goonys evil twin

It matters, because stuff matters, and when your stuff lessens, your effectiveness lessens. Guys can still be relatively effective with less stuff, but they won't be as effective. And less MPH can also suggest some sort of health issue, which could lead to much worse things in the near or long-term. Probably just indicates age in Schmidt's case. He's 33 and pitched effectively last year for 200+ innings at that velocity. He's just getting old, but there's no reason he won't age gracefully. There's no reason he can't age gracefully, but there's plenty of reasons why he might not. Schmidt wasn't any good in 2005, was it a fluke or the signs of a guy nearing decline. None of us knows what the future holds for him. There are plenty of comparisons that would seem to indicate he could really stink in just 2 or 3 years. There is some reason to believe he could last another 5-6. Let's not pretend there's no chance of serious setbacks here. He's not an unblemished pitcher.

Boston isn't trading Manny unless they sign JD Drew to complement Pena and Crisp. I very much doubt they'd take back Murton and Jones... just cause they don't need outfielders. If they trade Manny and sign Drew, they still only have 1 everyday OF. Crisp and Pena are more 4th OF than anything. And Boston is a team that has never had a problem with 4-5 OF sharing time. Pena and Jones would make a solid platoon. Crisp could start out trying to be an everyday guy, but there's not much of a guarantee he'll be good for a solid 700 PA. They definitely need another OF if Manny goes, two might be excessive, but not out of the question for an AL East team.

I wouldn't have a problem with it in theory, I do have a problem of just switching over right now. I'm pretty sure Zambrano would implode with such a move. Had he been used to such a routine then maybe he could handle it. But I don't like drastically changing usage of guys.

It matters, because stuff matters, and when your stuff lessens, your effectiveness lessens. Guys can still be relatively effective with less stuff, but they won't be as effective. And less MPH can also suggest some sort of health issue, which could lead to much worse things in the near or long-term.

Sure it could. But could isn't how you build a baseball team. It's definitely not how you build a $100+ million baseball team. If they spend what they are supposedly going to spend, they have no excuse to win less than 90.

I don't get how his fellow pitching teammates could possibly affect his ranking against the rest of the league. I don't either. I never said it would. Just that if the other pitchers in the rotation with him are good enough to have him the 5th best, then it would affect his ranking against other 5th starters. I think it's completely useless to rank him against other 5th starters. 5th starter isn't a position, just like leadoff isn't a position. A starter is a starter. If he's below average then paying much more than the average guy is an inefficient use of resources. I never advocated paying him much more than the average guy. As far as not comparing him against other 5th starters, why not. Do you expect the Cubs to field a rotation filled with all-stars? Isn't that being a bit impractical and unrealistic? No, I don't expect that, but I don't think it makes any sense to change your opinion on a guy based on how he compares to other 5th starters. 5th starter is a pointless designation anyway, since such a ranking can change throughout a season. Rarely do you go into a season with a 1-5, and then end up with the same 1-5 in the same order. The bottom line is things don't change quite a bit just by slotting him in the 5th spot. First, there's the problem of finding 2 more guys somewhere to slot in ahead of him. Second, he's still the same pitcher, and his value is still the same.

I don't get how his fellow pitching teammates could possibly affect his ranking against the rest of the league. I don't either. I never said it would. Just that if the other pitchers in the rotation with him are good enough to have him the 5th best, then it would affect his ranking against other 5th starters. I think it's completely useless to rank him against other 5th starters. 5th starter isn't a position, just like leadoff isn't a position. A starter is a starter. If he's below average then paying much more than the average guy is an inefficient use of resources.

Hendry must have told him Prior and Wood are healthy or something. Darn liar.

I don't get how his fellow pitching teammates could possibly affect his ranking against the rest of the league.

Well, if that was the intent of the question, it was poorly worded. Neyer doesn't talk about that end of the business, and really, how the heck would he know? He talks about the productivity of players, and their relative value against one another. Asking Neyer want kind of pressure Hendry has to win, or whether the team is for sale is pretty silly.

It's quite obvious to those paying attention. But it's still something that needs to be plainly written out. There's still a large contingent bewildered about Pierre not returning. Many people think the Cubs problem is a lack of small ball and poor defense. It's not saying a lot, but it appears to be an answer to a chat question, and it's a 100% accurate statement. It's plenty accurate, but it's kind of silly to not even answer the person's question. The question about the contracts and the impending sale was perfectly legitimate, and Neyer just brushed it off completely with a completely different issue. I think he answered the question to the best of his ability. He's not in the "are they going to sell the team" side of baseball. He's a guy you ask questions about on the field issues. The person asked if the Cubs are saddled with a GM who has a motive of getting the team ready to sell. I think his answer is no, they are saddled with a GM who has bad priorities when looking at players.

I totally agree. Which is why I would prefer to target one of the AL SP's, in the hopes that moving to NL-style baseball will give their numbers a nudge in the right direction. I might sign Batista as a #5 -- but I thought we already had plenty of 5 hole starters, including Prior if you believe the Cubs. What the Cubs don't have are many guys they can count on for 190+ innings of averageness. Batista can probably do that. He can probably be as good, or nearly as good as most of the guys whose names are being thrown around. The problem, of course, would be you'd need a more productive lineup than the ones the Cubs currently have in order to win with such pitchers.

If he failed because he was out of shape, yeah you make a good point. But this is because of his shoulder. Yeah, this isn't everybody line up for the turn your head and cough, then take your blood pressure physical you get in high school. They take a pretty serious look at the dude's shoulder and Joe's can't be pretty.

That's the dilemma. He probably doesn't. But if there is one thing that might help is that older players don't seem to be attracting the same level of crazy bidding. Mussina went for far cheaper than he could have on the open market. Alou is going to make a lot less than Pierre, Soriano and Mathews, but he'll probably have a far greater OPS+ next year (albeit in a more limited role). The big money seems to be out there for the 29-32 year old crowd, but the guys in the late 30's might not draw the same interest. That being said, I fully expect Batista to get something close to, or exceeding Eaton's 3/24.

I don't think he will improve. But if he duplicated his performance he'd be a solid $4-5m pitcher.

I don't see how you can defend such a claim. Gonzo had as good a defensive reputation as Izturis has. And he wasn't as damaged physically as Izturis is. Cesar is no wonderboy out there.

I thought that ham was their weapon of choice in a fight.

It's an improved offense, but not one I see bringing the team from worst in the league to top 5. And without a top 5 offense, I think they need at least a top 5 pitching staff, and right now, the staff is nowhere near that. Adding a couple innings eating mediocrities won't improve them enough.

It's quite obvious to those paying attention. But it's still something that needs to be plainly written out. There's still a large contingent bewildered about Pierre not returning. Many people think the Cubs problem is a lack of small ball and poor defense. It's not saying a lot, but it appears to be an answer to a chat question, and it's a 100% accurate statement.

Realistically speaking I think it will be incredibly rare to see weeks when he's going to get up quickly to warm up every day. I think the vast majority of his activity will come with at least 2 days rest, and they won't be warming him up much without it being almost certain that he'll pitch. I think a realistic expectation for Wood this year is that he'll appear in 30-40 games, and he'll pitch 2-3 innings in many of those games. He might rack up 40-60 innings. He won't be incredibly effective, but he'll look dominant at times. He might have an ERA+ just above 100. The upside is more like 70 innings with an ERA+ around 140, with the downside being 15 innings of inconsistent performance before being shutdown in June.

The point is they've said that all year, but haven't done it, and looked kind of silly for holding him back. But with Jones banged up, they could look pretty darn smart for having a healthy and fresh Benson available.

If it came down to it, I couldn't see him rejecting a trade here.

I don't get what's so sad. He made his own bed, and agreed to the punishment. This isn't some heavy handed monarch ruling against a poor shlub who was trying to feed his family.

With Jones a little banged up, this could be the time when Lovie starts looking like a genius for holding back Benson. He's got a chance to get a relatively fresh Cedric some serious carries down the stretch, and he can also rest up Jones for later.

I liked that one too. I was also wondering why part of Maryland gets the NE/DET game.