David

As for the comments about the moves... - He stands by his statement that this will not be the same team we see on Opening Day. - He obviously can't mention any names, but said that we all probably know what the first deal is. - The second deal is about as high profile as the first (whatever that means). - Takes two to tango. Jim has likely had many sleepless nights as he badly wants to get these moves done. He also started with a few comments about Zell... basically said that Zell isn't what he is being portrayed as. - When the Z deal came along, Kenney went to Zell to get approval. Zell asked for the pros and cons. Gave the go-ahead right there (obviously). - They are keeping their options open with regard to naming rights. He won't rule out an entirely new name but seemed to suggest that something less intrusive like the Bears naming rights package was more likely.

Just a heads up. We'll see if he elaborates at all on the 2 rumored high-profile deals from his last appearance.

per ESPN1000, the Bears pulled their offer to Ayanbadejo off the table.

1. Alex Rodriguez 2. Albert Pujols 3. Hanley Ramirez 4. Jose Reyes 5. Ryan Braun 6. David Wright 7. Chase Utley 8. Jimmy Rollins 9. Miguel Cabrera 10. Johan Santana 11. Matt Holliday 12. Ryan Howard 13. Grady Sizemore 14. Prince Fielder 15. Jake Peavy 16. Troy Tulowitzki 17. Victor Martinez 18. Carl Crawford 19. Alfonso Soriano 20. David Ortiz 21. Carlos Beltran 22. Brandon Webb 23. Vlad Guerrero 24. Ichiro 25. Derrek Lee 26. Russell Martin 27. Joe Mauer 28. Brandon Phillips 29. Brian Roberts 30. BJ Upton 31. Derek Jeter 32. Corey Hart 33. Josh Beckett 34. Manny Ramirez 35. Dan Haren 36. Robinson Cano 37. Justin Verlander 38. Erik Bedard 39. Aramis Ramirez 40. Cole Hamels 41. Larry Wayne "Chipper" Jones 42. Adam Dunn 43. Mark Teixeira 44. CC Sabathia 45. Carlos Lee 46. Lance Berkman 47. Roy Halladay 48. Carlos Zambrano 49. Scott Kazmir 50. Francisco Liriano 51. John Smoltz 52. John Lackey 53. Chris Young (the outfielder) 54. Curtis Granderson 55. Brian McCann 56. Ian Kinsler 57. Magglio Ordonez 58. Jorge Posada 59. Khalil Greene 60. Carlos Guillen 61. Garrett Atkins 62. Felix Hernandez 63. Aaron Rowand 64. Geovany Soto 65. Chris Young (the weirdly proportioned pitcher) 66. Roy Oswalt 67. Aaron Harang 68. Ryan Zimmerman 69. Carlos Pena 70. Joe Nathan 71. Matt Kemp 72. Francisco Rodriguez 73. Dan Uggla 74. Gary Sheffield 75. Jonathan Paplebon 76. Daisuke Matsuzaka 77. Hunter Pence 78. Tim Lincecum 79. Rich Hill 80. Nick Markakis 81. Rickie Weeks 82. Kosuke Fukudome 83. Kenji Johjima 84.Fausto Carmona 85. JJ Putz 86. Takashi Saito 87. Jose Valverde 88. Todd Helton 89. Javier Vazquez 90. Nick Swisher 91. James Shields 92. Miguel Tejada 93. Brad Hawpe 94. Hideki Matsui 95. Travis Hafner 96. Edgar Renteria 97. Alex Rios 98. JJ Hardy 99. Chone Figgins 100. Billy Wagner 101. Joba Chamberlain 102. A.J. Burnett- picking for IMB 103. Bobby Abreu 104. Shane Victorino 105. Mariano Rivera 106. Placido Polanco 107. Kevin Kouzmanoff 108. Jason Bay 109. Josh Hamilton 110. Brad Penny 111. Michael Young 112. Torii Hunter

And more than tripled him in walks. Just sayin'...

PetCo has made a pretty substantial difference for him the past two years.

Yea, I noticed this. I'm a little worried about it, too, but it's way too early to be concerned about such things. We'll see.

I hate when people do this, but I'm way too lazy to look it up myself right now, so I'm gonna do it anyway. Does Payton at least have some semblance of value as a platoon partner for Pie? Is he, at the very least, a respectable hitter vs. LHP? Can he still play much CF (again, at least passably)?

Pie is quietly having a pretty nice spring (in all of 4 games, granted)... .275/.385/.909 3/11 4 R 2 BB 3 K 2 HR 1 2B It's not much and means just about nothing, but I'm glad to see him doing well early to hopefully put the Fuld stuff to rest quickly. And yes, that's a .909 SLG, not OPS.

You're going to cause poor Meph to commit suicide. Where did you hear that? I guess Meph will just have to blog about it at nsbblol then. VORP YOU!

If Aramis had done that, Rozner would already be working on a piece about how he doesn't care about the community/children.

1. Alex Rodriguez 2. Albert Pujols 3. Hanley Ramirez 4. Jose Reyes 5. Ryan Braun 6. David Wright 7. Chase Utley 8. Jimmy Rollins 9. Miguel Cabrera 10. Johan Santana 11. Matt Holliday 12. Ryan Howard 13. Grady Sizemore 14. Prince Fielder 15. Jake Peavy 16. Troy Tulowitzki 17. Victor Martinez 18. Carl Crawford 19. Alfonso Soriano 20. David Ortiz 21. Carlos Beltran 22. Brandon Webb 23. Vlad Guerrero 24. Ichiro 25. Derrek Lee 26. Russell Martin 27. Joe Mauer 28. Brandon Phillips 29. Brian Roberts 30. BJ Upton 31. Derek Jeter 32. Corey Hart 33. Josh Beckett 34. Manny Ramirez 35. Dan Haren 36. Robinson Cano 37. Justin Verlander 38. Erik Bedard 39. Aramis Ramirez 40. Cole Hamels 41. Larry Wayne "Chipper" Jones 42. Adam Dunn 43. Mark Teixeira 44. CC Sabathia 45. Carlos Lee 46. Lance Berkman 47. Roy Halladay 48. Carlos Zambrano 49. Scott Kazmir 50. Francisco Liriano 51. John Smoltz 52. John Lackey 53. Chris Young (the outfielder) 54. Curtis Granderson 55. Brian McCann 56. Ian Kinsler 57. Magglio Ordonez 58. Jorge Posada 59. Khalil Greene 60. Carlos Guillen 61. Garrett Atkins 62. Felix Hernandez 63. Aaron Rowand 64. Geovany Soto 65. Chris Young (the weirdly proportioned pitcher) 66. Roy Oswalt 67. Aaron Harang 68. Ryan Zimmerman 69. Carlos Pena 70. Joe Nathan 71. Matt Kemp 72. Francisco Rodriguez 73. Dan Uggla 74. Gary Sheffield 75. Jonathan Paplebon 76. Daisuke Matsuzaka 77. Hunter Pence 78. Tim Lincecum 79. Rich Hill 80. Nick Markakis 81. Rickie Weeks 82. Kosuke Fukudome 83. Kenji Johjima 84.Fausto Carmona 85. JJ Putz 86. Takashi Saito 87. Jose Valverde[/size] 88. Todd Helton 89. Javier Vazquez 90. Nick Swisher 91. James Shields 92. Miguel Tejada 93. Brad Hawpe 94. Hideki Matsui 95. Travis Hafner 96. Edgar Renteria 97. Alex Rios 98. JJ Hardy 99. Chone Figgins 100. Billy Wagner 101. Joba Chamberlain 102. A.J. Burnett- picking for IMB 103. Bobby Abreu 104. Shane Victorino 105. Mariano Rivera

Nah. A non-displaced fracture like that will heal pretty quickly.

I don't.

Eh, is Bradley/Johnson/Hester really that much worse than Berrian/Muhammad/Hester? Hard to say. I'm more concerned about what the hell they plan on doing with the line at this point, as it looks like they're not going to get anything through free agency there.

Seriously? People here are that jazzed about the possibility Dempster and Lieber having spot locked up in the rotation? Marquis might suck, but I'd take him over both of them.

The scary part is DeuceBaseman posts the same kind of stuff over there. :shock:

Nice. Wood (and Howry & Cotts) going today.

Any chance we'll see Woody today?

GEOVANY SOTO!

I'm pretty sure I'd rather have Marquis in the rotation than Lieber (or Dempster, for that matter). ...at least, for the first half. Marquis at least seems to have pretty good stuff. What does Lieber have going for him? Either way, they all suck.

Seriously, what the hell? Yea, a few people on there are pretty delusional about Roberts's trade value.

Hafner's OK. Granderson isn't.

A Cubs fan (apparently) who goes by 'Harry Carry' over at OH posted this... Anyone else hear that report by Levine?

lulz ya Aramis can't throw