Lilly and Cubs agree to 4-year, $40-million deal

[dcskater619]

Look at the last highly rated MR the Cubs acquired and slotted into the closer spot:




Latroy Hawkins!!

lol...r u kidding? thats a BAD example.. borowski was the closer and got injured in the middle of the season.. hawkins had been a set up man his whole career, he wasnt in his arbitration years.. and he was thrown into the closers role in the matter of ONE DAY!

[AcidRock23]

But he was still an MR who was plugged in, admittedly suddenly, as a closer. I recall quite a bit of optimism over the move when it happened, perhaps the fan crankiness that erupted was as much b/c of the 'great expectations' that his numbers would just translate from the 7th and 8th to the 9th inning?

Howry, Wood or Wuertz could be counted as a potential closers but I don't think that any of them can be guaranteed to be studs in the role and, if I were betting, I would bet against it simply b/c there are more failed closers than successful ones. Not to mention the Cubs' track record of doom...

Then again, maybe I would bet on Wood, he is a pretty entertaining, if frustrating, player!!

[acsguitar]

Look at the last highly rated MR the Cubs acquired and slotted into the closer spot:




Latroy Hawkins!!

He was a really good setup man!

[AcidRock23]

Look at the last highly rated MR the Cubs acquired and slotted into the closer spot:




Latroy Hawkins!!

He was a really good setup man!

I know!! He had great #s in that role and was a pretty good pitcher, good enough that my Sox fan brother in law didn't like him as an ex-Twinkie until he started blowing games for the Cubs.

[Joe LaCock]

Its fairly hard to convert a MR to a closer. You don't just change mentalities mid career. Thats why so many have failed. Howry can be pretty good, everyone else is garbage assuming Wood can't get back to form.

The lilly deal looks worse after Marquis btw.

Hey Buddy,

What is with all the Zito love? C'mon- your name, picture, and signature are all about the 6'4" handsome lefty. Are you a 17-year old girl with a crush? I am surprised your location isn't "Kissing Zito's @#@"

Oh yeah and the Cubs bullpen has the potential to be very good but could also be a mess and the Cubs fans will not get on Ted Lilly. That's a really stupid comment. Joe

[The Miner Part 2]

Its fairly hard to convert a MR to a closer. You don't just change mentalities mid career. Thats why so many have failed. Howry can be pretty good, everyone else is garbage assuming Wood can't get back to form.

The lilly deal looks worse after Marquis btw.

Hey Buddy,

What is with all the Zito love? C'mon- your name, picture, and signature are all about the 6'4" handsome lefty. Are you a 17-year old girl with a crush? I am surprised your location isn't "Kissing Zito's @#@"

Oh yeah and the Cubs bullpen has the potential to be very good but could also be a mess and the Cubs fans will not get on Ted Lilly. That's a really stupid comment. Joe

the cubs wont get on lilly? what does that mean?

[mweir145]

Cubs fans will not get on Ted Lilly. That's a really stupid comment. Joe

Cubs fans will get on Lilly when he starts blowing big leads like he always does. The guy just doesn't show up mentally sometimes, and when his curve isn't working (whch happens surprisingly often), he gets in trouble. Believe me, I had to watch the guy every 5th day.
He also won't be facing the Red Sox anymore, either which might make things a little tougher. (I made a post earlier last year that over Lilly's Jays' career, he had a sub 3.50 ERA agaisnt the Red Sox, but a 5+ ERA agaisnt everyone else which confirmed my previous belief on the subject that Lilly really hadn't been that good for us).

[The Miner Part 2]

Cubs fans will not get on Ted Lilly. That's a really stupid comment. Joe

Cubs fans will get on Lilly when he starts blowing big leads like he always does. The guy just doesn't show up mentally sometimes, and when his curve isn't working (whch happens surprisingly often), he gets in trouble. Believe me, I had to watch the guy every 5th day.
He also won't be facing the Red Sox anymore, either which might make things a little tougher. (I made a post earlier last year that over Lilly's Jays' career, he had a sub 3.50 ERA agaisnt the Red Sox, but a 5+ ERA agaisnt everyone else which confirmed my previous belief on the subject that Lilly really hadn't been that good for us).

see that's what i thought he meant, i just have no idea why he would think that.

[Zito is God]

Its fairly hard to convert a MR to a closer. You don't just change mentalities mid career. Thats why so many have failed. Howry can be pretty good, everyone else is garbage assuming Wood can't get back to form.

The lilly deal looks worse after Marquis btw.

Hey Buddy,

What is with all the Zito love? C'mon- your name, picture, and signature are all about the 6'4" handsome lefty. Are you a 17-year old girl with a crush? I am surprised your location isn't "Kissing Zito's @#@"

Oh yeah and the Cubs bullpen has the potential to be very good but could also be a mess and the Cubs fans will not get on Ted Lilly. That's a really stupid comment. Joe

Sorry, when stupidity starts comparing past Cy Young winners to mediocre trash I tend to support the former. BTW, with comments like that I think its easy to tell which one of us is 17...

[dcskater619]

Its fairly hard to convert a MR to a closer. You don't just change mentalities mid career. Thats why so many have failed. Howry can be pretty good, everyone else is garbage assuming Wood can't get back to form.

The lilly deal looks worse after Marquis btw.

Hey Buddy,

What is with all the Zito love? C'mon- your name, picture, and signature are all about the 6'4" handsome lefty. Are you a 17-year old girl with a crush? I am surprised your location isn't "Kissing Zito's @#@"

Oh yeah and the Cubs bullpen has the potential to be very good but could also be a mess and the Cubs fans will not get on Ted Lilly. That's a really stupid comment. Joe

Bahahaha... Some people just think slightly above average pitchers are Jesus Christ i guess... It's a shame..