In a fair and balanced column on the NL Central, Chicago Tribune's Phil Rogers had this to say:
"Ryan Doumit lies. The Pittsburgh Pirates' catcher says he signed a three-year, $11.5 million contract extension because he's 'excited about what the future holds for the Pittsburgh Pirates.'
Yeah, right. And the addition of Khalil Greene means the St. Louis Cardinals are going to be a force again. And the signing of a 41-year-old Trevor Hoffman more than offsets the departures of CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets from the Milwaukee Brewers.
Forget the addition of Milton Bradley and re-signing of Ryan Dempster. The best thing for the Cubs in this off-season is that the rest of the National League Central has done so little.
And the Astros: "The Astros are hoping Mike Hampton can replace Randy Wolf (6-2, 3.57 in 12 starts after being acquired from San Diego) and haven't done anything to replace catcher Brad Ausmus."
Stupid Cubs. Stupid Phil Rogers. Dammit if he ain't right, though. But why does he have to pick on Ryan Doumit like that? That's not cool. What's Doumit supposed to say? "I'm looking forward to having the season wrapped up by May 31." Idiot. Let's hear it for another 101 years...
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
