RynoRules

Please be careful while patting yourself on the back ( :wink: ) three months before either player has actually played in a professional game.

Not a big deal. Call me if he needs surgery.

Well, a) there wasn't a whole lot of hard data to indicate what Kosuke would do. There was some, for people who made an effort to find it, but it wasn't all that easy. And it's hard to blame fans for not finding it. Not everybody can spend all day online researching ballplayers. And b) it's not a matter of salary making us think what a guy will do instead of what the hard data indicates. Everybody knows teams have budgets. When they spend X on a player they can't spend that X on somebody else. So anybody making a lot of money is going to be expected to pull his weight. If he doesn't, he's going to take heat. It's part of the game and I can't understand how anybody can pretend it's invalid. So go on and "give him heat" if that's what ya' like. IMO, he's performed as well as I expected he woiuld. If you expect much more than what he has given, IMO, your expectations are unrealistic.

I don't have time to respond to both of the above, but my point is that GM's overpay for talent all the time. Why should one's salary make us think the individual will be any better than what the hard data indicates?

Um...he had multiple offers on the table. He picked this one. I'm not sure there's anyone that needs "blaming" for his contract (which is what your use of "fault" implies) but if there is, Kosuke gets some if not all of it. This is a confusing response considering that Kosuke took less money to be a Cub. Only if you read into it meaning that isn't there. As I said, I'm not sure anyone is at fault for Kosuke's contract. I'm just disputing the bolded statement. Kosuke chose the Cubs over a number of teams. How can you say it's not his "fault" that he got the contract he did. Of course it's his "fault." If he didn't want that contract, he could have signed a different one. I'm not sure what RynoRules' intent was when he made that comment, but it seemed to miss the point. dexter was saying that when you sign a contract for a lot of money, fans expect a certain level of production. Suggesting that Kosuke had no control over his contract and thus can't be blamed for fans feeling disappointment is just wrong. Obviously his stats aren't going to get better because he signed a big contract - that's stupid. But people expect more production from players with bigger salaries - and are more disappointed when they believe that a highly paid player is underperforming, relative to his contract. I think its dumb to base your expectations for performance on salary insomuch as salary has no correlation with ability. Kosuke is what he is in terms of his realistic abilities no matter how much he makes.

Was Big Sexson ultimately released by the M's? He'd give us that RH pop off the benc you were talking about and probably could be had for an Edmonds-like price.

Murton looks like he belongs in the green and gold. Glad to see him somewhere where he'll be appreciated. Which is why they sent him to AAA....

Nice job by Woody. Great win - pick up a game on the Brew Crew and with any luck the Cards too.

Got him now....

Hey! This just got interesting!!! Game threads are great places to go for "sky is falling" commentary.

Stole my thunder. I have disliked about half of his choices over the last several years, but I cannot question Jim's work ethic. We have heard several stories like the one above. He earns his money in terms of his effort and appears to take a great deal of pride in what he does. Plus he seems to be a generally likeable guy: Last season I was at a game that was eventually called due to rain. My wife and I were under the stands during a delay with a few friends when Jim walked right by us. I said, "Hey Mr. Hendry, nice job getting this thing turned around." He responded with a wave, smile and "Thank you!".

Are you going to un-ban him? If so, it will still be a while out from now. :scratch: Why are you guys buds all of a sudden? And why was he banned in the first place? (I always assumed it was due to the "nsbblol" thing, but I guess I was wrong.) Does this really need to be explained? Even he agrees that he earned being banned, though he would like to be allowed back on. Hey bud, you raised the name. I was just asking a follow-up question. Back on topic - I doubt that Greinke is for sale, but if he is, I'd jump all over the opportunity.

Are you going to un-ban him? If so, it will still be a while out from now. :scratch: Why are you guys buds all of a sudden? And why was he banned in the first place? (I always assumed it was due to the "nsbblol" thing, but I guess I was wrong.)

He makes me feel kinda' funny, like when we used to climb the rope in gym class....

SWEET HOLY SOTO!!!! :amen: :yahoo:

That's really caused by a single start. In his first game back from injury, he gave up 5 earned over 3.2 IP at Texas. He's been quite good since then: 10 starts, 62.1 IP, 42 H, 20 BB, 72 K, 4 HR, 2.02 ERA, .190/.258/.272 against Another excellent point. What a great trade this is.

I think I'll be okay if he posts a 3.38 ERA for the Cubs You're right. Plus he's moving to the NL. Look what that did for Ted Lilly, who has about 1/2 of Harden's ability.

And Gaudin's:

Not to be a buzz-kill, but food for thought (Harden's 2008 splits):

YESSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!! :yahoo:

Jim needs to jump all over this Hudson opportunity, if it exists. His numbers compare favorably with Sabathia's (I know - he struggled early and has been very good lately, but still...). He could have a very similar impact in our rotation and neutralize the Sabathia-effect. Zambrano Lily Dempster Hudson Marshall-Gallagher-Marquis That's pretty darn good and sets up nicely for the playoffs.

Or hitting a home run that's the difference in the game, like on Friday. Remember that one time Neifi hit a game winning grand slam in extras at St. Louis? I do. So Neifi and Kosuke are comparable now? Good to know. Of course they're not. My point is that you can't talk up how good of a player Kosuke is with a "he did this one great thing once" argument because you could make the same argument for crappy players like Neifi. But that's not what he was doing. He was responding to a post about Kosuke's recent struggles, not his overall production or skill set.

And only idiots think the above-post is clever. Good one. I just think it's funny how bent out of shape people get when somebody voices any reasonable criticism about Fukudome. I don't see anyone getting bent out of shape. Many of us simply disagree with you, Mr. Geller.

Am I missing something obvious here where the answer could somehow be something other than "of course"? Yeah, I guess you are. If getting Sabathia means clearing out all of our valuable prospects, I am not sure he is worth it. I am not saying no, I just think it is an interesting question.

That brings up the most interesting question: Would you rather "clean-out" the system for Sabathia or send Cedeno and a pitching prospect (Marshall?) for Burnett? seeing as there is about a .5% chance we get sabathia...it is a no-brainer...the only thing that makes me worried is losing cedeno, who has been very valuable to us thus far... i have wanted burnett since the offseason...he has struggled this year, but i still think it is the right move... the only other pitcher i would really want would be harden, and that has got to be at about .0000000042% chance right now though You're missing my point - if you assume we could have Sabathia but it would cost us significantly more than acquiring Burnett, what do you do? Is Sabathia that much better than Burnett?