nilodnayr

I think your trade is a bit lopsided, but not by much, on the other hand, his is ridiculous.

Jesus, are you still on about that movie? Am I still on it? You make it sound like I've been complaining about it incessantly. Outside of this thread, where else have you ever seen me comment on it? Maybe one post in the original thread when it first came out? But yes, that movie was so abhorrent, Cuban is scum in my book and will be for the rest of his life. That film was egregious, and he was the main man behind it. It's a significant part of his background now. It's not like I've been constantly harping on it (quite the opposite, in fact, despite my strong feelings on it). When the topic of Cuban comes up, it's fair game though, and it always will be. Is it really fair game though? Are we talking about Cuban to be our lobbyist in Washington or about being the owner of the cubs? Frankly, I could care less what his views are as long as it doesnt get in the way of him owning the organization.

Sucks to be my fantasy team...Smoltz, Pedro, and now this.

probably because he generally has good fundamentals and people aren't going to overreact about a few baserunning mistakes made in one week. Does he, really? Or is that just perception? What does that even mean? yes, he does. he's a good baserunner, steals bases at a good rate, shows good patience at the plate and doesn't make many errors. there's plenty to criticize with theriot, like his ability to hit and his range in the field. FYI Theriot was last among Cub starters in pitches/plate appearance last year as he is this year. Which doesn't really mean anything. It does if you are trying to argue that he shows good patience at the plate.

probably because he generally has good fundamentals and people aren't going to overreact about a few baserunning mistakes made in one week. Does he, really? Or is that just perception? What does that even mean? yes, he does. he's a good baserunner, steals bases at a good rate, shows good patience at the plate and doesn't make many errors. there's plenty to criticize with theriot, like his ability to hit and his range in the field. FYI Theriot was last among Cub starters in pitches/plate appearance last year as he is this year.

And Soriano? Seriously, people. Listen, I'm the biggest Soriano hater. I was the leader of the anti-sorianos in the thread on his signing, but to want to bench him or "get him off this team" is just ridiculous. People have become so reactionary here its unbelievable. Soriano is the team's best option in LF. he's not playing as well as theriot or cedeno, though, so he should ride the pine for a while. This you can surmise from one game?

And Soriano? Seriously, people. Listen, I'm the biggest Soriano hater. I was the leader of the anti-sorianos in the thread on his signing, but to want to bench him or "get him off this team" is just ridiculous. People have become so reactionary here its unbelievable. Soriano is the team's best option in LF.

Even the "win-win" trade has its limits...and you reached them.

RACIST!!!!!

Could it be that perhaps people are making ridiculous judgements based on one month of data vs years and years of data?

Agreed! This will now go from tired, semi-drunk NSBB day to well rested, sloppily drunk NSBB day. HOORAY!!!

hold out for more

do max

He didn't even know what Sports Illustrated is...

Room for another one in that boat? Thank God for Yahoo being slow, at least I'll have a bit of time to give the Dbacks a chance to explain what his role is going to be. If your not currently first in the waiver order I would take a shot. Not worth waiting when you might not even get him to begin with. Unfortunately, I've found myself with the first waiver claim much earlier than I normally like, which means I have tough decisions on who to use it on. The Dbacks are going to stick him in the pen right now. Edgar Gonzalez has been perfectly adequate, Owings has been very good, RJ is healthy (right now), and when Davis comes back in a couple weeks they will already have 6 men for 5 spots. Also, Scherzer only pitched 106.6 innings last year, so the DBacks aren't going to want him to go over 140 this year. Of course, the other side of the coin is that they will probably want him to reach around there so they can get him up to around 170 in 2009. Hes pitched 23 so far, so that means he'll have to be starting again sometime (and somewhere) again this season. This is such a tough call because of the depth in the rotation that the DBacks have... I'm more tempted to do it after his performance last night though... nasty stuff. Someone please slap me around with sample size and Price, Kershaw, etc. will be better arguments. They are all pitchers so I think its a crap shoot. Be happy getting just 1, and hope he outlasts the others. Yeah, I'm going to pull the trigger on Scherzer after Gonzalez's crap outing and his ridiculous debut. Kershaw has the same innings issue that Scherzer has and maybe a harder journey to the rotation given the fact that the dodgers are now a veteran loving organization (hows that Torre hiring working out for ya?). The Dbacks are all about the youth movement and frankly the biggest hurdle (actually being called up) has been overcome for Scherzer. I wish Davis and RJ the best of health, but it still seems like the Dbacks are an org that is hell bent on winning, rather than appeasing their players and after their bats regress to where they should be at they'll be looking for another pick-me-up (or realize their bats will regress and need something else to sustain success). I don't see Price in the ML before September, if at all. They are going to baby the hell out of him (for good reason) and keep his ML service time down (for good reason). Scherzer seems like he'll be the waiver pick up in fantasy leagues this year (Longoria was available in the draft).

Mike Rizzo is the guy you'd want. The Nationals hired him away. Hes their assistant GM and VP of Baseball Ops now. Here are some of Rizzo's guys that are making an impact in the league... Brandon Webb Chad Tracy Stephen Drew Carlos Gonzalez Conor Jackson Carlos Quentin Justin Upton Maz Scherzer Micah Owings Greg Smith Mark Reynolds Chris Snyder Scott Hairston Dan Uggla Ian Kinsler (actually selected twice by the dbacks but didn't sign)

Frankly, I don't think payroll is that big of a deal. Its definitely been proven that more money does not necessarily correlate with more wins. Its HOW you spend the money. Thats whats important. Cuban has been in the forefront of statistical analysis in basketball. I heard him in an interview a few years ago talk about how they analyze the referees to find tendancies and how they were trying to determine an optimal number of passes before a shot, etc. Also, I was sitting in amazing seats last night (section 122, 4th row) and Cuban walked right in front of me before the game. He definitely didn't stay very long into the game though, so he wasn't just here to be a fan.

If he's pitching, some prospect starter isn't. How often do we complain about Hendry because we've got someone ready to go in AAA but they're blocked by some crappy, overpaid vet whose best days are long gone? Prospect? Dumatrait? You've got to be kidding me. If Matt Morris was starting and the bucs had a prospect who could be called up, then that'd be fine. BUT THEY DONT! Dumatrait is a bum who was released by the Reds and has never come close to having a K/BB over 2 since Rookieball/low A in 2001. We complain about Hendry because we have some legitimate pitchers in the minors, who are arguably better than some of the vets in the majors. The Bucs don't have that. Dumatrait is a reliever. You don't cut a guy like him out of the bullpen to free a spot and take a starting prospect in the minors who has never worked out of the pen before unless you're in a position of contention and there's just no other alternatives. See Pignatiello over Marshall at the beginning of the year. Dumatrait and Morris are apples and oranges. Dumatrait shouldn't be in the conversation as to whether or not they should or shouldn't cut Morris. What should be considered is who they are going to bring up to fill that hole in the starting rotation. If they bring up some AAAA filler, then you have a complaint. If they bring up a legit prospect whose time has come, then you can't really complain about the move. That said, I don't know if they have any better starting or relieving prospects than what they have in Morris or Dumatrait. I just won't advocate or condemn the decision to cut Morris because Dumatrait is on the team, because Dumatrait is pulling an entirely different role on the team. Also, if you're thinking Morris could have been moved to the pen in lieu of Dumatrait, Dumatrait doesn't have the history of arm problems with no prior experience getting up and working consecutive days like Morris. I wouldn't advocate that move either. Also, Dumatrait is sporting an ERA+ just over 100 this year (for now), so maybe he's not doing as horrible as you think. Plus, at 26, there's no reason to believe he can't become a serviceable reliever. Morris is going on 34, has posted an ERA+ of 90 three of the last four years, so there's really no reason to expect that he might return to his 25 year old form again. I can't really tell if you are arguing with me or against me. I never said anything about moving morris to the pen. And Dumatrait absolutely is part of the discussion as to whether or not you cut morris because hes the one whos replacing him int he rotation. Hes the AAAA flyer you speak of. They aren't bringing up a legit prospect, because they don't have any (pitching that is). If we are going to be dumb and quote ERA+ over 20 innings of baseball, then I'l site his major league ERA+ of 31 last year. Yes, 31. Or we can talk about his 13 Ks and 13 BBs in 20.6 innings this year and that stellar 5.23 FIP hes sporting. Yeah, he is as horrible as I think. Defending Dumatrait is a losing battle buddy, don't go there. Listen, I'm not saying Morris is good, or will regain what he once was. What I'm saying is that IT DOESNT MATTER. The bucs are goign to be well out of the playoff race with morris sucking, with morris doing well, without morris and his replacement sucking or without morris and his replacement doing well. The bucs don't have anyone worth a damn to put in morris' place, so if you are going to lose anyway and don't have anyone worthy of a spot in the rotation that will have any promise, whats the point in sending morris home? You keep him, best case scenario you can pawn him off for a couple guys near the deadline. Worst case scenario is you don't make the playoffs, can't trade him and pay him his full salary. You get rid of him, best case scenario is you give his spot to some piece of garbage who is going to pitch just as bad as him. Worst case scenario is you don't make the playoffs and pay him his full salary. When you originally posted, did you know Dumatrait was going to replace him in the rotation? Apparently I had missed that fact, and I thought your whole argument was that cutting Morris didn't make sense when you have a reliever as bad as Dumatrait in the pen. He may not have known that the replacement would be Dumatrait, but he knew that whoever it was going to be would be Dumatraitesque. The pirates simply don't have many worthwhile pitching prospects. I did know it was going to be Dumatrait (see the first post in this quote above), but CHL is right, even if it wasn't Dumatrait, or if Dumatrait fails (like hes sure to do), they don't have anyone else who can be considered a prospect to take Morris' spot in the rotation.

If he's pitching, some prospect starter isn't. How often do we complain about Hendry because we've got someone ready to go in AAA but they're blocked by some crappy, overpaid vet whose best days are long gone? Prospect? Dumatrait? You've got to be kidding me. If Matt Morris was starting and the bucs had a prospect who could be called up, then that'd be fine. BUT THEY DONT! Dumatrait is a bum who was released by the Reds and has never come close to having a K/BB over 2 since Rookieball/low A in 2001. We complain about Hendry because we have some legitimate pitchers in the minors, who are arguably better than some of the vets in the majors. The Bucs don't have that. Dumatrait is a reliever. You don't cut a guy like him out of the bullpen to free a spot and take a starting prospect in the minors who has never worked out of the pen before unless you're in a position of contention and there's just no other alternatives. See Pignatiello over Marshall at the beginning of the year. Dumatrait and Morris are apples and oranges. Dumatrait shouldn't be in the conversation as to whether or not they should or shouldn't cut Morris. What should be considered is who they are going to bring up to fill that hole in the starting rotation. If they bring up some AAAA filler, then you have a complaint. If they bring up a legit prospect whose time has come, then you can't really complain about the move. That said, I don't know if they have any better starting or relieving prospects than what they have in Morris or Dumatrait. I just won't advocate or condemn the decision to cut Morris because Dumatrait is on the team, because Dumatrait is pulling an entirely different role on the team. Also, if you're thinking Morris could have been moved to the pen in lieu of Dumatrait, Dumatrait doesn't have the history of arm problems with no prior experience getting up and working consecutive days like Morris. I wouldn't advocate that move either. Also, Dumatrait is sporting an ERA+ just over 100 this year (for now), so maybe he's not doing as horrible as you think. Plus, at 26, there's no reason to believe he can't become a serviceable reliever. Morris is going on 34, has posted an ERA+ of 90 three of the last four years, so there's really no reason to expect that he might return to his 25 year old form again. I can't really tell if you are arguing with me or against me. I never said anything about moving morris to the pen. And Dumatrait absolutely is part of the discussion as to whether or not you cut morris because hes the one whos replacing him int he rotation. Hes the AAAA flyer you speak of. They aren't bringing up a legit prospect, because they don't have any (pitching that is). If we are going to be dumb and quote ERA+ over 20 innings of baseball, then I'l site his major league ERA+ of 31 last year. Yes, 31. Or we can talk about his 13 Ks and 13 BBs in 20.6 innings this year and that stellar 5.23 FIP hes sporting. Yeah, he is as horrible as I think. Defending Dumatrait is a losing battle buddy, don't go there. Listen, I'm not saying Morris is good, or will regain what he once was. What I'm saying is that IT DOESNT MATTER. The bucs are goign to be well out of the playoff race with morris sucking, with morris doing well, without morris and his replacement sucking or without morris and his replacement doing well. The bucs don't have anyone worth a damn to put in morris' place, so if you are going to lose anyway and don't have anyone worthy of a spot in the rotation that will have any promise, whats the point in sending morris home? You keep him, best case scenario you can pawn him off for a couple guys near the deadline. Worst case scenario is you don't make the playoffs, can't trade him and pay him his full salary. You get rid of him, best case scenario is you give his spot to some piece of garbage who is going to pitch just as bad as him. Worst case scenario is you don't make the playoffs and pay him his full salary.

To get Dunn the Cubs have to move Soriano or Fukudome to CF. Can Griffey still play CF? Griffey can barely play RF. Griffey is my favorite player of all time and has been since I was like 5. I'd take him in a second if were not giving up much and much Fukudome to CF if needed. I wonder if mgl and Jocketty ever discussed Griffey. mgl believes hes the worst player in the league. He absolutely HATES him.

This might be the post of the day! slightly improved to make fun of irish people...

Dude, there are like 77 Guillens and 14 Chris Youngs in the league. You need to be more specific.

Because, Morris would have to pitch "Johan Santana esque" till July, just to get a prospect in return for Morris. And seeing as that's unlikely, you are either paying him to lose games for your team, or paying him to stay away. IMO, paying him to stay away make more sense. Yeah, just like Steve Trachsel did...

If he's pitching, some prospect starter isn't. How often do we complain about Hendry because we've got someone ready to go in AAA but they're blocked by some crappy, overpaid vet whose best days are long gone? Prospect? Dumatrait? You've got to be kidding me. If Matt Morris was starting and the bucs had a prospect who could be called up, then that'd be fine. BUT THEY DONT! Dumatrait is a bum who was released by the Reds and has never come close to having a K/BB over 2 since Rookieball/low A in 2001. We complain about Hendry because we have some legitimate pitchers in the minors, who are arguably better than some of the vets in the majors. The Bucs don't have that.

Ok, so I know Matt Morris is God awful. But I also know that the bucs have 0% chance of making the playoffs this year. So whats the point of cutting him? If you keep him, the worst case scenario is that he sucks, you cant trade him and you don't make the playoffs. Best case scenario is that he doesn't suck terribly, some idiot like Hendry wants him for the stretch run, and you can get something for him. By cutting him, you still pay him everything and open up a spot for a crap guy like Dumatriat