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I don't want Samardzija's arm wasted as a reliever without getting a shot at starting first. Without Jeff, the Cubs have one of the best starting staffs in MLB. Without Jeff the pen is just a notch above average. I'll take Samardzija in the pen. He should be in AAA starting so that he can take a rotation spot next year or later this year if someone gets hurt. I think it's more like WHEN someone gets hurt. I can't see them going the entire year without any starting pitcher missing some time. You shut your dirty mouth. We're going the entire year only using 5 starting pitchers.

I don't want Samardzija's arm wasted as a reliever without getting a shot at starting first. Without Jeff, the Cubs have one of the best starting staffs in MLB. Without Jeff the pen is just a notch above average. I'll take Samardzija in the pen. He should be in AAA starting so that he can take a rotation spot next year or later this year if someone gets hurt.

What in the world are you talking about? ? Soriano isn't getting $17m a year. It's 8 years and heavily back loaded. Soriano has earned the money he's made to date, imo. Whether he'll earn it at the end of the contract, well, I highly doubt. Is that what you were after? I think that's pretty clear from my earlier posts, but maybe I'm just totally missing something b/c you seem almost offended. His contract is a guaranteed contract that averages to $17m/year. He made $17m in the first year, $13m in the 2nd and will make $16m this year and $18 the rest. It's asinine to suggest he doesn't make $17m a year. The contract is guaranteed and the signing bonus was already paid, and it's not even close to heavily backloaded. I disagree as I've stated above. I could really give a rip if you agree with me or whether you consider my opinion asinine.

What in the world are you talking about? ? Soriano isn't getting $17m a year. It's 8 years and heavily back loaded. Soriano has earned the money he's made to date, imo. Whether he'll earn it at the end of the contract, well, I highly doubt. Is that what you were after? I think that's pretty clear from my earlier posts, but maybe I'm just totally missing something b/c you seem almost offended.

Yeah, 2B is better than you think. There's still a huge drop after the elite, but the depth isn't as bad as 3B, for example. I mostly agree with Cro Magnon's list, though I'd keep Kemp over Soto.

Nope, the fact that his numbers dramatically drop when he's moved from the leadoff spot. His worst two seasons (by far) over the past 7 seasons were the back to back years in Texas where they tried to bat him in the middle of the order. Lou bats him leadoff because of this. We've seen him try him down in the order and have no patience when he struggles there to start out. This is caused by Soriano's track record. I don't like paying 17 million a year for an injury prone .890 OPS power hitter who doesn't bat in the middle of the order. I'm not sure where you get your numbers, but I don't really care. I generally ignore signing bonuses or spread them out over the course of a contract when considering a player's value. I don't like lumping them all into the first year. Doesn't make much sense to me to do it that way, though, with Soriano, it's clear that he took less in Y1 b/c of the signing bonus. Either way, I don't care. I think it's perfectly legit to say he's earned his contract to date based on the way I amortize the bonus of the amounts he's been paid. The big problem most people had with Soriano's contract wasn't the first couple years, it's paying him $18m when he's in his late 30s. If you don't agree, fine, but the bottom line is not that he's getting 17m a year. That's just not true, no matter how many times you say it. As for batting order, in addition to the fact that's it's almost irrelevant where he bats, I strongly disagree that he'd be worse if he were hitting 3-5 rather than first. I know his history. The board had a huge debate about this when he was signed. I just don't agree that his history automatically leads to the conclusion you're drawing.

so has soriano i don't like paying 18 mil a year for a power hitter who can't bat in the middle of the order and can't stay on the field That's interesting, but we've paid Soriano 9m and 13m the last 2 years (not including signing bonus/incentives). He's earned that. Will he earn 16m this year and the 18m he gets from 2010-2014? We'll jump off that bridge when we get there. 17 million a year. sorry. 136/8= 17. you can spread it out however you want, but ultimately he's making 17 million dollars a year. even if you do it your way, he's averaged 15 mil a year for his first 2 seasons when you factor in the 8 mil signing bonus. i don't think a good-but-not-great power hitter who can't hit in the middle of the order or stay on the field is worth 15 million a year. sorry. Actually, if you do it "my way" he's made 10m and 14m the first 2 years (signing bonus spread out over term of contract). And what's this about not being able to hit in the middle of the order? Lou batting him first doesn't mean he can't hit 3-5.

so has soriano i don't like paying 18 mil a year for a power hitter who can't bat in the middle of the order and can't stay on the field That's interesting, but we've paid Soriano 9m and 13m the last 2 years (not including signing bonus/incentives). He's earned that. Will he earn 16m this year and the 18m he gets from 2010-2014? We'll jump off that bridge when we get there.

I actually think that was Buster Olney. olney may have done so as well, but Gammons certainly did. I think it was '06.

I wouldn't take Arod second even if he was healthy Not a fan of guys who put up big numbers? Come on. You can take a couple other guys at 2 that have roughly the same chance of matching or exceeding the value of a healthy ARod. Almost anyone drafted in the first round will put up big numbers (barring injury, complete collapse, etc). Who you take with the 2nd pick would primarily be driven by your draft strategy. I don't know, if there is still a guy like Arod left in the second round (barring it being like a 10 player league) I would most definitely take him, especially if he's healthy. Even on a 'down' year for him (like last year) he still put up 35HR and 100+RBI with a great OBP. I think dexter was saying he wouldn't take ARod with the 2nd pick, even if healthy, not the 2nd round.

Going to the June 25 day game at Tiger Stadium with a bunch of buddies. Most of them are Tigers fans, but I'm kind of forced to follow the Tigers if I want to talk baseball in person.

I wouldn't take Arod second even if he was healthy Not a fan of guys who put up big numbers? Come on. You can take a couple other guys at 2 that have roughly the same chance of matching or exceeding the value of a healthy ARod. Almost anyone drafted in the first round will put up big numbers (barring injury, complete collapse, etc). Who you take with the 2nd pick would primarily be driven by your draft strategy.

Still first round, I'd think. 10 weeks is about a month and a half of the season, right? I'd probably drop him a couple spots (behind Pujols, Wright, Reyes, maybe Sizemore, Cabrera). But if I have the 10-12th pick and he's on the board, I'm taking him.

I'm still trying to figure out which part of him is "joltin" - is it an ironic nickname?

hopefully by "the past" he means "three or four years ago" Wasn't it 3-4 years ago when Peter Gammons picked Crosby to win the AL MVP?

SP is a tool, but Lou is making Steve's argument for him. He's an analyst. He sucks, but he's paid to give his opinion on various happenings in baseball. He thinks Lou handled the situation poorly. Whether he's right or wrong, his job is to state that opinion on ESPN. Lou's pissed that Steve didn't come say it to Lou's face? Cripes. That's just stupid, Lou. Oh, and I agree with Steve to a point. Lou was pretty public with his frustration over Fukudome's struggles at times last season. Patience is more than just leaving him in the lineup. And I'm not sure his public venting about the situation was the best way to handle it.

If you keep Longoria, there might not be "elite" OFs, but you'll have lots of choices to fill in the OF. In a keeper league, if I have the choice between an OF that's about to turn 28 and a 3B that's going to be 23 for the entire year, the OF would have to be significantly better for me to let the young stud 3B go. And that's not the case here.

pujols, longoria, webb

I would love to see the high strung Bradley and the aloof Manny as our corner OF. Put a guy who may not speak a great deal of English between them and this has the makings of a sit com.

viewtopic.php?p=2085077#p2085077 (Levine) viewtopic.php?p=2041881#p2041881 (Miles) viewtopic.php?p=2042187#p2042187 (Wittenmeyer with words from Kenney) thanks, but none of those links provides anything more than speculation. oh come on. Things could have changed since those reports came out, but that's 3 guys whose sources have the same figure. Seems like a tad more than some guy at nsbb pulling a number out of thin air. you're missing the point. people in this thread are using the 140m term as if it's absolute. i'd just like to see something - anything - that says that. has hendry ever even said anything along the lines of "we'll probably wind up in the 140 range" or anything similar? I don't think I'm missing anything. If you expect Hendry to say that the payroll will be exactly $140m and nothing is going to change his mind, you're not going to get it. But what you're asking is pretty close to what Crane said in one or more of those linked articles. no, you are. people are arguing against the derosa trade because had the cubs have kept him, they still could've signed bradley and came in at 140m. not knowing what the cubs brass intends the payroll to be, the entire point is moot. IIRC, in the past hendry has been pretty forthcoming about what his budget is. i have yet to see anything concrete that says what that is this year. "no, you are" - so we're in 3rd grade now? If you want to know how much the Cubs are going to spend, words from the CEO are better than from the GM. Are you just being really difficult b/c TT gave you exactly what you were looking for when you didn't think he could?

viewtopic.php?p=2085077#p2085077 (Levine) viewtopic.php?p=2041881#p2041881 (Miles) viewtopic.php?p=2042187#p2042187 (Wittenmeyer with words from Kenney) thanks, but none of those links provides anything more than speculation. oh come on. Things could have changed since those reports came out, but that's 3 guys whose sources have the same figure. Seems like a tad more than some guy at nsbb pulling a number out of thin air. you're missing the point. people in this thread are using the 140m term as if it's absolute. i'd just like to see something - anything - that says that. has hendry ever even said anything along the lines of "we'll probably wind up in the 140 range" or anything similar? I don't think I'm missing anything. If you expect Hendry to say that the payroll will be exactly $140m and nothing is going to change his mind, you're not going to get it. But what you're asking is pretty close to what Crane said in one or more of those linked articles.

viewtopic.php?p=2085077#p2085077 (Levine) viewtopic.php?p=2041881#p2041881 (Miles) viewtopic.php?p=2042187#p2042187 (Wittenmeyer with words from Kenney) thanks, but none of those links provides anything more than speculation. oh come on. Things could have changed since those reports came out, but that's 3 guys whose sources have the same figure. Seems like a tad more than some guy at nsbb pulling a number out of thin air.

sure, but he was still a 36-year-old C and you're giving up your #1 pick. If you thought Posada was a good bet for an .800+ OPS and was the piece that would put you over the top or near it - fine. But I can't imagine this team finished in the top 3 last year.

Not to pile on Roast, but you traded your first round pick this year for Jorge Posada? I understand the strategy of going for it all, but was Posada really likely to be the difference between anything other than 11th and 12th place?

He's made millions of dollars and his life revolves around baseball. That's not a hole. Alright, then he's chasing his tail. If you were to find yourself no longer able to continue in journalism, wouldn't you try your hand at something else? No, I moved to North Dakota where I can still collect a paycheck and nobody cares that I'm incompetent. After what he went through here, I'm guessing Mark has the same mindset. This is a position I will never understand. He makes a ton of money playing baseball (or trying to). Even if it's league minimum, it's a ton of money. If he spends the next few years trying to pitch and it doesn't work out and he ends up giving in, great. But if all this work let's him pitch even one more season, he probably thinks it's worth it. If so, why would you encourage him to stop? It's not like this is reckless, unhealthy behavior that's negatively impacting his family or friends.