TCR Friday Notes

- The mayor of Mesa discusses the city's proposal for the Cubs potential new spring training facility. The two locations being discussed are the NE part of the valley by the 202(sounds like he says by Record but couldn't find that, earlier interview he said Greenfield which is what the link goes to) or near the Gateway Airport by the 202 Freeway and Elliot Road. He also says that they'll look to try and grab another Florida team to fill HoHoKam and Fitch Park. As has been mentioned, besides the new stadium and facilties, a Wrigleyville West will be built around the park for fans to spend their cash at.

And for what it's worth, the governor of Florida says it's not quite over.

“I had the opportunity to chat with the owner last night,’’ he said
during a stop at Cambier Park in Naples. “He told me, ‘governor, you’re
going to see some thing in tomorrow’s papers, but no decision has been
made.’’

- The New York Times takes on the Cubs convention. Speaking of the NYT, they've announced a metered payment system to start in 2011 for their online content. Basically you get 10 free visits a month and then will have to pay to access anymore articles. Don't be too surprised when the Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune do something similar in a few years.

- We got a mention at Big League Stew in their Chicago Cubs BLS Blogbook. Thanks. On the left sidebar of our site, I added a Cubs blogroll that randomly features 5 of the so far 36 and counting Cubs blogs that I've found.

- Tim at Cubby-Blue takes a look at what the Ryan Theriot arbitration hearing might look like.

- Baseball Prospectus Top 11 Cubs list should is up next. The schedule has been every other day, but I'm not sure if they post on weekends, so it'll either be up Saturday or Monday.

- The rumor mill at this point still seems to be a right handed hitting outfielder to platoon with Kosukue Fukudome and give Soriano and possibly Derrek Lee some time off. Defensively challenged Johnny Gomes is the hottest name at the moment, seemingly willing to take a 1-year deal and be a reserve. Talks have cooled with Jermaine Dye and Reed Johnson and Xavier Nady(my preference) are still in the mix. Also, the Cubs want a veteran right-handed reliever with Kiko Calero, Jose Contreras, Heath Bell, Luke Gregerson and Jason Frasor all being mentioned at some point. The Ben Sheets talks seem to be overblown at this point and his agent indicated that the Mets and A's are probably the two organizations that still have enough money left this offseason to sign him.

Speaking of starting pitchers, how's Eric Bedard doing?

- While Cubnut hasn't been able to do much writing for the site, he has taken to updating our twitter account (some of those are from me as well). On the right sidebar below the ad you'll see a twitter feed with the latest.

- We've added a few text link advertisements around the site in the sidebars, if they are of interest to you, we'd appreciate giving them a visit.

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Friday Notes
Submitted by Rob G. on Fri, 01/22/2010 - 2:08pm
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Comments

Submitted by Rob G.
on Fri, 01/22/2010 - 2:10pm

you don't see that everyday

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/2...

Grant Desme, outfielder in A's system and a pretty decent prospect is quitting baseball to enter the priesthood.

Submitted by crunch
on Fri, 01/22/2010 - 3:21pm

wtf? wow... that's a huge blow to the A's.

he prefers 'greg' over 'grant' fwiw.

fast guy with legit pop...CF/RF...damn.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Fri, 01/22/2010 - 3:30pm

he prefers 'greg' over 'grant' fwiw.

that was the gayest sounding thing I've heard since Chad last wrote something.

Submitted by crunch
on Fri, 01/22/2010 - 4:15pm

★♥★♥★ OMG PONIES ★♥★♥★

　／ﺄ、
（ﾟ､ ｡ ７ 　
　ﺄ、 ~ヽ　　　
　じしﺌ_,ﺌノ

AWWWWWWWW!!! KITTY!!@#!!

Submitted by WISCGRAD
on Fri, 01/22/2010 - 2:41pm

You can cross Contreras off that list, he just signed with the Phillies.

Also, Mathews Jr. finally traded to Mets for Brian Stokes, Angels ate all but $2 million.

Submitted by Dusty Baylor
on Fri, 01/22/2010 - 2:42pm

Whew.....thank goodness...lol.

Submitted by The E-Man
on Fri, 01/22/2010 - 3:15pm

Seconded!

Don't the Phils already have like five #5 pitchers already??

Submitted by Rob G.
on Fri, 01/22/2010 - 3:02pm

http://www.wdtimes.com/articles/2010/01/22/ne...

Submitted by Rob G.
on Fri, 01/22/2010 - 3:08pm

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_s...

Cubs get a nod with the mid 90's road uniforms
http://exhibits.baseballhalloffame.org/dresse...

Submitted by navigator
on Fri, 01/22/2010 - 3:10pm

Attendance remained robust, but ratings for Cubs telecasts on WGN slipped by 26 percent, the network said.

Those WGN numbers caught me by surprise. Is it just WGN coverage that tanked or did all televised Cubs games lose viewership?

Average attendance at Wrigley was down 3% from the previous year as well.

Submitted by navigator
on Fri, 01/22/2010 - 3:42pm

This story just broke:

3:27 P.M. — Gov. Charlie Crist, wearing a Chicago Cubs jersey, said Collier County is not out of the running to be the team’s spring training site.

“I had the opportunity to chat with the owner last night,’’ he said during a stop at Cambier Park in Naples. “He told me, ‘governor, you’re going to see some thing in tomorrow’s papers, but no decision has been made.’’

http://www.news-press.com/article/20100122/SP...

Submitted by Rob G.
on Fri, 01/22/2010 - 3:49pm

settle down there Cronkite, i had updated the post about an hour ago with that link.

Submitted by navigator
on Fri, 01/22/2010 - 3:52pm

sorry for the overpost, don't see your update though.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Fri, 01/22/2010 - 4:21pm

check the non-binding memorandum of understanding

http://mesaaz.gov/citymgt/mesa-now/

and you'll learn the Cubs are run as an LLC out of Delaware...

Submitted by crunch
on Fri, 01/22/2010 - 4:25pm

deleware and nevada...llc heaven.

extremely flexible state corporate laws that don't change much and are rarely in danger of changing.

corporate compliance rules are embarrassingly lax. it's where corporations go to steal tax money from citizens by not paying them. it's good for the state economy at least.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Fri, 01/22/2010 - 4:30pm

50,000
square-foot clubhouse with locker room, meeting rooms, nutritional center, language
center, training and administration facility with team offices, dining, classroom,
meeting spaces and indoor training for major and minor league baseball players; (ii) a
minimum of two Major League-sized practice fields; (iii) a minimum of one practice
infield; (iv) one agility field; (v) a minimum of 16 batting tunnels and 16 pitching
mounds; (vi) a minimum of 150 parking spaces for staff and player personnel; (vii)
temporary living spaces; and (viii) such other facilities, features and amenities as may
be agreed in the design approved by the Parties.

plus another 4 practice fields within a 1/4 mile, city can use stadium for 5 events a year at their own cost. If all goes well, should be done for 2013 spring training.

25 year agreement, after 20 years Cubs can opt out any year between 20 and 25 but would have to pay Mesa a $1M for each season or anything left on initial bonds.

Submitted by crunch
on Fri, 01/22/2010 - 4:38pm

all utilities (5.6) are covered by the city except electricity to the stadium (electricity for additional facilities are covered by city)...nice bonus.

also...non-potable (greywater/non-drinking) can only be used to water the grounds.

nice find, btw.

Submitted by Seamhead
on Fri, 01/22/2010 - 5:48pm

I think that the Cubs and Yankees are the two final teams looking for platoon/4th OF candidates, with Dye, Nady, Johnson and perhaps Gomes all looking for one of those spots.

Once the Yanks pick whoever they want, the market drops like a rock for whoever is left. If Hendry is fine with whoever might be left, he may as well wait for the Yanks to make their pick and cut his best deal with whoever is left.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Fri, 01/22/2010 - 8:30pm

http://baseballprospectus.com/article.php?art...

pretty good stuff

Submitted by John Beasley
on Fri, 01/22/2010 - 9:21pm

Lol at the conspicuous absence of Jose Lopez when he runs through his offensive players.

Submitted by artskoe
on Fri, 01/22/2010 - 8:32pm

What a stupid decision. All that will do is drive us to get our news either underground, or from blog sources that are happy with just ad dollars. This is about as smart as seat licenses for the Marlins. CAREFUL!!

"You been here 4 hour! You go home now! You eat too much, you been here 4 hour! You go you now!!" -Louie Anderson

Submitted by Rob G.
on Fri, 01/22/2010 - 8:34pm

fwiw, they've put a ton of research in it and the Financial Times apparently does something similar with good results. If you have original and good content, the most heavy users will pay.

Submitted by Sweet Lou
on Fri, 01/22/2010 - 8:42pm

I don't doubt that the NY Times has researched this, but it seems to me that they are going down a dead end road. They are in a dying business and rather than changing their business model, they are simply moving online. I'm sure that some people will pay for their service, but long-term, I don't see it working.

Submitted by The E-Man
on Fri, 01/22/2010 - 9:33pm

Your point is valid, but w/out doubt they have reinvented themselves and are the pre-eminent leader of Newspapers-to-online adaptation.

It is a rich media emporium now and I think people will pay something for the articles, video, photo galleries, etc.

Submitted by John Beasley
on Fri, 01/22/2010 - 9:45pm

Ads for adult web cams and Classmates.com won't pay a reporter staff of 1,200 in 85 countries and more full-time fact-checkers than all media in Chicago combined.

This isn't the Daily Herald. This is one of the greatest news organizations in the world, and much of the exclusive content they produce has more value than the fractions of a penny you're suggesting they should charge for it.

Submitted by The E-Man
on Fri, 01/22/2010 - 11:05pm

HAve you not been looking at their advertisers over the last year online?

Apple, HP, phone companies. You've heard of "Google", right?

I would not equate that with porn sites.

Also, you are confusing me with someone else, I did not state anything about how much subscribers would/should pay.

Then again, people pay iTunes .99 cents for a song and 2.99 for a tv show. They are not doing too bad.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Sat, 01/23/2010 - 7:29am

Which web browser are you using, E-Man? John was clearly replying to Lou.

Submitted by Sweet Lou
on Sat, 01/23/2010 - 7:40am

I don't think Lou mentioned anything about porn sites or Classmates.com either.

Submitted by John Beasley
on Sat, 01/23/2010 - 10:33am

It doesn't matter if the King of Norway is the one buying the ads, they still won't pay for what NYT needs them to.

Submitted by Sweet Lou
on Sat, 01/23/2010 - 10:42am

I agree.

Submitted by Ryno
on Sat, 01/23/2010 - 6:40pm

I agree with Sweet Lou. I'd just add the new generation thrives on instant gratification and services like Google Alerts. With our go-go nature these days, why take the time to read a newspaper when you can sit in your office and listen to the BBC World News podcast while you work?

The newspaper, both print and online, is practically obsolete.

Submitted by Paul Noce
on Sun, 01/24/2010 - 12:26pm

I agree with JB, and these newspapers/online news sites are going to have to all start charging or most of them will go bankrupt and disappear, and then we'll really be getting our news from blogs.

Journalism has already been so dumbed-down since I was a kid, I can't picture how bad it will get if most of the major newspapers go belly-up.

I'm willing to pay for news, but I don't want to have to subscribe to a bunch of sites. I'd prefer some kind of microtransaction deal from all of them. That's what they should all do, band together and integrate something like Paypal into their sites.

And I don't think one or two sites slowly moving into charging for news is going to work well, they need to get most of the big players together and do it all at once. If reading the Tribune costs $$, and the Sun-Times is free, why would I read the Trib to get similar coverage? (I know, the S-T mostly sucks, but the Trib has gone downhill too, that's just an example)

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Sun, 01/24/2010 - 12:50pm

They can't all get together and do it simultaneously, that's what we have anti-trust legislation for.

Submitted by artskoe
on Sat, 01/23/2010 - 1:17pm

Have you heard of JustinTV.com? It broadcasts P2P content that may only be subscription based. ONE person will subscribe to NYT then make money reposting it with an ad based web site until the Times relents and goes free again.

If CUBS games are popular enough, for example, I don't have to pay MLB.TV to watch, SOMEBODY has it on. A newspaper will be EASY pickens. Yes, it may be unethical (like steroids), but what are they going to do? Arrest 900 million in China for rebroacasting a NYT article? THIS is freedom. This IS freedom. This is FREEDOM!

Submitted by Rob G.
on Sat, 01/23/2010 - 1:33pm

mlb.tv is doing just fine even with P2P stealing games, most folks don't know where to find that stuff or are more than willing to pay for something they use frequently.

Submitted by artskoe
on Sat, 01/23/2010 - 5:07pm

Stealing is too harsh a word. Fergie jenkins didn't ask for the HR's to be taken off the books, just an apology.

The word is sharing. P2P is sharing. It's akin to Perry's spitball. Cutting edge tech meets a poor man's player contract.

At sometime in every man's life, one has to ask, "Is it WORTH it to have a mistress?"

~Just thinking out loud.

Submitted by crunch
on Sat, 01/23/2010 - 5:29pm

well...it is a controlled product who's distribution is the basis of a huge chunk of income.

their distribution models and/or prices makes a lot of people consider these other illegal/grey-area outlets, though.

funny thing is it's the "criminals" who tend to push the changes in distribution models.

music and films have fought for years to hold digital distribution models down while THEY figure out how to transition their own businesses (in between collusion and price gouging on CD sales prices ripping off consumers). the "ipod store" (or whatever) for mp3s should have existed many years before it did, imo. consumer demand for digital media far far far surpassed the content holder's ability (or desire) to properly distribute it. i still remember the first "legal" mp3s being these purposely horrible 128-192kbps rips because protecting the traditional CD distribution channel was more important at the time to the major players.

but yeah...it's stealing...however you want to morally deal with it is up to the person stealing, though. fwiw, the people rebroadcasting are of way more importance than those consuming it (as of now and traditionally).

Submitted by artskoe
on Sun, 01/24/2010 - 12:37am

Well how many here have a DVR or Tivo and skip the commercials? What's one man's convenience is another's "stealing." Or have they discontinued the "rebroadcast without written consent" disclaimer?

When WGN goes pay-per-view some of you are going P2P, I betcha! Fox will charge for the NFL, too (Jerry Jones hasn't thought of this for his super bowl? Yeah, right!). It's coming, unless the the NYT dies in its attempt to charge to make you look at its ads. Vote by saying no and stay away.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Sun, 01/24/2010 - 10:57am

I am pretty sure that watching a taped video in your home doesn't fall under the auspices of "rebroadcasting".

Broadcast
1. To transmit (a radio or television program) for public or general use.
2. To send out or communicate, especially by radio or television

The disclaimer is to keep ESPN from taping and broadcasting WGN games, not to keep people from using their VCR's.

But the idea that "theft is OK as long as I can get away with it" probably gets you some purgatory time if you believe in that bit.

Submitted by Cubster
on Sat, 01/23/2010 - 6:35am

per Jayson Stark/espn...Fernando Tatis??? Chan the Ho??

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?c...

Beneath the Sheets: We've heard the Cubs described elsewhere as the leading contender for Ben Sheets. But we've gotten the impression that they've actually back-burnered Sheets for now.

Agents for other players they've talked to consistently report the Cubs want to address two other priorities first: a set-up arm (Kiko Calero? Chan Ho Park?) and a fourth-outfielder type (Jermaine Dye? Reed Johnson? Jonny Gomes? Xavier Nady? Fernando Tatis?). They would only turn back to other needs after those two areas are taken care of.

Submitted by crunch
on Sat, 01/23/2010 - 2:42pm

unless mets want garland i dunno how they can't get ben sheets. they got the need and the money. it's a perfect fit.

Submitted by Arizona Phil
on Sat, 01/23/2010 - 11:07am

The two proposed locations for the Cubs Spring Training sites in Mesa are Recker Road north of McDowell Road (in very close proximity to the SR 202 Freeway AKA "Red Mountain Freeway"), and Elliot Road east of Power Road (in close proximity to the north-south part of SR 202 known as the "San Tan Freeway" & about two miles south of east-west U. S. Highway 60 AKA "Superstition Freeway", and just north of the old Williams AFB now known as Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport and west of the GM proving grounds). Both sites provide about a square-mile of open land (equivalent to an area bounded by Addison-Montrose-Halsted-Ashland), more than enough room for all the baseball facilitties the Cubs want, plus a hotel, restaurants, and whatever other amenities Ricketts might want to develop in the area.

The Recker site is very close to Mesa Falcon Field Airport (general aviation, including business jets and an occasional commercial charter), and the Elliot site is very close to the fairly newly created Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport (a lot like Chicago's Midway Airport), with the latter being served exclusively by Allegiant Airlines (I smell a possible Cubs-Allegiant travel partnership) which flies mostly gambler junkets to & from Vegas, but also serves Chicago and other midwest, west coast, and Florida destinations, and could certainly handle Cubs team charters. (Allegiant is one of very few airlines to turn a profit in recent years).

And the proximity of either Falcon Field or Phoenix-Mesa Gateway to a possible Cubs ST site would also allow the Cubs owners & suits to exec-jet into town without having to drive all the way into central Phoenix to get to & from Sky Harbor International Airport.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Sat, 01/23/2010 - 11:09am

print may be dying, but information business is growing...

they've all just been slow in adapting to the new medium. I don't read the NYT all that much, if the Trib or Sun-Times does something similar I'll certainly have to pony up something cause I'm not getting all my cubs news from Carrie Muskat.

Submitted by WISCGRAD
on Sat, 01/23/2010 - 11:52am

Given your role, you might be interested in this short reaction from Andrew Sullivan at the Daily Dish about whether this will be a boon for blogs.

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_dai...

Submitted by Tony S.
on Sat, 01/23/2010 - 12:17pm

Agreed.

Submitted by Jackstraw
on Sat, 01/23/2010 - 1:10pm

You can do whatever you want, just don't try to start charging for The Cub Reporter.

Just because I find the site invaluable doesn't mean I'd actually pay for it.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Sat, 01/23/2010 - 1:37pm

cheap bastard.

I wouldn't worry about it much though...

I'd only charge the people I don't like.

Submitted by Wes
on Sat, 01/23/2010 - 2:11pm

Great. Now I have to start kissing ass.

Submitted by The Joe
on Sun, 01/24/2010 - 12:19am

Fuck...

Submitted by Cubster
on Sat, 01/23/2010 - 1:56pm

cronkite says...

Tejada to the Orioles on a one year deal for $6M plus incentives

http://twitter.com/SI_JonHeyman/status/812012...

and the Baltimore Sun:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/ba...

"how's it going, Eisenhower"

Submitted by crunch
on Sat, 01/23/2010 - 3:19pm

giambi/rockies 1yr...ooookay.

so...where's this self-policing punishment and shunning of roid users we keep hearing about?

yeah...

i hope everyone in baseball learns from these guys. you could possibility be punished with a long well paid career.

Submitted by WISCGRAD
on Sat, 01/23/2010 - 4:09pm

Well, he was making $23.5 million a year, and he just signed for $1.5 to be a pinch hitter. Not sure what more you want teams to do, unless you advocate they punish him by pushing him out of baseball altogether. But the owners colluded once on who they would sign and how much they would pay and that didn't work out too well for them. If it turned out there was a list of steroid players that owners were shunning it would be bad for baseball - even worse than giving a bench job to a former steroid user who is now clean (or at least as much as MLB currently tests for). I am not a fan of Giambi or any of these d-bags, but blackballing them is not the answer either. The reality is, as long as fans do things like CHEER McGwire when he makes his return as a coach, and cheer Ramirez when he returns from his suspension, things won't really change.

Submitted by crunch
on Sat, 01/23/2010 - 4:19pm

i'm just pointing to the self-righteous MLB, announcer, fan, etc, posturing about how all these performance enhancing drug users are being vilified for a week then their careers go on as normal.

no biggie..just having fun.

Submitted by Ryno
on Sat, 01/23/2010 - 6:47pm

The fans are stupid.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Sat, 01/23/2010 - 7:02pm

Actually the owners colluded twice. They paid the union a settlement for colluding in 2002-2003.

Submitted by Paul Noce
on Sun, 01/24/2010 - 12:35pm

I think the answer is, the first time someone tests postive for a PED, MLB cuts their arms and legs off. The end.

Submitted by crunch
on Sat, 01/23/2010 - 4:58pm

wow...matt stairs signs a minor league deal with SD...and has supposedly dropped 40lbs.

amazing. i thought he was done. g'luck stairs.

Submitted by Paul Noce
on Sun, 01/24/2010 - 12:36pm

He dropped 40lbs, that means he got off the 'roids.

Submitted by JD
on Sun, 01/24/2010 - 1:03pm

Or cut the mullet.

Submitted by The Joe
on Sun, 01/24/2010 - 1:55pm

Somewhere, Chad is weeping.

Submitted by Cubster
on Sun, 01/24/2010 - 1:51pm

he got off the 'roids.
---
are you saying that getting rid of his hemorrhoids has gotten 40 lbs of constipation out of his system?

Submitted by artskoe
on Sat, 01/23/2010 - 5:17pm

Is anyone else glad that Tejada is no longer in the NL Central?

Submitted by The E-Man
on Sat, 01/23/2010 - 5:29pm

I, for one.

His splits against the Cubs:

.306 .333 .478 .811 with an OPS+ of 100

Submitted by Cubster
on Sun, 01/24/2010 - 10:13am

http://www.google.com/url?q=http://s0.ilike.c...

from the Boston Globe:

Carl Crawford, LF, Rays - The feeling is that if the Rays’ financial picture gets any gloomier, Crawford will be trade bait by the trading deadline or even earlier. In fact, both he and Carlos Pena could have new addresses at some point in the season.

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/...

Submitted by John Beasley
on Sun, 01/24/2010 - 2:25pm

Luckily, we now own Marlon Byrd and don't even have to consider this.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Sun, 01/24/2010 - 1:00pm

There's a little Iowa Cubs manager interview slice on www.cubs.com where Ryno talks about McGwire and Andre and the Hall of Fame.

Submitted by dB
on Sun, 01/24/2010 - 2:30pm

BP's Top Prospects list is up

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php...

and they also have an interview with Cashner

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php...

Submitted by kmokeefe
on Sun, 01/24/2010 - 3:14pm

can somebody with a subscription post the articles?

Submitted by Rob G.
on Sun, 01/24/2010 - 4:04pm

no

Submitted by Cubster
on Sun, 01/24/2010 - 3:41pm

Muskat article on Josh Landsford... joining Wilson-Phillips, but can Carney sing?

http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?...

Submitted by The E-Man
on Fri, 02/12/2010 - 2:03pm

Anyone hear Teflon Jim on WSCR radio today?

"The players are hungry to get in the post-season" He could tell this from the Cubs Convention.

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