Rob

I know there's already been plenty of talk about letting Gretzky try out 3B/LF/RF... so that should help relieve the logjam for about 2 weeks. LaHair probably goes to Japan sometime in the near future as well.

That's the sexiest top 1. fixed

Good money says Junior Lake will be higher on my list than anybody elses... which is something I just don't get. Yeah, the plate discipline issues are glaring, but he's gone 34 for 40 on the bases and hit .279/.312/.432 across the FSL and SL at age 21 and may still stick at SS. With his tools, I'm not giving up on him until I absolutely have to.

1.) How would you describe your overall organizational philosophy?

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/prospect-hot-sheet/2011/2612241.html I know I'll get [expletive] on by Truffle, Rob, and a few others, but I'm still very curious to see what he can do with another shot at the bigs. Do I want him as our 2012 1B? God no, but I'm still curious to see him. If he can play a touch of OF, he could be a decent bench bat. Have I said he can't be a bench bat?

Petition to unban Jeff H for today.

Oh, and it should go without saying but.... Andrew Friedman. Get it done.

It's about time. I don't begrudge Ricketts being cautious when coming on, but Hendry has dodged this bullet for far too long. I don't care how good of a guy you are, you need to have better results than this given the payroll. That said, I wont fully relax until we replace Randy Bush with somebody competent.

Just getting caught up on the thread... the answer is Jeff Samardzija. The Cubs and Samardzija agreed to a ten million dollar deal for his first contract. Selig canned that and the Cubs and Samardzija settled on an overslot deal with a "promise" from the Cubs to revisit the deal in the future (when the draft restrictions did not apply). Since signings go through MLB before the press gets a hold of them there is really no telling how many signings get rebuffed. Some teams don't really need the Comish's help with anything so they bend the draft limit "rules" that MLB puts out. Some teams need a favor or two (Selig got the Mesa deal done for the Ricketts family) and this means that they are more likely to tow the line. I could be wrong, but I think that was an actual contractual issue and not a "you're paying too much!" squash. Something about the payout structure not being allowed for minor league deals... which is why he ended up with a major league one the 2nd time around.

Was at the Peoria game tonight... a few observations: - I think Easterling is buying into tspain's assessment of his power potential. He was swinging out of his shoes trying to mash the ball. He was displaying a bit of patience at the plate though. - Easterling was paying zero attention on defense. There were a couple of errant pickoff throws to 2B that made their way into CF, and he wasn't backing up either of them. It was bad. - Alcantara was playing 3B tonight. He flashed a some nice tools, but didn't even try to get in front of a couple shots down the line, opting instead to stab (and miss) at them. He also didn't hustle in on a bunt popup early in the game he should have caught. - Alcantara was swinging at pitches up near his neck... but I also did see him hit a deep fly to the opposite field warning track despite not swinging all that hard. I was shocked it went that far, but there wasn't any wind to account for it. - Rubi Silva was playing 2B. He looks like he has the tools for it. But he had bad footwork that led to a bad throw and had a bit of trouble pulling the ball out of his glove on a DP. So he needs some work. - Kirk was topping out at 87-88, but flashed a decent little curve and change. - Kirk has an awesome pickoff move with some good deception. - Geiger definitely looks like a man that should grow into some power. - Yohan Gonzalez wasn't fooling anybody. I can't think of anything else worth sharing offhand.

The only huge surprise in this draft was that we got all these guys we were rumored to get. I kept expecting the rug to be pulled out from under... Maybe these guys don't pan out... I mean, there isn't a player in the bunch without some warts. But the bottom line is that we just got a huge infusion of raw talent into a system sorely lacking it.

Was LoMo actually demoted for off the field stuff? I've heard a bunch saying it was performance. As to Ponson, I don't see how that's "close enough." One guy is breaking laws and putting other peoples lives in jeopardy... another guy doesn't get along well with others. But even that is further muddled when you consider that most people who get DUIs or beat their wives or any other number of awful transgressions get in significantly less trouble with their teams than Carlos Zambrano (or none at all). How you can see so many people get away with so much worse and not see the Cubs reaction as over the top is confusing to me. I've pointed out already that Z's numbers are fine(ish)... but I know Hendry probably isn't smart enough to realize that so I'll concede he probably would have handled it differently if he hadn't perceived Z's numbers to be so poor.

Ok, looks like I'll actually be making it to the Peoria game tonight, after a couple of false starts the last couple games. Is there anybody at all worth paying attention to on the Clinton Lumberkings roster? The only guy who showed up in their top 30 in BA's prospect handbook before the season is 1B/3B Mickey Wiswall... who was #29... and is having an awful season.

I'm guessing you're referring to Bradley spending two weeks on the M's restricted list last year (wikipedia says he asked the M's for time off to do that, but it being wikipedia and all, whatever... I'll concede the M's). I don't see anything for the Marlins in the last couple years, so I'm gonna guess you're trying to compare a 1-2 game benching for hustle to a 30 day suspension without pay for being a dick... which seems a bit off. As to the Orioles, the only thing I can figure is Alfredo Simon spending time on the restricted list because he was being held in the Dominican Republic on murder charges... which again, feels like a bit of a different situation.

Depending on the price, I'd love to get Jacquez.

Didn't make it to the Peoria game today like I had planned to... instead I got to learn the difference between partial seizures and idiopathic head bobbing in my English Bulldog. I may end up going tomorrow instead.

I wasn't particularly enthused with the signing, but he said absolutely everything I could have ever wanted to hear in the preseason. And then he's gone out and done everything wrong during the season itself.

Keith Law on twitter:

Hendry is a joke, but your position on this is laughably naive. Awful as they are, Hendry and Quade are still in management. You can't let your employees run roughshod over you like this, or you run the risk of everyone doing it. I'm sure both of them still aspire to work in baseball after we sack them; letting Z have his way again would only undermine whatever respect they've earned in MLB over the years. Not that I care, but Z instigated this, not the FO. And Z isn't worth the trouble anyway. You and JR act like it's still 08. His #'s suck. So what you're saying is that the other 29 teams in baseball not only constantly discipline players who aren't actually breaking any major rules, but that they do it so often that Hendry and Quade would be laughed out of baseball for not doing so? That's interesting, because I can't think of a single instance by a team other than the Cubs... at least not at the major league level. Oh, and Z's numbers don't suck as badly as you think they do... especially when compared to his likely replacements for the rotation next year. That's not what I said, it's what you typed. And again, this incident isn't bad in a vacuum. But Z's history warrants discipline. He had to know he's on a short leash after last year. And we don't know who's replacing him yet. That argument can wait until we do. I'm failing to see the part where I was wrong in my interpretation of what you wrote. I said we're the only team in baseball that does this. You said I was being "laughably naive" and implied Hendry/Quade would have trouble getting jobs if they didn't do this. I asked for examples of other teams doing this. What am I missing?

I can't believe anybody would rather have Casey Coleman pitching for us next season than Carlos Zambrano... especially when we wont be getting anything in return for Zambrano. If I had to bet on who would have a better season next year, it'd be Zambrano, but not by a landslide or anything. Zambrano's got a 4.5ish FIP, is on the wrong side of 30 and has almost 2,000 innings on his arm. The peripherals this season point to long-term problems. Okay, maybe Coleman is a bad example, but it shouldn't be that hard to find pitchers capable of doing what Zambrano's been doing. I've been saying this for a while now, but Z is one of those guys who kinda falls into a bunch of cracks in modern statistical evaluations. FIP undersells him in large part because it assumes all pitchers have equal skill when it comes to controlling the running game. Normally that's an assumption that wont make a huge difference, but Z definitely belongs at the extreme end of the spectrum, as many pickoffs as he gets and as few stolen bases as he allows. FIP also by its very definition assumes all fielders are the same... so a pitchers own defensive value isn't reflected in FIP. I'd peg Z as above average in that regard as well. So there's a couple factors artificially inflating his FIP... is it going to make a huge difference? No, probably not. But can it add up to a quarter or a third of a run? Sure it can. And then there's his bat to reconcile. His batting prowess doesn't show up in FIP or WAR or anywhere people would typically look. But I don't think anybody is going to question that he's an extremely good hitter for a pitcher... contributing probably somewhere in the realm of an extra 5 runs per year with the bat. That's roughly equal to slicing another quarter or third of a point off of his FIP. Even after all of that, is he an ace? No. He's not anymore. But he's a pretty equivalent package to a pitcher who is average at hitting, fielding, and controlling the running game while posting an ERA or FIP in the mid to high 3's. Would anybody be this eager to trash and unload a guy if Ryan Dempster had a bad attitude?

Hendry is a joke, but your position on this is laughably naive. Awful as they are, Hendry and Quade are still in management. You can't let your employees run roughshod over you like this, or you run the risk of everyone doing it. I'm sure both of them still aspire to work in baseball after we sack them; letting Z have his way again would only undermine whatever respect they've earned in MLB over the years. Not that I care, but Z instigated this, not the FO. And Z isn't worth the trouble anyway. You and JR act like it's still 08. His #'s suck. So what you're saying is that the other 29 teams in baseball not only constantly discipline players who aren't actually breaking any major rules, but that they do it so often that Hendry and Quade would be laughed out of baseball for not doing so? That's interesting, because I can't think of a single instance by a team other than the Cubs... at least not at the major league level. Oh, and Z's numbers don't suck as badly as you think they do... especially when compared to his likely replacements for the rotation next year.

I can't believe anybody would rather have Casey Coleman pitching for us next season than Carlos Zambrano... especially when we wont be getting anything in return for Zambrano.

Seriously? The relationship is permanently damaged anyways, may as well try and put the money to better use. If we could, that wouldn't be a problem. But it's a guaranteed contract and Z wants to pitch. Unless I'm missing something major, there's no chance the union wont get all the money back.

Of course, this move would save roughly $3 million if it stands. Seems like a shrewd move in a lost season, although I can't imagine it will stand on appeal. The chances the MLBPA doesn't manage to recover his entire salary is almost nil. Denny Neagle got it all after being cut for banging prostitutes... Z got frustrated and threw an extremely minor temper tantrum lasting less than a day (his agent has even come out today and said he's "not in the retirement mode.") So yeah... Z is gonna get paid his full salary. And we'll get to see Casey Coleman get shelled next season while we miss the playoffs again.

Hendry is such a [expletive] joke... We are quite literally the only team in baseball that disciplines guys for being dicks.