hardcorecubfan

I'll take a shot as goofy as my guess will be, almost as good as anyone elses. the big changes will be in the pitching staff. Theriot Pierre-Yes he will be back A Rod Lee Ramirz Murton Barrett jones Zambrano rotation: Schmidt/Matsusaka, Zambrano, Hill, Prior, Miller/Marshal Miller is signed cheap so they can save money for Schmidt. Marshal and Miller could be held for trade bait if Wade is looking good in ST. It will be Schmidt or or Matsusaka that will be the blockbuster FA deal.

Why do they have to get a 3B in the ARod trade. If they got a potential ace like Dontrelle Willis and some bullpen help, couldn't they sign Soriano to play third, or shift Cano to 3rd and Soriano to second? Or sign Nomar to play third? You are correct, I just was thinking of there perpencity for high profile players like Rolen. The boss never thinks small. then again what assets are expendable and worth an AROD?

As sports illustrated has so apply pointed out NY if they pursue anybody it is for a thrid basemen replacement and Scot Rolen is a great target, but how do we get into a four way or threeway with the Cardinals. We could resign ARam then trade him but that is stupid, because we need a SS not a guy that hates third like ARod. What are our assets that we are willing to give up? Can we compile a list first? Would we give up Hill, Marshall? Please never John Mabre :roll:

So did they beat Arizona?? :lol:

Leo had his moments esp. as the downward spiral continued in 69. I hope we don't have to see the tirade do to a downward spiral of the 07 Cubs.

Hawks haven't been the same since losing kieth Magnuson and Bobby Hull, don't forget Tony Espisito

Pujols or Jimmie E will hit a homer and that will be worth one win. Other than that I hat the METS with a passion Remember 69, and St. Louis is well St. Louis

great points but does this quote form NY Post change anything Like a four way? What would then offer? "If the Yankees unload Alex Rodriguez and don't get a third baseman back, expect to hear Scott Rolen's name. The relationship between Rolen and Cardinals manager Tony La Russa isn't good and it's getting worse. -- New York Post"

Ya, he sucks but like the pics shows us he will have a ring and the Cubs won't, wether he strikes out 30 times or hits walk off homers.

I do believe PETA is after Jacque for killing a couple of gophers out there in the field with those hard throws into the turf

I am also a big fan of Murton, but he provided absolutely no evidence that he can hold down center field...even in Wrigley. Bad breaks on balls...even misjudged a few. Let's not get ahead of ourselves here...Matt's barely adequate in left. I can't see him playing every day in center, at least not for long. Ditto for Jones. A Lee/Jones Murton outfield would be among the worst defensively in the league, and Jones and Murton at this point are league average offensive players. A shoddy defensive outfield like that would have to be way way way above average offensively to compensate, like a hypothetical Sheffield/Garciaparra/Lee or something like that. Which Murton did you watch? Of the three he seemed to have the greatest learning curve for Wrigley. His fielding pecentage is better than Jim Edmonds and better than Jones, with the upside of youth, speed and learning the field he could be a great one.

Awesome! Now let's start constructing the team. Lou is as good as any of them and comes with an expectation of winning. I'm back to being excited about Cubs baseball. dusty had the same thing "expectation of winning" I am still a cubs fan and until the team is wearing a ring I won't believe an slightly above 500, AL manager is right for us. Hope you are right

Indications from studies that range from the USOC to Einstein and Hawking indicate that man at his best has only used 7 percent of his total mental capability and about 14 percent of his physical ability. (it is debatable) siting Mike Powell's 29+foot jump and Carl Lewis at his peak. so we should be yelling give all 20 percent!!

Girardi should stay out one year then the Marlins owe him an additional 1.5 million, then jump back in. As far as lou's staff is concerned just find all the bums over 70 and Don Baylor and he'll call it his staff. Can someone just shoot me now, this was the worst news i could hear ...so far today

I am tired of these beautifull girls you keeping flashing us Ole Miss, I am starting to believe they are really your sisters and these are family vacation photos. If not, then you are my idle. :shock:

Wow, Piniella is hispanics?? Ithought his background was from the A-Hole linage.

Sample size alert! Maddux' hot start is in Lee's column (the first 4 I believe). Who were we playing in Lee's starts? How many of Prior's and Wood's starts was Lee privileged to attend? Perez was playing second when Walker was at first. Walker and Theriot were playing second for Lee. Is that fair? Based on this data, is Nevin a better player than Lee? Five or six wins. It doesn't really matter if the Cubs would have won 72 or 77 games with a healthy Lee. What matters is planning for next year. And penciling in more than 5 or 6 wins with a healthy Lee is a recipe for heartbreak. And there is plenty of potential for more of that anyway. All have done great research in this thread, great way to start the off season =D> But I thought VORP was where Mork came from on Mork and Mindy?

Wow, what market share would they draw in? I bet a Law and Order rerun would out do that duo

But big names go bigger budget, with signing of possible Ramirez and Pierre. Where do we cut? Joe may be a cheaper option that frees money up for other free agents.

great news for Rangers for they will win the WS. buck is great at developing teams then Torre comes in with Ynks and win Brenley with AZ comes in and wins. Maybe we should hire him tyhen fire him the following year?

theriot deserve a chance to fail like anyone else playing for the Cubs

That's one of the more insulting things to be directed at me on this site in a long time. As someone who does lead people day in and day out, I'm aware of what leadership is, and it is something that's earned. It just doesn't happen because you attempt to assert leadership-type qualities. I explictly stated that "leaders just are." How you get that leadership can simply be asserted out of that is amazing. I still don't get exactly where our miscommunication is coming from. I believe that leadership is more innate than taught. It can be improved, but never instilled in someone that doesn't have it. You can learn how to be a manager, but not a leader. That's what I mean by "leaders just are." If you put a leader in a group of people, guess what they tend to do? Lead. I haven't met a leader yet who didn't quickly insert himself/herself into that role (where the "sooner rather than later" comes in). The trust and other factors that come with leading a group of individuals at peak performance (who may be leaders themselves) does come with time. Is that what you were saying? I definitely would agree with that. Leading is definitely a process, but guys who are true leaders tend to grab the reins rather quickly. Sorry for offending you earlier, US. agree, it then becomes what you do with that leadership role with the knowledge base you have and the ability to assimilate to new situation that will keep you in a successful leadership role. I see Girardi as a man that is on that precipous.

sounds like Sandberg as well. At least with brenley we now have an idea of what he thinks of terms like OBP and OPS

the only way we could possibly use Piniella talent is as a night time Janitor

I will admit though Hank white is a guy I could cheer for, I don't think on a regular basis with that average but the last cpl of weeks he has been fun to watch. Just wish, like the rest of you Dusty would crack and scream " I'll admit it the kid Matt Murton is doing great!!" That will never happen