weis21

I was quite younger at the time, but if baseball was as "dead" as has been reported just before the Sosa-McGwire era, then I am glad that so many players took steroids. I seriously doubt that baseball was in such dire times that without some "homerun chase" it would be dead in the water, but if that is indeed the case, then I would have paid for the drugs myself. ETA (clarify): I'd much rather have A-Rod/Bonds/Clemens/etc. baseball steroid drama than no baseball at all.

You know, I admit this game was one of the ugliest I've ever seen, but this [expletive] annoys me. Why isn't it while Georgia Tech allows 50 in the first half against Wake, meanwhile, neither team in PSU/IL has allowed that much over a full game. This isn't so much directed at you, but at buffoons like Vitale who talk down the Big 10 because they don't score 100 points against each other. :-k Both teams allowed considerably more than 50 in their games against ACC opponents (85 and 76 respectively... ps - it was the ACC worst GT that scored 85) I'm not saying that they are bad teams necessarily, and I will be the first to say that Dickie V is worthless, but to insinuate in some fashion that the Big 10 and the ACC (at least offensively) are equals is a far stretch. Haha, how bout you tell me how many those teams scored in those games. Probably in the 30s right? nope, much higher. but your it still shoots holes in your "Big 10 schools are great because of their defense" logic when the worst team in the ACC posts 85 in early season play. Do you really want to go down the road of comparing ACC vs. Big 10 schools? I'm fairly positive the last decade has provided me with significant ammunition. Once again, I'm not saying they are bad teams. I'm sure they are very good teams with good defense that had an off night, but please, don't pull a random ACC game to use as the backbone of your argument. ETA: OK, I see your edit. Disregard this post. I hate Dick Vitale too, can we agree on that?

You know, I admit this game was one of the ugliest I've ever seen, but this [expletive] annoys me. Why isn't it while Georgia Tech allows 50 in the first half against Wake, meanwhile, neither team in PSU/IL has allowed that much over a full game. This isn't so much directed at you, but at buffoons like Vitale who talk down the Big 10 because they don't score 100 points against each other. :-k Both teams allowed considerably more than 50 in their games against ACC opponents (85 and 76 respectively... ps - it was the ACC worst GT that scored 85) I'm not saying that they are bad teams necessarily, and I will be the first to say that Dickie V is worthless, but to insinuate in some fashion that the Big 10 and the ACC (at least offensively) are equals is a far stretch.

Probably just the optimistic in me, but I have a really, really good feeling about Bradley on this team. I know he has screwed up in the past, but I don't think he's been given a particularly fair chance lately either. Hopefully this is the fresh start that he needs.

Interesting that that page said Fox was taking some grounders at third. I wonder if he would be passable as a backup CI? Has anyone heard if they are going to bring in someone else to audition for backup MI or is Fontenot going to be the only backup SS?

:-k I was thinking Heilman was lefty and would be in there with Harden hurt. Oops. No big deal, I was just wondering if I had missed something significant. As for as this discussion, I'd too vote for Marshall over the others. Although, it will be interesting to see how Heilman looks this spring. I'd have no problem with him either if he earns it and let Marshall piggyback Harden/spot start.

:-k

OK then, for 65 pitches Zambrano, a traditionally emotional pitcher (who I imagine has great pride for his country), would be throwing close to 100 MPH. You think that is no difference than throwing to scrubs like every other proven spring training pitcher does? His velocity fluctuates much more than a couple miles per hour. Therefore his arm is taxed further. He would undoubtedly exert less energy and time pitching in "regular" spring training than in the WBC. That cannot be a negative.

Chip was terrible. It's gotta be the shoes, folks, it's gotta be the shoes! How do you screw up such an easy call? Shoes? Really?

So if Zambrano threw as hard as he could (for conceivably as many pitches as it would take for his national team) it would be no different than if he was simply stretching out in spring training? That's a novel idea to say the least. I'm not saying that he would necessarily hurt himself doing it, or that even it would be a huge risk, but to say that it is the same thing as "playing it safe" with spring training is a bit of a reach in my opinion. And what is this no difference between 90 or 92? Zambrano doesn't max out at 92.

Nothing gives me more chills than watching the first few rows behind home plate at Wrigley pop up out of their seats after the crack of the bat. Well done, as always.

holy God Z's mustache is badass

I'd probably rather have Bradley 3/30 because if we do indeed pay him that much it means he's been healthy and productive. 1/5 for Abreu is still a steal though

Plus, if he walked four in a row again this year Lou may have literally killed him. http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj80/daw0521/610x.jpg?t=1234382636

This thread makes me want to hook up my VCR just to watch this game (don't ask me why I was recording it in the first place). I can't wait to get a dish and drop this cable company. I was beginning to get over not havinng the NFL network, but now this is torture!

I just always kind of assumed that Sammy went back home to the Dominican Republic for the Winter and roided his brains out. Did he do it here in the US? Who knows? But, after all the money he donated to his home town in the Dominican, who the hell would blow the whistle on him? Of course I hope that he didn't and I would never say he did for sure. But, if a 14 year old boy can take notice of a substantial difference in body mass within a few months during the offseason, then it is a little peculiar. I just kinda assumed after the whole corked bat incident that if he was going far enough to cork his bats, then what would stop you from roiding?

GameSpot (or EB games or whatever it is now) has MVP 05 for the gamecube in one of those "bargain bins" for 10 bucks. I'll probably pick it up today regardless, but does anyone know how to update the rosters for the gamecube version?

Anybody know if they'll ever make MVP 05 backwards compatible to the 360? It's ridiculous it's not already. Optimist that I am, I'm still hanging on to it. Out of curiosity, is it easy to modify rosters?

Wow, that would be really cheap for Abreu. I'm really curious now as to what Dunn ends up signing for.

Because he's got the tools that impress scouts but not the production that impresses numbers people? Yeah, I guess. But in his only real experience he has is at low A ball where he OPSed 863 as an 18 year old. That's about all you can ask from someone his age and it's certainly better than Kelly Gruber or Mark Lewis ever did in similar situations. There's really no reason to knock him right now whether you are looking at tools or numbers. After a little bit of digging, I found this: http://www.baseballprospectus.com/unfiltered/?p=136 So, judging by that, they're comparing Vitter's short career to other players with comparable late teenage seasons. Not players with comparable ceilings.

Why then would a 5 star prospect have such horrid comparisons? It makes no sense.

Plus BP pegged Fontenot for a 282/357/431 line last year and I remember people (myself included) skeptical he could pull that off either. I fully expect him to post an 800 OPS this year.

I could be wrong, but aren't the comparable players just what you would expect from that player for that particular year? So, in other words, Vitters would produce like a Mark Lewis or Kelly Gruber if he faced MLB pitching this year. Certainly PECOTA predicts his ceiling is much, much higher than those other players.

Good. Wiggington please, this bench desperately needs some power.

If they are in danger of losing so much money and are unsure if they are going to turn a profit, why the hell did they just spend almost a billion dollars on a damn baseball team?