Rob

It's a Boras thing, probably. He loves to wait on the market for the top guys.

Not Pearl Jam, but this Nirvana mashup is pretty fantastic.

I've seen a lot of places suggesting Hanley will be playing in LF and Cespedes is the one on the move, not Bogaerts. I'm not sure how much I believe it, but I can't believe a team would sign Hanley to play SS and sign another big money guy to block him from being able to move over to 3B.

If he doesn't cost much, I'd be all for it. Fowler's numbers are awesome. He's a platoon player who is slightly above-average at best. And he really isn't much of a CF. I have to imagine his market value is probably out of whack with his production. He's probably not worth what it'll cost to bring him in.

01001000 01100101 00100000 01110111 01100001 01110011 00100000 01100001 00100000 01100011 01101111 01101111 01101100 00100000 01100111 01110101 01111001 I like that you bothered to make sure that actually says something.

What the [expletive] is a "quality assurance coach"?

I'd love to see Martinez as bench coach for the Cubs. I'd also like to see Sandberg flip his [expletive] about it.

I just called into the Cubs phone number and asked for Jim Hen Theo Epstein to encourage him to work out a deal for Jon Lester. I know I'm crazy but what can I say? His secretary said he was in a meeting (maybe working on the contract for Lester?) so he couldn't take my call. I ended up leaving him a message telling her that I know Theo will do his best to counter the Heyward trade. I told her that I'm hoping Lester will be that player. The secretary said Theo will appreciate my kind words. Also BigBird says this deal will happen, so I believe him. I'll bite. Who was that from this board who really did this a few years ago? Seems like it was some old codger. Sweet Swinging Billy viewtopic.php?f=6&t=49648 RIP

I think it has to do with expectations many people had for him (that he was going to be an offensive beast) that have gone largely unfulfilled. Defense just isn't as sexy as big offense, especially from a corner. I don't agree with it, but I'd bet that has a lot to do with the negativity. plus a guy with elite defense and average offense is just not that good a player; offense is far more important than defense in player value. the bigger problem is that everyone sees his slugging percentage and thinks he's an average offensive player, which he isn't. Runs are runs, whether you add them with the bat or prevent them with the glove.

Go home, you're drunk. Heyward had the lowest strikeout rate of his career last year. It was his best OBP since his rookie year. He was one off his career high in SB while posting his best success rate so far. And he's the best defensive right fielder in baseball, by a pretty hefty margin. He's a great player. This trade is pretty simple though. Heyward has one year left on his contract and seems determined to test free agency. The Braves aren't really contenders next year. So it's better to get something for him than nothing. The Cardinals gave up a combined 10 years of cost controlled young pitching, each with #2 potential. It's a pretty big haul for the Braves for a guy they couldn't keep. John Hart is a schmuck, though. If he's really Baseball Jesus and you are so sure that you aren't going to be able to keep him why not wait until the FA market thins-out or until the season starts to deal him? Wouldn't you be in a better position to get more for him? BTW, he slugged .384 last season and posted his lowest OPS+ since his brutal 2011. I get that he's an excellent defensive RF'er, but that seems to be where the majority a significant amount of his value is based. He's not a good enough hitter to be considered "one of the best players in baseball" by any stretch. So I'd suggest it is you who is drunk. Over the last 3 years, he has been the 13th best player in baseball. (2012 - 10th, 2013- 67th, 2014 - 25th) I don't know what your criteria for "one of the best players in baseball" is, but I'm gonna guess it's more to do with an arbitrary gut feel than anything else.

Go home, you're drunk. Heyward had the lowest strikeout rate of his career last year. It was his best OBP since his rookie year. He was one off his career high in SB while posting his best success rate so far. And he's the best defensive right fielder in baseball, by a pretty hefty margin. He's a great player. This trade is pretty simple though. Heyward has one year left on his contract and seems determined to test free agency. The Braves aren't really contenders next year. So it's better to get something for him than nothing. The Cardinals gave up a combined 10 years of cost controlled young pitching, each with #2 potential. It's a pretty big haul for the Braves for a guy they couldn't keep. John Hart is a schmuck, though.

wait is this a serious question? Forgive me if I am wrong, but wasn't Taveras considered a consensus top 3 (or 5) prospect who OPS'ed .953 at age 20 in AA? Meanwhile Heyward's OPS has dropped significantly each of the last three years and he hit 11 HR's last season. So yes he was better than Taveras last season, but that wasn't likely to continue, so its a probably a net downgrade. I'm just trying to look on the bright side here. Jason Heyward is one of the best players in baseball. Definitely top 5 for RF. He was a 5 fWAR player last year and has averaged more than 4 fWAR for his career. HR aren't everything. He's every bit as good as a guy like Rizzo.

In theory, something like Alcantara+ a couple interesting guys should be enough. Heyward is a great player, but it's his walk year and the Braves have already telegraphed that they'll likely let him or Upton (or both) leave, which hurts their leverage. In practice, the Braves are still ostensibly contenders for a WC spot, and if they're out of it at the deadline Heyward may fetch a similar return at that point anyways. So I don't see it happening unless we overpay, which we'd be silly to do since we can probably sign him next offseason if we really want him.

I'd take Chapman, McGee, and Doolittle over Miller as far as lefties are concerned.

Apparently the legal limit down there is just 0.05. Still pretty absurd, but it doesn't sound like his BAC was a coma-inducing 0.4.

He was at five times the legal limit at the time of the crash

$5 says we try to pass him through waivers again before May 1.

I expected a crummy ERA and good peripherals. In reality, he's got a crummy ERA, crummy peripherals, and averaged 89 mph with his fastball while working primarily out of the bullpen. He hasn't been particularly interesting in a couple years, not since he stopped being a college pitcher beating up on kids in A ball.

I'm not sure he's wrong. Castro is locked up cheaply for a looong time. Zimmermann has one modestly cheap year left.

Alright, what's the Nationals fan board we need to send Kyle to?

Sounds good to me. If we're out of it at the deadline, shop him. If not, let him walk after the season and the draft pick compensation should help to offset the cost we paid to acquire him. I have to imagine that even after his disastrous year, Masterson gets more than $1M though. Either way, I'd still have a lot of interest there if the price is right.

The more I think about it, the more I'm into a trade for Miguel Montero. I just don't love the idea of handing out big contracts to catchers to begin with, let alone ones that are already on the older side.

I think Lake is perfect for the Brooks Kieschnick type of role at this point. Yes, whatever it is Kieschnick is doing now, I'm sure Lake would be great at it. Apparently he's running a BBQ joint now. http://www.alamoicehouse.com/

I think Lake is perfect for the Brooks Kieschnick type of role at this point.

In my hypothetical situation where we got Drew, the Cubs never stopped trying. And we still got Kris Bryant because his pre-draft demands were that he wouldn't sign with anyone else. And my hairline isn't slowly receding.