rawaction

How do you figure? Bedard struck out almost 40 more batters in 13 fewer innings last year, against much tougher hitters. How so? AL hitters- .270/.338/.423 NL hitters- .266/.334/.422 He made two starts against Boston, two against Cleveland, three against the Yankees. That's a decent chunk of his innings. Hill pitched in the worst division in baseball. 4 starts against Tampa. 3 against Oakland. The same number of starts vs. those 3. Two bottom 5 offenses.

How do you figure? Bedard struck out almost 40 more batters in 13 fewer innings last year, against much tougher hitters. How so? AL hitters- .270/.338/.423 NL hitters- .266/.334/.422

I don't think that's a bad deal for a team that had all the pressure on them to get rid of an unhappy player. Patton and Scott gives them a serviceable OF and a SP who could be a good #2-3. Tejada isn't a special player anymore.

1908 and Abuck with a positive post in the same thread. All that is needed now is Goony (jersey) to make this complete.

Let's start the season! Seriously. Football's dead to me.

hahaha exactly what i was thinking Me too. I like Blanton. Good fit for Wrigley Field. Career 105 ERA+. Good groundball pitcher. Proving to be an innings eater, having not pitched less than 198 in his career so far. Everything he does depends on BABIP. It was insanely high in 06, hence the bad year. It was around average (.275 ish) this year, hence the 105 ERA+. His K/9 jumped and his BB/9 dropped last year. I like him. Only 26.

Would be good moves for the budget conscious Pirates. Wouldn't make them competitive, but makes them better at both positions for relatively cheap.

Why are we talking career defensive numbers? Who has been better than Greene the last 2 seasons? Maybe Vizquel and that's about it?

Because he's young, will greatly benefit from a move out of Petco (check the splits), and will probably give you a legit 25+HR's out of the SS position. He's a very good upgrade from Theriot with the potential to be a huge upgrade. Plus he might be the best defensive SS in the game. Get him out of Petco and you're looking at an .800+ OPS. i was with you until this point, but you really veered off track here Why? It's true.

Good point. Cubs shouldn't look to greatly upgrade from the worst SS production in the league, because they will increase their team Ks.

Wow. Impressive win for the Hoosiers today. Put the game away early and ran away with it. Again playing with only 2 guards. And did a lot of the damage with DJ White only playing 10 minutes in the 1st half with foul trouble. Part of me thinks Sampson is trying to challenge his team. First he suspended Crawford for 3 games, with 2 tough ones on the schedule, knowing he only had 2 other guards on scholarship. Then, he doesn't play Gordon, who I'm assuming would have gone had Crawford not been available. He suspends Bassett for what looked like a big game. And he sits DJ with 2 fouls, leaving a very inexperienced team on the floor for 1/2 of the 1st half.

I like Ethier. He's not a special type player, but he is a guaranteed .800-.850 OPS. He's young, he's cheap and he has a good approach. I think he would be a perfect platoon partner for a player like Murton in RF, as they are quite similar. Probably not gonna have much more power than he's shown so far, but I always feel there's a chance for a LH in Wrigley to see increased power production.

Agreed. Speed accompanied with a guy who can actually get on base to use it is a great thing. And I'd love Roberts OR Figgins, but not both. They are both .750 OPS guys. Combined with Theriot and possibly Soto being in the same range, the offense doesn't improve enough in that scenario. Of course, Pie and Derosa, aren't exactly .900 OPS players, but at least in Pie's case, the upside is there to be more than league average....and he doesn't cost anything in player movement.

Do you think he is going for both? The Figgins' rumors came out after the Roberts' deal cooled. I think Jim is going for one of them and Fukudome, not all three. It doesn't seem like the Cubs could afford all three anyways if they are keeping it around 120 mil. Interest has been rumored the whole time the Roberts thing was going on. Don't we crucify Hendy for having a one track mind and when he doesnt get plan A, we are screwed because he doesnt have plan B? If anything, this shows growth as a GM. Figgins isn't a plan B, he is part of plan A. And it doesn't show growth, it shows another unnecessary obsession. "If a player is left-handed, fast, and can play middle infield, we're interested" "I decided I like guys who can catch the ball" "It would be so much easier if Murton was left handed" Spending big money on relievers. Continually valuing about versatility (Neifi, Macias) Need I go on?

Do you think he is going for both? The Figgins' rumors came out after the Roberts' deal cooled. I think Jim is going for one of them and Fukudome, not all three. It doesn't seem like the Cubs could afford all three anyways if they are keeping it around 120 mil. Interest has been rumored the whole time the Roberts thing was going on.

Roberts and Figgins is redundant. Hendry says he wants speed and LH hitting, well Felix Pie is fast and left-handed. He's also young, cheap, and doesn't cost you prospects. This reeks of the Juan Pierre obsession all over again. FYI Figgins career stats: .293/.354/.400 Roberts career stats: .281/.351/.409 They are the same player. Do the Cubs really need 2 of them?

I do not believe this is meaningful over the 162 game season. I think it could be over a significant part of the season. Teams have similar off days during the season. 8 times out of 10 there are two 3 game series per week for each team. The off days vary from Monday to Thursday. Those obviously even out unless teams skip their 5th starter, which doesn't happen too often. The only thing that really throws this off are injuries, rainouts, and the AS break. The difference isn't much between a #1 and a #5, as they are on back to back days. But the difference between a 1 and 3-4 can be seen throughout the season.

Yeah, Cabrera, Ramirez, Uggla, and Willingham are below average defenders. Their 1B isn't too hot either, ol whatshisface.

Everett, Burke and a minor league pitcher? That's all they want?

Well, you have to consider Nick Johnson will be on the DL. Dukes will be suspended. Dmitri will be in rehab. There will soon be plenty of rosters spots in Washington.

His teammates have always loved him. Fans, umps, managers.....not so much.

Gotta maximize that clutchiness.

Thank God.

Uh.....why?

I mentioned this way, way back in the other Roberts thread, but I have a real problem with this idea that DeRosa would somehow get that many at bats with this potential line up. Let's just say the Cubs get Fukudome and Roberts. Fukudome, Soriano, Roberts, Lee and Ramirez basically all play the most ideal positions that DeRosa would supposedly sub. Which of those guys do they realistically expect to give a day off each week to start DeRosa? Some of these guys are 8 figure salary per year guys. There are days off scheduled all season long. And if DeRosa is sitting on the bench everyday because none of these guys are coming out of the line up while Theriot is starting everyday at SS, I'm gonna be pissed off. Ramirez and Soriano each spent time on the DL last year. Lee spent time day-to-day with nagging injuries and was suspended for 5 games. Roberts has had a significant injury history. Also gotta figure Derosa will start vs. all LHPs, either in RF w/ Fukudome moving to CF, with Pie on the bench in the above scenario or at 2B for the LH hitting Roberts. So, we are assuming all those same things will happen again this coming year? That's what makes DeRosa on the roster a good thing. But, you can do the same thing with him when he's needed elsewhere other than SS. Of course they will all happen, especially that troublemaker Derrek Lee getting into a fight. I heard he is planning on a fight a week. Naw, I'm guessing that's what the Cubs are thinking. As was pointed out in antoher thread, Derosa got over 500 ABs last year, and less than 1/2 were at 2B. I'm with you. He better be able to see significant time at SS if the Cubs are getting a 2B. It would make a lot more sense if they would actually, I don't know, get a SS and leave Dero alone.