TruffleShuffle

OMG Papelbon has blown two saves this year??? Okajima 4 clozer!!!11!!ONE

or as I just wrote in another thread, get mad at the guy who put dempster out there at the end of a 6-run win yesterday. He's pitched a lot lately, let's throw him out on the mound when anyone in the bullpen can finish the game off.

I'd agree that 1B isn't that important, but 3B is a pretty important position on the diamond. And Braun hasn't just been bad, he's been atrocious. His FP is below .900!! His FRAA is -15, whereas Ramirez is at an excellent 16. So even though Braun has been more productive offensively this year, the difference in their defense is really large.

I wanted him badly(yikes!!) as well, but it looked like he wasnt interested in signing anywhere but on the west coast if I remember correctly. Not sure why... he's from Michigan. He's not exactly a class act - there were rampant rumors about him being a big partier/womanizer in Boston, and he cheated on his wife with an FSN reporter in L.A. But I don't really care what people do off the field - unless they're funding al-Qaeda or raping kids or doing other horrible things - and he's a very good pitcher.

He apparently apologized to the catcher before his next AB. most likely because yost or another teammate told him to quit acting like an a-hole

God, the Blanco resigning just boggles the mind. Even if Blanco had stayed healthy put up numbers in line with his career norms, and Soto hadn't put up such an amazing season, it still would've been a terrible move. Add into that the fact that Blanco is aging and likely to decline, and Soto was young and likely to improve a little bit. I can't think of a backup catcher in the game who gets paid better than Blanco, and his career numbers are an OBP of .288 and an OPS+ of 65. I remember the thread about the resigning, and the reaction was basically either "I'd have taken him for about 1/2 the price" or "what the hell, soto could do the same thing for about 1/10 of the price." At least there were a few defenders of the DeRosa signing. But Blanco? The entire friggin board panned that move. How is it that the only person on Earth who thought it a good idea to give Blanco $5.2M for 2 years, is the general manager of the Cubs? Hendry's overvaluing of mediocre players really is stunning.

ok now one thing that sucks - I did a search for corey hart, and it brought me to a page where I could select Corey Hart, major leaguer or Corey Hart, minor leaguer. I don't want to have to go through an extra page every time I do a search. They should either put all the info on one page, or provide a link to minor league stats on the major league stat page.

Bush is a pretty solid pitcher who's been fairly unlucky this year. Suppan hasn't been a bust so much as he's been really unlucky in BABIP and LOB%. Before this year I would have said that Capuano was a solid #3, but I have no idea what the hell happened to him this year - his BABIP is really high too. Vargas sucks, and should be replaced by Gallardo beyond this year. (this many pitchers with "bad luck" on batted balls suggests that defensive ineptitude is probably the biggest culprit)

speaking of really overweight, here's my favorite college football coach losing it after one of his players showboats at the end of a punt return TD. This comes with a potty-mouth warning.

IBS (irritable bowel syndrome)

in related news, I wanted the Cubs to sign Lowe because I figured his sinker - 3.37 (!!!) G/F career ratio - would be a great fit for the high grass in Wrigley. Has he been worth the $9M per that the Dodgers have been giving him? Easily.

Cool, a guy with a truly good sinking fastball, versus a guy who's supposed to be a sinkerball pitcher but gives up too many fly balls.

I want the Cubs to make the playoffs, and I want those in charge to understand that this team is very average and that Jim Hendry has done a lousy job as general manager. If the Cubs sneak in at 85-77 or so, they should realize that, regardless of the Cubs' showing in the playoffs. If they're too inept to see all the flaws in this team, then we're probably boned no matter what happens.

Don't forget consistency. It's all about the consistency. joe morgan is that you?

I'm a Cubs fan (not drinking Brewer Kool Aid) and I beg to differ.

I blame wrist injuries (Lee), old age (Floyd) and lack of steroids (draw your own conclusions) more than Gerald Perry.

Well no, but this isn't really a fair assessment. If the Cubs don't improve their roster then no, they won't be as good as the Brewers, because the Brewers have a lot more young talent that is likely to continue to improve in coming years. But you're right, the people on ESPN are wrong to say that the Cubs are far more talented. I think people look at the names on the Cubs - Lee, Ramirez, Soriano, Zambrano - and think that their roster is better. Just because the Brewers' young guys aren't big names doesn't mean they're not good players. Fielder is already better than Lee; Braun is pretty close to being as good as ARam (Braun has been lucky on balls in play though, and his fielding is bad); Corey Hart has been just as productive as Soriano. I like the Cubs' pitching a little better than the Brewers, as I think Hill is better than whoever the Brewers' #2 is, and Lilly is better than the Brewers' #3. Bullpens are pretty close in ability.

call donaldson up to tennessee for the playoffs, he's better than chris robinson

holy crap soto has 10.46 RC/G this season. He's basically the A-Rod of minor league baseball in 2007.

I Split G GS PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF ROE GDP SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS BAbip sOPS+ tOPS+ Split +-+------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+------------+ 2 outs, RISP 47 57 50 9 1 0 0 10 7 0 4 0 0 0 4 0 .180 .281 .200 .481 .196 30 37 2 outs, RISP Late & Close 62 83 74 19 4 1 1 7 7 0 6 0 2 0 3 1 .257 .321 .378 .699 .269 94 97 Late & Close Tie Game 90 158 140 39 8 0 1 8 14 0 14 0 4 0 5 1 .279 .344 .357 .701 .304 87 98 Tie Game Within 1 R 106 273 241 67 15 1 1 16 26 0 21 0 6 0 8 2 .278 .348 .361 .709 .301 90 100 Within 1 R Within 2 R 115 351 314 86 18 1 1 22 29 0 30 0 8 0 8 4 .274 .335 .347 .682 .300 82 93 Within 2 R Within 3 R 117 397 359 102 24 1 2 32 30 0 38 0 8 0 8 5 .284 .339 .373 .713 .313 90 101 Within 3 R Within 4 R 123 440 397 112 26 1 3 36 35 0 40 0 8 0 8 5 .282 .340 .375 .716 .308 90 102 Within 4 R Margin > 4 R 38 64 55 15 1 0 0 5 8 0 3 0 0 1 3 1 .273 .359 .291 .650 .283 78 84 Margin > 4 R If those numbers look really similar to his .281/.343/.365/.708 line overall, that's because they are.

I do too. If we had a very good lineup like the Yankees, Phillies, Red Sox or Angels, having a shortstop with slightly below average numbers is no reason for concern, especially given the cheap price tag. But Lee, Soriano and Ramirez aren't super mashers, plus catcher, CF and RF have been black holes. Personally I'd be fine with Theriot as the SS going forward; upgrading one of the outfield positions should not be THAT difficult. But if the opportunity to acquire a very good SS presents itself, the Cubs should not shy away.

Alan Trammell should be in the HoF. Career 123.2 WARP3, .283 EqA and .352 OBP. He wasn't as good as Cal Ripken and not quite as good as Ozzie Smith (a guy who is also underrated by a lot of the SABR community IMO) and Robin Yount. But considering that folks like Pee Wee Reese, Phil Rizzuto (joke), Joe Tinker, Luis Aparicio and Rabbit Maranville are in the Hall, Trammell belongs in there too.

WRONG okay so he's 19th out of 29 in VORP among SS with at least 300 PAs. He's also worse than about 60-65% of major league SS in EqA and RC/G, and his EqA is pretty much tied with Jack Wilson. So why exactly are you so convinced that he should be the shortstop for years to come?

I don't hope Theriot is our starting SS for a long time. Sorry but he's just not that good offensively. If the Cubs can upgrade other positions (I'm looking at you, CF/RF) then he's fine at SS. But if they can't get outfielders with pop and OBP ability, then SS is the next place to look.

I see Soto as the starter and Blanco as the back up. That's what I'd like to see, but the Cubs are stupid so I'm assuming they won't give Soto a chance to start.