rawaction

Interesting. On one hand, Tejada wants out and everyone knows it. Baltimore may be forced to trade him at some point. Philly isn't forced to trade Abreu, now that they got rid of Thome. However, Philly does have available replacements for Abreu. And they still have a pretty good offensive nucleus of Utley, Howard, Burrell, Rollins, Michaels, Rowand. I still think Tejada would command more. Especially from the Cubs perspective. The O's would have to be interested in corner OF/IF and SS to replace Tejada, meaning possibly losing scarce top prospects Cedeno, Murton, Dopirak, or Harvey. The Phils would have more interest in pitching, the Cubs strength.

Who does Baltimore have at SS without Tejada? Cedeno would almost certainly need to be included. Walker may be a possibility at 1B, but he'd be at the low end of production there, and they have an All-Star 2B, so that's out of the question.

never thought I'd see anyone explicitly after Todd Wellemeyer.

Me either. And I don't know if a team is capable of scoring double digits against the Bears D before they do something in return.

Good point. I didn't see if they offered him arby or not.

Yep. Teams will hesistate to give him a big money long-term deal, because he already got paid big money and didn't live up to it. Similar to Millwood. Millwood signed for 1/$7M with Cleveland. I expect Weaver to do the same around mid-January.

What makes you think Jeff Weaver will sign a contract like that? Did Scott Boras just get hit by a bus? He signed a contract like that for Millwood last offseason.

Watch for Alex Brown against Trai Essex. The Steelers line has been bad the last few weeks. The Bears will bring a lot of people and put pressure on Big Ben. I think this is a favorable matchup for Tillman and Vasher, as they both have size over the Pitt WRs (Ward, Randle El). Parker's a quick back, which has given the Bears trouble, but I think they will be able to stop him. He has also been putting it on the ground recently. Offensively, I think they can run a bit, but I don't know what they are gonna do in the passing game. Both teams play right into each other's hands, personnel wise.

There's a difference between ANY prospect and the 4 best, 2 days after trading your only other close to the majors talent. The Cubs create a hole in the rotation (and backup in the rotation), and still haven't filled their biggest hole. Now they have $12M less to fill them with. sign clemens for a year. :D Hell, we don't need 5 aces - look who the cardinals had at the back of their rotation the last couple of years. Yea, it may hurt long-term, but do you really think any of those four are going to be irreplaceable long-term? Do you think a team that feels compelled to trade a 2.5 player like Walker is going to see the value of young players? With this management, go for it now. Perhaps we can get some A ball arms in return. That's why I'm torn. I wouldn't be upset about that deal. But it wouldn't put this team over the top. I think it would Raw - it would almost certainly put the cubs in the playoffs and I'd take my chances from there. Ok, we still need healthy pitching but that is a must in any scenario. That's a pretty good and balanced lineup. Tejada isn't dunn but with a producer 1-8, you are going to score some runs. I would go: Pierre Walker Lee Ramirez Tejada Bradley Murton Barrett How are you going to get Bradley or Floyd if you trade Williams, Pie, Hill, and Cedeno for Tejada? And what do you do about the rotation? I'll sum it up in 5 words. Bobby Brownlie Outlaw Curve Returns

There's a difference between ANY prospect and the 4 best, 2 days after trading your only other close to the majors talent. The Cubs create a hole in the rotation (and backup in the rotation), and still haven't filled their biggest hole. Now they have $12M less to fill them with. sign clemens for a year. :D Hell, we don't need 5 aces - look who the cardinals had at the back of their rotation the last couple of years. Yea, it may hurt long-term, but do you really think any of those four are going to be irreplaceable long-term? Do you think a team that feels compelled to trade a 2.5 player like Walker is going to see the value of young players? With this management, go for it now. Perhaps we can get some A ball arms in return. That's why I'm torn. I wouldn't be upset about that deal. But it wouldn't put this team over the top.

Exactly. Like it or not, a SS with an .840 OPS is more valuable than an OF 100 points higher. That's the way the market works. Supply and demand. That being said, I'm on the fence on trading Williams, Pie, Hill and Cedeno for him. Funny, if the Cubs still had Pinto and Nolasco, that decision isn't as hard. I probably wouldn't trade that much though. I really don't know how we could say that we were in better shape to win both short-term and long if we traded all 4 for Tejada. We didn't.

There's a difference between ANY prospect and the 4 best, 2 days after trading your only other close to the majors talent. The Cubs create a hole in the rotation (and backup in the rotation), and still haven't filled their biggest hole. Now they have $12M less to fill them with.

Exactly. Like it or not, a SS with an .840 OPS is more valuable than an OF 100 points higher. That's the way the market works. Supply and demand. That being said, I'm on the fence on trading Williams, Pie, Hill and Cedeno for him. Funny, if the Cubs still had Pinto and Nolasco, that decision isn't as hard. I probably wouldn't trade that much though.

Great start with the generalization. And Burnitz 04 numbers were significantly better because he played 81 games in Coors Field. And Bradley's numbers ARE in fact VERY VERY significantly better. Granted, they are not over a full season, but I wish Burnitz's weren't either.

didn't someone mention something about Vasquez having Philly on his no trade list?

Why they going and messing up a good trade? Hudson's decent, but Wilkerson's much better.

87 players had an ISOD over .100 (with at least 200 PAs) in 05. That's a pretty decent sized group. 167 players were at (or above) Walker's career average of .081. 207 people with over 200 PAs had a higher BB/PA than Walker. I like Walker as much as anyone and want him on this team badly next year, but he's not the great leadoff hitter we all think he is. Especially, when he's as like to post a .330's OBP as he is one in the .350's. Where did you find the IsoD numbers? I'd be interested to see how many of those 87 qualified, or were close to it. Walker's posted an OBP under .342 once in his career(twice if you include his 156 ABs in '97), and he's been over .350 6 of his 8 seasons(9 if you include '97). He's done it by hitting for a high average(2005 for example), and by hitting for a lower average and walking more(2004). I think he's as good a bet as anyone to put up a .350 OBP, and he's much more likely to do that than .330. 47 qualified players were over .100 BB/PA. 81 over .081. Walker did not qualify with enough ABs.

Wouldn't mind that at all, but White doesn't have a huge platoon split. I'd almost rather have White play everyday when he can, and platoon Floyd/Murton. Well, you know that's how it would work with a certain manager.

What about a White/Floyd platoon? They could get 162 combined couldn't they?

I think Lugo to Boston has a chance. My guess is Manny to Anaheim for a package involving Cabrera. The Angels have nothing to lose by trading Cabrera. They have the best IF prospects on earth.

87 players had an ISOD over .100 (with at least 200 PAs) in 05. That's a pretty decent sized group. 167 players were at (or above) Walker's career average of .081. 207 people with over 200 PAs had a higher BB/PA than Walker. I like Walker as much as anyone and want him on this team badly next year, but he's not the great leadoff hitter we all think he is. Especially, when he's as like to post a .330's OBP as he is one in the .350's.

Walker is not that patient. It's a common misconception. In 04, he had a BB/PA over .100, but in 05 he was at .072, that's barely over what Patterson did in 04. In 02 and 03 he was only at .075 and .074 respectively. If he hit his career average of .290 last year, his OBP would have been under .340. Career he's at .081. FYI, .100 is the standard for good patience as a hitter. .081 is definitely acceptable, but he's not in Derrek Lee's class.

Good deal for both sides. Brewers got young, cheap players. No reason for them to take the Boston deal for Clement. Bush is decent. And the other pitcher they got sounds pretty good. Much better than Hillenbrand. He, Koskie or Hinske will be available now for minor leaguers.

I'd be surprised if Texas even punts in this game. USC can't stop them.

The Colts. USC plays with a higher payroll. heh. that's for you Raisin. Naw, it's really not close, though. As has been mentioned, the Colts have to deal with salary cap, better competition, and fair competition for prospective players. The Colts can't draft the top 5 players, USC can get the top 5 HS players if they want.