BigbadB

I think it's still too early to cast any judgments. Philadelphia easily leads the league in walks and is at the top in OBP, yet they've scored 7 less runs than the Cubs. The Cubs and Phillies have comparable AVG and SLG. Along with OBP and SLG is timely hitting. I would expect the Phillies to surpass the Cubs in runs scored very soon simply because they get so many runners on base and the timely hits just haven't been there. But, I also expect the Cubs offense to walk a lot more than the Cubs teams of the past several years. I also don't think this particular Cub offense needs to lead the league in OBP. When all is said and done, they should be at or near the top in SLG. Couple a solid SLG along with a respectable OBP, and the runs will be there. Every starter on the Cubs except the SS is capable of putting up close to a .300 AVG with significant SLG.

I have Wainwright and Cain going tomorrow. Solid performances by both and I should have it won. If someone flakes, and I'm hoping Wainwright bombs (since he's pitching against the Cubs), it might end up being real close at the end. Seattle's down again tonight, so it looks like Putz will still be without a save opportunity again tonight. Has a closer ever gone 3 straight weeks to begin the season without a single save opportunity? I'll have to ask Jason Stark about that. Unfortunately, I won't be around tomorrow or the next 7 days afterwards to see how my team performs. If they don't stomp some ass, heads will roll when I get back. Closed door meeting with the bats.

The shame of it is that there are 3 losses figured into the equation because the bats have just sucked most of those games.

Wow. You couldn't give him away for free?

Maybe Wood got you twins? Nah, you wouldn't have forgotten that.

I'm making my 2nd minor league promotion of the season next week. That's right. Josh Hamilton has earned a spot on my roster. He'd be 2nd on my team in offensive points if I made this move to start the season. The other promotion was BJ Upton. By the way, I will be out of town on business all of next week. That will give you all a week to not have to hear how awesome my pitching staff is. Unless of course, someone would like to make a daily post in the game thread about how awesome my pitching staff is. :D Good luck to everyone next week, except Alamo Stealth.

I think Krivsky was just trying to build a relationship up with Hendry so that he could try to trade for some of our relievers later this year. Maybe they thought Hamilton was a reliever? We have a winner.

Hey, I know my hitting leaves a lot to be desired, but can anybody beat this? 16 starts, 14 QS 2.80 ERA, 1.133 WHIP

My hitters put their bats away for the week. Jeeeeeeeeez! Yesterday, what were they? 0-12 when I finally complained. Today? 4-26. That's ridiculous. That's a .154 AVG.

What happened? The total hits per at bat for the week got reset? Looks like everything else is on there.

Well there's really nothing you can do about that. I mean seriously, can you think of any possible solution to that problem? I sure can't. Which problem? Not having a lefty batting practice arm or not being able to hit lefties? Not being able to hit lefties is not a good thing. Blaming it on not having a lefty batting practice arm is about as lame as it gets.

The Dodgers aren't doing much better. Juan Pierre and Luis Gonzalez in the outfield when they have Kemp, Loney, Ethier, Delwyn Young that can all play some outfield? I fully expect them to trade for someone to block LaRoche next.

Oh man. I forgot about that quote. Hahaha.

Yeah that is for sure. I really don't get Anaheim. I don't think they have a game plan at all. They never gave McPherson, Kotchman, Morales, or Mathis 500 abs to see what they can/can't do. Yet they have no problem playing crap like Rob Quinlan, Darin Erstad, and to a lesser extent Chone Figgins everyday. Personally I would have kept Wood at SS. I mean McPherson was good enough they let a 25 year old Troy Glaus walk and then never gave him a shot. Why are any of us to believe they will ever give Wood a fair chance? Sorry for the rant. That Cabrera signing was horrible. Cabrera blocks Wood and Aybar. You could probably move either one of them or both to a different position, but why not just use Figgins at SS until one of these guys was ready? Another position you could put Aybar is in CF. With GMJ there for the next 5 years, what becomes of Aybar? Anaheim's gameplan hasn't been very good. I will agree with you on that.

He does K a lot. I haven't seen him in person, but I'd take a guy at SS with his ability all day long. Especially considering the mess we currently have at SS.

When Cameron Maybin has a 101 XBH season at age 20 in 134 games, I'll give Maybin the nod over Brandon Wood. Wood had 71 XBH's last year in 118 games in a bit of an off year at the plate.

You do know that they moved him to 3b because he's blocked at SS by Cabrera, right?

Wait, when did the Angels get Cameron Maybin? :D Wait, when did Cameron Maybin learn to play SS? :wink:

Just release a guy who is owed money for this year and next? Ain't happening. I'll have faith that Hendry can move him. He moved Todd Hundley. I don't remember who traded for what, but some team was willing to trade for Terrence Long a few years back and he had a somewhat comparable contract to Jacque Jones, and Jones is a far superior player than Long ever thought of being. Nevermind, I looked it up. Long was traded among three small market teams. While I don't see any of the above moves being made, Jones has value in trade. If not right now, a little farther down the line when some teams lose players to injury. How much longer is Juan Rivera out? If he is back anytime soon, I don't see LAA trading for Jones. Between Rivera, Anderson, GMJ and Vlady, they really have no need for another outfielder. If Rivera is going to miss significant time, then I suppose it's a possibility that they would have interest in Jones.

While I would love to have A-Rod, I'm thinking the better deal would be Santana and Wood. Wood is going to come very close to the production of A-Rod in the next year or two, and Santana is on his way to becoming an ace. Aramis, Wood, Patterson and Lee will be one of the best infields in baseball. An outfield of Soriano, Pie and Murton and eventually Colvin will make this team very exciting to watch. I just don't see LAA trading for Zambrano. He has no contract beyond this year and they'd be giving up the best prospect in baseball and a pitcher who could end up being as good or better than Zambrano, and a guy who they control for a few more years at a minimal cost compared to Zambrano. And if Zambrano doesn't get things straightened out soon, nobody will want him.

A 20 year old kid in the 21st century isn't ready to be a husband and a father. These are just two more added pressures to what is a very difficult time in someone's life. I watched a sports special on Josh Hamilton and it was very well done. Josh's parents traveled with him to every one of his minor league games until they got into a horrible car accident. It was at that time that he was alone for the first time in his life and made poor choices. He's paid for those choices. Addiction will never go away. He has to fight off the urges for the rest of his life. If he overcomes that, he will have overcome what most addicts never overcome. Many go right back to the source of what ruined their lives. Because they are addicted. I don't expect anyone to change their opinion of the guy, but I don't expect anyone to look down on me for hoping he overcomes addiction, keeps his family together and becomes a superstar major league baseball player. The guy is a top notch athlete that we all deserve to see play in the major leagues. What would really be unfortunate is if he never turned his life around and no teams took a chance on him and we never got to see him play. The Cubs certainly could have taken a chance on him, but I certainly understand why they wouldn't. First off, it would require looking into the future to know he would already have 5 home runs in his first 30 at bats. No one would have imagined he could do that, not even Cincinnati. What Cincinnati did have was room on their roster for a guy they felt they could stash away at the back of the bench for an entire season. If he got back on the "stuff", they could send him back to Tampa, where he probably would have been released to never be seen or heard from again. If he couldn't hit major league pitching, they could have offered him back to Tampa. If Tampa didn't want him back, then Cincinnati would have been free to send him down to the minors for more conditioning. I'd be shocked if he continued the success he's had so far. For a guy to have played as little as he has for such a long period of time while overcoming such a difficult addiction and repairing his relationships and continuing the success he's had so far would be an incredible accomplishment.

Yay. Recognizing and fixing problems as they happen. What a concept. You go Lou!

doubtful. They still produce far too few baserunners and make tons of silly mistakes, walk too many batters, and generally don't look too good. I do like Hill a lot though despite the above post. I would disagree. I think if the Cubs realize that Theriot and Derosa is the best 2b/SS combo, Zambrano gets on track, and we get any production from Prior/Wood, then we will be pretty good. Perfect, no..., but can we win our division, definitely yes. Yeah, I can't believe the slow start is a sign of things to come. This team will get it going. I can't explain the hot Aramis start, but I think a lot of the dominican/latin american players typically get off to slow starts in the cooler weather. This team as assembled is a division winning team. I think they just need to run off a string of wins to build a little extra confidence in themselves.

yes. nice job cursing felix hernandez Brian. Glad I could be of service. :P

My hitters are now hitting .050 on the day at 1-20 Ugh.