Tracer Bullet

literally 2 hours ago i heard somebody on mlb network saying that the white sox just acquired "a superstar caliber hitter", in those exact words Congratulations, you got the wrong network. I'm all for ESPN bashing but they've never panned Alex Rios out to be some sort of superstar. Never. Just because ONE GUY on MLB Network said he's a "superstar caliber player" definitely doesn't mean that and basically everyone else in national sports TV has never said Rios is that good. Now if he puts up those numbers from 2-3 years ago in CF for the Sox, that's a real steal. I'm not a big Rios fan but that contract definitely isn't as bad when he's placed in CF. My bad, I forgot that ESPN is soooo much better than MLB Network. Every ESPN on-air employee is very knowledgable, right? BBTN is pretty much brilliant. John Kruk is a mastermind and Fernando Vina knows more than everyone on this board combined. I feel foolish for comparing them to those jokers over at MLBN. I'm aware that I said MLBN. MLB Network, ESPN, etc. It's all the same garbage. I gave that as an example because it was the most recent. Unless you watch ESPN 24/7 and have a superhuman memory, that's a pretty ridiculous claim to make. Making that kind of argument is pointless, to boot. You can say "they never do that" as many times as you want. I know what I've seen and heard. Don't tell me what I do and do not hear. He never said ESPN was great. You entire first paragraph is an argument against something never said and a waste of time. You made the claim that ESPN, etc made Rios out to be a superstar, but haven't shown anything to support that and public opinion is against you (no one here seems to have a memory of such things, except you). Seems unlikely that you're right and everyone else is wrong on this point.

that won't necessarily stop them from beating Michigan this year.

I have no idea how good ND will be this year, but this is as excited as I've been about the CFB season in some time. I can't wait for them to drive up to Ann Arbor and beat the [expletive] out of Michigan.

MLB umpires are terrible. That's pathetic.

No doubt, I didn't feel super comfortable with it either. But maybe you don't need to trade Lilly to get Reyes, or maybe Harden takes arbitration, or maybe there's a good trade opportunity that comes along if that's too much risk for some to take with the rotation. I'm hoping Harden loves Chicago so much that he takes arbitration and we work out a reasonable 1-2 year deal with him (ideally 1-year with a team option or something). I'd be more comfortable trading Lilly if we had Z and Harden (even though Harden's going to miss some starts).

I like the offense, though Reyes missing almost the entire season scares me a little. But that rotation makes me pretty nervous. There are a number of gambles in that list of SPs.

OK, well, that doesn't really clarify anything. My objection to your statement has nothing to do with all of that. You said, that if non-clutch exists, "logic simply dictates" that clutch exists. Accepting that these aren't defined terms, it's still not an accurate statement. If there are players that consistently perform worse than normal in what we call "clutch" situations (whatever they are), then you might accurately say they are non-clutch. The existence of such players, if there are any, has no bearing on whether there are players that consistently perform better in "clutch" situations.

He's not playing today. http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=AmQhDYLwxT.vv_He2J.nDPyFCLcF?slug=ap-cubs-ramirezout&prov=ap&type=lgns

Nope. Samardzija is their best chance of not having to waste the whole pen that day. He's the only one who can get you through 5 IP right now, unless you call up an inferior pitcher like Atkins. I agree. Though is there harm in calling up Atkins in case it's 10-0 in the 2nd and we want to let him throw 100 pitches rather than burn through the pen? I know it's not likely to happen, but there's a decent chance that Shark gets ripped and we end up using every pitcher in the bullpen.

this is so far from accurate, it actually makes me a little mad.

You're missing the point. I didn't ask which players do that . I asked that IF there were a player that did that, would he quailify as "clutch?" The answer, btw, is yes. So if there were a creature that looked like a horse, except it had a horn on its head and could fly, would that be a unicorn? The answer is yes. Ergo, despite the fact that no one has ever seen one or any evidence of one, unicorns exist.

This definitely hasnt been his year, with his .193/.332/.364 line, but it would be hard to argue with picking him up as a bat off the bench. Maybe we could get an Edmondsesque resurgence out of him for a few months. Hes a lefty, and thats what matters, at least to Lou. In what world is it hard to argue against carrying a DH that can't hit as one of our 5 offensive bench players?

Well that was worthless. So I take it hes signed by the Cards and developes a 105 MPH fast ball. OMG, every player who's ever played for the Cardinals has turned to GOLD! The Cardinals are the luckiest team in baseball. Cardinals, yeah! You do realize that my post was inteneded to be just as sarcastic as your response to said post. Obviously, when he signs with the Cards he'll throw 102 MPH tops. It's one thing to make the damn pixie dust joke about every current or former Cardinals player. But do we really need to make it about guys who aren't with the Cardinals or even rumored to be going there?

Hoffpauirs the one who should be sent down. I know, hes our lefty power that gets ahold of 1 once in a blue moon between awkword looking strikeouts, but he has options and other than being lefty, he serves the same purpose as Fox, maybe a bit better defensively but a lot worse offensively. The problem is, who is this mythical replacement catcher who can hit? I guess we could bring up Robinson and hope for lightening in a bottle until Soto returns, but his AAA numbers dont look like theyd traslate into big league succes. I guess we could just trade for Greg Zaun or something of the like. dude, i don't mean to be a jerk, but didn't you want Hoffpauir starting over Derrek Lee like six weeks ago?. Yeah, that change of heart is hilarious.

Single A reliever? They got Scott Barnes, who has started 18 games. ERA under 3, more than a K per IP, over 3/1 K/BB. Apparently was one of the Giants top 20 prospects. Anyone know how good he is or is projected to be?

The quickest data I could find was from 2006-2008, when the average payroll for the Cubs was $115 million and the Cardinals was $102 million. http://www.midwestsportsfans.com/2009/03/mlb-team-payrolls-2006-2007-2008-efficiency-analysis/ I guess it's semantics whether that qualifies as "far apart" or not. ~ 10% seems significant

Jocketty isn't the first guy I'd want to replace Hendry, but he did hire TLR. As much as I hate him, since hiring him means you get Dave Duncan, it's worth it.

Joe Carter, Dave Otto, Joe Morgan, Buck and McCarver, Hawk Harrelson...

I'm not quite as anti-Stone as some here, but it's worth noting that he wasn't acting like a bitch towards the Cubs franchise prior to September of 2004. That may be, but whether he is or he isn't doesn't change his work that he did in the booth for the team. If he rips the team now, that doesn't change his performance in the booth all those years for us. It just seems that suddenly now that he has a grudge against the Cubs, he was a bad color man for all those years, and that simply is not the case. i thought he was a great because i basically grew up listening to him. harry and stone were as much a part of the cubs to me as any player, if not more so. once he left, i realized i didn't miss him, and len and bob were just fine. and now when i hear him do sox games, i'm not particularly impressed with him. on top of all that, add to the fact that he's a whiney douche, and i'm completely happy he's not with the cubs. exactly

I really, really hope that Brewers won't give up prospects for Halladay but will give up something valuable for Washburn.

They should just shut the whole thing down. It's a damn joke anyway.

If Joe Posnanski thinks it's a smart move for the Royals (and he does), it's probably a good move for the Royals.

Wait, this can't be true. If he warms up in the pen, his knee won't hurt if he actually gets into the game? Ok, after Shark gets the last guy out, have some rookie grab a bat and stand at the plate while Gregg gets him out. I can't believe throwing any amount of pitches from the mound rather than the bullpen mound has any effect on his knee, let alone as few as 5.

He probably does have "some" authority -- more than the average person around here, perhaps. He gave his perspective, and gave full disclosure as to what his perspective was. He certainly did not - that was your (and some others') interpretation. That's a pretty bad job of analyzing that sentence. "based on what I see" isn't a disclaimer there. It's further support for his alleged authority to speak on the subject. He's just telling his audience why he has the authority he claims to have. Plus, that's not what I was referring to. It started with this:

I've spend a good portion of this season working on the field as a field guard. Certainly not a clubhouse attendant, but I'm still in close proximity with the players and have the opportunity to see them interact during warmups before gates open. Thus, I can assure you based on what I see that they do not "hate" each other. Next time, try getting your facts straight before you make smartass comments. Oh, my fault. That makes a world of difference. Being 50 feet away instead of 150 feet away gives you remarkable insight into the innermost thoughts and feelings of the team, as well as the overall mood and tenor of the clubhouse and camaraderie of the roster. I'm happy you have a cool job at the park, but get some perspective. Not even the beat reporters always know if those guys get along. Your statement is no more or less a guess than the other one. He gave his perspective in response to somebody who claimed they also had an opinion on the team's chemistry. And no offense to Gingerballs, but he probably has an even less direct view of the team. What's really wrong with what Roast said? Questioning Gingerball's basis for his opinion or just disagreeing with his statement is one thing. Speaking as if you have some authority on the issue will likely result in the basis of your authority being called into question. Roast stated he knew, as a fact, that the team didn't hate each other because he works at Wrigley. As others have said, I'd question a beat writer who spoke from authority on the team's feelings for one another (there can be exceptions, i.e., "I saw Player X punch player Y in the face, I'm pretty sure they hate each other). A security person at Wrigley has even less authority on this issue, imo.