The above headline comes courtesy of Ben “if this isn’t the best case yet for steroids, I don’t know what is” Schwartz, who culls the following from MLB.com.
Q : Does the White Sox winning the World Series put any pressure on the Cubs this winter to shore up their team for a possible World Series appearance in ’06? —
Doug W., Joliet, Ill.
Carrie Muskat :
I think Cubs management feels that type of pressure every year, no matter who wins the World Series.
The Cubs’ 2006 Chase For 3rd Place began in Ernest today (and by that, I mean Jim Varney’s annoying character) with the signing of SS Neifi Perez to a 2 year contract extension.
2.5 million times two years for nay-fee? I admire his fielding and his so-called “little things” and “hustle,” and while this is not the worst allocation of team resources I’m sure we’ll see this off season, COME ON people, this is the kind of player a smart team might invite to spring training, not *lock up* for two years/5 million.
And Neifi isn’t even a confirmed starter next season, according to today’s interview with Hendry on the Cub website:
http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20051108&content_id=1266296&vkey=news_chc&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc
Ben