Yes, but they are the exceptions that prove the rule. In all of the time Hendry led the team, those are who he can point to? I heard him on the radio once talking about the inevitable awesomeness of an outfield comprised of Colvin, Szczur, and Brett Jackson. I'm not trying to pile on the guy, but the fact that he can…

And here you were doing so well, subverting the easy stereotype of the bitter Sox fan. Sigh.

He seems to take it pretty well — being the victim of a prank is one thing, but I imagine it would be tough to hear teammate after teammate call you an "idiot." I wonder how much of that is jealousy? I mean, he actually made it to the bigs and had a fairly respectable run.

This guys lost me when he danced on Hub Arkush's grave a while back. Hub may not be perfect, but Florio went on the air basically rejoicing that Arkush's operation went under. Really dickish.

Well, no arguing with a play that's only possible because Giambi didn't slide. You've certainly convinced me.

In that case, Stacey King is a far better player than Karl Malone because he has three NBA championship rings.

A Chicago sports-talk host (I can't remember who — maybe David Kaplan?) said, in passing, that Jeter is "one of the greatest players ever." Just threw it out there and took it as a given. Now I'm no nerd in my mother's basement ruining the game with those numbers and sabermatics and what have you, but are there any…

Yeah, he ponied up a whopping $2.1 million for Bill "A-Rod" Mueller and a king's ransom of $1.25 million for Ortiz.

Ok, so imagine you're Jon Lester. Theo Epstein, who was part of the regime that drafted you, is selling you on the 2016 Cubs. He's pushing an outfield of Almora, Soler, and Kris Bryant (who looks to be an absolute beast and will own Chicago in two years), and an infield of Russell, Rizzo, Baez, and Castro. He reminds…

The Ricketts family has gazillions of dollars, and they're going to rake in even more with the new TV deal and stadium upgrades. They've shown they're willing to spend on scouting/infrastructure, and they've gone big for pitchers in the past. (Tanaka, Anibel Sanchez.) Soriano's contract will be off the books, and they…

You know that because...

Let's not make this a Cubs/Sox battle. (Lord knows it's tempting, but let's try to avoid it.) The bottom line is, the Cubs are putting together an amazing offense in the minors. Granted, not all of the prospects will pan out (Choi, Pie, Patterson, etc etc etc). But the way you overcome that is to amass a substantial…

I have been listening. They've consistently said they'll spend when they're ready and when free agents will make a difference.

They have put together an incredible farm system of position players. At some point, they'll flip some of these offensive studs for some pitching. And let's not forget that they're going to have huge money to spend on free agents. As a Cubs fan, I couldn't be more excited.

Even if they don't get either of those (I bet they get Lester), they've restocked the starting rotation several times — they can find pitching. But more importantly, they now have the pieces to get some top-line starters. I don't know if they'd trade Baez, but if they did they'd get the friggin' moon.

If the Cubs were a stock, I'd buy the hell out of it.

Yes, I'm sure the reason Masahiro Tanaka didn't sign there wasn't because the Yankees offered tens of millions of dollars more. It's undoubtedly because Wrigley Field, one of the most beloved sports stadiums in the country, is a "shithole." And feel free to disregard the well-researched article above it — your…

But doesn't it make sense to bring a mitt to a game if you're going to be in those screaming-foul-ball-zooming-at-your-head-at-5,000mph seats? I'd argue yes.

what did they do?

I agree, but I see no way he leaves NY. Here's what New York offers: More money, MSG, Phil Jackson, a "hometown" element, and more money.