MPrior

And planes can't take off if there's a little rain. Not to mention the idiot California drivers who can't handle rain, mist, or even darkness without slowing the already abysmal traffic down even more (I just moved out to L.A., and my job requires me to drive all over the city; coming from a guy who grew up driving around the mountains of western North Carolina, it's completely ridiculous).

It's also worth noting that Hill has TWO different curves, both of which are pretty nasty. They're not different enough to really make a staggering difference, but I do seem to remember reading something about how each is appropriate to different specific situations. And what most people have said here is that if he can develop a reliable third pitch that would help deal with righties (most people think a change or cutter would be good), he could be REALLY sick.

ESPN is reporting that it's pretty much agreed upon, and that it's for Mitre, Nolasco, and Pinto, with only Pierre coming back our way. That said, it looks like that's based on something Jason Stark said earlier today; so I guess it could have changed: Link

I think Clemens is pretty tired, and, despite the increased chances of winning, I don't think he'll come back for a few million. He's either gonna retire or make at least the 18 mill he made last year.

To me this all depends on the quality of the prospect. Obviously there's no way we'd get someone truly good out of it (unless we could pull a Willis on 'em - heh heh), but I'd like him to be more than AA roster filler; maybe someone with an outside chance to make the bigs, or at least have some - albeit miniscule - trade value at a later point.

The list there was just speculation. That doesn't say that DLee will be passed up. The writer of that article just wrote Teixiera in there instead. So the writer is the moron. We'll have to see about the actual team.

Good job with the spelling when pointing out how stupid others are. I'll let this one slide, Cards boy... :lol: :twisted: Would you say I have a plethora of pinatas, Jefe?

I would be thrilled if we got Chad Tracy. I'd look into (and this has been said before) trading for Vasquez and seeing if we can pick up Tracy in the package. At the same time, I think the chances of him moving anywhere are about zero. Arizona knows they've got good, cheap production, and would be foolish to move him without getting something very good in return.

I think that theres a solid contingent (with obvious exceptions) of frequent/veteran posters who all share a sabremetrically inclined direction that the cubs should be headed. This sometimes is construed as groupthink. However, when a group of people have a similar way of analyzing the game, it shouldnt be a surprise that they target the same players or agree with others of the like mind. However, thas been an influx of new posters whos opinions very often diverge from many of the more outspoken, established posters. For example, there are many who now think the sky is falling because we didn't get furcal, however there were just as many who viewed furcal (even at 10M per) to be extremely overpaid and a move that would hinder signficant improvement of the team. I'm with you on this one. A lot of people on this board (myself included) look at baseball at least partially from a sabermetric point of view, and so there is often agreement between a lot of us on certain issues. I have, though, disagreed with posts by those same sabermetrically minded people on multiple occasions. I think, though, that there are posters who consistently find themselves in the minority on some major issues, and they often find it easier to accuse the board of "groupthink" and cast themselves as revolutionary thinkers than to actually respond to the arguments or simply contentedly have a differing opinion.

Or Gary Coleman. Hilarious. He kinda looks like Gary Coleman would if he got really mad. Secondly, this doesn't really matter, cause Macias is gonna be non-tendered...right?

Also - and I am also a Walker supporter, so don't take this the wrong way - but Walker didn't put up a .370 OBP. It was .355, which is right around what you expect from him. Still quite good - way better than what to expect from Hairston, for example, but it wasn't .370. That's all.

probably. good question. This made me laugh.

That, more than anything else, is what makes your post ridiculous. The downgrade from Furcal to Lugo - at a significantly reduced price, I might add - is the furthest thing that would keep us from a winning season. You could argue the lack of another middle of the order bat, or the likelihood that Neifi will still play 2B and bat in the top of the order, or the fact that Baker will still manage to single-handedly systematically destroy our bullpen pitchers and overwork our starters, or Wood's slim chances of being healthy enough to contribute meaningfully to the team; all of those things are more important arguments than the Furcal/Lugo thing. Just because we lost out on Furcal doesn't mean we're not in it.

Here's the way I see this: the Marlins now have the most stacked farm system in baseball (yes, I consider their major league team part of their farm system, at least for next season). Willis and Cabrera have insanely high value - probably higher now than they ever will be because of their contracts, and Willis because of his 2005 Cy Young-deserving campaign. So first they say they're not available, but after they've traded everyone else, they say that, "for the right price," they are available. They're just trying to see if someone will bite and pay a completely ludicrous price; because if they do, they'll rid themselves of two potentially big contracts down the road, and get the cream of the crop of two different teams' farm systems. That way, their completely stacked farm system will be EVEN MORE stacked. So: there's NO WAY they're trading both of them to the same team. If they trade them at all, they will be to two different teams, and they will demand a surplus of top-notch prospects in return. That said, I'd still try and trade for Cabrera. Never for Willis; he's a pitcher, for one, so he's less likely to be consistent. It's not worth selling the farm for someone who's not gauranteed to produce for you. Cabrera has proven that he can consistently produce at or near the very top level over the course of multiple seasons - and he's still very young. I'd see how far Guzman, Pie, Dopirak, and Hill gets you. Not enough, I don't think, but it's a good first offer.

Obviously there's no way we trade Prior for Abreu. Abreu doesn't make a big enough difference in our outfield to overcome a rotation of Z, Wood (if healthy), Maddux, Rusch, and Williams. Throw Mitre/Koronka/Guzman/Hill/Nolasco/whoever is ready in there when Wood goes down. I do think it's encouraging that the source of the Williams and Hill proposal is a Philly paper. So it's not Cubs writers overvaluing prospects; someone in Philly is actually suggesting this trade (or at least reporting that they heard of it as a possibility). Lastly, I found this funny: They're trying pretty hard to make Prior's 2005 look good.

Oh. And yes, I'd be pretty ecstatic if we were able to get all that. That would be a MAJOR upgrade to the offense (No, it's not Dunn or Abreu, but it is good), as Lugo would be an upgrade at SS, Wilkerson would be an upgrade at CF, and Huff, at his worst, puts up stuff like Burnitz did for us last year. If he reverts to old form (and everything I've heard suggests that a big part of the reason for his underachievement has a lot to do with his being highly dissatisfied in Tampa), which he very well might, he can be a big-time bat. That on top of the bullpen improvements we've made (even if the contracts are a bit high) should put us right in contention, especially since we'd still have payroll left over to fill whatever holes are left, or make a big midseason acquisition.

Agreed. people need to remember that, if you take Lee out of last year's lineup, the combined OBP for the Cubs was ~.308 AAAAAH! Don't scare me like that. I had never seen that before. That's atrocious.

Maybe no one else remembers this, but Bruce Miles did come on this board and say the Cubs weren't really interested in Giles because of his age and "declining production." So our most reliable inside source said the Cubs weren't that hot on Giles. Take that for what it's worth.

What really boggles my mind is this: Ask yourself, what makes a leadoff hitter? IMO, the answer is this, in order of importance: 1. The ability to get on base. 2. The inability to hit for much power. 3. Speed. The only one of those three that applies exclusively to leadoff hitters is #2. That is the one unique characteristic of leadoff hitters. For example, Bobby Abreu gets on base a lot, and actually steals bases very efficiently. But he also hits for power, so they don't lead him off. He hits in the middle of the order. So really, what makes a leadoff hitter a leadoff hitter is that they're pretty much useless anywhere else in the lineup; it's a deficiency, not a strength, that classifies them as leadoff hitters. And yet, somehow, this deficiency gets turned into (by people like Hendry, Dusty, and others) a strength, and players who fit this profile wind up being vastly overvalued. And the worst part of it is, Dusty's criteria for a leadoff hitter consists of only 2 and 3, plus the following: 4. Being small 5. Not being white.

I know everyone probably noticed it too, but I think Derwood here deserves special recognition for the use of "BBQ" in his elongated acronym.

Why does everyone in their fantasy lineup keep bumping Aramis down to 5? When healthy, he's the best pure hitter we have in the lineup. Lee's a great player, but I think Aramis is more likely to put up those numbers consistently. True enough. But Aramis has significantly less patience than DLee, so his OBP isn't as high. That's why I see him batting behind DLee as opposed to in front of him. Secondly, if you get a very good lefty guy to bat 4th, I can almost guarantee that Dusty will bat him between Lee and Aramis to maintain the RLR thing. I think this is a good thing if the lefty bat is a potent one. It is a bad thing if it's Jeromy Burnitz or anyone like him.

I feel like the Cubs are getting reamed in every one of those deals, particularly #2. Secondly, why would we give cash to Tampa in trade 1 if we're the only ones taking on any contracts at more than league minimum?

He is by far my favorite ex-Cub that is still playing and in my top 10 all-time. I have a huge man crush on Bill Mueller. he's one of my favorites too. no man crush (not that there's anything wrong with that...) but i would love to see his bat and glove at 2b the next year or 2 until epat is ready (simlar to pierre in cf until pie is ready). your avatar is a different story though pedro as far as crushes go. Seriously. Every time you post, I get SO distracted. Who is that?

Pieonmyhands, I don't think anyone is attacking you cause this turned out to be (maybe) wrong. Don't worry about it.

I think Nomar's more than 50% headed to Cleveland. I also think they're looking for a leadoff hitter to replace Furcal. They really liked his "table-setting" or whatever you want to call it.