treebird

pathetic. why not just see if zambrano is worth anything this year with a new staff in place that doesn't yank him around like crazy and criticize him in public all the time? that's got to be worth something. volstad is worth nothing. we're saving no money, if zambrano gets mad and does something bad in may just cut his ass and be at the same place you are now.

if you search "carlos zambrano" on twitter right now, you get a great combination of people making jokes about zambrano and guillen fighting and cubs fan exclaiming with delight about the prospect of zambrano going away. i guess having lousy fans is better than the alternative (no fans, which is what the marlins appear to have, judging by the results).

we don't need to eat money to do that. get something of value back or this is lame.

i realllllly hope we're getting some legit back if this happens. rooting for a big comeback season for z in an effort to make dave kaplan commit suicide on air is one of like three things worth watching on this team as it currently stands. i don't care about saving money in 2012 at all, prospects or bust.

i bet you'd get laid a lot if you had a buddy who could kick two girls in the face at the same time imb should have roast as a wingman. His vertigo would no longer be an obstacle. hello im in an 18-month relationship, i no longer have any sex except with myself So Roast has taught you a thing or two. TheCelibateCub

Very much so. I'm well aware that I'm not amongst the NSBB "popular crowd", but I'm nit here to make friends. I'm hear to share my opinions and speculations as well as read and respond to those of others on Cubs baseball, baseball in general, and occasionally other topics. I lot of people are subject to random, often uncalled for attacks, but they keep coming back all the same, because this is a very good place for said discussions. If mul21, whom I'm not even particularly familiar with as a poster but seems to have taken quite a notice of me lately or some other guy I don't know want's to take a jab at me, maybe I see it as unnecessary, but it's hardly going to ruin my day.

how involved will theo be in renovation of wrigley? what renovations are coming? theo will be focused on baseball. he enjoyed watching fenway get its facelift and see how much they improved it, excited to see same happen here. wrigley needs help. it'll help generate revenue we can put back into team, help fans have more fun, and help city by making it even more of a tourist attraction. says CRANE is doing a great job on this. he says he has been looking into the day baseball issue. says most important thing is to take ownership of it. we should be more prepared than opponents to play during the day, make it a competitive advantage. some stupid question about what it's like to have a twin what sold you on sveum? theo says fans will like him a lot. very authentic and genuine. important, because you can't fake it with players. dale is both a player's manager and a disciplinarian. no excuses, well-prepared players, but also down-to-earth and supportive of players. players will like and admire him. first thing said to wife in car after guy recognized him at starbucks: "that didn't go so well" compensation issue: still on table. we'll get it resolved, both clubs approaching in good faith. cubs and red sox are still allies. friends with people over there. did conference call for travis wood deal from old office in fenway park. the end

theo loves kerry wood. great on and off field. always admired him. can help build winning culture. would be greatly disappointed if they can't bring him back. "thinks this one should work out." "if we can't work this one out, we're doing something wrong." marmol is the closer. stuff wasn't there all the time last year. carlos has been working really hard all winter, is in great shape. going to get him to trust his fastball more. can't ever just watch baseball as a fan JESUS CHRIST THIS QUESTION IS BORING he is still talking about it but whatever who cares says he values the short term, not going to lose more than we have to. try to win world series every year, including 2012. however, when long-term vs short-term conflicts, err on side of long-term. nothing will get in the way of us building a core that will win year-in and year-out. signing fa's for big money or older players will only happen if it makes sense in the big picture. would make more sense if we had that core established already. media in chicago has been great, "kap included." theo officially a liar. "is moneyball accurate? what actor should play you?" GREAT QUESTION. ugh. he says he's read the book, hasn't seen a movie. didn't think it was that accurate. great story foremost. he is focused on cubs winning, leaves movies to others. son roots for cubs overall, but red sox are his AL team. STOP TAKING FAN QUESTIONS. kaplan asks if he's thought about what it would be like for cubs fans to win a world series. theo says it would make people really happy blah blah blah. part of what makes cubs job appealing is how much it would mean to win. great now a question about eddie vedder. first baseman right now is bryan lahair. "pretty excited" to give him the opportunity to play. hitters hit wherever they are. he's 28 but can have a great major league career. doesn't believe in 4a players. thinks it just means that a guy did well in aaa but didn't get real shot in majors. 4a guys are just guys who need a real shot. aaa is easier than mlb, but mlb has advantages too (advanced scouting, travel, whatever). lahair has hit everywhere he has been, that shouldn't change. commercial, back in a bit

kaplan asks about changing the culture because the culture in the locker room was bad. he even says "how can carlos zambrano be part of a culture change?" god proves that he doesn't exist by not striking kaplan with an aneurysm on the spot. theo says everyone has to be nice and get along and police themselves and boring things like that. every team has adversity, you can't feel sorry for yourself or get selfish. can't win with that type of culture. need to restore culture, pride in being a cub. treat players well, respect them, expect a lot of them. sveum will hold players to high standard. must communicate with players well. "carlos zambrano from 2011 and years previous can't fit into the culture here." says either carlos will change or will be gone. he says lots of people are skeptical and that he himself is skeptical, but carlos will get a chance. thinking behind marshall move: sean is great is you hate to get rid of him. big picture move, one year left on deal. wouldn't get comp pick for him after this season. love to have him for this one year, but 5 seasons of wood and 12 seasons of prospects is worth more than marshall. (this will be a pretty good trade if the cubs get 17 seasons out of these guys) he likes the challenge of working for the cubs. starts talking about that 10 year stuff again. zzzzz talks about understanding sunk costs is good, but being creative and getting value out of a seeming sunk cost is even better, whether that means a trade or letting a guy go or getting to know a player better and working on their flaws. no one answer to these questions. commercial, back in a bit

theo likes chicago, it is just like boston in that everyone likes the team a lot the other day was his birthday he was surprised at how much people cared when he joined the cubs he wants to win "there are no shortcuts in this game." it sucks to have a crappy season. "we would never tank a season" . . . "but you have to be realistic." talks about not wanting to just pop up one season and get lucky but instead build a great team and make the playoffs six out of eight years and win the world series. not just one or two moves away. ricketts committed to winning and doing things the right way, understands big picture. "knows you can't just throw money at problems," have to do things the right way. "maybe yes maybe no" on whether we should expect more moves like marshall for prospects in the coming weeks wants to convert short-term assets to long-term assets, whether by trading people or signing them to extensions new cba limits flexibility, pretty much can't allocate more resources to draft. have to just draft better than other teams now. commercial, back in a bit

it's about to start if this is boring i'm going to pm you a virus davell

i bet you'd get laid a lot if you had a buddy who could kick two girls in the face at the same time

I love that that video linked me to this one: http://youtu.be/2_b9TCojRis that video should be titled "pitcher throws most hittable pitch of all-time." jesus that was a meatball. he missed his target by like three feet. and two clicks later, i found this gem:

I love that that video linked me to this one: http://youtu.be/2_b9TCojRis that video should be titled "pitcher throws most hittable pitch of all-time." jesus that was a meatball. he missed his target by like three feet.

if he wants to play on the west coast, win, or get paid, the cubs seem like a bad fit

Because they will be asked to coach a different way. Rather, told. new boss: "JOHNSON, YOU'VE BEEN A HORRIBLE ACCOUNTANT FOR YEARS, IT'S KILLING OUR BUSINESS. AS YOUR NEW BOSS, I DEMAND THAT YOU START DOING A GOOD JOB INSTEAD OF A BAD JOB" johnson: becomes competent employee

week 17 is the only week of the season the bears aren't on tv in central iowa. can't say i'm super upset

DAY ONE 5:00pm: meet the people who disassembled the cubs in the offseason (literally. roast tore down the machine that shoots tennis ball popups to fans before games and he has a LOT to say about it). 5:45pm: autographs from the cubs who have a chance in hell of ops'ing .800 in 2012 5:49pm: starlin is tired of signing autographs alone so he just uses a stamp or something and everyone gets mad and yells a lot DAY TWO 9:00am: dale sveum explains how to pronounce his last name until the sort of person who attends the cubs convention can understand 7:30pm: crane kenney explains the ways in which "200 million dollar baseball budget" really means "like 107 million and maybe a mcdonalds or something" 8:00pm: ultrasound images taken in 2011 of the players who will be on the next cubs team over .500 DAY THREE 9:00am: eddie vedder debuts new cub-related songs 12:15pm: wary crowd is convinced to re-enter hotel 12:30pm: unknown speaker Bums everyone out by devoting entire speech to 49ers football and purdue basketball before stepping down and drinking various audience members' milkshakes 1:00pm: jed reminds everyone he is a lot smarter than us and why don't we just shut up until he puts his team on the field 2:00pm: theo attempts to give similar speech before leaving early due to numerous audience members complaining of strange luminescence emanating from some sort of ellipse surrounding his head 2:15pm: derrick rose enters building to numerous "MOST VALUABLE SPEAKER" chants, delivers moderately impressive speech, hopes no one notices that he hit on like 40% of his major points when it counted 3:00: ricketts delivers impassioned speech reminding us we are weak. he can do whatever the hell he wants -- when this team is even slightly interesting again, we'll be back, HARD. maybe he goes cheap a year, but most of us are too dumb to leave. the smart ones among us will "hold out" by going to three games in 2012 and watching 130 on television. few among us are strong enough to actually bolt, and those who linger will be rewarded when it's made clear that smart people have a plan. happy 2012, friends.

everyone on purdue looks like the albino version of someone from the american pie movie

pretty confident that i'm switching to football and not coming back once that second half starts. everyone who has ever played for purdue is an unlikable dick. luckily i'm pretty sure robbie hummel has osteoporosis and will fall in a hole and die after the game. hopefully the blind referee goes with him.

for those enjoying the rollicking good time that is illinois losing to purdue, you just missed an incredible fake fg against ucla

Uh, he's one of the most efficient scores in the nation. You're not a checker if you hit them. hey guys maybe we should have a conversation about the meaning of chucker and we can do meatball vs meathead after

i went all matthew berry on this s and took vick at three. major yikes, but it would have been charles otherwise. just not my year. having stafford as my backup coupled with welker's early heroics got me the two seed anyway and a close loss in the first round of the playoffs to the eventual champion.

Doubtful. The name of the game is landing young players, not a 32 1st baseman with a career .267/.337/.478/.815 line. in fairness if he put up that line next year he'd very possibly be the best offensive player on the team

some notre dame man just threw the worst interception ever