SB Nation User Blog: Mordecai

Salary Cap Ramifications of the Draft - #10 Pick

Mordecai — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 21:11:00 -0000

With the draft coming up in the next few months, one of the biggest complaints I hear is that first round draft picks make way too much money. Critics claim that way too much money is being spent on players that haven't done anything in the league. To test this theory, I'll be looking into the salary cap numbers of the first ten draft picks of the past five years. The numbers I'll be using are "Cap Value" ones found on USA Today's website here. Up first is the #10 pick, because I want to build the excitement to the #1 pick.

I created a spreadsheet (which you can view here) which lists player, team, salary cap number and percentage of salary cap the player takes up. One note is that Mike Williams' 2007 number is actually the "dead money" the Lions had to absorb when they traded him. After going through the numbers, it looks like the #10 pick actually isn't that bad when it comes to how much salary cap they take up. The two highest numbers are Mike Williams' 5.23% in 2007 when he got traded for sucking and being lazy and overweight and Matt Leinart's 7.44% also in 2007. Trust me Matt Leinart when we get to the #1 pick in the draft, you're going to cry when you think about how much more you could have made. In the first year of their deals, the #10 pick will only take up between 1.5 and 2% of the salary cap which is very reasonable. There also wasn't one particular year in the deal where the number jumped up significally, say from year two to year three. In Dunta Robinson's case, his salary cap percent has been fairly steady in the 2.0 to 3.0% range. Does this mean that teams have been negotiating better with their picks? No, it just means that salary cap has gotten a whole lot bigger. From 2004 to 2008, it went from $80.5 million to $116 million for an increase of 44%. Ultimately, unless you have a bust that you need to get rid of after two years, a team's salary cap isn't going to live or die with the #10 pick .

Brett Favre to Retire...Hopefully for Good This Time (w/Poll)

Mordecai — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 15:14:57 -0000

From ESPN.com:

Without the tearful public ceremony that accompanied his retirement announcement from the Green Bay Packers just 11 months ago, quarterback Brett Favre has instructed agent Bus Cook to inform the New York Jets Wednesday that he plans to retire.

In an e-mail to ESPN's Ed Werder, Favre indicated he had no regrets about finishing his career with the Jets rather than with the Green Bay Packers franchise he represented for his previous 16 NFL seasons. He specifically praised Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum, team owner Woody Johnson and fired coach Eric Mangini -- and even mentioned Thomas Jones and Kerry Rhodes, both of whom were publicly critical of Favre after the team's collapse in the final month of the season prevented the Jets from making the playoffs.

Let's hope it's for good this time and we don't have to hear about that overrated, interception-throwing, unshaven redneck anymore.

Poll

Will Favre be with another team next August?

Lawn mowing gets old....he'll be back

2 votes

He has a tricked-out tractor....he'll stay retired

8 votes

No one cares

9 votes

19 votes | Poll has closed

Bears '09 Ticket Prices to Stay at '08 Prices

Mordecai — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 16:31:47 -0000

Didn't see this mentioned before so I thought I'd make a FanPost. From chicagobears.com:

The Bears have announced that they will not raise ticket prices for the 2009 season. It's the first time that all ticket categories will remain the same price from one season to the next since the new Soldier Field opened in 2003.

"Going back to when we built the new stadium, we knew we had close to if not the smallest stadium in the league, so the reality was that we're probably going to have to raise ticket prices every year," said Bears president and CEO Ted Phillips.

"This year we decided to make an exception, principally because of the economy. It's an unprecedented time. Every day you pick up the newspaper and you see major corporations laying off employees and having budget cuts.

"We just felt that given the climate that we're in, it was the right thing to do for our fans."

As someone who has seen his season tickets go up almost 40% from $50 when new Soldier Field first opened up to $68 last season, I appreciate this decision. For other season ticket holders, does this impact your decision to renew them?

Forgotten Bears – Rick Casares

Mordecai — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 19:28:17 -0000

As WCG mentioned in this post, my name is Mordecai and I'm a new writer here at windycitygridiron. I'll be, um, tackling such things as Bears history and financial matters. For the history part of my writing, I'm planing on doing things like book reviews, finding old pictures and game recaps and doing Forgotten Bears, a look back at Bears that you might not remember. If you have any suggestions for old Bears players that you would like to see profiled, please e-mail me at bizzarobowl (at) gmail.com or leave them in the comments below. Today's Forgotten Bear is a running back that people under the 60 might have a hard time remembering. Join me after the jump, won't you?

via www.sportsattic2.com

When compiling a list of the greatest Chicago Bears running backs of all time, a list which includes such legends as Payton, Sayers and Nagurski, one name is conspicuously left out, Rick Casares. Rick Casares played ten seasons for the Bears between 1955 and 1964 and was a five time Pro Bowler and was first team All-Pro in 1956. He currently ranks third for rushing yards, rushing touchdowns and rushing attempts on the Bears all-time list. He led the NFL in rushing yards in 1956 with 1126 and was in the top ten in the NFL for six straight years. In his rookie season of 1955, he led the league in rushing touchdowns, total touchdowns and rushing yards per attempt and had the longest run of the season on an 81 yard touchdown against the Baltimore Colts on October 16, 1955. To show his versatility, his 71 yard punt was the longest punt of the 1959 season.

Ricardo Jose Casares was born on July 4th, 1931 in Tampa, Florida. He moved to New Jersey where he became a champion Golden Gloves boxer in his teens. After his father's untimely death, Rick moved back to Tampa to live with his aunt and uncle. He played for Jefferson High between 1948 and 1950 leading the team to two city championships. He also excelled at basketball and track there, being named all-state in basketball for three years and winning the state title in Javelin in 1950. He was named the twelfth best high school athlete in Tampa history by the Tampa Tribune. He received a football scholarship from the University of Florida and played halfback, fullback, quarterback, punter and kicker for the Gators from 1951 to 1953. He was named All-SEC and scored Florida's first ever touchdown in a bowl game in the 1953 Gator Bowl against Tulsa. He also had a remarkable college basketball career also being named All-SEC and was the team captain in for the 1952-1953 season.

The Chicago Bears drafted Casares in the second round (18th overall) in the 1954 NFL draft; however, a brief stint in the Army delayed his professional football career by a year. Rick's rookie season started somewhat slowly for himself and the team which started 0-3. But he burst unto the scene with his first two touchdowns in the fourth game of the year against the Colts including the aforementioned 81 yard run leading the Bears to a 38-10 victory. This game kicked propelled the Bears as they went 7-1 the rest of the way to finish 8-4 for the year just one half game out of the Western Division lead. Casares lead the Bears in rushing that year with 672 yards and the Bears led the league in rushing with 2388 yards. The following season brought probably Rick's finest season as a professional when his first team all-pro season lead the Bears to their first NFL championship game in ten years. Unfortunately, the Bears got destroyed in that game 47-7 to the Giants. Rick's 1957-1961 seasons, while still productive, were nowhere near his 1956 levels and the Bears didn't win their division during this period. The 1962 season saw a steep decline in both Rick's attempts and yardage as the Bears really spread the carries around since no single player had more than 500 yards rushing. On the Bears' 1963 NFL Championship team, Casares was little more than an afterthought rushing for just 277 yards and scoring one touchdown on a pass reception. His final season as a Bear saw him net only 123 yards on 35 carries. His last two seasons in the NFL saw him in blink-and-you-missed-it stints in Washington in '65 and Miami in '66 where he played for a 3-11 expansion team. At the time he retired, Rick Casares was the Bears' all-time leader in rushing yards, attempts and touchdowns. These marks would only be eclipsed by two men, Walter Payton and Neal Anderson. His 1126 rushing yards in 1956 would be a Bears' single-season record until Gale Sayers broke it 10 years later. Rick Casares deserves acknowledgment for being an all-time great Chicago Bear that he was.

Career Stats from pro-football-reference.com:

						Rushing							Receiving
Year 5	Age	Tm	Pos	G	GS	Att	Yds	TD	Lng	Y/A	Y/G	A/G	Rec	Yds	Y/R	TD	Lng	R/G	Y/G	YScm	RRTD	Fmb
1955*	24	CHI	fb	12	0	125	672	4	81	5.4	56.0	10.4	16	136	8.5	1	29	1.3	11.3	808	5	3
1956*+	25	CHI	FB	12	0	234	1126	12	68	4.8	93.8	19.5	23	203	8.8	2	33	1.9	16.9	1329	14	5
1957*	26	CHI	FB	12	0	204	700	6	25	3.4	58.3	17.0	25	225	9.0	0	43	2.1	18.8	925	6	2
1958*	27	CHI	FB	12	0	176	651	2	64	3.7	54.3	14.7	32	290	9.1	1	50	2.7	24.2	941	3	5
1959*	28	CHI	FB	12	0	177	699	10	47	3.9	58.3	14.8	27	273	10.1	2	43	2.3	22.8	972	12	7
1960	29	CHI	FB	12	0	160	566	5	35	3.5	47.2	13.3	8	64	8.0	0	21	0.7	5.3	630	5	5
1961	30	CHI	FB	13	0	135	588	8	23	4.4	45.2	10.4	8	69	8.6	0	31	0.6	5.3	657	8	1
1962	31	CHI	fb	13	0	75	255	2	18	3.4	19.6	5.8	10	71	7.1	1	24	0.8	5.5	326	3	4
1963	32	CHI		10	0	65	277	0	30	4.3	27.7	6.5	19	94	4.9	1	25	1.9	9.4	371	1	2
1964	33	CHI		13	0	35	123	0	28	3.5	9.5	2.7	14	113	8.1	2	51	1.1	8.7	236	2	1
1965	34	WAS		3	0	2	5	0	3	2.5	1.7	0.7	1	5	5.0	0	5	0.3	1.7	10	0	0
1966	35	MIA		6	0	43	135	0	10	3.1	22.5	7.2	8	45	5.6	1	20	1.3	7.5	180	1	0
Career				130	0	1431	5797	49	81	4.1	44.6	11.0	191	1588	8.3	11	51	1.5	12.2	7385	60	35

Guzman to start Sunday, Z to throw side session

Mordecai — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 14:20:09 -0000

From ESPN.com:

Now, the Chicago Cubs won't start Carlos Zambrano in their regular-season finale Sunday against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Instead, it will be Angel Guzman, a Sept. 1 call-up who has appeared in only five games -- all Cubs losses -- and has a 7.04 ERA in 7 2/3 innings.

Cubs manager Lou Piniella said Zambrano told team officials he'd rather throw a side session in the bullpen instead of working the first couple of innings Sunday. If Zambrano had started, he would have been pitching on three days' rest.

Piniella rested most of his starting lineup in Saturday's 7-3 victory, but said he would start his regulars Sunday against lefty CC Sabathia.

I think it would be hilarious if the Cubs beat the Brewers with Guzman pitching.

SI.com's Ballpark Rankings

Mordecai — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 19:00:38 -0000

Here is the complete list . The Cubs clock in at #15 . Others of note: Brewers at #2 , Pirates at #3 , Cardinals at #5, White Sox at #8, Reds at #13 and the Astros at #16. The Cubs highest ranking was for Neighborhood at #2. (San Diego came in 1st, WTF?) The Cubs lowest ranking was for Affordability at #27. I just thought I'd post this for the sake of discussion. Agree or disagree, please discuss in the comments.

MLB Power Rankings 4/29/08

Mordecai — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 23:40:52 -0000

Current MLB Power Rankings. As usual, included is the Cubs ranking and the writers' comments about the Cubs.

Foxsports.com: Cubs #6

The Cubs' depth keeps shining, whether it be in the bullpen or the field. Scary thought: Chicago is in first place without the services of Alfonso Soriano. Guess who's currently vying with the D-backs for the NL lead in runs scored? The Cubs. Inconsistency in the rotation is all that holds this team back from putting some distance on the Central.

CBS Sportsline.com: Cubs #3

Alfonso Soriano's return should bolster a team that sure did fine in his absence. The Cubs have gone 9-4 since he left a game with the calf issue. Few teams could lose their biggest offensive star and still reel off a stretch like that.

ESPN.com: Cubs #2

Geovany Soto leads all major league catchers in batting (.352), on-base percentage (.447) and slugging (.606).

SI.com: Cubs #3

If Young is miscast as a leadoff hitter in Arizona, what about Alfonso Soriano? Since he's been down with his hopping injury, the Cubs are 8-2, hitting .327 with a .415 OBP. Before then, with Soriano mostly at leadoff: 7-5, .249, .328. Look, I'm not saying that Reed Johnson or Mike Fontenot are better players than the free-swinging Soriano. I'm just saying they're a better choice to be leadoff men. That's all.

TSN.ca: Cubs #3

Alfonso Soriano's injury is significant enough but, with a .175 batting average, he's nearly 100 points lower than any other regular in the Cubs lineup.
Key Injuries: LF Alfonso Soriano (calf).

Baseballprospectus.com: Cubs #2

At 6.14 runs per game, the Cubs lead the majors in scoring, and they've got the league's highest slugging and on-base percentages to thank for it. Having the top OBP is very un-Cub-like; Wrigley's residents haven't led the league in the category since 1945, the last time they won a pennant. Seven regulars had OBPs above .380, topped by Kosuke Fukudome (.463), Geovany Soto (.437), Derrek Lee (.413). The latter is slugging .670 as well and is fifth in the league in VORP.

MLB Power Rankings

Mordecai — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:23:15 -0000

I thought I would try this. I'm compiling various MLB power rankings from the top sport sites and where the Cubs rank on them. Included is the Cubs ranking and the writers' comments about the Cubs. My biggest concern is that different sites publish them on different days of the week. If you guys have any suggestions please pass them along in the comments. And here we go:

Foxsports.com (Monday): Cubs #8

Great sign: Ted Lilly and Rich Hill showed flashes of putting it together this week. The Cubs are looking like a very complete team, which could mean another trip to the postseason. The stage is slowly being set for a major war with the Brewers all summer long. It should be a very interesting week, with dates against the Mets and Rockies providing a chance to make a statement.

CBS Sportsline.com (Tuesday): Cubs #3

We don't think their ceiling is this high, but only the D-Backs have fewer losses through three weeks of play. They have played just six of their first 19 on the road, though.

ESPN.com (Friday): Cubs #2

At least Ted Lilly made it through six innings in his latest start. Lilly, who won 15 games in '07, is 0-3 with a 9.16 ERA.

SI.com (Friday): Cubs #9

The dope on the hop is that it probably wasn't the hop at all. At least according to Alfonso Soriano, it wasn't. Soriano is on the disabled list with a strained calf. He pulled up lame after one of his quirky trademark hops he takes while fielding pop flies. "Look, I don?t know. That?s the way he feels comfortable catching the ball. I don?t know," manager Lou Piniella says. This is what passes for news in Chicago.

TSN.ca (Friday): Cubs #10

Reed Johnson apparently has a little something left in the tank, hitting .361 in his first 11 games with the Cubbies.
Key Injuries: LF Alfonso Soriano (calf).

Baseballprospectus.com (Friday): Cubs #7

A Hop, Skip, and Jump to the Sidelines: Alfonso Soriano's quirky style in the field draws attention as he strains a calf and heads to the DL. He's hitting a minuscule .175/.230/.298 thus far, but the Cubs are second in the league in scoring thanks in part to a torrid performance by Derrek Lee (.379/.432/.742), who's fifth in the majors in VORP.

If you guys have any other sites you recommend, please let me know.

"The Cubs: 99 Years of Misery" on ESPN.com

Mordecai — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 19:38:37 -0000

Since I didn't see it posted elsellwhere, I thought I would post it here:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=cubs/0919&sportCat=mlb

It breaks down every year from 1909 to 2007 in little capsule form. It's not too bad and it does a good job of giving Cubs history for those who don't know much about it.

Tailgating at Spring Training

Mordecai — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 16:52:57 -0000

I'm going to be in Arizona March 13-16th and will be seeing two games at Hohokam and one at Tucson Electric Park. I want to tailgate before the games and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions. I looked around the internet and really didn't find much. Even the BCB guide didn't have any tailgate info in it (BTW Al, the comments for that are closed.) It looks like tailgating is allowed at Hohokam two hours before the game, but no alcohol is allowed. If anybody can give me any hints and ideas, it would be a great help to me and the BCB community at large.