David

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).

[tweet] [/tweet] The sportsbook in Reno that was way low on the Cubs over/under last year (89 - I almost wanted to fly to Reno because I'm pretty sure no other casino was this low) has them at 95.5 this year.

Bonus: I think that's the game after which Cueto said we'd see who really had the coconuts in October.

Hoyer actually defended this idea yesterday on the radio (FWIW, he said he was playing devil's advocate - but the way he made his case seemed as if he might have actually believed it) saying that long extra inning games screw the pitching staff up for a long time and it's one of the things they dislike most as executives.

couldn't decide what was more weird...that or that she still hasn't seen the grand slam

That one guy finally gets his answer plus a little more Also, holy horsefeathering crap

Well, this seems like a silly position. The things they're doing to try to do that, though, are all kinds of wrong. People who think baseball is boring aren't going to suddenly not think baseball is boring because of any (within reason) rule change MLB could make. As a friend of mine put it, if you can't watch soccer for 20 minutes without wanting them to be able to use their hands and tackle each other, then you won't watch soccer. That doesn't mean it has to change. (An extreme example, I know.) You said there's nothing baseball can do to make it appealing to people who don't like it. I think there are things baseball can do to win over some of these people. As I alluded to, gimmicky rule changes that make the sport worse are not among those things, though.

Seriously. I can't horsefeathering stand when sports go out of their way to appease the people that don't like their product to begin with. There is nothing baseball can do to make baseball appealing to people who don't like baseball. Well, this seems like a silly position. The things they're doing to try to do that, though, are all kinds of wrong.