Rob

Washed up, done, AND finished.....dang. Somebody should have warned Carpenter. When he was 26 he had a 6.26 ERA in 175 innings. In 02 it was 5.28 in 73 innings, and he didnt pitch at all in 03. He was was probably just washed up and done though. Well, I would love to be wrong and hope I am. However reality hits home when you read reports of his shoulder being loose and surgery could be an option. One if not his last start was in Milwaukee and he looked like a college pitcher! I hope things change, but I have a feeling he will never regain his 03 form. I always thought having a loose arm is good for a pitcher. Kinda sorta. The loose shoulder helped him generate a good deal of the velocity on his pitches, though it carried with it a risk of injury like this. If they tighten it up, he should lose 2-3 mph off his fastball, but he shouldn't have to worry about the injury again for a good long while.

He will accrue enough service time to qualify for free agency in april 2008, but he wouldn't be able to come to the States on his own terms til the season was over.

Meche wouldn't even be a good option for a swingman... let alone for 3/4 years at 8-9 mil per.

Andruw was the best CF in the game by far. was. Davenport translations have Jones as 3 runs below average for a CF. Wells comes in at -6.

Even with Schmidt, we're probably still a year out. If we re-sign Barrett next season, find somebody to play SS, and get contributions from Pie and guys like Veal, Gallagher, and EPatt... that's when we can really contend. I just don't think we're really in a position to with such a weak up-the-middle group right now in DeRosa, Izturis, and Jacque... and without any good, cheap pitching help.

I've always thought that if Hendry is going to go after that type of hitter, not particularly patient, but potent toolsy guy, he might as well get the really good ones. I don't understand how people think he is on the decline? His splits are very even across the board. He would be great between Lee and Ramirez. It doesn't matter what his contract value might be right now, if Angelos wants him gone he will be gone. Why bat him between Lee and Aramis? I'd bat him #2 unless we can find a really good lefty bat to put in there. Soriano Tejada DLee ARam We'd be looking at a lot of first inning runs.

Young and cheapish. Doesn't strike out much considering the moderate power he has. He's learned to man the hot corner pretty darn well. That said, I don't like him near enough to acquire him. And he's certainly not as valuable as Ramirez.

Palmeiro got the gold glove in 99. He had only played 28 games at first that season.

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.

If they valued Clayton that much, they would have taken Izturis off our hands... ](*,)

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.

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.

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.

Cashman was on XM an hour or so ago... He did not sound excited at all to have won the bidding.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

Nobody else seems to be picking up on the YES report yet.

hahaha, why'd they even bother putting this in the contract??? In case he waves his no-trade.

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)