Jump to content
North Side Baseball

Rob

Old-Timey Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    15,265

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    13

 Content Type 

Profiles

Joomla Posts 1

Chicago Cubs Videos

Chicago Cubs Free Agent & Trade Rumors, Notes, & Tidbits

2026 Chicago Cubs Top Prospects Ranking

News

2023 Chicago Cubs Draft Picks

Guides & Resources

2024 Chicago Cubs Draft Picks

The Chicago Cubs Players Project

2025 Chicago Cubs Draft Pick Tracker

2026 Chicago Cubs Draft Pick Tracker

Blogs

Events

Forums

Store

Gallery

Everything posted by Rob

  1. Rob
    Indeed he was.
  2. Rob
    The hysterics over this are nonsensical. It isn't going to kill his chances at future success. Bringing Jay Jackson up is just dumb. And again, all those guys are just names, and Caridad hasn't just struggled, he's on the DL. Funny that you chose that wording. I think the only reason you want Cashner instead of those other guys is because of his name.
  3. Rob
    I don't see that as a particularly good comparison. Samardiza's struggles are about the fact that he sucks, not that he's raw. Cashner was considered a close to major league ready reliever by many when he was drafted. He's been dominant in short stints and all the issues have been of the 5th/6th inning variety. If he's used properly in the big leagues he could easily be a 2-3 inning per outing guy who gets plenty of work this season. It doesn't have to be a "lost season" if he goes to the bullpen. Now, if he only throws once a week and gets banished for a couple walks here and there that would be a problem. But if he's used there's nothing wrong with him being on the roster. Samardzija sucks because he doesn't have secondary pitches he can get major league hitters out with. That's in large part becuase Lou freaked out last season and demanded he be put in the bullpen instead of leaving him in the minors to work on the secondary stuff. Yes, Cashner does have a better secondary stuff already. But his command is spotty. That's a recipe for disaster in Lou's bullpen. Why take a potential ace starter and put him in a position where you know you are very very likely to stunt his development after that first two walk inning leaves him riding the pine for the next two weeks?
  4. Rob
    Samardzija last year = Cashner this year Let the raw guys get their reps, dammit.
  5. Rob
    Wont happen. Cubs wouldn't be willing to trade for him until after the season, and the Padres are very likely to unload him around the deadline. And whichever team trades for him will probably extend him too. Fielder on the other hand, he's got a shot at ending up a Cub at some point.
  6. Rob
    Heh, pretty much posted same thing at same time. Shouldnt you throw Grays name in with the Stevens/Paker/Gaub group as well? IIRC Gray has stuff that's probably a touch better, but he doesn't have the results that the other three have put up. He's got some MLB success under his belt though, which is more than the other guys without big K rates can say. Yea the bolded is why I mentioned Gray, besides the fact his stuff is supposed to be pretty damn good. Between Caridad, Berg, Russel, and Shark and Gaub, Stevens, Parker, and Gray, I know which 4sum Id much rather have on this team right now. What about Cashner? Hes a lot more valuable as a late inning reliever to us than as the AA ace. the last thing I want the cubs to do right now is take a good prospect and toss him into the big league pen where he'd go weeks at a time without more than a token appearance. Let the kid start in the minors and get the reps he needs to work on his secondary stuff. Otherwise we are likely to get a repeat of the samardzija situation.
  7. Rob
    Batting the pitcher eighth will begin to make a lot more sense when you realize your best batter should be hitting 2nd in the order.
  8. Rob
    Jesus Christ people, it's four games. We lost two on the road to what is probably the second best team in the NL, and we lost one heartbreaker on the road to a pretty decent team. With the exception of opening day, we've played a couple good teams pretty damn close. It's not like we're being beat on by the 1899 Cleveland Spiders here or something. With some decent health and a deadline deal or two, there's no reason this club can't compete.
  9. Rob
    Soriano wasn't a force in 2007 and 2008? Only Aramis was more valuable over those two years according to WAR. And Soriano's 5.6 WAR in 2007 was the highest total anybody on this team has had since DLee's monster 2005 season (DLee's big year last year was good for a 5.3 WAR). Yes, he was awful last year playing through an injury. But figuring we are in line for anything less than a rebound from the production we got in left last year is silly for plenty of reasons... not the least of which is that if he continues to play below replacement level like last year, even the Cubs would be forced to bench him. We will have better production in LF this season than we did last year. I'd bet my left nut on it.
  10. Rob
    Yeah, I posted this in another thread a few months back, but I think it still illustrates the point pretty well... How many games do you see on that list where Carlos pitched badly and it likely cost the Cubs the game? I count three... His first two starts off the DL at the end of August, and his last start on Sept 30.
  11. Rob
    Sorry, my new puppy was barking at me to take him out and I was flustered and still half thinking about how WAR doesn't include defense.
  12. Rob
    Basic back of the napkin math here... Big Z was worth about 5-6 runs with the bat last season over what an average hitting pitcher would have contributed. I don't like using ERA, but I'm in a hurry here. Subtract the extra runs he created with the bat from the ones he allowed while pitching, and you'd have a guy who put up 170 innings with an ERA of about 3.48. I don't have fielding data in front of me, but you could probably knock off some more for that. A lot of Z's value doesn't come from his pitching. It doesn't make him less valuable... it just makes him weird.
  13. Rob
    Z was the 33rd most valuable pitcher in baseball last year according to WAR. And that probably undersells Big Z, as fangraphs WAR doesn't include defense or hitting... and Z is well above average at each of those. He's probably in the 20-25 range in overall value from starting pitchers. Overpaid certainly, but almost assuredly above average. He's not what he used to be, but reports of his demise have been greatly exaggerated.
  14. Rob
    Meh, it's just one of 162 games. Nothing that happened means anything.
  15. Rob
    Butters, you're so stupid.
  16. Rob
    Bullpen. who?
  17. Rob
    That's pretty much my feeling. I think Fukudome helps this team quite a bit with his OBP and defense. They're not ideal for a RF, but I think there's a steep drop off from Fukudome to Colvin/Nady/Hoffpauir as things stand right now. Even if Colvin manages to become a better hitter than Fukudome OPS-wise, his arm and his range are decided downgrades from Fukudome in RF. I don't think the tradeoff would be worth it right now. Moreover, even if Brett Jackson is banging down the door, there might be a better argument for trading Byrd than trading Fukudome come next offseason. Jackson could be a plus defender in CF, which would mean trading Fukudome and shifting Byrd to RF or just trading Byrd. It'll be interesting to see what Hendry does this coming offseason. Lee and Lilly's contracts are running out, and Aramis has that opt-out clause. The only one of the bunch who might nab a substantial pay raise is Lilly, but trading Fukudome may be the only way that Hendry can afford to retain some of those guys... what with all of our heavily backloaded contracts and arbitration raises coming.
  18. Rob
    Colvin cannot replace fukudome's production and the nats don't have any upgrades to offer to make it worthwhile (not realistic ones, anyways). I'd consider moving him at the deadline if we are out of it. There are enough options likely to make it to market in the offseason, or Brett Jackson could be knocking on the door early next year. But trading fukudome right now is giving up on the season, which is very premature.
  19. Rob
    Frasor was just named the Blue Jays closer, so his price tag to acquire just went up.
  20. Rob
    Kudos to the front office.
  21. Rob
    This is the dumbest thing I've read today.
  22. Rob
    bounce back from what? his play in tennessee last season was the best he's been since he was drafted. sorry, I meant breakout, referring to the thread in the minor league forum. 4/5 today with a HR and a 3B.
  23. Rob
    bingo. For one or two games at a time, fontenot is a fine backup. If there's an injury, Barney is ready now. And Castro could force his way up at any time.
  24. Rob
    What the hell is there to "forgive" Sori for? It's not like he was trying to play badly.
  25. Rob
    I was on colvin as a bounceback candidate before spring training. Do I get a free pass?
×
×
  • Create New...