TruffleShuffle

Yeah, that's exactly what I thought when I saw the news story. The Reds let him spend $46M on a relief pitcher in the offseason, then fired him after 20 games. That's silly. as is letting him hire dusty baker.

lincecum will not be traded. put away that pipe dream.

i've said you can't, or more accurately shouldn't, bench a player who has been performing at a high level. there is at least one other person in this thread who agrees with me, so i guess i can throw out a blanket statement about your benching a .893 OPS hitter as being not logical.

agreed, but his approach strikes me as a guy who will carry a pretty high BABIP. he's got amazing bat control and when he grounds one through a hole, one gets the impression that he was "trying to do that" moreso than your average player. he seems to know where the holes are and finds a way to guide the ball into them. The lack of power shouldn't be surprising given his approach, where his hips fly open and he tries more to hit line drives to a spot rather than driving the ball deep. i'm not suggesting that he'll end with a .400 BABIP, but i do think that he'll have a BABIP in the .340 to .350 range, and his OBP will end up around .400.

It seems like you may have something for Cedeno or really hate Theriot, but it does not make sense to say hey Theriot you won the starting position and you have done nothing to lose it, but we are going to replace you because your back up has had a few good at bats. It is obvious that you want Cedeno in there no matter what the reason is, but let things be for a bit. Keep Theriot as the starter and get Cedeno in there as much as possible. If one comes back to reality then there is a reason to make a switch. My statement was made based on many many posts by Truffle over the dozens of threads that this discussion has arisen in. And yes, I want Cedeno to start over Theriot. He should have been starting from the beginning of the year. He's the one who has a history of good production in AAA. He's the one that's significantly younger and just entering his prime. He's the one that could fit into the Cubs plans as a long term answer to what has been a gaping hole for years. He gives us the better chance to win this year than Theriot. So he should be starting. Theriot's history and age make it much less likely that he'll put up good or even average numbers for long, where Cedeno's history and age make it much more likely he'll that put up solid to good numbers this year (though not likely a .950 OPS). ETA - re the bolded part: yes, something about a young SS that put up a .900+ OPS twice in AAA makes me like him. Not sure why. i end up debating this over lots of threads and posts because people like you continually suggest that i have a weird affinity for theriot or a prejudice against cedeno. i've laid out my points before; cedeno was one of the five worst players in baseball over a full season at age 23, and also has a tendency to make stupid/careless plays on the basepaths and in the field. my opinion is that he won't improve enough over his horrid 2006 numbers to be a better player than theriot. hopefully i'm wrong. but please, stop suggesting that there aren't any logical reasons to support theriot over cedeno, and you won't have to worry about me posting so much in the "START CEDENO BENCH THERIOT" threads any more.

Christina Kahrl had a BP article yesterday, saying pretty much what we all know already - carrying 14 pitchers is idiotic.

Only to those teams needing a 3rd baseman. I like Wright, but if the Cubs didn't have ARam, I don't know if I would offer Wrigt more then what ARam got from the Cubs. And seeing as his numbers, while slightly better, are not, IMO, worth what ARod is getting. David Wright: .312/.391/.538 A Rodriguez: .306/.389/.578 But then again..............I would have to reconsider. But considering Wright isn't consider a Top 5 player, I would prolly pay him closer to ManRam contract then ARods. yeah those are wright's career numbers, which include his age 22 and 23 years. he hasn't even peaked yet. last year he was at .325/.416/.546 and i'd expect him to be close to that or better this year, which would put him close to a-rod's peak. wright's career EqA is higher than A-Rod (.315 to .312), and his 2007 WARP3 was shy of only one of A-Rod's single-season WARP3 marks. If wright isn't a top 5 player, i'd love to know who is.

the bruce froemming call in the brewers-pads game was pretty freakin bad last year. it's at 1:39 in the video that you can reach through this page. thank God that fat bastard retired.

He's got a ways to catch Cedeno's .957. doesn't matter... you don't bench a guy OPS'ing .893. But you bench a guy OPSing .957? Neat. bench players don't get benched, they get returned to the spot they were already occupying.

He's got a ways to catch Cedeno's .957. doesn't matter... you don't bench a guy OPS'ing .893. lol, you're still holding on to theriot, huh? it has nothing to do with that. teams with a 14-6 record and a SS who is hitting the ball well don't just bench that shortstop and cause problems in the clubhouse. you stick with what's working. i like the idea of allowing cedeno to rotate in more if he continues to produce at a good level. theriot struggled (probably wore down) the last month or two of last season, and derosa has also seen a decline in his numbers after the all-star break in each of the last two years. as long as you've got three relatively productive players, use somewhat of a 3-man rotation (with derosa having the fewest days off probably) and keep them fresh for the whole year. that way you can also get more of a handle on whether cedeno actually is a good player. You think Theriot will be a clubhouse cancer if he's not starting? Ronny's younger, he's more talented, and he's playing better right now (which has always been the 1 thing people have used to justified Theriot starting over Ronny). Given their ages and their expected future performance, it's just crazy not to keep Ronny in the lineup - and not in a weird triangle rotation. Just play Cedeno and DeRosa every day with Theriot getting spot starts. no, i don't know that he will be a clubhouse cancer if he's not starting, but it's possible. plus it sends a bad message to the team. if they're going to start cedeno over theriot based on cedeno's .957 OPS, while ignoring the fact that theriot is hitting .338 (and by the way, the difference in their EqA is .001), then why shouldn't pie be looking over his shoulder? if rich hill has one or two average starts, he should start worrying about whether lieber, marshall or gallagher will take his place if they're throwing well? theriot may play his way out of the lineup at some point, but there's no reason to make a change when he's playing well.

so are we still saying that chase utley isn't worth $13 million per year? btw, david wright will be worth a-rod money on the open market.

He's got a ways to catch Cedeno's .957. doesn't matter... you don't bench a guy OPS'ing .893. lol, you're still holding on to theriot, huh? it has nothing to do with that. teams with a 14-6 record and a SS who is hitting the ball well don't just bench that shortstop and cause problems in the clubhouse. you stick with what's working. i like the idea of allowing cedeno to rotate in more if he continues to produce at a good level. theriot struggled (probably wore down) the last month or two of last season, and derosa has also seen a decline in his numbers after the all-star break in each of the last two years. as long as you've got three relatively productive players, use somewhat of a 3-man rotation (with derosa having the fewest days off probably) and keep them fresh for the whole year. that way you can also get more of a handle on whether cedeno actually is a good player.

the second goal was arguable - it's either interference if you think the flyer player pushed the goalie into the goalie, or a no call and a good goal. as for the game winning goal, if you don't think that was a tripping penalty, then you're basically saying the referees shouldn't call penalties in playoff overtime.

because he runs fast and plays center field, which automatically makes one a leadoff hitter in dusty baker's system.

back to back seasons with a sub-300 OBP and a sub-300 SLG. that's horrid.

He's got a ways to catch Cedeno's .957. doesn't matter... you don't bench a guy OPS'ing .893.

yeah let's bench theriot and his .893 OPS.

Basically usually uses an approach that weights the PECOTA-projected standings with the current start and some pythagorean influences. you'll enjoy the team they have projected to have the best record. http://vegaswatch.net/2008/04/finding-happy-medium.html

it's 2-2 now but it's pretty obvious to any philly sports fan how this game will end. the "horn-horn-horn, let's go caps" thing is hilariously lame. let's pipe this in because our fans don't really know when to cheer. oh well, the cubs are playing good baseball now!

it feels weird rooting for the cubs and actually liking the offense that i see every day. keep up the baseclogging, boys.

well i don't want the brewers win, but it's nice to see kyle lohse remember that he is kyle lohse.

how is nelson figueroa in anyone's starting rotation, let alone a team that is a serious contender for the NL crown?

sorry guys, i have been traveling the past few days and not visiting the site unless PM'ed, and i didn't get a PM that it was my turn to pick.

kinda crazy how when you see a lot of pitches and don't swing at poop, you can do well

josh vitters