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Rob

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Everything posted by Rob

  1. Rob
    No, not really. I think his arm will be fine since he hardly throws any breaking balls, and he kept the ball down last year. He strikes me as a good pitcher - not the kind of guy who falls apart when he loses a tick or two off his fastball. Well it should. A decrease in velocity and the decreasing length of a pitchers stride are two of the biggest keys to a shoulder injury. throwing less hard makes a pitcher hurt his shoulder? interesting. no. It's a symptom of shoulder injury. he threw over 200 innings last year. Shmidt is a fastball/change up pitcher. Although I don't like the abuse he's taken over the last several years those types of pitchers are very durable. BTW where does the "decrease in stride length and decrease in velocity" come from? I mean on what information is this observation based? Schmidt used to throw mid 90's. He was down to 88-90mph at the end of this season. Now, a variety of things can be the reasoning for this. Over worked is the main reasoning, however. Over worked usually means the pitcher becomes tired, and when the pitcher is tired his mechanics begin to take a nose dive. Which means he is more favorable for a arm injury(Kerry Wood). If a pitcher is losing length on his stride, it usually means his shoulder cannot keep up with the length the pitcher is taking. Schmdit is known for his absolutely insane length on his stride. Probably the longest in the game today. When he has to shorten that stride, it possibly means his shoulder cannot extend out to the point it used too. Don't pretend Wood had good mechanics up until he gets tired... The way he yanks his arm across the body is unnatural even when he's not fatigued.
  2. Rob
    If they valued Clayton that much, they would have taken Izturis off our hands... ](*,)
  3. Rob
    FWIW, guys with a killer fastball-changeup combo seem to succeed more than they should as they get older, even when they start to lose their velocity. Schmidt made the adjustment a while ago so that he's not trying to blow every hitter away. It's all about timing with him now. If we have to go to four years to get him, I would agree to it in a heartbeat. We can always eat a chunk of the salary and get a servicable prospect or two for him in a couple years if he breaks down.
  4. Rob
    Eyre+Jones for Burrell It would be interesting to see the Cubs with an all right-handed lineup in 07. Interesting isn't necessarily bad.
  5. Rob
    It probably bothers him. :lol: In all seriousness though, I do find myself concerned by that hip injury. Hip speed is absolutely essential to keeping velocity up... without his hips, his stuff becomes marginal.
  6. Rob
    Cashman was on XM an hour or so ago... He did not sound excited at all to have won the bidding.
  7. Rob
    He didn't say the first half. All he implies is that Prior will miss some time next year... not necessarily the beginning of it.
  8. Rob
    Typically speaking, Tejada has a higher BA than Izturis has OBP. Tejada's OBP is higher than Izturis Slug%... Tejada's Slug% is around 500... or about 100 to 150 points less than Izturis's expected OPS. Even if you want to make the argument he's not worth the cost... fine. If you want to make the argument he's not an elite offense force... fine. But he's such an upgrade over Izturis it's almost magical.
  9. Rob
    They are "trying to get rid of Manny" because Manny has asked to be traded out of Boston, again. He's asked about 4 times now. It's not just a matter of a guy having a bit of an attitude, it's a case of the guy not wanting to be on the team. To be fair to Manny, he's been a good sport about it the last few years. As long as they make an attempt in good faith to trade him, he works hard for them.
  10. Rob
    Murt - Soriano - Manny Is this Jim's master plan? Or could it be Manny - Lugo - Soriano (Murt off the bench)? Wowow. Murt > Lugo... even taking into account the fact it'd force Soriano into center
  11. Rob
    You guys are quickly jumping to conclusions about Gil Meche. You see his numbers and you quickly don't want him. The thing you're not seeing is the potential he has to succeed. He has a very live arm, still pretty young, sharp breaking curveball, and a potential Jason Schmidt changeup in the mix. I see his potential for more of a reason to sign him rather than his numbers. He's had six years in the majors and will be 28 next year. When's this potential going to translate into results? And that's fine if you like him, but you have to understand why people are skeptical of your opinion. He's been a below-average pitcher for four consecutive seasons and is an injury risk, which makes many people apprehensive of giving him a multi-year contract in the neighborhood of $8-9M per year. Jason Schmidt struggled very much early in his career just like Meche has. Schmdit didn't hit his stride untill 2002. Before that, he was a average power pitcher with no changeup. When he developed his changeup in San Fran, he became a dominate pitcher. The same can be said for Meche. Meche has a developing changeup. Meche actually has an advantage over Schmdit. Meche has a better break on his curveball than Schmidt had when he was 28. Meche has the potential to be the next Jason Schmidt if he can develop his changeup. Schmidt had better years in 98 and 99 than Meche has ever had in his career.
  12. Rob
    Ask any scout in the league, and I bet they'll tell you Cruz has better stuff than Meche. I'm just trying to make the point that you can't always go for the guy with the better potential. Potential just isn't the same thing as production, and Meche's base level of production is exactly what we can expect from our young arms like Guzman or Marshall. Meche has never shown he can produce at a level worth near 9 million more than those guys... nor does he have any more potential than Guzman. Meche isn't a smart signing.
  13. Rob
    You guys are quickly jumping to conclusions about Gil Meche. You see his numbers and you quickly don't want him. The thing you're not seeing is the potential he has to succeed. He has a very live arm, still pretty young, sharp breaking curveball, and a potential Jason Schmidt changeup in the mix. I see his potential for more of a reason to sign him rather than his numbers. Damnit, you're right. We should throw 30 million at Juan Cruz while we're at it. I was expecting you to post something. Actually, I even made a bet with a fellow nsbb member that you would post something like that. Would you really be happy without a smartass rival? I know I'd surely get bored. Mind you, I'm still waiting on the response as to whether you'd spend that kind of money on Juan Cruz.
  14. Rob
    You guys are quickly jumping to conclusions about Gil Meche. You see his numbers and you quickly don't want him. The thing you're not seeing is the potential he has to succeed. He has a very live arm, still pretty young, sharp breaking curveball, and a potential Jason Schmidt changeup in the mix. I see his potential for more of a reason to sign him rather than his numbers. Damnit, you're right. We should throw 30 million at Juan Cruz while we're at it.
  15. Rob
    Nobody else seems to be picking up on the YES report yet.
  16. Rob
    hahaha, why'd they even bother putting this in the contract??? In case he waves his no-trade.
  17. Rob
    Rule them out, period. A $25 million bid for an average LHP is insane. I would hope that Hendry is smarter than that. Hope in one hand, crap in the other. See which gets full first. Hendry was probably too busy trying to fit room into the payroll for worse pitchers like Meche and Marquis. (Not that I disagree with the decision to not spend $25 mil just for the posting fee for Igawa... I'm just wary of what crap Hendry wants to spend that money on)
  18. Rob
    Rosenthal just reported half an hour ago Counsell was about to sign with the Brewers.
  19. Rob
    Don't ask that... We don't want that answer.
  20. Rob
    He already plays a plus major-league CF, and projects to continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Gotcha. I was just under the impression that he wasn't your typical "speed/range/glove" center fielder. So more like Damon than Pierre? A lefty Mike Cameron with some extra speed and not as much patience at the plate. That's what we're all excited about? Perhaps I forgot to mention that speed should let him keep his BA around .300 most seasons, with a few flukes going both ways. Peak years? .320/.370/.540 With 40 SB and Plus-plus defense. And Jason Dubois would hit 30 HR in the majors. I'll believe it when I see it I was doing the "if he establishes himself at the level he's capable of" projection. I have very little doubt in my mind he'll manage to pull together a few 20/20 seasons. The question in my mind is whether that will be his baseline or his peak. It depends on how his plate discipline comes around.
  21. Rob
    He already plays a plus major-league CF, and projects to continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Gotcha. I was just under the impression that he wasn't your typical "speed/range/glove" center fielder. So more like Damon than Pierre? A lefty Mike Cameron with some extra speed and not as much patience at the plate. That's what we're all excited about? Perhaps I forgot to mention that speed should let him keep his BA around .300 most seasons, with a few flukes going both ways. Peak years? .320/.370/.540 With 40 SB and Plus-plus defense.
  22. Rob
    He already plays a plus major-league CF, and projects to continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Gotcha. I was just under the impression that he wasn't your typical "speed/range/glove" center fielder. So more like Damon than Pierre? A lefty Mike Cameron with some extra speed and not as much patience at the plate.
  23. Rob
    If the fee really is 25 mil, there's no way it's us. I could see us potentially throwing 13 or so at him, but there's no way we threw 25.
  24. Rob
    He already plays a plus major-league CF, and projects to continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
  25. Rob
    I'm just not convinced the future has been expensed. The talent is all still intact. And if any of those guys were any good, they will also be cheap for a good while longer, so that value can makeup for overpaying older guys. There is definite risk to the future. But you can't win in this game without taking risks. You have to be in it to win it. I know you have to take risks to win, but this is a bubble market and the Cubs needed a major rebuilding. It's an exceptionally awful time for the Cubs to have a GM who has to win now to save his job. It really is... though I have to admit, I do kinda enjoy the fact we've spent nearly a quarter of a billion so far this offseason (even if it hasn't been on the right players). It's enthralling.
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