Mephistopheles

Predictions by me, some are bold, some are not so bold. Position Player Stuff - kosuke fukudome develops into an upper third centerfielder, at the minimum. - come mid-season we'll be looking to upgrade shortstop - derrek lee has a resurgent season in power production, hits 30-35 home runs. - alfonso soriano hurts his leg while hopping and catching a ball at least once this season. - aramis ramirez's defensive "improvement" evaporates and the term error-miss becomes prevalent on nsbb. - milton bradley breaks - geovany soto is the third or fourth most productive catcher in the national league. Pitcher Stuff - Rich Harden makes less than 15 starts in the regular season and post-season combined. - Carlos Zambrano has a season ending injury at some point this season. - Ryan Dempster falls back to mediocrity, ends up with an ERA north of 4.00. - Ted Lilly continues to be a useful anchor in the rotation. - The Cubs second most productive starting pitcher by VORP will be Sean Marshall, provided Lou gives him at least 20 starts. - Aaron Heilman, Jeff Samardzija and possibly Angel Guzman combine to make 25 starts. - Carlos Marmol tears his UCL. - Chad Fox tears his UCL. Minor League Stuff - Our system continues to suck. - Cashner walks a ton. - Vitters hits for an empty batting average. Draft Stuff - The Cubs piss me off. Overall - The Cubs pitching regresses to solid-to-middle of the pack in the National League (think around fourth-sixth range in ERA). - The Cubs offense continues to produce near the top of the pack in the National League (top third). The Cubs win 90 games, finish first in the National League Central. The rest of the league in the playoffs will be the Mets, Dodgers and Phillies. The Cubs face the Mets in the first round, and lose three games to one. Red Sox over Dodgers in the WS.

We're not allowed to discuss Jake Peavy here anymore. Hosak and Dextermorgan are to blame. Bitch at them, I guess.

2010 is the last year of our window.

Jake Peavy.

your trade suggestions fits the thread.

why do we define 100+ pitches as "tired".

Not significantly.

Didn't Cotts have the hardest fastball to hit in the majors last year?

it probably is...

No doubt about that. They'll pay what it takes to get a player they want, slot recommendations be damned. After the Gerrit Cole incident, I have to wonder with the Yankees. They didn't lose anything. With the new rules you get the pick back if you don't agree to a contract.

lol dex called me stupid and hosak backed him up. hysterical.

Everyone knows he's off the charts right now. In some of their defense, Strasburg hasn't faced the quality of competition that they have and Strasburg's K rate will certainly regress. That being said Strasburg was far and away better than the non-Prior prospects, and he's not in Prior's class. No, the point is that the 120/100 pitch difference isn't significant.

It's not the pitch counts that hurts pitchers. In Strasburg's case he's going to break down simply because he throws the ball in excess of 100 miles an hour consistently. The torque on his elbow and the deceleration is shoulder muscles experience will experience will deteriorate over time. It has very little to do whether or not he throws 100 or 120 pitches a game. Again, the reason people think 120+ pitches is damaging has nothing to do with baseball. In fact it occurred....

That would make sense. Sutcliffe is a terrible baseball analyst.

Ryan Dempster had just one more strikeout than Nolasco did last season.

In the situation he were to last to Boston or New York, I think both teams would give him that.

We *should* know that the Cubs *don't* know if he will or will not. Shoulder injuries are the most difficult injuries to put any sort of time table on. You can be fine one day and terrible the next and then fine the next. That's the way these injuries are. Everyone *should* know this. Too bad they don't. The Cubs have no idea if Harden will be ready by May 1st, much less April 10th, or whenever his first start would be.

You're right. The end of the world could come tonight.Ricketts could die in a car crash tomorrow. Far more likely than the sun not coming up. Well...the suns up here. It's eighty-five degrees outside right now. Ricketts could die in a car crash by the end of 2012, but is the sun more likely to stop coming up by then? The latter might be true...

Only you would have to ask this question. January 18th: Rich Harden has a tear in his shoulder. March 21: Is something wrong with Harden?

Have fun Washington.

yeah that's completely wrong.

Okay.

Hoffpauir will be in AAA for most of the season. Unfortunately that is a bold prediction based on what most people here view on Hoff.

The sun will not DEFINITELY come up tomorrow, it will PROBABLY come up tomorrow.

this study nearly breaks down to nothing once if you take away the assumption that each draft class is the same.