KingKongvs.Godzilla

Agreed. Not nearly enough power for a guy who is probably an OFer. BUT he sounds like he's intelligent and knows he needs to get stronger. I'll hold off judgement, but my initial thoughts was that Hendry once again got a contact and gaps hitter from the Red Sox. I like Murton and all, but without more power both of these guys are pretty easy to improve upon in the future.

I don't get the Hill love. I realize fans love the guys who K a shyteload of guys, especially when that guy is left handed, but Hill is just NOT that good beyond it. The K's are impressive, and yes they indicate good stuff but high K/high BB guys tend to get overrated (Wood, Nolan Ryan). They are rarely as good as the press they get. Hill was consistently 2+ years older than a prospect should be in the league he's in, and beyond the K's he never really dominated. He walked a TON of guys, and he gives up HRs at horrific rate. Its Eric Milton-esque how HR prone he was last year. He only has two pitches, an 89-93 fastball that is pretty straight and he doesn't locate very well, NOT a good combo. His curveball is a dominant pitch, but you can't get by on one pitch and hope to god you can sneak some fastball by them before you throw it. Plus he'll be 26. He's older than both Prior and Zambrano and he's only a year younger than the guy people think he can be (Zito). I mean the POTENTIAL to be a great pitcher is there, but he's got alot of work to do. He's gotta get better control (I mean make it a trend, not a one year thing), he's gotta figure out this gopherball problems. Yes, I know last year was his first year with seeming HR problems, but it was also the first time he was in the upper minors where his big curve won't just dominate guys, and the year before he gave up HRs at a decent rate for a 24 year old in the FSL. If anything I was hoping we would include Hill in a deal for Wilkerson or Bradley...but thats not happening. That woulda made us MUCH better. Nolasco might actually even be the better prospect and pitcher in the future...sucks.

Oh yea...Jim's an expert at that. He's not one for stupid moves or anything...especially lately...

Exactly. Last year we hit .277 and slugged .444 as a team, which would make you think we'd come very close to scoring alot of runs right? No. The .324 OBP we put up was lower than the league average (.330 or so), and severly hurt us when it came to scoring runs. BTW, those offenses aren't powerhouses. They are percieved as so I guess, but they both suuuuck offensively.

Exactly. Last year we hit .277 and slugged .444 as a team, which would make you think we'd come very close to scoring alot of runs right? No. The .324 OBP we put up was lower than the league average (.330 or so), and severly hurt us when it came to scoring runs.

.290 .338 .525 .280 .324 .484 .268 .309 .512 Those are Soriano's '03-'05 seasons. Nice drop in batting average and and OBP, just what we need. Nice seeing those drops occur after he moves into the Coors Field of the AL. His H-R splits: .315 .355 .656 1.011 - Home .224 .265 .374 .639 - Away Thats last year. .317 .360 .526 .886 - Home .244 .291 .444 .735 - Away Why would anyone want this guy in their lineup? He plays horrid defense, he K's a ton, he doesn't walk, he is a FA next year, his percieved value is disgustingly high (he cost the Nationals TWO better, younger, cheaper hitters), and the list could go on...

I'd take a fully healthy Mark Prior. The only complaint about him is that his curveball has become really inconsistent and like alot of guys who rely on the curveball as their out pitch...its a big reason for his HR problem this year. But I do believe he should have that fixed this year, I full expect a great season from Prior.

Soriano SUCKS. Let the Nats keep him...we don't need another high K/low BB hitter. And considering how much he was saved by Arlington...theres not even a point. He is going to dissapoint big time not being in a great hitters park (Texas) or not seeing a fastball first pitch every time he got up there (Yankees). I can't wait to see it...never could stand the hype around him.

Agreed with the Cards fan. For the original poster, remeber that Lee was posting that almost .900 OPS in 2003 in one of the largest pitchers parks in baseball. When he came over to the Cubs I was with many people that Lee could easily see a big jump in HRs, and see his average go up a bit too. Not to say that I expect .335/.418/.662 or whatever, but I could definitely see him putting up a .290-.300/.390/.580 kind of year. It's a big dropoff which I guess was your point. But its still damn good production. Derrek Lee is the least of our problems heading into 2006.

I don't think Carpenter had a very fluky year. BUT, I do expect somewhat of a dropoff. He looked exhausted at the end of the season and was very hittable, but I still expect him to put up good numbers in the end. He's got great control and his stuff has improved after surgery...so I don't expect a huge fall or anything for him.

That would be a personal heaven for me...nothing better than watching a great pitchers duel. ESPECIALLY if we came out on top of 95 of those.

Favorite: Ben Sheets Guy I'd take:...Santana But I have to say that Ben Sheets is probably my favorite pitcher to watch when he's on. And he's on quite a bit lately...

After much debate...I made the switch to Cabrera too. But it's ridicuously close in my head. Wright is more marketable, should age better, probably plays better D at third, and has less service time on him. Cabrera is the better hitter, he's younger, he's still a LITTLE projectable, but he's also more likely to ask top, top dollar come time to talk extension. Can you even be wrong with this?

I'd go with Wright. Cabrera is uber-talented and crazy good, but he sounds like an annoying prick. Usually it's not such a big deal, but when they're both so talented I'll take charachter into account.

They're also both guys who became heavily overrated after a trip to the WS... Sorry, the hidden ball trick thing seems too nuetral or positve for me to run with.

I remember Dick Mills saying something on his website a few years ago about how the only flaw he ever saw in Prior's mechanics is that he shortarms the balls. He also went on to say that he didn't think this is much of a problem... This is a "problem" alot of pitchers have, Johan Santana does the same thing. Shortarming does put alot of pressure on the elbow, but alot of great pitchers do it and are perfectly fine. I don't think its anything to worry about. Prior is 6'5 235 and still could fill out a teeny bit, if a guy like Santana (he's like 6'0 200) can do it and stay healthy it just MAY be that Prior was ridden ridicuously hard at age 22? Or that he was worked very hard after he got hurt? I'd be more worried about the crappy manager + pitching coach combo I've now come to hate than Prior shortarming the ball.

.290 .350 .484 - Bradley .258 .322 .435 - Burnitz .249 .319 .438 - Jones And the other two were in pretty decent (Burnitz in a very good) hitters park. Bradley is the youngest, the most talented, and has the best skill set. And he got had for a mid-tier prospect. He also put up this line: .309 .367 .494 away from Chavez Ravine. He's a very, very, very good player when healthy. And his attitude IMO is way overblown. I'm an angry elf right now. I'd MUCH rather have Bradley/Wilkerson (or both) than Pierre + Sanders/Burnitz/Jones. But thats just me...

My dream OF was Murton, Bradley, Wilkerson. Obviously that isn't happening. And that SUCKS.

There are maaaaany 2B better than Soriano.

C: Mauer 1B: Pujols 2B: Utley/Weeks SS: ARod 3B: Cabera LF: Bay CF: Sizemore RF: Vlad Santana Sheets Oswalt Prior Peavy Street Lidge

Wow, I definitely think Everett's 1998 season is something Bradley could EASILY do if he was in Wrigley next year. We need to start taking into account how good of a park this is to hit in more when we think about acquiring players. The Red Sox take advantage...why don't we? Guys like Wilkerson and Bradley, aka talented guys who could have/can be had for a fair price and would be great fits here because of this. Oh well, I'll just hope we pick up Bradley. Wilkerson is long gone. I'd have prefered an OF of Murton, Bradley, Wilkerson over Murton, Pierre, ??? anyday.

http://www.mlb4u.com/0607FA.html You know the two guys I'd like the most here - Lugo and Bradley - are available THIS year, and they'd actually be more useful this year. Lugo plays amazing D, and will provide a solid bat for us at SS. Bradley does the same thing for us in CF (but his D is not amazing, just really good).

I'll take Wilkerson and Bradley in a second. Wilkerson was SEVERELY hurt by his home park this year, as he's shown very good power and paitence in every other season in his whole career, and Wrigley would only help. Both he and Bradley would solve such major holes its disgustingly unfunny. We'd be such a good team if we added those two guys in there, and BOTH are available and possibly for next to nothing. MAKE THE MOVE HENDRY.

Exactly. As trustworthy as the American media has been throughout history (heh heh heh), they've been known to twist things around towards their biases once in a while (again, heh heh heh). The way the report is written it almost sounds like he was more trying to push her away and keep her off of him. Everything I've heard of Bradley from people who've actually met him says he is one of the quiest, most intelligent people they've had the pleasure of meeting. A vague report on an incident between an appearantly slightly disfunctional couple just does not do it for me. Appearantly through all this, Bradley is one of the Dodgers most popular players among fans. And many praise his desire to win, his fire, his intelligence, and his...shyness?

Actually I would suggest turning to this thread: http://mb10.scout.com/foaklandathleticsfrm1.showMessageRange?topicID=9182.topic&start=61&stop=80 Alot of the links in there and police reports make it seem like his wife was the aggressor at least one time (June 28th). There is reason to believe that in the third incident, since he didn't go to jail that maybe he wasn't the aggressor either. I also learned Bobby Cox is also a "wife beater," I wonder how many baseball fans know that? How many would care if he came over to the Cubs to manage? Wouldn't you guys worry he'd give guys lessons or "ruin clubhouse chemisty?" Personally I'd love Bradley here. I said it on MLBCenter, and I saw it here: beggars can't be choosers. He's the best combo of youth, availability, and production of any CFer out there, and we shouldn't be so stupid to close the door on something NONE OF US know for sure. If I worry about anything with Bradley, its the durability issue.