goonys evil twin

Doubles come from hitting the ball hard, I don't see how this would make guys hit the ball harder. I mean guys maybe shortening thier swings and making better contact. Guys trying to drive a ball into a gap instead of into the bleachers. But anyway, I think it will have a better effect on the game. I just hope they develop tests for all this designer stuff that guys are on and weed it totally out. It's not going to happen. I just hope the story dies down a bit and they keep it marginally under control. But the designer stuff will always be out there. And baseball very late acceptance of the concept of weight lifting had a far greater impact on the changing of the game than steroids did. When I was in high school (early 90's) our coach was still an adament anti-workout guy. Bulk of any kind was bad. That kind of thinking is the biggest reason why the players of the 70's/80's look like sloppy pigs or skinny wimps when we look back. Weight lifting will still be there, and HR will still be a part of the game. The whole "back to the fundamentals" idea is overblown. Much of it comes from the mistaken assumption by the old guard conventional wisdom crowd that says strikeouts are much worse than other outs. Thankfully wisdom has taught us that is not the case. Guys will still strikeout a lot, power will still be vital. By the way, shortening your swing doesn't maker for better contact, it should make for more contact, but that doesn't guarantee any sort of improved production.

Why not let Ronny start at SS and spend the money on a difference maker? There's also guys like Lugo out there who is a small step down from Furcal, but much less expensive.

I believe you're confusing Bruce Miles, Daily Herald beat writer + occasional columnist, with Bruce Levine, AM1000/CSN rumor spreader.

And since they paid Maddux $9m they should pay Zambrano $18m? Salaries matter. There is a budget. The more they spend for lesser talent, the less they'll have for greater talent.

I don't know if the Cubs are far or close, but it wouldn't be difficult to turn this into a WS winning team. But I do know that Furcal alone doesn't do much to improve this team's chances.

Doubles come from hitting the ball hard, I don't see how this would make guys hit the ball harder.

I would be shocked if Matsui didn't sign. It's been assumed here in NY that he was coming back for a long time.

I have to disagree. By putting Furcal and Pierre into the 1-2 spots in the lineup, you've solidified the top and allow Cedeno and Murton to hit at the bottom of the lineup where there is less pressure. In my opinion, a large part of Corey's huge decline this year stems from the fact that Baker tried to make him into a leadoff hitter, which he never was and never will be. Don't you think if we had a legitimate leadoff hitter last year, Patterson would have been more successful hitting 6th or 7th? They had a legit leadoff hitter last year, but Dusty refused to hit him leadoff. Hey, if you go Furcal, Pierre, Lee, Giles, Ramirez, that's great. But RF was a black hole last year (ranked 15th in the NL in OPS) and the 4th/5th spot cannot go to another Burnitz like hitter.

Who's better? Bradley? I'll take him. Brady Clark? I'll take him too, but he may not repeat his numbers and isn't young. After that, unless you're getting Sizemore, Edmonds, Griffey, or Andruw Jones, you're hard pressed to do better. Or Beltran or Lofton. Unless you want to consider the top 10 CF in the game outstanding (which he may be in), he's really nothing more than average. What he brings in OBP, he loses in so-so defense and less than spectacular baserunning. Like I said, I don't think the guy's a bum, I just think he's highly overrated on this board. Lofton is not better than Wilkerson, and I'm not even a huge BW fan. Lofton has a better reputation, but he's a parttime player will deteriorating skills who can hardly play the position defensively anymore.

Is it really too much to keep Neifi from the top of the order and playing SS on a team we would like to play meaningful games at the end of the season? I'll let the Cubs worry about payroll... heck the Trib has the money. Hopefully, they are worrying about secondarily to winning. Unfortunately they have a budget. The only reason I worry about $9m being too much is that it will undoubtedly take away money from other areas. If this were the Yankees, I'd be all over a 5/50 for Furcal, and a 4/48 with Giles, and 3/30 with Ryan/Wagner and 3/30 with Burnett. But this isn't the Yankees. You don't overspend in an effort to stop your manager from being stupid. You simply fire him. Dusty's incompetence is not justification for compounding the mistake by overpaying for non-stars.

That is exactly what second tier means. He's not elite. He can't compete with the elite. Trying to pass him off as elite is a mistake. Furcal is in a group of several good, but not special, shortstops who are by and large, interchangable. On any other team, ARod is playing shortstop by the way. He is a shortstop. I'm applying my own personal analysis into the situation. Hendry has had an unhealthy love affair with underperforming toolsy players for years. He's been linked to guys like Wilson, Burnitz and Jones repeatedly. All indications are that he actually likes that type of player. And he's gone out of his way to emphasize the rather absurd theory that this team is all about getting guys who catch the ball. That right there is a premeditated excuse not to go after guys who hit the ball. I could easily see this team with an OF of Murton, Pierre and Wilson/Jones/Burnitz, and they could easily be in a similar position they were in last year. You go after sure thing production so you can introduce cheap hitters, and vice versa. I'm all for introducing Murton and Cedeno to the lineup. But you only do that when the other 6 guarantee you fantastic production. This is especially true with a top 5 payroll. What you don't do is introduce the young unproven talent (and remember, they are largely unproven because Dusty failed to see the value in giving them time last year) into a position where they absolutely have to produce in order to make the offense work. You have to build in some cushion. Putting a guy like Giles into the mix provides some cushion for less than steller production out of the new guys. But guys like Furcal and Pierre don't provide that cushion.

You talking about Wilkerson, Pierre or Furcal?

I'll take the over.

But more often than not, Furcal won't even be on base, so Pierre could just try and slap one through the hole. Yeah, because Furcal puts up such awful OBAs from year-to-year. I didn't say that. But somebody said Furcal would get on every time. He's only a .350 OBP guy. His addition doesn't cure all woes. Giles would cure a whole lot more.

But more often than not, Furcal won't even be on base, so Pierre could just try and slap one through the hole.

Every year, a group of guys gets signed prior to the arbitration deadline. These are the A-listers for whom teams don't mind giving up draft compensation. Then there's a couple guys who are all but signed, but don't officially sign until after the arbitration deadline, when the acquiring team knows the players' old team doesn't want to offer arbitration. And then the floodgates open for the good guys whose value might increase a bit when no compensation is involved. And finally, the scrubs like Burnitz and the comfortable veterans like Maddux wait until late winter. Although there is no ARod or Vladdy out there this year, I'd have to guess a couple guys could sign before the arby deadline (Dec. 7 ?). My guess is Burnett is one of those guys who will sign after the deadline, since many teams will assume Florida won't risk offering arbitration and being stuck with a big salary for a guy who is no guarantee to finish 2006 healthy.

For clarification sake, is this the first BS "this deal is about to happen" story of the offseason on this site? I don't know, I've been away. I can't believe how much interest this rumor has taken off when absolutely nobody in the press has reported anything like this trade anywhere outside the supposed first report. It hasn't been in the Chicago papers online, it hasn't hit ESPN anywhere, I haven't heard a thing about it on ESPN radio. Aside from the first puff, there's been no smoke to suggest this trade is anything worth discussing. When it gets close to being "an hour from completion", or "waiting for MLB authorization" it'll be all over the ticker.

Atlanta sure sounds like they want him back pretty bad. But what does their GM know? Maybe, just maybe he thinks Furcal had a little bit to do with Atlanta winning those last 6 division titles. Granted strong arguments can be made that Giles fills a bigger need. Truth is, we just don't know what Hendry has up his sleeve. He could be in serious trade talks about a RF as we speak. No one knows. What we do know is Furcal would be a very good signing, and a major upgrade from last season. What does any of that have to do with what I wrote? Furcal is a good player and the Braves have been successful with him, of course Atlanta would like to have him back. But Furcal is in a 2nd tier of SS, and while the Cub have many needs, RF is the one spot on the team with no potential internal solution who would offer a reasonable opportunity for at least average production. And if Furcal does get 5/50, he most definitely would not be a very good signing. He'd still be a good player, but extremely overpaid.

It's the coaches job to coach. Rothschild has been here for a while. Wood was healthy when Larry showed up and stayed healthy the first two years. But similar to the way Clement reverted to form after brief success under Larry, Wood has reverted to injuries. There are dozens of ways to lay blame there. Wood didn't do enough to change his mechanics. Larry didn't do enough to change his mechanics, and, perhaps more damning, Larry didn't do a thing to stop Dusty from overabusing his guys when they were healthy.

750 OPS. Yes, he's clearly 2nd tier. Miggy, ARod, Jeter, Young. I might even put that Peralta guy up there, but it's probably too soon. Furcal is in a group with Lugo, Renteria, Rollins, Guillen, Crosby and possibly Green. Furcal is being grossly overvalued this offseason. What does that have to do with anything? Both Furcal and Giles are likely to take their time signing, but they are also likely to sign within a week of each other. I don't care if Hendry goes after Furcal. He's overpriced, but at least he's good, and the one thing the Cubs have is the ability to spend. But what you absolutely cannot even consider doing, is going after Furcal instead of Giles. Giles is far and away the better option between the two, it's not even close. RF is a much bigger hole, and Giles is a much better player.

Leadoff and CF was not the only problem. RF was as big a hole as CF last year. Pierre is a mediocre CF, Furcal is a 2nd tier SS, Giles is an outstanding RF. I don't want to hear about the "doesn't want to play here" BS. Players will play where they are offered money. You don't know if Giles wants to come here unless you try and convince him to come here. And if you're turned down early, don't just give up. That can't be your excuse not to go for the best.

Making personel decisions based on theoretical specific individual future plays is an absolutely terrible way to go about building a team. You have to get to a position for that stolen base to be meaningful to justify going after a guy strictly for that. Boston had an amazing offense, so they were fine adding a strict stolen base specialist (who by the way was a bench player, not a multi-million dollar starter). If you want that 1 stolen base in the 9th inning in September, I'd be far more interested in calling up Dwaine Bacon for the bench, paying him $300,000 per year and seeing him do his thing, then trading away talent and spending big money on a marginal player when such huge holes are still very evident. And how the hell can you possibly assume that while he might get thrown out in May, he'll clearly be safe in September? Pierre is neither an OBP specialist (.326 in 2005, .355 career) or stolen base god. He's not a guarantee for anything. With Giles, you're guaranteed huge OBP, and at the very least, solid power.

Some believe that if Furcal isn't signed, Perez, and not Cedeno will start at SS. But if that's true, then even if Furcal is signed, and Walker is moved as expected, then you'd have to assume Perez will get more time at 2nd than Cedeno.

Hendry has a thing for talented but erratic and wild pitchers, which makes this trade unfortunately realistic. A good starting position player for a mediocre reliever would be just one of the many ridiculous moves Hendry has made.

I wouldn't mind the 2003 or 2004 Pierre, I'd hate the 2002 or 2005 Pierre. Personally I have no faith that he'll produce.