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Iceblink

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Everything posted by Iceblink

  1. Iceblink
    Wood hasn't panned out because he's had all sorts of arm trouble. Prior hasn't reached his potential because of freak injuries. There's no reason to expect Wood's pattern to change. There are reasons to expect Prior's to. Worst Cubbie trade in my lifetime. Bleh.
  2. Iceblink
    Manny's a head case. A head case with a huge bat, to be sure. The Chicago media isn't Boston's, but it probalby wouldn't be too far behind. Move Lee as part of the deal for Tex? How often do that many All-Star/borderline MVP players get traded? If you don't, then everyone knows you're trying to move him, and we wind up with yet another trade where we can't get value. Teixeira isn't even very good defensively (range-wise) at 1B. Lee would be a better OF than he would. LF is a pretty important position on the field - sticking first basemen there makes your pitching staff worse in a hurry.
  3. Iceblink
    Yep - and his defense slipped a notch last year, IMO. He's consistently rated as average at best by most fielding stats I've seen (Baseball Prospectus, for example.) Put him at 3B and you've got, well, we've got a good bat at 3B already. The thing I like about Tejada is his comptetitiveness. I'd love to have him on the team...but I'm not giving up Prior for him.
  4. Iceblink
    From an outsider's view, Jeter is the heart of that team. Could be total media hype, but I don't see them even considering trading him. Unless there's some kind of financial crash, ARod's probably untouchable, as well. Those are guys you only trade when there's a big soap opera and you have to clean up the distractions (and can accept not getting equal value back.) Also, Jeter's value as a clubhouse leader would be unpredictable on a new team and after the ridiculous drama that would ensue in NY. Fun to think about, but unless he turns into Terrell Owens: not a possibility. And ARod is significantly better, anyway. Santana is certainly valuable, but Minny wouldn't move him unless it was a salary dump - and by then, Prior will be making (or about to) the same.
  5. Iceblink
    The ONLY player in the majors I'd consider trading Prior for is ARod. Tejada is a big step behind ARod since Rodriguez can still play SS better than Tejada and easily outhits him. Abreu's OBP and speed is enticing, but he's aging. I've got a feeling his numbers might start falling off. Dunn's strikeouts make him a complementary (if prodigious) bat. Teixeira is interesting, but not at first base, and moving him elsewhere is a big if. Both WS teams got their with starting pitching as their primary strength. Our offense should be every bit as good as Houston's already - and there's no need to compensate for Dusty's "managing" by giving up Prior. Neither one of those teams had a huge bat, but they both went 3 deep with starters. What's more, I'm not overspending for any big bats until they've all had another year to prove they can keep it up in the era of steroid testing. (Not trying to be dramatic; I think it's a genuine concern.) We gave up on Maddux when he had a brilliant decade in front of him. Let's pretend we learn from mistakes. In utopia land, I'd make a list with Prior and the top position players we could realistically try to trade for with him. Then poll every GM which one they'd want on their roster for the next 5 years. Assuming ARod's on the list, I'd bet 90% would put him #1. And I'd bet at least half would take Prior #2.
  6. Iceblink
    Neither. If you trade Prior, the best player you get back has to be before or entering his prime.* *There are exceptions of course, but they are very rare and very very infeasible. Right on. I'd say it's at least even money that both Tejada and Abreu figure to underperform Prior over the next 3 years.
  7. Iceblink
    Kruk: Burnett can just 'blend in' in Toronto because they have Halladay & Chacin. 55 million and there's no pressure? Whutevah.
  8. Iceblink
    It's the pleat in those pants.
  9. Iceblink
    Clifford Floyd talk - but no mention of the Cubs. Mostly Seattle.
  10. Iceblink
    Anna Benson isn't doing a photo shoot for Playboy, and Harold applauded.
  11. Iceblink
    Kruk still can't talk.
  12. Iceblink
    Detroit is sounding like they may be aggressive this week.
  13. Iceblink
    I think there's a bit of a parallel between the Cubs and Furcal and the Astros and Beltran last year. Houston hinged their offseason on getting Beltran. They didn't, and didn't have time to make many other moves. While they were terrible early, it turned out to not be a negative - though having an utterly dominant front 3 starters let them make up for a bad offensive team. Garner can outmanage Dusty, and our top 3 starters have to put some health with their talent to get near that level, so I'm not saying I expect a World Series. Still, while I'm bummed at losing out on Furcal, there's a recent precedent in our own division for a team overcoming that sort of thing.
  14. Iceblink
    Both Theriot and Fontenot are former LSU players, so either would've caused me to say: Geaux Tigers!
  15. Iceblink
    If only this trade had been made in April. Or May. Or June. Or July.
  16. Iceblink
    Jose Macias is playing third. Ronny Cedeno has gotten a handful of ABs. Lawton, Burnitz, and Hollandsworth have gotten the bulk of the OF work. The season has been over for a few weeks now, and we're still running out guys that probably won't even be here next year. And even if they were, these guys are already totally known, declining average players. Next spring training, we'll still be wondering if Murton can hit for 2 weeks straight or if Cedeno can hit at all. When you can't get one young guy into the lineup at all - even when there's not a better option, just an older one - seeing this team go with a youth movement is wishful thinking.
  17. Iceblink
    I'm a little antsy about Furcal and Lugo. Furcal has had the off-field drinking issues, and Lugo was kicked out of Houston after being accused of hitting his wife. Both seem to be behaving this season, but the character issues always make me queasy. Seems none of that comes along with Nomar, but the injuries make him like Kerry Wood - nice to have if he came cheap and with incentives, but an anchor on the payroll if he's frequently injured.
  18. Iceblink
    It seems Dusty won't have Murton as a starter unless he has no other choice. And I don't think Murton has the arm for RF (though Sammy didn't for his last 5 years here, and that didn't stop us.) I think it's more likely that we'd see a Lawton/Murton platoon, with Lawton getting some starts against lefties and Murton occasionally starting in RF in those games. Still, as much as I like Matt, there aren't enough ABs to know if we can count on him yet...all the more reason he should be playing everyday. Walker in the 3 hole isn't going to work - he's a good hitter but not a run producer. If we had nobody else in the lineup, I'd put Lee 3rd and drop Walker to 5th behind ARam.
  19. Iceblink
    So long as Guzman's pitch count is monitored, which it certainly would be, then I think he should pitch some this winter. He can't be counted on for much given his history, but he's still a pretty inexperienced pitcher.
  20. Iceblink
    He's more than welcome to sit on the bench the rest of the series. (No, really, please do.)
  21. Iceblink
    Another off-season of trading guys for next to nothing? Sweet. And we actually spend effort to wonder why this team is so blindingly average.
  22. Iceblink
    "Pounds the strike zone." Now been overused enough to go into the goofy sportscaster guy dictionary (along with "filthy stuff", "tremendous upside", and "booyahtzee".) Ok, I made the booyahtzee one up, but someone should use it. :p
  23. Iceblink
    Same here, I'm pulling for him. However, it's just not happening. August numbers through Sunday: .222/.255/.356; 2 BB, 9 K's in 45 ABs.
  24. Iceblink
    This is a comical quote by Dusty. Reminds me of that old Far Side cartoon: What Dusty says: What we hear: So, now that we've successfully convinced Corey (and Corey's convinced himself) to try pull everything until he can't hit, let's go ahead and tell Murton he can't play in the majors because he gets too many base hits to right field, and because we need to pull our team OBP down a bit.
  25. Iceblink
    Murton had done the least on the field to justify being sent down. Hollandsworth is DFA-able, Hairston and Patterson haven't hit in months, Lawton has been so-so, and Burnitz has hit like a pitcher in August. So, of course, we send down the best offensive OF'er we've had since July. Noice. The goal of running a team is not to win, but to have the oldest, most barely average position players possible.
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