okay bradley r, you got me. the cubs pitching staff is mostly not great.

is there any way we can bet, like $50 or something, on which team is better this year, cubs or yankees? total wins, including postseason? or who wins the world series? i'll do it in a heartbeat.

yeah, that was rough how the yankees took down the cubs last year. oh wait, the yankees didn't even make it. hmm.

seriously $50.

you've got to be kidding.

you lost Colon, Everett and Alomar and replaced them with who? juan uribe? robert persons (who is already injured) ???

predictions -

loaiza will go 10 and 15
ordonez is traded before the season ends
garland goes 12 and 12 or 13 and 13 or 14 and 14 again

if kerry wood is mediocre, what makes you think garland is so great? and how can you be anything but elated regarding getting rid of that piece of crap Koch?

baseball!
andyk

Bradley R. Weissenberger wrote:People have griped about losing Colon, Everett and Alomar. WTF?! Those guys were rentals. Besides, the Sox had serious raises due to Ordonez, Lee, Buehrle and Loaiza, and had to keep those guys in place. If any Sox fans want to gripe, then please get in line behind the Oakland A's fans.

I keep hearing rumors of a Konerko-Koch for Griffey Jr.-Reitsma deal with the Reds. I don't like it.

By the way, I don't want to hear anything more about the Cubs great pitching staff. Prior is the real deal (and strikes me as a psycho who come across as disarmingly normal, which I really like). After him, there is a steep drop off to the above-averageness of Wood and Clement, a largely unknown quantity in Zambrano, and a Greg Maddux who was seriously knocked around in '03. Seriously, if someone can make a straight-facted argument about the "greatness" of Kerry Wood that is supported by facts (apart from the splendidly pitched clinching game against Atlanta), then I'll eat my batting gloves.

Friggin' Cubs. Steve, may I borrow your acid spill for them?

bradley, we gotta bet. c'mon yo.

who has the all-time record for most strikeouts in a single game? a two-way tie, between clemens and kerry wood. 20 K's. two people have done that, ever. randy's only gotten 19. but wood must be only "above-average".

eat those gloves! eat them!

The nature of baseball is that you don't "replace" players. You redefine the nature of your team. Did the Mariners "replace" Griffey Jr., A-Rod or Randy Johnson? They did not, yet they were a better team. Have the Oakland A's "replaced" Giambi, Tejada, Foulke or Damon?

I see the White Sox doing the same thing. They will be a angrier team with a greater focus on small ball (Valentin, Harris, Rowand, Olivo) to compliment their power (Ordonez, Thomas, Lee, Konerko). Will they have gaps? Absolutely. They lack a great leadoff hitter and, as of now, a fifth starter. But doesn't every team? And if anyone expected Colon (who was overpaid by the Angels -- and for four years!), Alomar (nifty, but past his prime), Everett (a true loss, but he would not have fit in the budget) or Sullivan (who was really brokenhearted to leave Cincy, so much so that he signed with KC as a free agent) to stay in town, then that person was delusional.

By the way, Ordonez isn't going anywhere.

Jon Garland will have breakout year. If you play fantasy baseball, bank on it. This guy is a Cy Young waiting to happen.

Does anyone remember Danny Wright? That guy won 14 games two years ago, and he's healthy again.

Loaiza -- 10-15? Did you see the cutter that he developed last year? DID YOU SEE IT? That guy could win 15 games left-handed with that pitch.

As long as the Sox don't dig a big early season hole for themselves like they did last year, then they'll cruise through the Central.

P.S. Confidential to Mr. Toomanyhelicopters: I don't bet. I particularly don't bet with people who say "yo". If the Sox fall flat, your only recourse will be to return to this forum and taunt me publicly.

as far as replacements go, i dont remember how the roster changes took place concerning the mariners, but they did add jamie moyer, ichiro and boone during that time period, if i'm not mistaken...the A's are a different story, because they're strength is their pitching...

you mention small ball, but i dont see any names on that list that are proven "grinders" as kenny williams so elequently put it...actually, other than valentin, who on that list has actually played a full season?

ordonez, lee yes. thomas wont be on the team and konerko sucked it up the last year and a half...

i like my chances with clement, zambrono or wood over danny fucking wright...same goes for garland and your fifth guy..and what i saw of loiza was a guy who sucked in the clutch against the twins... the team that was patient with his cutter..

andyk

Bradley R. Weissenberger wrote:The nature of baseball is that you don't "replace" players. You redefine the nature of your team. Did the Mariners "replace" Griffey Jr., A-Rod or Randy Johnson? They did not, yet they were a better team. Have the Oakland A's "replaced" Giambi, Tejada, Foulke or Damon?

I see the White Sox doing the same thing. They will be a angrier team with a greater focus on small ball (Valentin, Harris, Rowand, Olivo) to compliment their power (Ordonez, Thomas, Lee, Konerko). Will they have gaps? Absolutely. They lack a great leadoff hitter and, as of now, a fifth starter. But doesn't every team? And if anyone expected Colon (who was overpaid by the Angels -- and for four years!), Alomar (nifty, but past his prime), Everett (a true loss, but he would not have fit in the budget) or Sullivan (who was really brokenhearted to leave Cincy, so much so that he signed with KC as a free agent) to stay in town, then that person was delusional.

By the way, Ordonez isn't going anywhere.

Jon Garland will have breakout year. If you play fantasy baseball, bank on it. This guy is a Cy Young waiting to happen.

Does anyone remember Danny Wright? That guy won 14 games two years ago, and he's healthy again.

Loaiza -- 10-15? Did you see the cutter that he developed last year? DID YOU SEE IT? That guy could win 15 games left-handed with that pitch.

As long as the Sox don't dig a big early season hole for themselves like they did last year, then they'll cruise through the Central.

P.S. Confidential to Mr. Toomanyhelicopters: I don't bet. I particularly don't bet with people who say "yo". If the Sox fall flat, your only recourse will be to return to this forum and taunt me publicly.

ok, no more 'yo' then?

brad, c'mon dude! didn't wood, clement, and zambrano all have the same number of wins you're talking about here for Wright and Loaiza? like 14ish? and then maddux at 16 last year? so that's what, five cubs starters who had 13+ wins last year? yeah, let's not talk about them cause they're not so good. yo.

just funnin.

If you look at the odds in Vegas (fuckin' Vegas!) it breaks down to this:

2004 World Series Champion
The Yankees 7-2
The Red Sox 9-2
The Cubs 7-1
The Angels 9-1
The Astros 10-1
The Phillies 10-1
.
.
(way down the list)
.
The White Sox 30-1
The Dodgers 30-1
etc.

The numbers speak for themselves. Moving on...

Bradley, you want an argument for why Wood is the shit. I'll give you one. I saw that fucker up close in Puerto Rico and maybe behind only Dusty Baker, he had the shit. When you walked by him on the casino floor, you felt the shit surrounding him. I don't have to talk about his 20 strike outs and all that other bullshit. How 'bout the fuckin' 2 run homer in Game 7 of the NLCS, or that behind the back catch off a liner straight back at him in his previous start. You think Steve Bartman is gonna get Kerry Wood down? Fuck no!

Greg Maddux: TIm is right, 3rd slot/pitching coach. He obviously brings some experience for the younger guys to play off of. That's gonna help. I don't think he's the saving grace though. We were fine without him, but we're stronger with him. (Hear that, stronger than last year, bitch.)

Pudge: Fuck Pudge. The Tigers can have 'em. He'd just fuck us up. Last thing we need is some over-priced, cocky asshole telling Prior and Wood what to pitch. Baker can handle that just fine if he ever needs to. Baker has more class and charisma than fuckin' Pudge in his little finger. We've got the best manager in baseball. I'll take that over Pudge-whacker anyday.

The White Sox: The White Sox blow too. 30 to 1. 30 to 1. 30 to 1. Good luck Crede crew. Oh, I heard that ALL the umps at U.S. Cellular field are required to wear face masks and full padding this year. I'll sneak in cheap during 1/2 price day, to watch the comedy, thank you very much.

George Stienbrenner: Quoting Trump, "He's a winner." NY can keep his wrinkled ass. Winner? Spoiled brat is more like it. Uh, I thought he was gonna fire Joe Torre if they didn't win last year. What happened to that? Darth Vader and the Empire never could beat the Rebel Alliance.

What else? Bring it on!

russ

Some general thoughts:

-I think Maddux is a great pickup for the Cubs because of what he can potentially teach those young starters. Including, especially, Prior and Wood. Both of these guys need to learn the science of getting hitters out within 2-3 pitches. I really believe that another couple of years of 7 inning, 130 pitch, 10-15 strikeout games is going to fry their arms over the long haul. Maddux is arguably the smartest, greatest control pitcher in baseball history.

-Now it looks like both the Cubs and Yankees are going to have 5 righties, 0 lefties in their starting rotations. Not good.

-The A-Rod contract is not and never was the Rangers' problem. The Rangers' problem was their utter inability to evaluate pitching. The $10 million a year they gave to Chan Ho Park, the $5 million they gave to freaking Todd Van Poppel...stupid shit like this is what has ruined them.

-I'm really unclear as to why the Yankees have invested in all these right-handed power hitters (A-Rod, Sheffield) when Yankee Stadium is such an unfriendly park for right-handed hitters, and so easy for left-handed hitters. The last Yankee right-handed hitter to hit 40 HRs in a season was DiMaggio! Get rid of Nick Johnson, and get a bunch of righties?

russ-

agreed save some opinions on pudge. i remember thinking he was overpriced at the time, but damn if he isn't a good hitter. look what he did to us in the nlcs (bastard). hit in every game against everyone we put in front of him. don't know if the cubs went after him or not, but dusty probably could have kept him in check calling pitches (how many pitches does a catcher actually call in a game anyway? or does he really have a reputation for bossing pitchers around?.... i don't know) and we would have had some (debatably) needed offense.

but i'm not crying over spilled milk. i think i misspelled debatably though.

hope maddux fills exactly the role tim prescribed for him. look at what he did for the younger pitchers in atlanta. he could retire in three years, and the cubs could realistically still have 3 or all 4 of the current dudes around, older and wiser just like the braves, but better. hopefully we won't turn into the playoff doormats that maddux has been with though......

gotta work.

mc

I think Maddux is a great pickup for the Cubs because of what he can potentially teach those young starters. Including, especially, Prior and Wood. Both of these guys need to learn the science of getting hitters out within 2-3 pitches.

well, probably most pitchers could learn _something_ from maddux. and point taken about wood's pitch counts, though baker didn't hang him out to dry too much last year. but prior doesn't need to know anything more than he already knows. he is the real shit.

i don't agree with brad about wood--i think he is also the real shit, just not the rarified shit that prior is. he is the staff ace on 3/4 of the teams in mlb.

the yanks' rotation is full of risks, but it's not full of holes. it'll be full of holes if brown craps out, lieber stays on the mat, and contreras goes on the dl all the fahgina time. if they hold together, they'll be in good shape.

yeah, that was rough how the yankees took down the cubs last year. oh wait, the yankees didn't even make it. hmm.

i'm confused....both the cubbies and the yankees got their asses kicked by a better team. the same team, in fact.

I'm really unclear as to why the Yankees have invested in all these right-handed power hitters (A-Rod, Sheffield) when Yankee Stadium is such an unfriendly park for right-handed hitters, and so easy for left-handed hitters.

hey, great point

i think the w.sox will be fun to watch, as they always are. i just don't think they'll be very good.

the mariners _will_ win 93 games, brad, exc. they will LOSE their division to the goddamn a's.