Magnetic Curses

this probably good news for those of us who want giles over furcal. seriously, furcal is an upgrade to neifi, but not enough of an upgrade to warrant spending so much more. i still say bring back nomar, sign giles and lofton (lofton to a 1 year deal), and try to grab burnett. if we can trade for abreu, i say do it, i just don't think hendry will, is all.

what's more is that george is still an avid fan of illini athletics and no doubt has watched most of the games that turner coached over the past 10 years. i don't know if he's close to turner, but it would be illogical to assume that he's not familiar with turner's approach. if he is chummy with turner, it's strange that he wouldn't have been contacted by now. i'd replace one former illini QB with another one on the active roster. btw, this is off-topic, but i actually think that tim brasic could possibly be the best illini QB since george. unfortunately, he has absolutely nothing around him.

6 years ago though. George isn't the same, and I don't think Orton or Grossman are of the same caliber as Culpepper. i think that george has as good an arm today as he's ever had. that's pure spec on my part, but that's what he says. even if his arm has deteriorated, there are few QB's in the game that can match his release speed or arm strength. the guy is simply a freak of nature. This isn't baseball. You can't just sign a guy midseason and expect him to do fine. The system matters, and George would have to know it. There was no reasonable expectation for 9 wins this year, with Grossman. If Orton can't win the next two, then I think about a change, but not right now. There's no upside to that move. again, i'll have to bring up 99, when he stepped in for cunningham around the same point. he appears to have a superior ability to pick up offenses. i don't think that he'd have a problem learning turner's traditional system.

6 years ago though. George isn't the same, and I don't think Orton or Grossman are of the same caliber as Culpepper. i think that george has as good an arm today as he's ever had. that's pure spec on my part, but that's what he says. even if his arm has deteriorated, there are few QB's in the game that can match his release speed or arm strength. the guy is simply a freak of nature.

If Orton keeps struggling I'd have no problem with Grossman starting as soon as he can. That would be great for next summer's competition. I think your description of Orton's game is not very accurate, and mostly a sympton of his status as a rookie thrown in at the last minute to be the starter. I would have less confident in Jeff Blake right now. I've seen Orton make 20-25 yard throws that last year's QBs could never make. He's got a strong enough arm to get the job done. jeff george is looking better and better to me right now. all we need is a qb who can read a pro-defense, make changes and maintain poise in the pocket. oh yeah, he must have enough confidence from the coaching staff to have license to heave it downfield every once in a while. i seem to remember that the last rookie qb who sat behind george for most of a season turned out to be a pretty good signal caller.

Sitting Orton will not solve anything. That was his fourth NFL game. It is not fair to expect a lot from him. he's a statue with a weak arm. how much of our offense is predicated on establishing the rush and how much is on the fact that orton has a slow delivery, stumbling feet, and a weak upper-body? we need someone who knows how to handle an NFL offense. i'm really not too friendly with the idea of wait until next year, i want to see my team win NEXT WEEK, GDI. if grossman can come back by week 10, i say play him right away.

Knowing the best approach to hitting and actually being able to use that approach as a player are two completely different things. Look at Billy Beane's career numbers as a player. Not exactly impressive. which is one of the points addressed in moneyball. some people look like players and some just are. case in point, corey patterson= not a ballplayer. brad wilkerson= ballplayer.

1. Fredi Gonzalez 2. Davey Johnson 3. Larry Dierker 4. Ned Yost (I may even move Yost up a slot or two, but I'm not sure if he could get away from Milawukee) i met yost last month in the milwaukee airport, we were both waiting for separate flights in the same area of the terminal. i offered him the job, but he says that he thinks that the cubs already have a manager. i scratched my head for a second, and said "good luck, coach.....no wait.....skip!" he smiled and said "no, you can call me coach." he was reading a boating magazine and i don't think anyone else recognized him except at the security checkpoint, some bunghole was giving him crap for getting swept by the cards.

gutless. all we hear is "if we can get the ground game established, we'll win". well, they got the ground game established, where's the win, guys? nice job. this is modern football, if you can't take a shot down the field, you won't win. the bears play shoop-ball. no guts on offense, nothing more than week out-patterns for 2-3 yards per catch max. orton looks like he'll enjoy being compared to shane matthews. time to start blake and hope to salvage the season.

i like how he asks people to look at it 'objectively', then picks and chooses the stats that make him look the best. also, his reluctance to even mention OBP is frightening. i don't understand this. does he think that the pope of baseball is going to launch some inquisition on the organization for suspected use of USEFUL statistical analysis? not all fans are stupid enough to believe that he's actually doing something beneficial for the org. by using idiotic stats. maybe someone should tell him that.

:scratch:

If the Bears make the playoffs with Orton under center, it better be his job to lose to Grossman in training camp. I am tired of all this Grossman talk and if Orton can lead us to the playoffs, there is no reason why he shouldn't start again next year. If he stays healthy and looks decent, it'll be really interesting to see that competition next summer. i still think that grossman will win the job.

And I'd like to add, that if Angelo listened to all the experts and signed Warner or Fiedler, they'd be no better off. George doesn't guarantee a thing. Stick with Orton. The goal is the super bowl, not to sneek into the playoffs. If Orton gets them there great, but I'd rather learn what they have at the position, and be in a position for a real competition in 2006 than hope George gets them 8 wins and then start all over again next year. windows are brief in football. that's all i'll say.

i'd just like to say that if we signed jeff george now, we could be in the playoffs without any problem. please angelo, at least consider it.

Isn't that how the White Sox and Astros got to the post-season? Timely hitting? How does somebody go out and acquire timely hitting in the offseason? Houston and White Sox didn't make it to the playoffs off timely hitting, they made it on unbelievable pitching. They better not waste time, focus and money thinking they can magically solve the clutch dilemna. Just get production Jimbo, let the romanticists worry about the myths you have no control over. Timely hitting is aquired when you buy each player a Rolex, it's just that simple. If you hear Hendry say after a trade or signing: "He hit XXX with runners in scoring position" is your head going to explode? I just have this wierd feeling that it's coming soon to a park you love. probably. ugh, hendry might as well say that we need more dragons and elves on the roster.

He didn't "imply Wood is hurt a lot". He said he gets hurt every year, comparing him to Angel Guzman. I fully admit Wood has been hurt a lot. But he hasn't been hurt every year, and he cannot be compared to Guzman. Angel is 23 now and we don't know anything more about him and his future now than we did when he was 19. Wood is an established major league starter. Sure he's been hurt a lot. But he still blows away Guzman in the reliability department. The talk of Wood to the pen has been dead for a month now. He's going to start next year. Guzman, who has less than 150 IP, combined, the past three years is nearing cut bait time. We know Wood can give you 30+ starts and 200+ IP with fantastic numbers, while on the other hand we don't even know if Guzman can throw 100 innings in back to back starts. my actual intention was to imply that perhaps wood (like guzman) does not have the mechanics or body to remain a healthy 200 inning/year starter in the major leauges. i wouldn't call any of wood's seasons "fantastic" btw. he has never won more than 14 games or had an era under 3.20. so? he's never had a 4+ era in a season in which he threw at least 140 innings, either. his career OPS against is .673, his career BAA is .214, k's per 9 innings? 10.44. and for you "win" guys, in his first 5 years in the league, he won at least 12 games 4 times. kerry wood is a starter, what's more, he's a very good starter. i agree he is a good starter (very good when he's healthy which isnt often) but i would never use the term "fantastic" when describing wood's career to this point. he's put up pretty fantastic numbers, though.

He didn't "imply Wood is hurt a lot". He said he gets hurt every year, comparing him to Angel Guzman. I fully admit Wood has been hurt a lot. But he hasn't been hurt every year, and he cannot be compared to Guzman. Angel is 23 now and we don't know anything more about him and his future now than we did when he was 19. Wood is an established major league starter. Sure he's been hurt a lot. But he still blows away Guzman in the reliability department. The talk of Wood to the pen has been dead for a month now. He's going to start next year. Guzman, who has less than 150 IP, combined, the past three years is nearing cut bait time. We know Wood can give you 30+ starts and 200+ IP with fantastic numbers, while on the other hand we don't even know if Guzman can throw 100 innings in back to back starts. my actual intention was to imply that perhaps wood (like guzman) does not have the mechanics or body to remain a healthy 200 inning/year starter in the major leauges. i wouldn't call any of wood's seasons "fantastic" btw. he has never won more than 14 games or had an era under 3.20. so? he's never had a 4+ era in a season in which he threw at least 140 innings, either. his career OPS against is .673, his career BAA is .214, k's per 9 innings? 10.44. and for you "win" guys, in his first 5 years in the league, he won at least 12 games 4 times. kerry wood is a starter, what's more, he's a very good starter.

bruce, can we assume if the cubs are looking at a veteran righty righty for the pen that they are not very high on jvb? i would think that another solid lefty like villone or sauerbeck would be higher on the list than another righty. is this also a clue that wood will not be back in the pen in 06? I think the bigger clue that Wood won't be back in the pen is everybody involved in the situation saying that Wood won't be back in the pen, that he's a starter and they will try to get him healed in time to once again start for the Cubs next April. right? no one has made any statements indicating wood will be in the pen in 2006. wood is a starter, period.

the sox are a fluke. the indians will run that division for the next 10 years. guillen will be looking up at the indians for the next 2 years of his life, only to get fired after his lineup, unable to score or hit over .230, fails to win 70 games for a second straight season.

What is your take on the rumors surrounding Hendry/Baker extending their contracts. So far, I would say thru the media it appears that Hendry will get offered a two year deal next Spring and Baker as well. The only difference is that Baker might not accept unlike Hendry. Stating a good start is needed, runs perpendicular to recent hints that Baker would be offered before the season. If you were to put odds on the situation, what are the odds of Baker being offered 2 more years before the season? Those weren't "rumors" about the contract extensions. Those were strong indications given to media members close to the team _ given to us by various members of the Cubs family. There are several "extension" scenarios regarding Baker: He could be offered a one-year extension. He could be offered a two-year extension. He could be offered a "lowball" extension. And as I've said, there is no guarantee he'll accept. I don't think he particularly likes Chicago all that much. A good start will be important regardless, especially since I have a feeling Baker will make the whole extension thing moot by not accepting it. Nice use of the word "perpendicular," though. i've always thought that dusty has had a certain level of narcissism regarding chicago and midwestern folks in general. i never thought that he wanted to be here, that he would have stayed on the west coast had seattle extended an offer to him. i don't know, maybe i have an inferiority complex or something, but i just get the idea that dusty thinks he's better than the cubs and cubs fans in general. i think if dusty could get away with it, he'd say lee elia-like things everyday that he's in this perceived purgatory.

What does Vizcaino's sexual preferences have to do with pinch hitting? :-s i honestly don't know how that bi got in there, i don't remember it. cosmic. forget the g in big? Or maybe the r in rbi? you guys just blew my mind. but seriously, i think it was the g in big.

why?

What does Vizcaino's sexual preferences have to do with pinch hitting? :-s i honestly don't know how that bi got in there, i don't remember it. cosmic.

overspending for an overrated furcal is not a great idea. as the most outspoken critic of the possible beltran deal last season, i'm declaring furcal the most overrated FA of this offseason. we don't need speed, we need OBP, furcal's is tied to his AVG, meaning, if he doesn't hit well, he's not getting on base. bring back nomar for cheap, at least his BA-contingent-OBP has been over .400 before. giles is a must have, he's the one we overspend on. he's the consistent run-producer, OBP-bat we've been looking for. drop lofton in CF for a year and forget about corey, without even considering not starting murton in LF at least 140 times next season.

is having at least one outfielder with a +.400 OBP really that awful of an idea?