Wheelimus

That's being a bit harsh. Theriot is only 27 years old. He put up a .412 OBP last year. Yes, sample size is a big concern. But even if that average comes down, like we know it will, the adjustment in OBP will still leave it respectable. Looking at his minor league numbers, .290/.350 is not out of the question. Not setting the world on fire, but useful in our lineup. Hairston only got close to that twice during two shortened seasons. I see no reason to assume that one equals the other. I think Theriot has much greater potential.

Riot could be a good platoon partner for Jacque too. :D

Holy crap, he did? Okaaay, yeah, lets keep Jacque then and find a platoon partner.

Woo hoo, love to hear that Theriot will be tried out in center. If Pie is better of in AAA, The Riot could be a great stopgap. And our #2 hitter. :D

Nevermind that while he would probably have been a good NFL player, he has the possibility of being a great baseball player. Fortune is nice, but most athletes are driven by fame.

Sandberg's getting a fastball down the middle here I see. :lol:

Of course, his Wiki article calls him "Jeffrey "Shark" Alan Samardzija"... Shark? Easier to say than his real name. :D

I vote for "Smardz" as well. Somebody sober Bruce up! :lol:

No, it means lets no pass up an incredible ballplayer and production in the lineup that we can ill afford to lose. Pass it up just becuase the guy probably had train-tracks on his rump at one time. Who cares, a 1000 OPS with a .400+ OBP still counts no matter if the biggest jerk on earth is swinging the bat. Bonds in our lineup would equal murderers row on the NL. Add him to our current mix and you may have just written your check for the postseason. I don't care if he has to put a paper bag over his head when he bats for the shame. I want that OBP. Not going to happen, I know, but it's because of idealistic nonsense, not a good enough reason to keep us away.

Damn, he'd look good in a Cardinals uniform, wouldn't he ??? Based on the Cardinals history of acquiring a player and watching him, all of a sudden, reach levels he had never previously reached in his career up to that point, I will have to respectfully disagree with you. See, though, that's the brilliance in wanting him there. Anyone who goes to the Cards is going to magically resurrect his career. That's why we need them to get the crappiest ballplayers possible, so that the improvement is tolerable to our pitchers. :lol: Think about it like this. Even if Neifi went through "Cardinal Magic", we're still just talking .290/.310/.350 here. Neifi for Cards SS :D

You know, wanting to be the good guys and do the right thing is nice, but it's been a hundred years almost. People have literally lived and died waiting for a World Series win. At this point, I don't care if we had to dig up Cap Anson's bones and clone him to win a world title. I'd honor his every achievement with a one fingered salute and proudly say "a win is a win". If he is on the market next month at a bargain rate, and we don't take him, it's another failure by Hendry. Win now Jimbo. Remember that.

DOH! 2007, of course. Stupid new year...

To be honest though, I'd rather find out a prospect is hitting the ganja than find out they're on amphetamines, cocaine, or drinking heavily. Obviously he's a troubled kid, but not irredeemable. If something like this makes a team uptight and they want to dump him, it's going to be someones treasure. Production is production.

Plus we have never seen Pie CONTINUE at a level, really. That's what you have to see with young players. They're going to struggle, but when and if they really get it, they can be special. He seems to have eventually "gotten it" at every level he's been at. While his season numbers may not reflect it exactly, I think Pie could finish up as an .800+ OPS player, and keep that up going forward to the next season. He's found success at every level. Having said that, it would not hurt him as a player one bit to have to prove that he can continue his late season success forward. Let him eat AAA alive...IF there is a comparable option, production wise, to play above him next year. Ideally, someone who is actually GOOD, and could be a 4th outfielder the next season, getting a number of at bats all across the outfield. Jacque Jones may be disgruntled but, man, you signed the contract. Deal with it. Center fielder for part of '06, until Pie is ready, and then 4th outfielder. An expensive one, but also potentially a tradeable chip at that point. Injuries do happen. And you can never have too much insurance yourself. :D

I LOVE that comment about them, gasp, competing for the middle infield spots. Cesar, you better bring it. Because Da Riot is coming... :lol:

Still, if Mike Gonzalez = Adam LaRoche, a .950 OPS guy against righties, what is the market for Jones + Eyre now? Impact bat in center please.

Now that was funny. And, obviously, he's in the wrong if he was driving while intoxicated. I just have trouble caring that a guy was playing his music too loud and got caught with a dime bag. That's the story of a lot of people who wind up becoming productive members of society. Nevermind anyone in baseball who makes a big deal out of it is a hyprocite with the steroid 90's. If he could put up a .293/.401/.480 line for the Cubs like he did at AAA last year, frankly, he could go straight to the locker room afterwards, light a blunt, and play music so loud it disturbs the White Sox night game for all I care. :lol:

I'd think that, right now, we're the favorites. Come the end of spring training, we might either be the clear favorites or be crying. It's all going to come down to Uncle Lou and whether he's willing to do the things needed to win, or not. If he makes the moves that best benefit the team, some of our weaknesses will not be so glaring. If he doesn't and gives the veterans too much of a benefit of the doubt, we're screwed. Case in point, Cesar Izturis. If he can keep shortstop from being an absolute black hole, we'll be making a big stride at that position from last year. .280/.330, his 2004 line, is at least tolerable. But if we're talking .250/.290 instead, will Lou have the guts to bench the expensive arthritic piece of crap? Because Ryan Theriot will blow that line out of the water. Or perhaps even Ronny Cedeno with some seasoning in AAA. Another good example is Jason Marquis. If he regains 2004 form, we're golden. If it's 6 plus ERA land, we're hosed. Will Lou have the guts to toss him back to longman if he stinks? If so, we should be fine, the rapidly improving Angel Guzman, or Wade Miller, etc., could give us adequate production from the 5th starter spot. Center field is going to hurt. I'm of the mind that if they're hell bent of ditching Jacque Jones, just play Pie. Steve Finley or Darin Erstad aren't going to give you anything better than Pie would. So, you know, we have a lot of question marks. But I don't think EVERYTHING has to break our way to be the favorites in the division. Simply some things have to break our way. So, odds are 50/50 at best. :x

What a joke, less than an 8th of pot? Who cares. If this drops his stock enough to be a trash heap pickup, you better be on it Cubbies...

I do have to say, though, some people just need to let crap go. Yes, Sammy walked out on the team at the end of the '04 season. During a meaningless game and when everyone and their mother was feeling like crap, but yes, he walked out on us. Other than that, he made us live through the cork incident, and the "i sneezed and hurt myself" incident. Otherwise, all he ever did was give us many, many years of enjoyment. For a lot of those being the only reason to watch The Cubs. Sure, you can be skeptical about his success coming back, I sure am, but I get the feeling a small portion of folks are actually rooting against him. That's just low to me. I wish him the best and hope he surprises me, and all of us.

You know, and I say this 100% seriously, if right now we're being expected to swallow Murton in left (no prob), Soriano in right (no prob), and an Erstad/Finley type in center (BIG BLEEPING PROBLEM), we'd be better off with Murton in left, Soriano in center, and Sammy in right. That's sad...

I think that most casual fans seem to give Sosa more of a pass than Bonds or McGwire, and it's probably because Sammy never owned history, to to speak. He never had the single season record, or the all time record, and those are the things that make people sick in regards to steroids. Plus, Sammy was never caught red handed nor did he ever have a PR debacle like McGwire had in front of Congress. Do I think Sammy cheated? Probably. Does it matter much in regards to the history of the game? Probably not. And that's why he'll get a pass. In fact, returning now, IF he has anything left in the tank, would be brilliance. #1, it delays his Hall Of Fame window until long after McGwire has been on the ballot, so Mark will probably either be creeping toward induction or kicked off the ballot. #2, if he can come back and be at least a bit of his former self, that might give enough people reason to vote for him since, like I said, you can't prove it.

No thanks, I'd rather have Floyd, strangely enough. Of course, it's kind of like picking a broke down Cavalier over a broke down Chevette. Either way it's a bad decision. :lol:

Eww, I think I just threw up a little bit in my mouth. Jacque Jones should be our center fielder. Now, Bernie Williams might be an acceptable platoon partner there, but other than that, no thanks. Steve Finley? Darin Erstad? Give me Pie over either, thanks, if Jacque is really out of the question. Hopefully Rosenthal is just talking out of his ass here.

Yup, Rotoworld has it up. http://www.rotoworld.com/content/playerpages/player_main.aspx?sport=MLB&id=2793