KingKongvs.Godzilla

I think every team in football would kill to have the Raiders' legs, to state he obvious. Those guys put on a show last night, as did their running game. Lawlz @ the Dolcants....I want to use a different word but oh well.

Given the high amount of ABs/PAs...how impressed should I be with 50 XBHs at 21 and an 80% SB success rate at age 21? This f'er is going to be so [expletive] good. How long before organizational craziness + a crapton of bad luck turns him into the next Prior, a potential superstar that never got there?

I'd prefer he perfect his craft and skills in the bullpen before making a move to the rotation, which is entirely possible. The idea is fine, it's just that there's no reason to jump right into it next year when there's still Cashner and whoever else to check out.

While Kurcz certainly doesn't have Carpenter's ceiling, he's definitely a safer bet (and still, he has a ceiling of a late inning reliever/closer). Disagree. It's more like his statistical profile in his short time as a minor leaguer is better than Carpenter's short time as a reliever. Carpenter has reached the big leagues as it is, which Kurcz pitched very well 2 full levels below it.

I thought the ceiling was lower due to being a little older than alot of guys in the minors and more injured history than most arms that have that kind of perceived upside. That upside only existed and was talked about because of the kind of arm he has. I like him way more as a reliever, where his ample stuff is concentrated in doses, rather than as a starter, where he's further off from the big leagues despite being 26 and it's much harder to break in and last. The stuff is more than good, it's high end. Personally, I think you underrate the breaking pitch a whole lot. From what you're describing it sounds like you're letting the year by year minor league result variations cause your opinion to sway to extremes pretty easily. Also, the description of Kurcz at the bottom sounds alot like Carpenter...who also has two plus pitches and a fastball that moves very well. He (Kurcz) has the disadvantage/advantage of being less tested (lower level, nowhere near as many innings), younger, and making a smoother transition earlier...I buy that he's potentially a good, even very good pen arm, but I don't buy that he's a better prospect than Carpenter right now. That's probably just a difference in philosophy when it comes to ranking prospects...I do see some David Robertson-esque qualities in Kurcz as a young arm in the way he pitches and repeats his mechanics, but he's at least two years away and therefore just further from thought.

Can't do it. It'd be disrespectful to Mike Remlinger.

Z would bring a more legitimatized arm in front of Scherzer and Fister, who are pretty talented. Fister is a Randy Wells type RH getting by more on command and control, and IMO is best as a 4th starter. I think he'd do really well in that ballpark too... Scherzer is 10x better than Zambrano at this stage of their careers. Plus they have Oliver up soon. I have to think the Tigers can get more than Zambrano for Porcello, even if we're paying Zambrano's contract. How dare you impinge upon my [expletive] dreams.

If the two seamer is his best fastball then it's highly unlikely any abandonment is permanent. He maybe the type of arm who takes a while to click, but Carpenter IMO has legit closer upside.

Z would bring a more legitimatized arm in front of Scherzer and Fister, who are pretty talented. Fister is a Randy Wells type RH getting by more on command and control, and IMO is best as a 4th starter. I think he'd do really well in that ballpark too...

One of my favorite Z for a young stumbler ideas is Rick Porcello in Detroit. They need the arm behind Verlander, and we could use the young guy with the upside. I forget how interesting an offseason this will be for the Cubs. I thankfully had forgotten about the big contracts not coming off the books.

I'm in the Carpenter is the best pen arm in the system camp. I think his raw velocity is better than Kurcz by a tick, and that his breaking ball when on is arguably the best out pitch of any of the relief arms in the organization. It's not consistent yet, but it's nasty when it's there. I do think Kurcz needs to be talked about more...Really good arm and he's better mechanically than most of these guys.

Morrison is definitely not a bad target, but how is that not overpaying? We got Derrek Lee, a half decade starter at 1B here, for Hee Seop Choi and scrap. He definitely would not be a bad 1B option should they fail at the other 1B options. It'd even be cool if they could get rid of Soriano and replace him with Morrison, though I'm pretty sure he sucks defensively as an OF.

As exciting as Reyes is if I put my eggs in the basket of a non-1B superstar I think I'd go CC. I also would move Castro rather than Reyes to 2B, which is part if why I'd pursue CC instead. If course I think if Ricketts wanted he could afford both Reyes and CC. Pujols turned down 200 million, and I'm guessing he's looking for close to ARod money. If that's true then Reyes for 125 and CC 180 might not seem as crazy as typing this out makes me feel it is.

Expected but damn thats a good price for him.

REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEVIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS!!! Dez Bryant - Still a newb. Tony Romo - Still a choker.

LT = All timer. Still has it...he'll be tired by November, but by then Greene will get going.

Trey McNutt no hitter this series plz. At least some double digit K action.

This Revis vs Dez matchup is [expletive] mindblowing. Sanchez still isn't there yet.

Garza just threw two breaking balls right down the middle and got them called balls. I'm flipping back and forth but I saw this issue earlier in the game too. This is some bs. I like Colvin's athleticism btw. His speed remains surprising for some reason, and his swing looked really smooth tonight. More of this.

LeMahieu working his ABs tonight, but that groundout was not clutch. OTOH good job by Colvin to hit against a ML pitcher a ML hitter should be able to get a hit against in that situation.

The Texans are going to end up being must watch football this year. Sure they beat up on a probably a little dejected Colts team, but that offense has been heading towards machine status the past two years. Andre Johnson is such an obvious future HOFer to top it off....TO without the [expletive]. Good to see Ben Tate show up for them too. Their D talent is underrated too. Williams opened up the season with 2 sacks, Antonio Smith the former SB starter had a sack, Watt started off his career with a team leading 5 tackles, Jonathan Joseph brings them a legitimate NFL CB, Jackson is still my favorite CB from the 2010 draft....With Manning down the door is very open for them to take the South.

I feel the same way about Friedman and Epstein that you feel about Epstein. I'm not sure either guy would replicate their current success all that quickly here. OTOH, Beane's been dying for money ever since literally everyone else in baseball started copying what he and the A's were doing out in Oakland. In a sense he was robbed of the ultimate success simply because those early 2000's A's never pulled the whole deed off, and those were legitimately elite teams with top of the line pitching and offense. Friedman bothers me because he's one of two big names in the TB FO, and he's the far less experienced one. Epstein because he's got a really great thing going for him in Boston, which has quickly become the model franchise in the sport for any non-Yankee team willing to spend. He has no real incentive to leave as he's already down the "I broke a fake curse" thing. Honestly I don't think there's a single GM in the sport who's done more to earn such a huge job than Beane. He's done the GM thing as long as anyone currently doing the job, and I'm sure the GM who is/should be the face of the sabermetric era thinks he has more to accomplish with his job than have Brad Pitt play him in a movie.

Great. He got me 1.2 points in my fantasy leagues. back in now, with a flak jacket around his kidneys haven't seen Blount in awhile, but i don't think he's ailing there's just an epidemic of cramping and dehydration with this heat Football is not for hot weather.

Found this tidbit on LeMahieu from Wilken back in '09. As my favorite prospect in the system (note: this doesn't mean anything but personal favorite, not top or best or highest upside or anything but favorite) I feel the need to throw it out there. 3-4 years would mean about 2012/2013, no? I expect the same. I agree with his commentary in the second paragraph, and we've seen signs of that pull power coming in this year (in that he's been more willing to pull in the first place). This guy is one of the best sleepers in the minors IMO. I legitimately believe he's got starter upside in the long run, preferably at 2B.

Id love to see Epstein become the next GM or president of baseball operations for the Cubs, but I think its a little unrealistic at the moment and that he's just angling for a contract extension. Who knows though anything is possible and Theo could be looking for a new challenge. Im not sure how Id feel about Beane running the team, Im sure it would be a vast improvement but that goes without saying with any of the names that have been thrown around. Of all the names Epstein would be the dream choice, I hope somehow it happens. See I don't think Epstein would happen just because there's no way "they'd" let one guy hog all that potential glory like that. I mean, BOTH of the old, cursed franchises? The guy's already never going to see the benefits of ending the Red Sox's drought go away as it is. It's just not something that seems realistic to me.