Or, "At least we're not the Astros"

(20 players in MLB make more than the entire Astros roster.)

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This Astros team might be the worst team in my lifetime.

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Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way

I'm looking at cubs.com and in the "Committed" slogan on the masthead, I do believe I spot the telltale C of Arial. They set this in fucking Arial. What, the Cubs can't afford to buy Helvetica?

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The new slogan is a LIE!

They made hardly any commitment to putting a better hitting team on the field. Why is a FA pitcher looked at as a "stop gap" player but getting a decent hitter in the OF or at 2nd or 3rd is a no-no?

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

Gotta disagree with your position reguarding 2nd base. I think you will see Barney improve this season offensively. His production in the 2nd half was up last season and he has had a very nice spring training, showing more pop.

As far as the other positions, they already signed stop-gap players at 3rd (Stewart-just can't stay healthy) and in the outfield- DeJesus, last season. They added Hairston and Schierholtz as 2 more stop-gap guys to the outfield this season as well. All of them are credible stop-gap players, who can help the team to compete to some degree, until the outstanding prospects that will take their places are ready. Baez may be converted to 3rd base, while Soler and Almora should take the 2 corner outfield positions. Hopefully Bret Jackson can still become the CF everyone thought he could be. It's the pitching that is really in need of a major upgrade at the minor league level. There are few outstanding prospects that project well to the major league level.

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Go Cubs!!!!

Correction: It violated the model you assumed was being used but obviously wasn't. Perhaps Theo is smart enough to know that the Cubs haven't developed a pitcher as good as Edwin Jackson since Greg Maddux.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

Mark Prior was 3rd in Cy Young voting in 2003. He won 18 games that year. He had a better season that year than Jackson will ever have. Try again

In addition, I would take Kerry Wood when healthy over Jackson as well.

Perhaps the issue was more that the previous administration did a poor job of developing players at the minor league level and it's a matter of the new people in place to do a better job of developing pitchers. The big problem they may have, is that it takes longer generally to develop pitching. There are exceptions like Prior and Sale that are almost ready when drafted. But many pitchers don't really develop until their middle to late 20's. In 2 years, a number of potential stars (Baez, Soler and perhaps Almora or Jackson) may be installed in the everyday lineup. But without good pitching in place, they aren't gonna truely contend. So that is where I am guessing they will be spending the most dollars on free agents, as I don't see them having pitching developed that quickly. But if they are gonna spend on pitching, it's gotta be of a higher quality than Edwin fucking Jackson. The guy is basically a .500 pitcher. He's wildly inconsistent and walks far too many batters because he lacks command.

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Go Cubs!!!!

Kerry Woodwhenhealthy! And I would take an Edwin Jackson who threw 110 mph with an awesome curveball and a great slider over any pitcher in history. Edwin Jackson has already had a better career than Prior. Stop living in fantasyland.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

Mark Prior was 18-6 with a 2.43 ERA in 2003. He pitched 211 innings and recorded 245 strikeouts. Show me a season where Edwin jackson ever approached those numbers or just appologize and retreat.

You laugh about Kerry Wood but Wood was 14-11 with a 3.20 ERA in 2003 including 266 K's.

Edwin Jackson's best season was with the Rays in 2008 when he was also 14-11, but he had a bloated 4.42 ERA. Hell, the guys career ERA is 4.40 . There is a good reason he's on his 8th team now....he's not that good.

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Go Cubs!!!!

Wrong again, Steve. Baseball is a game of time and repetition. 250 at-bats isn't enough to separate Babe Ruth from Anthony Rizzo.

Edwin Jackson takes the ball every time. And when his 33 starts are in the book, his team is probably about .500 and still in contention. Guys like that are valuable. e.g. Javy Vazquez, Gavin Floyd. No matter what certain Sox fans might think.

There have been tons of guys like Prior and Wood who couldn't stay on the field. Prior is like Wally Bunker or Britt Burns. You thought he could be "THE BEST EVER". But he wasn't. And when he can't make those starts, you know who is making them? Some fuckin' turd like Glendon Rusch or Jerome Williams.

This romanticizing of Prior is, frankly, absurd. It would be like a Sox fan waxing poetic about Esteban Loaiza every time a conversation on pitching came up.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

Darwin Barney
Pre/Post All-Star Game 2012
.259/.304/.362
.247/.293/.345

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One of my favorite parts of baseball season is JORR's continued shots at his fellow Sox fans regarding Javy & Gavin

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

You mean his delusion.

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When I say "his production" I was referring to his power numbers (HR's and RBI) not batting average. But feel free to look those numbers up.

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Go Cubs!!!!