Mizzou

For the record, Prior's collision with Giles was on July 11th of 2003. He didn't pitch again until August 5th.

Gary Sheffield will be 38 at the start of next season. His numbers have been on the decline each year since 2003. He played in less than 25% of the games this past season. He'll make 13 million dollars next year. I'm firmly against acquiring Gary Sheffield for the 2007 Cubs.

For some reason, 7 years at 119 million sure sounds like much more than 17M per year. I'd go that high per year for Soriano. Not in a million years would I give him a seven year contract though.

So, because you say I can't use that against Hendry, I can't? Okay. How foolish of me to think that the GM of a major league baseball team can't lock down the necessary players to keep the team competitive for years to come. How foolish of me not to realize EVERY other single player in MLB has an opt out clause. You're free to do whatever you like. If you want to "lynch" Hendry for agreeing to include an opt out clause, that's your prerogative and you're certainly entitled to it. I just look at it from an outsider's perspective... and I see it as a product of a negotiation. There are many reasons why Jim Hendry shouldn't be the Cubs GM. Agreeing to an opt out clause is certainly not one of them. In my opinion, of course.

The fact the contract had an opt out clause is motivation enough to lynch Hendry. No, it's not. Not at all. You have no idea what Aramis and his agent dropped from their request after Hendry agreed (not suggested) to include an opt out clause. Maybe they were asking for a hell of a lot more money. You have no idea. And therefore you can't use it against Hendry. But didn't Hendry have the leverage at that point? I'm not sure that I understand where you're going. But if he did have the leverage, and he included an opt out clause over a ridiculous amount of money, he should have. And frankly, I think it's pretty clear that adding the opt out clause was the alternative to Aramis being paid a lot more than he was the past two seasons. What that sum would have been, and if the clause turned out to be a better call, that's up for debate.

Why would the Padres not ask for compensation? I don't see the point in not asking for something back. Because Alderson likely wanted him gone. Makes sense, but even if that's true, I still don't understand why you don't ask for something in return. At least ask. It's better to get a low level prospect that doesn't project to ever make the big leagues, rather than getting nothing.

Why do I get the feeling that baseball7897 is going to (undeservedly) get banned soon?

The fact the contract had an opt out clause is motivation enough to lynch Hendry. No, it's not. Not at all. You have no idea what Aramis and his agent dropped from their request after Hendry agreed (not suggested) to include an opt out clause. Maybe they were asking for a hell of a lot more money. You have no idea. And therefore you can't use it against Hendry.

Why would the Padres not ask for compensation? I don't see the point in not asking for something back.

So? He's still worth that cost. Let me ask you a question, since you seem hell bent on resigning Ramirez. At what cost do you just tell him to walk away? What's the most you'd be willing to give him?

I'm surprised there has been only a few posts on this topic. I think it was dumb to start Verlander, for a couple reasons. First off, this game was a must win. Rogers had been unhittable all postseason. Verlander hadn't pitched too well. You absolutely have to go with the guy who gives you the best chance to win in an eliminateion game, and Rogers was clearly that guy. If Rogers won, then Verlander could've started game 6... at home. I imagine his nerves would've been calmer pitching in front of his home town, rather than pitching in a cold and rainy Busch Stadium. You can't think about how you have to win three games. You have to win one game before you can think about the next two. Who do you think was more likely to be rattled pitching in Busch stadium, Verlander, or the guy who got caught with pinetar on his hand? You live around St. Louis, you had to have heard every single fan and quasi-fan talking about it. Rogers pitching in Busch would have been a hellacious environment. Rogers would also benefit more from Comerica than Verlander, given their respective approaches and stuff. Rogers is 40 something years old, surely he's learned how to pitch in a hostile environment by now. And he dealt with the whole cameraman incident just a year or two ago, so I'm sure the fans in opposing stadiums let him have it when he returned from that suspension. I don't see Rogers, who had been incredibly intense this postseason, faltering because of some booing Cardinals fans. Verlander has never pitched in that big of a game before. He would've been much better off to start in a familiar environment.

He'll be back.

I'm surprised there has been only a few posts on this topic. I think it was dumb to start Verlander, for a couple reasons. First off, this game was a must win. Rogers had been unhittable all postseason. Verlander hadn't pitched too well. You absolutely have to go with the guy who gives you the best chance to win in an eliminateion game, and Rogers was clearly that guy. If Rogers won, then Verlander could've started game 6... at home. I imagine his nerves would've been calmer pitching in front of his home town, rather than pitching in a cold and rainy Busch Stadium. You can't think about how you have to win three games. You have to win one game before you can think about the next two.

I've been saying to get Soriano for CF for months now, but at 18 million? I'd have to think hard about doing that. It's an extra 3 million more than what I'd like to sign him for, but is it really worth letting him walk and getting a worse CF and other bench players for that 18M? The Cubs need to add another bat. Period. If an extra 3-4 million is going to stop them from signing the best bat on the market, then they're nowhere near as serious about winning at all as they have been saying.

Iwamura has expressed a desire to play pretty much any position on the diamond. He would be worth a look-see, imo. I agree, but Fukudome would be great too. Is it me or is Fukudome the most comical name ever? Look at how it's spelled, then seperate the letters. I have no idea how to pronounce that, but even when I do learn the correct pronunciation, I'm still going to say it my way.

Missouri isn't doing too well today so it's not surprising to not hear anything from the posters that go there. Well, it's a home game so I'm assuming most of the current MU students are at the game. As for me, I rarely post in these threads anyways just cause I like to sit back and watch the game, not sit at my computer the whole time.

What's with the gold pants? Hideous. Adrian Peterson needs to working on his speaking abilities. It was hard to listen to that interview with all of his "uhs" and "ums". Way to play like crap, MU! Please stop running the same damn running play that never works.

LF. Alou and Thomas are great fastball hitters. They both could hit 30Hr next year. Thomas is signifigantly more patient at the plate, with more power. Also, I recall Alou being a much better breaking ball hitter. Better at hitting breaking balls than fastballs? No way. Or do you mean better than Thomas at hitting breaking balls?

Why in the HELL do you cut that off?

38% of games against a lefty starter? That seems awfully high. I would think that we'd face a lefty every 5 or 6 days, or 30-40 times total per year.

Remember, it was supposed to be Dubois/Nomar vs Alou/Gonzalez. But then Nomar's groin exploded, and Dubois didn't perform like we hoped. It was also Dubois/Burnitz/Nomar vs. Alou/Sosa/Gonzalez. I would've been fine with giving Dubois a shot if Hendry had upgraded the offense. But he didn't. So going with an unproven Dubois was pretty dumb. Especially when Alou wanted to come back.

Agreed. Hendry chose a crappy pinch hitter and a career minor leaguer to replace Alou.... that's what pissed me off moreso than just letting Alou walk. everyone's a career minor leaguer before they make it to the major legues. I realize that. I was referring to Dubois's potential, not his past. i dont think it was unreasonable to think he had the potential to be much more than a career minor leaguer. Maybe not. But it was pretty unreasonable to assume he would replace Alou's production, which is exactly what we needed him to do since Hendry did such a crappy job upgrading the offense elsewhere.

Agreed. Hendry chose a crappy pinch hitter and a career minor leaguer to replace Alou.... that's what pissed me off moreso than just letting Alou walk. everyone's a career minor leaguer before they make it to the major legues. I realize that. I was referring to Dubois's potential, not his past.

Agreed. Hendry chose a crappy pinch hitter and a career minor leaguer to replace Alou.... that's what pissed me off moreso than just letting Alou walk.

Ah, I gotcha.