We just have the point-after-try to kick, or something
Several months ago, we were on the "five yard line" in the Theo compensation situation. Since then we've crossed the blue line, stepped into the paint, crossed the box, and veered right at the fireworks factory exit, and now it's finally been decided that Cubs prospect Chris Carpenter would be the compensation. There are still PBTNLs going each way that will be decided by April 15, since it has to be an officially official player trade. Everyone in the Chicago media is all confused because there wasn't an official trade when the Rays traded Randy Winn to Seattle for Lou, or the Ozzie 'trade'/tampering with the Marlins. Except there was, as MB pointed out:
October 28, 2002: Traded by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays to the Seattle Mariners for Antonio Perez.
Florida Marlins traded RHP Jhan Marinez and SS Osvaldo Martinez to Chicago White Sox and Bristol White Sox traded RHP Ricardo Andres to Greensboro Grasshoppers.
Cubs have four of BA's top 100 prospects
Cubs prospects Brett Jackson (32), Anthony Rizzo (47), Javier Baez (61), and Matt Szczur (Szxzxty-Fourth) made BA's annual list. BA loves the vowel challenged multi-sport athlete much more than most prospect listers. Read more about it in MB's post from yesterday.
Rotational news
Bruce Levine thinks that Travis Wood will have a spot in the rotation. I wonder who he thinks will be third though. He says that he thinks Maholm and Wood will be 4th and 5th, with Volstad, Wells, and F7 battling for the spot behind them. So then the rotation would be
1. Garza
2. Dempster
3 ??
4. Maholm
5. Wood
.
.
.
6. World Series Bound!!!!11!
I think the Cubs are better off just stashing Wood in AAA to keep down his service time. He has options left (I think just one), but it's very unlikely that they won't have to burn it at some point this year.
Spring Training positional battles
Not much is generally decided in spring training beyond the 2-3 players fighting for the last spots on the roster. In the same chat, Bruce thinks that the Cubs need another backup middle IF, which doesn't make sense at all. Hendry's fingerprints are still all over the organization, and his fingerprints take the form of middling second basemen, What the Cubs probably need most is a backup right-handed corner infielder so Stewart or LaHair aren't stuck playing against LHP.
(h/t to Bleacher Nation for the Levine chat link)
Why, indeed
Just asked Rizzo if he sees the Cubs winning a World Series in the next five years. His response: "Why not this year?"
— Doug Padilla (@ESPNChiCubs) February 22, 2012
MO's worst nightmare
New manager Dale Sveum set up a ~two-week bunting contest among Cubs players. I kind of like this idea. The Cubs suck at fundamentals, maybe this will help. We know nothing about the kinds of drills that go on in the minors, but this seems vastly more motivating than just plowing through the same old drills.
The Cubs just need to figure out something similar for TOOTBLANs. Free OV subscription goes to whoever thinks of a similar Spring Training contest for the Cubs woeful baserunners.
Community returns on the Ides of March
I know there are a bunch of fans here, and show creator Dan Harmon confirmed that Community will return March 15 at 8pm. Given the show's luck, this could be an elaborate scheme by NBC to assassinate the show on the Greendale Student Senate's steps or something.
1b price war news from The Shire
The Trib reports that Thoyer told LaHair months ago that they had no intention to sign Fielder or Pujols, and to ignore any rumors to that effect. Of course, they could be lying, but it was pretty nice of them to let LaHair know not to worry, and it's not like the Chicago media were going to interview him while he was playing winter ball when they're too busy chasing down purple-shirted sources down the block.
Cheap laugh of the day
A Cubs fan bought the domain name for the Red Sox spring training park, www.jetbluepark.com
Aisle424 wrote:
I want him to win because then he’d actually be useful laying down the bunts in the “40-point zone” and getting to 1B about 70% of the time. I think that’s actually why the 40 point zone is where it is, consistent with what SK suggested in the last thread.
Shock collars.
SkipVB wrote:
Bob Brenly agress with you .
If you can bunt a wrench, you can bunt a ball.
In 20 bunt attempts, Campana had 7 hits and 3 sacrifices. No idea how good that is, independent of running skill and infield positioning (also, of course, it’s a small sample).
The Cubs need to hire Mr. Burns to be the first base coach and shoot at the feet of players who try to advance a base more than they should.
Download | Convert YouTube to MP3
“(Szxzxty-Fourth)” (dying laughing)
How about Strip TOOTBLAN? Every time you get TOOTBLAN’d, remove an article of clothing. If your testicles are ever visible, you get DFA’d.
Campana somehow reminds me of Charlie Day.
ACT wrote:
Are those bunts that actually landed in play or total bunt attempts? It seemed like he attempted at least one bunt in every plate appearance.
I assume it means in play (the number comes from FG’s batted ball data). I doubt he tried to bunt all that often, though he did show bunt a lot, which isn’t the same thing.
@ Berselius:
That’s S-Mart’s top of the line boomstick.
ACT wrote:
My memory has him bunting and missing or bunting crappily foul an awful lot. I was never confident he couldget a bunt down, but all I have is my memory to go by.
So is standard OV convention for our new shit DFP:
Palm ——-> Face
or
Face ——-> Palm
I think both are defensible, and there are merits and demerits to both. So it could go either way.
Mish wrote:
From the earlier conversation re: drafting in the new CBA…the Cubs can spend about $7.9MM in the first ten rounds, or around $8.5MM if they go less than 5% over slot for each and incur the tax without forfeiting future picks. Is that total allotment usable however they want, like if they wanted to give their #6 pick $7MM for whatever reason, the overage tax doesn’t kick in there as long as they didn’t overspend later on? Or does the overage kick in for every pick in every round? That was the part I didn’t quite understand.
Suburban kid wrote:
After yesterday’s Simpsons swoon I’m reminded of why I hate this place. (dying laughing)
(dying laughing) at Szxzxty-Fourth.
Raysfags…explain this.
Mish wrote:
Once we start setting and meeting standards, we’ll risk getting reundiscredited, and I don’t think anybody wants that.
After the bunt drill comes getting hit in the head lessons, followed by the upper class twit of the year competition.
@ Rice Cube:
Looks like Don Zimmer.
@ Mucker:
Correct. But he is a bear.
Terrell Suggs on Tebow:
http://www.csnbaltimore.com/02/22/12/Suggs-rips-Tebow-as-terrible/landing.html
Mercurial Outfielder wrote:
Hey now…if we can teach our players how to get hit by pitches, we can greatly increase team OBP! #CubsWay
There are probably more Don-Zimmer-in-a-bear-suit fetishists than Rays fans in Tampa Bay, so I assume they are just trying to raise attendance down in St. Petersburg.
@ Rice Cube:
Can’t help you there. I’m not a Raysfag……I’m a Cubsfag.
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
Too bad Colvin isn’t around to teach the taking shards of bat to the torso lesson.
Xoomwaffle wrote:
…while still scoring the run. That takes some true grit.
@ Xoomwaffle:
That part is easy. The important thing is that we have Beef Castle the Impaler around to keep the shards flying.
I recently enjoyed that Under Pressure video for the first time a little while ago. That song, and that video, are fucking unbelievable.
I have a lazy, half-researched, unfalsifiable theory about that song, the weaker version being that it was both the best and the last really great thing that either Queen or David Bowie ever did, the stronger version being that it was the last great product of the mid-late 20th century countercultural revolution in the West. When David Bowie ended the song by singing that this was their last dance, he probably didn’t know how right he was.
/sweeping claim’d
@ Berselius:
My God Fry speaks truth
Terrell Suggs sucks.. How dare he talk about the chosen one like that
@ fang2415:
(dying laughing) Well said. I love the song and consider it a personal favorite. The end gets me. Unfortunately I came to know of the song’s existence through the trailer for “American Wedding”. By whatever means, I guess.
@ fang2415:
The song and video stood out from most of the other pop shit on MTV at the time. That’s as far as I’ll go.
Suburban kid wrote:
TWSS
Mish wrote:
LSA +1 Rec’d
@ Suburban kid:
Well, I’m more confident about the weaker claim. Under Pressure was release between Scary Monsters (which ruled) and Let’s Dance (the beginning of the end) for Bowie, and after Flash Gordon (silly but still good) and before Hot Space (dull aside from UP, and followed by ever cheesier 80s pap) for Queen.
Of course the video is awesome even though it had almost nothing to do with either band. Apparently they were both out of town so the director just cut it together from a bunch of stock footage.
Mish wrote:
This is actually pretty respectable when you consider that most people know it because of Vanilla Ice. (dying laughing)
@ fang2415:
Not a fan of Queen. I mean, their pop sensibility is hard to deny so I can appreciate a few of their melodies, but to be honest I prefer Abba.
I agree with your points about Bowie, except for the part where it might be the best thing he ever did.
@ fang2415:
Vanilla Ice’s song is totally different. Haven’t you ever heard his interview on the subject?
Suburban kid wrote:
Not happy about community coming back..
Parks and Rec is so much better
@ bubblesdachimp:
False dilemma!
fang2415 wrote:
(dying laughing) I forgot about this.
@ Rice Cube:
I thought that interview was about “Play That Funky Music White Boy”.
Download | Convert YouTube to MP3
NOT THE SAME
I forgot how lame Vanilla Ice was (dying laughing)
Suburban kid wrote:
Yeah, that may be a legitimate critique. Bowie was awfully good at creating music for about eleven years there. (dying laughing)
@ Rice Cube:
He does have a point, in that the original song was incredible and his song was terrible. Incredible and terrible aren’t the same. (dying laughing)
@ Rice Cube:
(dying laughing)
@ Suburban kid:
I like Queen just fine, my main issue with them is the two songs that have been played to death and then some at every single sporting event. That’s not really their fault though.
Holy shit. Kruger tried to kill himself.
http://www.tmz.com/2012/02/22/super-troopers-daniel-von-bargen-suicide-attempt-shot/#.T0VFh_EgeHN
Such an enlightened blog. No one’s giving me shit for liking ABBA.
@ Aisle424:
Are they actually allowed to release 911 tapes? Or are they just getting hacked or something? That seems like the kind of thing that it might make just a smidgen more sense to keep private.
^
|
|
|
Also occasionally enjoys the music of ABBA.
@ Suburban kid:
@ fang2415:
I’m gonna go with 15 years.
@ Suburban kid:
Cognitive dissonance. I just assumed it was probably a typo.
@ Suburban kid:
I’m not an ABBA guy, but I do enjoy their songs.
@ Aisle424:
Holy shit. I guess he had diabetes and didn’t want to lose his feet.
@ Suburban kid:
Yeah, I’ll give you that, although I personally consider this one to be his first un-fucking-believable achievement:
Download | Convert YouTube to MP3
But we’re splitting hairs here. He was always really really good, until just after Under Pressure was released anyway. (dying laughing)
The Homer At The Bat team would have been 110-52. Or as SG says:
(dying laughing): http://www.rlyw.net/index.php/RLYW/comments/deadspin_the_making_of_homer_at_the_bat_the_episode_that_conquered_pri
@ fang2415:
It’s never stopped anyone before.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/pictures-that-perfectly-capture-the-90s
@ Berselius:
-1 for misspelling Pippen, but otherwise, that was awesome.
Berselius wrote:
(dying laughing)
(dying laughing)
(dying laughing)
That is the most 90s thing I’ve ever seen.
Sabermetrics for movies?
http://www.avclub.com/articles/what-entertainment-reporters-could-learn-from-base,69729/
@ mb21:
I like that Cartoon Clemens has unlimited stamina.
More Simpsons greatest hits:
http://www.grantland.com/blog/hollywood-prospectus/post/_/id/44105/youtube-hof-best-simpsons-moments-ever
@ Mish:
That was a good article.
@ Mish:
I forgot about “Given the chance this cow would kill you and everyone you love.” Awesome.
Also, “Just ask this scientician” works for almost every situation on the news when the “experts” are consulted.
@ mb21:
Love the opening paragraph:
@ josh:
I love the various depictions of teh food chain (the shark eating the gorilla) and I love the “Just ask this Scientician.”
@ Mish:
Yep, I toss that quote around quite a bit. It’s amazing how often it’s applicable.
Aroldis Chapman to the rotation? I’d like to see it.
@ mb21:
I was surprised they kept him in the bullpen last year. I was under the impression that they did that at the end of 2010 out of necessity and that the plan was for him to start.
I thought they announced he was going to be a starter earlier, but I might be thinking of Neftali Feliz.
@ mb21:
He’ll be the next Nolan Ryan, only with more walks!
Brewers signed this guy: http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/gibboja01.shtml
DUH-DOY! It’s Carlos Zam–what’s that now?
WHEN?
Shit.
Mish wrote:
All look the same to you, eh Mish?
mb21 wrote:
I was ape over Gibbons in 2000.
He was awesome that one season at Tennessee in 2000 (this is when they were TOR affiliates)– got to see him play live several times. Had a sky-high batting average that year. One of my friends still has his signed ball. Went on to be a rule 5 pick, spent a season his rookie season hitting home runs and ending up on Sportcenters top ten plays almost every week with Willie Mays-style catches. Man, those first few seasons with the O’s he was really awesome. And then, reality hit.
He was good last year in LA — if only the Cubs would trade Marlon Byrd. It’ll be fun watching him on a contending Brew Crew team come September.
For Mish
Homers’ ambulance hitting the tree after driving about a foot is the exact moment when The Simpsons went from a funny TV show to absolute Must See TV fo rme. I had a VCR in college, but our reception was terrible and it didn’t tape well, so I would plan social engagements around the Simpsons so I could watch it live every week in the Campus Center.
@ ACT:
(dying laughing)
@ Berselius:
I don’t know what’s awesomer; that all Batman related posts get directed at me or that everyone hates me for it. (dying laughing)
The bunt tournament seeding via Bruce Mile
It’s more legible if you go to the link directly:
http://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/405528_326352527399934_100000755672974_784029_1794014744_n.jpg
mb21 wrote:
no way they win 110 games. After all, the Red Sox didn’t have to do all this:
Umpire: Okay, let’s go over the ground rules.
You can’t leave first until you chug a beer.
Any man scoring has to chug a beer.
You have to chug a beer at the top of all odd-numbered innings.
Oh, and the fourth inning is the beer inning.
Chief Wiggum: [in baseball uniform] Hey, we know how to play softball.
@ Aisle424:
Awesome chronicle, chum.
Aisle424 wrote:
I hope somebody records the 2/15 matchup between Dale Sveum and Kerry Wood. Also, does Sveum get the prize if he wins the tournament? I’d be quite frustrated if I were playing for the Cubs and my incentives were stolen by a 40-year old, middle aging, balding guy.
Sveum has the same seeding as Soriano. Campana is a #10 seed.
“And then I became a ‘leader in the clubhouse’, and it didn’t matter if I couldn’t hit or field. It lasted three years!”
Random shit I found on my hard drive.
ACT wrote:
Tango said the exact same thing! http://www.insidethebook.com/ee/index.php/site/article/is_aroldis_chapman_nolan_ryan/
I had forgotten that Nick Swisher was in N’Sync until I saw that photo
<em http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/enhanced/web05/2012/2/20/17/enhanced-buzz-8498-1329777092-14.jpg em>
holy shit that's ripe for photoshop. Yankees: Swisher top left, Jeter bottom right, Texiera top right, Girardi bottom left, A-rod center
@ Aisle424:
We need to have an Obstructed View bunting tournament.
mb21 wrote:
Your move, AC
…
…
D’oh!
@ Berselius:
@ ACT:
@ ACT:
@ Berselius:
Is that Viggo?
I don’t know what’s going on here.
Aisle424 wrote:
.
@ Berselius:
Darn. That was my idea.
Here’s hoping the Cubs bunt better than this.
@ Aisle424:
I was thinking about that last night. I had no idea (still don’t) what the hell is going on here. Despite that, it’s one of the reasons why I love this place. (dying laughing)
@ mb21:
The preceding posts were examples of different forms of “bunting” or folks who had the surname of “Bunting” (dying laughing)
I think a bunting is a form of bird or a textile depending on context. It can also be something you use to swaddle a baby in. I only knew of the textile and the bird and had to look up the third one.
mb21 wrote:
I disagree, soley because I am not one of your minions.
I assumed everyone else was google-imaging “bunting,” except Mish who misunderstood. Bunting can be a hanging paper decoration, as demonstrated in necklace form in my picture.
@ Rice Cube:
I should have figured that out because of this one:
@ GBTS:
Palm ——-> Face
http://www.obstructedview.net/chicago-cubs/daily-facepalm-2-23-12-position-players-report.html