Mizzou

What's the story with Blanco? I had never heard of him up until recently.

Ditto.

One other question... how long of an El ride is it from that hotel to O'Hare? I'll be flying into Midway, but out of O'Hare. Thank you.

Does anyone know roughly how long of an El ride it is from Midway to the Ambassador East? Also, any advice for good bars within walking distance would be appreciated (I'm aware that the Pump Room is in the hotel). I'll be staying there on a Thursday night, if that helps.

My bad. I replaced him with Andruw Jones.

1. Alex Rodriguez 2. Albert Pujols 3. Hanley Ramirez 4. Jose Reyes 5. Ryan Braun 6. David Wright 7. Chase Utley 8. Jimmy Rollins 9. Miguel Cabrera 10. Johan Santana 11. Matt Holliday 12. Ryan Howard 13. Grady Sizemore 14. Prince Fielder 15. Jake Peavy 16. Troy Tulowitzki 17. Victor Martinez 18. Carl Crawford 19. Alfonso Soriano 20. David Ortiz 21. Carlos Beltran 22. Brandon Webb 23. Vlad Guerrero 24. Ichiro 25. Derrek Lee 26. Russell Martin 27. Joe Mauer 28. Brandon Phillips 29. Brian Roberts 30. BJ Upton 31. Derek Jeter 32. Corey Hart 33. Josh Beckett 34. Manny Ramirez 35. Dan Haren 36. Robinson Cano 37. Justin Verlander 38. Erik Bedard 39. Aramis Ramirez 40. Cole Hamels 41. Larry Wayne "Chipper" Jones 42. Adam Dunn 43. Mark Teixeira 44. CC Sabathia 45. Carlos Lee 46. Lance Berkman 47. Roy Halladay 48. Carlos Zambrano 49. Scott Kazmir 50. Francisco Liriano 51. John Smoltz 52. John Lackey 53. Chris Young (the outfielder) 54. Curtis Granderson 55. Brian McCann 56. Ian Kinsler 57. Magglio Ordonez 58. Jorge Posada 59. Khalil Greene 60. Carlos Guillen 61. Garrett Atkins 62. Felix Hernandez 63. Aaron Rowand 64. Geovany Soto 65. Chris Young (the weirdly proportioned pitcher) 66. Roy Oswalt 67. Aaron Harang 68. Ryan Zimmerman 69. Carlos Pena 70. Joe Nathan 71. Matt Kemp 72. Francisco Rodriguez 73. Dan Uggla 74. Gary Sheffield 75. Jonathan Paplebon 76. Daisuke Matsuzaka 77. Hunter Pence 78. Tim Lincecum 79. Rich Hill 80. Nick Markakis 81. Rickie Weeks 82. Kosuke Fukudome 83. Kenji Johjima 84.Fausto Carmona 85. JJ Putz 86. Takashi Saito 87. Jose Valverde 88. Todd Helton 89. Javier Vazquez 90. Nick Swisher 91. James Shields 92. Miguel Tejada 93. Brad Hawpe 94. Hideki Matsui 95. Travis Hafner 96. Edgar Renteria 97. Alex Rios 98. JJ Hardy 99. Chone Figgins 100. Billy Wagner 101. Joba Chamberlain 102. A.J. Burnett- picking for IMB 103. Bobby Abreu 104. Shane Victorino 105. Mariano Rivera 106. Placido Polanco 107. Kevin Kouzmanoff 108. Jason Bay 109. Josh Hamilton 110. Brad Penny 111. Michael Young 112. Torii Hunter 113. Adrian Gonzalez 114. Matt Cain 115. Eric Byrnes (IMB) 116. Huston Street 117. Adrian Beltre 118.Howie Kendrick 119. Brett Myers 120. Andruw Jones 121. Justin Morneau

Just out of curiosity, why do you say that?

115 picks in three weeks... I wonder if this thing is going to be done before Opening Day.

Lou's apologizing? Okay, I don't have a problem with that. I do have a big problem with Marquis not apologizing though. And the quote below from this this article really cracks me up. Effectively? Seriously? Does he really think that he's done well the last few years?

Did IMB get banned or suspended AGAIN? Jesus.

In a heartbeat. I just don't see it happening anymore. Meh. If a team wants him they will still need to give Hendry fair value. He is under contract so the Cubs can always just keep in the pen as a mop up reliever / spot starter instead of give him away for nothing. A "you take my problem, we take yours" trade with Boston of Marquis for Crisp, however, would seem to look more likely. But I think Hendry has been looking to move him all offseason so this new development probably doesn't change his plans much. You would think Baltimore would want him in the Roberts package (maybe to help the Cubs offset Payton's salary). They seem to love Tracshel and Marquis is actually a step up from him at this point (sad as that may be). This is exactly right. There have been scouts through spring training already, and they've formed opinions on Marquis and others and have voiced them to their organizations. This little tempest really doesn't change anything as far as trade value goes. Disagree. Regardless of what a scout reports to his boss, a player's trade value generally goes down when he makes an outburst like this. If you can prove that, I'll agree with you. But Marquis already had run afoul of two of the most respected managers in the game: Bobby Cox and Tony La Russa _ because of performance. This makes three. And let's remember, teams weren't exactly lining up to pay him $21 million last year. If a team feels you can help it, they don't care what you say to reporters. I don't know if we're talking about the same thing here. I'm not saying that Marquis' comments are going to change whether or not a team wants him. What I am saying is that when it comes down to negotiating an actual deal, these comments hurt Hendry. Think about it. If Hendry and another GM were discussing a Marquis for players X, Y, and Z trade yesterday, the opposing GM, knowing what was said by Marquis and Lou today, now has the upper hand and can pull player Z from the equation. It may be minimal, but I do think that when comments like these are made, it hampers Hendry's ability.

In a heartbeat. I just don't see it happening anymore. Meh. If a team wants him they will still need to give Hendry fair value. He is under contract so the Cubs can always just keep in the pen as a mop up reliever / spot starter instead of give him away for nothing. A "you take my problem, we take yours" trade with Boston of Marquis for Crisp, however, would seem to look more likely. But I think Hendry has been looking to move him all offseason so this new development probably doesn't change his plans much. You would think Baltimore would want him in the Roberts package (maybe to help the Cubs offset Payton's salary). They seem to love Tracshel and Marquis is actually a step up from him at this point (sad as that may be). This is exactly right. There have been scouts through spring training already, and they've formed opinions on Marquis and others and have voiced them to their organizations. This little tempest really doesn't change anything as far as trade value goes. Disagree. Regardless of what a scout reports to his boss, a player's trade value generally goes down when he makes an outburst like this.

It does? How do you figure that?

Nice, you gotta think that he'll be traded after a comment like that. Good riddance, you worthless excuse for a pitcher.

I see the box score, but for those of you watching/listening... how'd Wood look/sound?

He was faster than hell, though. EDIT: Nevermind, I was thinking of Ced Landrum. It's too he wasn't better at baseball, cause he could absolutely fly. He got on base 40 times in his career and stole a base 27 of those times.

Or just go to a site like this one, print the rankings off, and simply cross names off once they're drafted.

Was I really supposed to wait til he corrected his pick? I would think not. But if the consensus is yes, then I guess my two picks are fair game for him.

85. JJ Putz 86. Takashi Saito 87. Jose Valverde 88. Todd Helton 89. Javier Vazquez 90. Nick Swisher 91. James Shields 92. Miguel Tejada 93. Brad Hawpe 94. Hideki Matsui 95. Daisuke Matsuzaka 96. Edgar Renteria 97. Alex Rios

so? i bet you hate Len and Bob for being so biased for the Cubs too Horrible example. Len and Bob are paid to broadcast Cubs games, and only Cubs games. They should be biased.

Are there any restrictions with TBS's schedule, or can I still watch Cubs games on WGN on Sunday afternoons?

How big of a PR move would it be for a company to buy the naming rights, and then announce that they're leaving the name as Wrigley Field? It would definitely generate a ton of buzz. I know I would have a huge amount of respect for anyone that did that. It's definitely a guerrilla tactic, but one that I think would pay off quite nicely.

... 12-15 after A game isn't a big deal. 12-15 after EVERY game? Yeah, that's a problem. I wonder who he was boozing with.

FYI -- I got a thing in the mail today; Cards tickets go on sale this Friday at 9.

61. Garrett Atkins 62. Felix Hernandez 63. Aaron Rowand 64. Geovany Soto 65. Chris Young (the weirdly proportioned pitcher) 66. Roy Oswalt 67. Aaron Harang 68. Ryan Zimmerman 69. Carlos Pena 70. Joe Nathan 71. Matt Kemp 72. Francisco Rodriguez 73. Dan Uggla