vance_the_cubs_fan

who brings two pencils to a bar??? About two of the little straws they put in the drinks?

You will enjoy this article.

Sorry to have to say this, but I sincerely hope you are crushed for having missed the greatest moment in Bear history for the past 20 years 8-) Well, I'm not a Saints fan. I was crushed two weeks ago. My entire family is Saints fans...so it's kind of nice to see them do well. But, if they lose, I'm not going to get all upset over it.

Has anyone wondered if we should rename the "Merriman Dance" the "Roid Romba" ?

I'm going to miss the second half of this game as I'll be flying back to Louisiana from Chicago. :(

From Sullivan's latest, Link.

Anyone know what hotel the visiting teams might stay in on Saturday night?

Is he going to be posted next offseason?

I think people are discounting the Astros a little too much. They added a bat in Carlos Lee and they will be better off with Burke in CF than Taveras. While they may not have Clemens, they didn't have him until late June last year. They replaced Pettitte with Jennings, which is a step down. I think there's a logjam atop the Central. The Cubs, Cards, Brewers, and Astros all look about even. The question marks (health, surprise performances, midseason acquisitions) of each team will likely determine the race this year.

A super scenario would be that Guz has his break-out season. Prior is effective and healthy and Miller regains the form he had in Houston. At the same time, Marquis is able to maintain an ERA near 4.50. The Cubs could then trade some of the excess. Guzman performing well with his price would be extremely valuable as he'd still be cheap. Teams might also take a bite on Marquis, and the Cubs could move Guzman into that spot....and Miller would be a nice trade chip to a team needing a one-year stopgap in a penant race. While the liklihood of all that happening is slim, I'm in an optimistic mood right now.

Everything that I read has the Bucs very high on Duffy. I dont think they would see the point in trading him for Jacque. I agree with the 3 team deal though. We could add ourselves into the LONG LONG ongoing Pitt/ATL deal. LaRoche, Cedeno, and Jacque to Pitt Gonzalez, Duffy, Moore, Ryu-ish to ATL Andruw to the Cubs Atlanta is going to want a lot more than that to give up LaRoche and A. Jones. Keep in mind they turned down Gonzalez for LaRoche straight up...and this deal only adds Moore, Duffy and Ryu going to them, which isn't enough to make them part with A. Jones. A more likely three-way would be: LaRoche and J. Jones to Pittsburgh. Duffy, Veal, Gonzalez, Marshall, and Novoa to the Braves. A. Jones to the Cubs and the Cubs also offering Jones an 18 million option for 2008 with a 5 million buyout. What that would do is raise Andruw's salary to the level of the recent FA but still give him the option of testing the market. I think he'd waive 10-5 for that.

I don't see any value of trading Jones to the Pirates unless a third team is involved.

don't forget the venerable Trinidad Hubbard.

Urine, while smelly, is fairly sterile. I doubt I'd do it for $5...$10 maybe...$20 definitely.

I know it was 87, but isn't that the same year Cindy had a thing for guys with moustaches? I think Cindy had a thing for guys...the moustache was irrelevant.

He still might be an upgrade over Izturis.

Guz is putting together a nice showing in winter league.

Confirmed by Cubs.com. Link.

Season hasn't started yet. I'm convinced both Rocco Baldelli and Andruw Jones will get traded at some point, just have to hope that Hendry gets himself involved in one of those deals. Baldelli is the one I'd prefer, because he's obtainable at what ought to be a more acceptable price, and he's signed I believe through 2008 or 2009, I forget which. That would give the Cubs protection in case Pie doesn't pan out. Sean Marshall, Scott Moore and.....? One other player should be enough to acquire Baldelli. The Rays need to make room for Dukes and Upton, otherwise they are wasting what value they have. I think Baldelli will be the more expensive between him and Jones assuming both are traded. Anyone trading for Baldelli knows they have him locked into a deal while Jones is an impending FA. I don't think a Marshall and Moore package comes close unless the third player is Veal. Even then, I'm not sure it's enough. Remember the Rays wanted Chuck James and Saltamalaccia from the Braves. The Braves offered Davies and Salty which is quite a bit better than Marshall and Moore and were rebuffed. I think it will be expensive to get Baldelli. On the other hand, getting Jones will become imminently easier if the Braves falter early in the season. Everyone knows Jones is going on the market, so a trade for him is only a rental. The expensive part of acquiring Jones isn't the talent sent to the Braves, but instead providing him enough incentives to waive his 10-5 rights. If the Braves get Baldelli at some point, Jones becomes even more attainable as the Braves would have his replacement.

I think Colangelo would spend a lot of money. Not sure if he'd spend it wisely though.

I'd prefer Brady Clark to Finley or Erstad.

According to this article, Billy Hall believes he will be playing CF this year. The Brewers are expected to trade an OF, or at least try. They would probably like to move either Mench or Jenkins, but there's still a chance they would move Clark instead. According to the article, Clark has played himself out of a starting job. Clark wasn't that great in 2006, posting a 263/348/335 line, but in his two previous seasons he had OPS+ of 108 and 109 respectively. If the Cubs are looking for a stop gap CF until Pie is ready, Clark might be a nice option. The Cubs could acquire Clark and have a Jones/Murton platoon situation in left and a Pie/Clark situation in CF. Furthermore, if the Cubs moved Jones and signed Floyd to pair with Murton, Clark still fits. I wonder if the Brewers would move him within the division and what the cost would be if they do.

That's no doubt got to do with wisdom moreso than any type of steroids for him: http://msnbcmedia4.msn.com/j/apmegasports/200701091710618255958-pf.widec.jpg hehe :-) Wow...Gwynn is growing to Puckett-size.

Seriously? Career .276/.340/.447/.787, 112 OPS+ doesn't exactly scream baseball legend to me, even accounting for his position. Did you know his career fielding percentage was higher than Ozzie Smith's? Speaking of fielding percentages, I was just looking at Omar Vizquel's stats. If Ozzie Smith is in the hall of fame then so should Vizquel. Omar's lifetime fielding percentage is .6 higher than Ozzie's. He's already got more hits than Smith ever had, and his lifetime .BA is 14 points higher. Yes, but can Omar do flips?

My guess is Hendry is trying to get Floyd for something around 1 million + incentives and Floyd is looking for a lot more guaranteed.