rawaction

Season starts in 4 days. Everyone has a starting lineup with the possible exception of Def and kicker. How about we finish the draft thru waivers? Add the current rosters and IMB! can put all the FAs on waivers til Wednesday and we can pick up the rest of our team that way before the season actually starts.

As if ESPN needed another reason to show a lot of Red Sox highlights. Question is, what leads off Sportscenter? App St or Buchholz?

Chris Chambers is gone too. He's on my team. For some reason I'm not a mod in this forum and can't edit the post.

Jags Defense.

I'm actually FOR trying Marmol again in the rotation. If Wood is back next year and healthy, he should presumably be a pretty decent reliever and could take over Carlos' role. As has been stated, a good starter is more valuable than a great reliever. If Marmol can be a good starter, that's better for the team, IMO. If he shows he can't be a good starter, well he has a great fallback option. Also, at this point, with no FA money left after signing 5 players to rich contracts since this offseason (Z, Soriano, Marquis, Ramirez, Lilly), the Cubs are gonna have to trade in order to get improvement from this team offensive, barring Pie becoming Ryan Braun and Derrek Lee revisiting 2005. If the Cubs have to trade Marshall or Hill for a legit RF, then Marmol is the best choice to move in the rotation. Wood, if re-signed is not going back. Guzman can't stay healthy. Who knows if Prior will even be an option. And Dempster is just a bad idea. One of Wood or Guzman could take over Marmol's role, or you gamble that Mike Wuertz gets it together again in that spot. This is similar to the Papelbon situation. If the Cubs can put together 5 starters like the Red Sox, then definitely keep Marmol in relief. But I think it's worth a shot in spring training 08.

You'd be wasting his value. Your best reliever should pitch in the tighest of spots. That is mostly in the 6th, 7th, or 8th, when the starting pitcher or middle reliever gets in trouble and you need to get through the heart of the order. The closer starts almost all his innings with nobody on, so you can afford to give up a runner. When a guy comes in during the 8th with men on and nobody out, you need your stud reliever. I would rather have dempster, whose K/9 and HR/9 are high enough/low enough to be able to handle the 9th, where he probably won't have runners on already unless Eyre came in and screwed up, again, then waste Marmol by moving him away from where he is most needed, coming in in a pinch and getting outs. Besides, for all you praise for Carlos, their BB/9 are very simular: 4.67 (RD) vs. 4.42 (CM), however Carlos does have a much better K/BB rate. Carlos has going for him the fact that he is virtually unhittable. When you have a sub .200 BAA, you can get away with walking a few more people. Edit: just looked up stats and Dempsters allowing a .198 BAA. Of course, he has been nowhere near that good historically.

I just don't see Marmol being as good as as starter as he is as a reliever. His K rate is much higher than it's ever been as a starter. His WHIP is lower. He has been a good starting pitcher in his past, and I wouldn't be upset if they moved him to the rotation. I just feel we may have found his niche. And while I completely agree that a starter is more important than a reliever, the fact is you do need some dominance in the pen. If they can keep putting out 5 starters without needing Marmol, I think I'd prefer him in the bullpen. Agreed. He won't be as good a starter as he has been as a reliever. But he's been a dominant reliever, one of the best in the league. If he can be a better than league average starter....then it might make the most sense to put him there, especially when you consider the Cubs will probably have to trade Marshall or Hill in order to get a bat to greatly improve their offense. The alternatives are Dempster to the rotation, the oft-injured Guzman, or the lesser talented Sean Gallagher, Juan mateo and others. And the Cubs will probably still have Dempster, Howry, Wood and Wuertz in the pen.

So you want Dempster going 2 innings last night in a tie game and Marmol coming in to face the 9-1-2 hitters with a 2 run lead? Does anybody really want to see Dempster with the game on the line? Lous been bringing Marmol in crucial situations. Coming in the 9th with no runners on with a lead is alot easier than coming in with runners on in a tie game in the 7th or 8th. Its risky bringing Dempster in with runners on because he walks too many. Len said last night that Marmol leads the league in % of inherited runners stranded.

Umm, okay. To answer the question, no, he won't get any votes. But we wouldn't be in first place without him. there are like 12 guys on the team without whom the cubs wouldn't be in first place. Marmol, Zambrano, Hill, Lilly, DLee, Ramirez, DeRosa, Theriot, Soriano... who else would you add to that list? Marshall, Howry,

I'm actually FOR trying Marmol again in the rotation. If Wood is back next year and healthy, he should presumably be a pretty decent reliever and could take over Carlos' role. As has been stated, a good starter is more valuable than a great reliever. If Marmol can be a good starter, that's better for the team, IMO. If he shows he can't be a good starter, well he has a great fallback option.

So you'd sign Kendall to a 2/10 as a contingency plan? There's no way that happens. If Kendall is signed, he'll get most of the starts regardless. And I don't see the Cubs trying to, or being able to get rid of Blanco. Now, if you could get rid of Blanco at no cost, get Kendall to a 1 year/$1.5m deal, and let Soto start 60-70% of the games, I'd be all for it. Well, I wasn't arguing that it would happen, just that I wouldn't mind it happening. :D I was probably a little high on the money end, but I think there's less of a chance of Kendall signing for 1.5M than anything else happening that has been stated in this thread.

Piazza took that paycut at SD, as a C. Besides, I'm comparing them because you said vets don't take such paycuts even when they have a bad year. Kendall's OPS+ the past 3 years has been 77, 89 and 66. The point is you're damn right you can find similar production (and quite possibly better) for cheaper. From where though? I haven't really looked, but I don't have anyone off the top of my head that will be reasonably available for less. Really? Geovany Soto. .279/.359/.425 career minor league line. Even if he goes .259/.339/.400 he'd be worth the $5m that can be spent on actual production. If there is ever a time to give a prospect a chance, it's when you have to pay millions to keep a guy who is going to be 34 years old and is nowhere near a guarantee to outproduce the kid. Really? I guess we are talking about 2 different things. Because I clearly said that Soto should get a shot and Kendall was a contingency plan provided the Cubs got rid of Blanco and used the catchers properly.

Piazza took that paycut at SD, as a C. Besides, I'm comparing them because you said vets don't take such paycuts even when they have a bad year. Kendall's OPS+ the past 3 years has been 77, 89 and 66. The point is you're damn right you can find similar production (and quite possibly better) for cheaper. From where though? I haven't really looked, but I don't have anyone off the top of my head that will be reasonably available for less.

I've never understood that. Why tell a pitcher to throw at full strength just to throw the ball OUT of the strikezone? Especially, when the result is extremely likely to have the same result. Hitters know when they are being pitched around. I don't think it's as reasonable as you think that he swings at a bad ball he knows is coming. Better off just having the pitcher throw 4 warmup tosses to the catcher and putting him on intentionally. You are counting on way too many things to happen with a pitch around. Counting on a bad defensive catcher blocking pitches in the dirt. Counting on that if Fielder swings at 1 bad pitch he hits it directly to a fielder that can record and out. Or counting on him swinging at 3 bad pitches for the strikeout.

It's the risk you take, whereas, Kendall at big money is not. I don't think 5M is big money, comparatively. But as has been stated, it would be nice if we had a better idea of Soto's capabilities offensively at this level. I think $5m is very big money, comparatively. Kendall is no guarantee to give you a season's worth of production. He could very easily be worse than Soto next year. The only way you pay $5m more for a guy like that is if you are certain he's going to be better than somebody who could replace him. $5m has to give you a significant upgrade. Mike Piazza went from $16m to $1.25m between 2005 and 2006, and his 2005 season was better than Kendall's 2007. Frank Thomas went from $8m in 2005 with a 131 OPS+ to $500,000 in 2006. It wasn't until an MVP consideration 2006 that he bumped back up. Jason Kendall sucks defensively and has a 66 OPS+ in 2007. There is absolutely no justification for signing him to a contract that goes beyond 1 year at $1.5m or lower. You're comparing 2 DHs to a catcher? Thomas and Piazza had 0 value as defensive players. Kendall, while not great, can still play the toughest position to fill in professional sports at least somewhat competently. The Cubs are paying Blanco 2.5M. While I will give you that is insane, Kendall monumentally better. And unless you can find similar production for cheaper, I think it can be justified paying him that amount of money.

It's the risk you take, whereas, Kendall at big money is not. I don't think 5M is big money, comparatively. But as has been stated, it would be nice if we had a better idea of Soto's capabilities offensively at this level. That's what pisses me off so much about this entire situation. Soto may never be as good as he has been this past couple of months. Why not bring him up and see what he can do. This is another case of Murton, DuBois, etc., etc. Just once I wish the Cubs would do the right thing. I know it sucks. The Brewers were playing well and handed jobs over to Corey Hart and Ryan Braun. The Cards have plugged in Ankiel. Plenty of examples out there of teams that have thrown young players into the fire and let them play. I think part of the reason guys like Murton and Pie struggle (and why Soto probably will) is because the Cubs don't give them every possible chance to succeed.

Yeah, I didn't realize I had such a strong dislike for so many Brewers. I like Braun, some, but that's about it. I picked Kevin Mench, because he's not a good player, yet he always seems to do damage vs. the Cubs.

It's the risk you take, whereas, Kendall at big money is not. I don't think 5M is big money, comparatively. But as has been stated, it would be nice if we had a better idea of Soto's capabilities offensively at this level.

That is grossly overpaying. I believe that's what the market has shown to be. What Kendall is being paid now is being grossly overpaid. Like it or not, players don't take that drastic pay cuts unless they completely can't play at all anymore. 5M/year is a lot for a backup catcher, but if Blanco can get 2.5M, I'm sure Kendall could get 5. That still doesn't mean the Cubs have to be that team to give it to him. Save that task for Ned Colleti. I'd offer him 1 year @ 1 million tops. I understand that, but what happens if Soto doesn't perform. Granted it's been 33 ABs, but he hasn't hit in his major league stints. And despite the mammoth season this year, it's the only time he's been over a .756 OPS. Also, he's had some injury problems in the past. Blanco or Koyie Hill production for a long period of time could be disasterous for a team with offensive holes elsewhere.

And people still wonder why people love him and want him to play more when you couple those numbers with his sub 1/2 million salary.

That is grossly overpaying. I believe that's what the market has shown to be. What Kendall is being paid now is being grossly overpaid. Like it or not, players don't take that drastic pay cuts unless they completely can't play at all anymore. 5M/year is a lot for a backup catcher, but if Blanco can get 2.5M, I'm sure Kendall could get 5.

I wouldn't mind re-signing Kendall if Blanco was DFA'd. I would be happy with a catching tandem of Soto and Kendall if the playing time was distributed pretty evenly. I would offer a 2-year deal for about $10M, if he would accept a 1-year deal, I'd give him as much as $7M. Kendall is not good defensively, so isn't a great backup catcher. But he is good insurance in case Soto doesn't pan out.

I thought it was a no brainer. Dempster dominates RH hitters. Fielder's the NL leader in HRs and the most dangerous player in the Brewers lineup. If Fielder gets a hit (which he is more likely to do than Hart or Jenkins if Yost had pinch hit), then he's on base anyway, but with the score tied.

Nope. Hard throwing, top prospect.

It's for college pick'em though, so there is not draft.