Lou Hints Soriano May Not Lead Off, Cubs Fans Thank Their Respective Gods

Lou Pinella seems like an intelligent man to most of us. Though he is a bit stubborn at times, he clearly has an understanding of the game of baseball. While not exactly a sabermetrician, he does not make retarded Dusty Baker-esque comments like "we don't want to draw a lot of walks, it clogs up the basepaths."

Even though he seems to understand baseball, there are still a few questionable moves he has made. Foremost among those was his insistence that Soriano lead off. It appears that he is finally starting to budge on that one:

Cubs manager Lou Piniella has stuck by Alfonso Soriano as his leadoff man the last two seasons but on Monday said he may drop the left fielder down in the order. Piniella said he talked to Soriano at the Cubs Convention about it. One reason for the switch is that Soriano doesn't run as much as he used to.

I will just ignore that comment about how he doesn't run like he used to (running is overrated and in fact can be detrimental to the team if the success rate is not very high, it is also almost completely irrelevant to the effectiveness of a leadoff man). While he is not a terrible leadoff man, his numbers are clearly not conducive to getting on base, the most important thing from a leadoff man. It's not that he is bad at it, he actually had a .344 OBP last season. The thing is that he has a high slugging percentage at .532 which makes him far better suited to the 3, 4, 5, or even 6 spot in the lineup. On top of that, there are 7 everyday players that have a higher OBP than Soriano: Johnson, Lee, Soto, Ramirez, Theriot, Fontenot and...the player everyone loves to hate...Fukudome! Yes all 7 of those players had better OBPs. I don't hate Soriano, but I do hate him in the leadoff spot. Hit him 5th or 6th and have a Theriot, Fontenot, Johnson, or, dare I say it, Kosuke, lead off. Make it happen Lou.

And yes, I'm just as excited as you that baseball is almost here.

Chicago Baseball Teams Have Weak Farm Systems

For the Sox, who are in a rebuilding year, this might be very disturbing. For the Cubs, who are playing for right now, this is not as bad, but still unsettling. The Cubs and Sox have a combined 5 players in the Baseball Prospectus Top 100 Prospects. Combined. Ouch. Here's the list:

#28--Gordan Beckham (SS) Chicago White Sox
#34--Josh Vitters (3B) Chicago Cubs
#74--Aaron Poreda (LHP) Chicago White Sox
#85--Jeff Samardijza (RHP) Chicago Cubs
#99--Brandon Allen (1B) Chicago White Sox

I don't get how this works. Does Samardijza still count as a prospect? I guess he would need a full season in the Majors to be ineligible for this list. Without him the Cubs have only 1 player in the Top 100. One. They better win soon, because the future may not be so bright.

Qualified Links

• Chicago's landmark ordinance may be in trouble, and the results of the battle may affect Wrigley Field.
• See you later Mike Brown. The way the market works these days, I'm sure someone will take a flyer on him. The Bears lose a leader, but he just couldn't seem to stay healthy.
• Is Tyrus Thomas really playing that much better lately? TYI thinks not, and makes a convincing argument for getting Amare.
  
• Moneyball has finally made it's way to basketball, and it's very interesting to see how it's being used by guys like Shane Battier.
• Did I forget to mention the All-Star game? Probably because I fell asleep halfway through. The West won I guess.
  
• Illinois rolls Indiana. They made a little run in the second half, but this IU team is clearly still light years away from competing in the Big Ten.
  
• Lou likes Sean Marshall as the leader right now in the 5th starter competition.
• Derrick Rose dominated the skills challenge on Saturday night. God-willing we have our first all-star in over a decade next year.
• Is John Tait going to retire? The Bears O-line is such a disaster.
  
• Skeets ranks the dunks from the dunk contest on Saturday. While Robinson's kryptonite dunk over Howard was the best overall dunk, the best actual dunk (theatrics aside) was Howard's off the side of the backboard dunk. GMTR thinks Robinson is overrated as a dunker in general.
  
• A great story about Jay Mariotti being a complete douchebag at NBA All-Star weekend.
  

Zambrano Spent Winter Starring In Cheap Porno

This picture is real. Apparently Z has decided to go the moustache route. I couldn't be more pleased. Bruce Miles confirms it, in case you still can't believe this awesomeness is true.

Qualified Links--Pitchers And Catchers Report Edition

• Is it finally the "next year" Cubs fans are always talking about? The journey starts today.
  
• Bulls blow the game in spectacular fashion against the Heat last night. As my friend NQTC reader Adam pointed out, where was Rose on that last inbounds play? And why was an ice-cold Thabo inbounding the ball?
  
• Illinois comes back in spectacular fashion to beat Northwestern in Evanston. Meacham looked amazing down the stretch.
  
• Griffey's short-lived stay on the South Side gets closure as he returns to the Mariners.
• In defense of Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah. Even though I would rather have Amare, I do like these guys.
  
• If you live in Chicago (which most of our readers do), this is not going to be very uplifting: Forbes listed us as the most miserable city in America. Ouch.
• So was Joaquin Phoenix on drugs when he did Letterman Wednesday night? It sure seems like it.
• Oh that pick McDyess set on Rose the other night? The Bulls are asking the league to review it. It might have been dirty, but McNice? Seems unlikely.
  
• Ok, so Portland is apparently out of the Amare running. That's good for the Bulls, considering their package was definitely the best out of the ones that I have heard offered.
• A team is down 5 with 12 seconds and makes an intentional foul. Then the team that was behind wins by 6. This is not a joke (well it sort of is, but it really happened).

Jim Hendry Got Fleeced By Milton Bradley (UPDATE: Or Maybe He Didn't)

NQTC reader Ethan pointed out to me this morning that perhaps the Bradley signing was a bit premature in light of the recent contracts that have been given out. In the last week, Adam Dunn signed for 2 years and $10 million dollars, while Abreu signed for 1 year and $5 million dollars. Early in the free agent period, however, Hendry signed Bradley to a 3 year deal for $30 million dollars!! Is he that much better than those other two, or did Hendry just misjudge the market? It seems pretty apparent that he did.

Looking at the career numbers of the 3 outfielders, they are very similar in terms of production:

Adam Dunn--- AVG: .247 OBP: .381 SLG: .518
Bobby Abreu--- AVG: .300 OBP: .405 SLG: .498
Milton Bradley--- AVG: .280 OBP: .370 SLG: .457

If anything, those players have far better career numbers than Bradley. That doesn't even take injuries or age into account either. Abreu is 34, but that hardly matters in terms of his contract since it is only 1 year and not a long-term commitment. Adam Dunn is actually 29, a year younger than Bradley at 30. Both Dunn and Abreu have been considerably healthier during their careers than the fragile Bradley as well.

I'm not trying to say that Bradley will be bad or that he was a bad acquisition. It just seems that with all the salary jockeying the Cubs have been doing, this deal to Bradley is unnecessarily expensive. Hendry clearly misjudged the market for free agent outfielders. It is easy to say that in hindsight, the market was way lower than Hendry had thought. But looking at all the factors, there were a bunch of decent quality outfielders available and not a lot of teams out there looking. Is the difference between Bradley's actual contract and what the market would have afforded him today what handcuffed Hendry on the Peavy deal? We will never know, but right now it looks like our ne'er do wrong GM may have made a bad miscalculation.

***UPDATE: A few things have been brought to my attention in the last couple hours since making this post. Thanks to NQTC reader Gavin, who pointed out a few things in the comments and a few things to me directly. Looks like I was wrong about Hendry being fleeced:

Phillies signed Raul Ibanez - 3 years, $31.5 million on 12/19/08.

Tampa Bay singed Pat Burrell - 2 years, $16 million on 01/08/09.

The Cubs signed Bradley officially on 01/27/09. So it's not as if they went completely out of the range for outfielder's this offseason. It doesn't appear that there were that many high-level OF's out there this off-season but once these guys were signed before Bradley, I'm surprised the Cubs didn't try to play Bradley, Dunn and Abreu off each other to at least make Bradley think they could go elsewhere to get a left handed bat.

Also, it appears that the Dunn deal was actually for 2 years and $20 million dollars. This is what I get for doubting Hendry.

Cubs Fans Frustrated With Offseason Can Take Solace In Cardinals' Significantly Worse Offseason

I don't know if you've been paying attention, but the Cardinals' offseason has been poor at best. They have done very little to improve and their pitching staff looks very thin. For some reason Cardinals GM John Mozeliak thought it would be a good idea to do an online chat where he answered questions from some very irate fans. Enjoy their misery:

dixie2003: Mr. Mozeliak, I would like to know how you were able to make a competitive offer to Brian Fuentes, then sign Royce Ring on the cheap? How do you go from a top tier free agent then sign a guy with an over 8 era? Is there any chance of signing a player that any other team would actually want?

John Mozeliak: Interesting question, and the answer is supply and demand. Yes we did try to sign Fuentes, but with him out of the market we simply just don’t over pay for some else. We allocate resources when we feel the player is worth the investment. Not to get to detailed on this topic but I feel it is a nice place to address how we make decisions. First we look at the player performance, then scouting reports, then enter the risk factors, and then finally place a dollar value and length we feel comfortable with. I know it is not always popular, but there is a logic to our process.

I Hate Bill Dewitt!!: Mo,
Please describe what it’s like living in your little land of make believe where you honestly believe that Cardinal fans should be excited about this team. If you wouldn’t mind, go into details, about how in MO’s world people are celebrating are three horrible new lefty relievers, and the signing of our awesome new .213 hitting shortstop.

John Mozeliak: First I rather live in my world then yours…it is sunny out today??? No you’re right it is 30 something degrees, my girl friend dumped me, and my car won’t start.
First, it is not we stink (unless you ask yourself these questions in the mirror) and we make decisions based on scouts, stats, and other information. If we thought Greene was going to hit .213 we would not, I repeat, not make the deal.
Go back to your world and I hope by mid summer you’re ready to come out for air.

I Hate Bill Dewitt!!: Hey Johnny-

After this are you going to go into the yahoo teen chat room, and talk about designer clothes, and playing spin the bottle. GO DO SOMETHING PRODUCTIVE LOSER!!!! Other G.M’s are working on deals, don’t you get it!!

John Mozeliak: Clever, and with that I will sign off big guy. STLtoday - Discussions - Cards Live.

Boom roasted. (Even Real Stadiums Have Roofs has to admit that was a good "boom roasted") At least we have Hendry working for us. I still trust he will make the right moves. Royce Ring? Really?

PECOTA Projects 2009 Cubs to Win 96 Games; Still Can't Determine Who Will Win Short Series

If you read any Cubs blogs, then you may have already heard this news since it seems like we are the last ones to report it. Apparently PECOTA, an advanced system used by sabremetricians to determine an individual player's contribution to wins based on certain advanced metrics (I think? This stuff is usually way over my head), is used in the aggregate to determine the amount of wins each team will have.

Well using PECOTA, Baseball Prospectus has determined that the Cubs will win the Central by 13 games:

Central	W	L	RS	RA
Chicago Cubs	96	66	871	749
Milwaukee Brewers	83	79	823	807
St. Louis Cardinals	80	82	779	796
Cincinnati Reds	79	83	783	796
Houston Astros	67	95	712	850
Pittsburgh Pirates	65	97	720	885

Well...we saw what all this hoopla and high hopes did for us last year. I'm not saying that 96 wins isn't nice, but isn't there something that can project wins in a series? I mean come on nerds, you've been studying the statistics and math of baseball for the past 30 years! I think it's time to figure this one out. Sorry, I just find it hard to get excited about all these Vegas odds and PECOTA projections when all I really want is a goddamn ring.

Vegas Thinks The NL Central Is Pretty Shitty...Except The Cubs Of Course

Sportsbook.com has posted their odds for teams to win the 2009 MLB World Series (via Wrigleyville23). The Cubs are 7:1 to win the Series in 2009, second only to the Yankees who are at 5:2 (The A-Rod allegations may affect that, though who knows). Notably, however, is the rest of the NL Central's odds to win:

Chicago Cubs 7:1
Cincinnati Reds 50:1
Houston Astros 40:1
Milwaukee Brewers 35:1
Pittsburgh Pirates 200:1
St. Louis Cardinals 30:1

Weak, weak division. The odds are obviously constantly changing, but it doesn't look like there will be anyone to beat the Cubs in the NL Central, outside of themselves of course.

A Chicago Fan Can Only Dream...Peavy, Stoudemire, Boldin

His Jesusness Shuttlesworthness comes out of blogging retirement to write this post about how Chicago Sports may be on the cusp of 3 championships. Seriously, I received this message from him as a precursor to the post: "I was just upset about some haters I heard last night that werent willing to do anything we could for Amare, Boldin, and Peavy. We could be at the beginning of a historic transformation in Chicago sports history, a chance to change everything for the better."

We’ve seen wild trade rumors and stingy front offices (ahem, the Bears, ahem) in Chicago for too long. However, speaking as a true sucker, I’d be willing to excuse a recent past full of poor risk management, regrettable drafting, and too many generally unfathomable personnel decisions… if over the course of the next couple of weeks, Jim Hendry, John Paxson, and Jerry Angelo can muster up our capable dollar and some inspiring courage to acquire Jake Peavy, Amare Stoudemire, and Anquan Boldin. I would call this my thesis. A fairly provocative if, then. Now, before you begin to criticize such a conclusion, let me present to you some premises. Lead by the Bulls’ approaching trade deadline (Feb. 19), the big three Windy City franchises (sorry Sox fans) have a chance to turn all their fortunes around…in a hurry.

First, the Bears. The most common, erroneous, and frustrating counterargument to chasing Boldin- “he’s a hothead…a baby...a poison.” Fall back ignorance. Before the 07-08 season, the offense voted him captain. Fitz loves him. So you don’t know shit. What we do know, however, is undeniable. Quickest player in NFL history to 400 receptions. Most receptions in the first 25 games of an NFL career. Perennial YAC leader. Among the best blocking wideouts in the league. Why not? Why not take a chance on Boldin? It’s not like we can get much worse than what we’ve got, right? Well, let’s agree wide receiver is a draft priority- at the least. So would you be opposed to giving up a 1^st and 3^rd round draft pick, with Earl Bennett packaged? Of course not. How could you? Marcus Robinson was our last league-leading wideout (wow, that’s embarrassing) and we haven’t had great success in that department of the draft since (ex. David Terrell, Mark Bradley, Bobby Wade, David Terrell, and so on…) Let’s chase Boldin! After all, he’s got 2 years left on his contract and he is only getting paid half a million dollars more annually than fucking Marty Booker! Boldin has a chance to be one of the league’s best, if you don’t already consider him in that echelon. At age 28, he’s got a lot of career left and you know he’s been yearning to show what he can be as a No. 1 target.

Next, the Cubs. This might be the most obvious. Here’s a resume to ease the uncertainty: Youngest pitcher to win the ERA title since Dwight Gooden, captain for Team USA at the WBC, the pitching triple crown winner in 2007 (one of only 8 in history), unanimous CY Young winner in the same year, and so on… In my not qualified to comment opinion, the best NL pitcher, second only to Johan Santana. Look at the numbers! How can you fight that? Padres GM Kevin Towers has even said he needs to trade Peavy before the spring. Without much doubt, the Chicago Cubs rotation would be the league’s best heading into the 2009 campaign. Imagine. Peavy takes the ball from Zambrano. Harden on the bump after Peavy. Dempster every 4^th game. You’d have to at least project dominance. And if it comes to this, wouldn’t you swap Dempster with Peavy in the blink of an eye?

Finally, our beloved Bulls- only days from the trade deadline. Everyone has been talking about this. Suns management has been hinting towards it. Chad Ford has been skewing, overhyping, and plotting it. The best part- it all makes perfect sense for us. The Bulls have all the pieces. Two expiring contracts with Gooden and Ced Simmons, Steve Kerr’s wet dream in the form of Kirk Hinrich, and the deceiving upside of an athlete (Tyrus) and a game-changing defender (Thabo). Paxson needs to be ready and willing to deal all of these pieces. Moreover, he can’t fall into old patterns by stubbornly protecting Deng and even Gordon.

I love dreaming. And while the above hype might forever remain a dream, it is our job as fans to get worked up about it. I ask you to angrily reject the alternative future. Envision us without Boldin- trying to establish a title competitor with an Orton-Lloyd headliner. Envision us without Amare- more of the same frontcourt disaster. Envision us without Peavy- a pitching gem short from an expectedly competitive NL Central title and an inexplicably squandered chance at the most prolific assembly of talented right-handers in the modern era of baseball.

Let’s band together. Yell at our neighbors. Donate facebook statuses. Overhype as much as possible. Then when it’s all lurking on the horizon, close our eyes. And if we wake up to a dream deferred…its management's head! We’ll have already lost Paxson’s balls.

Qualified Links (Today's Links)

• The Hawks win again. Maybe I should be watching them more during the sports wasteland known as "February".
• Illinois continues its cold play against Wisconsin. It's never easy to win in Madison but this one would have been big.
• It looks like there is going to be a movie made about the book Moneyball and Brad Pitt is going to be starring as Billy Beane. Score one for sabremetrics!
• Elton Brand is being shut down for the season with shoulder problems. Will he ever be the force that he once was? Regardless of the injuries I think Chicago fans will always regret trading him for Chandler.
• Dusty Baker wants to recreate the Chicago Cubs he coached a few years back in Cincinnati. Today's acquisitions? Daryle Ward and Jacque Jones.
• BDL is going to do a 2 on 2 tournament of NBA teams, sort of like an NBA Jam. Hey that was my idea! Well we all know Skeets will do it better than me anyways.
• Looks like Gordon is a little put off by the fact he wasn't selected for the 3 point contest.
  

Oh My God, I Just Took A Huge Link Dump (Today's Links)

• Lions fans really REALLY hate Matt Millen. Holding up "Fire Matt Millen" signs is one thing, but this is entirely different.
• Bears sign ex-Northwestern QB Basanez to 2-year deal. Really? What exactly does this do?
• The Bulls didn't look terrible, but they did lose to the Rockets to snap their road-winning streak at 3 games.
  
• Some crazy statistics for Bulls players during January. It gave me a headache, but maybe someone out there can explain them to me.
• Bud Selig makes a lot of money. Not that he shouldn't, but more than 99% of Major League players? That seems like a bit much. (Thanks to Gavin for the tip)
  
• Some sort of crazy wrestling video with AJ Pierzynski (sp?).
• Apparently the Cubs just have way too many short white guys to be a championship-caliber team.
• Big Ten basketball is physical? Get out of here! That many flagrant fouls in that short a time is a little much, though.
• The Peavy rumors live!
• The late Bob Hayes was inducted into the Football Hall of Fame. His "sister" gave a speech at the press conference, but here's the catch: She is faking that she's his sister. Wow. (Thanks to Gavin for this link too; maybe he should just do the freaking links)
  

Today's Links

• Simeon Rice is contemplating a comeback. Could the Bears be his destination? Would that be a good thing?
• The Cubs trade Wuertz and Rich Hill; Hendry says they are ready to go to camp, but will keep options open. Neat.
• Detroit is still a little sore over Matt Millen, and it showed on Sunday.
• So did your Super Bowl party suck? At least you didn't get peed on like Matt Cassel.
• Some Super Bowl viewers in Arizona were subjected to a little porn during the Super Bowl. After some of those commercials, it was the least they could do.
• Michael Phelps is sorry for smoking pot. Well, he is really sorry for getting caught, but whatever. Who cares.
• Kobe drops 61 points on the Knicks. However, if you adjust for Knicks inflation, it's only like 33.

Bako is Back-o

The Cubs signed free agent catcher Paul Bako today. Bako was on the Cubs for the 2003 and 2004 seasons and made the trip to the NLCS where the Cubs...well, you know.

Since then, the catcher has been with a new team every year, his latest stop last season with the Reds. Bako will replace Blanco as the backup to Soto. Blanco appeared in 58 games last season and I would expect at least that from the left-hand hitting Bako.

It's another left handed bat replacing a right handed bat in an off-season where southpaws have been a major focus. So...yeah, new backup catcher. Wooooo!!!!!

All I Goat For Christmas

There have been many attempts to reverse the curses that supposedly plague the Cubs. From the huge ceremony to blow up the Bartman ball to having a priest bless the Cubs dugout (both failed, in case you were curious), there have been numerous attempts to end the curse in recent years. As is usually true, it appears comic books have found the best resolution to the problem of the curse:

In issue No. 250 of DC Comics’ “Hellblazer,” sorcerer-for-hire John Constantine takes on the Cubs curse—and fights a hulking, red goat demon in the Billy Goat Tavern below Michigan Avenue.

The tale, “All I Goat for Christmas,” is by comic book scribe Brian Azzarello, best known for his “100 Bullets” series. I’m a casual Billy Goat patron, and I’ve known Azzarello socially after writing an introduction for one of his “100 Bullets” collections. The pairing of Azzarello and the curse seemed fateful.

Sounds like a winner. Let's be honest though, as good as Constantine is, can we all agree Mark DeRosa could definitely kick that red goat demon's ass?

Just to clear something up, I don't believe in the "Curse". I think the Cubs woes were the fault of poor ownership and management for many years. In recent years they have begun to spend money, finally, and are having some measure of success. Losing in the first round of the playoffs is not a curse, however. If the Cubs continue to run the team in the professional and successful manner it has been run in recent years, they will break through eventually.

Touche, Cardinals Fans, Touche

As much as I hate the Cards and their fans, I have to give them props for this little message outside Busch Stadium:

I don't know if this will make up for their AA pitching staff, but respect for the effort. The first blow has been struck. Here's our response: A better team on paper and on the field. Keep writing in snow Cardinals fans, we'll see you in the spring.

Today's Links

• Hey it's already Thursday of Super Bowl week! Here is the highlight from media day.
• Chris Berman is receiving the Pat Summerall Award for demonstrating, get this: character, integrity, and leadership. Like in the video.
• Stormin' Norman tried putting a voodoo curse on Eric Gordon before the game last night. Not sure if it worked, but the Bulls still beat up the Clippers to start their road trip.
  
• Blackhawks also start their road trip off with a win, besting the Ducks 3-2. Take that Charlie Conway!
  
• Derrick Rose will lead the Rookies against the Sophomores on All-Star Weekend. D-Wade will coach Rooks and Dwight Howard will run the Sophomores, while Lebron James will provide color commentary for the game. Oh sure, because he's black?!!
• The White Sox are making an Obama-themed hat, and the invite to throw out the first pitch stands. Make as many hats as you want, the Secret Service is not allowing an acceptance to that invitation.
• Soriano says he will hit anywhere in the lineup. Why do I feel like he misunderstood and really thought he was confirming that he would try to hit anything?

Cubs Acquire Heilman

The Cubs traded newly acquired pitcher Garrett Olson and infielder Ronny Cedeno to the Mariners for pitcher Aaron Heilman.

Heilman, age 30, has spent his entire major league career with the New York Mets. He appeared in 78 games last year, all in relief. Heilman's career ERA is 4.24 after posting a 5.21 mark last season. However, the three years before that saw ERAs of 3.04, 3.62, and 3.17.

Heilman is expected to challenge Marshall for the fifth spot in the rotation and at the very worst provide dependable relief.

The right-hander spent his college days at Notre Dame, where he apparently caught Hendry's eye.

Does this end speculation about getting Jake Peavy? Well, nothing will ever end speculation, but it certainly looks unlikely since Olson was thought to be a piece in that vexing puzzle.

It's not especially tough to see Ronny Cedeno go, but he showed some good things last year and it would have been nice to see him succeed in Chicago. Plus, isn't he better than Aaron Miles anyway?

Five Chicago Athletes that could Challenge the Bulls

So the Bulls have been pretty awful this season and there is no way around that. I saw that Lebron commercial where he suits up for the Browns and it got me thinking: are there five athletes in Chicago that could give the Bulls a run for their money?

Okay, there aren't, but let's try like hell to find a suitable starting five. We'll only deal with the other three major sports, so if there is a 7'4" roller derby star out there, we're out of luck.

Center: Kellen Davis (TE, Bears)

I figure we should start out with the big men, because just like the NBA, they are hard to come by. The biggest man I came across was Adam Russell, a 6'8" reliever for the Sox. I think we're going to look to the Bears for our center though. The candidates are Israel Idonije (6-7, 295) and Kellen Davis (6-7, 262). I'm going to go with the versatile Kellen Davis here. Davis played both DE and TE at Michigan State (basketball school!) and displayed an impressive 34" vertical jump at the combine. Plus, all he has to do is stop Noah and Thomas. Big deal.

Power Forward: Derrek Lee (1B, Cubs)

Okay, so we need a little more size at the PF spot and I think I'll go straight to Derrick Lee for this spot. Obviously undersized for a PF, but we know he plays great defense, right? Not to mention all of that crazy footwork at first base. I can see D Lee being the turn-around jumper of the glass kind of guy that this team needs. Plus, dealing with Big Z all the time will help when it comes to not being scared of Drew Gooden.

Small Forward: Jeff Samardzija (RP, Cubs)

At SF we need someone who can do a little bit of everything. Quick enough to get to the basket, but versatile enough to knock down shots. Also, he needs to be able to match up with Luol Deng. There's only one guy with the size and athleticism that comes to mind here and that's Jeff Samardzija. Jeff is 6'5" and showed he has the hops and quicks to keep up with Deng, from his football days at Notre Dame. Don't let that hair remind you too much of Adam Morrison, this kid can actually play!

Shooting Guard: Rex Grossman (QB, Bears)

Plain and simple, this guy needs to knock down the open shot. It shouldn't be hard to get open with the likes of Ben Gordon defending, so quickness isn't that big of a concern. I'm throwing around some of Chicago's shooters...Toews? Nah, too Canadian. Quentin has a cannon, but...Cannon! Hands down, it's the Sex Cannon. You know he'll gun it from everywhere. "Is that Kellen Davis with a solid post seal? Yep, but I bet I can jack up this three!" We need a slinger and there is only one man in this town with that kind of rep.

Point Guard: Matt Forte (RB, Bears)

This is very important, we need a floor general. Someone who can take care of the ball and maybe put the team on his back if need be. I like Patrick Kane's passing ability, but he's much too small and white; bad combo. Buehrle is the kind of leader and steady hand we need, but there is no chance he keeps up with Rose. To deal with the Bulls' amazing rookie, I'm going with a fellow Chicago rook, Matt Forte. At 6'2" and 216 we know he has the size and strength to slow down Rose. He's quick, with great vision, and don't almost all of the Bears' plays run through Forte already?

So I ended up with all Bears and Cubs, but I think it's a solid squad. Let us know what you think in the comments.

In Honor of Mark DeRosa

Beloved by all Cubs fans, here is a cartoon that summarizes what DeRosa meant to all of us: