sonicdethmonkey0

wtf

Fontenot must really be in Lou's doghouse. Baker two games in a row, both vs RHP. That's the best 3-6 in baseball if all those guys are hitting close to their potential if you throw in a healthy, productive geo (aka the one from 2008) somewhere in there, and also take account of the fact that theriot is playing great right now, it really will make you hate your life. oh what could have been

it's close enough to walk for sure. when i'm drunk and in a hurry i usually hit up the wrigleyville dogs place right across from the metro, but there's a bajillion trillion million places to go in the surrounding 'hood.

I don't think Bradley has trouble seeing the ball. I just don't think he gives a damn whether he catches it half the time. I don't trust an important position like center in Milton Bradley's hands. hahaha what cubs are pretty screwed either way. i would hate to move Fuk Master Flex out of center, and soriano isn't going to be much better in right than bradley currently is.

god i hate kaplan

Yea, I couldn't disagree with this post more. Not saying you're wrong, but we apparently have vastly different opinions on how a ballclub is composed. I know baseball is the most "individual" of the team sports, but to act like players operate in a vacuum certainly isn't accurate imo. a player either gets on base or he doesn't. last year the cubs had a group of above-average to great offensive players up and down the order who, individually, were extremely apt at getting on base one way or another. last year those individual performances, collectively, resulted in the best offense in the NL. i really don't see how there's any other way to look at it. besides the hit & run or squeeze play (which are only marginally beneficial to an offense at best, and can drastically hinder an offense at worst), what other offesnive play in baseball is, in any way, reliant on more than one individual at a time?

of course not. but if you honestly think that the moves hendry made in the offseason are bad enough to have wrecked this season, you're nuts. when the entire of core of an offense inexplicably sucks and is injured, you're not going to win games. that's my point. hendry did make some bad moves, but they are not the reason this team is so painful to watch right now.

hendry and lou aren't to blame for this debacle. if hendry kept DeRo, didn't shell out money for garbage like Miles, if the cubs didn't fetishize the wondrous talents of Patton, if the Cubs had signed Dunn instead of Bradley (even though this move would supposedly be impossible due to the financial implications of keeping DeRosa's salary. or something), would things really be that different? i don't think so. soriano is still patterson-esque, a-ram is still injured, kosuke is still spinning himself into the ground, soto is still a shell of his former self. but oh i forgot hendry is fat and dumb lol let's fire him that fatso worst GM in baseball fatty fat fat fat. fat. firing lou isn't going to solve anything. he's definitely not a terrible manager, and he's definitely not great. he's alright. and anyways, we already did made our token firing to try and shake things up. when you fire someone, you have to bring in a replacement, and there's no reason to believe that the cubs are going to bring someone in that is going to wave their wand and fix everything. bob brenly... give me a break. unless the manager is a complete and utter abomination (dusty baker), they really don't matter that much. i'm all for criticizing lou & hendry, i just wish there was some grey area between "BandWGNs" and sending someone to the guillotine. maybe the cubs just need to rent out the 43rd floor of the Hilton and have a mass slumpbusting party. makes more sense than firin' everybody.

Guzman hits for a great average but that's about all he's truly great for. He's getting paid way too much for a batting average. If we're targeting anyone on the Nats for this season it should be Dunn. If we can unload Bradley somehow to make room for him, we'd need to jump on that as fast as possible. He's only signed through next season so he's not a big commitment to the Nats and he could bring back some solid talent for them. They'd be wise to shop him around. i understand that Guzman is completely worthless unless he hits the way he currently is, but if the price was low enough, i would consider it. i just don't think that trading Bradley is very realistic. god knows i'd love to have adam dunn, but barring a drastic move of Soriano to 2B or something similarly crazy, we have no place for an impact OF bat.

i can't believe i'm even about to suggest this... but here goes. *gulp* if the Nationals are also having a fire sale, how about trading for Christian Guzman and moving him or Theriot to 2B? Guz is due $8 million this year and in 2010. maybe we can get the Nats to pick up some of the bill. BP's def. eff. lists him at -6 FRAA this year (+3 last year), and he's hitting .325/.342/.440 this season (he had almost identical slash stats last year as well). i suppose he could be a viable option if we're desperate. please someone talk some sense into me.

the pierre trade is the worst cubs trade of my lifetime (22.78 years old). someone correct me if i'm wrong.

I like him a little, jsut for the entertainment value. I wouldn't want him as my manager...though like you, I think there's worse managers out there. I don't understand finding entertainment in having your team's manager act like a total ass at all times and repeat childish insults about other fans bases. I mean, I wouldn't find it entertaining if Lou criticized Milwaukee or Stl. He's a crap manager who gets all sorts of nonsensical praise for making things happen all because he managed the Sox in a season when their starting pitchers were healthy and at their best and their hitters nailed a bunch of big homeruns. They haven't done crap since then but it doesn't matter because he knows how baseball is supposed to be played, and he swears a lot. i can't really disagree with your post. ozzie IS a huge ass, but what's so bad about that? i love the cubs-white sox rivalry. i'm from joliet, and my friends growing up have always been split 50/50 between the cubs and sox. i love the quickly escalating arguments about who's better, i love the ####-talking, and most of all, i love hating the white sox. if ozzie wants to incite things further, let him. ozzie is an interesting character in this child's game we all take so seriously, and i don't see anything inherently harmful in that. he genuinely hates the cubs, so if he wants to rant unintelligibly about us, it just makes things that much more fun. i appreciate professionalism as well, but ozzie never criticizes the cubs as a team -- he actually defends us quite often, as he did earlier this year. he just rags on wrigley and the fans. that's not necessarily classy, but to me, that's not that big of a deal. ultimately, i understand if people hate his guts. lou should call ozzie gay that'd be a riot naw

I'm intrigued by this new discovery. Please continue. raging steroid/PED controversies, man-children losing their cool and destroying equipment, good guys, bad guys, larger than life personalities, obsessive fan-bases devoted to the year's ever-changing storylines who pay hundreds of dollars (if not more) on merchandise, tickets, etc

The disgruntled and huddled masses of NSBB congregated in the Cubs Discussion board, the Transactions board, hoping -- nay, praying -- to the cruel baseball deities for some sort of answer to their infinite woe. How could this be? they wondered to themselves, as their beloved tribe floundered at three-and-one-half games out of first place. Has God himself forsaken us? Has he devoted His substantial power entirely to the procurement of sugared treats for Mr. Hendry? Is there any beacon of hope at the end of this tunnel, or should we be resigned to spending the rest of our wretched existence pining for a savior that shall never come? A streak of victories, a newfound arrival from a foreign land to turn our fortunes around? Thread after thread ushered in nothing but blackness, an all-encompassing void powerful enough to crush mens' souls. The masses bickered and fought with each other, attempting to uncover a rationale for the year's events, but alas, it was not within their collective capacities, not realizing that for a century, individuals met their demise searching for some sort of answer -- an unyielding, glorious truth -- that would serve to turn this era of misfortune around into a golden age, where victories rained down from the heavens, an age where a new dynasty would be ushered in to amend the seeming eons of despair. Just then, a prophet emerged out of the void. roadtotheshow came unexpected, unannounced, unfathomably. It was the blackest time of all, less than a day removed from another crushing defeat at the hands of a hated neighboring enemy. To call their spirits low would be a gross exaggeration -- they were nonexistent, they lacked the physical capacity to have the thing known as "spirit." roadtotheshow looked at these pathetic, petty NSBB-ites, and gave them a gift -- the gift of levity. Without warning, with a few mighty keystrokes, he assailed Mr. Hendry for his inadequate transactions over the years, but oh, my loyal reader, the way in which he did it! In a deft comedic move, roadtotheshow added a series of falsehoods to the transactions which were so near and dear to the NSBB-ites' hearts. "Curt Schilling's bloody sock" the screen read, and for the first time in months, a feeling known to mortals as "joy" was experienced. Immediately, there was laughter, there were children conceived, shouting down the virtual alleys and roads, a clamoring for peace, a new belief in the very idea that had so tantalized these desperate parties for so long -- hope. There was hope. NSBB was saved - for now.

baseball in 2009 isn't overwhelmingly dissimilar to WWE.

I like him a little, jsut for the entertainment value. I wouldn't want him as my manager...though like you, I think there's worse managers out there. I don't understand finding entertainment in having your team's manager act like a total ass at all times and repeat childish insults about other fans bases. I mean, I wouldn't find it entertaining if Lou criticized Milwaukee or Stl. He's a crap manager who gets all sorts of nonsensical praise for making things happen all because he managed the Sox in a season when their starting pitchers were healthy and at their best and their hitters nailed a bunch of big homeruns. They haven't done crap since then but it doesn't matter because he knows how baseball is supposed to be played, and he swears a lot. i can't really disagree with your post. ozzie IS a huge ass, but what's so bad about that? i love the cubs-white sox rivalry. i'm from joliet, and my friends growing up have always been split 50/50 between the cubs and sox. i love the quickly escalating arguments about who's better, i love the ####-talking, and most of all, i love hating the white sox. if ozzie wants to incite things further, let him. ozzie is an interesting character in this child's game we all take so seriously, and i don't see anything inherently harmful in that. he genuinely hates the cubs, so if he wants to rant unintelligibly about us, it just makes things that much more fun. i appreciate professionalism as well, but ozzie never criticizes the cubs as a team -- he actually defends us quite often, as he did earlier this year. he just rags on wrigley and the fans. that's not necessarily classy, but to me, that's not that big of a deal. ultimately, i understand if people hate his guts.

beaten by 7 minutes and a fancy picture. i should add that the trades being discussed in this thread are certainly tobias-esque.

OH MY GOD WE'RE HAVING A FIRE... sale. OH THE BURNING! IT BURNS ME! EVACUATE ALL THE SCHOOLCHILDREN! why would the mets trade one of the best players in the game for a mediocre OF and zambrano when their offense is rivaled in suckiness by the cubs?

**BLASPHEMOUS STATEMENT ALERT** i kind of like him. he just likes getting cubs fans all worked up, and you all fall for it so easy. if i was a sox fan, i would love him for the crazy stuff he says about wrigley and cubs fans. if our manager said similar comments about sox fans and say, facial tatoos and crystal methamphetamine, we would adore him similarly. and honestly, i don't think he's a bad manager. he certainly isn't great, but he's far from bad... sort of like lou. the only thing i don't like about ozzie is the offensive & ignorant non-baseball related stuff, which is far worse than making fun of the cubs.

quoting a steve rosenbloom article does not help one's argument

i have never wanted a player to succeed more for the cubs than milton bradley. i've wanted him for years, and despite the fact that he was coming off a career season in a little league park, i thought his ridiculous plate discipline and intensity would only add to our already stacked offense. what a world of difference 70 games makes. i thought milton would start the year well, and his intensity and ability would rub off, leading him to become a fan favorite in spite of his many issues. i thought he'd be something like zambrano, except only more prickly and prone to outbursts. he seemed genuinely happy to be here, and considering the phenomenal year the cubs just had, who wouldn't be? i was expecting him to be the guy that we loved, and the rest of the league despised, and couldn't wait to watch the guy hit. all year long, i've been willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. i've been hoping he would get insanely hot, and carry this terrible offense in a similar way that dlee has the last few weeks. now.... it's just getting absurd. he's an ###hole, pure and simple. i've been willing to accept his significant baggage under the condition that he actually produced. yes, he's been getting hotter, but his antics have gotten to the point where even the biggest bradley apologist has to admit that we've hit something of a crossroads with him. this latest stunt is embarrassing, and a major detriment to the team. does he not understand the feedback loop he has gotten himself in? he's going to get mercilessly booed by the fans and reviled by the press, and his actions are going to become more extreme, in turn causing the fans/press/manager to get more and more frustrated until he commits a double homicide. [expletive] this team is frustrating. i hate you milton.

this is a total non-issue. the only thing i have to say to geo is that i wish him the best of luck in turning his season around, and, erm... we should hang out some time.

Just saw this brief story as a link on ESPNChicago.com. http://espn.go.com/chicago/story?id=4208978 EDIT: phenom!

Derrick Turnbow DFA'd by the Brew Crew. Joe Dillon called up from AAA. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3378285

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/nationalsjournal/2008/03/breaking_news_john_patterson_r.html Surprising move.