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In a topic of no importance to anyone but me, Tidu, and Gerad, the Cubbies signed Greg Maddux last night, giving the Cubs hands down the best rotation in the majors for this upcoming year. Barring any injuries (*knock on wood) the Cubs will go into the year with a starting five of Mark Prior, Kerry Wood, Maddux, Carlos Zambrano, and Matt Clement (I'm trying to keep the drool off the keyboard as I type this...)

On a matter of slightly more importance to everyone else, the Yanks traded Soriano for A-Rod the other day, giving them essentially an all-star team starting line-up. So, baseball fans, what are your thoughts on the A-Rod deal? Is it bad or good for baseball? And if you're unfortunate enough to be a fan of a NL Central team, how scared are you to have to play the Cubbies this year?

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Hip-Hop QOTW:

"Yeah, where I'ma start it at, look I'ma part of that
Downtown Philly where it's realer than a heart attack
It wasn't really that ill until the start of crack
Now it's a body caught every night on the Almanac"

"Game Theory"
The Roots

I'm from Dallas, and I am crying tears of joy over the A-Rod trade. Sure he may be the best overall player in the league, but he alone can not make a team. With him gone we free up quite a bit of money to sign what the Rangers really need...have always needed...pitching. I also don't think Soriano will be a permanent member of the Rangers. I expect him to be traded by next year.

I am also a huge Cubs fan, and with the signing of Maddux it looks good. However, I am still worried about Houston though. The addition of Petite and Clemens give them a hell of a line up as well, even if Clemens is only pitching in home games. Knowing Clemens, he'll get injured anyways. Either way the Cubs will/should make the playoffs this year as division winner or wild card winner.

This post has been edited by Hanyou on 19th February 2004 22:18

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"My impersonation of an ordinary person was flawless." - Neal

"Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened." - Dr. Seuss

well, i'm a boston red sox fan, so when i heard about the a-rod trade i was crying tears of another type. I still say this is the red sox year tho... ::sob::

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<Nealio> Seymour sounds like evil Winnie the Pooh

I'm happy for the Cubs but unfortunately for them and the fans they still won't be capable of beating the White Sox in interleague play. Besides, Maddux isn't the same player he was 12 years ago with the Cubs. Mark Prior wasn't even a teenager yet, just to show how long ago that was. The man is 38 years old. Does he still have the stuff? We shall see. Anything can happen, as we saw last post-season. Well it will be a fun summer for baseball in Chicago.

The Yankees are bad for baseball since they essentially cheat by purchasing all of their players. Well I don't really know that much about the Yankees but I'm assuming that this is the case since I've heard a lot of other people saying the same thing.

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FFXI (Siren server)
Tauu the Windurstian Tarutaru!
White Mage & Paladin

The cubbies are going to break the curse.... Pitching wins baseball games and the cubs now have the starters in the league. If our middle relievers step up and sammy has a good year, there isn't a team in the league that can beat the cubs.

As for A-Rod... The yankees may have the most expensive infield in baseball, but they lost pitching big time these last few months. I don't see them being as good as they were last year without the staff they had. I have a feeling A-Rod might make the other overpaid prima donna yankees jealous and cause ruckus on the field. I'd like to see how Joe Torre handles these guys. I'd also like to see how the remaining yankees pitchers play after Steinbrenner hung Don Zimmer out to dry. Steinbrenner is the biggest dick in sports.

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"Hit hard, hit first, hit often."

--Adm. William "Bull" Halsey, USN

Saaaalary cap. Saaaaaalary cap. It should've been instated long ago. I hate that they won't do it because it will lower players' salaries a bit. Sorry that you can't live without that eight-figure income.

This post has been edited by Neal on 20th February 2004 02:07

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Hey, put the cellphone down for a while
In the night there is something wild
Can you hear it breathing?
And hey, put the laptop down for a while
In the night there is something wild
I feel it, it's leaving me

Now first of all I am a major football fan, I used to love baseball but the current state of baseball has made me turn my back on it. I hate the Yankees and the only reason they are any good is cause there is no salary cap. A salary cap is needed to even out the playing field. Football has it and look at it, you never know who is going to win it all. I mean hell the last two years the teams that made the Super Bowl (Patriots and Rams in 2002 and Raiders and Bucs in 2003) didn't make the Super Bowl the next year. I believe that the salary cap has alot to do with that cause while those teams didnt lose their big players they couldn't afford to sign anymore. So a salary cap is needed in baseball to make it more exciting and maybe get my Indians back in contention.

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War is for the participants a test of character; it makes bad men worse and good men better. - Joshua Chamberlain

U sir R a n00b >:-( - Cactuar

Of course Maddux still has the stuff. 16 straight years of 15 wins or more. That's just plain remarkable. But wow, do i HATE it when I go on mlb.com and they're still all over the Astros about how much better they're gonna be then eveyone thanks to Petite and Clemens. I mean come on, Biggio and Bagwell have been carrying that team for ages, they're just so old now. The Cards are still a descent team as well, so they can't be ruled out. I hate the Astros (will they EVER win a playoff game?) twice as much as the Cards so.

The A-rod deal is just a pretty stamp for the media. Just imagine the tension potential there. Kevin Brown and Sheffield are both jackasses. Natrally, A-rod is cocky and would like to take Jeter's spot if things don't go well. Ah, I would relish in a Yankee absolue crumbling and burning. All that hype, just to come crashing down.

I still want a Red Sox vs Cubs World Series but I'd be damn pleased if they got the chance to put the Yankees in their place.

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The clouds ran away, opened up the sky
And one by one I watched every constellation die
And there I was frozen, standing in my backyard
Face to face, eye to eye, staring at the last star
I should've known, walked all the way home
To find that she wasn't here, I'm still all alone

-Atmosphere "Always Coming Back Home to You"

http://cbs.sportsline.com/mlb/story/7096141

Everyone read that. Don't blame George Steinbrenner for wanting to make a selling product. Maybe if other teams actually spent money to make money, we wouldn't be having this discussion. I am so sick and tired of everyone whining and bitching about the Yankees "buying players". You can't tell me that if you were a multi-billionaire and you owned a baseball team that you would not try to get big name talent to help bolster your team to win. There are no ethics in baseball, this has been true to me since the introduction of the multi-million dollar contract years ago.


Just ignore me since I'm the only Yankee fan on this forum...

(btw, I hate Steinbrenner as much as the next person. I wish he'd take the backseat and let Cashman and Torre do their jobs like he did a couple years back. Those were the years that they won World Series rings.)

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"When I turn the page
The corner bends into the perfect dog ear
As if the words knew I'd need them again
But at the time, I didn't see it."

~"This Ain't a Surfin' Movie" - Minus the Bear

Well... It's not a question of other teams not wanting to spend the money to have good players, it's a matter of other teams not having those kind of resources. It doesn't guarantee the yankees a world series win every year, but they are always contenders because they can afford high priced talent. The Rangers got rid of A-Rod simply because they wanted financial flexibility to be able to build a pitching staff. The yankees have so much cash lying around that they can afford players like A-Rod, which is simply unfair to other teams, and it allows for salaries that are simply outrageous. The guy has a $200 million contract for PLAYING BASEBALL. Yes, he is putting butts in the seats but it's not like he's curing cancer or anything. And what has he done for the Rangers in the last few years? A lot less than a good pitching staff can do. And this is coming from the most financially conservative person on this board. Baseball needs a salary cap.

And another thing... I don't hate the Yankees, and I think people who do hate the Yankees because they are good are stupid. I don't hate George Steinbrenner because he takes advantage of no salary cap, I hate him because he's a jerk. I think the Yankees are a team with some great history and tradition, but I do think Steinbrenner is starting to tarnish the name. Not my team though. If I was a Yankees fan I would be much more pissed about that dumb ogre running my team.

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"Hit hard, hit first, hit often."

--Adm. William "Bull" Halsey, USN

Sure, other teams have SOME money that they choose not to use, the owners just add it to their pockets. But I hear alot of people talking about owners like ANY of them have the money to throw around players like A-Rod etc, but just choose not to because they're greedy.But Mr. Steinbrenner is a good guy because all the money he makes he puts back into his team. Right. People take things so out of context. Steinbrenner can put as much money as he makes off the Yankees as he wants, because he has BILLIONS left over in his pockets. Most other owners just make their revenue they have off their team and dilly dally with that. Steinbrenner can pretty much do damn well as he pleases. Not to take away from the fact that I wouldn't spend lots of money if I owned a team. But I sure wouldn't like to get the rep of buying all my talent. What happened to the old fashinoned get young players with potential and mold them into All-Stars? I would much rather have a rep of being a good owner because of hard work and dedication to my players, then to just be good because I buy as many All-Stars as I can.

This post has been edited by Tidu-who on 21st February 2004 19:33

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The clouds ran away, opened up the sky
And one by one I watched every constellation die
And there I was frozen, standing in my backyard
Face to face, eye to eye, staring at the last star
I should've known, walked all the way home
To find that she wasn't here, I'm still all alone

-Atmosphere "Always Coming Back Home to You"