Theo Epstein, the Commissioner, and the World Series

 

Never thought I'd see a general manager elevated to rock star status.
Or "President of Baseball Operations" or whatever Theo Epstein's new title is with the Chicago Cubs.
Either way, oh MAN!
I could not be more excited, more happy, more re-energized about our favorite team than right now.
Well, a World Series title would be nice.

No pressure there, Theo.

Okay, back to the Series.
Never has Tony LaRussa been so personally on the ropes.
The Hangmen were out in St. Louis just yesterday, and damage control is attempting to fix things, but I don't think they can recover from all the incredible blunders from the other night.
Remember Playoff Lou pulling Zambrano?
That was NOTHIN compared to Tony's 8th Inning of Disaster.
I'm so watching. 

Submitted by CubbyBlue on Wed, 10/26/2011 - 9:59am

Comments

Submitted by Old and Blue
on Wed, 10/26/2011 - 10:10am

The Tony LaRussa meltdown was a lot like watching your worst enemy date the girl you always wanted, and get an STD.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Wed, 10/26/2011 - 11:37am

LOL that's an awesome analogy.

Submitted by navigator
on Wed, 10/26/2011 - 11:11am

How about this-->

"The Boston Globe and Chicago Tribune skipped coverage of Game 5, opting not to replace news reporters dispatched to cover news conferences involving the Red Sox's and Cubs' new general managers."

Which brings up a recurring nightmare of mine should I manage to live long enough to see the Cubs in a World Series, and that is NO ONE WILL CARE ANYMORE. All the Chicago papers will be long gone and the games will only be available on Univision in Spanish*.

*on tape delay after midnight because of conflicts with regional soccer games

Submitted by Rob G.
on Wed, 10/26/2011 - 11:52am

http://espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/story/_/id/715...

Theo a great admirer of Ryno.

Submitted by Ryno
on Wed, 10/26/2011 - 11:55am

Complaining about ratings? I just assumed I would be blacked out or something. Fuck Bud Selig. He's out of touch and aloof.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Wed, 10/26/2011 - 11:56am

know why javascript no longer works on the site?

the tabs on the sidebars and the comments mostly.

I did do a small upgrade of the software, but as far as I recall it was still working after that, but shortly thereafter.

this seems to be the error I'm getting using the firefox error console.

$ is not a function

any thoughts, let me know.

you can email me here. http://www.thecubreporter.com/user/2/contact

Submitted by garsky
on Wed, 10/26/2011 - 3:01pm

The site's been completely nonfunctional on Chrome/Mac for a few weeks.

Firefox/Mac, just fine aside from the Javascript problems.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Wed, 10/26/2011 - 12:57pm

good quotes from the press conference...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball...

Submitted by VirginiaPhil
on Wed, 10/26/2011 - 1:46pm

Epstein comments on Soriano and Castro (from Waddle and Silvy via the Trib).

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Wed, 10/26/2011 - 1:52pm

Both of those comments seem very candid to me.

I would bet one of his priorities will be to lock up Castro for five years at a club favorish rate.

Submitted by Tito
on Wed, 10/26/2011 - 2:09pm

Re: Castro
"This kid is 21 years old. Most 21-year-olds are maybe getting into high-A ball ... When (Yankees shortstop) Derek Jeter was just about the same age, he made 56 errors in the low minor leagues. So there is, with defense especially, there's a maturation that comes only with time and experience. Offensively, the things he's done at the big-league level at his age are the things that guys who go on to be 10-time All-Stars, guys who actually go on to be Hall of Famers do. ... His ceiling is immense."

This can't be true. I read all the time on TCR that Castro's defense is intolerable and that he'll never be a .350 OBP guy.

Submitted by crunch
on Wed, 10/26/2011 - 2:14pm

castro is too young to project...he could go big or linger around where he's at. either way he should be working for a long time baring injury or sudden suckage.

some people think he's capable of 20+hr regularly...some people think that's laughable and he's a 10-15 guy at best.

he's a hell of a talent and he's learning on the job.

derek jeter...or edgar renteria? check back in 5-10 years. either works...

Submitted by CincyKid
on Wed, 10/26/2011 - 2:59pm

Castro seems to have a body type like Cano did a few years ago. I think he'll no doubt develop into 20+hr with a ton of doubles. If Theo decides to pass on Pujols and Fielder, I wouldn't mind seeing him slide Castro over to 2B and sign Reyes to play SS and hit lead off with castro in the 2spot. Ryno, at least from under my rock, seems to be fond of the small-ball approach and that could be a nice 1-2 punch should he get the gig...

Submitted by dcf
on Wed, 10/26/2011 - 3:33pm

I see the Renteria. I sometimes also think Tony Fernandez. I think Castro will hit better than either of them, but that's really just speculation on my part. Both Renteria and Fernandez could run better than Castro when they were younger, and probably had better overall athleticism. Fernandez won 4 gold gloves, which I don't see Castro doing at this point.

Hard to see how Castro will develop; he may or may not develop power or patience or get better defensively. If he returns comparable value to Renteria or Fernandez, we could do a lot worse. Interestingly, the Baseball Reference similarity score for a 21-year-old season closest to Castro's is Garry Templeton. That would be be a lot less exciting.

Submitted by Jumbo
on Wed, 10/26/2011 - 6:51pm

Not many 21 year olds have hit that much over two big league seasons. There's no vast pool of comps and I think Templeton was one - I might be remembering the wrong group of course

Submitted by Rob G.
on Wed, 10/26/2011 - 7:03pm

Templeton was pretty good, tore up his knees though.

BP comps are E. Renteria, J. Arias, J. Reyes. R. Alomar, R. Sierra, A. Blanco, R. Santo, C. Washington, Adam Jones, Rennie Stinnett

hard to see him not putting up some .850 - .900 OPS seasons when he hits his prime years, shame he'll be expensive by that point.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Wed, 10/26/2011 - 3:07pm

There's 9 SS's with sub .350 OBP's in the Hall of Fame.

Submitted by dcf
on Wed, 10/26/2011 - 3:58pm

but three of those are truly awful selections: Maranville, Jackson, Tinker

Submitted by Paul Noce
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 12:21am

Theo is probably talking up Castro to shop him. Maybe trade him to TB for the 4 prospects we gave up just to quiet the complainers.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 9:00am

Weren't the complaints about having the prospects after Garza was gone, when the Cubs are likely to be competitive?

Theo wouldn't have made the Garza trade, and had Hendry not made it, he may still be around.

Submitted by Dusty Baylor
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 9:16am

Ok...picture the 2011 Cubs without Garza in the rotation.
Who out of who was traded would've helped the Cubs in 2011?

I know the Cubs gave up too much, but Hendry would've been gone anyway yeah?

Submitted by Rob Richardson
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 9:44am

We had zero chance of winning in 2011 with or with out Garza. If we had not made the trade we would have more money, a better draft pick and retained the prospects.

The Garza trade was made for the future not 2011, with an eye towards the poor free agent class after the 2011 season. In my opinion it was misguided, and is another example of the former management teams reactionary style. It is my hope the the new management team will put an end to this type of thinking.

Submitted by Dr. aaron b
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 9:59am

When Garza leaves as a free agent we will have a chance to pick up superior prospects with the comp picks.

Only Lee and Archer are any kind of legitimate prospect from that deal anyway.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 10:03am

When Garza leaves as a free agent we will have a chance to pick up superior prospects with the comp picks... who we will have to pay $4 million to sign and we should expect to see around 2018 to 2020.

Corrected.

Submitted by Rob Richardson
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 10:08am

Far point, but my concern is that even if we received fair value of Garza the trade demonstrated that the management team didn't under where the Cubs were in the success cycle. Instead of looking to add players like Garza they should have been looking to rid themselves of poor contacts, while adding or developing prospects.

Submitted by Dusty Baylor
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 10:13am

That's a valid point. I am still wondering how Guyer would've looked platooning in RF...lol

Yeah...2011 was a costly lesson for Hendry.

Submitted by Paul Noce
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 1:56pm

That's a far more accurate argument than we gave up too much or we gave up 4 top prospects.

I think Hendry thought we could somehow contend in 2011, and taking a look at the 2011-12 off-season saw that the SP pool available was blah at best. So he moved on Garza. I don't fault him for trying to make the team better. I think in the long run this will be one of the best trades the Cubs have made since the ARam/DLee trades. In effect we traded an injured kid pitcher and Kaz Matsui for Garza. The other 3 will most certainly never do anything significant in the majors, and Archer/Lee might not either. Even if they do become MLB regulars they'll have to have pretty damn good careers to be better than Garza.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 10:00am

I would say the Garza trade was made in reaction to Milwaukee bringing in Marcum and Greinke... I am pretty sure that Hendry thought the Cubs were going to compete in 2011.

Submitted by Dusty Baylor
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 10:04am

I don't think the Cubs would have won in 2011...as in winning the division, no. I didn't think 71-91 was on it's way either.

I liked getting Garza...I don't mind giving up prospects for him.
But Chirinos, Archer, and Fuld...or Archer, Lee, and Fuld....should have been enough...something like that. The Cubs shouldn't have loaded up the offer like that.

Submitted by garsky
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 12:00pm

The Cubs were allegedly bidding against Texas for Garza, and their farm system is very deep. I don't think there's any way the Cubs get him without all 4 guys.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 12:37pm

Well we know that the Cubs offered more than the Rangers, and that the Rangers were in the World Series in 2010, so the value of Garza for them in 2011 was greater than the value for the Cubs.

A good way to maintain a deep farm system is to... not trade four of your top prospects for one guy. The Rangers themselves loaded up on prospects for Teixiera, and it's served them pretty well.

Submitted by crunch
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 1:10pm

4?

more like 2...and 1 of them took such a step backwards that he wouldn't break the cubs top 10 this year, much less TB's. the rest were/are filler.

guyer's a nice guy, but he's a 4th OF type...chinrinornionros was/is busy showing why he needs to move to 1st with his glove, yet showing he can't move to 1st with his bat.

Submitted by Dr. aaron b
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 1:42pm

Agree

Lee and lesser McNutt really wasn't much of a haul.

Especially if the Cubs are planning on trying to compete this year.

Submitted by Dusty Baylor
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 1:56pm

What makes Guyer a 4th OF type? He's put up goood numbers in back to back seasons in AA and AAA...
2010 Tenn (AA) 410 PA's, 13 HR, 58 RBI, 30/33 SB's, .344/.398/.588
2011 Durham (AAA) 443 PA's, 14 HR, 61 RBI, 16/22 SB's, .312/.384/.521

Is he bad defensively? Do we expect every starting OF to put up .320/.400/.550 with 35 HR and 110 RBI?

Submitted by crunch
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 2:09pm

he's just lacking power...he's a decent hitter for a fastball-heavy line drive hitter.

fwiw, he can hit lefties and righties for contact, but he doesn't drive the ball. that's a tool that will get him to the majors. his attitude is really great, too.

he could start for someone, i guess...not ideally...especially since he relies a lot on the fastball and doesn't punish it when he gets it.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 1:51pm

Regardless of your "expertise" on the subject, the real experts labled them as four of our top 13 to 22 or so prospects.

Submitted by Paul Noce
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 1:58pm

4 of OUR top 13 to 22 prospects. Not 4 of the top 100 MLB prospects. There's a huge difference, unless the Cubs farm system has secretly been producing MLB all-star players every year that I am not aware of.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 2:12pm

Here's some things you're not currently aware of.

Matt Garza was never a top 100 prospect, until after he had piched 50 innings in the major leagues.

Matt Garza has never been an All-Star.

In 2010, Carlos Zambrano, of the suspension and bullpen demotion was a more valuable player (in WAR) than Matt Garza.

Submitted by crunch
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 2:17pm

matt garza is also not a young low-power SS or a wild single-breakout-season SP who has a hard time putting in 5 innings.

matt garza is a sub-4.00 era, sub 1.30 whip SP capable of putting in 200ip without his arm falling off who cost $6m last year and is under club control this year.

i wasn't thrilled to see archer go, but i wasn't impressed by him...he was all ceiling and stuff when he left and did nothing much to move up the projection ladder this year.

low-power-SS or not, that's the one i'm not happy to see go.

Submitted by Paul Noce
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 5:51pm

So let's get this straight. You're complaining that we traded 4 guys who might one day come out of nowhere and be decent (but have no track record to think they'll be more than average at best big leaguers - 2 of which will never be anything and the other 2 are huge question marks) to get a very good starting pitcher, who, despite being the only good SP on our team, you insist is still a piece of shit. Makes perfect sense, very strong argument. Hey, Hak Ju Lee might be the next Babe Ruth if he takes enough steroids, so we should never have traded him!

Fangraphs says Matt Garza was worth $22.7 million this year. That's good for 13th best among all SP's in MLB. So despite being on a crap team, and desperately needing to improve his own fielding, Garza pitched like an ace, the number 1 you claim he isn't.

http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all...

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 8:40am

Really? That's awesome what place did the Cubs finish?

Garza isn't any more talented than Archer or Lee.

Submitted by Ryno
on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 8:53am

The 2011 season wasn't a referendum on Garza, my friend. It was the result of shitty veterans surrounded by shitty AAAA players that were overmatched in the bigs. If you want to see the Cubs perform better, they're simply going to have to have better players.

Submitted by crunch
on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 1:47pm

"Garza isn't any more talented than Archer or Lee."

i know you don't like the trade, but that is insane.

put garza on the market right now as a FA who can leverage club bidding for him and he's fetching 15-20 million a year 3-5-7 years from someone.

hating a guy, hating a trade, whatever...can't rewrite history on what the guy was expected to do, what he did, and what he is.

garza is head over heels more talented than archer in pretty much every evaluation you can lay on either of them...from stuff to results. i don't know how to compare garza to a SS that's barely old enough to drink in most countries so i won't.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Sat, 10/29/2011 - 10:00pm

What pitch does Garza have that is better than Archer's? Put Archer on the FA market right now and he gets $5 million, without having pitched in the major leagues. Do you not know what the word "talent" means? It's not a synonym for "command."

Submitted by crunch
on Sat, 10/29/2011 - 11:05pm

only $5million?

Submitted by crunch
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 2:05pm

regardless...there were only 2 guys considered prospects in that lot.

guyer is neat, but he just doesn't have enough power to play a corner slot full time...plus he's a heavy fastball hitter.

no matter what anyone thinks of chinrinoriorioros, he's a known bleh defender and did nothing to help his cause in 2011.

it's not my expertise...it's a general/common consensus.

Submitted by Paul Noce
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 1:50pm

Ok...picture the 2011 Cubs without Garza in the rotation.
Who out of who was traded would've helped the Cubs in 2011?

I know the Cubs gave up too much, but Hendry would've been gone anyway yeah?

-----

I disagree that we gave up too much. TB has 2 borderline 5th OF'ers, a possible backup catcher, an injured kid SP who might have to move to the bullpen, and a good field, no power SS. How is that overpaying for a number 1 or 2 SP? Who also happens to be in his prime and at a relatively dirt cheap salary for now.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 1:59pm

If Cyarza had won 30 games this year, would we have been in the playoffs? No, right? So the trade for this season was no good. It did the big league club no good.

Now, say you were Ricketts and you were deciding whether to fire your GM, coming off a 71 win season (with whatever the payroll was, $125 million?). Would you be more or less prone to give your GM the benefit of the doubt if your farm system looked pretty good?

You know why it doesn't look very good? Probably because he traded two of his top four prospects, and two other guys who ranged from 7 to 22 in a go for broke trade.

Submitted by Dusty Baylor
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 2:02pm

....A no power SS who is just about to turn 21....who put up a .318/.389/.443 in Hi-A ball.

It's not that we gave up players that might not pan out....it's that we gave up that many highly rated prospects for 1 pitcher. I love Garza as a pitcher, but hindsight is 20/20. What if Archer's year is a minor speed bump, and Lee tears up AA next season? Then this trade looks a lot worse. Fuld and Chirinos? Meh....
BTW..Garza is not a #1 yet.

Submitted by crunch
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 2:12pm

archer has been very consistent about being wild with heavy concerns about whether he can put in more than 5-6 innings before hitting 100+ pitches.

TB will probably keep with him as a starter, but he might be in the pen soon if he continues struggling to put in 5 innings.

Submitted by Dusty Baylor
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 2:23pm

So perhaps a less crappy Samardzija?

Submitted by crunch
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 2:26pm

archer might have more mph if he works out the pen...some guys throw harder as relievers (max s. from DET can dial it up to 97-100 in short work, though works below 97 when he's starting most of the time).

archer's control was/is just awful...at least he keeps the ball in the park.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 4:10pm

His groundball tendencies also dried up last year. Poor control and good groundball rate = OK. Poor command and poor groundball rate = bad.

Submitted by crunch
on Wed, 10/26/2011 - 2:54pm

game 6 postponed.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Wed, 10/26/2011 - 3:29pm

Yuck... at least it's not for snow.

Does that mean it's Carpenter vs Wilson in Game 7?

Submitted by Rob G.
on Wed, 10/26/2011 - 3:52pm

I presume Holland on 4 days rest vs. Carpenter on 3 days rest.

-edit- presumed wrong, Washington insisting he'll stick with Harrison for some dumbass reason.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Wed, 10/26/2011 - 6:10pm

I will say that saying you have full confidence in Harrison for Game 7 when all you have to do is win game 6, is probably the smart thing to do. No reason to doubt Harrison before you may actually need him.

Holland is suppose to be available in game 6 and Washington can always change his mind before game 7 if he wants.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Wed, 10/26/2011 - 3:58pm

http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/cubs/post/_/i...

Levine says Cubs would have to pay up to half his salary to move him.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Wed, 10/26/2011 - 4:05pm

Drinking at work must be fun.

If the Cubs are going to trade him, the major stumbling block will not only be the almost $18 million owed for 2012 but a $19.4 million vesting option that would guarantee a contract for 2013 if Zambrano finishes in the top four of the 2012 CY Young voting. That clause alone could cause teams to hesitate before acquiring Zambrano.

Submitted by Dr. aaron b
on Wed, 10/26/2011 - 4:45pm

If he can be a top 3 Cy Young guy, the 19.4 one year deal wouldn't be a problem.

Submitted by VirginiaPhil
on Wed, 10/26/2011 - 5:14pm

LeMahieu batting cleanup today for Mesa. 2 for 4, nudges his BA up to .300. Has 9 SBs, second in the league to Lake's 11. That's as many SBs as he had in 108 games at Tenn and Iowa.

Submitted by The E-Man
on Wed, 10/26/2011 - 5:41pm

Need more LSU guys.

Submitted by Charlie
on Wed, 10/26/2011 - 8:32pm

Both stats come with sample size and AFL asterisks, but I find his 10BB:12K more impressive than his current SB numbers.

Submitted by VirginiaPhil
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 12:51pm

I never noticed before that LeMahieu has a very high fielding percentage in the minors, .980, which includes .985 at second and .980 at third. In 2011, he played 61 games at third at Tennessee and Iowa without an error.

Flaherty's FPct at third is .904, while Vitters' is .906.

Submitted by Arizona Phil
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 4:27pm

Submitted by VirginiaPhil on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 11:51am.
I never noticed before that LeMahieu has a very high fielding percentage in the minors, .980, which includes .985 at second and .980 at third. In 2011, he played 61 games at third at Tennessee and Iowa without an error.

Flaherty's FPct at third is .904, while Vitters' is .906.

======================================

VA PHIL: D. J. LeMahieu has looked very good at 3B so far in the AFL. He has made some really outstanding stops & throws.

LeMahieu is also showing excellent patience at the plate and has been running the bases very well, too. He already was the Cubs best pure hitting prospect (albeit without HR power), but his stock is definitely on the rise.

With Jeff Baker eligible for salary arbitration again, I suspect the Cubs will be looking to move Baker, with LeMahieu taking Baker's slot on th 25-man roster in 2012. Whether LeMahieu will hit with enough HR power to be the starting 3B (presuming Aramis Ramirez does not return) is still TBD.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Wed, 10/26/2011 - 7:33pm

http://www.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_...

The Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres jointly announce today that Jed Hoyer and Jason McLeod will leave the Padres, effective immediately, to accept positions with the Cubs. The Cubs have agreed to send the Padres a player to be named later as compensation.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Wed, 10/26/2011 - 7:39pm

Muskat says Wilken and Fleita will report to McLeod.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Wed, 10/26/2011 - 7:49pm

The Cubs intend to announce Hoyer as Executive Vice President/General Manager and McLeod as Senior Vice President/Scouting and Player Development.

Submitted by crunch
on Wed, 10/26/2011 - 8:05pm

that's Neat/Interesting

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Wed, 10/26/2011 - 10:50pm

Isn't one of those jobs already occupied? What will the Tigers trade us for Fielta?

Submitted by crunch
on Wed, 10/26/2011 - 11:07pm

theo is going to act as a hybrid GM anyway...kenney is going to be a partial sub-president doing president things (got the rubber stamp on players taken away)...hoyer and theo shouldn't butt heads over the loss of hoyer's power, so that shouldn't be an issue.

it looks like there's more role bleeding beyond all that, too...neat...*shrug*

some teams have presidents that are more figureheads than workers (TEX)...some teams have managers who are almost as powerful as the GM (LAA)...team philosophy is in an era of wild experimentation in some organizations. the cubs joined that experimental era in style this week.

Submitted by Paul Noce
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 1:46pm

theo is going to act as a hybrid GM anyway

---
I heard Theo gets 50 mpg city.

Submitted by Newport
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 7:55am

"Isn't one of those jobs already occupied? What will the Tigers trade us for Fielta?"

The Red Sox would start by asking for Cabrera and Verlander.

Submitted by VirginiaPhil
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 9:34am

"Isn't one of those jobs already occupied?"

Why just one of the jobs? I read that Fleita and Wilken will both report to McLeod. That's two levels below where they reported when Hendry was head of "baseball operations." It will be interesting to see who runs the draft in June, but the answer is pretty obvious today. Wilken won't like it, and will likely leave when his contract is up.

Submitted by Charlie
on Wed, 10/26/2011 - 8:12pm

I understand that when we raid other organizations for management we have to compensate in some way, but doing it twice in the span of a few weeks is kind of painful. This had better be a front office super group.

Submitted by JoePepitone
on Wed, 10/26/2011 - 9:32pm

This had better be a front office super group.

They are the front office equivalent of Cream and Theo = Clapton.

Submitted by Pell Mell
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 7:55am

They are the front office equivalent of the Minutemen, and Theo is D. Boon. /post-punk'd

Wait, that ends in tragedy! They are the front office equivalent of Husker Du, and Theo is Bob Mould. Wait, no, they hated each other! Ummm...

How about they're not my favorite punk rockers, just great execs. I'll take that.

Submitted by The Joe
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 8:18am

I always liked Mould's solo stuff better than Husker Du...so I'd be cool if the dream team falls apart as long as we get to keep Mould over Hart.

Submitted by Pell Mell
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 9:05am

If I can't change your mind, then no one will.

Submitted by springs
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 1:29pm

Nothing sweeter than a little Sugar.

Submitted by crunch
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 11:10am

he was a writer for WCW wrestling for a few months...why, i have no idea.

they didn't use his ideas and he quit soon after hiring...odd marriage of talent with that one.

Submitted by Paul Noce
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 12:16am

I understand that when we raid other organizations for management we have to compensate in some way, but doing it twice in the span of a few weeks is kind of painful. This had better be a front office super group.

---
Dude, we're giving up Cubs prospects, which means they will never amount to squat.

Submitted by Old and Blue
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 6:37am

Here's a real gem from Phil Rogers:

It's possible Friedman could step in and give Maddon a chance to talk to Epstein, although in that scenario the Cubs better be prepared to give up one of their biggest assets — Starlin Castro? — to get Maddon out of the remaining year on his deal.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball...

I don't even have any words for that kind of idiotic speculation.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 9:02am

I have two words for it. Phil Rogers.

Submitted by Old and Blue
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 9:46am

Haha, yup

Submitted by VirginiaPhil
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 9:36am

Sox fan.

Submitted by QuietMan
on Wed, 10/26/2011 - 10:12pm

@NCTPadres
Dan Hayes Team source said #Padres aren't likely to acquire PTBNL until after Rule 5 draft (Dec. 8), though no date is set.

Submitted by Arizona Phil
on Wed, 10/26/2011 - 11:08pm

Submitted by QuietMan on Wed, 10/26/2011 - 9:12pm.
@NCTPadres
Dan Hayes Team source said #Padres aren't likely to acquire PTBNL until after Rule 5 draft (Dec. 8), though no date is set.

============================================

Q-MAN Which means the Padres compensation will probably be a player who was eligible for selection in the December 2011 Rule 5 Draft but wasn't selected, meaning the Padres would get a Rule 5 player without the accompanying roster restrictions associated with a player who are actually selected in the draft. (That is, the Padres won't have to add the player to their 40-man roster or keep the player on their 25-man roster throughout the 2012 season).

The Cubs have until 11/20 to decide which players to add to their 40-man roster (protecting them from selection in the Rule 5 Draft and thus also presumably protecting them from being potential compensation available to the Padres).

CUBS MINOR LEAGUERS ELIGIBLE FOR DECEMBER 2011 RULE 5 DRAFT:
Abner Abreu, OF
Jeffry Antigua, LHP
Jeffrey Beliveau, LHP
Smaily Borges, OF
Michael Brenly, C
Justin Bristow, RHP
Michael Burgess, OF
Kyler Burke, LHP (ex-OF)
David Cales, RHP
Matt Camp, IF-OF
Hung-Wen Chen, RHP
Manolin DeLeon, RHP
Eduardo Figueroa, RHP
Ryan Flaherty, INF
Luis Flores, C
Marwin Gonzalez, INF
Yohan Gonzalez, RHP
Gian Guzman, INF-RHP
Marcus Hatley, RHP
Jay Jackson, RHP
Junior Lake, INF
Blake Lalli, 1B-C
Jordan Latham, RHP
David Macias, IF-OF
Oswaldo Martinez, RHP
Craig Muschko, RHP
Jon Nagel, RHP
Jake Opitz, INF
Blake Parker, RHP
Nelson Perez, OF
Ramon Reyes, RHP
Dae-Eun Rhee, RHP
Rebel Ridling, 1B
Carlos Romero, C
Nate Samson, INF
Brian Schlitter, RHP
Ryan Searle, RHP
Marquez Smith, INF
Matt Spencer, LHP (ex-OF)
Larry Suarez, RHP
Matt Szczur, OF
Jose Tineo, RHP
Josh Vitters, 3B
Ty Wright, OF

With Beliveau, Flaherty, Lake, Szczur, and Vitters virtual locks to get added to the Cubs 40-man roster by the 11/20 deadline, the player most-likely to go to the Padres as compensation after the Rule 5 Draft will probably be from this group (presuming they are not added to the Cubs 40-man roster by 11/20, and that they are not selected in the Rule 5 Draft by another club):

LHP Jeffry Antigua
LHP Kyler Burke
INF Marwin Gonzalez
RHP Jay Jackson
RHP Dae-Eun Rhee
RHP Ryan Searle

I don't know if compensation involving the Red Sox will be be handled the same way, though, since Theo Epstein is presumably a bigger prize than Hoyer/McLeod and might require a player or players of greater value.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 10:06am

Hopefully cooler heads will prevail and Lake will not be named to the 40 man. I'd take the first four guys you listed there over Lake, and have a hard think about the last two.

Submitted by Cubster
on Wed, 10/26/2011 - 9:32pm

Jed Hoyer -- Executive Vice President/General Manager
Jason McLeod -- Senior Vice President/Scouting and Player Development

The Cubs website should get another dose of updating...
http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/team/front_office...
--------------
under Baseball Operations:
Theo Epstein -- President of Baseball Operations
Randy Bush -- Interim GM
Scott Nelson -- Director, Baseball Operations

and...
under Minor League Department:
Oneri Fleita -- Vice President, Player Personnel

and...
under Scouting Department:
Tim Wilken -- Director, Amateur & Professional Scouting

so if Wilken and Fleita now report to McLeod...anyone have a better understanding of what the new organizational chart will look like?

Submitted by Dr. aaron b
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 10:15am

Does Randy Bush end up with a chair when the music stops?

Submitted by Rob Richardson
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 10:19am

Don't know much about Randy, so should I care?

Submitted by Paul Noce
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 1:44pm

Does Randy Bush end up with a chair when the music stops?

-----

When the music's over
Turn out the lights

Submitted by Cubster
on Wed, 10/26/2011 - 10:02pm

They are the front office equivalent of Cream...
---
I'm So Glad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTZ4IYPy_cE&fe...

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Wed, 10/26/2011 - 10:51pm

Cream sort of sucked. At least he didn't invoke Blind Faith.

Submitted by Charlie
on Wed, 10/26/2011 - 11:05pm

If we'd ended up trading Brett Jackson and Trey McNutt, I would want this front office to be the equivalent of the Traveling Wilburys and Theo is Bob Dylan.

Submitted by JoePepitone
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 12:37am

White Room? Sunshine of Your Love? Crossroads?

They sort of sucked?

You set a high bar there, Neal.

Submitted by Jackstraw
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 7:00am

Well, they were no Toto.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 9:04am

If you look at the expectations, and what Clapton did afterwords, yeah, they sort of sucked.

Submitted by The Joe
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 7:11pm

We're talking about Mean Maching, the Japanese female supergroup's album "Cream", right? I don't think Clapton was in that, but I thought it was pretty good.

Submitted by johann
on Wed, 10/26/2011 - 11:54pm

Yeah but Bob Dylan not singing Christmas music thank you

Submitted by Charlie
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 7:56am

Oh sweet god.

Submitted by jacos
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 7:17am

Il tax payers pay for Sox park restaurant where Sox fans rarely go to,let alone afford to pay for a Gibson steak

http://mobile.chicagotribune.com/p.p?m=b&a=rp...

Submitted by tbone
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 9:56am

Interesting article a few years ago in one of the two Chicago papers comparing Cubs and Sox fans. Average annual income was only separated by a couple of thousand bucks.

What I liked most about the article was the comments. People stunned that public money is being used to benefit a private business. Where have these people been for the past 30 years?

Submitted by Newport
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 11:40am

Sox fans just look poor.

Submitted by dassault
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 7:49am

Yao-Lin Wang will starting and face with MLB ALL-STAR Team in Taiwan >:-p

Poor guy...

Submitted by ced landrum
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 8:41am

Randy Bush is reportedly been fired by the Score.

Submitted by QuietMan
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 9:28am

cst_cubs cst_cubs
Love my guys M&H but impeccable saources say Randy Bush is staying on under Theo, contrary to reports this AM

------
Suntimes tweet saying the Score(Mully & Hanley)report is wrong.

Submitted by ced landrum
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 10:58am

Well then of course another report that their earlier report was wrong.

Submitted by Pell Mell
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 9:02am

Gary Karton is so last week. Submitted for your upchucking: the new two worst articles ever written about the Cubs.

http://www.suntimes.com/8438410-417/general-m...

www.suntimes.com/.../cubs-have-adopted-the-1-...

Telander actually does "where did [Epstein] play his pro ball?" Swear to God.

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 9:15am

Telander's idea was sort of good, the analogy was off, though. Hendry and Epstein are both like mutual Fund managers. Given the same resources, Hendry's fund fluxuated widely like the market in the last few years. Theo's kept returning 5 to 20%.

Submitted by GDex
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 12:23pm

I believe the word is "fluctuated."

Submitted by The Real Neal
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 2:14pm

Thanks. Too much pop culture ruins spelling.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 4:54pm

http://espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/story/_/id/715...

quite the biography on Hoyer

Submitted by Cubster
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 5:06pm

Well the first thing you know ol Jed's a millionaire,
Kinfolk said "Jed move away from there"

source: http://www.lyricsondemand.com/tvthemes/beverl...

Submitted by Arizona Phil
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 4:54pm

BTW, both Chris Carpenter and Andrew Cashner have been throwing 98-100 MPH in the AFL.

If the Cubs are so inclined, they could put together a pretty good in-house bullpen in 2012, with some combo of Marmol, Cashner, Samardzija, Carpenter, Dolis, and Coello (presuming he is added back to the 40-man roster) from the right-side, and Russell, Gaub, Beliveau, and/or Maine from the left-side (presuming Marshall is moved to the starting rotation in 2012).

First test of Team Epstein is to see if they will sign veteran MLB middle-relievers (such as Eyre, Howry, Grabow, Mercker, Remlinger, et al) to multi-year deals like Hendry used to do, or build the bullpen from within and allocate that money elsewhere.

The Cubs right now have the best collection of young MLB-ready relievers since I don't know when.

Remember, while the bullpen is VERY important, it does NOT have to cost a lot.

Submitted by Charlie
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 5:12pm

Hasn't Cashner sealed up a rotation spot, barring injury?

Seems like Carp would make the bullpen, if he's still with the Cubs by the time the season rolls around.

Submitted by Arizona Phil
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 5:17pm

Submitted by Charlie on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 4:12pm.
Hasn't Cashner sealed up a rotation spot, barring injury?

Seems like Carp would make the bullpen, if he's still with the Cubs by the time the season rolls around.

------------------------------------

CHARLIE: First of all, I think Chris Carpenter is going to Boston. Too bad, too, because with his high-90's fastball and sharp breaking ball combo, Carpenter has been the most-dominant reliever in the AFL so far.

As for Andrew Cashner, while he may eventually end up in the starting rotation, it won't be next season. The Cubs are priming him for a return to the bullpen in 2012.

Submitted by crunch
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 5:21pm

i've been saying all through theo-fest that if carp/cashner go it's not worth it to me...i hope this whole process sticks to the rhee and vitters of the cubs' system...guys that still have legit upside, but aren't the 2 guys we can definitely use in 2012.

Submitted by Arizona Phil
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 5:53pm

Submitted by crunch on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 4:21pm.
i've been saying all through theo-fest that if carp/cashner go it's not worth it to me...i hope this whole process sticks to the rhee and vitters of the cubs' system...guys that still have legit upside, but aren't the 2 guys we can definitely use in 2012.

=================================

CRUNCH: If Theo can find a way to keep both Carpenter and Cashner, that would be great.

It will be interesting to see if Bud Selig becomes involved in the compensation process (presumning the Cubs and Red Sox don't come to an agreement by next Tuesday).

The one method MLB has used to move players from one club to another is the expansion draft, and that usually means a club gets to protect 15 players on its 40-man roster(including all players with "no trade" rights, such as Zambrano, Soriano, and Dempster), and then the expansion team gets to pick one. Then you can pull back three players, and the expansion team gets another pick.

If Selig uses that method (and its the only one he knows), and if the entire Cubs system is made available (with the exception of players who were signed within the last year, who cannot be traded or otherwise assigned), that would really make it tough for the Cubs, because otherwise Brett Jackson, Trey McNutt, and Jae-Hoon Ha would not qualify for selection in a traditional expansion draft.

If the Cubs were allowed to protect 15 players (but not just limited to players on the 40-man roster), I would think they would be:

Darwin Barney
Chris Carpenter
Andrew Cashner
Starlin Castro
Ryan Dempster
Matt Garza
Brett Jackson
D. J. LeMahieu
Carlos Marmol
Sean Marshall
Trey McNutt
Alfonso Soriano
Geovany Soto
Matt Szczur
Carlos Zambrano

Which would leave guys like Jeff Baker, Marlon Byrd, Welington Castillo, Casey Coleman, Tyler Colvin, Blake DeWitt, Rafael Dolis, Ryan Flaherty, Jae-Hoon Ha, Jay Jackson, Bryan LaHair, Junior Lake, Jeff Samardzija, Nick Struck, Josh Vitters, and Randy Wells (to name a few) available for selection, with some combination of W. Castillo, Dolis, JH Ha, Lake, Samardzija, and Vitters pulled back after the first pick.

BTW, Jeff Samardzija would have to be included in the "List of 15" if the Cubs do not decline their 2012 $3M club option, because he has "no trade" rights. If the Cubs do decline the option before players are selected, Samardzija would revert to being an "auto-renewal" player, the Cubs could unilaterally cut him up to 20% for 2012 (taking his salary down to $2.4M), and he would lose his "no trade" rights and could be left off the list. While Hendry probably would not do that, Team Epstein might.

Submitted by Jim Hickmans Bat
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 7:06pm

I'm hoping Theo moves Marmol. I don't care how filthy he is 2/3 of the time he takes the mound--and he is undeniably unhittable--the other third of the time he can't hit the broad side of a barn. It costs the Cubs ballgames and it's not acceptable.

I'd be more than satisfied with the Cubs kiddie corps for a bullpen in 2012, minus Marmol, plus Wood back for the one veteran presence. Assuming Boston doesn't steal someone like Carpenter or Cashner, I have to think the Cubs have an enviable bullpen outlook for the near term. St Louis and Texas have shown that you don't need to spend a lot of money on the bullpen, just stock it with plenty of young, fresh, hard-throwing arms.

Phil, I guess it's possible the Cubs just return Coello to Boston as part of the Theo compensation, no?

Submitted by crunch
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 7:12pm

i imagine wood would pretty much become the defacto closer if marmol went away...dunno if that will happen, though.

it takes a while to see what a GM thinks of the club he has (or has inherited) and what he plans to do with it. it should be an interesting offseason and an interesting next couple of offseasons.

Submitted by Ryno
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 7:13pm

It wouldn't break my heart to see Marmol moved. He's so nasty when he's on, but I prefer a finesse closer rather than the wild type.

Submitted by Arizona Phil
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 8:40pm

Submitted by Jim Hickmans Bat on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 6:06pm.

I'm hoping Theo moves Marmol. I don't care how filthy he is 2/3 of the time he takes the mound--and he is undeniably unhittable--the other third of the time he can't hit the broad side of a barn. It costs the Cubs ballgames and it's not acceptable.

I'd be more than satisfied with the Cubs kiddie corps for a bullpen in 2012, minus Marmol, plus Wood back for the one veteran presence. Assuming Boston doesn't steal someone like Carpenter or Cashner, I have to think the Cubs have an enviable bullpen outlook for the near term. St Louis and Texas have shown that you don't need to spend a lot of money on the bullpen, just stock it with plenty of young, fresh, hard-throwing arms.

Phil, I guess it's possible the Cubs just return Coello to Boston as part of the Theo compensation, no?

============================

JIM H: With the way he pitched out of the bullpen at Iowa the last two months of the season (he was absolutely unhittable), if Robert Coello is not added back to the Cubs 40-man roster by the deadline (4th day following the conclusion of the World Series) and becomes a minor league FA, he should be in high demand among a lot of the other MLB clubs.

If the Cubs re-sign him to a minor league contract for 2012 but don't add him back to the 40-man roster, he becomes a good candidate to get selected in the December 2011 Rule 5 Draft.

I would think the Red Sox would probably like to get Coello back (although the guy ultimately responsible for bringing him to the Red Sox as a minor league FA is now the Cubs President), but not if they can get somebody like Chris Carpenter instead.

For those of you not familiar with Coello, he is a 26-year old ex-catcher who was drafted by Cincinnati out of a Florida JC in 2004 (20th round), but got released in 2006 before ever getting out of Extended Spring Training.

He was then signed by the Angels and converted to a pitcher at AZ Instructs 2006 and he pitched for the AZL Angels in 2007 (I saw him pitch several times), but he opted for free-agency after the 2007 season as a previously-released minor league FA.

He spent the 2008 season pitching in Indy ball, and was signed by the Red Sox to a minor league deal in 2009. He rocketed through the Sox system, getting brought up to Boston in September 2010.

He was traded to the Cubs for 2B Tony Thomas at the start of Spring Training last February, was optioned to Iowa at the end of Spring Training, and then was outrighted to AA in May after getting shelled at Iowa as a starter.

However, he was promoted back to Iowa after four quality starts at Tennessee and was moved back to the bullpen, and was an outstanding reliever for the I-Cubs over the last couple months of the season. He is presently pitching in Venezuela (VWL), and is doing very well down there, too. He has a dynamite splitter.

The Cubs would be fools not to add Coello back to their 40-man roster.

Submitted by Dr. aaron b
on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 10:49am

He had some really good trade value up until Jim Hendry gave him that late spring/completely unnecessary contract extension.

Now he's in a spot where you can't even offer him arbitration when his contract is up after 2013.

Submitted by TJ
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 5:06pm

Bullpens are usually a crap shot. Guys can come out of nowhere, even guys that have failed in the past, and have good years. Guys who have had good years in the past can bomb any particular year. Very few are good every year. I have theory on Marmol. In the past he has always gone into funks for a few games every year, but came out of them fairly quickly. This year the funks were more often and for longer periods. I have never been particularly a Rotchild fan,but it seems now in hindsight, that he could pull Marmol out of his funks much better than whatever the current guys name is.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 5:19pm

I have never been particularly a Rotchild fan,but it seems now in hindsight, that he could pull Marmol out of his funks much better than whatever the current guys name is.

HERETIC!!!

kidding of course, everyone but far too many Cubs fans seems to think he's one of the better ones in the game.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 5:56pm

http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/prospects...

Adduci and Jonathan Mota re-sign.

Submitted by Arizona Phil
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 6:16pm

Submitted by Rob G. on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 4:56pm.
http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/prospects...

Adduci and Jonathan Mota re-sign.

==========================================================

ROB G: With Jim Adduci and Jonathon Mota having re-signed, here is the updated list of Cubs minor leaguers eligible to be free-agents post-2011:

ARTICLE XX-D MINOR LEAGUE FREE-AGENT (1):
Brad Snyder, OF (has already filed)

NOTE: A minor league player eligible to be an Article XX-D free-agent is not eligible to be a free-agent if the player is added back to an MLB 40-man roster by the end of the MLB regular season. A player eligible to be an Article XX-D minor league free-agent can file for free-agency beginning on the day after the conclusion of the MLB regular season up through October 15th. The player’s former club does not receive any compensation if the player signs with a new club.

=======================================================================

MLB RULE 55 MINOR LEAGUE FREE-AGENT:

NOTE: A minor league player eligible to be a Rule 55 free-agent is not eligible to be a FA if the player is added to his club’s 40-man roster by the 4th day following the conclusion of the World Series.

SIX-YEAR MINOR LEAGUE FA (11):
Justin Berg, RHP
Marco Carrillo, RHP
Angel Guzman, RHP
Dylan Johnston, RHP (ex-OF)
Mario Mercedes, C
Scott Moore, INF
Chris Robinson, C
Carlton Smith, RHP
Alvaro Sosa, RHP (ex-C)
Jeff Stevens, RHP
John Urick, 1B (player-coach)

PREVIOUSLY RELEASED (5):
Adrian Aviles, LHP (previously released by LAD)
Dan Berlind, RHP (previously released by MIN)
Austin Bibens-Dirkx, RHP (previously released by SEA)
Robert Coello, RHP (previously released by CIN)
Carlos Figueroa, INF (previously released by COL)

===========================

BTW, the 4th day following the conclusion of the World Series is also the deadline for adding players back to the 40-man roster who were outrighted to the minors since the last Rule 5 Draft (Berg, Coello, and Stevens, plus Brian Schlitter).

Submitted by Cubster
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 5:58pm

Bruce Levine chat from today, not much newsworthy though.

http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/chicago/chat/...

Submitted by Rob G.
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 6:05pm

The Cubs need to throw their money at pitching that can help them now and in the future. Not short-term fixes.

so they apparently shouldn't sign anyone this offseason.

Submitted by Cubster
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 6:12pm

Theo Epstein's PTI interview (about 10 minutes) with Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon.

Includes TK's last question about whether Epstein will consider bringing back Steve Bartman to the fold. (I can see opening day where Moises Alou throw out the first pitch to Bartman and they shake hands...)

http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/cubs/post/_/i...

Submitted by Rob G.
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 6:12pm

Source indicates that the CBA holdup has moved OFF of hard slots for the draft, but capping draft and int'l spending is in play.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 6:31pm

and

Also discussed: scaled/weighted spending caps for teams based on standings/draft position.

Submitted by Ryno
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 7:26pm

...Fucking Cardinals.

Submitted by Cubster
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 7:34pm

http://www.examiner.com/images/blog/wysiwyg/i...

(LaRussa's the bird on the bottom)

Submitted by The Joe
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 7:44pm

I think his team is the bottom. Larussa's on top.

Submitted by The E-Man
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 8:52pm

I long for the day when Cardinals fans will say, "Fucking Cubs...", as we win another Post-Season game.

Submitted by jacos
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 7:44pm

sirguygrand
@
@RockBigFly24 hows the knee?
27 minutes ago

RockBigFly24 Rock Shoulders
@
@sirguygrand great thanks for answering
23 minutes ago

Knee good, English..not so much.

Submitted by The Joe
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 7:52pm

Me hit ball good.

Submitted by jacos
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 7:50pm

How great would it have been if that thrown bat had killed Carpenter?

Submitted by crunch
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 8:10pm

it would vindicate the vision of the directors of japanese baseball gore movies.

Submitted by jacos
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 8:26pm

Local idiot, Rick Telander, tries to tie Theo, Ricketts and Wall Street protest together.

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/8439764-419/cu...

Rick by the way is a graduate of Northwestern

Submitted by crunch
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 8:35pm

those kids should just get off his lawn, already.

what a horrible excuse for an attempt to debate/inflame multiple issues in print-form. 0 out of 10 for execution of the idea and final product.

Submitted by Pell Mell
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 10:13pm

Excuse me but I already posted this abomination upthread. It should not be inflicted on the TCR faithful multiple times, as it is known to cause brain damage if read twice. In other news, purple oatmeal fishmonger is a chuckle waistcoat!

Submitted by jacos
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 10:31pm

Sorry Pell Mell

Submitted by jacos
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 8:39pm

Nice to see Cardinal fans using a squirrel as a mascot rather than a main course.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 8:44pm

Rangers better win, no way Napoli plays on the ankle tomorrow

http://gif.mocksession.com/2011/10/napoli-ankle/

Submitted by jacos
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 8:45pm

that was an Ouch

Submitted by Ryno
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 9:09pm

Season-ending.

Submitted by jacos
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 9:34pm

He just picked Holliday off third

Submitted by crunch
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 9:38pm

...from his knees.

MVP.

Submitted by The Joe
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 9:45pm

Nelson Cruz is good too.

Submitted by jacos
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 9:47pm

Holliday doing his Rodney from Caddyshack imitation after getting picked off

"oooh it's broken "

Submitted by Rob G.
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 10:06pm

sprained it pretty bad is my guess, but once he rests it overnight, it'll be 100 times worse.

Submitted by crunch
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 10:09pm

he can pour ginger ale all over it in about 30-45 minutes

Submitted by Rob G.
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 8:47pm

imagine the "chokers" and "lack of heart" comments if it was the Cubs with 3 errors in Game 6.

Submitted by jacos
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 8:49pm

?

Submitted by Rob G.
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 10:10pm

6 outs away from joyous schadenfreude

Submitted by crunch
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 10:53pm

my head just exploded.

Submitted by jacos
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 10:56pm

Soriano'd it

Submitted by The E-Man
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 10:58pm

Fuckin' A.

Well, McGuire had some nice talent to work with.

Unbelievable down to the last strike, and Nelson Cruz out of position. That play should have been made and he was worried about the wall.

The Rangers will not win a game seven in St. Louis.

This was their World Series.

Submitted by The E-Man
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 10:59pm

I just don't get it.

How is this fucking team so charmed that this shit happens for them?

Submitted by crunch
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 11:00pm

charm is dead.

9-7 TEX.

Submitted by jacos
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 11:04pm

Mr Cracktober!

Submitted by crunch
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 11:23pm

CHARM ZOMBIE.

9-9...wow.

Submitted by Andrew
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 11:01pm

Yes! Come on Rangers, this is yours to take.

Submitted by crunch
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 11:06pm

pitcher spot due up 3rd...bench is empty.

wow...if they lose this season with a pitcher swinging for a last chance.

mega-wow if they tie or win with a pitcher swinging. =p

Submitted by crunch
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 11:11pm

2 on, 0 out...well, now that became easy. bunt-time.

Submitted by crunch
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 11:13pm

what the hell call was that? ...wtf? ump and appeal drops the ball on that one. weird.

Submitted by The Joe
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 11:18pm

What happened? Gameday doesn't show:)

Submitted by crunch
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 11:22pm

bunt attempt...missed while kinda bailing...held bat in the zone the entire time...ruled a ball...appealed...1st said it was a ball.

the bat wasn't pulled back at all and it sat over the plate the entire time.

Submitted by The Joe
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 11:23pm

Balls.

Submitted by The Joe
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 11:12pm

Anyone else rooting against the Cards?

Submitted by jacos
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 11:16pm

Here comes Theriot

Submitted by The Joe
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 11:20pm

Feck! Butthols up with a walkoff chance.

Submitted by The Joe
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 11:21pm

Uh, ne'ermind.

Submitted by The Joe
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 11:25pm

Fucking Cards.

Submitted by crunch
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 11:26pm

game 6 of the 1975 WS...meet game 6 of the 2011 WS

Submitted by jacos
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 11:31pm

There's not 5(6) hof'ers in this game.

/ just saying

Submitted by jacos
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 11:29pm

Who wants to lose this more?

Submitted by crunch
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 11:40pm

TEX evidently.

holy hell...what a game.

Submitted by The Joe
on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 1:31am

fart.

Submitted by jacos
on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 11:41pm

Washington had Wilson warming up.
Does he know he need a starter tomorrow?

Submitted by Cubster
on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 6:51am

Cashner's minor "tweak". Hmmmm.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball...

Submitted by Rob G.
on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 9:10am

heh, you trying to drive traffic to the Trib?

Cashner, who missed five months because of a right rotator cuff strain, hasn't pitched since Oct. 14 because he said he "tweaked" an oblique muscle on his left side.

Submitted by Cubster
on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 6:57am

Welcome to the Chicago Paparazzi.

Dining with Tom and Theo at The Fifty/50 and watching the WS...

Epstein's table drank Coronas and ordered the corn fried calamari, poutine, skirt steak sandwich and meatball sub. It was unclear who Epstein was cheering for during the game

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/c...

Submitted by The Joe
on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 7:16am

I'm gonna write that down in my "Who Gives a Shit?" Diary.

Submitted by Ryno
on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 8:18am

This kind of reporting annoys me far more than it entertains me.

Submitted by Newport
on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 8:43am

Poutine is fucking outstanding, but they should have ordered it from Small Bar next door.

Submitted by Charlie
on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 9:38am

Gary Oldman's Voice: Fire everyone!!!!!!

Submitted by The Joe
on Fri, 10/28/2011 - 8:52am

Granted he is the "nightlife" reporter, so it's kind of his job...but that doesn't take away from the fact that he's using his college degree as toilet paper and he's a waste of space.

X
You may login with either your assigned username or your e-mail address.
The password field is case sensitive.
Loading