The recent events in Chicago remind of the Seinfeld episode in which Jerry becomes Kramer and Kramer becomes Jerry. You know, the one with Roger's Chicken. Anyway, it seems as Kenny Williams has taken to the way the Cubs have done business the last few years. You know, just throwing money around without paying attention to whom it it is going to. First he trades Jon Garland. Not to say that i have such a big problem with trading Garland, i just dont understand the timing and the return on the trade. Yeah, Cabrera is a solid player, but in a FA market in which Carlos Silva is the big fish, i cant imagine that Cabrera was the best the Sox could get in return for Garland. Garland was never really a good fit for the Sox. He was too laid back for Ozzie, and his fly ball tendencies weren't a good fit in the launching pad that is US Cellular Field. Plus, the Sox just lost their second best starter, and they dont really have any viable replacement for him. John Danks did nothing to inspire last year, and the same can be said for Gavin Floyd. Lance broadway pitched well in his final start, but he is very young and raw. Maybe one of them could work out, but i dont see it happening. With the continuing decline of Jose "im only 30 years old" Contreras, the Sox pitching staff will struggle nect year. Also, Garland was going into the last year of his deal and Kenny has made it clear that he wont have enything to do with long term deals, which Garland is sure to demand. But thats where i have got a problem with Kenny. Fine, if your gonna take that stand, take it. But dont turn around just a few days later and throw 20 million over five years at a guy like Scott Linebrink, who Bruce Levine, ESPN Chicago's baseball guy, said has just signed with the Sox for that amount of money. Not only is Linebrink coming off of his worst year as a relieve, but in offering him that deal kenny went aginst the principal that he so often sites as his main criteria in making offers. Considering that he posted an ERA in the high 3's the last two years while pitching in cavernous Petco Park, the move to the Cell will only make him less efective. His strikeouts were way down in 07 and his WHIP was way up. He is also 31 years old, but with relievers, 31 isnt as big of a deal as it is with hitters and starting pitchers. P Overall, i dont really like the moves that Williams has made. He signed Uribe, then traded for Cabrera. He would have to find an absolute idiot to take Uribe and his 4.5 million that he is owed this year. The Sox would probably have to eat at least half the contract anyway, nullifying the cash they got in the deal for Cabrera. And now, with the rumor that the Dodgers have offered Torii Hunter a six year deal worth 102 million, the Sox chances at landing Torii look really slim. Kenny has got a lot of work to do, and i dont particularly like the start he has gotten off to. They have no left and center fielder. Jerry Owens is OK, but hes already past the prospect age, and still hasnt shown anything outside of speed. Dye is old is not going to repeat his 2006. Konerko is older, and Danny RIchar is also way too raw and hit very poorly last year. To me, it looks like Kenny is trying to patch everything up in one postseason, but there simply arent enough good players avilable to fix all the problems on the South Side. If he continues making desperate and ridiculous offers like the one he has extended to Linebrink, he is only hurting his team.

With Rex Grossman getting the starting nod this week against the Seahawks, talk has resurfaced about Good Rex/Bad Rex. I dont mean to be rude to those guys that have spent hours upon hours debating that ridiculous topic, but there is no such thing as Good/Bad Rex. Rex Grossman, when allowed to play his game, is both good and bad. He will tantalize and dissapoint. He will dazzle and fizzle out. That is so because the thing(s) that Rex does well come as a result of what makes him incompetent and will render him a solid backup for the remainder of his career. Perhaps the most underrated component of successful quarterbacks is size. A quarterback with size has an enormous advantage over one lacking size, especially when both make their hay in the pocket, which is exactly what Rex does. Rex Grossman, who is no doubt shorter than the 6"1 listed in his player profile, will never be a (good) starting quarterback because of his lack of size and inability to escape the pocket, not so much to escape pressure, but to open passing lanes in which he wont have to throw his passes over the outstretched arms of oncoming defensive linemen. These drawbacks however, do not limit his deep passing ability, which is why it is so easy to become infatuated with Grossman if you only watch him in small doses. His aforementioned lack of height and mobility are such great deterrents to his success that they limit his game to two things: checkdowns and deep balls to Bernard Berrian. He does not have the ability to pass the ball horizontally, just vertically, because a thrown deep ball will always sail above linemen's arms and not be affected by a quarterback's size, but balls thrown to the across the field between 10-30 yards are greatly affected by a QB's size. Any time Rex needs to complete say, a crossing route 20 yards down the field, his thrown will need more arch on it than say, a pass thrown by Philip Rivers or Ben Roethlesberger, two quarterbacks with good height. The problems associated with small quarterbacks can be avoided by running numerous plays that allow the quarterback to escape the pocket and eliminate the problem of throwing over linemen, but to do that a quarterback needs to be quick, fast and aware of where blitzers are coming from, all of which Rex is not. Maybe if he had not blown his knee out in the Metrodome a few years ago he might be a pro bowler, but since he did he never will be. A perfect example of a smaller quarterback that creates new throwing lanes is Jeff Garcia. He isnt as tiny as Rex is, but the comparison is sufficient. What makes matters worse for the Bears is that as long as Rex is in the game, going across the middle, which is the strength of Muhsin Muhammad, Greg Olsen, and Desmond Clark, a very difficult and dangerous task. If you watched all of the Bears game last year, you would have seen that contrary to what i said above, Rex did complete passes in the middle of the field. True, but those passes which were complete almost always required an extraordinary effort by his recievers and also subjected them to some enormous bone crunching hits. For the most part, as long as Rex is in the game, the only way for Ron Turner to utilize those three playmakers is to send them deep or keep a number of extra blockers in the poket, giving Rex enough space and time to complete a pass that he would not be able to complete in regular circumstances. That type of gameplan and scheme will only work, if at all, against the lesser teams in the league, but will never be able beat teams with good players and defensive strategies. I came to terms with it a hile ago, and its about time Lovie Smith and Jerry Angelo come to terms with it as well. Rex Grossman is not, and will never be, a quarterback good enough to be a competent starter. With time, the rest of the league will come to see this.

Jime Hendry has done it again. Fresh off an offseason in which he assured the Cubs of having the most frustrating leadoff man in the game for the next seven years, Hendry, for one reason or another, decided to be for the Tigers what Dave Littlefield has been for the Cubs, a fan. Hendry has just pulled the trigger on a deal that sent Jacque Jones, who in having his worst season as a pro finished with an acceptable line of .285/.335/.400, and put together a second half to the tune of .332/.374/.458, to the Tigers for Omar Infante, who couldnt beat out Brandon Inge(.241/.304.394) for the job at 3b. Infante's career best average, OBP and SLG% are .277/.325/.449. He has played just 407 games over the last four years. Jacque Jones, despite having his worst year in 07, is making just 5 million this year and the Cubs should have waited until the market for outfielders thinned out and the demand for Jones would have increased. I feel that Hendry, fresh off of a first round sweep, made this move just to make a move. I understand that Jones was maybe the most frustrating Cub of 07 and hit only five home runs, but if the Cubs fail to get their hands on a premier outfielder by opening day, Jime Hendry will rue the day he traded Jacque Jones. While writing my respnse to a comment, i realized that not only is Hendry giving up Jones for a lesser player, but he is giving up Jones to acquire a player who will in no way shape or form help bolster the team. Infante presumabbly was brough in to be some sort of utility guy, not a starter, and mainly sub in at SS and 2B. The Cubs already have themselves one of the most durable infielders in the game, Mark Derosa. Derosa played 1B,2B and 3B last season(not to mention LF) and did a great job at all three. Theriot, who i believe can be one of the best 2B/SS bench guys in the game, can do everything Infante does, except Theriot does it better. In watching Ryan play every day last year it was pretty clear that a) He wasnt good enough defensively to be a starting SS and b) He coudlnt handle the wear and tear of a full time gig at SS. If relegated to bench status, Theriot would perform at a higher level with all of the rest he would get and would provide some rest here and there for Derosa. Also, if the Cubs were to acquire Kaz Matsui(and his injury history) and play him at SS, i would feel much safer with Theriot behind him than i would with Infante.

Someone, please help me out. There was a vote taken yesterday at the winter meetings to try and get Selig to approve instant replay on home runs and the vote was 25 to 5. Whats worse for me is that my favorite team's idiot GM, Jim Hendry, said after the vote that he like the idea of "leaving the game in the hands of the ump." It is decision making like this, at all levels of the baseball heierarchy, that puts baseball miles behind the NFL. Hendry in essence said, "because the game has always been in the hand of the umps, why not allow the possibility of wrong home run calls to be made." He is rooting for bad officiating. The same can be said for the four other bozos that voted against the replay.

I could already see their reasoning: "It would take away form the tradition of the game. The games would take too long. How often is it a problem anyway?" As stupid as some of those claims sound, dont be surprised if the five guys that voted aginst replay use them.

-"It would take away form the tradition of the game." A continuence of stupidity just because stupidity has been used in the past is sheer madness. By that logic, the wheel would never have been invented. Makes you wonder what kind of guys are running the show.

-"The game takes too long. How often is it a problem anyway?" How often is there a questionable home run call. I would be surprised if there has ever been more than 10-15 home runs that have given an ump trouble. Considering the fact that a fatass like Bruce Fremming is making home run calls from home plate, that says something about how easy most home runs are too call. So if they are so few and would impact maybe 10-15 games per season, whats the big deal? An extra minute here and there never hurt anybody, but a bad home run call has.

 

Things are not looking good in the Chi nowadays. No team, aside from maybe the Blackhawks, playing good ball, and none of them really have bright futures either. Hers a breakdown, with a few solutions here an there, for the four big teams in Chicago, the Bears, Cubs, Bulls and Sox. The Bulls: John Paxson and Scott Skiles really have to take a step back and look at the team objectively. The team, as presently constructed, need to be evaluated. Is the core of Luol Deng, Kirk Hinrich and Ben Gordon a championship calibur one? Are they at the height of their developmental process or do they still have room to grow? The answer to both questions is no. The Bulls have some intriguing prospects and some pretty good players, but collectively they dont have what it takes to raise another banner in the UC. Ben Gordon is too small and too defensively deficient to start. Kirk Hinrich is too ordinary and has been around long enough to learn how to stay out of foul trouble. Luol Deng, despite his sudden rise to superstar status(which i think is utterly ridiculous), is a good player and fun to root for, but he doesnt have that much more room to grow. He can get better, but only a little better. Ben Wallace is all but washed up. Can he grab rebounds, yes, but a team so reliant on outside shooting can not afford to have an offensive zero on the floor in case they go on cold streaks. Tyrus Thomas is athletic and entertaining, but i would take LaMarcus Aldridge back in a heartbeat. Thomas has work ethic problems and no offensive game to speak of. Put backs dont count. Chris Duhon is a backup, and the same goes for guys like Andres Nocioni and Joe Smith. The player with the most upside on the Bulls is Thabo Sefolsha, but Skiles doesn't seem willing to play him. The Bulls need to do whatever they can to bring in Kobe. Nobody is untouchable. Bulls fans are scared to mention Kobe and MJ in the same breath, i am not. The Bulls, if unchanged, are just a a nice team that could do some damage in the playoffs, perhaps win a series or two. With Kobe, they can get some rings. Give away Deng and Gordon, i dont care. The Cubs: This team has some major holes. The outfield, Alfonso Soriano included, is bad. I think Soriano is a below average baseball player and does little to help his team. Solo home runs are nice, but whether you drive yourself in or someone else drives you in, its just on run. His OBP sucks and so does his effort. The LSU guys, Mike Fontenot and Ryan Theriot, despite their strong starts, are not starters. Theriot can take up a bench spot on my team any day, but Fontenot isnt big league material. Felix Pie doesnt appear to be ready. A piece of ice in hell has a better chance of staying frozen than Pie has of hitting a curveball. A platoon of Murton/Jones could work for me in right, but i wouldnt mind seeing Murton traded for a shortstop like Johnny Peralta, which SI says is a real possibility. The pitching staff is in decent shape, but i dont know if Marquis will be a Cub come opening day. He was left off the playoff roster and that may have soured his realtionship with the Cubs and more importantly Lou Piniella, who by the way is just an ok manager at this point. The Cubs need to get an oufielder or two, a decent shortsop, some bullpen help and find a way to fortify the back end of their rotation. There are some in hous options, like Ronny Cedeno, Sean Marshall, Mark Prior, Kevin Hart, Tyler Colvin and and a few others, but some of those might not be ready for full time play in the bigs. Jim Hendry has a lot of work to do. The White Sox: This team is in big trouble. They play in a very good division and dont have much young talent in their farm system.I like Josh Fields and the return of Joe Crede should be of some help, but the offense is very old and very, very slow. They already have kissed Erstad goodbye and will probably do the same to the oft-injured Podsednik, and in doing so will wave goodbye to two of the biggest "grinders" in Sox history. Good Riddance. But in doing so, they open the door for the biggest grinder in tyhe history of sports, Aaron Rowand, known in Chicago as Superman. The Sox, like the Cubs also will need a new shortstop if they let go of the big bellied Juan Uribe. The guy has underperformed his entire carreer and after playing in both the Cell and Coors field, thats saying something. As many offensive problems as the Sox have, they have a lot more in the pitching department. The bullpen, aside form Bobby Jenks, needs a complete overhall. A few guys had some nice second halves last year, but in reality they need to start from scratch. The rotation is also in trouble. Jon Garland might be their best trade chip, and considering the poor free agent class of SP's, he could be used to acquire a few prospects and some major league ready players. Jose Contreras is a liabilty, and neither Gavin Floyd or Jon Danks impressed last year. Perhaps Lance Broadway, who had a nice outing to finish off the season, might be the answer. Like i said, the free agent class is thin, so the Sox will likely go into the '08 season with some question marks at the back of their rotation. The good news is that Beuhrle is a good pitcher and Javier Vasquez had a very good season. Even if things go relatively well on the south side in '08, its hard to envision them finishing ahead of Cleveland, Detroit or even the Minnesota Twins. Chicago Bears: This team is in some serious trouble. The thing with the Bears is that there isnt just one thing that needs to be fixed, there are multiple issues that will need to be addressed, and most likely they will go into '08 with at least one hole unplugged. On defense, there are several issues. First off, the safeties stink. Adam Archuletta is not an NFL starter anymore, period. On the other hand, Danieal manning is an excellent athlete that has all the tools to be a solid safety. Perhaps with another season under his bel, he could at least be adequate come '08. The linebacking core is not without question either. Brian Urlacher's back problems are well documented and the Bears likely will not be able to retain Lance Briggs. The Bears think that Jamar Williams can replace him, but thats wishful thinking. Lance Briggs is an all-pro outside linebacker and the Bears will sorely miss him. The reason the Bears will not be able to resign Briggs is Tommie Harris. Harris is invaluable. He is top five defensive tackle in this league and already has supplanted Brian Urlacher as the most valuable player on the defense. Mark Anderson, who had a fabulous rookie year, hasnt been able to handle full time duty. It appears that he is at his best when used as a pass rushing specialist, like the Packers use KGB. Adewale Ogunleye and Alex Brown are both solid players that can play the run and pass well, but neither can do either one spectacularly. The big question mark is who will play alongside Tommie Harris. Darwin Walker is a fabulous pass rusher, but when he, Harris, and Anderson are on at the same time, the other team will be able to run easily against the Bears. thats where Dusty Dvoracek comes in. Can he stay health? His first two season have ended with him on the IR, and the Bears would do well to find an adequate, run-stuffing backup for Dvoracek. On offense, the Bears have endless question marks and holes. Quarterback, reciever, running back and O-Line. That about sums up all of their weaknesses. The only position the Bears are set at is at tight end, where Olsen and Clark do a good job complementing eachother. The Bears will most likely give both Grossman and Orton looks in the second half, but i have a feeling neither will ever end up being (decent)starting QB's in the league. This is it for Benson. He has eight games left to prove he can play at this level. He appears to be slower than last year and isnt finishing off his runs as well as he has in the past. His lack of visible passion is also concerning. He needs to show the Bears something in these final two months of the season. If he doesnt, hello Michael Turner. The recieving core also needs work. Bernard Berrian broke out last year and is having a decent season, numberswise that is. He has dropped too many balls and the Bears may not want to resign him, but they may not have a choice. If they dont resign Berrian, you could be looking at a WR group consisting of Rashied Davis, Devin Hester, Mike Hass, Mark Bradley and a very old and slow Muhsin Muhammad next year. Speakin of old, check out the offensive line. The starters are all above thirty, and what makes it worse is that they have no competent youngsters waiting in the wings. Josh Beekman hasnt been sighted yet, and John St. Clair hopefully wont be sighted. The O-Line, starting with Ruben Brown and Fred Miller, needs an overhaul. Thats about it. If you didnt know better, you would think these teams have been bad forever, but what makes it even worse is that the Cubs, Bears and Bulls are all coming off seasons in which they made the playoffs and the White Sox are just two years removed from a World Series victory.