Tracer Bullet

Deadspin is saying sexual harrassment. link

Troll much? As I posted about 2 pages ago, just b/c people use stats to compare players doesn't mean they don't watch games. Show me one post that says that Walker is having a better 2006 season than Soriano. Just one. Go ahead, I'll wait. Having any luck? I'll give you a few more minutes. Ok, I think that's enough time. No one is arguing that. What people are arguing (quite convincingly) is that Walker was the better player in '04 and '05. I'm sorry if that doesn't jive with your views, based on watching some games and some highlights, but it's true.

You're the loser who ranked CCR way too low. Not to mention ranking Radiohead too low.

join this is a start, i guess. they should get rid of kruk and phillips too. I think he was a shade less dumb than Kruk, but still a moron. Take a guess: 1) Slept with the wrong person 2) Sexual harrasment and/or assault 3) Drugs/alcohol 4) Management realized his incompetence (hard to believe since Kruk and Phillips are still there) Complete and total guess - but I'm going with #3.

Rubber Soul!! Closely followed by The Beatles (white album).

See, this is my problem. You want me to watch a game and then I'll know Soriano's better. You know what, I watch a lot of games. And for the 2 years before this one, Walker was better. What I want you to do is watch some games, then realize that you cannot possibly compare two players after having seen one or both play just a handful of games. Maybe you watched every game that each guy played in each of the past 2 seasons. But I don't think that's probably true. You might have seen quite a few of Walker's games, b/c you call yourself a cubs fan. But I think you've seen some Soriano moon shots and see he was a 30/30 guy in the past and think he's better b/c he has all the hype and Walker has a bad rep. Well, I think that's a terrible way to compare players. And frankly, I'm pretty friggin tired of having people tell me that I need to watch baseball, like I don't watch any games now. People who watch baseball can also use stats to measure players and can also, and this is the big point, DISAGREE WITH YOU. I suggest you contact Kenny Williams to explain your point of view. Maybe he will then trade Brandon McCarthy to the Cubs for Walker and forget all about that deal with the Nats. Smashing idea! But here's the thing, I don't want to stop KW from making that deal. Like I said before, I hope he gives up McCarthy for Soriano - and he goes right back to his .835 OPS - that would be perfect.

See, this is my problem. You want me to watch a game and then I'll know Soriano's better. You know what, I watch a lot of games. And for the 2 years before this one, Walker was better. What I want you to do is watch some games, then realize that you cannot possibly compare two players after having seen one or both play just a handful of games. Maybe you watched every game that each guy played in each of the past 2 seasons. But I don't think that's probably true. You might have seen quite a few of Walker's games, b/c you call yourself a cubs fan. But I think you've seen some Soriano moon shots and see he was a 30/30 guy in the past and think he's better b/c he has all the hype and Walker has a bad rep. Well, I think that's a terrible way to compare players. And frankly, I'm pretty friggin tired of having people tell me that I need to watch baseball, like I don't watch any games now. People who watch baseball can also use stats to measure players and can also, and this is the big point, DISAGREE WITH YOU.

I was thinking that, too, until I saw Thames' splits: 270/365/527 vs lefties 283/347/642 vs righties Yeah, he has hit more HR against RHP, but its not like his stats against LHP are bad (.892 OPS). The reason I don't want him to platoon w/ JJ is that I want JJ to be the guy going to Detroit.

OPS Home/Road - 1.042/.879 Doesn't seem to be bothered by the size of his home park. exactly. imagine how he'd be doing if he was hitting in a good park. Didn't Pedro just post that RFK is #6 in PF, one spot behind Wrigley? He is playing in a good hitter's park. link

If a corner OF w/ an .835 is a Superstar, you can have all the Superstars you want. At 2B, that's good; for corner OF, it's nothing special. I want good baseball players, hype or not. Soriano's all hype. Thats a little over the top. Has he been overrated in the past? You bet. This year he is hitting almost .300, OBP over .360 and he is on his way to 40 HR's, 40 doubles, and 40 steals. I don't think it's fair to say he is "all hype" at this point. Will he do it again next year? I have no idea. He is doing it now though. Will he do it for the next 3 months? I don't have any idea about that either, but his career numbers suggest otherwise (esp if you put him back in the AL - the NL East isn't exactly full of dominant pitchers). If Soriano's 400 ABs this year make him a Superstar, that's just insane. His career numbers, esp w/ that .325 OBP, are nothing special. As I said in my post he has been overrated in his career. However, as much as I value OBP I realize a player can be productive with a sub-par OBP. I think it may be the most important stat in the game, but if you have great power you have a lot to add anyway. For his entire career Soriano has a 162 game seasonal average of 35 HR's/35 Steals/40 doubles, a .281 lifetime average and a .511 slugging percentage. His OBP is subpar at .325. That is the main reason why I have said he has been overrated in the past. This season, he is a superstar. Throughout his career he has been very productive offensively (not all hype). Soriano is a lock to get a contract over $10M next year. It will probably be closer to $13M than $10M. I'm not saying I want Hendry to give him that much, but I think you are downplaying the success he has had in his career. No, actually I'm not. If he were a 2B, that'd be one thing. But really, he had 2 really good years for the Yankees (surrounded by some really good hitters). Coincidentally, he was 26/27 during those years. The year before, also in NY, he was a really bad .736 (.304 OBP). His next 2 years for Texas - as goony pointed out - he was right at league average. I'm not sure if that was league average overall, or just considering 2B, I don't recall what goony posted exactly, but his OPS's were .821 and .807 - nothing special. His .511 SLG is good, great for a 2B. But it doesn't overcome a bad OBP. It makes him valuable, but not $10m valuable. If he had a .325 OBP and a .400 SLG, he's be worthless, I'm not saying he's worthless. But not making outs is the most important aspect of hitting and he has not been good at that for his entire career, until his contrat year. This year, as I've pointed out many times, he's had 2 great months, 1 horrible one, and 1 fantastic one. Or less than 300 really good ABs against some bad pitchers. I'm not willing to grant him superstar status based on that. Yes, someone will pay him $10-15m for the next few years. I'm willing to bet that they'll be regretting that in the first year or 2, but whatever, it's their money.

See Pedro's post above. That's just wrong.

OPS Home/Road - 1.042/.879 Doesn't seem to be bothered by the size of his home park.

If a corner OF w/ an .835 is a Superstar, you can have all the Superstars you want. At 2B, that's good; for corner OF, it's nothing special. I want good baseball players, hype or not. Soriano's all hype. Thats a little over the top. Has he been overrated in the past? You bet. This year he is hitting almost .300, OBP over .360 and he is on his way to 40 HR's, 40 doubles, and 40 steals. I don't think it's fair to say he is "all hype" at this point. Will he do it again next year? I have no idea. He is doing it now though. Agreed! Hype or not look at his numbers this year. Can't deny he's having a great year. You're right, he's had 4 outstanding months. Actually, he's had 1 outstanding part-month (July 1.300+ OPS), 2 really good months (April/May) and 1 terrible month (June - .698 OPS). So you're going to make a trade based on less than 300 really good ABs (against some not so great pitchers) this season? Or might you temper that against his past 5 seasons (aged 25-29) where he averaged an OPS of .821? 4 months does not a superstar make.

If a corner OF w/ an .835 is a Superstar, you can have all the Superstars you want. At 2B, that's good; for corner OF, it's nothing special. I want good baseball players, hype or not. Soriano's all hype. Thats a little over the top. Has he been overrated in the past? You bet. This year he is hitting almost .300, OBP over .360 and he is on his way to 40 HR's, 40 doubles, and 40 steals. I don't think it's fair to say he is "all hype" at this point. Will he do it again next year? I have no idea. He is doing it now though. Will he do it for the next 3 months? I don't have any idea about that either, but his career numbers suggest otherwise (esp if you put him back in the AL - the NL East isn't exactly full of dominant pitchers). If Soriano's 400 ABs this year make him a Superstar, that's just insane. His career numbers, esp w/ that .325 OBP, are nothing special.

He's going to get at least 10m a year come next year. It's what the current market demands. I mean is Furcal worth 13m a year? Is AJ Burnett worth 5\60 million? No and no. Just b/c people are stupid enough to pay average players crazy money doesn't mean you jump into the stupid pool. He may get $10m from someone next year, in fact I'd be surprised if he didn't, but he'll be 31 next year and he has a career .835 OPS. For a corner OF, that's above average, but not $10m worth. Put it this way - the team that pays him $10m next year is not going to get a good return on their investment (disclaimer - if he moves back to 2B that helps, but I still think $10m is too much - Walker had a better OPS each of the last 2 seasons).

If a corner OF w/ an .835 is a Superstar, you can have all the Superstars you want. At 2B, that's good; for corner OF, it's nothing special. I want good baseball players, hype or not. Soriano's all hype.

soriano's putting up a .361 OBP this year. Yeah, but does he walk? :wink: 10 more than each of the last 2 full seasons. 43 BBs in 399 ABs. About 70 points difference b/t AVG and OBP. It's amazing how much easier it is to walk when you are hitting HR's left and right and are surrounded by Vidro and Johnson rather then Teixiera and Young Hey, I'm not arguing that he's suddenly found patience and a good eye. I think Soriano is overrated and will burn someone this year. But the fact is, his OBP is higher than his career OBP b/c he is walking more than he has in the past (his average is in line w/ his career numbers).

Easily explained by the fact that Soriano is completely destroying his numbers from the past few years. edit: his ops is 81 points better than his career best and 121 points better than his average (which he was below the previous two years) I agree I was on the anti-soriano bandwagon but you can't deny the numbers he's putting up this year... I have never supported the idea of getting Soriano. I admit that he's been somewhat productive. The problem is that the hype surrounding him has grossly outweighed his real value. He is simply not a $10+ million player. And since the Cubs' biggest need has been OBP for several years now, Soriano would not be the right guy for this team. That's not to say he couldn't help, I just never thought he would help enough to justify the cost. Note: I am not sitting here saying Jim is an idiot for not getting Soriano. Hell, it wouldn't surprise me if Hendry still got him, since he's such a prototypical Hendry target (hyper-aggressive athlete). Let's face it in this current market he's a 10 million dollar a year ball player... He's now a 30-year-old corner OF with a career .835 OPS. He's peaking in his contract season, but his last two years were .807 and .821. He's not a $10m player.

soriano's putting up a .361 OBP this year. Yeah, but does he walk? :wink: 10 more than each of the last 2 full seasons. 43 BBs in 399 ABs. About 70 points difference b/t AVG and OBP.

soriano's putting up a .361 OBP this year. It's his contract year, his first year in the NL, and his next highest OBP for a season is .338. He may be due for a little regression here (or he's peaking at 30).

Man I hope they get Soriano and he reverts back to the low-.800s OPS guy he was for the last 2 years he was in the AL. I just don't like trading for a guy who is having a career year that coincides with his contract year.

We should trade Walker & Neifi to the Rangers just so they can have the same 3 secondbasemen that we had to start the season. JHJr is probably lonely.

The light went on for Thames this year--his current line is 279/352/605, and he's only making 342K. Is he a one-year wonder, or the real deal? I'd be willing to invest a couple of arms to find out. Does anyone know what his fielding is like? And what does Detroit need? I'd take a shot at Thames. He's old to just be having his first good season (29) but maybe he's just a late bloomer. He hasn't had a lot of regular ML ABs before now. The Tigers apparently want a power bat, and from what I hear around here (Grand Rapids), a LH power bat. That said, they may take a look at Nevin. I'd like to dump Jones on them, but can't see them wanting him. They have the best record in baseball, so they presumably don't need much. But maybe BP help, everyone wants BP help.

21-6 now. The only question is - how in the world did AC/DC get 6?

If firing Dusty now keeps Z from ever throwing 125 pitches in a game for the rest of this pointless season, then I'm all for firing him today.