Archive - Nov 4, 2008

We tend to suppress the political talk around here because we like to treat sports as an escape from the realities of the world. Also because people tend to go off the deep end whenever the topic comes up.  This being election night though and there being nothing baseball-related worth discussing - go at it.

I'll be sadly working most of the evening, but following through Nate Silver's 538 blog and CNN.com. Any recommendations on a better site to follow the action?

For a brief moment(7:06 pm CST), McCain was winning 16-3 in the electoral vote. OMG! UPSET!!! A quick refresh and he's already down 81-34 in states that have been called. If I understand this correctly, based on the polling, if Obama takes Ohio, the night is pretty much over.

I'm also happy to see the "Godless Sunday School Teacher" won in North Carolina (here's the backstory on that one). I'll also be following the California races of course.

Happy Election night!

Here on election day, I'm voting for none other than Arizona Phil. Anyone armed with so much information can't lead our country wrong. I can't wait for Chris Berman to get his post-election interview with Phil.

Strong commentary by Az Phil from the "Cubs make the First Trade of the Offseason" post. 

On newly acquired Ryan Buchter:

Ryan Buchter was drafted by the Nationals in the 33rd round of the 2005 draft, but he didn't sign, and instead went to a JC in New Jersey.

The Nats signed Buchter as a "Draft & Follow" in May 2006 (prior to the new CBA, clubs retained rights to their Rule 4 Draft picks until one week before the next year's draft), an indication that his draft stock had gone up after his year playing JC ball.

What probably happened is, the Cubs area scout in New Jersey "turned in" Buchter off his performance in JC in '06 ("turned in" being the term used by scouts when they recommend a player), but the Cubs never got a chance to draft him in 2006 because the Nats had already signed him as a DNF in May, although the Cubs probably kept his name on file for future reference should a trade be made with the Nationals at some future date.

Read the rest of this entry>>>

UPDATE: Looks like Kevin Towers jumped the gun on saying Peavy is willing to go to the Angels or Yankees, as Peavy's agent Barry Axelrod denies the report. Axelrod said Peavy may consider either team but it would require a healthy dose of extra compensation.

CBS's Scott Miller talks about the golf game between Hendry and Towers and throws Rich Hill's name into the mix.

- Bruce Levine reported on the radio talks between the Cubs and Padres centered around Sean Marshall, Felix Pie, Ronny Cedeno and Jose Ceda.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that's not enough.

The Trib's Dave Van Dyck  quotes a scout saying the Cubs lack the talent the Padres want but has a source that also mentions Felix Pie, Ronny Cedeno and others. It goes on to say that it's definitley Peavy OR Dempster for the Cubs and not Peavy AND Dempster. He finishes it off by mentioning that he believes Wood would be the better bet to get signed before the Nov. 13th exclusive negotiating window ends.

- In a separate article, van Dyck says the Cubs have some interest in Raul Ibanez.

- To add to the fun, Peavy has added the Anaheim Angels and New York Yankees to his list of teams he'd consider waiving his no-trade clause. It does say that Peavy would still prefer one of the 5 N.L. teams he originally listed - Houston, St. Louis, Chicago, Atlanta or Los Angeles.

- Chris DeLuca at the Sun-Times throws the Cubs hat in the CC sweepstakes if he doesn't resign with the Brewers. Greg Maddux is currently leaning towards retirement as well.