Tracer Bullet

Agreed I could never get into that show, but when it first started, one of the promo's showed one of the guys holding a shot gun and he said "this here's a shot gun so I don't really even have to aim." For some reason, that always got me.

I once ate an entire box of Saltines (all 4 bags) in under an hour without anything to drink. We're not talking reduced sodium either, it was the hard stuff. It's been 10 years and I'm still dehydrated.

That Lewis & Allen for Dirk & Okur deal is looking mighty cursed. I got the worst of it with Lewis & Allen (Dirk shouldn't miss any time, I don't think). I guess that's what you get for dealing TMac a few weeks before his back acts up again. Karma...

Loving that Billups for TMac deal right now.

Daily Show easily.

That's a bit short-sited. Floyd was hurt last year, and was a consistent .290 / .355 / .490 - .500 guy before that. Is it more likely that a 34-year-old with a significant problem staying healthy returns to that .850 OPS you suggest or that a 25-year-old continues to improve? I'll take my chances with the 25-year-old. It's not like we should be eager to replace Murton's .356 OBP against RHP anyway. I don't care what hand the pitcher throws with, Murton isn't the problem.

Yay! Put your most promising young hitter into a platoon! I hate our GM.

I believe they're generated based on the Bill James projections for next year. If James projects DeRosa keeping up last year's stats based on his switch from the AL to the mighty NLC, I guess I can understand that. I still don't want him hitting 3rd.

DeRosa 3rd gives us the most RPG? I find that hard to believe. Maybe they're banking on another .360 obp rather than his career .330.

It's pretty much market value. The 12.5M he'll get in his would-have-been FA years is pretty fair, and the buyout of his arbitration years is no more or less than he would've got. We're paying Lilly like $10m, right? If I could have Bondy for $2.5m more, I'm pretty sure I'd do that. This is market value for a mediocre pitcher. Bondy has been really good and he handled himself pretty well in the playoffs too. I think it's a great deal.

That seems like a great deal for the Tigers.

I knew I wasn't going to like Lou. Murton doesn't even get a mention as a possible 2 hitter? Ugh.

I agree. Might be a long shot, but it would be nice knowing that the AGM reads nsbb regularly.

I'm available for the right price.

Dave van Dyck is speculating it's done. And all the talk of Pie (by writers, Lou and others) makes me think they really want Felix to win the CF spot this year. I don't see them signing Floyd and keeping Jones, so, it's probably one or the other. What if they just keep everything intact from here. That would make LF a platoon of Murton and Jones, which would be really productive. And CF would be a mix of Pie, Jones, Pagan and maybe Theriot, which could end up anywhere from terrible to fantastic. And if Soriano needs a day off here and there, Jones plays there. I just don't like the idea of Jones still being on the team next year. He isn't likely to repeat his numbers, so I'd prefer to deal him now. I also don't like the idea of a platoon w/ Murton since there are more RHP in the world than LHP. Murton has enough experience that we should run him out there every day. If he struggles mightily for 3 months, maybe he's not meant to be an every day player. But if he rarely faces RHP, we're not going to know that. The days of Jones, Pie, Izturis, Blanco, P in the 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 spots are going to be really tough. Especially b/c that lineup also features DeRosa in the 2-hole most likely. Yikes. Jones put up an .833 OPS in 2006. If he put up those numbers as a CF, he would have ranked 8th in the majors among regular centerfielders, behind Mike Cameron and ahead of Torii Hunter. His three year avg. OPS is .777, which would have ranked him 11th in the majors among centerfielders in 2006, behind Eric Byrnes and ahead of Curtis Granderson. His contract isn't that bad considering the market. If the Cubs can get good talent in return for him, they should make a deal. But having Jones in CF in 2007 doesn't necessarily handicap this team offensively. I not saying Jacques killed us last year, I'm saying I don't think he'll repeat those numbers. I'd rather trade high now than see him repeat his '04/'05 numbers next year. And he wasn't really lights out defensively in right, so I'd prefer he not patrol CF next year.

Dave van Dyck is speculating it's done. And all the talk of Pie (by writers, Lou and others) makes me think they really want Felix to win the CF spot this year. I don't see them signing Floyd and keeping Jones, so, it's probably one or the other. What if they just keep everything intact from here. That would make LF a platoon of Murton and Jones, which would be really productive. And CF would be a mix of Pie, Jones, Pagan and maybe Theriot, which could end up anywhere from terrible to fantastic. And if Soriano needs a day off here and there, Jones plays there. I just don't like the idea of Jones still being on the team next year. He isn't likely to repeat his numbers, so I'd prefer to deal him now. I also don't like the idea of a platoon w/ Murton since there are more RHP in the world than LHP. Murton has enough experience that we should run him out there every day. If he struggles mightily for 3 months, maybe he's not meant to be an every day player. But if he rarely faces RHP, we're not going to know that. The days of Jones, Pie, Izturis, Blanco, P in the 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 spots are going to be really tough. Especially b/c that lineup also features DeRosa in the 2-hole most likely. Yikes.

Hendry....phone....now. :roll: Wait, what? What do those eyes mean, in this context?

So does every team that's ever screwed up a player's swing or pitching mechanics or overworked a pitcher to the point of injury "owe" that player? Wood may be stubborn, but when you strike out 20 guys in a game and everyone hails you as "the next (insert big strikeout pitcher)" - it'd be pretty hard to say "thanks, but I really think I need to change the way I pitch, it's not working."

As Bruce said in another thread, JH likes his infield. It sounds like he got Izturis b/c he wanted him to be our SS. It may be lip service, but I don't get that sense in this case. I hope Jones is traded (mostly b/c I don't think he'll repeat last season, so let's sell high for once), but I don't think it's going to be for a SS.

Unless they extend him for a hometown discount, I would not be at all surprised to see Z get $20m per. Maybe 5/100. I think I'd pay it. Heck, if he survived 4 years of Dusty and came out unscathed, he must be unbreakable.

so is blanton and harden and probably everyone else on the team Too bad we don't have anything Beane would want. I'd love to have Haren, Harden or Blanton on the Cubs. I can see Beane liking Murton (good player, good patience, cheap for a while yet), if not others. I cant see Hendry trading Murton. I like Murton as much as the next guy, but if you can get Haren for him & a prospect, I think you have to do it.

so is blanton and harden and probably everyone else on the team Too bad we don't have anything Beane would want. I'd love to have Haren, Harden or Blanton on the Cubs. I can see Beane liking Murton (good player, good patience, cheap for a while yet), if not others.

Jones for a CFer would make the most sense. But would you be opposed to Jones+Hill+(Izturis - dream)+prospects for a CF, SS, & legit #2? Not that I expect that to be probable. Jones+Hill+Izturis+Moore+Veal+Ryu for Santana+Cabrera+Figgins+Aybar Figgins plays CF (and can sub anywhere else in an emergency) Cabrera at short Santana the #2 (I think Weaver makes him tradeable) Aybar the SS in the wings Jones plays left in Anaheim with Garrett Anderson and Juan Rivera at DH, Hill plugs in at the bottom of their rotation this year, and potentially a lot higher. Izturis is their backup plan at short, if wood is unable to play, and Veal and Moore can be spun for the 3B they want, or Moore can play 3rd. No, I suppose if we're going to trade Jones and Hill for a legit #2, I guess I'd go for that. I don't know about the deal you proposed (not a fan of Figgins, Cabrera; not as big a fan of Santana as some are). But if JJ & Hill could net us a real #2, ok. I'm just not convinced it could and given that I'm not real hopeful for the results Lilly & Marquis will bring, I'd rather hang onto Hill and just swap Jones, or Jones + prospects, for a better CF.

Wait, don't we already have 6 starters for next year (if Prior is healthy)? We may not have a lot of great SP, but it's not like we can get rid of a lot of it easily either. I'd love to have better starters, but I think we're kind of stuck with the guys we have at this point - or is there something I'm missing? Z's extension is not on the front burner. Prior might not make it back this season, or ever. Hill might flame out (I doubt that very much). Lilly won't implode (based on his career numbers). Marquis might. Miller might never get his armstrength back. Our youngsters (Marshall, Mateo, Guzman) who are closest to the bigs don't wow me with their injury histories and poor performances. We have a lot of things that can go wrong with our rotation. I don't think that is likely, but we need to protect ourselves against the worst case scenario. Wasting another year b/c we didn't take more precautions is silly. Wood, Prior, and Miller didn't pan out for us last year. Rusch goes AWOL and gets sick. Our youngsters don't put out immediately and we got the third pick in next years draft. It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to trade Jones for something other than starting pitching, but last year's injury fest scared the crap out of me. Never again. All of that might be true. But we have Z, Lilly, Marquis in the rotation for sure. Hill will almost certainly start the year in the rotation given how he finished the season (I suppose he could be in some big trade, but I haven't heard any such rumblings and haven't seen anything concrete here). Miller and Prior were both hurt, but my understanding is both should be ready to go in ST. If all those guys are ready on Day 1, it's been said in other threads, Miller probably goes to long term relief and the rest are starters. Even if 1 isn't ready, that's still 5 starters. Given that, why trade Jones for a SP when we need a CF and an upgrade at SS (though Hendry may not think we need to upgrade SS)? What's the point of carrying 7 SPs? 6, if one can pitch in middle relief, is one thing, but does anyone want Hill sent down or pitching 2-3 innings every 4-5 days in middle relief b/c we acquired another mediocre SP? I understand the "you can never have too much SP" mantra, but that's only true to a point. And it's not like we don't have some decent prospects who could fill in as needed. Those guys you list may not have pitched shut outs in their big league debuts, but who does? We have a bunch of good young arms who have had some success (to one degree or another) in the minors. Why waste another roster spot with mediocre SP? I'd rather keep Jones than trade him for another #4 starter.

My guess is that they're trying to trade Jones, will put Zumaya in at closer (I would put him in the rotation, but whatever) and want Mesa as insurance in case Zumaya isn't able to handle closing. Either that or they're insane b/c I don't know why you'd need 4 back of the pen RH's (Jones, Rodney, Zumaya, Mesa).