture, too.

hmm i wonder if they would do TJ (if it is the UCL) or if they'd do the maness procedure.

pitchers and catchers report earlier than position players, yada yada yada, the bisque was good. Right, nevermind that plenty of other players are reporting early. I don't think Rizzo thinks he's a catcher, but he's there. totally went over my head because schwarber has been there for so long already that it didn't even cross my mind i thought he was mistaking the knee brace for catcher's gear or something

What am I missing here?

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-brett-anderson-cubs-reinforce-rotation-spt-0213-20170212-story.html

[tweet] [/tweet]

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the pizza sucks but the crazy bread makes it all worth it sidenote: i saw this show once, i wanna say it was karl pilkington's show after idiot abroad, where the homeless guy would go behind little caesars at the end of the day to get like whole pizzas out of the dumpster. karl was amazed and the homeless guy was like "yeah i guess they throw out the ones that are incorrect orders that the customers send back." and i'm like no you silly bastard it's because they're hot n readys.

The problem isn't not tanking. The problem is they need to construct a better roster. I didn't say they shouldn't build a better roster. Oh, and by the way, since you mention this season being an example of downside (which, well duh...), what's the downside (and overwhelmingly most likely outcome) of sucking out loud?

No.

This sucks of course but the argument against blowing it all up would be involve building around Jimmy and throwing together a 50 win team which would be fun and could win a playoff series or two. I still think this would be easier to attain than trading Jimmy, tanking and being flat out bad for years. In my eyes though, constant .500 ball in which they compete for the 8th seed is almost as unfun as flat out sucking. This team is so unfun that it has a 2010 Cubs. At least there was that 2 weeks to star the year where they were good but no one cared because of the Cubs. This. I never said anything about putting together a .500 team to eek out an 8 seed. This season has not been fun (that said, it's better than a 10 win team that completely obliterates any interest I have in even flipping on a game...but those aren't the only choices)

http://www.cubsinsider.com/2017/02/10/photos-video-cubs-early-arrivals-putting-work/ That sound of Schwarber's bat, tho

yeah, i'd guess multiples. EDIT: [tweet] [/tweet]

Pretty sure that's Darnell McDonald, our "Mental Skills Coordinator" [tweet] [/tweet] looks like jon baker is now mental skills coordinator. hmm.

darnell mcdonald, mental skills coach and former very brief cub

It's a playoff game. It's not gonna happen that often. I'm just not a fan of sudden death...especially in a sport like football where possessions work the way they do. I prefer timed periods where they just play the game until the clock expires, like every other non overtime game. (Baseball is different, obviously, because it's completely different than every other major sport in how the "clock" works, so the home team sudden death thing is a very different animal.) Every time I ask this question nobody gives a good answer, and that continues. I just don't like it isn't an answer. Sudden death is good and fine and the way possessions work in football works just fine when OT comes along. You say yourself that it doesn't happen that often. This is another "solution looking for a problem". If you give NFL coaches the ability to play for the tie in shortened OT periods, they will do just that and games will go on forever. I don't like it is an answer. It is my answer. Yours is "it's good and fine and more exciting." I don't think it's more exciting, you do. I think it changes the game fundamentally in a way that I am not fond of, particularly in a sudden death playoff game. Yes, it works the way it is. I like my way better, though. What more do you want me to say?

WTF is wrong with sudden death? It's more exciting and typically leads to not having games last too long. Too much football is a bad thing, especially for the body. There is no good reason to play a bunch of over time periods until you end one with a team having a lead. It's a playoff game. It's not gonna happen that often. I'm just not a fan of sudden death...especially in a sport like football where possessions work the way they do. I prefer timed periods where they just play the game until the clock expires, like every other non overtime game. (Baseball is different, obviously, because it's completely different than every other major sport in how the "clock" works, so the home team sudden death thing is a very different animal.)

is heyward levitating

I would have zero issue with NFL playoff games playing normal but shortened (maybe half length) period overtime until one of them ended with a team leading. I really don't see a need for any form of sudden death in the playoffs.

I would tell Hoyer that if they don't want to mess up pitching staffs, then institute ties. This idea is grab-bag bullcrap, just like every other idea Manfred has proposed. While I think the idea is bullcrap, ties are way more disgusting. Leave that crap to the soccer dorks (and yea, very occasionally, football).