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Rob

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Everything posted by Rob

  1. Rob
    We'll lose more games than last year. The Cubs have downgraded at 1B 3B and lost a valuable setup man. They've upgraded in RF and the starting rotation is vastly improved over the Coleman/Lopez/Davis/Ortiz mess accounting for 40% of our starts last year. Garza/Dempster/Byrd trades could change things of course, but the Cubs aren't really any worse off now than they were last season... and the farm system is slowly making significant improvements.
  2. Rob
    Does everyone who battles an addiction have to do it under the spotlight of news organizations pointing out each slip up? When you author a book, detailing your triumph over addiction, are not you at least partly responsible for part of that spotlight? http://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Belief-Finding-Strength-Come/dp/1599951614 At least he can write part II now. Seems like a legit reason to hate on him. It's not like they let guys who have experienced relapses lead AA meetings.
  3. Rob
    Agreed. Yup.
  4. Rob
    Apparently people are blaming the bartender.
  5. Rob
    It'd be a big deal for any team. High profile Cuban pitching talent hasn't really crapped the bed...not that I can remember. High profile? He's either the most high profile of the low profile Cubans, or the most low profile of the high profile Cubans. For $7 mil, I'd lean towards the latter.
  6. Rob
    I'm happy we got him. The contract feels a touch high though.
  7. Rob
    If things go very, very right for the Rays that group could compare favorably to Hudson/Mulder/Zito. They have like a 1/10000 chance to be Maddux/Glavine/Smoltz... but that's still better than most.
  8. Rob
    I'm glad to see he's landed on his feet. He wasn't a great GM, but given that experience and his scouting reputation, he should make for an excellent special assistant.
  9. Rob
    Cubs signed Trever Miller to a minor league deal with a ST invite. He'll get 800k if he makes the team. I'd be surprised if he makes the team above a guy like Beliveau, Maine or Gaub though.
  10. Rob
    That right there is a special type of moron. Short of giving up Ellsbury, the Red Sox probably don't have enough in their entire farm system to trade for Castro. He's one of the single most valuable assets in all of baseball. That's so far above and beyond "significant compensation" it'd be like somebody stuffing the winning powerball ticket in your hand to pay you back for picking up the bill at dinner.
  11. Rob
    I agree that Byrd will likely be moved during the season. However, I think that how soon depends as much on how Brett Jackson does in Iowa than Byrd himself. Of course, if someone were to come to us with an offer, he'd probably be moved either way, and even if Jackson is struggling the Sappelt enthusiasts can get to see him in action. Teams looking for a mid season replacement or spare bat are a lot more likely to come inquiring about Byrd than Upton, Jones, or Ethier. This regime isn't the same as the old one. Service time and potential cutoff dates for Super 2 status are likely to play a more significant role for callups than the old Hendry standby "he's earned it." Unless his performance is just otherworldly, Brett Jackson is likely to spend most of the season marinating in AAA to minimize his future cost. There's no real reason to call him up early in a rebuilding season... just so long as he gets a couple months worth of at bats later in the season he'll be fine.
  12. Rob
    I just wrote up a quick retrospective of Byrd's career with the Cubs and a quick examination of his trade value. If you're interested click here.
  13. Rob
    Listen to ctcf. He knows how to follow the right people on twitter.
  14. Rob
    It still wouldn't be ideal for me, but I'd be much less upset about something like that.
  15. Rob
    [expletive], I think I voted for Pat Buchanan.
  16. Rob
    ABTY7 does have some insider cred. Or did, at least. From what I understand, he was working for the Cubs until recently... I think security or something. He wasn't in on any discussions, but he spent a lot of time talking to people who were.
  17. Rob
    The two weeks thing was the generally accepted rule, but Concepcion was cleared something like two hours after being granted residency. Cespedes may already be a FA.
  18. Rob
    I would love all that stuff a whole lot more if variance didn't swallow up 99% of it. That only makes me love it more... though that part may be indicative of a mental illness.
  19. Rob
    One of the main reasons I've always loved baseball isn't the action. It's the downtime in between. The breaks in the action give us time to stop and think about what might happen. It's time to sit there and think about defensive alignment and pitch sequencing. But more than anything for me, that downtime (in the late innings at least) is spent thinking "what should the manager be doing?" Should he pinch hit? Should there be a pinch runner? Is he going to send the runner? Is he going to call for a sac bunt? I love the strategy of baseball every bit as much as I love the action on the field. The pitcher coming to bat in the late innings is the holy grail of strategic choices. I guess I'm just not ready to part with that.
  20. Rob
    Gross, why?
  21. Rob
    I liked it too. Solid article. I would have liked to see you flesh out how you came to the +3 win conclusion at the end (not that I disagree). Are you saying Fielder's bat = 50 runs; Fielder's glove/running = -13 runs; Cabrera at 3B = -13 runs (is that 13 runs worse than what his value at 1b was?) so net is + 24 runs = +3 wins? Or am I missing something? Oh, I totally ballparked the estimate on 3 wins. I probably should have gone into depth to figure out exactly how much better it makes them, but my intent was just to write about why the contract is worrisome. My half-assed thinking, for what it's worth. An Inge/Kelly platoon at 3B is probably worth about 1 WAR. Cabrera at 3B is probably worth about 6 WAR. At 1B he'd have been worth about 7. Fielder stays worth about 5. So 2 wins worse at 1B, 5 wins better at 3B. 3 wins better. with this, you're essentially saying he's going to be 25 runs worse in the field at 3B than he was at 1B, which seems...pretty unlikely Its not just defense. I'm expecting some offensive regression as a result of the move, as well as factoring in a somewhat higher risk of injury.
  22. Rob
    Also, that Rob guy is a pretentious douchenozzle just begging to be mocked.
  23. Rob
    Prado can't really play 2B anymore.
  24. Rob
    I liked it too. Solid article. I would have liked to see you flesh out how you came to the +3 win conclusion at the end (not that I disagree). Are you saying Fielder's bat = 50 runs; Fielder's glove/running = -13 runs; Cabrera at 3B = -13 runs (is that 13 runs worse than what his value at 1b was?) so net is + 24 runs = +3 wins? Or am I missing something? Oh, I totally ballparked the estimate on 3 wins. I probably should have gone into depth to figure out exactly how much better it makes them, but my intent was just to write about why the contract is worrisome. My half-assed thinking, for what it's worth. An Inge/Kelly platoon at 3B is probably worth about 1 WAR. Cabrera at 3B is probably worth about 6 WAR. At 1B he'd have been worth about 7. Fielder stays worth about 5. So 2 wins worse at 1B, 5 wins better at 3B. 3 wins better.
  25. Rob
    Holy crap, bunch of praise popped up this thread. Thanks everybody! soapy, I do have a twitter account. It's @RHickey66. I currently have 7 followers. But I announce my articles when they go up, so follow me if you'd like. davearm, I quite liked your Fielder article actually. But I didn't see it on the front page and assumed it had been deleted. I didn't realize it was from that long ago or else I would have clicked back a page.
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