BigbadB

:scratch: Yay. Welcome back, smiley's.

To be fair, Roberts did have 100 more plate appearances than Soriano in 2007, so Soriano's K totals would likely be up a bit, as would his HR totals. Also, I didn't explain that the runs per PA was lifetime, not just last year. Soriano's PA per run in 2007: 6.36 Roberts' PA per run in 2007: 6.95 Soriano's PA per run in 2006: 6.11 Robert's PA per run in 2006: 7.4 I included 2006 in the event someone wanted to argue that the Cubs heart of the order was clearly better than the Orioles heart of the order, even though I believe the two were very comparable. Clearly, the 2006 Nats heart of the order doesn't nearly compare to either of the 2007 Orioles or Cubs heart of the order. Just for giggles, I'll include the 3-5 hitters for each of the above teams: 2007 Cubs: 3rd: .309 .391 .496, 80 RBI 4th: .312 .381 .531, 122 RBI 5th: .256 .321 .401, 75 RBI 2007 Orioles: 3rd: .288 .353 .457, 109 RBI 4th: .276 .357 .422, 99 RBI 5th: .267 .325 .408, 85 RBI 2006 Nats: 3rd: .259 .346 .443, 93 RBI 4th: .269 .390 .467, 96 RBI 5th: .267 .339 .450, 99 RBI Looks like the 2007 Orioles win the RBI battle, followed by the 2006 Nats. But, the Cubs heart of the order had better AVG, OBP and SLG. 2006 Nats 1/2 OBP: .357/.362 2006 Nats 1/2 RS: 119/97 2007 Orioles 1/2 OBP: .375/.320 2007 Orioles RS: 107/97 2007 Cubs 1/2 OBP: .341/.336 2007 Cubs 1/2 RS: 127/99 Cubs get last place in OBP at the top of the order, but win the runs scored contest. Imagine how much better the Cubs heart of the order would be if Soriano hit lead off and Brian Roberts hit 2nd. Especially when you factor in how much better Fukudome will be hitting behind Ramirez. Without Roberts, Soriano/DeRosa would be much better than Soriano/Theriot and not too far off from what Soriano/Roberts would likely provide. One thing that does need to be considered about Roberts is the first year in a new league could hamper his numbers a bit. Some guys do quite well switching leagues. Others, well, not so much. It cannot be assumed that Roberts will automatically do better or equal performance switching leagues and facing a lot of pitchers for the first time. I will say that Soriano, Roberts, Lee, Ramirez, Fukudome is arguably one of the best 1-5's in baseball, depending on how Fukudome's numbers from Japan translate to MLB.

Des Plaines according to B-R. However, just because someone hails from an area doesn't necessarily mean they ever want to go back to that area. A significant part of my family still lives in the surrounding areas of Peoria, but a week long visit at Thanksgiving each year is about all I can take.

Can you provide a link to one of these articles where the Cubs prefer to move Soriano down in the order? In your own words, you state the importance of good OBP to set up the production hitters. But, there are 2 guys who hit in front of these production hitters, not just one. And when you beg for Roberts to hit first, you are basically asking for Theriot to hit second as well. If you haven't looked lately, Theriot has a worse on base percentage than Soriano. So, if you had your choice, are you honestly saying you would rather have: Roberts/Theriot batting 1/2 or Soriano/Roberts batting 1/2? I won't allow you to use Roberts/Fukudome in there because there have been plenty of articles published quoting Hendry as wanting a lefty bat to split up all the big righty bats. And I'm honestly not making the following stat up. Soriano in the first inning in 2007: 20 strike outs Roberts in the first inning in 2007: 18 strike outs Oh my, those 2 extra K's is really killing the Cubs starting off a game. Soriano leading off an inning in 2007: 45 K's Roberts leading off an inning in 2007: 38 K's. Yikes, 7 more K's starting off innings 250+ times per year. Fire that man. Soriano leading off a game with a HR: 12 Roberts leading off a game with a HR: 1 Soriano leading off an inning with a HR: 13 Roberts leading off an inning with a HR: 4 Roberts scores a run every 7.17 times he steps to the plate. Soriano scores a run every 6.7 times he steps to the plate. Please explain why less home runs, less K's and less runs scored per game (Roberts x 3) makes someone a more valuable lead off hitter. I'm dying to hear it.

Oh, he's very popular in San Diego, but mostly for his defense. Most of the fans who would be fine with him being gone will cite his poor AVG and injury history as the reasons they should upgrade SS.

Now playing LF for YOUR Cincinnati Reds, Jayyyyyyyyy Bruuuu, wait a minute, that's Todd Hollandsworth.

I think the sentence following your bolded part is more telling than anything else Lou said. I wonder what, exactly, he's referring to. Yeah, that's a strange line. Growing up in Venezuela probably isn't the most ideal lifestyle. Is he showing up to Wrigley in a clown suit everyday? Please explain.

Damn DeRosa for not being a good SS. Those 3 wins at 2b and the win increase of DeRosa over Theriot at SS would be real nice.

Thanks for the visual. :roll:

<------ Personality is worth quite a bit more than that, but BigbadB would probably settle for that much. There, not only a great personality, but BBB can also speak in third person ala Rickey Henderson.

Pretty good seats, I might add. Heck, for that, I'd probably let Big Papi spit his sunflower seeds into my hands.

I prefer a Soriano lead off home run and a single by Roberts to start off the game much more than I like Roberts getting a single and Theriot grounding into a double play. oh i see where he was going with that now... yeah...i like the first option as well... theriot is a blackhole...he needs to be nowhere near the top of the order I was just guessing that's what he meant. This is a Joe Nathan thread and he typically doesn't start a game off with an out. Or does Minnesota use their closer in the 1st?

I prefer a Soriano lead off home run and a single by Roberts to start off the game much more than I like Roberts getting a single and Theriot grounding into a double play.

Hopefully this isn't one of the legendary "2 deals on the table" that we've been hearing about. Unfortunately Hendry is dumb enough to see Nathan as a priority. I'm pretty sure the rumored trades were for 2 bats, so we should be safe. Minnesota will be asking for the world for Nathan. He's not worth the world.

Why don't we just use that offer to get Jimmy Rollins? Our lineup will be super awesome then! Because the Phillies wouldn't take that offer, thats a horrible offer, but for some reason, Toronto has a thing for both Dempster and DeRosa, so them plus a solid pitching prospect may be enough for an injury prone #2. If thats not enough add Ceda. A starting 2B, a piece of poop, and 2 good minor leaguers for an injury prone #2 seems fair. I sensed a bit of sarcasm in his post.

It is true that the Padres have not made Greene available, at least to the media. I believe the Padres will trade Greene if a long term deal is not an option. But, they have at least a year and a half to make that happen. In other words, they don't "have" to trade him at all this year. I also agree that we don't have the parts to make them better, although Pie would be someone they would likely be very interested in. A 3 team trade is probably the best way to get Greene if the Padres were interested in moving him. At this point, I would imagine it would take a bigger offer for the Padres to trade Greene than it would to get the Orioles to trade Roberts. The Orioles have already given up on '08. The Padres have not.

Probably create some 40 man roster nightmares if they get 4 or 5 players for Bedard and 4 more for Roberts.

Sure, assuming Santana's arm doesn't fall off between now and then. It's in Santana's best interest to get as much as he can now while the value is there. As I stated before, whether someone caves on the demands is immaterial. I fully expect the Mets to cave rather than Santana.

I enjoyed reading this guy's comments, but I think he's out of the loop a bit. I think Tim did an outstanding job with his team. C- Martinez 1b- James Loney 2b- Brandon Phillips SS- Edgar Renteria 3b- Miguel Cabrera OF- Kosuke Fukudome OF- Matt Kemp OF- Nick Swisher OF- Jay Bruce OF- JD Drew SP- Sabathia SP- Beckett SP- Oswalt SP- Escobar SP- Ubaldo Jimenez SP- Kuroda SP- Prior RP- Tony Pena RP- Fuentes RP- Kerry Wood RP- Joba Chamberlain That's a pretty good 16 team line up, but it's only a 12 team league. The dude's comments about Pujols putting up better numbers than Cabrera is arguable. Pujols can't straighten one of his arms all the way out. He's a dangerous early pick. Pujols will also suffer from PA's, as his teammates all sorta suck. Cabrera will be surrounded by stud hitters. Not many big boppers in the line up, but guys who can put up pretty decent AVG, R, OBP and RBI. I'm guessing SB is not one of the 5 scoring categories considering Tim will suffer in that department. Swisher will now have a better supporting cast. I already mentioned Cabrera, but Renteria is in that same line up. The one drawback to those 2 are moving to a new league. Renteria sucked in Boston's star studded line up a few years back. I expect a huge jump for Drew, and I'd be a bit worried that Garciaparra steals some at bats from Loney against LHP.

131m dollars. We weren't privvy to the contract negotiations, but it's quite possible one of the selling points for Soriano to sign a deal with the Cubs was that Soriano would hit first in the line up. Maybe Soriano doesn't care where he bats. I'll bet he does. And the Cubs should care how Soriano feels about moving from the top of the order to the bottom half of the order if Soriano really doesn't want to do it. We saw what Soriano did when Washington moved him from 2nd to LF. If he weren't playing in a contract year, it's possible he would not have caved on his demands to stay at 2b. Hendry wants to split up the righties more than anything. If he gets Figgins and Roberts, that could potentially move Soriano all the way down to the 6th spot, with Fukudome hitting somewhere between the 3 big righties. Even I have to agree that 131m is a lot of money to pay for a guy who hits 6th in a line up. How will Soriano feel?

Are you asking me this question? Where did I say that? You said it was in the best interest of both parties to come to an agreement. How is it in the best interest of Santana to compromise with the Mets? A "contract" agreement. Not a "meet in the middle" agreement. The Mets can attempt to haggle down the price, but that doesn't mean the Mets can't cave in and give Santana what he wants if he won't budge off of his demands. In other words, it's in the best interests of both parties to get a contract signed, whether that means the Mets cave or Santana caves or they meet somewhere in the middle is immaterial.

Are you asking me this question? Where did I say that?

They might ask him, and Soriano might say no. If the Cubs somehow landed Roberts and Figgins, I could see Soriano agreeing to move down in the line up. If it's just Roberts, I think Soriano will say Roberts fits nicely in the 2 hole. There really is no reason to move Soriano down in the line up. Soriano scores runs in the lead off spot with the best of the lead off hitters in baseball. Jimmy Rollins was arguably the best lead off hitter in baseball last year with only an average OBP. Those 88 XBH's is what does it for him. Soriano has the capability of 88+ XBH's also, as he posted 80 XBH's last year in 135 games.

People haggle over contracts all the time. As long as one side isn't embarrassing the other side with unreasonable numbers, this stuff usually works itself out. It's in the best interest for both parties to come to an agreement. It will get done.

Mark him down for the DL Edit: Oh and hopefully 18 is the only thing that Geovany Soto takes from Jason Kendall. I thought Soto's number last year was designated by how many HR's he planned to hit in 2008. Maybe 18 his how many home runs he plans on averaging per month.