17 Seconds

pretty much everybody who is complaining about the moves now were complaining about the moves when they were made. back then it was "give the moves a chance" and now it's "hindsight is 20/20"

I didn't want Lower that much, but I would have much rather have had him at 4/60 than Dempster at 4/53. Actually, I'd rather have saved the money and not had Dempster than just trhrow it away on him. Seriously, you're saying that it's better to give out a horrible contract than it is to not give one out at all. You really don't see a problem with that? What about when we're in need of a starter one offseason and Carlos Silva is the only guy avilable. Is it okay to give him 4/40? Hey, anything is better than what we have... right? Here are Dempster's FIP numbers for the last four years: 3.38, 3.79, 4.54, 3.41. Here are Lowe's: 4.16, 3.68, 3.97, 3.26. Lowe's 4 years older than Dempster. So remind me again why you'd be cool with giving Lowe more money than Dempster, but think Dempster got a "horrible contract". One guy was a reliever and the other was a starter, first of all before 09....how many good years did lowe have as a starter. how many did dempster have? Pointing out that Dempster has been used as a closer and then following it up by asking how many good years he's had as a starter? That's your counterpoint? Really? How exactly was Dempster supposed to be good as a starter when he was busy being good as a reliever? umm, no....that's my point. the 2 go together. you gave numbers that compared the 2. it's silly to compare the 2 when they had completely different roles. lowe has has several good seasons as a starting pitcher. dempster has had one (maybe 2 if you consider that year with the marlins to be "good"). the point is that dempster is not proven as a starter like lowe is. lowe didn't get paid for one year like dempster did.

I didn't want Lower that much, but I would have much rather have had him at 4/60 than Dempster at 4/53. Actually, I'd rather have saved the money and not had Dempster than just trhrow it away on him. Seriously, you're saying that it's better to give out a horrible contract than it is to not give one out at all. You really don't see a problem with that? What about when we're in need of a starter one offseason and Carlos Silva is the only guy avilable. Is it okay to give him 4/40? Hey, anything is better than what we have... right? Here are Dempster's FIP numbers for the last four years: 3.38, 3.79, 4.54, 3.41. Here are Lowe's: 4.16, 3.68, 3.97, 3.26. Lowe's 4 years older than Dempster. So remind me again why you'd be cool with giving Lowe more money than Dempster, but think Dempster got a "horrible contract". One guy was a reliever and the other was a starter, first of all before 09....how many good years did lowe have as a starter. how many did dempster have?

Actually, yes, that's a rotation more than good enough to win a championship. LOL then I suppose you've got no issues with the Cubs' lineup bullpen or bench either, since sketchy/mediocre is "more than good enough to win a championship". You'd suppose wrong. Why not focus on the subject at hand instead of trying to deflect it. Would you care to prove that those guys are sketchy/mediocre as a group? You can't just say "HOW COULD YOU DO X, Y IS WHAT YOU NEED TO WIN A CHAMPIONSHIP?" and then act like anyone who disagrees with you doesn't want to win a championship. That rotation gives you two dominant starters, and at worst one good and two average ones. If that's not good enough to win a championship, Philadelphia and St. Louis better be giving back those rings they won in the last three years. Seriously, stack those five up against the 2008 and 2006 World Champions, and show me how they don't measure up? LOL, I knew I'd get the '06 Cardinals thrown in my face. If your objective is to build an 83-win team and then pray for a miracle, then you've got the rotation you need. Good luck with that. You'll excuse those of us that would prefer to set the bar a bit higher than that. Yeah good GM's overpay for crappy players by giving them huge contracts. That's the way you win.

Actually, yes, that's a rotation more than good enough to win a championship. LOL then I suppose you've got no issues with the Cubs' lineup bullpen or bench either, since sketchy/mediocre is "more than good enough to win a championship". Stop deflecting. You implied that it's okay to make a bad decision/desperation move as long as you really need that position filled. That is a terrible way to build a team. I didn't imply any such thing. I was merely trying to point out that the folks bemoaning the Dempster deal have conveniently forgotten to offer up a cheaper plan that would've put the Cubs in a better position to contend. Seriously. Going with what we've got (minus Dempster) would've put the Cubs in worse shape. Hoping to find the next Kyle Lohse at the risk of finding the next Wade Miller or Adam Eaton or Jeff Weaver instead would've, too. I didn't want Lower that much, but I would have much rather have had him at 4/60 than Dempster at 4/53. Actually, I'd rather have saved the money and not had Dempster than just trhrow it away on him. Seriously, you're saying that it's better to give out a horrible contract than it is to not give one out at all. You really don't see a problem with that? What about when we're in need of a starter one offseason and Carlos Silva is the only guy avilable. Is it okay to give him 4/40? Hey, anything is better than what we have... right?

A horrible deal that isn't getting enough attention. Dempster was a nice story last year and did a nice job but there was no way in hell he was going to repeat that (especially 4 more times)! That thing is an albatross of Chan Ho Park proportions. Yep should've just gone with Z Lilly Harden Marquis Marshall. That's a championship-caliber rotation if I've ever seen one. Probably would've won like 120 games. lol So it's okay to give out a horrible contract to a crappy as long as it's to a player who plays a position that you need. If the alternative is missing the playoffs, it is. Maybe you can recall back to 2006, when the Cubs went budget-friendly at SS (Cedeno/Izturis), 2B (Cedeno/Neifi/Hairston/Womack) LF (Murton/Pagan/Bynum), RF (Jones), the rotation (too many stiffs to count; after Z and Hill it was a total disaster) and the result was they lost 96 games or whatever it was. Then that winter the money flies, and back-to-back division championships follow. Not handing out the big money for proven production seems smart right up to the point where you're watching the playoffs on Fox instead of from the bleachers. Umm, you know it's okay to spend big money but actually do it responsibly, right? So you're still saying that it's okay to overpay and give out bad contracts, as long as you're desperate for it? If the choice was Dempster for what he's making or no Dempster for no money, the obvious choice is no Dempster. To defend a GM for signing a crappy player to an awful contract just because we may have needed starting pitching is a joke, and you know it. And the back to0 back division stuff is garbage. Yeah we won back to back divisions by doing exactly what you're advocating.... giving out bad contracts. Those are the same bad contracts that are going to start hurting us very much, and very soon. When those contracts are keeping the team from being able to afford other players we actually need, are you still going to be running around saying "yeah, but we made the playoffs in 07 and 08! So what if we're paying Soriano 18 mil a year for a .775 OPS and Dempster 13 mil for a 4.86 ERA.... those 2 division titles were priceless!

Actually, yes, that's a rotation more than good enough to win a championship. LOL then I suppose you've got no issues with the Cubs' lineup bullpen or bench either, since sketchy/mediocre is "more than good enough to win a championship". Stop deflecting. You implied that it's okay to make a bad decision/desperation move as long as you really need that position filled. That is a terrible way to build a team.

A horrible deal that isn't getting enough attention. Dempster was a nice story last year and did a nice job but there was no way in hell he was going to repeat that (especially 4 more times)! That thing is an albatross of Chan Ho Park proportions. Yep should've just gone with Z Lilly Harden Marquis Marshall. That's a championship-caliber rotation if I've ever seen one. Probably would've won like 120 games. lol So it's okay to give out a horrible contract to a crappy as long as it's to a player who plays a position that you need.

Why do you want Beltre so much? We need offense, not defense

i don't care anymore. i'd rather lose a game on a fox error than watch these same hopeless trash bags go 0-4 while the cubs lose 2-0. at this point im just asking for an entertaining game. this offense is flat out unbearable.

A horrible deal that isn't getting enough attention. Dempster was a nice story last year and did a nice job but there was no way in hell he was going to repeat that (especially 4 more times)! That thing is an albatross of Chan Ho Park proportions. but he's a great clubhouse guy. thats what hendry said. he said people don't realize how great he is in the clubhouse and they couldnt lose that i'd rather have guys that are actually good, but you can't blame hendry for thinking with his heart instead of his head! thats how you win titles

i know.... my 3 year old just asked what an expletive is and now he wont stop saying it thanks a lot nsbb

fontenot is literally worthless at 3b. he is brutal

You're delusional if you think hendry is getting fired

Arlington strikes again

I wonder what his stupid obsession will be next offseason

If you're defending trades to the media and fans, you're probably making stupid trades. yeah that too. he just sounds really bad here. kind of like when lou whined about steve phillips.

It seems like every offseason he has some stupid little obsession that he thinks is going to be the final piece to a World Series win. Pierre before 06. He pretty much admitted that before 2007 he had a crapload of money and was going to buy some big time slugger at all costs. That left us with 8/136 of Soriano. Then before 2007 it was Roberts even though we had a good 2B. Then this year it was the left handed crap.

Hendry sounds like a complete tool. Seriously, if you're defending trades to the media and the fans, then you probably need to rethink things.

What is everyone's obsession with Khalil Greene? He sucks. Except for 2007, he's always sucked, and he will continue to suck for as long as he plays baseball. We have enough sucky players on this team. We don't need any more. He's decent defensively, but do we need another guy who can't hit? Would it help if I put it in green font? I know you're kidding, but theres something about him and Bobby Crosby that everyone thinks their team can bring them back to their glory, which was 1 productive season. wrong

What is everyone's obsession with Khalil Greene? He sucks. Except for 2007, he's always sucked, and he will continue to suck for as long as he plays baseball. We have enough sucky players on this team. We don't need any more. He's decent defensively, but do we need another guy who can't hit? he's sucked the last 2 years, but to say he's always sucked isn't true at all. he has a career .800 OPS on the road. he was good when he played in sd but he gotk illed by petco. but yeah, now he just blows

maybe he cant have sex with his wife because my friend said you might hit the baby where his eyes are going to be and he said once it happened and when the baby came out instead of eyeballs all this gross stuff came out

he's not working with him to suddenly teach him to play third, he's working with him so him and lou can find out if he's too crappy to play there

also this playoff run had a lot of good moments...which is why you watch the games

zetterberg was great in the notebook