Illini Iceman

How are they another piece of evidence if they aren't an effective metric? You know, I've taken statistical analysis classes and I never saw the chapter on why wins were a useful stat for measuring pitcher ability. Maybe I was gone on those days? I think they have some effectiveness as a metric in the case of Maddux. If you watch Maddux pitch you see some of the reason he gets a lot of wins. When he gets the lead he starts going right at hitters and not getting behind in counts. This makes it less likely that he will walk hitters and put guys on base that can then be driven in and reduce the lead. Wood, on the other hand, is very aggravating to watch with a lead because he still walks guys and works deep into counts and does things that make it a) easier for the other team to catch up and b) harder for him to go long enough into the game to win. With Wood it seems like he concentrates better when it is 0-0 or otherwise low scoring game. I don't think this is true of all pitchers, so for most maybe W/L is not a very useful stat. However, for Maddux I think he knows so well how to pitch with a lead and manages the game so much better from ahead that it makes it that much easier for him to pile up wins. There are probably no stats to back this up but it is just my impression from watching both of them pitch a lot of games.

What? the poster in question is a friend of mine who has played professional baseball and definately has a great knowledge of the behind the scenes stuff. If he was booted for what he wrote in this thread I am really scratching my head. It would be a real shame to lose a poster that played professional baseball and has a great knowledge of the behind the scenes stuff and therefore was able to provide brilliant contributions such as an eye roll icon with no other comment to a perfectly valid post. I only wish I had enough experience to provide that kind of insight!

If your Idea of saving money is paying someone thirteen million dollars to play somewhere else, you sir, are insane. IIRC the Cubs overall payroll went down as a result of the Sosa trade. They did have to eat a lot of the contract but did not have to pay as much as they would have to keep him. Since his production has been awful this year and he would have HAD to be starter if he was kept on the team I say that ANY money the Cubs saved on payroll was a bonus. If the Cubs have a better team without Sosa and have lower or even the same payroll then it is a good thing. For crying out load, Sosa's numbers are pretty comparable to Neifi's this year! One guy with those numbers is painful enough to see in the lineup every day.

where have you been? that's the cubs' philosophy on trading their players. see farnsworth, sosa, cruz, hawkins, etc. People keep saying this but it make no sense to me as a criticism of Hendry. Who sells players high? Teams that are not contenders and want to cash in guys that are doing well for younger players or multiple players that can help them be contenders in future years. Contenders (which the Cubs were when all those players were traded) do not sell high because the players that are going well are going to help them win. I think people would be upset if Hendry traded Lee, Dempster, ARam, Zambrano, Pie, Murton, etc now, but that would be who he could sell high. Most of the trade talk around here I see centers around Corey, Wood, Maddux, etc that are struggling. Selling high as a contender only seems like the right thing to do in hind sight when you know which players will wind up regressing.

Maybe tomorrow's game is in jeopardy, but by Sunday it will be battering the panhandle and there will be blue skies in Miami. Let's play two!!

It is better than paying Sosa type dollars for Sosa. As far as I can tell, there was no realistic option C so I think Hendry made the right move considering the alternatives available to him.

Hendry was definitely going for broke in 2004. If you had told anyone after the NLCS in 2003 that in 2004 they would add Barrett, Lee, Hawkins, Maddux and Garciaparra plus keep the rest of the main core they would have been thrilled. Hendry made the right moves to win in 2004 and end the drought but he got unlucky with injuries. I think that this year he tried to do the best he could, but was somewhat handcuffed by the financial restrictions from the moves while going for broke in 2004. It doesn't look to good for this year, but it is early and if they can get the rotation healthy and in a groove they might be able to put together some good runs. However, next yeat I think Hendry will be back in a position to be a major player in free agency and trades where he takes on salary from other teams. Personally, I think it was great what he did in 2004. I never had so much hope for the Cubs. It stinks that it did not work out but I am really glad he at least made a full out effort.

I'm sorry for insulting your son on Mother's Day, Mrs. Macias. That's pretty much what I expected. Very high brow stuff.

What is with your labels and generalizations? I don't know too many people on here that have bought a Neifi Perez jersey. So wjhat is a pro-Neifi fan? At best from what I've read is that people are giving him his props because he has hit much better (minus the 17 at-bats before his homer today, which I doubt you'll give him props for) than any of us had hoped. I hate that Perez has to play, just as I hate that Hollandsworth starts, but I'm not rooting against them. Several of your posts suggests this regarding Perez. I have fully expected Perez to come down to earth, but what if this is his career year (I doubt it, but would love for it to happen) As far as I'm concerned, I think people who have read my posts know which players I can't stand. I just have no need to spew my hatred for them on a daily basis as, unfortunately, some other posters do for players or coaches. Again, just who is this pro-Neifi crowd you speak of? There were some pretty heated arguments here when Neifi was playing over Hairston. Some of us here maintained that Neifi is a horrible hitter who should only start when there is no alternative and Dusty was a fool for starting Neifi over Hairston. Some of those who diagreed with that opinion were not entirely polite about it, which is why I don't mind taking the occasional potshot at them. You have a picture of a player's head coming out of a toilet in your signature but are complaining become some posters were not entirely polite? Interesting.

The whole point of the Neifi argument was that he was starting over Hairston and taking playing time away from a supposedly better player. Now that Nomar is out and Neifi is the only option what would be the point? What other choice is there but to play him every day at short? Even the biggest Cub farm system booster could not say that they feel Cedeno is ready to play every day at the big league level.

Another nice outing overall for Andy: 1.3 IP, 4K, 1BB. I'd also like to take this opportunity to rant about Royals TV announcers Bob Davis and Paul Splittorf: Not once did they refer to Sisco as anything other than "Andrew Sisco." Never just Sisco, or Andy, or even Andrew. Always "Andrew Sisco." I'm not sure why but that just annoyed the heck out of me after I'd always seen him referred to as Andy Sisco over the past few years. They probably figured no one was watching anyway. You may want to give them a head's up when you turn on the game so they will know they have an audience. I know I try to do that favor for Dewayne whenever I flip on the Rays. :D

Yeah...let's have the guy with 1 rbi batting in that situation. :roll: They could have given Dubois six strikes in his at bat against Wagner and he still would have struck out. OVERMATCHED.

Today just keeps getting better and better. Our stud lefty Bartosh also has a 1.42 ERA but, as with Sisco, I will check back in July before I let myself get too impressed. Thank God we don't have TWO lefties in the pen with sub 1.50 ERA's. The Bartosh comparison isn't really relevant. Sisco didn't have to be on our major league roster. My only point of comparison is that a low ERA two weeks into the season is not necessarily a sign of things to come. Either pitcher could keep it up, but the long season has a way of exposing weaknesses and bringing out the truth. In Sisco's case the fact he has never dominated at any professional level leads me to believe that eventually the league will catch up with him. If I am wrong, good for him and the Royals. However, my thought is that the premature promotion and lack of innings for development will wind up making him more like the next Stephen Randolph than like the next Randy Johnson.

Today just keeps getting better and better. Our stud lefty Bartosh also has a 1.42 ERA but, as with Sisco, I will check back in July before I let myself get too impressed.

and amazingily enough the Cubs have scored 7 runs by the 3rd inning. Lets try to make sure that the moves are poor before we discount them Hindsight is 20-20. Benching A-Ram, Barrett, and Nomar for Prior's first start is a really bad way to build his confidence, in my opinion. Waiting to see how it turned out isn't exactly fair, is it? This is like when Dusty would do something stupid in 2003, have it work out, and Chip Caray would say, "Dusty pushes the right button again!" Those drinking birds can push buttons, too. Yet we use hindsight all throughout this thread to take issue with Dusty's decisions. totally wrong. Dusty bashers complain about what dusty is doing beforehand either here or in gamethread/flashchat. dusty supporters wait until neifi gets a hit to say anything here. BINGO. Give me a break. You guys rip just about everything he does and then whenever it turns out badly for him you make a big deal about how right you were and how stupid he is. However, whenever it turns out to be a good move you say either he was just lucky or have no comment. It doesn't even make for good conversation, because there is obviously an axe to grind that will not allow the Dusty bashers to engage in any give and take. It is either you agree that Dusty is an idiot or then obviously you don't know anything about baseball and statistics.

:sunny: Things are looking up. :sunny: Yup. One correction: The decision will be announced tomorrow. I think the fact that they used Rusch today for extended work gives a pretty good indication that they are planning to start Prior Tuesday unless he has a major setback.

Was Bay going to be on this list next year if he hadn't been traded to Cleveland?

I don't know how the contracts match up, but I wonder if Griffey for Sosa would be a possibility? Both have worn out their welcome and could use a fresh start. Griffey is LH which the Cubs need and the Reds could probably use more RH power not to mention a way to put fans in the seats. I am sure it would never happen because I don't think two players of that level have ever been traded for each other but it would be interesting.

He didn't look so good when they threw him that slider. Hey, I agree with giving kids a chance to prove themselves but this was not the time. They should get a solid LH bat to play LF next year and slot Dubois in there against some lefty starters when the match up is right. Based on that everyone will be able to make a better judgement on his ability to hit big league pitching instead of betting the season on the fact he is ready. Alou had a lot of production to replace.