imb

Turning against him? Who's doing that? He hasn't shown up early to spring training, and it immediately turns into "well he looked out of shape to me" and "he's not early? that's not impressing anyone". It's useless garbage and it hasn't even been a week yet.

You know how badly I wanted to say that if we signed Finley, Dusty would play him? I won't believe he's not managing until I see Lou on TV with my own eyes.

Link zambrano's only signing because jim lied to him about what happens if he doesnt accept the offer Hahahahaha, awesome.

Aramis leaves money on the table to stay with us and fans are turning against him less than a week into spring training?

Again though those are flat line stats...DeRosa at 35%. What if it's a pitcher he is 22% successful against along with the next hitter? I think if I can get Soriano over to third on a steal and DeRosa can battle and get a ground ball or flyball I get a run instead of 2 ground outs in a row and nothing. I understand that you're playing the percentages but sometimes as a coach or manager you see something and you take advantage of that...IMO the good ones do. I'm not talking a gut feeling but to notice a pattern or weakness and take advantage of it. I don't care if DeRosa is 22% successful against the pitcher or 12% successful or 7% successful because for one thing, that number is likey based on a handful of at-bats where the 35% number (which is likely best case, mind you) is based on a far larger sample. Let's say that he is 22% rather than 35% for the sake of argument. You're willing to risk a losing a runner in scoring position based on a few at-bats that show the hitter at the plate is 13% worse than normal against the present pitcher?

Even so, if Soriano gets thrown out at third, it's a bad thing. Regardless of whether DeRosa hits a 550 foot homerun or weakly grounds out to the pitcher. In your scenario, DeRosa reaches base safely, something he will do, best case scenario 35% of the time, and it was a net failure because we lost a man in scoring position during his at-bat. Had Soriano stayed at second, and DeRosa struck out, we're still in better shape, runner on 2nd and 2 outs as opposed to a runner on first and two outs.

It was obvious that by 99% I was just saying "vast majority" and not referencing some advanced statistical study on base stealing. That didn't really need any explaining. Are you implying that this is an actual opinion that you hold? I'm confused. Anyway, this is a stupid offshoot of the actual argument, so unless you have anything else to add, I think we can both agree that this is going nowhere. My point is that if something has a low percentage of working why keep doing it? I think we agree then? Attempting to steal third has a very low rate of success/usefulness, and should only be tried during extreme circumstances. I don't know what point you're bringing up with the 9% homerun thing, though. I don't think the percentage of batters that go to the plate trying to hit a homerun every at bat is very high, but the amount of runners attempting to steal third when they attempt to steal third is probably 100%.

It was obvious that by 99% I was just saying "vast majority" and not referencing some advanced statistical study on base stealing. That didn't really need any explaining. Are you implying that this is an actual opinion that you hold? I'm confused. Anyway, this is a stupid offshoot of the actual argument, so unless you have anything else to add, I think we can both agree that this is going nowhere.

You know, there is a difference between an actual study done with real numbers, and then something like this, that you just got flustered and made up. Like the .01 percent? No, that is how often I would actually like Soriano to attempt a steal of third base with Lee, Ramirez, Barrett and Jones coming up behind him. Someone on second is already in scoring position, why risk the out just to get him more in scoring position? It's not worth it 99% of the time. How about that one? Do I really need to preface posts like that with a "just my opinion"? 99%, 92%, whatever.

You know, there is a difference between an actual study done with real numbers, and then something like this, that you just got flustered and made up. Like the .01 percent? No, that is how often I would actually like Soriano to attempt a steal of third base with Lee, Ramirez, Barrett and Jones coming up behind him.

You know, there is a difference between an actual study done with real numbers, and then something like this, that you just got flustered and made up.

I think he was just joking with you. Everyone here needs to chill a little bit, damn. It's not like I'm furious about it. It was just a stupid thing to even bother bringing up.

Who cares about next season. If he can steal his and the Cubs way to the World Series this year. Am I missing something here? Next=This Huh? Wood has a contract for this season but not for next season. Did you really think i was talking about 2008?

Who cares about next season. If he can steal his and the Cubs way to the World Series this year. Am I missing something here? Next=This

How many times next season is a game going to come down to it being the ninth inning of a one run game with soriano on second and one out? He's the only person that should be trying to steal third and that is just about the only situation that he should be trying it, and that situation is going to happen like 2 or 3 times during the course of the entire season.

You should only steal 3rd if you're very sure you can make it-stealing 3rd is all about getting to score on an out, not a better chance of scoring on a hit. I t shouldn't be a routine thing, but if a good basestealer gets a good jump, it can be valuable as long as their success rate stealing 3rd is very high. Use Lou's quote for instance. He's talking about Soriano stealing third. He's the best basestealer on the team, but 99.99% of the time, I dont want him even thinking about stealing third with Lee, Ramirez and Jones coming up behind him. Sure, a guy on third will score on a passed ball/wild pitch, whereas a guy on second won't, but how many times in a season does that happen to a team? Five? Ten? How many times will it happen when Soriano has stolen third? At best one or two? It's not worth it. There will be times when you need to play for the one run, and then i would be ok with it, and that is the 0.01% of the time.

It's just a comparison of their strikeout and walk rates, not a comparison of them as pitchers. You really think Zambrano and Daniel Cabrera are similar at all in how they pitch? Cabrera is 25 and had a WHIP of 1.48 last year.

Its pointless. A man on second is going to score on a base hit as long as he isnt slow. And if he's slow, he shouldnt be stealing third in the first place. Someone on second is already in scoring position, why risk the out just to get him more in scoring position? It's not worth it 99% of the time.

The slow, deliberate process of benching Matt Murton has officially begun. Don't worry; when Floyd pulls up lame in mid-April Lou will be forced to play Matty. what scares me is that you might be right. I am still trying to figure out leadoff, that position can't be solidified either. Leadoff isnt a position, and they've already said a million times that Soriano is the leadoff guy, for better or worse.

That article doesn't compare him to Daniel Cabrera, it says that his walk rate and strike out rate were similar. Everything else about them is different. It was all just a big, fancy way of saying that he has thrown a lot of pitches in his career and that he might be tired/at higher risk of injury. Did anyone here not know that already? Hardly shocking news.

trying to steal third is one of the stupidest things a team can have someone do. God I hate it.

And before last year, were either Encarnacion or Duncan thought of as #2 hitters? If I recall correctly, Encarnacion was penciled in as a 5-6-7 guy (depending on who was sitting), and Duncan was more of a 5-6-7 guy as well. Put ANYBODY in front of Pujols, and I promise you they will hit better. But Encarnacion hit worse in front of him.

Encarnacion's OPS in the 2-hole last year was .448. Duncan did do well though.

1-1) Albert Pujols 1-2) Jose Reyes 1-3) Johan Santana 1-4) Alfonso Soriano 1-5) Alex Rodriguez 1-6) Carlos Beltran 1-7) Ryan Howard 1-8) Miguel Cabrera 1-9) Carl Crawford 1-10) Chase Utley 1-11) Derrek Lee 1-12) Chris Carpenter 2-1) David Wright 2-2) Lance Berkman 2-3) Grady Sizemore 2-4) David Ortiz 2-5) Vladimir Guerrero 2-6) Manny Ramirez 2-7) Mark Teixeira 2-8) Travis Hafner 2-9) Derek Jeter 2-10) Carlos Lee 2-11) Matt Holliday 2-12) Carlos Zambrano 3-1) Jake Peavy 3-2) Aramis Ramirez 3-3) Justin Morneau 3-4) Joe Mauer 3-5) Paul Konerko 3-6) Miguel Tejada 3-7) Jason Bay 3-8) Hanley Ramirez 3-9) Jimmy Rollins 3-10) Roy Halladay 3-11) Brandon Webb 3-12) Dan Haren 4-1) Garrett Atkins 4-2) Ichiro 4-3) Vernon Wells 4-4) Brian McCann 4-5) Roy Oswalt 4-6) Felix Hernandez 4-7) Ben Sheets 4-8) Bobby Abreu 4-9) Jeremy Bonderman 4-10) Andruw Jones 4-11) Victor Martinez 4-12) Jermaine Dye 5-1) Michael Young 5-2) Robby Cano 5-3) Rafael Furcal 5-4) Francisco Rodriguez 5-5) Bill Hall 5-6) Cole Hamels 5-7) Brian Roberts 5-8) Joe Nathan 5-9) Adam Dunn 5-10) Ryan Zimmerman 5-11) Carlos Guillen 5-12) Chone Figgins 6-1) Daisuke Matsuzaka 6-2) Jim Thome 6-3) John Lackey 6-4) B.J. Ryan 6-5) Carlos Delgado 6-6) Billy Wagner 6-7) Rocco Baldelli 6-8) Rich Hill 6-9) Troy Glaus 6-10) Justin Verlander 6-11) Aaron Harang 6-12) John Smoltz 7-1) Ian Kinsler 7-2) Johnny Damon 7-3) Mariano Rivera 7-4) Jered Weaver 7-5) Huston Street 7-6) Brett Myers 7-7) Matt Cain 7-8) Scott Kazmir 7-9) Curt Schilling 7-10) Felipe Lopez 7-11) Hideki Matsui 7-12) Nick Swisher 8-1) Bobby Jenks 8-2) Jason Schmidt 8-3) Rickie Weeks 8-4) C.C. Sabathia 8-5) Dan Uggla 8-6) Juan Pierre 8-7) JJ Putz 8-8) Randy Johnson 8-9) Howie Kendrick 8-10) Rich Harden 8-11) Prince Fielder 8-12) Michael Barrett 9-1) Brad Lidge 9-2) Chris Young 9-3) Chipper Jones 9-4) Jeff Francoeur 9-5) Pat Burrell 9-6) Scott Rolen 9-7) Erik Bedard 9-8) Gary Sheffield 9-9) Trevor Hoffman 9-10) Richie Sexson 9-11) Barry Zito 9-12) Dontrelle Willis 10-1) Todd Helton 10-2) Takashi Saito 10-3) Mike Piazza 10-4) Delmon Young 10-5) Chad Cordero 10-6) Josh Beckett 10-7) AJ Burnett 10-8) Jonathan Papelbon 10-9) Tom Gordon 10-10) Julio Lugo 10-11) Barry Bonds 10-12) Corey Patterson 11-1) Chad Tracy 11-2) JD Drew 11-3) Francisco Cordero 11-4) Ervin Santana 11-5) Chris Ray 11-6) Coco Crisp 11-7) Stephen Drew 11-8) Bronson Arroyo 11-9) Jason Giambi 11-10) Brian Fuentes 11-11) Brandon Phillips 11-12) Alex Rios 12-1) Michael Cuddyer 12-2) Jason Isringhausen 12-3) Chien-Ming Wang 12-4) John Patterson 12-5) Magglio Ordonez 12-6) Eric Gagne 12-7) Tadahito Iguchi 12-8) Ryan Freel 12-9) Torii Hunter 12-10) Frank Thomas 12-11) Kelvim Escobar 12-12) Adam LaRoche 13-1)Willy Taveras 13-2) Joel Zumaya 13-3) Raul Ibanez 13-4) Adrian Gonzalez 13-5) Scott Podsednik 13-6) Bob Wickman 13-7) Nick Markakis 13-8) Nomar Garciaparra 13-9) Mike Mussina 13-10) Brad Hawpe 13-11) Dave Bush 13-12) Russell Martin 14-1) Mark Prior 14-2) Eric Chavez 14-3) Kenji Johjima 14-4) Anthony Reyes 14-5) Ramon Hernandez 14-6) Roger Clemens 14-7) Lyle Overbay 14-8) Scott Olsen 14-9) Nate Robertson 14-10) Derek Lowe 14-11) Jonathon Broxton 14-12) Chuck James 15-1) Hank Blalock 15-2) Aubrey Huff 15-3) Jorge Posada 15-4) Chris Capuano 15-5) Javier Vazquez 15-6) Octavio Dotel 15-7) Joe Crede 15-8) Josh Willingham 15-9) Josh Barfield 15-10) Brad Penny 15-11) Ivan Rodriguez 15-12) Jhonny Peralta 16-1) Adam Wainwright 16-2) Andy Pettitte 16-3) Jose Valverde 16-4) Alex Gordon 16-5) Anibal Sanchez 16-6) Solomon Torres 16-7) Keith Foulke 16-8) Bengie Molina 16-9) Dustin Pedroia 16-10) Pedro Martinez 16-11) Moises Alou 16-12) Ryan Dempster 17-1) Ray Durham 17-2) Josh Johnson 17-3) Mike Gonzalez 17-4) Chris Young 17-5) Ted Lilly 17-6) Greg Maddux 17-7) Mark Teahen 17-8) Jon Garland 17-9) B.J. Upton 17-10) Clay Hensley 17-11) Scott Shields 17-12) Edger Renteria 18-1) Eric Byrnes 18-2) Jeff Kent 18-3) Kevin Millwood 18-4) Philip Hughes 18-5) Chad Billingsley 18-6) Jason Varitek 18-7) Tom Glavine 18-8) Freddy Sanchez 18-9) Adrian Beltre 18-10) Orlando Cabrera 18-11) Nick Johnson 18-12) Ken Griffey Jr. 19-1)Tim Hudson 19-2) Edwin Encarnacion 19-3) Todd Jones 19-4) Freddy Garcia 19-5) Jose Contreras 19-6) AJ Pierzynski 19-7) Dave Roberts 19-8) Jim Edmonds 19-9) Morgan Ensberg 19-10) Matt Garza 19-11) Jeremy Hermida 19-12) Mark Buehrle 20-1) Shane Victorino 20-2) Brian Giles 20-3) Curtis Granderson 20-4) Corey Hart 20-5) Conor Jackson 20-6) Jeremy Sowers 20-7) Joe Borowski 20-8) Kevin Youkilis 20-9) Zach Duke 20-10) Kerry Wood 20-11) Akinori Ostuka 20-12)Joel Pineiro 21-1)Taylor Tankersley 21-2 Mike Jacobs

Amen. Cowherd is the WORST in radio. He makes Rome tolerable. woah, woah, woah. Let's not go overboard here buddy. cowherd at least makes observations about sports, and although completely wrong 95% of the time--it still qualifies him as being better than rome, who rarely makes comments about anything on-field, only philosophical issues. *dead air* *dead air* "Wicked" *dead air* *dead air* A-Rod, time to nut up and stop whimpering in the corner like a baby that lost his rattle everytime there's a man on base with 2 outs. RACK EM