BigbadB

I'll go out on a limb and guess not enough.

Agreed. Cedeno needs to go back to Iowa.

And, the Braves will get enough in the White Sox deal to turn around and get Baldelli.

Bruce Levine: Hey, Kenny. What's going on? Kenny Williams: Not much, thinking I'd like to see Rocky Balboa. Now that's funny. :D

Though Bonds in 2001 came very close to changing that balance for himself. And Mizzou: I'll take a team that can draw a walk every time to one that can make solid contact every time - every time. Actually a team that can draw a walk every time will never get out of the first inning if they dont make any outs on the bases. After about 3 business days and about 675432 runs scored the MLB would have to step in with a slaughter rule. But think of the advertising revenue. And if Bonds was involved, ESPN would cut to ever AB of his, making the ad billboard behind home plate quite profitable. Don't forget also that steroids would no longer be an issue. :P

That's what I thought, but from what I've read, they don't seem to be just handing him the job. Kelly Johnson is the guy they really want to slot in at 2b. I think it might have something to do with them wanting a "prototypical" lead off hitter, which Johnson sort of is. Maybe the plan is to trade LaRoche, move Chipper to 1b and move Aybar to 3b. But, I also read that they really want to find a spot in the line up for Scott Thorman. 1b makes the most sense for him if they move LaRoche.

There is a simple solution to all of this. Run Zambrano out there for about 300 IP this coming season and then sign him to a minimum salary deal while they sew his labrum back on. :D Of course this is not a joking matter. But, looking at how this offseason went and the money that was spent, it's absolutely shocking they couldn't find a way to make sure they took care of their own first. If Zambrano walks, this offseason might just go down as the worst offseason of Hendry's tenure. And he's had some real doozy's.

If you move it to your sig, it should fit a lot better. It's not really a good picture for an avatar. But, it is a nice picture.

I don't think it's necessary unless the alternative is Izturis. The more times the best hitters hit, the more likely they do something good with the bat. 2nd or 3rd in the order won't matter that much to Lee, but because of Lee's power, it would make more sense to put Murton in front of him.

How does Dawson compare to Winfield?

Cedeno's OBP was .005 higher than Neifi's. That is pretty darned insignificant. Ronny was just as bad as Neifi. Seriously. It cracks me up when people try to say that Cedeno was better than Neifi last year. I'd take .254/.266/.343/.610 over .245/.271/.339/.610 every day of the week. Some people seem to forget that a hit is better than a walk. I'll take option C. Neither.

Zito isn't old enough to pitch for the Giants.

That's an awful lot for a 1 year rental and salary relief to the team wanting to be out from under his contract. I wouldn't think it would take that much. But, the market is awful whack this offseason.

I was corrected on this recently as well, so I feel it is my duty to do the same to you. :D You know, that whole do unto others....... UK corrected me that Reid Brignac is currently one of the top SS in the minors and in the Tampa Bay organization, which essentially makes Zobrist a useless chip above the useless chip that Escobar would be. But, if they don't want Zobrist, can we have him?

I think the division will be a lot more competitive this coming year. Milwaukee could be adding a lot in the rotation with a healthy Sheets, Suppan and development of Bush. Pittsburgh's rotation could be quite a bit better with experience, and I really like how their offense is shaping up. Cincinnati is the only team that I think doesn't bring much to the table in 2007 in the NL Central. That could pose problems for a wild card in the NL Central.

Lowell would be a shocker to me considering his cancer issues of the past, unless steroids were used to help him rehab. The one guy that I think of first when I think of who might be guilty of taking steroids would be Gabe Kapler. Not a big name or anything, but for some reason, he's the first one I think of.

I'd be fine with Baldelli, too. However, I don't think Tampa wants guys who are not ready to pitch in the majors now. They really seem to want guys who can step in now, which is why Chuck James seems to be their prime interest. That eliminates Gallagher and Veal from the equation. Whether the others are enough to interest them, I'm not so sure.

I disagree. While the successes of Hill and Prior are important, there is a whole stable of young pitchers that can fill in and possibly be very successful given another opportunity and more time in AAA. You pretty much know what you are getting with Zambrano and Lilly. Hill should be pretty good, and even if he's not as good as he was in the 2nd half last season, there's no reason to believe he can't do as well as Lilly. Between Prior, Miller, Marquis and whoever remains out of Marmol, Marshall, Guzman and Mateo in the trade for Jones should be plenty of depth to draw from to fill the last 2 spots. The Cubs would have to be the worlds most unlucky team in the world if all those arms had back to back bad seasons. Oh wait, this is the Cubs we're talking about......... Anyway, I do believe that the pitching will be pretty solid this year throughout the rotation. The strong bullpen will also help the starters out. More than anything at this point is the necessity of another impact bat.

Agreed. And that sounded a lot like what Hendry had in mind going into this offseason. He mumbled something about getting two starting pitchers and two impact bats. So far, he has 2 starting pitchers and 1 impact bat. I like the Iowa Cubs and all, but I'd rather see a championship at the major league level than at AAA. Trade what is necessary to get that one last impact bat. While I'm a fan of the prospects and am very interested in Marmol, Guzman, Marshall and Mateo, the next generation looks just as promising with Veal, Gallagher and Pawelek just to name a few, and with a few surprises that may not yet have surfaced. There is plenty of depth in the rotation and in the bullpen, and actually the bullpen has one too many guys. Atlanta wants bullpen help. Andruw Jones will be a type "A" free agent, so there will be compensation when he leaves after this year. While I have been pretty much opposed to another 1 year rental, I'm not opposed to it anymore if it means starting the season with the line up as it's currently constructed, or is the line up currently constructed with Andruw Jones. Andruw Jones in the heart of the line up would put this team ahead of all the other teams in the NL Central, and would be very close to NYM in terms of best team in the NL. Tampa needs pitching and we can give Atlanta the pitching necessary to get Baldelli and turn Jones to Chicago. While it wouldn't be the way I would have orchestrated the Cubs offseason, I would definitely increase Hendry's grade to an A+ if he got Andruw Jones.

Will Carroll has seen a partial list and thinks it could have a major impact on public perception of the game. http://www.baseballprospectus.com/unfiltered/?p=121 That's my reaction. I'm not so sure I want to see the list. But, I probably will anyway.

If he put up the same OBP as last year, that would be pretty ideal. But, what's the likelihood? In his years with the Yankees and Rangers, he had premier offenses hitting around him, therefore it didn't make much sense to pitch around a guy to get to another guy who hits just as good or better. If Soriano/Izturis are hitting 1/2, it won't matter how good of an OBP Soriano puts up, it won't be good enough. If Soriano/Murton are batting 1/2, then what Soriano gives up in OBP can potentially be made up by Murton if he can get something between .380-.400. If Theriot can really hit like he did last year, the better line up would probably be: Theriot Murton Lee Ramirez Soriano Jones Barrett DeRosa But, that's not going to happen for many reasons. I can live with Soriano in the lead off spot. But, his OBP will likely not be what any of us would hope out of a lead off hitter. At least when he does get a hit, he has the chance of extra bases or moving up via stolen base. At least he's a "good" player that will get more chances to hit than anyone else on the team.

Looking at Soriano's career stats, he is clearly ideal to be a #5 or #6 hitter in any line up. The low OBP is better suited in front of the worst hitters on the roster (bottom of the line up). The good SLG and AVG will drive in the better OBP/SLG guys a lot. With that said, I don't have an issue with him batting 1st. I'm so sick of watching guys like Pierre, Corey and Neifi hit lead off, all guys who don't get on base as often as Soriano does. In an ideal world, two fairly speedy, fundamentally sound, high OBP guys would bat first. Guys like Kenny Lofton and Hanley Ramirez would have Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez feeling quite heavenly. Because Soriano is batting first, it will be important to put one of Murton, Theriot or DeRosa (if he's duplicating last year) in the 2 hole to make up a bit for Soriano's only real weakness offensively. As far as why Soriano walked more last year, I think it has a lot to do with the fact Soriano is or was the best hitter on the Nats team. He was the biggest threat to the opposing pitcher and team, therefore he was pitched around to limit the damage he could do. I wish Soriano would show a dramatic increase in walk rate. But, I doubt it will happen. He knows he's paid to hit rather than walk. It's a shame he wasn't more selective, because if he was, he'd be a complete hitter and a yearly candidate for MVP. It's a bit late in his career to do a complete turnaround and become a patient hitter. And that's not what they are paying him to do. They are paying for the results he's put up to this point, and getting on base was never his strong point (outside of 2006). The top of the line up is important in many ways. Not only is it very important for the top of the order hitters to find a way to get on base for the best power hitters on the team, but these guys also get the most at bats in a game. They come to the plate before some of your all star hitters. They are essential to the success of an offense. Cesar Izturis is not a guy who fits the profile of who should hit first or second. Out machines belong at the bottom of the order. They should also be pinch hit for nearly as much as the pitcher. Extending innings is how runs score in bunches. Therefore, the guys who are good at making outs need to be placed in a spot near the bottom of the line up (if they are forced to play at all) where they can do the least damage. Period. Since I've gotten way, way off track...... Soriano batting 5th only increases the likelihood that someone like Izturis will bat near the top of the order. Theriot probably won't play unless Izturis or DeRosa is injured or needs a day off. Because Soriano is batting lead off, Piniella may feel that DeRosa is better in the 5th or 6th spot to drive in runs (using the stats he put up last year as his predictor), Murton has rarely ever been given much attention at the top of the order and Izturis has been known to hit 1st or 2nd when he was with the Dodgers and fits the profile of the old school line of thought that your lead off hitter needs to be speedy, can hit to certain parts of the field to advance runners, etc... The old school way of thinking is a fossil at this point. It's about scoring runs and protecting leads. With that said, here is the best line up Piniella can throw out there with the roster he currently has to work with: Soriano Murton Lee Ramirez Jones Barrett DeRosa Theriot If this line up played 130 games just like this, I would go out on a limb and say this line up could put up well over 800 runs in a season. That's not likely to happen, and this line up probably won't play 10 games together, let alone 130. What I envision will happen is this: Soriano Izturis Lee Ramirez Jones Barrett DeRosa Pagan Jones will play in place of Murton and Pagan (if they don't find someone else for CF) will get more at bats than Murton. Predictable and very ordinary.

While I'm not aware that any of the guys the Braves have are the next Jeff Kent, they do have plenty of guys that they like at 2b for next year. Prado, Aybar, Johnson and Orr are all options, and all might or likely are better than Cedeno or Theriot. The production Giles has given them the last year wouldn't be hard to match from one of the above guys.

That's a reasonable request, but some posters may not feel inclined to back up their sentiments with much more than a blanket opinion at this point and time. Some, and I really hate using a point Goony made :D , may want to wait until the offseason is done, have more info on Prior's health, etc... before they make a more analyzed opinion. I know I'm waiting. It's probably just better to dismiss an opinion that doesn't meet your expectations rather than complain about it. Otherwise, you end up getting completely off course from the original intent of the thread. This thread is a perfect example. Now, to get back on topic, admittedly, I am pessimistic about this coming season. I did briefly discuss each transaction in another thread and I gave Hendry a "B" grade for the offseason moves to date. I don't find a "B" grade to be a pessimistic grade, but actually I think it is. Why? Because with the improvements this team needed to make this offseason and the available money to spend, there is no excuse for not getting an "A". This team needed to make major improvements and I don't think they've done that. They get a "B" for recognizing the biggest needs and addressing them, but I'm not sure it's enough to get them much over .500 in a division that I think will be better than last year. Pittsburgh and Milwaukee are two teams that I think will be better as their young players continue to develop. St. Louis and Houston may be taking a step back at this point, but will it be enough of a step back to continue calling the NL Central the weakest division in baseball? I'm not so sure.

This actually works pretty good for me. I can usually only see Bears games at a Sunday Ticket location, which also means drinks. Now, I can watch the game at home while the wife takes 2-3 hours to get ready to go out for New Year's Eve, which coincidentally also happens to be my birthday. For my birthday, I would like a Chicago Bears win and no injuries please.