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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Meh, it's just one of 162 games. Nothing that happened means anything.

Butters, you're so stupid.

Bullpen. who?

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.

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.

Frasor was just named the Blue Jays closer, so his price tag to acquire just went up.

Kudos to the front office.

This is the dumbest thing I've read today.

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.

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.

What the hell is there to "forgive" Sori for? It's not like he was trying to play badly.

I was on colvin as a bounceback candidate before spring training. Do I get a free pass?

Tell me why they didn't sign him then? Because of steroids and the possibility of jail time? That's partially correct. Whether or not you or I believe in the effect of "chemistry" effecting a team, Bonds has been known as a complete [expletive] his entire career, and it certainly didn't aid him in getting teams to line up to sign him. And that was my point. And my point is (still) that teams are idiots if that is why they didn't sign him. I have a hard time believing that all 30 teams are run by drooling morons So you think all 30 teams passed on a player who put up a .480 OBP because they were scared he might go to jail during the season (which he still hasn't done)? I think it had one heck of a lot more to do with the fact that for the vast majority of fans, Bonds was the living embodiment of the steroid era and most teams didn't want that negative publicity. Add in his health / mobility issues, the legal issues, the media circus and associated distractions...and it's not too hard to see why teams didn't want to sign him even though he was still the best hitter in baseball. I'm sure the personality thing didn't help, but it was way down the list, imo. don't forget that he was still looking for an $18 mil payday last I heard. That's a bunch even for the best hitter in baseball, especially after you factor in the bad defense and the fact he couldn't play every day (which required a team to sign one of the better/expensive 4th outfielders).

I'll take John's word for it. Link Musta missed that while I was down in Arizona. Still, he can physically do the job even if he isn't currently sure whether he wants to or not.

If anybody were actually interested, I'd be glad to.

John Smoltz would be a fine addition to any bullpen, provided he doesn't want a big contract. Anybody who thinks he can't pitch anymore is just wrong.

Pujols Vmart Kung Fu Panda Upton Hanson As crazy as it is, I can't recall a season like Hanson's being quite so quiet. Depending on how you feel about the other owners in your league, you may want to try holding Haren instead and hoping nobody noticed Hanson last year. But yeah, Pujols is a no-brainer. Sandoval and Upton are only going to get better, and Victor's got extreme value simply because not many catchers rack up 600 PA. Yeah, he's on the wrong side of 30, but that means you listen to trade offers... you can't let him go for nothing, especially at such a thin position.

I'd be on the phone seeing if Smoltz has interest in coming out of the pen and seeing what he'd charge. But there's not much else at a glance.