hossdriver

For whatever reason, his numbers at home, and versus LH pitching took a serious hit in 2009. That had to bring his numbers down quite a bit.

There's also speculation of playing hurt (219/.266/.371 since the break). Its a down year for him, no doubt. His first and second half splits are almost identical the last two years. Was he hurt last year? He has two bad months to blame for his second half woes this year. He OPS'd in the .500+ in July and September. And he OPS'd over .800 in every other month except .767 in August. He might be a streaky player. They might have seen better pitching or had a tougher schedule those months. It might be AT&T bringing his numbers down. He hasn't been the same since he went to SF. I don't know. He did miss time in July, and has now tweaked his back again this past Saturday. He's still outplayed Milton Bradley to date in 2009, and that's the issue.

There's also speculation of playing hurt (219/.266/.371 since the break). Its a down year for him, no doubt. Hey, Soriano has Garrett Anderson to thank for not being dead last in LF. He's played injured too.

Rowand has had 3 seasons with an OPS at or above .800 in his 9 total seasons. He's done it once in the past 5 seasons. Apart from 2007 he hasn't OPSd above .749 since 2004. He'll occasionally reach an .800 OPS, but he's not likely to reach it. And yet you can count the number of CFer's with .800+ OPS in all of baseball on one hand... One of them is Fukudome. Kemp, Hunter, Victorino, and Byrd are the others. It isn't a necessary stat for CFers.

I'm not from Indy..... I just happened to be there (Transfer Dr, just a ways north of the airport), when I made that post. eta: Isn't Brownsburg where the old BLue & White truck stop used to be ? (and now there's a Love's there ) Haven't lived here that long. Actually the Love's is in Pittsboro (high school home of Jeff Gordon). Originally from Muncie.

Fred, whereabouts you from in Indy? I live over in Brownsburg...

Well it wouldn't count against him if you're an AL GM, but a DH doesn't help much if you're a NL GM. The fact that he's only once been a fulltime DH shouldn't really count against him. He was healthy in the field this year. Except that his VERY BEST offensive season, that netted him the bloated contract he's currently in, was primarily as a DH. The guy's a part-time player. You pay MB 2/3 of what you pay Rowand, because on average he plays about 2/3 of the games. You guys continue to compare rate stats like its apples and apples. If I travel 55 mph for 10 hours, and you travel 70 mph for 7 hours, I'm still gonna go farther even though I'm traveling slower... And yet nobody brings up the damage he's caused in the clubhouse and media with his BS. You keep acting like if Bradley isn't playing, we don't have somebody else out there. No, there's someone out there. A part-time player that shuffles Fukudome around between CF and RF. Reed Johnson and Sam Fuld don't have the numbers to keep pace. When Bradley is out, it weakens the lineup, which in turn weakens the bench. I'm merely defending the point that Rowand would fit better for the Cubs. He naturally plays CF. He defends above average. He's CAPABLE of +.800 OPS (actually very good for a CFer unless you're KGJ, Edmonds, or Beltran). He's pretty durable until he gets brave with the outfield wall. Don't misinterpret my arguments for condoning a trade. Just looking at it objectively. But Juan Pierre had a career year, maybe he can come back and leadoff and play CF...

Well it wouldn't count against him if you're an AL GM, but a DH doesn't help much if you're a NL GM. The fact that he's only once been a fulltime DH shouldn't really count against him. He was healthy in the field this year. Except that his VERY BEST offensive season, that netted him the bloated contract he's currently in, was primarily as a DH. The guy's a part-time player. You pay MB 2/3 of what you pay Rowand, because on average he plays about 2/3 of the games. You guys continue to compare rate stats like its apples and apples. If I travel 55 mph for 10 hours, and you travel 70 mph for 7 hours, I'm still gonna go farther even though I'm traveling slower... And yet nobody brings up the damage he's caused in the clubhouse and media with his BS.

Yeah, but the question is whether Bradley for ~100-120 games plus someone like Jake Fox for 40-60 is better than Rowand for 150 and someone like Jake fox for 10. And in a typical Milton Bradley year the answer to that is an overwhelming "Yes!" I assume you're talking about Jake Fox circa May, June, and July, and not Jake Fox circa August and September? You know, the Jake Fox that has batted .238 since July with 3 homers 17 RBI in 100 ABs? Doesn't look so overwhelming considering you can't even tell me what a 'typical Milton Bradley year' is... Give me a healthy Rowand, Fukudome, and Soriano with Reed Johnson and Sam Fuld backing them up.

Really? So all things being equal (number of years in a contract, equal money, etc)... Who's going to produce MORE over the next 3 years? The guy with slightly better rate stats who gets suspended, brings down the team, and calls the fans and media racist? Or the guy who quietly goes about his business, gives all of himself on the field, plays a tougher position and is ready to play 90+% of the time? Neifi Perez? Really dude?

The largest difference lies in the fact that Milton Bradley has eclipsed 500 PA in a season only twice due to injury, suspension, taking himself out, being benched, etc... Rowand has accomplished it 5 times and in doing so, eclipsed 600 3 of them... Give me a healthy Aaron Rowand over a sulking, pouting, oft-injured Milton Bradley ANY day, and in a double header on Sunday... And to the guy who mentioned Bradley's 'pitcher's parks'... His best season was last year at Texas and he also spent significant time in Cleveland. In 9 seasons, Rowand's cumulative counting stats are almost all better than what Milton has done in 10 seasons. Why? Even though his RATE stats are higher, he spends more time on the field to give a greater contribution... Bradley = 10 seasons, 941 games Rowand = 9 seasons, 1140 games, +200 games in 1 less full season...

Haven't watched him a lot personally, but he has a GG and average to above average fielding stats for a CFer. I was merely making the point that he would be an overall better player than Bradley. I don't think anyone here would pine for Bradley to win any fielding awards in the near future. There is also the likely chance that Rowand commits suicide taking a header into the bricks at Wrigley. I think if you get him back into a potent lineup like he had for CHW and PHI, his numbers would come back as well.

No, he's not he only has a career OPS+ of 103. I'd rather get Carlos Pena and play him in RF. Maybe get Nick Swisher to play CF and SS. OPS isn't really as important with a leadoff hitter because you don't expect them to be sluggers. If it weren't for an injured 2008, Crawford would have 4 straight campaigns of 110 or more for OPS+. Those are good numbers for a leadoff hitter, especially when he's a perennial leader in triples and stolen bases. He's also had a good OBP or .340+, 3 out of the last 4 years excluded injured 2008.

Hey... You can chew on RATE stats all you want. Rowand has played at least 139 games in every season except one since 2003. What good is a better OPS or BA or OBP if you only play in half the games? Statistically overall, Rowand is more likely to contribute more because he's gonna be on the field more. Add in the fact that he's less likely to be an instigator in the clubhouse and media. He can also play GG CF and move Fukudome back to RF. Rowand just fits better even if he is an inferior hitter by the stats.

Really? The rookie always carries the 'Hello Kitty' backpack to the bullpen.

You gotta chalk 2009 up to underachievement and injury... Yeah, I get that injuries are part of the game and all. How DEEP do you have to be when you lose Ramirez for 2 months and Soriano hobbles around on one leg all season? What about losing EVERY starter expect Randy Wells to some kind of injury during the year? Cubs still have a winning record, and still have an outside shot at the Wild Card if they sucked it up and tried to finish strong. With the current roster healthy, they contend for the division. To upgrade, you get a solid 3B, corner infield bench player. If that means trading away some of your AAA scraps and bench players to make roster room, so be it. Make a move for an everyday 2Bman. Forget the LH hitter crap. You like balance, but you won 97 games two seasons ago without it. Keep Soriano out of the leadoff spot (where he's killed you in the playoffs) and put a table-setter up there (preferably the scrappy FA 2Bman you just picked up)...

I agree. I know people are saying the Cubs are absolutely done, but a 5.5 game deficit isn't impossible to overcome with 19 games remaining. Why is everyone talking about laying down so early? Yeah, Soriano is likely done, but his .241 batting average over the first 5 months wasn't carrying the team anyway... I hate the idea that these guys are giving up. There ought to be NO QUESTION why the Cubs haven't won in over a 100 years with that kind of cowardice and lack of pride to finish strong.

Von Joshua needs to get the guy a smaller bat that he can control through the zone...

Even if it was a strike, and the guy was out at second, it wasn't a K because the count was only 3-1... He wouldn't have been rung up. And yes, the ump did motion strike.

Oh my god that's disgusting. I have pined for Theriot and Bradley at the top for OBP purposes. I don't think its that bad really except that the bottom 3rd looks very very anemic... If you wanted 2 guys at the top for OBP purposes it should have been Fukudome and Bradley. With Ramirez out, I'd go. Fukudome Theriot Bradley Lee Soriano F Soto Fontenot Bradley's lack of 'clutch' hitting makes him a better 2 hitter. Leading with Dome then puts both of your biggest LHers back to back. Dome does more down in the order than Theriot does IMO. With Ramirez out, I'd have Dome hitting 4th or 5th to keep the L-R balance in order. All bets are off with the lefty on the hill. Bradley most assuredly turns around righty and the lineup is basically all RH. Might be a tough night if the kid establishes the outside corner.

Oh my god that's disgusting. I have pined for Theriot and Bradley at the top for OBP purposes. I don't think its that bad really except that the bottom 3rd looks very very anemic...

Do I smell yet another shutdown at the hands of an otherwise unknown hurler?

Roger that... Didn't sift through EVERY thread in search of the material. Either way, I thought it to be very good conversation considering a 'juicer' may have just been inducted under the guise of a notorious workaholic... Of the most recent HOFers inducted, whom Canseco would have intimate knowledge, Rickey and maybe Eck would be the obvious choices. I find it funny that in the same year that Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire both exploded to break a hallowed record, a 39 year old returned to play the most games he'd played in nearly a decade, and led the world in SB. I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'. I wouldn't surprise me one bit that Rickey gets mentioned in Canseco's next 'book'...

Says he knows a current HOFer 'used' but isn't naming them. My guess is he's waiting on his next book. My money is on him calling out Rickey...

Most have been with 2 outs. Wainwright has them pounding the ball into the ground. Couple of DPs for the Cards, and a bunch of failure with RISP for the Dodgers. Billingsley is 1-hitting the Cards but they are threatening in the 6th...