vance_the_cubs_fan

When I see Colvin, I think of Francoeur. While I know there are some differences, both are players who have power, but do not walk and have trouble making contact. Both also had smoking hot starts, and I think Colvin, like Francoeur will eventually become a victim of his lack of plate discipline and inability to make consistent contact. Francoeur also had better minor league numbers than Colvin, so while Francouer still provides some value albeit limited, Colvin's crash could be much more severe.

I'm wondering if Rothschild might wish to be considered for the manager's job. He managed in Tampa and obviously the success wasn't there. Also, pitching coaches seem to have a bad track record when becoming manager, but I wonder if he has interest in doing it or would rather just remain a pitching coach the remainder of his career.

I don't know that I would trade Marmol, but I would certainly listen to offers. If someone wants to overpay for a "proven closer", I'd let him go for sure though.

I hope they do the backwards hiring insomuch as they keep Rothschild and Jaramillo around. Both are respected enough around the league that I don't it would irritate a new manager and GM and both are a couple of the best coaches in the game. Otherwise I agree completely with you. Whether Rothschild and Jaramillo are kept may depend on the new manager. If it's a manager with a lengthy track record, he'll probably be allowed to bring in his own coaches that he's familiar with. If they go the route of hiring Sandberg or Trammell or someone along those lines, I think there's a greater chance we see Larry and Rudy retained.

I am willing to take less than face for the two remaining bullpen box row a tickets for July 3 if anyone wants to pm me an offer.

I've heard of the neighborhood play, but that was not even in the same city.

This compromise situation is probably for the best. The Cubs obviously aren't ready to have Zambrano back, but to continue the suspension would cause the Cubs to play a man short. In Zambrano's favor, at least he gets paid while on the restricted list. It's not ideal in the least, but considering the messiness of the situation, it's not a bad temporary resolution.

First of all, blaming Lee for any part of this is the most asinine thing I've read. Zambrano used to be one of my favorite Cubs, but his act has worn thin. Just because he rants like that all the time doesn't mean, someone like Lee has to sit back and let it go. Zambrano is an [expletive] and Lee probably had enough. I really can't blame him for that. Blaming Lee for any part of this is stupidity. Secondly, my guess is Zambrano could have a little more trade value than we think. The potential to be good is still there and good pitching is always at a premium. Look at some of the contracts that get given to one season wonders. One thing Zambrano has over a lot of pitchers is relatively good health. He also has a no-hitter on his resume. Some team may be tempted to go for a player like that, especially on a reduced contract. Third, I'm not certain the no-trade clause will be a problem. It might, but there's a strong likelihood that Z wants out too. Lou said he's going to have to apologize. Also, Z may realize he's not respected or wanted by his teammates and prefer a fresh start somewhere else. I think the best case scenario is that the Cubs eat enough of the contract to make it more like 2/24 left on the deal. At his age, I think there would be quite a few teams willing to take that one. The Mets immediately come to mind. At that price, I think the Cubs could get a package of b-level prospects...nothing that would make the average fan excited but some guys that may be able to provide something down the road.

You'll definitely want to bring your camera for that, eh? Then it will be Vance that Z slugs rather than a teammate. Or maybe it will be both. I wish I could get slugged by someone making 18 mil....

My guess is Zambrano will be shipped out with us eating 50% or more of the contract and getting very little back in the terms of players.

I understand that...but these are row A!!!! And you'll be looking right into the Cubs dugout in case Z decides to slug a teammate.

Well, I got something to do today around five...so thanks to the Cubs for not making me want to stick around to see the end of it.

Yep, Bob called them a deadass team.

So, everytime Z throws a fit, someone gets traded. Nice knowing you, Derrek.

Where you heading from there, Fred?

There's always going to be a floor to how many tickets are sold. There are at least 20,000 season tickets with a waiting list of at least that many people. While those people may choose not to use the tickets or flood the secondary market with them, there's that many sold no matter what. If the team has a prolonged slump, that number may decrease, but it would take a prolonged slump of 3-5 years for that to happen. Someone who has had tickets for 15-20 years isn't going to give them up after 1-2 bad seasons, and someone who has waited 4-5 years on the waiting list isn't likely to pass up the opportunity to buy just because the previous season was a disappointment. If they do give up seats or pass up opportunities, that's probably more an economic decision than one based on the current climate of the team, unless the team takes a prolonged nosedive, which I doubt it does. All it takes is 1-2 years of semi-success, playoff appearances for those people to want tickets and be a part of the excitement again. The Cubs have always held back a certain number of seats to sell on an individual game basis. My guess is that they will try to contain some of the uncertainty by increasing the season ticket base even more this offseason. Instead of capping sales around 20K, they could go down the waiting list and try to increase season ticket base to 30k tickets which would create an even greater demand for the remaining 12k tickets when they go on sale in February. They could also try to get season ticket buyers for the premium dugout box, bullpen box, and bleacher box tickets that they have up to now only sold on a game to game basis. This could be bad for the average fan who wants tickets during the good seasons, but it would help the Cubs out during seasons like this one.

The Pierre deal isn't bad because Pinto, Mitre, and Nolassco would have been good Cubs. It's bad because we could have likely gotten a much better player than Pierre for them at the time we traded them.

How a team plays is usually the biggest factor in attendance and I feel stupid by even having to point that out. Also, the economy is still playing a factor in this as well. Combined with ticket prices that go higher and higher, and it doesn't surprise me. When I went to see the Cubs in Houston, I ended up with two row two seats down the foul line and got them on ebay for the face value of one on a weekend game.

This is the first time I've been able to listen and really like the show.

One thing that could increase Theriot's value over DeRosa or Walker's value is that Theriot is probably still viewed as a SS around the league.

Juan Pierre...he's neither Spanish nor French. Explain.

I have still have 2 extra seats- bullpen box 34, row A. They were $200 + 12% tax (total- 225) a ticket. I will sell for just the ticket price (200 or 400 a pair) if anyone here wants them. If not, I'm going to try to sell on stubhub. Let me know if you're interested. Also, you'll be sitting next to me and Fred (hence the markdown).

From what I hear, the SEC is happy with a 12-team conference right now. If another conference goes to 16, they will look to expand or if the right school (ie. aTm) were available and willing to join, they would look at it then. The SEC is not interested in expansion just for the sake of expansion.

I hope that happens because as a Cowboys season ticket holder, I could get in on the presale.

In a week's time it went from probably 90% to Pac-10 to 60% to Pac-10 to we have the votes on the Board of Regents for the SEC. Now our insider says Don Beebe is making a huge push to keep the Big 12 afloat that is actually making everyone rethink their moves. Even still, I expect us to bolt to the SEC. If we don't, I will be pissed. I'd love for the Big 12 to stay viable and actually think that is probably best for college football as a whole. But, if we're going to see the end of the Big 12 and the rise of the super-conference, I'd love to have aTm join the SEC. I think over time, they would make a nice rival for LSU.