I'm just saying...why pay more for Pujols or Fielder, who will ask for a lot of money, when you can sign Peña for less money and get good production from First Base? With the money you save, you can better the ball club...

...if they sign one of those 2 guys, the Cubs will be similar to what they were for most of Sammy Sosa's tenure in Chicago: a losing team, but hey...they've got a superstar, so...

If the Cubs can win 38 out of the next 50, they might have a chance!................

I don't know, Agua. I don't think Pujols will get $30mil largely due to his age. But if the Cubs can get him, they should. Pujols is a legitimate draw. The Cubs have a massive media market, and they can afford to dole out the contract based on the attendance Pujols would draw alone.

Pena is a nice piece, but he's a 6 hitter on a good team. 30 HR is nice, but the key objective is to not produce an out. It's that simple. I dare ask, who produces less outs that Albert Pujols.

It's not even a question.

And about the my comments concerning the Brewers; perhaps "destroyed" was too strong of a word. Looking back, my original point was that it didn't accomplish anything outside of a cameo playoff appearance and 2 months of increased revenue. The revenue is nice, but in the long run, it served as irrelevant. The Brewers didn't go anywhere immediately after that season, and they lost out on conveted draft picks due to the Angels receiving comp picks after losing Tex to the Yankees. But conceed they were not destroyed.

221/341/439 is "good" production? Granted, the OBP is not bad, but Pujols, in a down year where his wrist was repaired, has a similar OBP, higher SLG and higher OPS. Pujols is far superior than Pena, and even if the Cubs were to try and spend their money on several players rather than one, they are not going to accumulate the lone production that Pujols alone would bring them.

Cubs need to spend their money wisely...I've read their Chicago fanbase is starting to slowly, but surely, decrease...that the games aren't selling out like they used to, even in their toughest seasons...to some, it seems like the "loveable losers" thing is dying down.

Yankees sweep the White Sox, didn't walk anybody during the series, and are tied with the Red Sox atop the AL east.

Going to be a crazy 3 days.

Yanks are riding high, perfect time to shit the bed again.

If the Cubs win six in a row, I riot.

That's definitely an AA thing to do. They basically bought a pick in the off season when they acquired the rights to Miguel Olivo.

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Albert Pujols has been worth approximately 87 wins above replacement over his career (86.7). Carlos Pena? About 14 wins (13.9).

Oh and by the way, in terms of WAR, this has been Pujols' worst year BY FAR (3 WAR, the next worst is 5.8 in 2002; career average before this year is 8.4 wins). to put that in context of the argument: Carlos Pena's highest WAR EVER is 5.3 and then his second highest is 2.9.

What that means is Albert Pujols' career FLOOR to this point is the BEST Carlos Pena has done in his career.

So yeah, I'll take Pujols. BTW, obvious post is obvious. I just like using statistics to quantify ;)

Call me old fashioned, but I would like a player who strikes fear into pitchers rather than...Carlos Pena.

The shift strikes fear into no one.

...Cubbies leading the Reds 3-2 in the 6th...awesome.

Padres are murdering the Pirates.

Davey Johnson looks way older than he is

...'Cause he lost weight and stuff.

BALLGAME OVER! YANKEES WIN! TTTTTTTTTTTTHHHHHHHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEE YANKEES WIN!

I think the Pirates are starting to realive their fluke season is coming to an end. The Padres have one of the worst offenses in the National League, and the Padres worked them over big time.

The dream is collapsing.

Looks like they came back to reality, yes...

The Pitching was keeping the Buccos competitive but now it seems like that is gone, with no real offensive punch its not looking good again. Lord only hopes they at least get .500 this year so it's not seen as a disappointment.

Go cubs go!

Their pitching was all smoke and mirrors, anyways. It was only a matter of time before their mediocre rotation showed their true colors. Did anyone really believe in a rotation featuring Kevin Correia, James McDonald, Charlie Morton, Jeff Karstens and Paul Maholm? I sure as shit didn't.

It was a nice story while it lasted, but it's looking like all is lost in Pittsburgh, right now.

It's possible the Cubs may finish in third place in the NL Central.

They have three talented starters at the top of the rotation. If their lineup produces, it's not impossible for them to get on a roll.

If Mike Quade only had to manage the last 2 months of the season, every season, he'd be the best manager in the bigs.

I know he's made some bonehead decisions. I remember Larry Bowa, who I think is an idiot, for the record, feels like Sandberg was the guy the Cubs "missed the boat on" when it came down to managing. Sandberg has managed all of 5 seasons, while Quade has been managing since 1985.

Quade deserved at least a chance to see what he could do, and he has failed. Some of that is the talent pool, or lack thereof, and some of that is him. But I highly doubt the Cubs would be much better if Sandberg was running things.

The Giants are a huge douchebag team.

I hate pretty much every player on their roster.

A lot is him. There was a great article on insider that showed the main reasons why the Cubs were losing.

Insider? I'll have to dig for it. I'm sure he's a problem, but they do not have a talented team. Pinella is regarded as a great manager and he couldn't take them anywhere. I really don't thin Sandberg would have done much better if at all, and his failures would have been blown through the roof because of his name and history.

...Sandberg's team with the Cubs was a winning team...and during the HOF Ceremony, when they presented him, I think I heard his present team is in first place too, so...

Yea, but is that due to him being an amazing manager, or because he has talent on the team? Again, Pinella is regarded as a great manager, and he could not turn the cubs around. I don't Sandberg could either. You can't make gold out of nothing.

Piniella couldn't turn the Devil Rays around either, so...I never bought into him as this GREAT manager.

All this diva-type BS we've seen from Zambrano and Dempster wouldn't have happened under Sandberg...and if it did, he would've put them in their place FAST, not shrug it off like Quade did.

He didn't turn the Rays around due to the lack of talent he had to work with. Same thing with the Cubs. Sure, there were some nice pieces there, but at the end of the day the team he got was not that great. You can't win without talent. The Padres showed it at the end of last year, the Pirates and Cleveland are slowly showing it this year. It doesn't matter who's calling the shots. If you don't have the talent, you're not going to win.

the Cubs have a very talented team, if it were 2005

But the Cubs are winning now, without making any moves, except trading KosuKe FuKudome (a lot of K's in capital, because he strikes out so much, get it?)...

...so if there had been an authority figure who demanded respect from the team, perhaps they would've had a better season...not saying World Series caliber, but, better.

Quade will be gone by next year's trading deadline, that's my guess.

And Pinella didn't command respect? I really don't buy into all these intagibles about demanding respect or playing the game the right way and all the other cliches. Demanding respect or not, they don't have a good team. Castro and Ramirez are legit starters, but Pena is a 6 hitter on a good team, Byrd is a nice player but he's not spectacular and is a borderline starter on a good team. Soriano isn't the same guy. Barney is not a starter, and Colvin, if he's getting PT in RF has pathetic plate discipline and wouldn't start on a good team.

Their bullpen's had all kinds of holes over the season, and before getting Garza, their rotation was a 1-2 punch, when Zambrano felt like showing up.

Piniella is an old man. He lost that team.

And Sandberg, at the refreshing age of 51, is young? Like I said, doesn't matter who you get in there, the team is not built to win. They do not have the fire power, or the starting pitching and bullpen to win.