southsideirish71

100 million dollars is small market. I guess that makes the Royals Micro Market. And the Marlins mini-tiny-superteeny-micro small market.

QUOTE(AWhiteSoxinNJ @ Dec 12, 2007 -> 03:27 PM) I don't care about money, I care about winning. Kenny is sitting on money and isn't doing s*** about it. I am tired of losing out on player after player after player. So he should pay whatever mad amount of money to bring back a decent not a superstar coming off of his career season playing in the NL in one of the best hitting parks in baseball. Consider this a blessing.

QUOTE(GoSox05 @ Dec 12, 2007 -> 03:14 PM) Kenny Lofton for 1 year. I guess. Hopefully the regular season is better than this offseaon. How about we let the kids play in CF if we cant improve it. The benefit of picking up a Lofton doesnt overshadow the missing development time of some of our kids.

Actually that just saved us from a Kenny overpay. 5 years for Rowand for that money is not a good investment. Now this will break the hearts of the "Lets get the band back together" club.

QUOTE(Kid Gleason @ Dec 12, 2007 -> 12:46 PM) I found the Strip overrated. Plus it's not that much less slummy. Downtown doesn't have people every 20 feet handing you call girl cards.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Dec 12, 2007 -> 01:41 PM) I was just about to post the same thing. If "win it now" kenny wants to salvage what's left of his job, here is the prime opportunity for him to give his team the best chance to win right now. 1.Roberts 2b 2. Ocab ss 3. Thome dh 4. Kong 1b 5. Dye rf 6. Rowand cf 7. Crede 3b 8. Ajp c 9. Quentin lf 1 buehrle 2 vaz 3 bedard 4 count 5 floyd I dont know if we had the bullets to get Roberts and Bedard. But it would make the lineup and the rotation a lot more stout.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 12, 2007 -> 10:32 AM) What is the best question you have ever seen someone ask? The funniest one was the "So now that 2004 is over, what are you going to do to be competitive for 2005" Right before the 2004 season. Another one was watching how Ozzie and Kenny handled in 05 with the love fest. They looked confused. Kenny remembering that the Steff that was up giving him and the whitesox complements after winning the world series was the same person the year before who yelled at him.

QUOTE(Jenks Heat @ Dec 12, 2007 -> 10:30 AM) I don't think you can even get in to Friday without the "nice" hotel package. That is the only day I go so I guessthis may be the first time in about 8 years I may miss. They have a Q&A on Saturday and Sunday. I have went to the Saturday one for the last 6 years.

Happy Birthday Mike.

QUOTE(fathom @ Dec 12, 2007 -> 09:49 AM) So let me get this straight: Fukudome doesn't want to play CF, and he wanted to be the first Japanese player on the Cubs. So why did we even offer him a contract? His agent probably didnt state that. He wanted to get as many offers in as possible, create a frenzy and get the most attractive situation for his client. Well we offered the same amount of money. My thoughts are that the marketing money is what won for the Cubs. Anytime you have a player wanting to take the number "1" because he is the first japanese player to play for the franchise you have yourself a guy who wants to make other monies outside of his contract.

QUOTE(Chombi @ Dec 12, 2007 -> 12:11 AM) haha seriously. I went to Soxfest the year we won it. Gift for Xmas. Never saw a croud like that. Just was crazy. I am hoping this year it is similar only the mood will be anger. Should be a fun time. Well you are in for a treat. The Q&A session should eclipse the pre-WS years. I am going to go just for the comedy value alone.

The reason to move Kong is he is just about to become a 10 and 5 guy which makes him nearly impossible to move after may unless he says yes.

QUOTE(Friend of Nordhagen @ Dec 12, 2007 -> 01:01 AM) God, this is so true. On the funny note, 1.) You will have silly cub fans wearing bandannas from the Karate Kid. 2.) Some dumb cub fans will get a tattoo with something silly written in japanese. They will think it says strength or go cubs, but in reality it will say "Please poop on me" 3.) Santo attempting to say his name. 4.) Santo yelling a racial slur the minute Fukudome drops the ball. 5.) The first time Fukudome sees the fans bowing to him, followed by them trashing the field when he forgets to tag 2nd. 6.) Ronny Woo wearing some sort of japanese crap because someone gave the homeless bum a new outfit. Someone needs to find the Japanese representation for 1908 for the new cubs suck shirts this year.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Dec 12, 2007 -> 12:52 AM) Not that I'd expect the players to say as much, but is there anybody in this organization who can just be honest and acknowledge how completely devoid of talent -- not grind, work-ethic or 'edge' -- this franchise is? Hopefully KW stops taking advise from Jr GMs Konerko and Dye on personnel decisions. There is a reason you dont let the workers run the company.

QUOTE(Vance Law @ Dec 12, 2007 -> 12:54 AM) Unless it's the year in which they have the #8 pick, so getting the Type-A free agent only means losing pick #60 or so, not #20. Take a gander at the craptitude that is our farm system. The number 60 pick is an upgrade over some of the filth we have down there.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Dec 12, 2007 -> 12:45 AM) Not only did we overpay by a couple million, we overpaid by at least a year. We also overpaid by giving him a NTC. And there are plenty of instances of guys getting underpaid in free agency. Is it really necessary to list each and every one of them? Okajima is one -- if you really believe that EVERYONE is overpaid in free agency, I'd question your thinking. You also forgot that a team who ranks as one of the worst minor league systems might not be too keen on giving up any draft picks via signing said overpaid type A free agent.

QUOTE(Chisoxrd5 @ Dec 12, 2007 -> 12:38 AM) A work location where Soxtalk isn't blocked! Ah the random block of non work related material. You have to admire other practitioners of the craft. LOL Think about it this way. My company hasnt had access to cubs related material in over 5 years. Every spring I block the ticketsnow virtual waiting room. Your security guy might be a cub fan. It happens. For Christmas I want to work from home everyday, instead of working everyday and then working from home at night.

QUOTE(Chisoxrd5 @ Dec 12, 2007 -> 12:31 AM) His act is tired, but so is Kenny's. Am I the only one who would rather have Fukodome for 4/48 than Rowand for the same price? At this point, just blow it the f*** up and start over.

Kotex boy probably blew a nut over the cubs signing Fukadome. Its gives him another opportunity to attack his favorite obsession, Reinsdorf.

QUOTE(jenks45monster @ Dec 11, 2007 -> 11:44 PM) If i was a Cub fan I would have wanted this for them. Especially with the signing of Fuku. This would have added a bit more chemistry for them and giving Fuku someone to learn about the MLB from along the way. How many 2nd basemen does one team need. The cubs have like 17 of them.

QUOTE(GreatScott82 @ Dec 11, 2007 -> 11:01 PM) What happens when Rowand signs with San Diego? What does KW do then? Because he has failed time and time again this offseason and it wouldn't surprise me if failed on the guy that WANTS to play here! If that happens.. and i was Mr. Reinsdorf, i would seriously consider moving on to a new GM... The Giants were hot on Rowand and have been in contact with his agent. They are a team desperate for offense that have been speculated to go to 5 years with him. The Padres will also help bring up the heat as well. Its Jerry Owens in CF this year guys. Konerko becomes a 5 and 10 guy in May. Lets blow this up proper and send him and Crede to the Angels for some major prospects and call it a season, reload and come back ready to fight the following year.

QUOTE(BobDylan @ Dec 11, 2007 -> 07:54 PM) *cough* Yankees *cough* A long time is an overstatement. And besides, pitching and defense wins it for you in the playoffs, not offense. How many times have the Yankees been to the playoffs in a row. Pitching and Defense might win you championships, but a violent and overwhelming offense seems to do the trick to get you to the playoffs. You cant win the WS if you dont get in.

QUOTE(elrockinMT @ Dec 11, 2007 -> 03:52 PM) Not be sold on Crede is wrong. I don't know what you are looking at and you can't be comparing him to Fields at 3B? Crede has huge upside regardless of back surgery abd I think that is a plus because he should be healthy for the whole season now What we are looking at is a 3rd baseman who just came off of major back surgery, who's agent is non other than Scott Boras. The reason a player gets Scott Boras is to get bags and bags of money for many years dropped off at their house. His clients dont sign contracts based on good heart, and love for a team. His clients get to FA and makes already mentioned bags of money. I am glad doctor that you have cleared him for baseball action and declare he should be healthy now. Fields defensively, sure Crede has him beat. But when its all said and done Fields should eclipse Crede's bat.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Dec 11, 2007 -> 10:59 AM) At some level, especially with some of these higher risk guys we've picked up, the way to do that is to make sure they get playing time, either in AAA or in the big leagues. Guys like Floyd, Owens, Quentin, Gio, Anderson, guys who people have some sort of concern with either due to injuries or lagging perfomance...the way to make them appealing for other teams is to play them. Right now, people wouldn't give up much for Floyd, but if he had a good first half, bam. Right now people look at Owens as a scrub, but if by some chance he hit .300 for a half season and stole 35 bases, suddenly he's in the good Juan Pierre territory. Right now Anderson is a scrub we want to dump, but a half year of solid hitting by him and suddenly his value could go back up. It's not going to happen to all of them, but if the goal is to rebuild, then playing these guys and not wasting ridiculous sums of money on guys like Rowand is the way to do that rebuilding the quickest. Anderson would of started last year in CF if it was up to me. There was no reason to purchase Mr. Glass and stick him in CF. Outside of the grindyness of his stubble and the fact that he could punt, this cost us a lot more than people think. I am in the let the kids play and see what we have. The end of last season having Pods and Grinderstad taking ABs away from younger players was dumb. I know the fight for 4th place was important, but come on.

QUOTE(EvilJester99 @ Dec 11, 2007 -> 10:51 AM) Found this on MLBTraderumors.com so TIFWIW UPDATE, 12-11-07 at 10:48am: Just talked to a good source on this stuff. He told me Fukudome wants five years, despite what we've read. The Cubs don't expect he'll sign for $50MM for five years, and are offering that amount over four. They're having an internal debate about stretching it to a five-year, $65MM offer. Jim Hendry wants to stop at four years though. And ESPN have Buster Onley on the radio saying that he thinks that Rowand will sign with the San Francisco Giants. They will move on his 5 year demands because they are so desperate for offense at this point. For 5 years the cubs can have him. Enjoy the weeds on the wall, the drunks, and the futility.