rawaction

Shouldn't have taken the bat out of Floyd's hands in the 8th. Why pinch hit him w/ 1B open? Let Murton bat and maybe they pitch to him with the R-R matchup. If you want to pinch hit a LH hitter, go with Pie. Worst case scenario, they pitch to Pie because he's a rookie and he strikes out like he did later in the inning. If Murton or Pie gets out then you get a walk to Theriot and have Floyd hit with the bases loaded. Best case, they walk him and you have your fastest runner on base to break up a possible DP. Basically by putting Floyd in for Murton an obvious intentional walk situation. Lou took the bats from Murton and Floyd and gave them to Theriot and Pie. I know Floyd's been out a few days and Murton hasn't played this month, but that's a horrible, horrible decision.

Howry wasn't [expletive] around was he?

Hate to sound like a Piniella basher, but you don't pinch hit Floyd with 1B open. The Mariners had 2 choices. a. pitch to Murton with a RH b. walk a LH pinch hitter. If you don't like Murton's chances to get a hit, pinch hit Pie. Worst case scenario, they pitch to Pie because he's a rookie and he Ks. Still you get a walk to Theriot and Floyd hits with the bases loaded 1 out. Best case, they walk Pie and he gives you the best chance on the roster to either break up a DP in the middle IF or score on an extra base hit.

Eh, he's about average. Hard to really tell because he played for the Cards who never had a decent OL while he was there. I think he could be a decent FB for the Bears though. Certainly better than Runnels.

Here are a couple other bad ones: Steve Trachsel in 2006: 4.97 ERA, 1.60 WHIP, 87 ERA+ Shawn Estes in 2005: 5.84 ERA, 1.62 WHIP, 86 ERA+ I stand corrected. Exhibits A, B and C that wins mean nothing.

The anti-HR league isn't stopping others from hitting HR. There aren't many leagues that can stop Jay Bruce.

Heh, nobody has picked 1998. Best record, but that was a horrible team. It was basically Sosa with a little help from Grace, Wood, and career years for Morandini and Brant Brown. Tapani won 19 games with a 4.85 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, and a 90 ERA+. That may the worst season ever for a 15-game winner.

I'm not taking away points. Where are the points that can be taken away. The problem is he can't hit, not all that well at least. Who cares? Um, I would think Cubs fans. A light hitter can still hit .300. A light hitter refers to power, not average. His SLG is okay, but it's propped up by average as he's had very little HR power, even compared to others in his league. It makes perfect sense to call such a hitter a light hitter. Wasn't Mark Grace a light hitter? I care because a prospect with okay numbers that are heavily dependent on AVG with no power or patience doesn't exactly scream top notch offensive talent to me. And that's the point of this whole discussion. At this point Colvin is nothing more than another guy who might contribute a bit to the team, but he's nobody to get overly giddy about when talking about the potential for big things on the Cubs by their current group of young hitters. You said he is a weak hitting corner OF because he won't play CF for the Cubs. It's not like he doesn't have the ability to play CF, where he would likely be slightly above average offensive. Secondly, yes, Mark Grace was a weak hitter. That's because his career IsoP was .139.....a far cry from .185. The "propped up" comment doesn't make sense to me, because couldn't you say the same thing about David Ortiz? His SLG is higher than Dunn's because he hits .320 as opposed to .240, but the power is similar. Third, again with the no power comment. Sure he's not hitting light tower HRs, but at this point he is 1 off the league lead with 22 doubles. He plays his home games in the largest park in the FSL. He's yet to fill out his 6'3" frame. .185 ISOP is above average power, no matter it he does it with doubles, triples or HRs.

Corner OF? His CF defense is great - good range, instincts and arm. Light-hitting? He has a .491 SLG in the FSL, a pitching-dominated league. But yes, his patience is crap and plate discipline issues are going to catch up to him in AA or higher. I still like Colvin. I think he could be a nice player. Nothing special probably at this point, but could be a .285/.340/.500 player for a while. I think Pie can eventually produce like a corner OF, putting less pressure on Colvin to be a big time producer. Either player as a corner OF would take away a big chunk of their value for the team. An IsoD of .055 might be a bit to ask for Colvin, not to mention an IsoP of .215. He's at .030/.185 right now in A ball. I could see him being a nice player, as in a guy who outperforms his salary for 4-5 years. But I'm not all that positive he'll outperform Jacque Jones when all is said and done. A few seasons around a 780-800 OPS, but ultimately a disappointment due to the really ugly k/bb. Ok. That makes sense. The IsoD was assuming he would improve to a respectable level, which he would have to do to even reach the majors. The IsoP I elevated because he still will get stronger and again he's in what I feel is the toughest hitter's league in all of minor league baseball.

Corner OF? His CF defense is great - good range, insticts and arm. Light-hitting? He has a .491 SLG in the FSL, a pitching-dominated league. But yes, his patience is crap and it's going to catch up to him in AA or higher. He won't be a CF, unless Pie is dealt. For the purposes of judging offensive talent on the Cubs, he's a RF. And that SLG is good for 10th in the league, but propped up by his average. He's still way down the list in HR. Light hitting corner OF who can't take a walk is dead on. I don't see how you can basically take away points because he won't be a CF for the Cubs. If he can hit, he can hit. You say his SLG is 10th in the league, but then say he's a light hitter. That doesn't make sense. Who cares if it's propped up by his average since he projects as a good hitter.

Corner OF? His CF defense is great - good range, instincts and arm. Light-hitting? He has a .491 SLG in the FSL, a pitching-dominated league. But yes, his patience is crap and plate discipline issues are going to catch up to him in AA or higher. I still like Colvin. I think he could be a nice player. Nothing special probably at this point, but could be a .285/.340/.500 player for a while. I think Pie can eventually produce like a corner OF, putting less pressure on Colvin to be a big time producer.

The question is, how much of Harris' performance this year is a fluke? His BABIP is .363, obviously unsustainable unless he keeps hitting line drives at a 28% rate. PECOTA certainly didn't forecast a season this good out of him. Fontenot's PECOTA has him averaging around a .345 OBP with a .750 OPS over the next five years. If you're going to go with a guy who's got pretty solid offense but a glove that works better at 3B/2B, why not just stick Fontenot there? He can probably do about the same as Harris, and you won't have to give up anything of value. I'm still not convince Fonty can handle SS. Although, he does seem to have the range and the arm from what I've seen from him at 2B.

Washburn's last 2 starts have been: 4 2/3, 9 hits, 5 ERs 3 2/3, 9 hits, 5 runs (4 ER) Seattle has won a pair of 4-game win streaks in their last 10 games. The only reason they haven't won 10 straight is because they have lost both of Washburn's starts in that span. Hill has been very good in his last 2 starts. Both keep up, Cubs win today....next 2 could be problematic, though.

What's more disgusting? Paying $4M to Izturis or $4M to Eckstein? I'm all for going with Theriot if he's ready. Fontenot can't play SS, can he? He played it a fair amount at Iowa, but he wouldn't be a good-fielding shortstop. Then again, Brendan Harris isn't supposed to be able to play SS, and he's out there every game for the D-Rays. Brendan Harris could be on the market, with Reid Brignac on the way.

Dunn's as good as gone. Josh Hamilton has shown to be the exact same player, with less OBP and more defense. No way do the Reds re-sign Dunn. No way do they get nothing for him when they are a last place type of team. I'll go out on a limb and say he'll be traded by the end of June.

I doubt he's available. He's signed through next year and having a great season on a 1st place team. But no, I'm not much of a fan. This year is clearly a fluke. He's 32 and putting up an OPS+ 45.3% above his career average of 86. He has a career .321 OBP, which is weak, but tolerable. Howeve, he's been at .306 and .309 in 2 of of the previous 3 seasons. He turns 33 this November. I'm guessing maybe the Angels would trade him in his walk year, but how much would you have to give up for the right to pay him $9m and hope he doesn't regress? I'm not a fan either, to be honest. Just think he is an interesting name especially considering he has been a target in the past.

Andy's reppin' Da Bend. I gotta give it to him. Plus, I appreciate Ball St. giving IU it's only win in football every year. And I have always enjoyed Ball St. women.

DITTO. He's the reason why I'm here.

No Orlando Cabrera fans?

IU vs. UK. That could get ugly. I will definitely bring out the mudslinging campaign if that matchup were to happen.

Indeed, I am. I hate voting in this one, but raw's my boy, so I gotta go with him. Dobs = best 15 seed ever. Yeah, I voted for Dobson myself.

I have AOL, Yahoo and MSN. action4life on Yahoo and MSN. I use my wife's on AOL....not sure what that is.

So why did his velocity suddenly go up during the middle of that supposed overworking? It would make sense for it to start going down, but instead, it has gotten better over that stretch. Plus his arm troubles that everyone thought for sure he was injured earlier in the season doesn't look like an injury now. Because he knew his day was almost done. Starters don't throw max effort when they know they have to get thru 6-7 innings. He needed to get through 2 batters and gave all that he had for a short period of time. I meant over that stretch of starts. He was throwing low 90's max the first month and a half. Now, he's hitting 96 and 97 at times and holding in the low 90's consistently. So he's thrown a ton of pitches in his starts, and his velocity has actually increased from start to start while he's doing that. A random question-does anybody know which season was the last year that Z stopped regularly throwing in the winter? I knew for a while he'd throw several games in the winter leagues-when did that stop (for example, I know he threw only 1 or 2 this offseason max) Oh my bad. I misunderstood. But anyway, I believe there are 2 ways a pitcher loses his arm slot like Z was doing. One, is he's not focused on his mechanics, which I would guess was the case early in the season. I say that because of the contract situation and the pressure of being the 1 of the big 3 left on the roster. Two, is he's tired. He did have 4 games of over 116 pitches, and just threw 125 pitches in the prior game, before he had the crappy game vs. Atlanta. To actually answer your question. I think mechanics are the main reason Z has had more velocity recently. He is getting on top of the ball a lot more.

:oops: :oops: :oops: I didn't even know you saw my jib. Damn Google maps.

So why did his velocity suddenly go up during the middle of that supposed overworking? It would make sense for it to start going down, but instead, it has gotten better over that stretch. Plus his arm troubles that everyone thought for sure he was injured earlier in the season doesn't look like an injury now. Because he knew his day was almost done. Starters don't throw max effort when they know they have to get thru 6-7 innings. He needed to get through 2 batters and gave all that he had for a short period of time.