CaliforniaRaisin

He supposedly will be available this offseason. CR, or anyone, what is the reasoning behind Drew being available? Does Colletti think he is too expensive to keep? If so, I'd swap Jones for Drew in a heartbeat though I don't know if Colletti would. That move would require the Cubs to acquire a really good 4th OFer for when Drew goes on the DL, but for the 400-500 ABs the Cubs will likely get out of him, it would be worth it. Dellucci is a FA and would make an excellent 4th OFer. Aubrey Huff, Luis Gonzalez, Gary Matthews Jr., Trot Nixon, Craig Wilson among others are also possibilities, so if Dellucci doesn't want to come to Chicago, the Cubs would have plenty of other candidates from which to choose. Drew would be an upgrade in OBP most certainly, but possibly not much of an upgrade in SLG which is why I think the main move the Cubs must make is acquiring Andruw Jones. The thing that is nice about Drew is that he is left-handed. And with Lee, Barrett, Ramirez (hopefully) and Murton the likely mainstays of the Cubs offense all being right-handed, any and all good left-handed bats would be welcome. The left-handed Felix Pie will help, but he really would benefit from another half season, at least, in AAA. And I would much rather have a lopsided line-up that can produce runs than a balanced one that can't. Yes, salary concerns is the main reason. I think Drew's SLG will go up once he leaves Dodger Stadium and the NL West (the same for Giles if he ever left Petco and the NL West).

Something tells me that the Cubs wouldn't need Izturis in that scenario. Two LFs and two SSs in the same lineup. :-k It'll be interesting to play with no pitcher or RF.

Guy who yelled at reporters when he got to NY vs. guy who tried to kill camera man?

Should be posted on BA's site in a few hours. According to the Cub reporter, Sean Gallagher came in at #12 and Eric Patterson at #17.

Bill Richardson, not Mark.

Beware. People are going to argue that those inexperienced players flourished all by themselvles and the influence of Girardi had no effect whatsoever on fostering their development. Where did anyone say that? People did say that he didn't manage the team to a winning record and that, while the roster was full of young players worth $15 million, they were still very talented - much more so than most rebuilding teams. Some posters also feel that Girardi might be favored to other candidates because of his past ties to the Cubs.

Four more, plz.

I'd rather have Little than Lou Piniella.

Probably?

Speier?

Haven't bullpen arms been "his guys"? Didn't he specifically target Remlinger, Hawkins, Eyre, and Howry and then get them? Eyre and Howry were the exceptions. I don't recall him wrapping up Remlinger or Hawkins that quickly, those happened a little later in the offseason. I'd like to see him just once target a big name FA, say "that's my guy," and go out and bowl him over. He's always lukewarm on his interest on anyone (other than Dusty 4 years ago), and tries wait for the bidding to develop as if he thinks he can get someone cheap when there's no interest from someone else (with the good players, that is, he has no problem bowling over the Glendon's and Neifi's of the world). Erye was on November 29th Howry was on December 2nd Hawkins was on December 3rd Remlinger was on December 4th Heck, Hendry didn't even wait for the arbitration deadline to pass to sign Hawkins.

What an awful commercial. Brett Tomko is not good.

Holy crap, they added a picture.

Ok Thom, why are you questioning the Dodgers keeping Kuo in the game in the 5th inning?

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?statsId=4122 Since I don't trust Treeman, I looked up Glavine's stats this year and in 1999 and I came to his ESPN page. Why doesn't ESPN have a pic for Glavine?

Thom, learn how to spell your name and quit calling flyballs like Chip Carey.

Dodgers seem to think they're facing 1999 Glavine. glavine had a lower era and a better k/bb this year than he did in 1999 im shocked too, i only looked it up because i wanted to see how good 1999 pedro/glavine/wagner would be Wow.

Dodgers seem to think they're facing 1999 Glavine.

Swinging on a 3-0 pitch with 2 on and 2 outs? Boo.

Too many pitches by Kuo, but he's looked good. :)

My feeling is that they're trying to talk themselves into Girardi because he seems to be the overwhelming "people's choice." They have concerns about what went on in Florida. At this point, I think they like Piniella best, can be talked into Girardi and would like Brenly if the other options failed. What I don't understand is why the Cubs have to take so long when they knew Baker wasn't coming back since September at the latest, I mean really, what the heck has Hendry been doing all this time? In fairness, they had to wait to see how the Girardi thing played out. It's one thing for the Marlins to seek permission to talk to a team's third base coach, quite another for the Cubs to ask to talk with another team's manager while that team was still playing. On top of that, they need to ask some questions on both sides on what exactly happened down there. The Giants will take their time hiring a manager, too. As long as you get it done by the organizational meetings in November and don't lose out on your man, there's no real reason to rush. If this is your last chance to get it right, you better well take your time and get it right. Is there any concerns about losing out on coaches (such as Kranitz staying with the Marlins)?

Good interview. I agree with Serena, you have a good broadcasting voice.

I've thought of the 2001 comparisons in that way too (Price = Prior, Wieters = Texiera). Never thought of Stock = Mauer, that's interesting (though I think in 2010, Stock will be a top-5 pick as a pitcher out of USC). That's awesome. :D

I agree, I was just quoting your quote of him so I wouldn't have to go back a page. Gotcha. So we're on the same page. :D Boo.