TB_11

Remember Rich Garces, aka "El Guapo?" According to ESPN he's 6-0, 250 lbs....... right.

People have been saying that with the emergence of Small, Cano, and Wang, the Yankees may actually reduce their payroll for next year. I don't expect them to make too many large moves in the offseason, as they won 95 games with three of their starting pitchers spending significant time on the DL.

The 84 series, I was a young pup, but I remember my grandfather going on a profanity laced warpath that day. Something along the lines of losing a big money bet. Then the 2003 series, well, I went on a profanity laced tirade, that's for sure. I was pretty young too, but I know 1984 has stayed with my father. In 2003 when the Cubs were up 2-1 over the Marlins, his pessimism drove him to say "Somebody's gonna be the Bull this year."

Pedro has battled nagging injuries just about every year he's been in Boston - he was able to start 30 games in 3 of his 7 seasons there. There was the risk that those yearly injuries that usually knocked him out for 5 or so starts would eventually become injuries that would keep him out for 10+ starts. Remember Pedro is still only 180 lbs with a wet sweatshirt on - not a big body like Clemens. A four-year contract for a pitcher like that after he came off his worst season in nearly a decade wasn't worth it.

Pedro wanted a four-year contract, and got it with the Mets. He pitched great in year 1, but we won't know whether it was a mistake for three more years.

I think Maddux's no-trade clause carries over to this year. And I'm not 100% sure on this, but I believe he's stated in the past that he wants to remain in the National League.

Boston stated this past offseason during their negotiations with Varitek that they want to avoid long-term (4+ years), expensive contracts. I doubt they would want to take on the remaining six years and $109M of Beltran's contract to get out of the remaining three years of Manny's contract. Two reasons: 1) He's said in the past he feels he doesn't have any freedom in Boston, that he get's recognized wherever he goes. 2) He's insane.

Furcal's speed will create more runs than Walker. Furcal's more likely to score from first on a double, and to score from second on a hard hit single or shallowly hit flyball to the outfield. That's just a few examples of how Furcal's speed puts more pressure on the defense. Fair points. I think the Walker supporters here would say the extra performance/speed won't be worth the additional money it would take to upgrade from Furcal to Walker in the lineup.

That is truly amazing. I can't help wondering what that lineup would look like if Dusty Baker had managed Atlanta for the last 10 years. Oh that's easy: P - Steve Avery C - Damon Berryhill 1B - Sid Bream 2B - Mark Lemke SS - Jeff Blauser 3B - Terry Pendleton LF - Ron Gant CF - Otis Nixon RF - Hank Aaron

And thanks to Buckner 2 years later, Leon avoids getting the same treatment Buckner did. We were up two games to nothing.........

You could just read it with a sense of humor.

Novoa and minor leaguers (most notably Scott Moore).

I disagree. Should the White Sox win, fans aren't going to stop going to Cubs games, buying Cubs gear, watching Cubs games. Why would they? Wrigley's still there, the team is still on nationally, and they will now be the only lovable losers who haven't won in over 80 years. The money will continue to come in, and the Cubs will continue to generate a solid amount of revenue for the powers that be. If anything, we should root against the White Sox for this reason - I'm sure everybody here knows Sox fans who will never let them go a day without reminding them that the Sox won in 2005, and the Cubs haven't won since 1908. That's grief we could all do without.

The Angels offense isn't that good. Yes they are, they have Vlad. Don't pitch to Vlad and they don't have even a mediocre offense. And I mean REALLY don't pitch to Vlad - you have to heave pitches into the first-base dugout.

Great player, class act. His hitting REALLY came through this year, and it's always great to have a 6'5" guy at first when you had Walker at second, Nomar at short, and Ramirez at third heaving the ball across the infield. Thanks for the great season.

Ignoring the steroids discussion...... For a team with some cash, it might not be bad to sign him to a one-year deal. He'll probably come extremely cheap, and you're basically hoping that he can regain his old stroke. If your team is out of the race, then send him along to the Yankees for a prospect. If he repeats this year, the investment in him will be small.

That's a myth. Wrigley goes between being a hitter's park and a neutral/pitcher's park year-to-year. It's park factors over the last four years: Year Park Factor-Runs Park Factor-HRs 2002 .953 1.252 2003 1.061 .975 2004 1.123 1.329 2005 .930 .904 Link We haven't performed especially well at home compared to the road in recent years. Maybe our players are too busy enjoying the Chicago night life and make it to Wrigley under the weather. :lol:

Egads I hope not. I've got Patterson & Livan in my fantasy rotation for the championship this week against abuck. Maybe that's the reason Dusty likes Neifi and Macias so much - he has them on his fantasy squad as well.

Someting to do with a Goat, a Black Cat, a Steve Garvey and a Will Clark. Or the fact that Farnsworth has Leo Mazzone as his pitching coach now.

No offense, but where the heck is KEVIN ORIE? :wink: Two spots ahead of Howard Johnson, and one spot behind Steve Buchelle. Rilo rocks.

He's always used a bat shorter and lighter than the normal ones used by sluggers, and still chokes up on it. Amazingly fast bat speed + unbelivable pitch recognition = best hitter of our era. if steroids didn't help him, then why did he take them? from some of you guys' analysis, you make it seem they're totally irrelevant to his success. he must have felt they were doing some good. I wouldn't say their irrevelant to his success, but they haven't been the main contributors to why he's such a good hitter. In regards to his skills as a hitter, his pitch recognition is the most important factor, IMHO. I'm speculating here, but my guess is he took steroids so he could play well when he was 40, not so he could hit a ball 480 feet instead of 460 feet.

He's always used a bat shorter and lighter than the normal ones used by sluggers, and still chokes up on it. Amazingly fast bat speed + unbelivable pitch recognition = best hitter of our era.

I have to disagree with you about Ortiz. Yes, he's had a great year. But ARod certainly is more valuable. While their offensive numbers are equally impressive, ARod plays defense (and a good one at that), while Ortiz DH's. This tips it to ARod imo. I put Clemens just behind Carpenter. Carpenter has 7 complete games. That's the primary factor that tipped it for me. He goes deeper into games. He's also been the leader of the Cards staff this year. And while W/L records should not mean much, there is at least something minimally to be said about the fact that his ratio of W/L is much better than Clemens. And I'm sticking with Lee over Pujols. He may have cooled off, but his yearly numbers still equal Pujols'. Ortiz is 5th in the AL in WS, behind ARod, Sheff, Manny and Brian Roberts. He's fourth in RC/G, behind Pronk, Giambi and ARod. Yeah but A-Rod is also first in the AL in being an egotistical, self-centered jackass. On a more serious note, the main argument I see supporting Ortiz getting the nod over A-Rod is Ortiz's "clutch hitting" this year. Their situational stats: With runners on: AVG OBP SLG OPS Ortiz .318 .427 .606 1.033 A-Rod .299 .402 .546 .948 With runners in scoring position: AVG OBP SLG OPS Ortiz .345 .455 .593 1.048 A-Rod .291 .414 .491 .905 Cy Young votes: AL: Santana NL: Carpenter (I would give it to Clemens, but he got one last year when he didn't deserve it so he loses it this year) NL MVP: Pujols

The Tribune company has always had lots of money to spend. They care about making a profit, and would rather not pay $20M/year to one player.

Thought this deserved a bump and an update after his 2-4 performance today. Z now has a higher OPS than: Nomar Ronny Cedeno Hairston Hank White Neifi Perez Corey Macias Not only that, since the All-Star break his OPS is near 1.000. With Mike Hampton now out for at least a year, I think the crown of best-hitting pitcher belongs on Z's head.