CubmanPi

I'm definitely planning on going to at least one of those two games. If we end up going to the same one, we'll have to meet up. Sweet! We haven't figured out how we're going to work things out that week. Getting the 2-yr-old to a night game in SF on a week night may be kinda tough, and both me and the wife skipping class the next day is still a plan in the works (she's active AF as well) (and a Cubs fan). But yea, we'll definitely have to meet up if we're both at the same game, that'd be awesome.

.... yeah, and my freaking nephew decides to haul off and commit matrimony on that Sunday. There goes the KC road trip. [sigh] Andrew? CubmanPi excellent, extend my congrats plz....maybe i'll pm himWas doing bath/books/bedtime with the toddler, just got done "watching" that "game" on dvr. Made it thru the first two innings, then watched on full fast forward only stopping to watch the run-scoring plays. It worked out much better that way. Instead of feeling like a really fat guy was sitting on my head for 3.5 hours, it just felt like a car ran me over, then backed over me and drove off. Obviously, the point to that whole story is, Thanks! We'll be in SF on my birthday to watch the Phillies-Giants play on Saturday 6 Aug (I figure there's about a 90% chance of seeing a sweet pitching matchup that day) and I should be able to make it to at least 2 of the 3 Cubs games at the end of the month in SF. I'll be back east next season, hopefully we can wind up in the same state and catch a game sometime.

thats how alcoholics are born http://www.garage208.com/forum/images/smilies/thats_the_joke.jpg

I'm pretty sure Selig just said the league has voted to contract the Cubs if they lose tonight.

They should definitely go after him, especially if Pujols is taken, but I think 8 years is risk enough, and anything more is putting the contract in Soriano territory in terms of likelihood that he'll be performing with any value in the twilight of his contract. The superior production in the years before getting to that point makes that an acceptable downside to any deal, but 6 or 7 years would definitely be much more preferable. To un-jack the thread, Ryan Braun is a megadouche, amirite?

I think his fitness level makes it a fair concern. Once he's over the hill and declining, he could go from great to worthless in a much shorter time frame than most other elite sluggers would. At the end of the '96 season, Cecil Fielder turned 33. He played in 160 games that year, hit 39 HR, and OPS'd .834. By the time he was 35, he was done with baseball. (Granted, I don't know anything about any injuries.) I'm not saying that Prince is condemned to the same progression at the same age, but I think he'll see a similar rate of decline whenever that decline starts. 2-3 more great years for Prince is almost a guarantee. Another 2 to 3 is definitely very possible, but not necessarily a given, and anything past that is anyone's guess. Signing someone like Fielder to a 6-year-deal is nowhere near being in the same ballpark as Soriano's contract unless he just completely breaks down very early into his career. Hell, even an 8-year-contract wouldn't be the end of the world given the projected level of production and that he'd still be 36 at the end of it, though I really don't think he's going to get that many years. 6 years is probably what he'll end up with at the most, largely due to his weight, and the Cubs would be foolish to not go all in since they opted not to sign Dunn and if Pujols isn't available. Opting not to sign him to such a deal because he's fat and might suck for the last year when they have zilch on the horizon when it comes to someone manning 1B would be just yet another example of poor front office management by the Cubs. Come on, him playing excellent baseball between ages 28-30 is only "very possible?" I said 28-30 was a guarantee. From there, the probability starts to decline from 100%, making the next few years after that still "very possible." I would be on board with a 6-yr deal. In an 8-yr deal, those last two years could very well serve only as gifts to Fielder for the level of production he'd give for the first 4 to 6.

I think his fitness level makes it a fair concern. Once he's over the hill and declining, he could go from great to worthless in a much shorter time frame than most other elite sluggers would. At the end of the '96 season, Cecil Fielder turned 33. He played in 160 games that year, hit 39 HR, and OPS'd .834. By the time he was 35, he was done with baseball. (Granted, I don't know anything about any injuries.) I'm not saying that Prince is condemned to the same progression at the same age, but I think he'll see a similar rate of decline whenever that decline starts. 2-3 more great years for Prince is almost a guarantee. Another 2 to 3 is definitely very possible, but not necessarily a given, and anything past that is anyone's guess.

You throw this in here as a side note, like it shouldn't carry much weight. This is a GREAT reason to hate Ryan Braun. Not only is he an extremely productive Brewer who is infuriatingly good at baseball, but in the spirit of TT's post, I present the following arguments as well (spoilered just in case, for purposes of image sizes):

Good. Nothing should mitigate the Ryan Braun hate around here.

They didn't fight each other. They should have.

I don't know what Pena's splits are career-wise against left-handed pitching, but based on how he looked the last two nights, I can't imagine that the offense would have been any worse off with Colvin at first and Kosuke in the outfield. (That also assumes no Reed Johnson.) He had some pretty awful ABs last night, and tonight didn't look much better. If Matt Garza ever faces Fielder again, I'd be okay with him rolling it across the other batters' box.

He was a good pitcher, but not a $16 m per year pitcher. He has a career 3.93 ERA. It was just a really confusing signing. Theo is supposed to be a "moneyball prodigy" that finds things that are undervalued and takes advantage. I know Theo's team has always had deep pockets so he's always been a hybrid. But the Lackey signing didn't make sense from day one and leaned completely the other way. He's a decent pitcher, but nothing about his career numbers screams "will ever be worth 16 million a year". Especially confusing is because that offseason they basically admitted to their fans it was going to be a down year when they let Bay go. It almost seems like they signed him so the fans wouldnt completely freaked out, not because he was some pitcher they absolutely HAD to have for whatever reason. Didn't he have some pretty good success in the post-season with the Angels? An above-average player who makes a great showing in the post-season, especially in a contract year before signing with one of the huge market teams, seems to be able to pad their new contract by as much as 5 or 6 mil/yr. I don't know numbers offhand, but I feel like Carlos Beltran falls into this category too.

Boston finally gets into the W category. 9-6 final.

Bartolo Colon providing shutdown relief. 4IP, 1 ER.

Last year his numbers didn't look as good (not awful either), but his IP went back up to 215. The two years before that, his numbers still look good but his IP dropped. I don't think he's making enough money to put his contract in Soriano/Zito territory, but if he doesn't fix his season soon, he could get there. Also, 2 on 1 out for Jeter, Tex on deck, and he GIDP to end the inning. ETA - math fail. 16 mil/yr is pretty awful.

LOL Red Sox. Theo is a great GM, but the John Lackey experience is almost as bad of a contract as Soriano or Zito, albeit fewer years. That guy sucks balls. What are the terms? I didn't realize his contract was that level of awful.

Error on a would-be DP ball by Teixeira (sp) keeps the inning alive, Salty hits RBI double. 7-6 Sox. Also, the 6ER in 5IP for Lackey has lowered his ERA. Now 15.58.

An A-bomb from A-Rod! (That's stuck in your head now.) Yanks tied it up at 6, top 5th.

Only other game going so far, Victor Martinez just hit a 3-r double in the bottom 1st, Tigers lead 3-0.

Mainly Red Sox Fail Watch right now. Phil Hughes got pulled after 2 innings and 6 ER, and the Yankees are resorting to Bartolo Colon in the third inning. 6-4 bot 3. Things could get out of hand in a hurry.

Per Ken Tremendous on Twitter: Red Sox must play .608 baseball for the entire rest of the year to win 95 games. It is April 7th. Thank you for pointing me to my new favorite account to follow.

one of the better-timed uses I've seen in a while. i lol'd.

ftfm

Yes it is. I think there's a correlation between WGN games and the days that EI only carries one HD broadcast. At least, that's the conclusion I'm working off of based on 5 days' free preview. And thanks N&G and others for the Hendry quotes on Cashner.

Really? It was a guy missing a diving catch and then someone else bobbling the ball. Well why don't you nominate it for play of the year if you're so proud of it. It was brutal defensive play. I'm sorry you disagree. :roll: i'm just glad that i was looking at the pistol i was cleaning instead of the tv when that play was going on Guns and Cubs games don't mix. You're playing with fire.