This Makes No Sense

So all signs are indicating that the Cubs are about to sign Jim Edmonds, and for the most part, it's not a very popular move amongst Cubs fans. Which is entirely understandable, as Edmonds is a former Cardinal and has been a Cub-killer in his career.

I think the move is idiotic as well, but not for any reason having to do with the Cardinals. No, I'm more opposed to it because Edmonds sucks.

He used to be pretty good, but those days seem to have passed him by.

He seems to spend a lot of his time on the disabled list the last few years, his once golden glove is looking a bit more rusty these days, and he can't really hit anymore either. I mean, there's a reason the Padres released him earlier this season. If Edmonds wasn't good enough for a team that's currently 15-25, how exactly is he supposed to help the Cubs?

I know that Lou Piniella wants another left-handed bat in the lineup, but I don't think Edmonds should be that bat. The biggest reason for this is that it's going to send Felix Pie down to Iowa again so he can get some at bats, and hopefully reach that potential the Cubs have told us about for so long.

But when you think about it, how exactly are Felix Pie and Jim Edmonds any different from each other right now? Let's compare their numbers.

In 90 at bats this season, Edmonds is hitting .178/.265/.233, with one homer and 7 RBI while striking out once every 3.75 at bats.

In 63 at bats this season, Pie is hitting .222/.286/.286, with one homer and 6 RBI while striking out once every 2.73 at bats.

So Pie is hitting for higher numbers across the board, and has the same power production in 30 less at bats, but does strike out a little more. Though, both Edmonds and Pie strike out at alarming enough rates that it doesn't make much of a difference.

On defense, Pie is far superior to Edmonds at this point.

So if the Cubs want Felix Pie to get some at bats, why can't they just give them to him in the Majors? They have a strong enough offense that they can sacrifice one spot in the lineup for defense. At least Felix has the potential to become something.

Edmonds on the other hand will give you nothing more than Pie can, except the Cubs will be placing him in the middle of the order, and he's not as strong defensively. It just makes no sense.

Does Mike D'Antoni Want To Come To Chicago?

When the Bulls fired Jim Boylan officially and began their search for a new coach, I have to admit, I wasn't very excited by the prospects out there. In the last few days, things have changed dramatically. It all started when Mark Cuban fired Avery Johnson after the Mavericks were eliminated from the first round of the playoffs for the second straight season.

I like Avery Johnson, and anybody who's taken a look at his coaching record in the regular season would be as well: 194-70, a 73.5 winning percentage. Of course, then you take a look at his record in the playoffs, 23-24, and you start to wonder if he's capable of winning in the playoffs. Sure, he got the Mavs to the NBA Finals a few years ago, but since they went up 2-0 on the Heat in that series, they've lost 12 of their last 13 playoff games.

All this with a team that actually has a legitimate superstar in Dirk Nowitzki, and this season added another Hall of Famer in Jason Kidd.

So while I wouldn't mind if Avery became the Bulls next coach, I wouldn't exactly treat him as the messiah either.

What really got me excited was when I heard that Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni isn't happy in Arizona, and wants out. Apparently he feels that new Phoenix GM, and former Bull, Steve Kerr is a bit too much of a micro-manager, and they're philosophies towards basketball just don't mesh.

So D'Antoni wants out, and it could happen as soon as today. Where does D'Antoni want to go? Apparently he's got his eyes on Chicago, and our underachieving Bulls.

Sources say D'Antoni is increasingly likely to get an invitation to relocate to the Windy City if he can indeed extricate himself from the Suns. As covered in this article in cyberspace on Wednesday, moving to the Eastern Conference with Chicago is an idea that has D'Antoni more than intrigued and which apparently has a few Bulls players (presumably Luol Deng and Ben Gordon) already salivating.

D'Antoni is scheduled to meet Friday with Suns owner Robert Sarver and team president Steve Kerr, who will try to convince D'Antoni that he belongs in the desert and that their in-house tensions can be diffused. But sources continue to echo the sentiments revealed earlier this week bv Sports Illustrated's venerable Jack McCallum, who wrote that the highly frustrated D'Antoni considers his philosophical differences with his bosses to be "irredeemable." You'll recall that McCallum spent the 2005-06 season as a virtual member of D'Antoni's coaching staff to write the acclaimed book "Seven Seconds or Less."

Yes, yes, yes, a million times yes.

I would love to have D'Antoni running the Bulls. He's had the same success as a head coach as Avery Johnson, good regular seasons and postseason letdowns, but unlike Avery, he's more suited to take over this Bulls team.

Watching the Bulls the last few seasons, I've had one major complaint about the way the team ran it's offense. They tried to do a little too much half-court sets when really, the team has the athletic ability in which they should be running up and down the court a lot more often.

That's exactly the style D'Antoni would bring with him in Chicago, and I would love every second of it. Now, Kirk Hinrich is definitely no Steve Nash, but he could blossom under D'Antoni's system. Luol Deng could develop into the Shawn Marion type that flourished in Phoenix. And tell me, would you rather see Tyrus Thomas running up and down the court from the wing, or posting up in the block? Where do you think he'd be a better fit?

Hell, Ben Gordon might actually still have value on this team with D'Antoni because in Mike's system, his inability to play defense won't be so glaring.

I also think D'Antoni could be set up to have a lot more success in Chicago for a couple of reasons. The biggest being that the Bulls are in the Eastern Conference, and it's a much easier road to hoe on this side of the country. The other area would be the depth the Bulls have.

Have you noticed while watching the Suns the last few years that they basically had an 8-man rotation at best? There were always those four or five guys on the bench who never saw any playing time, outside of garbage time. There was good reason for this, and that's because they sucked. It wasn't D'Antoni's fault though, as the Suns owner Robert Sarver is an incredibly cheap bastard, and after giving money to Nash, Stoudemire, and Marion, he didn't want to spend any more money to fill out the team. Therefore, D'Antoni was actually quite handcuffed in Phoenix, and he still had a lot of success.

In Chicago that wouldn't be a problem, as John Paxson and the Bulls have no problem filling out the entire roster with guys who can get time on the court. Hell, the Bulls generally have too many players.

I really think that if D'Antoni came here and took over the Bulls, we might finally have the coach to take us to that next level. I'm not saying we'd be a title contender, as we still don't have a superstar, but we'd be a lot better off than where we are now. Not to mention, they'd be a hell of a lot more fun to watch.

Ozzie Is Going To Get an Extension

ESPN Radio 1000's Bruce Levine reported yesterday that the White Sox will be signing Ozzie Guillen to a contract extension in the very near future.

It came as a bit of a surprise for most who heard the news. I mean, after all, the White Sox are embarrassingly bad this season, and are in last place. Why would they give Guillen an extension now? Is it the two-game win streak?

You know who was most surprised by the announcement? Guillen.

Guillen was unaware of a WMVP-AM report Tuesday night that the Sox plan to give him an extension at the end of the season that lasts longer than the 2009 team option on his current deal.

"People want me to ask for another contract and make sure people know about it," said Guillen, whose current contract is guaranteed through 2008.

"I'm not that type of person. I go about my business. I have one more year with an option, and I expect them to pick up my contract. I don't expect anything different. But [general manager] Kenny Williams never mentioned anything to me."

I never thought there was a chance that Guillen would be fired after this season, but I wasn't expecting an extension. Of course, I didn't think Mark Buehrle or Jermaine Dye would be getting any extensions either.

I think this is more of the White Sox response to all the columns and blogs saying Guillen should be fired.

As for whether or not it's a good move, I'm not against it. I've always liked Ozzie, and though I don't always agree with him, I appreciate the fact he'll say what he's feeling. It's not his fault he's had to work with a horrible bullpen all season.

Though the team may regret this decision should the White Sox continue to suck next year.

Mark Buehrle Loves You Too, Chicago

Never underestimate the power of the blogger.

Or more specifically, me.

You see, after I wrote this post the other day, Kenny Williams saw the light.* He now realizes that to get rid of Mark Buehrle would be one of the stupidest things that the White Sox could do, whether from a baseball perspective or pure dollars and cents.

Now, according to the Chicago Sun-Times, it appears that the Sox are close to signing Mark to a contract extension.

Ken Williams' cell phone got a bit quieter Tuesday.

That's usually what happens when a team decides to pull its biggest bargaining chip off the trade table.

The Boston Red Sox, who had jumped out as the clear favorite to acquire White Sox left-hander Mark Buehrle during the weekend, have pulled out of the sweepstakes, according to one source. And not because the asking price of top minor-league prospects was too high or because they no longer coveted Buehrle's services, but because Buehrle is no longer on the trading block for the time being.

...

The Sun-Times has learned that a change of heart in both the Buehrle and White Sox camps during the last 48 hours has led to talks about the sides somehow getting together and agreeing on a contract extension by the end of the week.

That sentiment also was expressed by one Sox player, who said the ''climate'' was right for Buehrle to sign an extension in the next few weeks.

''Call it a calm before the storm,'' the player said.

Now before we all wet ourselves with joy - too late here, actually - it's important to note that nothing has been agreed upon as yet. (Though there is speculation that it's a four-year deal on the table.)

Also, neither side is willing to admit that this is what's actually happening. Though when asked about it yesterday, a sheepish grin appeared on Buehrle's face as he said "It's wrong! It's wrong!"

This also doesn't mean that Kenny is done trying to make trades. It's just now he'll be doing it to move salary to accomodate Buehrle's new contract.

Which means that Jose Contreras is probably going to go to the Mets, and Jermaine Dye could be shipped to the Dodgers or the Yankees.

So just because the Sox may be re-signing Buehrle, it doesn't mean they're finished trying to re-tool this team.

*Try proving it isn't true

Pacman's Just Being Pacman

As already mentioned on We Are The Postmen, I'm not sure how seriously this story should be taken, given it's from MediaTakeOut.com. But after all, we're talking Pacman Jones, so it's also entirely possible the story is true.

Yo MediaTakeOut.com,

Pac Man Jones, the NFL so called star was crazy at this party!!! He threw bottles into the crowd for no reason at all and hit random people while R Kelly is performing! [He also] got in this guys face to start a fight. [His antics] almost ruined R Kelly’s performance.

On top of that, this guy choose Khia, the rapper, to kiss on in VIP…eggghhhh!!!

[At one point during the night] me and my peeps thought it was a chance we was going to get into with this guy cuz of the rude things he was doing!! Throwing up Gang signs galore.

It’s just sad to see in person. Someone who is throwing away all that talent in the trash!! He hasn’t learned a damn thing!!

Also, if you're unsure who Khia is-I know I was-she's best known for her song "My Neck, My Back" which I believe was about licking things. Given Pacman's proclivity for spitting on things, I'm sure these two will make a very wet and entertaining couple.

Maybe they can convince R. Kelly to pee on them.