MeatampPotatoesMan

If Ronny isn't hitting and we're looking at Neifi every day, I still wouldn't give up Prior or Z for Tejada. Our need for SS production b/c of our weak OF shouldn't push us into make a stupid long term move. We're not that close to winning a WS that we need to trade away a 26 year old pitcher for a 30 year old SS. There are easier ways to acquire some offense other than a Prior for Tejada swap. All we're doing is trading away one piece for another, with no replacement for Prior in the works.

Thanks for the good years, Sammy. Retire with dignity please.

maybe the camera adds 10 pounds. :lol:

Maybe he wanted to be on a better team. I think it was that he was looking for a 5 year deal at roughly 9 million a season that never arrived. :shock: Weaver must have started on the sauce when Ponson got off. I guess there's balance in life after all.

I can almost taste it...my annual dose of disappointment. :lol:

Dunn HASN'T done anything (no pun intended) to show he is a "difference maker". He hasn't improve the Reds since he's been there (granted not many players could improve that team). Granted Dunn hits a few out, and walk a few times, but in no way would I consider Dunn a "difference maker" until he proves it. What else exactly would he have to do to be a difference maker? How about becoming....I don't know....a COMPLETE player? Or...helping the Reds WIN MORE GAMES....maybe.....doing those things. No doubt Dunn is a GIFTED POWER THREAT, but having power doesn't mean he is a "difference maker." Who would you consider to be a difference maker? uh........Albert Pujols.....Alex Rodriguez....Barry Bonds? I'm sorry if I don't view Dunn as "God's golden boy of baseball," but I am not at all convince he would be the "final" piece to a puzzle, a great piece, just not the "final" piece. Do you have to be healthy in order to be a difference maker? It's hard to make a difference when you're on the DL. :lol:

Could you please stop letting facts and common sense get in the way of not improving this team? Sheesh. How does Soriano improve this team? He's worse defensively than Walker. His offensive prowess is overrated IMO. Walker OPSed .820 and .829 the last two seasons. Soriano offered up .808 and .821. Factor in Soriano's horrible plate discipline and tell me who is the better offensive player over the last two seasons. Soriano isn't the biggest threat on the basepaths either. 48 SB over the past 2 seasons, although his SB ratio was outstanding last season. How much do each of these players make? 25-30 steals and 5-10 more errors a season with Soriano. Awesome. I'd prefer the Trib keeps its 7.5M, or better yet, gets us a legitimate everyday RF.

I'm interested. :D

:lol:

We only won 79 games last year, so Lee isn't a difference maker. :lol:

Dunn HASN'T done anything (no pun intended) to show he is a "difference maker". He hasn't improve the Reds since he's been there (granted not many players could improve that team). Granted Dunn hits a few out, and walk a few times, but in no way would I consider Dunn a "difference maker" until he proves it. What else exactly would he have to do to be a difference maker? How about becoming....I don't know....a COMPLETE player? Or...helping the Reds WIN MORE GAMES....maybe.....doing those things. No doubt Dunn is a GIFTED POWER THREAT, but having power doesn't mean he is a "difference maker." He does help them win more games. It's not his fault they lose. Look to their pitching for the explanation. '05 DLee wouldn't have made them that much better (taking away Dunn from their lineup). There's only so much impact an offensive player can have, especially when he plays LF, a relatively unimportant position defensively (yes, i know he's moving to 1B). I guess guys like Cabrera aren't difference makers either, or Aramis Ramirez...

I'm glad Muskat doesn't make up the lineup card. She makes Dusty look like a freaking baseball genius.

Neifi is clutch though. Remember that extra innings grand slam in St. Louis (July 24)?

link If the 100% healthy part is true, getting him for Walker (3 way?) would be ok. I'd rather keep walker as Vidro has been trending downward offensively for a while now, but he doesn't suck. :lol:

I think it's been pretty much dismissed that we're not going after Soriano if he won't move into the OF (and that speculation was before our OF was set). We've never even talked with Washington about Soriano. All that stuff was going on back when he was in Texas and hadn't pulled his temper tantrum act over a change of position. I'm not high on Vidro. Hendry/Dusty have pretty much used up the injury card over the past couple seasons. They might not be able to pull it out after next season if they take on another obvious injury risk (Vidro).

Walker might make opening day in Cincinnati, but there's no way he's with us by the ASB, unless Jimbo sees the light.

Wow that is SUCH a Dusty thing to say: "The horses are the horses dude. You know, Reyes is just a young colt who wants to be a horse." Then again, as a Cub fan, I think TLR is VERY VERY wise to hold him back. Send him down to AAA for more conditioning, just like Tim said :D The horses we have are young. It's the older pitchers that suck. Dusty doesn't seem to have a problem with the young arms. He was one of the main guys clamoring for Hendry to get Williams in the Hawkins deal. It's mainly the young position players that Dusty has a problem with. I agree about keeping Reyes in AAA though. :lol:

We play like crap against the poor teams anyways and fairly well against the better teams. This could be a blessing in disguise.

It doesn't matter what comments Baker makes. It matters what happens when Murton struggles, which he will at some point in a 162 game season. What happens when Cedeno slumps? We'll see. It's easy to be optimistic about the kids at this stage, with the limited success they've had. That isn't going to count for much when they pull a CPat reappearing act for a month.

Who do you want as your 2 hole hitter? .305/.355/.474/.829 40K, 31BB .249/.319/.438/.757 120K, 51BB

LMAO!! Jones should be in the 2 hole? Yeah, lets put Mr. 327 OBP in front of Lee and Ramirez.

No one is suggesting that trading Dunn for Pie would be for defensive purposes. Are you suggesting that Pie can't hit? Certainly the chances of Pie being an above average hitter are much greater than the chances of him being a complete flop, right? How does the sentence, "a gold glove caliber fielder who can't hit is worthless" apply to this discussion? What I am suggesting is that a left-fielder with a .930-.950 OPS and not much else who is about to become very expensive pales in comparison to a gold glove caliber center-fielder with a .860-.890 OPS with great speed on the base paths who is 5-6 years younger and still has many seasons at or near league minimum. It is absolutely accurate to say that Pie may not ever become the player I described above. It is also absolutely accurate to say that he may. It would be great to have a discussion/debate about the chances of Pie fulfilling on his potential. Remember, at age 20, Pie put up an OPS of .903 in 240 ABs against AA pitching. At the same age, Dunn had an OPS of .897 in 420 ABs against High-A pitching. I'm not saying this is conclusive evidence that Pie will be as good or better than Dunn with the bat. No way. Only that this is one piece of statistical evidence that shows that it is possible. Dunn exploded the following year. Pie would have to take it to the next level as well. But if he can refine his batting eye, what are we looking at? If we didn't just trade for Pierre, I'd agree with you. After the price we paid to get him, Pierre will be getting a multi-year deal. Pie loses a lot of value in a corner OF spot.

I think that's the point Wolf was making. The Cards were ranked third in the division by most of the pundits in 04. They're returning their starting rotation with the exception of Morris who can no longer be regarded as an anchor to any staff. What exactly have the Cards done to downgrade that significantly vs. other teams moves in NL Central? they didn't pick up jockstrap jones. NL Central winners yet again. :evil:

I would guess that the Rangers would be willing to throw a bank at him, thus skewing his value to a degree. Despite his arm problems, Kerry has maintained wicked stuff. That is why he is so difficult to just cut loose, IMO. I think Kerry could still dictate a 4/40m or 5/$50M contract from a couple of potential suitors. (And, that is still likely low.) Woody's got better stuff than Burnett, but his injury history should push him south of Burnett's contract. It would be interesting to see him on the open market, but I'd rather he gets healthy and performs for us (ridiculous, I know).

Amen to that brother! word, G.