TruffleShuffle

okay not everyone was on roids, but i believe a significant percentage of players were. Probably more than half.

latroy with another opportunity to screw the cubs... hasn't he done enough damage already?

Obviously not, or he would be performing this year. probabilistic outcomes. so weighing the probability that a Derosa having good year vs. Durham having a good year is not a skill, but a crapshoot? give me a break. lucky you aren't the gm or we'd have the awesome tandem of lugo and durham maning the Middle Infield! Yeah, what our arrogant friend doesn't understand is that it's not all about projected numbers. Yeah, PECOTA is a nice tool, but if a player has really made a breakthrough due to a change in his approach at the plate, the PECOTA numbers are going to be biased w.r.t. his previous performance. Ray Durham has suddently gotten old, and Marcus Giles is off steroids now. That's why scouting is also a part of the game.

(a) everyone in baseball was on steroids, and corked bats don't help hitters. (b) Sosa was two years younger than DeRosa, and probably had more mileage on his body since he was an everyday player.

I also know that he never had an OPS+ above 127 until he turned 29, nor did he have an OBP above .340. He was a good player, but a free-swinger and certainly not an elite hitter. It wasn't until 1998 that he had one of the top 10 OPS+ in the league, top 10 in RC. Then he repeated those feats each of the next four years.

thanks for the extra info. I've given Rothschild a clean slate this year, and I've been really happy with the performance of the entire staff this year. Hopefully he can continue to help the kids (Hill, Marshall, Marmol, Wuertz, Ohman, Guzman) blossom as well.

yeah sammy sosa added a toe tap and all of a sudden leapt to 66 homers, .377 OBP and a 160 OPS+ at age 29. But those numbers were out of line with his career norms, so there's no way he'd repeat those numbers or even be more productive during the subsequent five years.

ah, you're one of those people who clings to the "it was the right move at the time" even though you've been proven completely wrong by the actual performance on the field. Yeah, $7.5M for Ray Durham would be looking real good right now.

Actually the Ted Lilly signing was by far his best signing and was known to be the best at the time, IMO. Given the price of pitching he didn't overpay once you factor in he's a guy who has always had good K rates and always played in the offense happy AL East. Soriano wasn't very good. Marquis was terrible. DeRosa was useless and overkill. Floyd was overkill. Ward was alright. wrong At the time he was signed, it was a completely correct statement. We overpaid a career utility guy coming off a contract year. He's exceeded expectations, and I've been pleased with his plate discipline, but I can see where Meph is coming from. He's a useful piece. I like that he's on the team, but I'll leave it at that. DeRosa changed his approach at the plate last year, adding the toe tap, and it made him a better hitter. The Cubs gambled that it wasn't a fluke, and based on how good his approach has been this year, I'd say it wasn't. At the very least, the Cubs were getting a utility guy with a good glove and a pretty solid bat, who could be also insurance for the inevitable injury to ARam.

ugh, what's the point Trade bait? there's desperate, then there's inquiring about wade miller ugh, ronny just grounds into an inning-ending DP with the bases loaded and 1 out. Patterson is 3-4, Pie 1-3 with a homer, walk and two strikeouts. Mathes had a perfect game through four but gave up two runs that inning... Iowa should be well ahead in this game but have blown too many opportunities.

if roy oswalt isn't an ace, then there really aren't many aces left in baseball

Actually the Ted Lilly signing was by far his best signing and was known to be the best at the time, IMO. Given the price of pitching he didn't overpay once you factor in he's a guy who has always had good K rates and always played in the offense happy AL East. Soriano wasn't very good. Marquis was terrible. DeRosa was useless and overkill. Floyd was overkill. Ward was alright. hence the reason that the all-knowing mephistophles spends his time on an internet message board rather than supplying major league ballclubs with his genius assessments.

whoever wants him better prepare to bend over.... 13th best ERA+ in major league history isn't going to come cheap

ugh, what's the point

ERA+, i made a typing mistake and you know it you condescending a-hole

Gameday showed it as being a HR by a good margin. Gotta love gameday. outfielder climbed the wall and then jumped 30 feet up to make the grab. Speaking of which, does anyone remember a certain catch at Tiger Stadium in the late 80s? They had that scoreboard in left right along the fence, and on a real high fly, some guy climbed up and stood on top of it to take away a homer? That's one of my early baseball memories (probably saw it during the NBC game of the week) I think I know the game you're referring to. It was Monday Night Baseball on ABC and it was against the White Sox. Ivan Calderon made the catch. sounds right... man i really wanna see that play now.

Three out of the previous six years, Marquis had an above-average OPS+. If Rothschild really saw something in his delivery that was causing him to leave the ball up in 2006 - which may be true, given that his G/F ratio is back down this year - the Cubs were justified in signing him to be an effective, durable back-of-the-rotation starter, which he was in 2004 and 2005. 's advocate>

No, I saw the replay. He was snapping his hand and shaking it. It was the reaction one would make upon tweaking a tendon. Definitely didn't seem like the reaction one would have with a blister. Good. c'mon... i'm not feeling terrible for the brewers but i'm not going to celebrate an injury to one of their key players.

Gameday showed it as being a HR by a good margin. Gotta love gameday. outfielder climbed the wall and then jumped 30 feet up to make the grab. Speaking of which, does anyone remember a certain catch at Tiger Stadium in the late 80s? They had that scoreboard in left right along the fence, and on a real high fly, some guy climbed up and stood on top of it to take away a homer? That's one of my early baseball memories (probably saw it during the NBC game of the week)

someone besides us? Wood and Prior were guaranteed injuries. Aside from that, the Cubs have actually been pretty fortunate as far as health goes this year. ARam, Lee, Soriano have all been a little dinged up, but no offensive players have missed very large chunks of time. The rotation has been healthy, and the only pitchers to miss much time have been Dempster and Guzman. (knocking on wood)

welcome back to the rotation, yovani

I don't really believe this. Yeah, maybe he could've gotten slightly more elsewhere, but how is $15M per year a huge discount. That price would put him 10th this year in salary, and while he's certainly a very good player, he's not at the elite level of guys like A-Rod, Bonds, Miggy Cabrera or Pujols.

I think Lilly is overall a plus move. Durable, generally a solid, slightly above average pitcher. He's been better than expected. DeRosa has been a big plus... 111 OPS+ from a guy who's mainly a middle infielder, but has the versatility to play almost any position. That was a very good signing, and they've gotten great value out of it. Marquis, I'm not sure that Hendry (and Marquis for that matter) haven't just been lucky with this move. Ward was a solid bench bat. Floyd has been fine... nothing amazing, but not bad either. The Blanco signing was completely awful; even if he'd stayed healthy, it still would've been inexcuseable. I don't blame Hendry for the Wood signing... fairly low risk high reward move that didn't pan out. Soriano has obviously been good, but I still worry about his production for the price down the road. Still, the Cubs absolutely had to make a move for an impact bat, so while the money might not be palatable, the player move was a good one. All in all, it was a fairly solid offseason for Hendry. Certainly an improvement over the crapfest of last year (Eyre, Jones, Maddux trade, Pierre trade were all brutal; going into the year relying on Wood/Prior was also a really bad idea). I still want a good GM, but Hendry might be inching his way to a "not terrible" rating.

Yeah right. :lol: Go Rockies our catchers stink, so we're going to trade for david ross? what the hell are they smoking?

he got suspended??? Come on. They should start suspending umpires for being belligerent a-holes, or for blatantly costing teams games (like the Phillies right before the ASB) Wait, he got a suspension for that game the ump blew? Apparently for "bumping" the umpire (which he didn't even do)