rawaction

Jackson has some things he needs to work out. And somebody has to start until Cashner gets stretched out. Don't have a problem with this.

Plus, often times you want the legit prospects at AA because they are playing against other legit prospects. If you have a good looking young hitter, you want to see him hit against the Chris Archer's of the world vs. hitting guys like JR Mathes. And that's because ML hitters will see a lot more guys with strong arms and good breaking pitchers over junkballers typically in AAA.

Wow. Baseball America has Wallach at 6'2", 185lbs. Minor League Baseball.com has him at 6'5", 205lbs. HUGE difference.

I like Wallach also. He's the centerpiece to me. He works on building strength, and I think he tops out as a guy w/ a 93-95mph fastball, a plus slider, and changeup. This is also his first full year focusing on just pitching, as he was a 2-way player in JC.

I'd keep Moreno. If it's a PPR league, even more reason to keep Knowshon. He had more than twice as many carries as Buckhalter last year and only caught 3 fewer passes (28). Last year, Moreno had Lamont Jordan and Peyton Hillis threatening to take carries. This year, Buckhalter is 31, and guys like Kolby Smith, Bruce Hall, Lance Ball, and Toney Baker are his competition (yeah, I never heard of them either). Knowshon did get 247 carries last year, but that number could go up, as he only started 9 games last year. He should also catch more passes with the Broncos likely using their RBs more after losing Marshall's 100+ catches, and their #1 TE.

Would have liked to have seen Wallach in Daytona. He was a college kid, and is a guy that could be ML ready fairly quickly. Of course, don't know who he would bump from that rotation.

Exactly the types of deals the Pirates need to make. Struggling players with strong tools, who have fallen out of favor with their current teams. They don't have the talent to trade for elite prospects. They are not attractive to top free agents. Their best hope of ever competing again is to take chances on players like McDonald and Lambo and hope their player development can salvage them. Of course, the Pirates player development has been very lackluster for a long, long time.

Dewitt actually hits better in LA than on the road.

OR.... A recent 3rd round projectable RHP in his 1st year of professional baseball putting up nearly 10Ks per 9.

Exactly. Wallach will be a major league pitcher at some point. I'll take that upside for 2 months of Lilly and a couple mil. The reliever and Dewitt for Theriot makes it a solid deal and about the best we could have hoped for.

Unlike most people who don't like anyone they've never heard of, I kinda like this deal. I think he could turn into a decent find ala Archer. Reminds me of a Jered Weaver from what I have read.

Scouting Report: The son of a former major leaguer (it seems like I say that every year), Wallach won Southern California JC Player of the Year honors this spring for his contributions at the plate and on the mound. A closer last season, Brett moved into the rotation and dominated. His fastball sits around 90 and he spots it well. He also throws a reliable slurvy slider and a changeup that is often his best pitch. He's athletic and projectable, with an easy delivery. Analysis: Wallach shouldn't have a hard time moving through the lower minors, being able to throw 3 quality pitches for strikes. His fastball could become plus down the road as his 6'2 185 lbs frame fills out. While the Dodgers love them some arm-strength guys, Brett is a pitcher first who could develop plus velocity in the future. Even if his velocity doesn't improve, he could reach the majors as a back end starter.

Brett Wallach. He's pretty decent. Former 3rd round pick son of former ML Tim Wallach, I believe? The other dude is a reliever.

Cubs giving 2.5Mil to Dodgers? Getting 2 minor league pitchers.

Chris Withrow sounds like a guy the Cubs could like, and I would be ok with.

DeWitt is the same players as Kelly Johnson, only younger. Both are very similar to Mike Fontenot. Someone tell Jim that he doesn't have to trade position for position.

Kelly Johnson is OK. But someone posted his road numbers this year. Last year he ended with a sub .700 OPS. He's not that good of a fielder. He's 28 years old already and likely not to get better. On the positive side, he has hit well at Wrigley and does have some power. I would still rather go after a minor league with some sort of upside and take my chances with some combo of Fontenot, Baker, and Barney. And as an FYI, Kelly Johnson doesn't have enough service time to be a FA next year. He is arbitration eligible and due for free agency after the 2011 season.

Your first sentence is very true. A healthy Urlacher, Harris at the FS position, and Peppers on the DL could make all 3 levels of the defense better. A real OC, healthy Forte with a backup, full year of Aromashodu, and OL playing in their natural positions could mean the offense could be better at all phases. There is not a single unit where you can say the Bears definitely were downgraded. And on the positive side, the team was 7-9 and without some costly TOs and defensive lapses late they could have won 5 more (GB x 2, SF, ATL, PHI). On the negative side, they need a whole lot to go right in order to be a playoff team in a tough division. They are counting on a lot of 30+ year olds at key positions (Urlacher, Kruetz, Garza, Peppers, and now Briggs will be 30 this year). They are counting on players who are huge injury risks (Urlacher, Harris, Tillman, Bowman). They are counting on a lot of young guys stepping up and becoming quality players (Bowman, all the WRs, Williams, Forte, Omiyale, Asiata, Manning, Anderson). That's why I said that the Bears are the iffiest team in the NFL right now. Not all the above will go their way, but I think if the right ones do go their way, they are very close to being a really good team. But if those same ones don't go their way, they are very close to being one of the worst teams in the league.

Didn't we do it for cap purposes? Oh well. I'm interested to see what Wootton can do, hopefully he'll get playing time behind Anderson. Last I checked there is no cap this year. That's what annoyed me about it. You make a big improvement in signing Peppers, and then you do away with a lot of your gain by getting rid of Brown. Brown was no star, but he was a really solid player who did good things. I do like Wootton a lot too...or at least am excited to see how he does. Hopefully he can make contributions this season. Just because there is no cap, doesn't mean there is a lack of financial responsibility. They got rid of Alex to save money. I didn't mind it at the time because I thought that money would be used for OL help. But yeah, Peppers is nice and all, but there's question marks everywhere else on the line. I can't say for sure that any of Harris, Adams, Harrison, Gilbert, Melton, Idonije, Anderson, or Wootton will get as many as 3 sacks. I can't say for sure that any of them will play the run well. At least Alex provided stability and leadership. He didn't put up the flashy numbers, but he was a stout run defender and unlike the rest of the group doesn't have a season of 3.5 sacks or fewer in at least 1 of the last 2 years.

He's a 23 year old with a mid 800's OPS in the PCL right now, coming off a disappointing 2009, with questions about his future position. He's interesting, but is he all that valuable? I probably would have liked to have turned Lilly into him though. Wallace isn't going to be great defensively, but he can hit. His OPS is almost .870, that's higher than "mid .800s" Has shown 20 HR power, despite being jerked around between 4 teams, 3 levels, and 3 minor leagues. His .868 OPS this year, is right in line with his career minors numbers.

Cantu's still playing in the game for the Marlins.

48 rolls worth of dumps in 3 weeks?

:lol: The Cubs have finally decided to join the dark side in an attempt to win the World Series? lol. Wow. I always think it, but I didn't think I would actually type it.

From what I understand, Martz's offense is different in that while it also requires the QB to throw to a spot....it's not as quick hitting. Basically, last year the Bears ran a lot of 3-step drops. Slants, outs, curls. Cutler was supposed to drop 3 steps, read the D, throw to where the open WR should be. If you are getting rid of the ball that quickly, timing is more important in my opinion, because either the WR is going to be there, or a defender is because the WRs haven't had enough time to clear out the defenders and defenders aren't as deep in their drops after 3 seconds. With Martz, there are a lot of 5 or 7 step drops then throw to a spot. Which gives speedy WRs a couple extra ticks to use their speed to get open. The slowest CB can cover the fastest WR for 3-4 seconds. That changes when you throw a couple extra seconds in there. That's what made the Rams and Lions so successful under Martz. It also allows for an extra half second or two for a WR to get off a bump. Of course, the problem Martz's offenses have had is that it also means the OL has to protect longer and the QB to hold the ball longer, which had led to either sacks or turnovers. The scary part is that was the problem the Bears had last year with shorter drops.

I was going thru the entire league in my head, and to me, the Bears are the biggest mystery team this season. Some things are given. The Colts and Saints are going to be good offensively. The Jets and Steelers are going to be good defensively, barring injuries. There's clear cut favorites. There's clear bottom feeders. And then there's teams that could go from the 7-9 win area to contender. I think the Bears could be a top 10 or bottom 10 team in offense and/or defense. I really don't know what to expect from this team.