A recent fanpost and the subsequent reaction has me thinking that we need one consolidated repository for all "No bleeping way" trades, much like the most "popular" beat writer to BCB does each year.

Readers should submit them here, and fellow BCB-ers should critique the trades using their friend, the "reply" function.

If this catches on, I'll accept submissions until the end of the week, and then create a poll of the top 10 trades.  Contenders will be chosen by me based on uniqueness, entertainment value and how much alcohol I have in my system when I make the selections.

Trades should be possible, but can be entirely unrealistic.  (Meaning don't propose trades for dead people, fictional characters, etc.)  Favoring the Cubs heavily is always an option, but feel free to mix it up by giving away more than you get in return.  Trade ideas that have been beaten to death are ok, but probably won't prompt a lot of discussion.

Happy Monday.  Have at it.

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Halladay, what would it take.  I have read a few "rumors" over the past few days, and it seems that maybe the Cubs would be able to get him if they offered the right package.  So here goes my weak attempt to create a MLB The Show type of trade:

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How about a little offseason fun? 

How many career HR's do you think these current Cubs will have at the end of their careers?

Derek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, Alfonso Soriano and Geovany Soto

(I'm not including Bradley because I just want to start pretending he is not on the team anymore)

I'll give you their age, career HR total and then my over/under for about where I think they will end up.

Derrek Lee - age 34  Total HR: 293  Over/Under: 400

Aramis Ramirez - age 31 Total HR: 264  Over/Under: 350

Alfonso Soriano - age 33 (will be 34 when 2010 season begins) Total HR: 293  Over/Under: 375

Geovany Soto - age 26 (will be 27 when 2010 season begins) Total HR: 37 Over/Under: 110

Thoughts??

Many times we have discussed Wrigley and its age, and Fenway is another that ranks along with Wrigley in age, but I was recently having a discussion with a friend and an interesting question came up.  I personally have no clue the answer, but what non professional stadium (i.e. college, minor league) that is active (sorry Roman Coliseum) is oldest?  I did locate this article which talks of the three oldest in NCAA dating back as far as 1895 (does that make Wrigley "young"?)

Does anyone know if there are older that are active?

from the artile

The NCAA deems Franklin Field (33rd Street at South Street, Philadelphia), which has staged University of Pennsylvania sports since 1895, as its oldest football stadium. The facility is believed to have hosted the most football games by any one collegiate team – No. 800 for Penn is slated Saturday versus Dartmouth – although the NCAA does not keep official records in this category.

Harvard Stadium (95 N. Harvard St., Allston, Mass), opened in 1903, is the oldest permanent concrete structure in the country.

The Yale Bowl (276 Derby Ave., West Haven, Conn) hosted its first tilt, against Harvard, on Nov. 21, 1914.

Together they represent three of the four oldest Division I stadiums in the country; Bobby Dodd Stadium at Georgia Tech opened in 1913.

I thought was an amazing trip thru time about Franklin Field from the same link

Wouldn't it be great to see Greg Maddux as the pitching coach?

I mean he practically did that when he was playing for the Cubs anyway. And his command and knowledge that he has of the game could help improve an already good rotation.  Larry Rothschild is a good coach but I think it's time for new blood to shake it up a bit.C'mon Ricketts at least look into Maddux for the future of Cubdom.

As everyone knows, the 25th Annual Cubs Convention is scheduled for this coming January 15-17, 2010.  I was wondering, does anyone know of anything special that is being planned or that is in the works, such as extra special guests or events?  I have my passes already but I'm curious to know something before they post the usual list of participants in early January.

That being said, I'd like to see them bring someone like Mark Grace to the event one year, and the 25th Annual event would be the perfect time to do so.  Unfortunately, since he's associated with the D-Backs he'll probably be unable to come.

On a side note, I'd also like to see them monitor the autograph/photo lines better.  Last year I watched people constantly cutting in lines in front of people who had waited for hours.  These people usually had bags of balls that they are just going to get signed so that they can sell them on EBAY.  It'd be nice if they actually kept the cutting to a minimum for once, on behalf of the real fans who are there.

Can anyone else think of any events, attractions, or special guests that you'd like to see at the Convention this year (try to keep them serious please)?

Its become a yearly tradition that some of us here discuss Thanksgiving food and preparation. So for those of you who want to share ideas, tips, recipes, this is a great place. Also, for those of you who have questions, fear not... don't be afraid to ask questions. This is a good place to come and ask questions to help make a great Thanksgiving meal.

My first bit of input as I have always started... your turkey does not need to be dry and flavorless. While it requires some added time and preparation, there are a few ways to make a great turkey.

Tip #1... brine the turkey. Simply put, this means soaking your turkey in some salt/sugar/spice bath for up to 48 hours. The solution can be as simple as water, Kosher salt and sugar. I've used a few recipes that call for a variety of spices, juices (cider), veggies, etc. Google search "Brine Recipe" and find something that you're comfortable with. You can brine the turkey in a clean, 5 gallon bucket. I actually put the turkey in a heavy duty ziploc bag, then store it in a large bucket and put it in the fridge. If you lack the fridge space, you can do this in a cooler, too... just make sure you're adding ice occasionally.

I've been brining for a few years now and won't go back.

Tip #2... A few simple ways to add flavor... place butter between the skin and the meat of the turkey. Carefully slide your hands between the skin layer and the meat as you want to be able to replace the skin and not burn/dry out the mean.You're really just seperating the skin without removing it. You can place pats of butter between the skin and meat in a few spots. ... Add aromatic fruits and veggies. You can do this between the skin and meat or just in the roasting pan. Onions, apples, oranges, lemons, etc, all add flavor to the turkey. If you don't stuff the turkey with stuffing instead add the aromatic fruits and veggies there, otherwise just throw them in the roasting pan.

Tip #3... if you're really adventurous, inject the turkey. They make syringes with heavy gauge needles that you literally can inject various flavor/liquid combos. Again, lots of recipes are out there and its not that difficult.

Finally, especially if you are limited with oven space, I recommend using a grill. You can either use a gas or charcoal grill. Use indirect heating and, again, if you don't know where to start, either ask here or google search. But we usually grill one bird and do a second one on the grill.

Also, if you have a frozen bird, better figure out when you need to start defrosting it, which can take a few days and you want to do in the fridge.

Anyhow, its always fun to see what people here have to add and with it being the Sunday before the holiday, I thought I'd get the ball rolling.

There has been some speculation that the Cubs would be fine with Jeff Baker at 2B.  However, in the most recent Paul Sullivan piece, he writes:

One of the more popular free agents on the market, the Cardinals' DeRosa is drawing no interest from his former team, despite inquiries made to the Indians last May after Aramis Ramirez's shoulder injury. The Cubs still prefer a left-handed hitting second baseman, which is why they're interested in the switch-hitting Castillo.

Now, there's a statement to raise the ire of many different Cub partisans - those who love DeRo, those who don't want Castillo, those who want to see Jeff Baker get the job, and those who thought we were past the LH obsession. 

Now it is possible that Sullivan is mis-reading things, that the Cubs are planning to split 2B evenly between Fontenot and Baker and that there's "interest" in Castillo only as a Bradley exit strategy.  But I figure it's worth reconsidering what the 2B options are, with Bill James projections a guess at defensive value based on the past three years of UZR.

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We all think Milton Bradley will be moved this offseason, but is there anyone else that has a chance to be moved with him? Let's take a look at some of the options.

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Joe Posnanski, who I respect a lot -- and I know a lot of others here do as well -- yesterday named Vernon Wells and Milton Bradley as his choices for league Least Valuable Players.

My favorite part of the article is here:

Anyway, put it all together, and including those all-important intangibles, the 2009 LVP is Bradley. He was lousy on defense (minus-12 Dewan in right; minus-4.7 UZR) and not much on offense (99 OPS+ and missed 38 games with injuries). Plus, he was his usual pleasant self... leaving Cubs GM Jim Hendry publicly babbling about how the team doesn't HAVE to trade Bradley, they might WANT to keep Bradley, hey some of the best trades are the ones you DON'T make --- while privately Hendry's working the phones like Judy the Time Life Operator to get rid of this guy.*

*For a while, the hot talk was Bradley for Wells, which would have been the first trade of LVPs in baseball history. Now, that's a fascinating trade. On the one hand, the Cubs would be getting an enormously expensive player who just had a dismal season. On the other hand, the Blue Jays would be getting a less-expensive player coming off a dismal season who also has a knack for making people despise him. Break it down for us, Mel Kiper.

Oh, and:

A scout once told me that Bradley is the only high school player he ever scouted who hit a home run and did not have a single teammate come out to congratulate him.

I think the second Jim Hendry gets another GM to say "yes", he'll be signing the papers before the other guy can change his mind. And it will happen.