srbin84

Ross.

Nope

Bob said his injured hand came off the bat when he swung, and he grimaced but also said it's normal for a batter to do that.

If I were a player and got hate mail from someone, I'd probably send them back an autographed photo with a note thanking them for their support.

How bout we sign free agents to play for our worst in the majors offense then? How are we in starters ERA? I have to imagine near last. The only thing saving us is Z.

Did Gonzalez change the spelling of his first name? Nevertheless, he was a very solid pitcher with the Cubs. It was terrible to watch him go down in that game in 98. You could tell there was a good chance his career would never be the same.

I think Thomas will end up being at least a poor mans KG anyway, so I think we should just keep him and see what happens this year. Him and the Euro guy should make the team better to at least some degree, and we already made the playoffs and competed well with the eventual champions, so I don't think we really need to go out of the way to get a guy like KG if it is going to cost us multiple players.

[george costanza] Can't you desour? Why can't you desour?[/george costanza] Show me 2003 the rest of this season and all of next season (plus no DL), and I will desour. I don't see it happening, but if it somehow did, I would. So he needs to be the best pitcher in the game or nothing? I want to see him pitch at or close to what he's capable of. Z does it every year. What happens if/when Dusty runs him into the ground? Will you sour on him too? No, Prior had a very successful season performance and health wise in 2003. I don't hold the Giles thing against him at all. He's been a lot different ever since his injury at the beginning of 2004. Z's been doing it and doing it well without injury since he came up. I'm not saying everybody has to be as healthy as Z but certainly not even close to as oft-injured as Prior. Z's shown me he is a horse with multiple consecutive years of health and excellence. If he were to go down tomorrow as a result of whatever, I wouldn't sour on him. He's proven himself. The difference between some of you and myself is that one season isn't enough to prove to me that he is the pitcher of 2003. It was a great season, and I expected him to have many more great seasons. He gets hurt every year though, and he misses more and more starts while his production goes down. Prior def. WAS a great pitcher. I think the injuries have turned him into something else, and I don't like what I'm seeing, nor does any Cub fan. There have been a lot of guys who have had one great year and never came close to duplicating it again or at least never put out consistently like Z does. Look at Jerome Walton. Walton turned out to be worse than his first full season because he just wasn't that good and the league caught up with him. IMO, Prior is just like Walton, but his decline is due to the injuries because he was as talented as anyone. This is just my opinion. I never said it was impossible for Prior to start pitching like Z and do it for the rest of his career, but I don't see it happening. It seems like even some of you even agree with that, but you think he will end up being somewhere between his worst and best. Nobody knows for sure. Now, as far as the point of the thread is concerned, just read the first post again (or for the first time). It's the combination of two issues, keeping Prior and Dusty. I was just saying that if it is true that Dusty ruined Prior, why would you want to keep him? That's to say that you might love Prior but knowing he's damaged goods, wouldn't you want to trick some other team into thinking he wasn't by trading him after a nice hot streak? If he isn't damaged goods by what Dusty did in 2003, and you want to keep him and see how things turn out, that's totally understandable. However, if you believe that, don't blame Dusty in 2003 for what he is doing right now anymore. Evaluate him by his performance and credit him accordingly, positive or negative. I just think that's the objective way to look at it. To blame Dusty for ruining him and at the same time want to keep him and think he's going to rebound to his old form is contridictory IMO. Later people said, well, maybe Dusty just ruined him for a period of time (so far it's just about up to 3 years) and that he could all of the sudden start pitching closer to what he did in 2002 and 2003. That would allow one to both blame Dusty and have optimism Prior will become a great, healthy pitcher. I never really got the impression before this thread that people think Dusty just ruined him for something like 3 years or however long it's going to be. I don't really see how that could happen. I've never heard of anything like that before, and it seems kind of like a copout so Dusty can get the blame when Prior plays poorly while Prior gets credit if/when he does well. I don't think anybody who had one great full season deserves that because it was just one year and so much has happened production and injury wise since then.

Wow...um...you just completely contradicted yourself.... Ok, that's called average... And that's called OBP, and I don't think we agree on that. Hits are better than walks, but hits+walks > hits. So what you're essentially saying above is Average > OBP but then you say... Uhhhhhh I know you guys were just itching to hear me say that BA is better than OBP and that is just moronic. I didn't contricdict myself. This was about goony's statement that BA means nothing. All I was saying is I want to know the proportion of OBP that is BA because we all agree that a single is better than a walk. That being said, just looking at OBP, the point is that between two hitters who have a .400 OBP, the guy with a .350 BA is better than the guy with a .250 BA. That's why average doesn't mean nothing. It's an easy way to determine just how someone is getting on base. That's why I think goony was wrong to say it means nothing. Agreed or Disagreed?

"Livan Hernandez...will you be my valentine?" I knew it wouldn't be a liked question because both answers were undesirable. I just wanted to see what people would say, and I've made my conclusion.

[george costanza] Can't you desour? Why can't you desour?[/george costanza] Show me 2003 the rest of this season and all of next season (plus no DL), and I will desour. I don't see it happening, but if it somehow did, I would. So he needs to be the best pitcher in the game or nothing? I want to see him pitch at or close to what he's capable of. Z does it every year.

They will, in my opinion, regret not taking Brandon Roy. Roy will be the ROY and an excellent player. This happens every year. Happened with Wade (no I am not saying Roy is Wade), Chris Paul, etc. Teams are afraid to pass on a potential star instead of taking the guy that can be a consistent threat. Keep drafting on pure potential Bulls. I thought we stopped that crap after the HS kids and all the Euros didn't pan out. Guess we're at it again. Who was picked on potential over Paul? Marvin Williams? Deron Williams was selected because he is was better than Chris Paul. Poll ten NBA execs and ask them which guard they'd rather have WIlliams or Paul and if less than 8 say Paul I'll be shocked. After year one they would have all wanted Jason Williams before Chauncey Billups. I like D. Williams, and I know he's your hometown boy, but come on. Paul is the more complete player. Time will provide the answer. No he is a better scorer. Williams is a better passer, better defender, and runs a team better. Hahaha, you're drunk. Paul is so much better than Williams that it isnt funny. As is evident by his team always doing worse than Williams'. I would rather have Deron Williams especially if I am the Jazz. Chris Paul is Franchise and Starbury waiting to happen. No way man. Paul is a very good player. Plus, he's not selfish like the two guys you mentioned. Williams' teams do better because he's on better teams. The Illini had a very good year with him, Brown, Augustine and Head, but none of them are star NBA players, and it seems like you overvalue them. It also seems like you don't like the ACC, but don't let that cloud your judgement of the players that played there.

Obviously. Goony just said batting average means nothing. I think it is a good measure of how often a player gets on base by the hit, which we agree is better rather than just how much he gets on base. Obviously OBP wins over batting average; I just think BA is a useful stat for the reason I said.

They will, in my opinion, regret not taking Brandon Roy. Roy will be the ROY and an excellent player. This happens every year. Happened with Wade (no I am not saying Roy is Wade), Chris Paul, etc. Teams are afraid to pass on a potential star instead of taking the guy that can be a consistent threat. Keep drafting on pure potential Bulls. I thought we stopped that crap after the HS kids and all the Euros didn't pan out. Guess we're at it again. Who was picked on potential over Paul? Marvin Williams? Deron Williams was selected because he is was better than Chris Paul. Hold up. Deron Williams is alright, but why do you think he is better than Paul?

I would much rather have him than Keith Van Horn. Plus I really doubt the Mavs pick really helps them right away. I don't know. I think James is going to get eaten up down low if he ever plays in the NBA. I think he's Euro/D-League/10-day contract.

I could see Dee going in the second round.

No one will argue that a walk is better than a single. But, just to give you an idea how little the Cubs respect the walk, digest these numbers. Pay very close attention to these numbers: Cubs hitters this year: 669 hits Cubs opponents (you know, the teams that have held the Cubs to less than 30 wins so far this year): 639 hits The Cubs have outhit their opponents this year by 30 hits. Why do you suppose the Cubs have been outscored 392-298 if hits are so much better than walks? Because, the other team is getting on base more often than the Cubs Cubs hitters getting on base (minus HBP): 848 Cubs opponents getting on baes (minus HBP): 952 I'll take the guys who get on base more. Dunn gets on base more than Lee. But, this isn't factoring in what it would take to get these players. Again, Dunn is better than Lee.

I don't hate J.J. I just think he's overrated. I wasn't so much talking about here. I think I heard he was getting hate mail and all kinds of stuff during the season.

Why do so many people around the country hate JJ?

Well, he's just about to get about 30 more, so it's all good.

I hope he falls to the Bulls. He's a great shooter. Yeah a worse Ben Gordon with a bad back that's what they need He's taller and automatic from the line. I love Gordon, but I like JJ a lot too.

[george costanza] Can't you desour? Why can't you desour?[/george costanza] Show me 2003 the rest of this season and all of next season (plus no DL), and I will desour. I don't see it happening, but if it somehow did, I would. be the best pitcher in the majors for a year and a half and you'll be okay with him? i'm pretty sure that's too high a standard. He set it.

I think Gay will be the bust of the draft.

If he falls to 16, I want him on the Bu.

Foye>Telfair right now and in the future. Not a fan of Seabass.