CubinNY

In what business school would such a useless strategy be taught? Only someone trying to sell something that is hot or who is desperate does such a thing.

Huh? What's the sample size issue? I made a lot of statements in there. Which one was based on a bad sample size? what's BS about it? some guys simply don't hit same-handed pitching as well as they hit opposite-handed pitching. see jock jones as a good example, and his sample size is huge. No one is going to have exactly equal splits. The extent to which the splits are different can be a function of a lot of things. For someone like Pie, Granderson, and Hawp (Hawp and Granderson are terrible comparisons btw, as they weren't platooned). They probably are more of a function of sample size. The splits become even more pronounced with the lack of opportunity. It becomes a self fulfilling thing. For someone like JJ it is different as is his value to an organization.

I disagree completely. Johnson's production against left-handers is much better than Pie's, which addresses a struggle the Cubs have had for years. Pie's overall numbers also look better if it's not being brought way down by all those left-handers, which makes the Cubs less likely to replace him and gives him a better chance to get a fair shot. I don't like the idea of a platoon partner for Pie. Letting him play only against LHers is not giving him a fair shot. The Cubs have to let him play. This is the same tired old story year after god forsaken year with the Cubs. Wait . . . you mean RHers, right?? And since that's the majority of pitchers, I'd say that IS a fair shot for Pie. Rest him against LHers (that he's going to do poorly against anyway)and put him in positions that he may well excel in . . . Yea I meant RHers. Thanks for the clarification. A platoon is not a good idea for the development of young player aside from it being a terrible waste of assets. How is Pie going to get better if he never (or rarely) faces LH pitching? They might as well trade him while his value is high b/c once he get the "platoon" label he will fetch pennies on the dollar. There are several LH hitters who continually are in platoons. Curtis Granderson got sat down by Detroit against about half the left-handers they faced last year. Brad Hawpe was benched against over half of the left-handers Colorado faced. There are many, many more with significant splits...productive players who get platooned. Pie isn't likely to become a decent option against left-handed pitching. It's certainly possible, but he's very likely to become the latest left-hander in the major leagues who has a huge split difference. Give him half the bats against left-handers. If he suddenly becomes much better, give him more. He has a much better chance of succeeding in this league if he doesn't play against most of the left-handers, and he can still be a very productive player starting 135 games as Granderson and Hawpe do. And that's a bunch of bs. It's a sample size issue that old-timey baseball minds can't get there brain around.

So you make an offer. If it isn't accepted, you say "I still have interest, so if you ever figure out what you're going to do, give me a call." You don't leave the offer on the table. If you said that to MacPhail and he came back at the end of ST and said "ok we agree to (whatever it is that you offered)". Do you say, "not so fast, we are now only offering this (a lessor package")? Or do you say we have a deal?

Okay, next time you want to buy a house, put an offer down and let them sit on it as long as possible. It has nothing to do with manning up. It has everything to do with not being a fool in negotiations. If you are the only viable buyer it can be a good strategy. Here's my offer, I'm in no hurry, if you find a better offer take it and good luck to you, but I'm not bidding against myself. At that point whether you say the offer is on or off the table is irrelevant. Sometimes the other party needs more time to realize there's not going to be a better offer. Funny you should mention that. That is exactly what happened with us. We went looking for a house (this is when houses were still selling quickly). We found one on a fishing pond but the house needed some updating and we would have had to install a fence for our dogs. We made an offer to the lady. She said she didn't like it. We thought it was fair and said that was our offer. I told the agent that we would keep it there. The agent got kind of pissed as asked if we were going to counter. I told him no. I told him to call me if they reconsider. A month later he called me back, but we'd already put money down on some property.

Negotiation 101. If Hendry made an offer 3 months ago and kept it on the table, he's a bigger moron that I thought. Yeah, but once again, I don't think we really know that sort of thing. We're just hearing media jabber, it doesn't necessarily match up with the details of what happened behind the scenes. Well I'm not the one who said this is what happened. Cubinny seems to think all the Roberts talk is fan/media nonsense, and that Hendry made one offer a few months ago and left it on the table. I'm saying I doubt that is the case because it would be incredibly stupid. Why do you doubt it is the case? It's Hendry's exact MO. During the Maddux nonsense a couple of years ago that is exactly what Hendry did. He gave Maddux an offer and let it set until Maddux found a better one or signed with the Cubs. I don't have any more knowledge than the next fan (this side of BigBird) but it seems to me (by reading the actual news reports) Hendry hasn't significantly changed his offer, nor has he walked away. You may call it stupid, but that doesn't make it so. What good does walking away do for Hendry? I guess he can say that he really showed MacPhail by walking away, but then he doesn't get the player he wants. MacPhail may be shopping Roberts but can't get the deal he wants. He'll either come back to Hendry or Roberts won't be traded. In either case Hendry is not stupid for leaving the offer out there. It's only a stupid strategy if doing it precludes doing anything else he'd want to do. That doesn't seem to be the case. Or it's only a stupid thing to do if one has a false sense of manhood. You could call it the "man up" argument.

I disagree completely. Johnson's production against left-handers is much better than Pie's, which addresses a struggle the Cubs have had for years. Pie's overall numbers also look better if it's not being brought way down by all those left-handers, which makes the Cubs less likely to replace him and gives him a better chance to get a fair shot. I don't like the idea of a platoon partner for Pie. Letting him play only against LHers is not giving him a fair shot. The Cubs have to let him play. This is the same tired old story year after god forsaken year with the Cubs. Wait . . . you mean RHers, right?? And since that's the majority of pitchers, I'd say that IS a fair shot for Pie. Rest him against LHers (that he's going to do poorly against anyway)and put him in positions that he may well excel in . . . Yea I meant RHers. Thanks for the clarification. A platoon is not a good idea for the development of young player aside from it being a terrible waste of assets. How is Pie going to get better if he never (or rarely) faces LH pitching? They might as well trade him while his value is high b/c once he get the "platoon" label he will fetch pennies on the dollar. Bit a platoon COULD help him ease into MLB pitching better, and PERHAPS reach the potential we all hope he has. Lefties just kill him, so I guess I don't have a problem with putting him in positions where the odds are in his favor . . . I guess I have a hard time seeing how having him NOT face MLB left handed pitching could help him ease into a situation where he feels comfortable facing MLB left handed pitching. My thinking is that he either is or is not going to be able to hit major league pitching, trying to protect him isn't going to help him one bit.

I disagree completely. Johnson's production against left-handers is much better than Pie's, which addresses a struggle the Cubs have had for years. Pie's overall numbers also look better if it's not being brought way down by all those left-handers, which makes the Cubs less likely to replace him and gives him a better chance to get a fair shot. I don't like the idea of a platoon partner for Pie. Letting him play only against LHers is not giving him a fair shot. The Cubs have to let him play. This is the same tired old story year after god forsaken year with the Cubs. Wait . . . you mean RHers, right?? And since that's the majority of pitchers, I'd say that IS a fair shot for Pie. Rest him against LHers (that he's going to do poorly against anyway)and put him in positions that he may well excel in . . . Yea I meant RHers. Thanks for the clarification. A platoon is not a good idea for the development of young player aside from it being a terrible waste of assets. How is Pie going to get better if he never (or rarely) faces LH pitching? They might as well trade him while his value is high b/c once he get the "platoon" label he will fetch pennies on the dollar.

Negotiation 101. If Hendry made an offer 3 months ago and kept it on the table, he's a bigger moron that I thought. That's just a ridiculous statement. How does it hurt? In what way does it negatively impact a team in Spring Training? This isn't some team sport where a wide receiver and QB have to get their timing down. Hendry could have left the offer on the table and still attempted to make other deals. If one of the players is included in another deal, so what? I'm not trying to defend Hendry here, I don't see the point of trading for Roberts. But the idea that Hendry is somehow being played as a sucker is just testosterone filled foolishness.

on some cases they have ridiculous self-inflicted mandatets, in others they let trades drag on for the better part of four months. I think you (by that I don't necessarily mean you specifically, but fans/news media) have let it drag on. My thinking the Cubs made an offer and left it on the table. The rest is mental masturbation by fans and the media. You'd have to be a complete moron to leave an offer on the table that long. And why is that? It's not like any of those players are going anywhere unless a trade is done. I fault Hendry for a lot of things, trying his best to make a trade isn't one of them.

on some cases they have ridiculous self-inflicted mandatets, in others they let trades drag on for the better part of four months. I think you (by that I don't necessarily mean you specifically, but fans/news media) have let it drag on. My thinking the Cubs made an offer and left it on the table. The rest is mental tantric masturbation by fans and the media.

I disagree completely. Johnson's production against left-handers is much better than Pie's, which addresses a struggle the Cubs have had for years. Pie's overall numbers also look better if it's not being brought way down by all those left-handers, which makes the Cubs less likely to replace him and gives him a better chance to get a fair shot. I don't like the idea of a platoon partner for Pie. Letting him play only against LHers is not giving him a fair shot. The Cubs have to let him play. This is the same tired old story year after god forsaken year with the Cubs.

Vitters: Those are useless words. The guy is talking about a session of batting practice. We talkin' 'bout practice? The report reads like a cheap romance novel.

What's funny is that you think that a player should have to win or lose a job during ST.

So your point is what? HE'S GOT BLISTAS ON HIS FINGAHS!

Reg will not be participating in the ritual suicide for he has a bad back.

He chose Michigan St!!!!!!!!!! oh OSU is even below MSU in academic standards Think again.

What is "it".

MGL knows what he/she is talking about. It's not something you read everyday.

I haven't read a post in this game thread and at the risk of beating a dead horse, Harelson and DJ are just bad. Just sickening.

I have been preaching Cueto over Homer for well over a year now, and people are finally starting to come around. He has pinpoint control as well. The only reason he wasn't getting more hype then Bailey is because he is only 5-11. Edinson Volquez was making the Yankees look silly (8 Ks, 0 BB in 4 IP) with his heat (upper 90s) and change the other night. He's a step below Cueto though because his curve/slider is a work in progress. I think the Reds(save for Baker) are headed in the right direction. They have some really good prospects. I wish we had a Jay Bruce-type prospect in the wings. cubs were "headed in the right direction" in 2003, we all know how that turned out. They ended up 5 outs away from the World Series? yeah then they missed the playoffs with one of the best teams in baseball in 2004, then mediocre in 2005, then one of the worst teams in baseball in 2006. and all that from a team that had what was regarded as the best starting rotation in baseball, four guys in their 20s. If things fall out like they did in chicago the Reds will be more worse off then the Cubs, because they don't have the talent of the 03 Cubs. In many respects the Cubs were a much better fit for Dusty than the Reds. The Reds actually have good prospects and good core of players for Dusty to misuse and abuse. It's hard for me to see how a team could be more illsuited for a manger, that is except for the LA Dodgers and Joe Torre.

That's been my thoughts for awhile. The Os aren't in any hurry and neither are the Cubs. The Os want to see what's doing with the minor leaguers.

Any TV or radio for this game?

The naming rights isn't a big thing. What is a big thing is selling Wrigley and the Cubs to different buyers. The Cubs have increased payroll because of Wrigley. If they have to pay rent and split the concessions, they are going to go from a high payroll team to a mid payroll team overnight.

I hope he hangs around long enough for me to see him pitch in Mississippi this year. I'm going to Montgomery in April to see my wife's parents. I'm going to try to go to a game every day I'm there.