I'm quite a ways from Chicago for starters. I have always depended on Al Yellon and Bruce Miles for everything Cubs. Lately the Daily Herald required a paid subscription for readers. That basically took those of us that read Bruce Miles daily Blogs and reports out of the loop. I could pay the subscription but I feel its a rip off.

 I have read every writer's material that covers the Chicago Cubs.  I have found over many years that both Al Yellon and Bruce Miles are the best in the business.  With Bruce now out of the mix, it makes Al Yellon that much more important to me.

  The point of this thread mostly is to thank him for the time he spends both covering and reporting all things Cubs. I'm quite sure he's not paid for what he's worth to do what it is he does.

  Speaking from within, I don't agree with either Bruce or Al's Cubs opinions 100% of the time. Matter of fact there are several both Chicago writer's and bloggers' opinions I don't agree with all the time.

  The thing I've always liked about both Al and Bruce is the fact that they're not afraid to both write and defend their opinion. They're both readily accessible.  I know this isn't Bruce's Blog. Both defend and blog their opinions.

 Al Yellon, I have followed you from hundreds of miles away for many many many years. I for one have no clue how you even write about this pathetic bs of a team daily. Whatever drives you, it entertains me somehow daily.  I brew a cup of coffee and light up every day and read your work b4 I go to work daily.

  From the bottom of my heart, Thank You for what you do. I absolutely appreciate the time you spend doing what it is you do. I appreciate you giving/defending your opinion. Me personally I doubt I will ever agree with yours always but I love the fact you both say/defend it with conviction. Please don't ever let that deter that from writing what it is you feel from your heart.

 BCB has always been a well read blog and will always be, please keep up the conversation piece you allow those of us that live way far away to be apart of of . Sometimes I feel you are way under appreciated and I want to remind you that you are everything but.

Let's take a look at our offseason moves thus far.

Cubs signed John Grabow to a 2yr/7.5 Million dollar deal.

Cubs traded Jake Fox and Aaron Miles to the A's for Jeff Gray and two minor-leaguers.

Cubs let Rich Harden walk.

Cubs traded Milton Bradley for Carlos Silva and 9 Million Dollars.

Several sources have us interested in Marlon Byrd and Scott Podsednik.

My take on it all....

As I see it we replaced Rich Harden with Carlos Silva. DOWNGRADE

Were gonna replace Bradley with Byrd or Pods. A wash at best!

We paid the A's to take on  another mistake signing and gave them a really nice bench bat to boot for a bunch of meaningless prospects.

Were gonna have to give a bad SS a raise to somewhere around 2-3 million. For what he is talent wise, the league minimum was alright. Why not go get a Tejada or someone similar until Castro is ready? Hell even Scutaro would have been better and wouldn't have cost much more.

We still need a  lot of help in the pen!

Ted Lilly may not be ready for opening day. We have Gorzo/Marshall who are at best #5 starters. Silva is no where near as good as either one of them. We don't know what were getting from Wells.

We have no bench!

Our core players have an injury history the size of Mt. Rushmore.

Can someone please tell me exactly what Jim Hendry and the Cubs are doing but getting worse by the day?

Sorry to be Captain Negative but I'm trying to make sense of this mess.

With as many needs as ours, 2010 isn't gonna be exactly favorable to us winning a Championship . 83 wins is awful for a team with our kinda payroll. We have already let a solid starter walk. We still have no answer to the MB situation. We have a bullpen with more questions than answers. We don't know if Lilly will be ready for opening day or not. We have 2 huge question marks as our #4 or #5 starter. Our SS was a bargain at the league min for what he is in terms of ability. Well now he's not a cheap stop gap anymore. We don't know which catcher we will be getting next season. Our 3rd and1st baseman are ever aging and their history of injuries are piling up. We still need some quality bench guys.

It's time to start the rebuild process vs trying to piece together another 1/2 ass team! We have a new owner with new vision. He seems willing to upgrade the facilities and get this team where in needs to be going into the future in terms of marketing/amenities etc.  Players like Marlon Byrd and Rick Ankiel aren't gonna get us anywhere and that's exactly whats left on the market that we can seemingly afford.

No better time to start fixing the mistakes of our past than now. Yes there are players which we will not be able to trade under any circumstance but there are some that could be traded for quality cheap prospects. Its a win/win situation. Shed payroll and start getting re-tooling while bad contracts are being paid off.

 I don't like the thought of losing but to get the stars aligned where were able to have a legit shot at winning year in and year out were gonna have to take some chances in the trade market by trading away players we don't want too. It comes a time when we have to quit lying to ourselves and having false senses of hope. That time is NOW!!

With the deadline fast approaching I wanted to start a thread for all rumors,trades, opinions etc.  I still think we need a couple bullpen arms and maybe a bench player.

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette we are in regular contact with the Bucs.  I think we all have thrown around names on here such as Zach Duke, John Grabow, Matt Capps, Tom Gorzelanny, Ian Snell, Jack Wilson, and Freddy Sanchez. I think some of those names could be really useful here.

Here's a link to SB Nation's mlbdailydish who seem to be doing a good job at everything trade rumors.

The Cubs have signed lefty reliever BJ Ryan according to Espn Chicago. Here's the link!!! 

I'm all for the move. Hopefully he can correct whatever it was that was making pitch horribly. He would be a great addition to our pen if he found a way to get back to his old self.  Here is a link to his career stats. No word on when he will suit up but I'm sure it will probably Friday night in Washington. The deal is for 1yr.

According to the Salt Lake Tribune we may be preparing an offer for restricted free agent Power Forward Paul Milsap. Link Here   

Here are his career numbers. This might not be a bad idea but Utah will have the last say. I can honestly say I don't know much about this guy. Anyone know what kinda character he has or how is work ethic is?? We are approximately 11 million dollars under the salary cap.  Thoughts??

Go Oklahoma City Thunder!!!!!!!!

I was thinking about some trade ideas today and  Ryan Howard came to mind. The Phillies have an abundance of Major League youngsters who are arb eligible(10 in all). A good PROBLEM to have.

Ryan Howard won in arbitration last year and got a whopping 10 Million dollar award. Jayson Starks reports he may ask for 15+ this year. I think he may come close to getting it. This says he is still eligible for 2 more years after this one

All said the Phillies have never had a bigger payroll than 103 million from what I see. Will they sign all players,address other needs, and raise payroll that high?? I've read rumblings of the Phillies exploring trades for their big slugging 1st baseman  in the past.

With all that being said what would it take to get Howard? What about a Lee, Marshall, and a couple prospects for him? Lee would cost them 2yr/26 million, the others would be relatively cheap for them. They would be getting salary relief and a gold glove caliber 1b that hits for descent avg for 2 yrs. I think they could handle the loss of power with that lineup they have. They would surely gain avg and defense with Lee over Howard.

It would all hinge on Lee waiving his no trade clause and thats anyone's guess if he would or wouldnt.

We would get a monster lefty in the middle of our lineup all the while getting younger. Can you imagine Bradley,Ramirez,Howard in the middle of a lineup that also contains Soriano and Soto? WOW!! Just the thought of it gives me chills.

The move this year would only cost us about 2-3 million more if he got what he wanted in arbitration.

This might be a crazy idea but I think its at least a little feasible given the Phillies abundance of young mlb arbitration cases that will seemingly haunt them for years to come.

Thoughts,Reaction, Other Ideas???

I know were all heartbroken about last night and will be for sometime. Thought I would share this free simulation football site I found a few months ago. Its freaking awesome if you like fantasy sports. Its called goallineblitz and you create players and your their gm. U get them contracts and build them from the floor up then play in games. you can become a Coordinator,gm of a team and an owner. Build stadiums, sell tickets blah blah blah. anyway here's the link if anyone wants to try this or likes this sorta thing  

http://goallineblitz.com/game/signup.pl?ref=25619370

If this kinda off topic post arent allowed then accept my apology and delete, just thought a fellow sooner fan would pass along a good find for people who like this sorta thing cause its extremely addictive.