Good luck with the Cubbies..hope they treat you good. I'll miss you Double J:(

Sweet lord, the Yankees signed Johnny Damon. This should fuel the Sox-Yanks fire for a few more years, eh?

JJ should be a good fit for the Cubs. Too bad for Jacque that it means he's seen his last world series for 3 years. The Royals will get there again before the Cubbies every do.

Interesting about Damon. I saw that he rejected arbitration so that pretty much meant he had reached an agreement with NY. I'm sure the BoSox fans in the outfield bleachers will welcome him back with polite appreciative applause when he returns to Fenway in pinstripes.

As a Twins fan with intrests in the Red Sox, I can honestly say that Johnny Damon is the first member of the 2004 team to completely use up the lifetime of good will that Sox fans have given to every member of that team. This news is completely unbelevable.

Ok I don't get paid 13 million dollars a year but I also don't work for an employer who's going to make me cut my hair and shave my beard.

Why would he do that? Does he WANT to be hated?

reading all the stuff from the yankees about getting it's all about how they now have a real lead off hitter, and they haven't won a title since they lost Knoblauch so this is what's going to turn the corner.

All this love for Chuck all of a sudden?

I must beg to differ with you JimCrikket.

The last two years the World Series was won by teams with long standing curses against them...curses which were broken ONLY because former Twins joined their team.

I predict the Cubbies will win it all in 2006.
After all, they are due, there is a curse to be broken, and they now have Jones, a former Twin.

The stars are aligned...

Good luck Jacque...we'll miss you.

But I don't know bubblemint...Hawkins didnt help the cubbies beat the curse. I don't know if Jones has that kind of power either.

The only curse the cubs have ever faced is self-imposed. They exist in the third largest market, they have zero television/cable issues, they have zero new stadium demand issues, have zero attendance issues, have zero merchandising issues. They benefit schedule-wise from the change of 2 divisions to 3. They benefit schedule-wise from the unbalanced schedule. They, as an organization, have always consciously chosen to not compete at a monetary/management level necessary to win. There is no other team in all of MLB that should be winning their division every year. That is not a slight to any team in their division, but the cubs could outspend all of them without much effort. They pocket a lot of profit and that's their choice.

Every team should be so cursed.

This is apparantly a very BOLD signing.

JJ's whole career was one of the those "no, no, no, no, oh, yes!" sorts of careers, a travelling north on 169 at rush hour sort of career, a hundred scratch off tickets before getting a winner sort of career.

I did have to laugh at Hendry's quote about JJ's arm. I guess he's never seen Jacque play. If having a strong arm means your throw bounces 46 times before it gets to the infield, well then heck, Jacque qualifies!

All I know is I heard the Cubbies will be playing in the Metrodome this year, and I was going to see one in that series anyway but now it's at the top of my list.

Outstanding throwing arm? Like LaTroy Hawkins has a closer's nerves of steel? I hope JJ isn't getting set up to be the latest ex-pat crucifixion in Wrigleyville (Rick Aguilera, Kevin Tapani, LaTroy, Paul Douglas). Good luck Jacque - I know there are some throwing exercises you can do.

Still, I heard the news last night, and could barely sleep, thinking what if Jacque succeeds and the Cubs go all the way? Another pathetic franchise's curse broken? another ex-Twin in a World Series dogpile? a second Chicago champion in two years? It could mess with my health.

I see that Balfour was cut loose. I kinda feel for the guy. What a drag to sit out a whole year after TJ surgery, then to get cut loose by your team. I hope he gets picked up by someone and has a good year.

I remember, when I was standing in line to visit Lew Ford at Twinsfest last year, I met a young woman who had buttons with pictures of various Twins players all over her jeans. I asked her who her favorite Twin was, and she showed me a huge button with Grant Balfour's picture. It must be a sad day for her, too.

k-bro

I will never love Chuck - love my sister for nearly running him over =)

JJ - good luck - remember - if the ball gets lost in the ivy - throw up your arms - ground rule double - don't waste time trying to find it!
And thanks for not running my mom and me over after an afternoon game last year =)

GRANT - no - you were so sweet when She-ra and I met you at Twins fest - and smelled heavenly -I hope you find your way back to us - you had some good stuff when you were able to pitch!

Curses - on curses were meant to be broken - I don't think the Cubs will break any curse any time soon - Geesh hasn't Chicago had enough 'sports' love- the b!tch sox and now the Bears?? =)

much love
Wonder Woman

Hey - CubsFan here who has a very real crush on BatGirl.
We're all moaning and wailing in Wrigleyville that Jacque is not all we could wish for in a right fielder.
Please give us some reason for hope.

Tom,
Jacque is a decent player, but he's not Manny, or Vladdy, or Ichiro, or even Garrett Anderson.

But he's a good guy. You'll like him, except when a lefty is on the mound. Then just cover your eyes. :)

Bubblemint, as nailbiter points out, there has never been a shortage of ex-Twins finding a home at Wrigley so I'm not convinced Jacque is the evidence of stars being aligned. In fact, let's not forget, Andy McPhail (or is that McFail?) left the small market Twins to lead the Cubs to the promised land! (How's that been working out, Andy?)

As was pointed out, the only curse the Cubs have is self-inflicted. If I never see a Cubs team in the WS during my lifetime, I'll be happy... no matter how many ex-Twins wear the uniform.

I do wish Jacque all the best, from everything I've seen and heard, he's been a class act and deserves good things.

Balfour will be back.

This was just a 40-man roster move, plus a move to reduce his payroll hit. Even with two major arm surgeries in the last year, he still would make $750,000 next year basically to rehab. Instead, the Twins wil sign him to a minor league contract, he'll spend the first half of the year rehabbing in Fort Myers, will pitch in 10 games in Rochester, and will join the team in August for the playoff run with a pro-rated contract costing the Twins $150,000.

Drake - Thanks (I think). [Cringe]

Well, I was hoping that Jacque would go to Seattle -- they aren't going to be as bad next year -- but the Cubbies will do, I guess. At least I'll be able to see his smile from time to time on WGN. I hope he's happy enough there to smile a lot. And maybee he's the Twin that the Cubs need. It could be true.

And maybee I've given up proofreading for the holidays.

Sheesh.

congrats to JJ, but it must piss off Michael Restovich to no end.
it went largely unnoticed but Resto signed with the Cubs on 12/17 and will compete for a roster spot in Spring Training. now he's stuck behind JJ AGAIN, and this time there's no room for a DH!

can't the Cubs trade him to KC so at least SOMEBODY can get some use out of him?

just looked it up the Draft pick we got for jones is a forth round pick because the cubs first rounder is protected and the 2 and 3 are going to other teams.

Resto = Jacque's platoon partner.

Why didn't the Twins think of that? Cause Gardenhoser insisted that Jacque hit better overall when he played every day. Phooey!

me agian bat-girl is tied at 18% for first on the bolg list.

It doens't seem fair that the Twins only get a fourth rounder when other teams get first rounders for type B free agents. Whetehr or not the Cubs signed a bunch of type B and C free agents ahead of him, the Twins should at least get a sandwich pick. Sandwich picks don't come from any particular team but from a pool anyway.

Good luck to him. Chicago is close so he's still within my reach...

Looking at my 2006 Pocket Schedule, there appears to be a series at the Dome with the Cubs in July.

Well, looks like there's one game I'm going to make sure and not miss.

I'm happy for Jacque. Wrigley is a smaller field which means more HRs for Jacque and he'll do better in the field (he has made some good plays out there, darnit, he's just been overshadowed by Torii).

I love this line in the one article linked to about the deal: "Jones also is patient at the plate, drawing a career-high 51 walks in 2005." I still think that is one of the better stories of this past season and that it's a good sign re Jacque's hitting. I do think after Torii went down, he was trying too hard again, but . . . well, I think he'll do well as a Cub.

I'd love it if the Cubs went to the World Series and as Boston did with Ortiz & Dougie and White Sox with A.J. Not holding my breath, but that'd be very very cool.