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BigbadB

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Everything posted by BigbadB

  1. BigbadB
    No he isn't. He was absolutely terrible last season. Completely worthless. He had three marginally successful seasons before last year, but those were after 2 absolutely terrible seasons. I hate the stupid idea that "proven veterans", once they make the big leagues, are just assumed to be big league material. Grissom could be absolutely terrible again this year. In fact, he probably will be, given his age and mediocre career. But it doesn't matter to Dusty (and apparantly many fans) because he was once decent, so we can just always assume he'll be decent, no matter what he does in the spring. So you would rather have a young kid sit on the bench and get 150 ABs for the entire season? Man, that's great for that guy's development. Whether Grissom or good or not, he is a known quantity. None of the points you made alter that fact. Dusty isn't the only manager that wants an older veteran bench presence. They all do. Why is the competition only between young Sing and old Marquis Grissom? What happened to Michael Restovich and any other veteran attempting to make the team? I have to agree with Goony. You have to be productive in Spring Training and show you still have what it takes to be the 24th or 25th roster spot. I certainly don't want an old fat slob who doesn't think he has to work hard because of "past history" getting an auto berth onto a team roster. Prove that you still have what it takes or don't waste the teams time.
  2. BigbadB
    If Lugo signs an extension, would that push Upton to thirdbase? The outfield is already stocked with Crawford, Baldelli, Gomes, and Young on the way. More likely into the already crowded outfield. Tampa can use Huff, Burroughs and Ty Wiggington at 3b, but I think they will actually platoon Wiggington and Burroughs. Upton had 53 errors at SS last year, moving him to 3rd probably doesn't fix that problem all that much.
  3. BigbadB
    Giles..! :shock: I've never had any reason to suspect him. There has been a little speculation with him. He's like 5'10, 210 lbs, all muscle. And he looked the exact same way in high school. You can eliminate him from the steroid discussions. He slugged over .600 from 99-02 which was the beginning/prime of his career. Since, he is under .500 and has had injuries. And he was built like a brickhouse in high school. Are you ignoring this important piece of information or do you choose not to believe it? Not only did he move to a pitcher's park in 2003, but he also moved to a pitcher's division. Only Coors plays friendly to hitters in that division, and when the roof is open in Arizona. Note in 2003, Giles had an SLG of .521 before he was traded out of Pittsburgh. The rest of that season in San Diego, he had a .490. The rest of his time in San Diego, he's been in the .400's. He hadn't posted sub .500's since he was a part time player back in '98.
  4. BigbadB
    Giles..! :shock: I've never had any reason to suspect him. There has been a little speculation with him. He's like 5'10, 210 lbs, all muscle. And he looked the exact same way in high school. You can eliminate him from the steroid discussions. He slugged over .600 from 99-02 which was the beginning/prime of his career. Since, he is under .500 and has had injuries. Well, I'm not making it up that he was built like a brickhouse in high school. Look at all the power hitters that moved to Petco. I challenge you to find one who's SLG went up after they moved there. You can speculate about Giles, but your wrong.
  5. BigbadB
    So, if Carlos Zambrano goes 18-8 next year with a 1.50 ERA on a Cub team that finishes in 4th place (a team that finished dead last in offensive production, hypothetically of course) and Chris Carpenter goes 20-6 with a 4.00 ERA on a team that finished in first, you would give the Cy Young to Chris Carpenter?
  6. BigbadB
    Giles..! :shock: I've never had any reason to suspect him. There has been a little speculation with him. He's like 5'10, 210 lbs, all muscle. And he looked the exact same way in high school. You can eliminate him from the steroid discussions.
  7. BigbadB
    I actually like Texas this year. Wilkerson Young Tex Blalock Mench Dellucci Nevin/Durazo Barajas Kinsler Slide Clemens in front of: Millwood Eaton Loe Padilla Not bad. Wilkerson in a hitter's park for the first time in his career could be looking at a .380-.390 OBP leading off. Young's was .385 last year. Teixiera will be in heaven this year. I think Blalock rebounds this year.
  8. BigbadB
    Good times!
  9. BigbadB
    I'm fine with your feelings on Felix. I'm just attempting to understand why Colon is more valuable to you because he has a Cy Young award that he really didn't earn. Santana, 16-7 with a 2.87 ERA Millwood, 9-11 with a 2.86 ERA Clemens, 13-8 with a 1.87 ERA :shock: Buerhle, 16-8 with a 3.12 ERA Sure, Colon won 21 games, but he had to have plenty of run support from his teammates to win all those games. The guys listed above had very good seasons and suffered terrible run support, as their records indicate. Colon is good and he has been pretty durable, but he does not rank among the elite pitchers in baseball, IMO. A Cy Young award doesn't change that. In fact, I wonder where he placed in the Cy Young voting in 2004, when he won 18 games with a 5.01 ERA.
  10. BigbadB
    Agreed. Note that I didn't include Welly in my list above, mainly because I rate all the other guys ahead of him, and you still have to make room for a long man in there (Rusch, Williams, Hill). I agree that Welly will probably be traded, but I don't think he nets anything of value, unless packaged. And, to be honest, I don't see a package deal at this juncture. I could create a few that would make sense for all teams involved, but realistically, I don't see any deals happening.
  11. BigbadB
    This is my biggest fear going into the 2006 season -- weakening one of our remaining strenghts. If the starting rotation is healthy and performing at expected levels and then the bullpen is holding leads consistently, the Cubs can win the division or at least make the playoffs with a mediocre offense, just like Houston and the White Sox did last year. If Dusty trots out a line up that best fits the strengths of this team day in and day out, the offense could make life a bit easier on the pitching staff. For example, if Dusty goes: Pierre Walker Lee Ramirez Jones Murton Barrett Cedeno If Walker is getting a day off in favor of Neifi (might seem like a good idea in games that Zambrano starts), then going with Murton or Cedeno in the 2 hole with Neifi hitting 8th would still be a better option than hitting Neifi anywhere near the top of the order. Basically, we have several top of the order options this year with Walker, Hairston, Pierre, Murton and possibly Cedeno in no particular order. Dusty needs to grasp the importance of getting on base in front of Lee and Ramirez and fill his line up card based on who playing that day gets on base at a better rate. Jones, Perez, Grissom and Mabry should not receive any consideration in the top spots in the order, since they have either never had any success there or they have aged to the point where they cannot provide success there. I'm not happy with the offseason, but I'm willing to sit and watch Cub games this year and cheer them on IF Dusty isn't sending craptacular Neifi out there in the 2 hole. It won't take long for me to start chanting for the removal of Dusty if he can't improve this team from last year.
  12. BigbadB
    Which to me says you don't trade anyone out of the current bullpen. With Dempster, Howry, Eyre, Williamson, Wuertz, Ohman and Novoa, you should be able to put a strong bullpen together. Removing any of them (at least prior to the all star break, ie Williamson rumors), IMO, could turn a strong pen into a weak one. At the trade deadline, Williamson would have much more value than the value he has entering ST. With the way this team is assembled as of now, you go with what you have and evaluate the situation at the deadline. The starting rotation will determine whether they are playoff contenders or pretenders.
  13. BigbadB
    Agreed. However, how does LA think he could slot into LF in 2006? LA already has Drew, Cruz, Lofton, Werth and Ledee slotted into the outfield. I think Nomar will end up there eventually, also.
  14. BigbadB
    Hee Seop Choi is smiling somewhere.
  15. BigbadB
    You obviously haven't seen him pitch. Felix is a very dominant pitcher and he will be remembered as one of the best pitchers in the history of the game if he doesn't get derailed with injuries. Too bad he isn't going to play in the WBC. The Mariners held him out cause they don't want him to get injured. Also, the Cy Young award is overrated. I'm just not a fan of a guy who doesn't actually play a full season over a just former Cy Young winner. No offense he probably could be a great pitcher when all said and done, but dont make statements that are that outrageous. Colon won his award with a 3.48 ERA. In 2003, the Cubs had 3 starters with better ERA's. Prior (2.43), Wood (3.30), and Zambrano (3.11). Colon's Cy Young really isn't all that special if you put him on a team like the 2005 Seattle Mariners. Brandon Webb of the Arizona Diamondbacks had a comparable ERA to Colon and had a 14-12 record last year. The previous year, he had a worse team behind him, put up a comparable ERA that year as well and ended up 7-16. The Cy Young award gives the award to the pitcher who wins the most games, not the best pitcher. If they gave it to the best pitcher, Roger Clemens would have another one on his mantle from this past year. While I'm not ready to roll out the carpet for Felix as an all time great, I'd take him over anyone not currently named Johan Santana right now.
  16. BigbadB
    Unfortunately, you're going to get killed in saves then. If all the closers aren't evenly distributed throughout the rest of the teams, you have a couple teams that are hording them. You have some good starters, but I'd be scared to have Aaron Harang on my roster. I'd probably go with a stud set up man over a guy like that, or maybe find a starter that hasn't been picked up yet. I'm not telling you to do this since I'm just going off a hunch, but I'll bet Odalis Perez is a free agent in your league. Look at his stats in even and odd years. He's due for another one of his "good" years. I drafted him in both of my leagues in the late rounds. Derek Lowe and Brad Penny are two guys I would pick up if they are free agents as well. The Dodgers are going to win their division and the pitchers in LA will grab more wins this year. Did anyone draft Oliver Perez?
  17. BigbadB
    Someone actually discussed Brewers tickets in this thread? :shock:
  18. BigbadB
    I did a 3 year package with XM, drops the price to 9.95 a month.
  19. BigbadB
    Okey doke!
  20. BigbadB
    Please explain how a debate about whether Soriano is a good fit for this club or not has anything to do with how sensitive someone is? How does pointing out someone's sensitivity level going to strengthen your position on a debate about the plus's and minus's of Alfonzo Soriano? NSBB member guidelines clearly explains that your posts should attack the argument and not the poster. How does stating someone is too sensitive attack the argument and not the poster? Please enlighten me. Thanks!
  21. BigbadB
    If it's a 10 team league and there are 30 MLB teams....... where are the closers? Chris Ray is slated to close for Baltimore. Tom Gordon in Phily. Borowski, McDougal, etc... There must be some closers available. Add anyone of them on to Wagner and saves can become a strength. Add a 3rd or if Gagne goes down, Baez makes the saves a strength.
  22. BigbadB
    Exactly my point. It really makes me angry. It makes me even angrier when you consider Dusty likes to go with extra bullpen arms. Bullpen arms need to be used to stay sharp. With the extra arms in the pen, it's hard to find regular work to keep them all sharp. Then, you leave a starter in longer than he needs to be for no apparent reason. It just doesn't make any sense at all to me.
  23. BigbadB
    Is the league roto or H2H?
  24. BigbadB
    Nothing angers me more than seeing a stud starter going more than 100 pitches in a blow out game. Zambrano was winning a game 9-0 at the end of the 5th in San Diego in 2003 that Tim and I attended together. They brought out Zambrano for the 6th and he struggled the entire inning. He left after the 6th, but accumulated 119 pitches by the time they pulled him. This, just after back to back 118 pitch outings in July. The next game was a complete game with 126 pitches. The bullpen was not taxed at the time, so why on Earth do you bring your stud starter out for the 6th inning in a 9-0 blow out game when his pitch count is already up there? He earned the win after 5. Give him the early shower and save the completely unnecessary extra wear and tear on his arm.
  25. BigbadB
    I wouldn't touch the pitching. It's not strong enough to remove an element. Baez is first in line if Gagne needs more time on the DL. Wagner can win you the saves category by himself occasionally with the team he plays on (I think the Mets will win a lot of games this year). Another closer could emerge as the season gets under way. Nick Swisher is looking at a platoon, so he's basically worthless, IMO. Frank Thomas, Dan Johnson and Swisher at 1st and DH and with Milton Bradley, Mark Kotsay, Bobby Kielty and Jay Payton, Swisher might not get the at bats he'll need to reward him with a roster spot. BJ Upton "might" open up the season in the minors. Unless Tampa finds a home for Lugo, I don't see any reason for Tampa to have Upton up with the big league club. I'm not enamored with Tavares or Ibanez. If you need Willy's stolen bases, fine. But, if you need power I'd consider dumping Ibanez in favor of Wily Mo Pena or Austin Kearns or some other guy who will be playing full time this year instead of part time. Heck, Matt Murton could probably match what Ibanez provides. A lot of drafts probably completely forgot about Rocco Baldelli. Look what he did as a 21 and 22 year old at the major league level. If he's fully back from injury, look for him to put up good numbers around a much better supporting cast this year. I wouldn't make any trades right now. Spend some time in the FA lists and see what might be available.
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