RynoRules

Colt Brennan is the 2008 version of Leftwich. Do not take him.

Kiper says Bennett is Hines Ward-like. Me likey that.

The Chefs (misspelling intended) take Charles. Good value for them there. Change of pace guy to pair with Johnson.

Perhaps, but the run on OL seems to have ended and the WR's just started getting picked in the 2nd Rnd. Thus - hopefully - a OG will be there at 90. Here's some info on Bennett: Scout's Inc. Scouting Report

Bears take bennett from Vandy. Good pick. Angelo errors on the side of a guy with height and bulk.

Seemed like a needless trade by SD.

FYI: Larry Brown resigned from his front office position with the Sixers today. I'd much rather have him than Rick Carlisle, who's basically a more controlling version of Skiles.

Great point. I think this also may be evidence of how important organizational philosophy is.

I agree. I am trying to figure whether they have ever started this well (i.e., not just winning, but pounding teams) in my lifetime.

Not that I would expect you to recall this, but at least one person has argued that Lou is determined to ruin Pie's career. This thread implies that the Cubs have ended his career. Patently ridiculous notions, all. The kid is 23 and is learning. Let's give him and the coaching staff some time. Yeah, I don't recall seeing that post - certainly not in the last few pages where a bunch of posters have been trying (I think unnecessarily) to prove that Lou wants Pie to succeed. But the OP already said that this thread title was a joke. I thought everyone picked up on that. Idid - the comment I am referencing came from another thread.

I bet they are. If Pie can be who people think he can be this team will be extremely tough to beat. this is so true. dare to dream that Pie, Soto, and Cedeno all live up to potential this year.... Stop it. You're making me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Not that I would expect you to recall this, but at least one person has argued that Lou is determined to ruin Pie's career. This thread implies that the Cubs have ended his career. Patently ridiculous notions, all. The kid is 23 and is learning. Let's give him and the coaching staff some time.

Cro Mag, still think that Piniella is doing everything he can to wreck Pie's career? That is already one my fave Cubs moments of the last several yrs. It was great to see Piniella and all the players get excited for Felix. And that was a helluva swing he put on that ball.

Its a good thing that Johnson stinks.

He did not spend all of 2007 in the majors. He also pitched 41 innings in AAA so he had about 110 IP total in 2007 between the minors and the big leagues. In 2006 he had 138 IP combined between West Tenn, Iowa and Chicago. Therefore, the 105 IP he is on pace for this year per your calculations would actually be a slight reduction from previous years so I wouldn't worry about his arm falling off just yet. I did forget that he spent time in the minors last year, but 7 of those 8 minor league appearances were starts. I'm not talking about abuse, but rather what we can expect of him as a reliever. The abuse is a different discussion. So his relief appearances stretched out for a full season would have meant 92.2 IP and 1,550 pitches. He would have led the league in IP. Only two relief pitchers over the last four seasons have totaled 100 IP and five have totaled over 90 IP. If he throws 105 IP this year, though, he's not pitching in a high enough percentage of high leverage situations. Maybe that increase even supports my argument. His LI wasn't very high last year. This year, his gmLI is only 39th among all relievers in baseball and his inLI is way down the list at 62nd. Why should we expect Lou to use him more exclusively in high leverage situations when there has been a clear pattern that Piniella just wants to use or overuse him in the late innings, regardless of leverage. Doesn't that make his IP less valuable? In Marmol's case, not in a theoretical situation in which a truly dominant reliever might produce expected wins in line with such starters in some instances, do the numbers really backup the idea that he should remain a reliever? I am still trying to understand how the numbers back your argument that he should be a starter.

I usually get it when people pick the team apart here, but this one befuddles me. Tim, are we really comparing Marmol to today's Peavy and Santana? Haven't statistics acknowledged that the most important relievers are those that come in when the game is on the line in the 6th, 7th and sometimes the 8th? Shouldn't we therefore utilize one of our best pitchers in that situation? I get that we all think Lily sucks this season, but aside from him the rotation has been fine. We are going to knee-jerk and send our best reliever into the rotation b/c one guy has stunk through 4 or so starts?

If anyone thinks Cubs fans are the most obnoxious is baseball, they should visit the bleachers in NY (both teams) and Philly. I would just ignore this guy. He's got an inferiority complex and his comments don't deserve our time or energy.

This. This x 2 - except that he lost me during the whole Merker vs. Broadcasters thing.

Not sure what the hand-wringing is about where Marmol is concerned. Its a bit early to say that he is being overused. As Logan said, if he gets enough rest between outings it should not be a problem. Marshall is a different story - I'd like to see him in the rotation, but at least he is facing ML hitters for the time being.

If this is for real (and I doubt it is), they might as well start shopping Pie as well.

Thought you guys might find this amusing. I created team of Cubs on Diamond Mind, the guideline being that they either: 1) Played for the team during my lifetime; or 2) are acknowledged all-time franchise greats. Here is what I came away with: C Davis, JodyR $2,854,000 1B, 3B Franco, MattL $536,000 1B Grace, MarkL $8,658,000 2B Sandberg, RyneR $13,800,000 2B, 3B, LF Shumpert, TerryR $573,000 3B Santo, RonR $13,700,000 SS, 2B, 3B Arias, AlexR $1,196,000 LF, 1B Martinez, CarmeloR $1,186,000 LF, 1B, RF Rodriguez, HenryL $1,630,000 CF, LF, RF Buford, DamonR $541,000 CF, LF, RF Wilson, HackR $14,000,000 RF, LF Clark, DaveL $578,000 RF, LF, CF Hill, GlenallenR $2,678,000 RF, 1B, LF Merced, OrlandoS $2,321,000 POS Player Salary SP Alexander, PeteR $13,539,000 (aka, Grover Cleveland Alexander) SP Benes, AlanR $500,000 SP Clark, MarkR $1,425,000 SP Guzman, JoseR $4,417,000 SP Harkey, MikeR $1,352,000 SP Stone, SteveR $2,734,000 RP Patterson, KenL $1,276,000 RP Sanders, ScottR $533,000 RP Stoddard, TimR $1,481,000 CL Slocumb, HeathcliffR $2,109,000 CL Veres, DaveR $3,789,000 Inactive-Injury Reserve POS Player Salary SS, 2B Fermin, FelixR $504,000 RP Schiraldi, CalvinR $500,000 C Servais, ScottR $552,000

To me, Westbrook would be a perfect fit for the Bulls.

Just a thought: If Murt comes up and doesn't start frequently, his AB's will decrease. Does this hurt his value? If he stays in AAA and plays everyday, doesn't that ultimately maintain his relative value?

I was wondering when someone else would notice. I figured we were collectively burying our heads in the sand out of disbelief. I know its highly unlikely that he will keep this up, but I wouldn't mind having that production, especially now that Alfonso is out for at least two weeks.