Rob

Great... I feel like I'm about to vomit right now...

What a start... :cry:

Actually, if memory serves correctly, I seem to recall seeing a study that proved there's extremely little correlation seen between the numbers and reputations for "pitching to the score." From year to year, pitchers show very little, if any, ability "above and beyond" what they already have to control scoring in those sorts of situations. Of course, that's only true if my memory is to be trusted... though it usually is. Personally, I'm a fan of RA instead of ERA... then WHIP, K/9, and K/BB

I refuse to deal with the Braves. Everything we get back from them always turns back into a pumpkin.

1. Pie 2. Pawelek 3. Cedeno 4. Marshall 5. Marmol 6. Reed 7. Veal 8. Patterson 9. Dopirak 10. Gallagher Pie and Pawelek have to be the top dogs, any way you cut it. They have huge ceilings and decent chances of getting there. Then of course there's the 3 at the ML level right now. All three have a chance to be solid role players, but I don't see any of them becoming stars like Pie or Pawelek could do. Perhaps I'm rating Reed a bit higher than I should, but I just have a thing for catching prospects with decent bats. If he sticks at catcher, his bat will definately play. Veal is another one of those guys with a huge ceiling, but his walk rates scare me. Patterson is just a pimp. He can do everything fairly well, and I could see him putting up a .315 batting average one year that helps make him one of the most valuable players in the league. Dopirak is still a good prospect, but I'm just not convinced he'll ever get close to his potential. Gallagher I love, but I'm afraid I don't see him as becomming much more than a number three starter in the big leagues. As such, I can't rate him much higher than he is now.

Gameday had something about an injury delay... what happened?

Troy Tulowitzki should just get the call already. He could outhit these scrubs in his sleep...

Yeah, but using stats it becomes easier to compare how horrible this team is with horrible teams of years long ago. 1898 Cleveland Spiders, here we come!

Why on earth would the Rockies make that trade?

First off, am I the only one that doesn't get the hype for Joel Guzman? As a SS, he was a good prospect... but now that he's moved to LF, he's a B or a B+ at best as a prospect. At any rate, I fully expect to see the following players shipped off. Pierre Williamson Walker While none of those three is lighting the world on fire right now, they'll all fetch a decent value in a trade. As a matter of fact, I wouldn't be surprised to see Williamson to the Braves for a B level prospect fairly soon if DLee's arrival doesn't immediately help the teams W-L record. These guys will probably be shopped. Maddux Nevin Wood Mabry These guys are going to be harder to unload. Maddux might not want to leave (I know, no NTC... but as a PR thing it'd be a bad idea to cut him loose). Nevin will be too expensive to fetch much, so we might be stuck with him. Wood can't be traded if he's on the DL, and even if he's not, Hendry might hold on to him just to see if he can sign him in the offseason. As for Mabry, he could get us a B- prospect if he starts hitting like he can, and not like a sabateur for the Cardinals. I'm sure pretty much everybody on the club is available, but those are the big seven, as I see it.

http://www.minorleagueball.com/story/2006/6/9/17952/19623 Pretty good article on him...

A quick primer for the uninitiated... BRAA - Batting Runs Above Average FRAA - Fielding Runs Above Average Obviously, neither is a rate stat. It takes their total production and compares it to the league average player at the position... so this includes durability. Let's just look at the last three years... Grudz: 2003 - BRAA 8 / FRAA 3 2004 - BRAA 1 / FRAA 2 2005 - BRAA -2 / FRAA 5 Walker: 2003 - BRAA -2 / FRAA -16 2004 - BRAA 6 / FRAA -4 2005 - BRAA 10 / FRAA -5 Some notes: Grudz only played half the games in 04. Walker's 03 seems to be an abberation. His BRAA hadn't been negative since 2000, and his FRAA is around -5 most years. Grudz is losing his power stroke to the degree that Walker's defense is covered. The only problem is, Walker has to settle in somewhere between his 04 and 05 to keep the production similar. For the 1.5 million dollar difference, I'd take Walker five days a week and twice on sundays.

Murton LF Walker 2B Lee 1B Ramirez 3B Jones RF Barrett C Cedeno SS Pierre CF Zambrano P

Wilson looked foolish on that first pitch.

NASTY, NASTY, NASTY!

Is it me or is this zone getting smaller and smaller?

Finally!

What the hell has been wrong with those pitches?

Phew

Why? Tony Womack 2005: .249/.276/.280 I guess what I'm saying is that he's a 36 year old player with no discernable skill besides speed. He can't take a walk. He can't hit for power. His fielding is sub-par, even if he can play multiple positions. And that 2005 line? That's the line of a player with no skills besides speed... but one that's lost a step. Don't let a nice week or two fool you. I seem to remember Jose Macias stringing together a few good games in a row before, and I know I saw Neifi pull off a nice couple weeks at the end of '04. That didn't make either one of them useful. And 25 plate appearances doesn't make Womack useful either. Edit: Maybe I'm being too harsh on Tony. Let's examine a best case scenario. As recently as 2004, Womack hit .307/.349/.385 over 553 AB's. That a .734 OPS. As of the moment I'm writing this edit in (6th inning of the game) Ronny Cedeno has a .736 OPS. While it's not bad production by any means, it's not blowing the world away. That year, Tony's .734 OPS was worth 2 BRAA (Batting Runs Above Average). In the field that year, Tony came in with -11 FRAA (Fielding Runs Above Average). So in his best year in recent memory, he gave back all his gains at the plate back whenever he took the field... and then some. I guess Tony's best case scenario still isn't that great, huh?

Took me about 20 seconds to send off the email from the time I heard it.

That is an absolutely horrible lineup. Barrett batting sixth? He and Jacque and fighting it out for the honor of being our best hitter, and you're shoving them both at the bottom of the order? And what is Walker doing in the three hole? That spot is typically reserved for your best hitter. And while Walker certainly isn't horrible, Barrett, Jones, and Ramirez are better. And I'm sorry, but I still don't think Womack should be anywhere near our clubhouse, let alone getting the most at bats on the team coming out of the leadoff spot.

I thought Nieve pitched yesterday when they scratched Oswalt? Correct, ESPN is wrong. And I'm right! Huzzah!

I thought Nieve pitched yesterday when they scratched Oswalt?

All 2 of them in the first five rounds... :cry: