BigbadB

The going rate for a league average pitcher is about $10 million. But I'm with you in that I don't think he's going to be a dominant next year. Dodger Stadium has historically been a pitcher's park, but it actually played as a hitter's park last year. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/stats/parkfactor Note that PECOTA projects him to have a 4.13 ERA next year as a Dodger. isnt there something like a day/night thing there?...where its more of a pitchers park at night compared to the day because the ball carries more during the day then the night. Yes. Which also includes the first part of all night games, where it's still light out. The marine layer usually starts rolling in a bit before dusk.

LaRouche for Gonzalez? Good move for both teams. Braves get their closer (with a nice set up man in Soriano) and the Pirates get a young first baseman to help protect Jason Bay. But don't look know but...the Pirates have Bay/Castillo/Sanchez/Paulino, and if the Gonzalez for LaRouche deal happens, the Pirates are building a very nice young stable of hitters. Don't forget Bautista and Nady.

They might as well give us one of them young punks in their outfield too if they are going to totally block them all. :D

Can I put that in my sig as a reminder? :D He's going to be pitching in the pitching friendliest division in baseball, and now half of his games in one of the toughest parks to hit in. I think he'll do quite well. Maddux had an ERA+ of 99 with the Cubs He then got an ERA+ of 139 with the Dodgers Did he all of a sudden become a better pitcher, or did park factors factor in? Schmidt will be very good in LA. Maddux, however, might be even better in Petco.

Lilly at 4/44 or 5/55 in comparison to what Schmidt will get makes Schmidt's deal look a whole lot better.

We probably have a LOOGY we can offer up as well. I like Penny a lot.

Funny thing is, Lilly probably isn't even a starter in the Yankees rotation. Does he displace Randy Johnson? No Chien-Ming Wang? No Mike Mussina? No Andy Pettitte if he's signed? No Carl Pavano? Maybe Philip Hughes? If he's ready, probably not. But, hey....Think big and put the screws to Hendry. I'm loving it.

Who's Sean Hill? :wink: Shawn Hill is a starting pitcher for the Washington Nats.

Yeah, Washington already has a pitcher named Shawn Hill.

Red Sox would rather move him to 2b, but would have been fine leaving him at SS if a better 2b option came along or Lugo signed elsewhere. Pedroia is starting, and will most likely be at 2b to begin the season.

Is there a chance that Hendry finally got around to reading all my posts? Not likely.

Hendry is not a good GM. And I think he just blew his chance to salvage his position for future seasons, which may be a blessing for all of us. We need competence in the front office. And this isn't necessarily because we didn't sign Schmidt. It's the big picture. He's willing to ridiculously overpay for mediocre talent like Lilly and Meche, but where are the reports that he was willing to ridiculously overpay for Schmidt? They aren't there, because he wasn't willing to do it. Schmidt wasn't even all that interested in years. 2/36m might have gotten the job done, and would still be worth way more than Lilly at 11m and/or Meche at 10m. That he values guys like Izturis is why this team is destined to fail under his leadership. Worse yet is that they attempt to get the fan base excited by saying they will do what is necessary to go to the World Series next year and then sit on their ass and lure mediocrities with wheelbarrows full of cash, rather than difference makers. This team will probably be better than 2006, but it will be a much more expensive team and certainly not a team that has the capabilities to go out and win it all. DeRosa, Blanco, Izturis, Lilly, Meche will make sure of it. 4/60 is a nice offer if they did indeed make it. But, when other teams started coming up with comparable deals, Hendry needed to show he was serious. Instead, he folded like an accordian. Doesn't really matter whether there was an attempt so much as how serious you were in your attempt. If he's got over 21m available for Lilly and Meche and wasn't willing to show Schmidt he was serious, then that's on Hendry. All we've heard for the last several days is Lilly and Meche, Lilly and Meche. Seems like Hendry is set on those guys rather than a real difference maker. That's what drove me nuts last year with Giles. It's not not getting them that pisses me off. It's the lack of sincerity and the lack of any real proof that he wanted either of these guys anymore than Lilly or Meche. The same can be said for Lugo and Drew. We have this humungous, gaping hole at SS and Hendry wants the best SS on the market to play CF. His priorities are completely whack. Fire Hendry!

Well, there is good news to this latest Schmidt rumor. I will no longer waste every breathing moment watching or waiting for something to happen at the winter meetings. What I wanted most is no longer an option. I'm off to do better things. Ta Ta!

Why do I remember this as a Saturday Night Live skit? Is it because it was one?

Based on the latest news, I guess it doesn't matter.

Quotes from Schmidt or his agent are good enough for me. Maybe not for you. Agree to disagree. I'm fine with that. Until I see reports that state Schmidt is not interested in pitching for Chicago, I'm not going to assume he has zero interest. And while I didn't word it properly when I stated I could dig up quotes, what I actually meant was that I could find information that shows that Schmidt hasn't completely closed the door on everyone outside of the west coast.

Couldn't the Mets work a deal with Pittsburgh for Milledge only? Both teams get what they are looking for.

Yep, it was sarcastic. While I can't find anything directly out of Schmidt's mouth that he would be interested in the Cubs, I don't see why your opinion should be held as gospel and mine should be tormented. The Cubs have tons of money to throw at Schmidt. If that doesn't interest him, so be it. But, if they want to lay out tons of money for Lilly and Meche, then why not throw all that same money at Schmidt if need be, to get it done. Schmidt is a difference maker. Lilly and Meche are not.

The Cubs can't win 100 games this year unless they sign Schmidt, Bonds, Zito, and maybe another bench player. If the Cubs signed Schmidt and Prior came back healthy, they could win 100 with the current offense, IMO. I think the Cubs will be either good or great in 2007, with Prior being the deciding factor between the two. I don't see the Cubs offense as being good enough. Figure Blanco at nearly 50 games, and you have a line up that features Blanco, Izturis and DeRosa (who is really an unknown in productivity this coming year), and who knows who will be in CF. The offense still needs a lot of work.

I could have told you that Giles' stats would suffer returning to Petco. In fact, I believe I did. He did it anyway. That's his problem now. I'd trade Jones for Giles now, later today and even tomorrow. Maybe even the next day.

If Theriot could play CF, Theriot/Lofton at 5-6m is not a bad platoon. I can't imagine anyone will actually give Lofton 6m.

He's probably last on their list of trade options regarding their rotation. It may take awhile, but one or more of their starters will probably be traded, which will put McCarthy back in the rotation.

Okay, you've convinced me. I have no business thinking that Schmidt has any interest in pitching for the Cubs because there is no solid proof.

New rumors about Manny possibly being traded to Seattle or LA could take one of those teams out of the hunt for Schmidt as well.

I don't know, but if Milledge were part of the deal, that might make Milton Bradley available.