Mark_R

With the Red Sox in the market for a SS, I'm not sure a 3-way is even needed. Send Manny to the Orioles and Tejada to the Red Sox. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO TRADE CLAUSE!

If the prospect is Brandon Wood, then I'd consider.

If anyone has a single in the UD for Friday, PM me with a price. I really want to go. If its outlandish, I may laugh at you.

Could this be a precursor to a major deal involving Pie?

I was at a game when Lenny led off. He got his 1,000th career hit. Got a standing O. The morans in the stands probably gave him a few more starts that year. ](*,)

Why would Texas give up their best pitching prospect for Todd Walker and an overpriced Vicente Padilla?

ewwwwwwwww Exactly. His injury problems could be chronic. And his contract is hardly ideal.

He still needs a masher in the middle of that lineup.

And some goofball will still waste a first round pick on him next year in Fantasy baseball.

Echoed. USC has too many playmakers on offense. This game will be very very high scoring. As if you needed me to tell you that.

No kidding. Its annoying as hell to see the same silly argument every 2 weeks.

So it should be Oregon and TCU? Exactly. Just because a team has 1 loss doesn't mean it should be a higher ranked team. Especially with Ohio State, you can make a strong case. Ohio State's strength of schedule is the 3rd toughest in the nation compared to 49th in the nation by Oregon and 69th by TCU. With Notre Dame at the 39th for SOS you might have a legit beef. Ohio State, with a much tougher schedule than Oregon beat their opponents by an average of 17.73 points per game while Oregon with a schedule that is much weaker beat their opponents by an average of 12.63. (I used Points For Per game and Points Against Per game to come up with that). Couple that with OSU's two losses to the number 2 and 3 BCS team (both very close games) and Oregon getting embarassed on their home turf by USC, its hardly an outrage. If Oregon plays USC like OSU played Texas, they would have that spot in the Fiesta.

This isn't very realistic. Are you as efficient or as good at your job as before? If you are, then that's fine. But Wood has to have someone work with him (before I get all the buzzards on me about just him changing himself ;) ) if he's going to take that next step. I truly believe that.

From what I've briefly heard, is that if the Bulls were to try to acquire Peja, the starting talks would be with Deng. He's a stud, probably untouchable right now. And regards to the proposed Duhon for Childress swap, (which I admittedly pulled out of my ass about 15 minutes ago) it really makes sense for both teams. It allows Gordon to slide into the starting rotation and gives us a great (BIG) swingman to come off the bench and not allow the other 6' 6" two guards to kill us. That's the Bulls' Achilles Heel. Big guards. And in the East, where you gotta contend with: Paul Pierce, Vince Carter, Rip Hamilton, Larry Hughes, Michael Redd, Ron Artest, Dwyane Wade, you need a big defender to matchup with these guys. And for Atlanta, their need for a true point guard is well documented, and their decision to pass on both Chris Paul and Deron Williams for ANOTHER swingman this past draft is so mindboggling. They have Royal Ivey and Ty Lue playing the point. That isn't very good. Meanwhile, they are overloaded at the two/three: Josh Smith, Josh Childress, Joe Johnson, Al Harrington, and Marvin Williams.

If Luol Deng is any part of a deal for Peja, I will be seriously pissed. Would anyone be opposed to a Chris Duhon for Josh Childress trade?

I believe his comments at the time were about Woody getting some sort of "ovation" for that game. Whatever. Want a meaningful ovation? Pull Woody when you're up 5-0 in Game 6 of the World Series. Then again... maybe not.

Yes, the organization bears no blame in how they handled Kerry last year. :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: "Hi I'm Kerry Wood, I want to remain injuried and pitch in meaningless games to screw my next season, and possibly my career up, just to piss off Cubs fans that have held hope in me" I never said they didn't....and I'm fairly sure I could have done with out the eye rolls...the organizations use of him doesn't change the fact that he's pitched 2 full seasons out of the last 8. Kerry's mechanics have more to do with his injury problems than his use. And he should just go tinker around with the mechanics he's used since he was boy, on his own, with absolutely no direction from anyone, so that his arm completely falls off and he has no future at all? MAn I wish Steve Stone never opened his stupid mouth about the "mechanics". IT's like a catch phrase now. Sorry, but I don't want Wood just tinkiering around with his own mechanics, he's not a trainer, a physician or a pitching coach. If there are problems, then someone else should/ should have help(ed) him, somewhere along the line. Kerry is one of the biggest gamers, out there, and I respect him a ton. It's a shame what's happening to him. I don't think he wants to make 12 million and not help this team. His committment and dedication to the Cubs should not be up for debate. I don't think he wants to be injured, it pisses me off when people blame kerry for his injuries. If he's been pitching like that since he was little and he keeps getting hurt, how is it such a leap of faith to say he should change his mechanics? Let me to you this, as someone who has arm problems from bowling, (please do not laugh) my mechanics have been the same since I was around 12 years old. No doubt that it is VERY difficult to change how you do something, but I believe if I were to change my style, my injuries would gradually go away. Also, who is saying that Wood should have no direction with his change in mechanics? Because if they are saying that, they are wrong.

Shocking News.

Jon, has that caused his horrid performance in college?

Patterson does have 5 tools. He just hasn't put them all together. Maybe he will some day, maybe he won't. Did you hope he would fail while many of us cheered for him to succeed? So you can say "I told you so"? Are you saying that you hoped that Patterson would fail just so you could rub people's noses in it? Did you place more importance on this than the Cub's winning? Because you say so? I'm sold. :roll: BBB, I'm not really exuberant or unhappy about Juan Pierre, but I hope you enforce this "I told you" stuff if Pierre has a lousy season. Because I could see the same thing coming out of the woodwork.

Ken Rosenthal reporting that contract talks may have broken down as well.

I'm genuinely curious about this: how many players have been part time players at age 30 and got a starting gig and were difference makers? I really have no idea the answer to this question. I'm not totally opposed to Michaels, I'm just trying to think outside the box on why he hasn't gotten an opportunity. If he puts up a great season, which is very possible given his past, then all the better for him (and if he's here, for us). I'm interested to see the final cost of Michaels, also.

Philly is dictating the value of Michaels pretty high if they're starting with a solid pitcher like Wang. I think the Cubs would have to up their offer, like you said, possibly with Jerome Williams. I think 06 is a lost cause for the most part (board pile on ensuing, I know, but I'm not alone). I'd rather keep Williams to hold onto for a better run in 07, because our activity thus far has been dreadful.

I'm guessing the Red Sox really regret that contract right about now. I admit that I wanted Renteria last offseason. Albeit not for that much money, but I figured he'd be a great fit here. Nope.

Bob, wouldn't Michaels essentially be a one year rental? I'm going off the assumption that Pie would be ready in 2007. Michaels doesn't appear to project enough from a slugging standpoint to be a productive enough corner outfielder. Plus, he's not exactly a spring chicken, either, age wise. He's arby eligible, Pie performs well and it gives the Cubs more options as far as trading him. Michaels performs like I expect and the Cubs want to tarde him to make room for Pie and they'd more in return than losing Pierre for a draft pick. Do you think in the Phillies' mind that Nolasco/Pinto would equate to Wang? I believe that's what you were saying the offer was for Michaels. How high should the Cubs go to obtain Michaels? And I wish he had a full season under his belt to judge him by. I love his OBP, but something just doesn't rub me the right way about a guy who is supposedly that good that can't get 600 PA's. Yes, I know, Marlon Byrd, but the difference in production is staggering between the two.