Danny82

USSoccer: When you put such little emphasis on defense at the SS position, I can understand why you feel that way.

All I can do is shake my head.

You're right, the Cubs have given me lots of reasons not to overreact over the last 99 years... Fine, blow that vein in your forehead if you want. I prefer to wait until I see Hill not in the rotation before I get all agitated about things.

I don't care about his minor league numbers. What did he do in the majors early in the season? Is it ever his fault for not performing? Or is it always somebody on the staff's instead?

If he plays gold glove caliber defense and hits about .280+ in the 8 hole, I think his health is definitely important. youre too optimistic Perhaps we even things out then.

He didn't give much of an indication that he belonged in the majors the first half of last season. Hard to say there is a "should have" there when he was getting shallacked most every time they sent him out early on.

If he plays gold glove caliber defense and hits about .280+ in the 8 hole, I think his health is definitely important.

I am simply dumbfounded by the worked up responses in this thread. Until you actually hear or see something from the organization that indicates that Hill won't be in the rotation, why get all worked up about it? Seems like a lot of wasted energy to me.

There's absolutely no reason to think that the Cubs would trade Hill.

Amazing Grace, I'm pretty sure he was joking. The running joke is that nobody really knows exactly how old Pujols is for sure.

But you know how great Santana will be?

Lou keeps saying the right things.

Wasn't Brian Giles like 26 in his first full season?

Theriot is the only other real option at 2B on the current roster.

Honestly, of all the additions to the coaching staff, I am most excited about Perry.

According to ESPN, Hernandez, Foulke, Fultz and Borowski were the extent of their bullpen acquisitions. I think there is still a need there. They must think so too, or they wouldn't have signed all four.

Soriano quite obviously has the arm for right. Just because he didn't play right in Washington because of Guillen doesn't mean he can't play right just as well as he played left.

Well, one thing's for certain, if Marquis somehow has a good year this year, this board will likely be firmly back in Larry Rothschild's corner again. Not that I am anticipating that happening.

Those strike-out numbers/comparisons really don't mean much. He's a sinkerballer who mostly just tries to get batters to beat the ball into the dirt.

I think they figured him out just fine. He just wouldn't listen. He's got a reputation for being quite stubborn.

Are you saying this with something in support or is it just the pessimistic party line?

Is it pretty much a foregone conclusion around here that DeRosa will bat 2nd, Barrett 6th, and Murton 7th? Personally, I think Murton would be the better choice in the two hole, but if DeRosa matches his numbers from last year, I can't really complain with him in the two hole.

According to CBS Sportsline:

I wish we knew each other personally because I would bet a case of your favorite beer right now that he doesn't hit 25 home runs. Heck, I would set the over/under at 22.5 even.

Actually, he probably is. PECOTA is projecting about a half run of ERA in Ryu's favor. CHONE predicts nearly an earned run Ryu's favor and ZiPS favors Ryu as well, although Dan sees them being pretty close. I keep forgetting to use ZiPS and CHONE when I make points about pitching. PECOTA may as well be the definitive source on projections for hitters... but its pitching lags behind (due to the very unpredictable nature of pitching itself). I will go out on a limb and say that all three will be wrong and Marquis will be about a run better than Ryu. Of course you will. You have no professional experience with projecting performances, nor do you have professional credibility that needs sustaining in order to ensure the money keeps coming in (at least not in this area). Not only that, but now Ryu has switched to the AL East. No offense intended of course, but I think I'll continue trusting the people that get paid to make these projections. After everything is said and done, I suspect Ryu's ERA will be slightly better after adjusting for league context. I'm not asking for your trust. All I'm asking is that you to remember my prediction come October. I don't think that Marquis is that good of a pitcher. But I think Ryu is worse. I'm choosing to not accept wholesale some predictions from these other sources because, as is detailed before, I'm not sold on their predictions for rookie pitchers. That's my choice. We'll see next fall if I was right or they were.