CardsFanInChiTown

:-k I like it, STL is a good place choice to get his head straight. The man has a drinking problem, lets not cast too many stones.

They are right, this FA class stinks.

No intention of hijacking this thread with this banter, so I'll happily move my thoughts to the rant forum, if that's acceptable. Hey, I'm an outsider but I agree team forums tend to overrate their own players. Check out how CardsTalk values Marquis, Reyes and Wainwright. I don't think your trolling or anything.

Woah, woah, woah... I think JJ sucks. The Cubs 06 are just highly underrated on here right now. I agree that Jones sucks, and I also agree that people are being ridiculously pessimistic. I am not a blue Kool-aid drinker, but a lot of people here are reminding me of lemmings right now. Four keys for the Cubs in 06: 1) Prior pitches atleast 180 innings 2) DLee has a .950ish OPS 3) Demp is still a solid closer. 4) They keep Walker If those 3 things happen the Cubs will be very very good. If all those thing don't happen? They will still be pretty solid. Despite all the negativity, and believe me, I'm not happy at all with this signing, you are probably right. The production from the position players should be on par or better with last year (with Lee slipping, but the outfield picking up some slack), and if the pitching comes together, hopefully the restocked bullpen will pay off, this could be a decent team. But its success rests on a lot of factors which have yet to go the Chubbs way in the past few years. Man, it takes a CARDSFAN to give you this kind of insight! :lol: I hear you, with the money the Cubs had they should be a lot better however the 05 team is really underrated and I feel they have upgraded that team. Now you consider the Astros and Cards most likely be worse... well... POOP! just so everyone knows I hate the cubs... I really do.

He would be a very good pick up at that cost. Although he's really a better fit on an AL team where he can DH.

Woah, woah, woah... I think JJ sucks. The Cubs 06 are just highly underrated on here right now. I agree that Jones sucks, and I also agree that people are being ridiculously pessimistic. I am not a blue Kool-aid drinker, but a lot of people here are reminding me of lemmings right now. Four keys for the Cubs in 06: 1) Prior pitches atleast 180 innings 2) DLee has a .950ish OPS 3) Demp is still a solid closer. 4) They keep Walker If those 3 things happen the Cubs will be very very good. If all those things don't happen? They will still be pretty solid.

Woah, woah, woah... I think JJ sucks. The Cubs 06 are just highly underrated on here right now. I disagree but my point is that you're the only one trying to keep us hopeful. Maybe you're just hoping some people gain hope and when we win 69 games you can laugh even more. :twisted: Believe me nothing would give me more joy than a small bears 69 win season but you guys are just depressed and ranting. If you look at the facts the Cubs have a decent chance of winning 90 games.

Woah, woah, woah... I think JJ sucks. The Cubs 06 are just highly underrated on here right now.

I think that's most likely.

Choi Career OBP .349 Jones Career OBP .327 It seems to me that many people look at batting average as the best indicator of hitting ability...when in fact it's really completely useless. I think you're going a tad overboard calling it useless. I prefer OBP myself, but average most certainly isn't a useless stat. Agreed, I love SABER stuff but I'll take a hit over a walk any day.

You may want to edit out the feces reference. You may want to get rid of that HUGE trump pic. :pukel:

This is the kind of signing that is only good if you have a 200m payroll.

a team w/ a 100 mil payroll shouldn't need platoon buddies for their corner OFer's. Who cares about payroll? Platooning is highly underrated (and cost effective)... more teams should do it. A Jones/Eduardo Perez platoon would constitute a large upgrade over Burnitz. As long as you aren't paying a guy a ton of money, platooning is always a good option when the sitution calls for it. Plus now you've got a nice option off the bench. I'm actually a big fan of platooning.

a team w/ a 100 mil payroll shouldn't need platoon buddies for their corner OFer's. Who cares about payroll? Platooning is highly underrated (and cost effective)... more teams should do it.

Maybe, its been a bad offseason for the Cards and who knows maybe the Cards will finish below their run diff.

Will you please leave. What did I do? What I said was true, as it stands the Cubs are better than last year. Sheesh. You gave him HOPE and that is a dangerous thing for any Cubs fan to have :lol: According to BP the Cubs finished about 6-7 wins less than they should have: http://www.baseballprospectus.com/statistics/standings.php PLUS they upgraded that team. Oh and the Cards finished well above what they should have. Hmmm, that link doesn't work for me. Just worry about the last number... Team W L RS RA W1 L1 EQR EQRA W2 L2 AEQR AEQRA W3 L3 D1 D2 D3 Cardinals 100. 62. 804 634 98.4 63.5 754 640 93.1 68.9 740 644 91.2 70.8 1.6 6.9 8.8 Astros 89. 73. 687 605 90.0 71.9 682 608 89.2 72.8 666 605 87.8 74.2 -1.0 -0.2 1.2 Cubs 79. 83. 699 708 79.9 82.2 741 695 85.8 76.2 743 698 85.6 76.4 -0.9 -6.8 -6.6 Brewers 81. 81. 726 697 83.9 78.1 727 708 82.9 79.1 728 715 82.4 79.6 -2.9 -1.9 -1.4 Reds 73. 89. 815 882 74.6 87.4 805 891 72.9 89.1 816 887 74.4 87.6 -1.6 0.1 -1.4 Pirates 67. 95. 680 769 71.6 90.5 679 768 71.7 90.4 678 761 72.3 89.7 -4.6 -4.7 -5.3 Thanks! :) Although I see a drop off from DLee it wouldn't shock me at all if the Cubs won 90 games next year if they don't trade walker. You guys are vastly underrating this team.

Will you please leave. What did I do? What I said was true, as it stands the Cubs are better than last year. Sheesh. You gave him HOPE and that is a dangerous thing for any Cubs fan to have :lol: According to BP the Cubs finished about 6-7 wins less than they should have: http://www.baseballprospectus.com/statistics/standings.php PLUS they upgraded that team. Oh and the Cards finished well above what they should have. Hmmm, that link doesn't work for me. Just worry about the last number... Team W L RS RA W1 L1 EQR EQRA W2 L2 AEQR AEQRA W3 L3 D1 D2 D3 Cardinals 100. 62. 804 634 98.4 63.5 754 640 93.1 68.9 740 644 91.2 70.8 1.6 6.9 8.8 Astros 89. 73. 687 605 90.0 71.9 682 608 89.2 72.8 666 605 87.8 74.2 -1.0 -0.2 1.2 Cubs 79. 83. 699 708 79.9 82.2 741 695 85.8 76.2 743 698 85.6 76.4 -0.9 -6.8 -6.6 Brewers 81. 81. 726 697 83.9 78.1 727 708 82.9 79.1 728 715 82.4 79.6 -2.9 -1.9 -1.4 Reds 73. 89. 815 882 74.6 87.4 805 891 72.9 89.1 816 887 74.4 87.6 -1.6 0.1 -1.4 Pirates 67. 95. 680 769 71.6 90.5 679 768 71.7 90.4 678 761 72.3 89.7 -4.6 -4.7 -5.3

Will you please leave. What did I do? What I said was true, as it stands the Cubs are better than last year. Sheesh. You gave him HOPE and that is a dangerous thing for any Cubs fan to have :lol: According to BP the Cubs finished about 6-7 wins less than they should have: http://www.baseballprospectus.com/statistics/standings.php PLUS they upgraded that team. Oh and the Cards finished well above what they should have. Oh great. Now the Cubs should finish with 10-15 wins less than they should have. Unless Rolan is back strong and the Cards make some nice moves I'm saying the Cubs could take the central no problem. As it stands the 06 Cubs are better than the 05 Cubs (that were really about a 86 win team). Stand away from the ledge guys.

Will you please leave. What did I do? What I said was true, as it stands the Cubs are better than last year. Sheesh. You gave him HOPE and that is a dangerous thing for any Cubs fan to have :lol: According to BP the Cubs finished about 6-7 wins less than they should have: http://www.baseballprospectus.com/statistics/standings.php PLUS they upgraded that team. Oh and the Cards finished well above what they should have.

Will you please leave. What did I do? What I said was true, as it stands the Cubs are better than last year. Sheesh.

Waiting for the Simpsons to huh?

Seriously, you have to be laughing your butt off right now. You must be loving every minute of this. I know I would if the Cards signed Jones. I was at first however our offseason has been pretty bad. I still have faith in Walt though.

Actually the Cubs HAVE upgraded CF, RF, LF, SS (assuming RC plays) and the bullpen. I know the signings aren't ideal but they have been upgraded...

Would love Perez for the bench/platoon as well(especially now), maybe it will serve to pacify Baker's "need" to put his fingerprints on everything and anything. Walker best be here batting 2nd opening day, unless used in a deal for a difference maker only. I have to believe he will be since the Cubs don't need to trade for an OFer anymore

Baseball Prospectus calculates FRAR, which is fielding runs saved over replacement. Can someone post that, please? I would like to know just how many runs Jacques "Savior" Jones is going to save us this year in right. Last year defensively Jones was 23 runs above replacement, 12 runs above average. He was 17 batting runs above replacement, and 1 run below average. Net: 40 runs above replacement 11 runs above average What was Burnitz last year?