srbin84

Actually, I would like to see him go as well. I don't like his philosophy pertaining to free agents, which is a pretty significant problem. I only say he stays because the Cubs are making solid profits.

MacPhail is the only one who should stay. Everybody else should go.

I put it at about 50-50 right now.

Carroll is really starting to lose it when it comes to Prior. Everyone knew his pitching wasn't at 100% yet, but were his rehab starts discouraging? He put up this line in his last one: AAA: 6.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 10 Ks, 90 pitches In other words, pretty good. He looked pretty solid after the first with West Tenn and with Peoria in his last start there. He started his rehab assignment with a fastball sitting at mostly 86-88 and now he's hitting 90-91 consistently. I don't know how anyone can say he won't improve when he very clearly has been throughout the month (and yesterday with his velocity). It's quite a statement to make at this stage by Carroll and, in my opinion, not really justified. I think the man knows what he is talking about in this case. That's a nice AAA stat line but even Rich Hill went seemlessly from dominating AAA to getting killed in the big leagues to dominating in AAA again. I think there is a massive difference between a AAA lineup and a good big league one. Yes, and Prior isn't 100% yet. Carroll implied that Prior wasn't going to continue improving and that his rehab starts were discouraging, which they really weren't. He's ignoring the upward trend on his velocity and really has very little to base such a statement on. And since he didn't even know that Prior always does the towel drill while before warming up (something that you'd know if you ever watched him in person), I can't say he's the most credible analyst on the matter to me. When it comes to opinions, I judge credibility on what happens after the opinion is presented. Carroll and I have been in agreement on almost everything with Prior this year and the facts keep rolling in and backing it up. Until something changes, he's right.

How do you know? He may have had a very valid reason. Not that I disagree with Barrett's suspension, because it does seem appropriate to me. I do disagree with you purporting to know what was said between these guys, and knowing that he had no reason. Please, share your knowledge with us. Did you speak personally with Barrett or Pierzynski? Agreed. If someone of your sex makes you really mad, sometimes you snap and punch them in the face. If everybody who ever did that went to jail, there would be far less free people.

They don't have the starting pitching to get back to .500 at any point this season.

I think if Nevin plays well in his time behind the plate, it could add a little to his value so long as he keeps hitting like he is because a lot of good teams could use a guy with his bat. I think he'd be a great fit with the Yankees. He could get time at 1st, DH and a start every week or two for Posada.

They'd get along famously. http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050729/images/sp_padsfront.jpg

I think you may see Nevin get about 40% of the playing time. Who DH's for the inter-league games? Who was tried at catcher for an inning and homered in that inning. It didn't affect him then. If they tried that, I'm sure they'll give him 2 or 3 next time and see how he responds.

I think you may see Nevin get about 40% of the playing time.

bump P.S.-Nevin played catcher yesterday for an inning.

So 3 years isn't enough to judge a decline in performance, but one start is enough to declare a pitcher to be incapable of repeating previous success? I don't know if Livan has ever missed a start in his career. Prior has been getting all kinds of different injuries since he came to the big leagues, and it's affecting his stuff. Same can be said for Wood.

Yeah, for starters, I think he is the worst I've seen to go through an entire season.

Carroll is really starting to lose it when it comes to Prior. Everyone knew his pitching wasn't at 100% yet, but were his rehab starts discouraging? He put up this line in his last one: AAA: 6.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 10 Ks, 90 pitches In other words, pretty good. He looked pretty solid after the first with West Tenn and with Peoria in his last start there. He started his rehab assignment with a fastball sitting at mostly 86-88 and now he's hitting 90-91 consistently. I don't know how anyone can say he won't improve when he very clearly has been throughout the month (and yesterday with his velocity). It's quite a statement to make at this stage by Carroll and, in my opinion, not really justified. I think the man knows what he is talking about in this case. That's a nice AAA stat line but even Rich Hill went seemlessly from dominating AAA to getting killed in the big leagues to dominating in AAA again. I think there is a massive difference between a AAA lineup and a good big league one.

If we're doing that, lets take your 3 year split. Starting from 2003, Livan got worse every year since. I don't value innings quite as much as you, but we'll throw that in there. Also I threw in this year to show the trend. Yes, he had a good year in '03. But he's on a downhill slide. 2003 233.1 innings 3.20 ERA 2004 255.0 innings 3.60 ERA 2005 246.1 innings 3.98 ERA 2006 97.1 innings 5.18 ERA He seems like he is in a long groove right now. I'd like to keep tracking this season before I say he is on a decline, but if he were to add another .40 to his ERA from last season, I would agree that he was. So your 3 year time frame is ok for saying that he's good, but it's not ok for trending a decline? You're very very specific with your metrics, aren't ya? I wouldn't classify any of those seasons as bad, and the first two were definitely good. When the decline starts reaching into the bad range, then it's legit. Going from great to good to around average (in terms of ERA alone) isn't a great thing, but it's not like he still hasn't pitched well through the majority of that stretch.

If we're doing that, lets take your 3 year split. Starting from 2003, Livan got worse every year since. I don't value innings quite as much as you, but we'll throw that in there. Also I threw in this year to show the trend. Yes, he had a good year in '03. But he's on a downhill slide. 2003 233.1 innings 3.20 ERA 2004 255.0 innings 3.60 ERA 2005 246.1 innings 3.98 ERA 2006 97.1 innings 5.18 ERA He seems like he is in a long groove right now. I'd like to keep tracking this season before I say he is on a decline, but if he were to add another .40 to his ERA from last season, I would agree that he was.

Who cares if they were similar age when they came to the league? You're talking about Patterson when he's 26, and Hernandez when he's 31. And they still are a centerfielder and a pitcher. And there have been plenty of Farnsworth threads. Trust me, I've had to moderate them. With the lack of a functional search right now, you'll excuse me if I don't provide links to them. But he was never as highly touted as CP was, few prospects have been. Ok, I guess. Once he was in the big leagues and relieving, I just kind of figured that 100 MPH fastball instantly made him highly touted. I know what you are saying with Patterson, and is exact what I am saying, at least look at what he has done in his prime and scratch the Marlins years. How about the SF years? Are we allowed to look at those? Yeah, I'm just saying each year should be looked at with increasing importance as it comes closer to 2006. As for 2006, we wait until it is over before judging him on that. Same goes for Ramirez and other similar players.

Who cares if they were similar age when they came to the league? You're talking about Patterson when he's 26, and Hernandez when he's 31. And they still are a centerfielder and a pitcher. And there have been plenty of Farnsworth threads. Trust me, I've had to moderate them. With the lack of a functional search right now, you'll excuse me if I don't provide links to them. But he was never as highly touted as CP was, few prospects have been. Ok, I guess. Once he was in the big leagues and relieving, I just kind of figured that 100 MPH fastball instantly made him highly touted. I know what you are saying with Patterson, and is exact what I am saying, at least look at what he has done in his prime and scratch the Marlins years.

Oh man...do you even REMEMBER last year? He was getting booed unmercifully at every at bat. Fan favorite? Come on... ha ha, fan favorite!?!?!?! He is here. He's an interest. He's someone that we all followed intently as a Cubs prospect, and many feel that his development was ruined by the Cubs management. So his success at this point is interesting to us. So to imply that we're ignoring his past, is just silly. We're seperating his Cubs career from his Baltimore one, because of different environments and different instruction. The fact is that Corey has been much better with the Orioles so far. And I think it's hilarious to compare the judgement of a CF prospects growth, to the judgement of the success of a veteran pitcher. There's 5 years difference in age and time in the league. Not to mention one is a pitcher, and the other a centerfielder. Yes, they will probably be judged differently. There were both of similar age when they came to the big leagues, so I don't really know what you are saying there. As far as Corey just being interest, I don't think it's that small. Where are the Farnsworth threads?

Wasn't it 2001? Yeah, it was. That was when Gordon was hurt.

Well, his average season from 2003 to 2005 was 245 IP 3.60 ERA. Is that an example and is that not good? It's ok, not great and not terrible, and an arbitrary group of statistics in a less than stellar career. Well, then we just have different standards. I think 245/3.60 is better than ok.

Oh man...do you even REMEMBER last year? He was getting booed unmercifully at every at bat. Fan favorite? Come on... ha ha, fan favorite!?!?!?! He is here.

There was a point where Rusch was like 5-1 with a low 2's ERA as a starter in 2004.

that doesn't matter dude, he eats up alot of innings even though he's sucking this year. Plus that's an abberation, if you ignore the 3 other years he's been awful, he's been ok. I don't think you should Dustyize that sentiment. You've see how the exact two exact opposite types of pitcher can obliterate seasons on their own, and so have I, so I've learned the value of health and innings when it comes to starting pitching. If we are judging on career stats, everybody who does that agrees that Patterson is one of the worst players in the league, not far from Neifi status. I personally think that's a wrong way to look at things, but let's be consistent. You keep talking about career stats, like the present is really good, but it's not. You don't want to talk about the past or the present, but simply a period of time that happens to make the numbers look......ok. Not great...just...ok. Well, his average season from 2003 to 2005 was 245 IP 3.60 ERA. Is that an example and is that not good?