soccer10k

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Thank you sir.

Did ESPN completely shut down Wednesday night due to a lack of Yankee info to discuss?

Please say no to Lou Piniella, Hendry. For the sake of my sanity.

Heh. Yeah, did that on purpose. At the beginning of the year I would always get screwed up on the game times when listed on here because they were always listed in CT. I figured since this game is being played out here on the West Coast, I would use PT.

I'm trying to become more knowledgeable regarding the minor leagues and, since I have heard it mentioned on the board before, I was wondering what leagues are considered to be stronger in pitching and which are stronger with offense. For example: Player A put up decent stats in League B which looks more impressive because League B generally favors the pitchers.

Pass on Nomar. No more injury prone players. As much as I like the guy, I don't want him in a Cubs uniform.

This is my problem with the anti-NFL viewpoint. Like much of what we hear in baseball, I think it's based on conventional wisdom more than actual fact. From the beginning the pro version of football was thought of as the bastardized version of the "pure" college game. It's simply wrongheaded to think that way. I love both games. They are different, but college is in no way shape or form more intense. People who grow up around the college game and without much of a pro influence, tend to lean on the college game. In places without much college exposure but pro teams it's the other way (especially true in NY city area). I understand preferring one over the other, the problem is people's explanations aren't all that accurate. And your views are correct and your explanations are accurate? I said I like college sports better because of the atmosphere surrounding the college games mainly because of the students. You don't get that sort of support in the pro game.

Georgia is crazy overrated. Georgia still has to play Tennessee, at Florida, at Auburn, and Georgia Tech. They won't be overrated at the end of the year. That's the thing. They go 500 or even win just 1 and they go 10-2 9-3 at the worst and big bowl bucks. If Georgia finishes 9-3 (which would mean they would lose at least 2 SEC games) they would likely finish behind the teams they lost to as well as LSU. Georgia is looking at being the fourth or fifth best team in the SEC at the end of the year. That won't be big bowl bucks. And what's the difference between the SEC and the ACC? Florida St. gets the benefit of the doubt year after year even though in the last four years they have 16 losses. And they have 2 so far this year as well. How about the Big 11? Michigan and Ohio State are highly rated every single year. It's not just the SEC that gets the benefit of the doubt year in and year out.

I don't see how the NFL isn't intense. If you're capable of watching a 162 game MLB season when the best teams lose 60 times, I think you can find the intensity after a team loses a game. Homefield advantage is still important. And besides, there's only about 2 intense games per team in college, the rest are cakewalks. NFL players are playing because they are getting paid to do it. I'm sure they love the game and love to play but they are still getting paid. Just look at somebody like Ricky Williams. He played football because he was good at it and it was profitable. Go ahead and say what you want about $100 handshakes, but the college players aren't making millions every year. The NBA is WAY worse than the NFL as well. so ricky played for love of the game in college and suddenly forgot about that upon reaching the pros? Obviously my stance isn't absolute and doesn't hold true with every player. Frankly I have no idea what went/goes on inside of Ricky's head. Frankly, Ricky may be so high all the time that he might not know what goes on inside of his head.

Georgia is crazy overrated. Georgia still has to play Tennessee, at Florida, at Auburn, and Georgia Tech. They won't be overrated at the end of the year.

The one NL team in the playoffs I don't hate just lost two games at home. Ugh.

I agree completely. The Cubs need an all around improvement. If they focus on fixing either the offense or the pitching but not both, they will be a 4th place team at best next year.

Agreed.

You have to consider the payroll. Locking up Zambrano before the '07 season should be a priority - you don't want to run the risk of him having another great season and then bolting in free agency because the Cubs finish in last place again. Locking him up reduces your ability to sign other free agents. I don't see Cedeno as anything more than a utility player, so I don't see the point in sending him down to AAA next year. Same with Fontenot (what else does he need to prove in AAA?). And same with Pagan. If these guys had a future as a starter, then yeah, I'd agree. But none of them do. I'd love to sign Kenny Lofton, but someone will give him a starting job. And he's not going to turn down an everyday job to be a bench player on a team that finished with the worst record in the league. But with that said, this year's team wasn't as bad as it's record indicates. I don't think that a major overhaul is needed. And I certainly don't see the point in spending millions on every bench player when you have guys in the minors who will likely give you the same, if not better, production for the league minimum. I'd love to sign a FA starter, but the funds aren't there if you want to add an impact bat (which I feel is more important) and lock Zambrano up long-term. You're both right ... uh ... and wrong. The 25 men in the initial post aren't going to win many games. And Steinbrenner himself doesn't have enough money to fix this team properly. TIme to blow it up. Trade Z, Lee, Barrett, Howry, Dempster, Eyre and Jones for what you can get. Offer ramiraz arby and hope he turns it down. Rotation: Hill Marshall Pitcher recieved in trade Pitcher received in trade Prior/Miller Line-up Theriot Cedeno Pie 1b received in trade Murton 3b received in trade Rf received in trade Soto Bench and Pen rooks and retreads Weurtz for closer Pack it in pack it up and pack it out There is no reason that a major market team with a $100M payroll should have to completely rebuild their team.

Why would the Cubs want to spend $4-5M to get Craig Wilson next year to sit on the bench when they could use that money on somebody that's actually going to play regularly (whether that means a position player or a starter)? That would mean paying him close to or more than Jacque Jones for a lot less production.

I disagree. A hitter will play in 140-160 games. A pitcher will impact about 35. You go with the hitter. As far as our rotation goes, keep in mind Mark Prior will likely be back and closer to his previous form than he was this year. Zambrano, Prior and Hill in no particular order is pretty decent. Finding 2 more starters shouldn't be that hard. Virtually anything from Prior next year would be better than what the Cubs got from him this year.

Seconded. Retaining Aramis is far more important than who our manager winds up being. So hypothetically if ARam says "I want Lou Piniella as manager" you would be in favor of the Cubs hiring Lou Piniella solely to satisfy ARam? Players matter more than the manager, so I'd do it. I'd rather have ARam with Piniella than David Bell with Larry Dierker. Again, another hypothetical. If towards the end of this year, Hendry approached ARam and said "what do I have to do to get you to stay a Cub?" and ARam said "resign Dusty" you would be in favor? If ARam demands Piniella, he can walk.

Not to brush this praise aside, but the pitching staff said the same thing about Oscar Acosta when he was canned, and the pitchers from those teams didn't suddenly forget how to throw. Interesting that Hill is quoted as a supporter. If I recall, he was one of the pitchers that was rumored to constantly ignoring Rothschild and that it wasn't until he quit listening to him that he started to perform at the ML as he did in the lower levels. I think Hill is probably playing the PC game after his AJ/Barrett comments rubbed management the wrong way. I don't doubt that Larry has done some good things, but the failures to prevent serious injuries to Wood and Prior (well, he can't stop Giles and Hawpe) are so large that we can't risk having him back. Maybe Baker just didn't listen to Larry. Bruce did say something to the effect of on this board the other day that Baker should have listened to Larry more than he actually did. I wouldn't be surprised to hear that Baker frequently overruled Larry and ignored his advice.

I don't see how the NFL isn't intense. If you're capable of watching a 162 game MLB season when the best teams lose 60 times, I think you can find the intensity after a team loses a game. Homefield advantage is still important. And besides, there's only about 2 intense games per team in college, the rest are cakewalks. NFL players are playing because they are getting paid to do it. I'm sure they love the game and love to play but they are still getting paid. Just look at somebody like Ricky Williams. He played football because he was good at it and it was profitable. Go ahead and say what you want about $100 handshakes, but the college players aren't making millions every year. The NBA is WAY worse than the NFL as well.

Seconded. Retaining Aramis is far more important than who our manager winds up being. So hypothetically if ARam says "I want Lou Piniella as manager" you would be in favor of the Cubs hiring Lou Piniella solely to satisfy ARam?

Clemens played for the Yankees and Red Sox. In the national media's mind, no player from either of those teams could ever do any wrong. Look at the free pass Giambi, a confessed steroid user, and Sheffield got from the leaked grand jury testimony. Giambi got a free pass? Compared to every other roid boy. He went through a rough couple months, but has been completely forgiven as soon as he started producing again. He got absolutely hammered by the press in 2004 and was ripped for part of 2005 as well until he started to hit. I would hardly consider that to be a free pass. Sheffield I'll agree with though.

Yeah, last year. It's usually not like that. It's usually 2 1 loss teams or 1 undefeated and 1 1 loss. And again, which 1 loss team is determined by polls. Four out of the eight BCS National Championship Games have featured 2 undefeated teams and three of those four years they were the only 2 undefeated teams in the nation (2004 was different with Auburn, USC, Oklahoma all finishing the regular season undefeated).

Clemens played for the Yankees and Red Sox. In the national media's mind, no player from either of those teams could ever do any wrong. Look at the free pass Giambi, a confessed steroid user, and Sheffield got from the leaked grand jury testimony. Giambi got a free pass?