Mephistopheles

I like Ross, but I don't see him going anywhere. He's Florida's insurance policy if Maybin isn't ready. That De Aza clown has proven he doesn't belong. Nothing more to see there. i thought hanley ramirez was their cf insurance policy! anyways, do they even need one? if maybin isnt ready they can put de aza out there and still suck. but theyd be better down the road if they got something useful for ross. there's no reason for them not to. ross has a career .301/.369/.639/1.008 line against southpaws, there's your platoon candidate

whats funny is that everyone is linking the cubs to every CF that may be available except one. the damn one i would LOVE To acquire. Cody Ross. Can we just trade prospects for Ross and be done with it?

You're right...people are reporting the Cubs are interested. Rosenthal: The Cubs aren't interested in Crisp. Miles: The Cubs really aren't interested in Crisp. Levine: If the Red Sox trade for Marquis, Crisp could be coming back, the second part is of course purely speculation. There are three things mainstream reporters have reported: 1. The Cubs would like to acquire a centerfielder. 2. The Red Sox would like to trade a centefielder, Coco Crisp. 3. The Cubs aren't interested in Coco Crisp. However Hoops says they are and some speculation by writers when the three above facts are apparent leads you to believe that they are proving him correct (when in fact they are proving him incorrect). okay, so why does this have your panties in such a bunch? It doesn't. HoopsCubs started it.

its only one year, but willits is much better left handed. Really? 2007 vs left: .333/.406/.381 vs right: .276/.385/.329 As you said, it's only one year, but that one year indicates he's a better right-handed batter. gah i misread that, i thought i was looking elsewhere. oops. regardless, he hit .339/.445/.459/.904 as a lefty in Salt Lake the year before.

trading cedeno is dumb. flat out dumb.

well the difference in willits L/R is probably him hitting the ball on the ground and running as fast as he can with a two step head start.

its only one year, but willits is much better left handed.

Year Age Tm Lg Lvl Aff G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS SB CS SB% SH SF IBB HBP GDP +----+----+---+---+---+---+----+-----+----+----+---+---+---+----+----+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----+---+----+---+---+---+---+---+ 2003 22 PRV PIO Rk ANA 59 230 53 69 14 4 4 27 37 52 .300 .397 .448 .845 14 4 78% 2004 23 RCQ CAL A+ ANA 135 526 99 150 17 5 5 52 73 112 .285 .372 .365 .737 45 15 75% 2005 24 ARK TEX AA LAA 123 487 75 148 23 6 2 46 54 78 .304 .377 .388 .765 40 14 74% 4 8 0 8 5 2006 25 SLK PCL AAA LAA 97 352 85 115 18 4 3 39 77 50 .327 .448 .426 .874 31 15 67% 4 2 2 2 5

he's not very good (the walks are going to deteriorate. it's hard for someone with absolutely no power to walk consistently for their career) but anything to get rid of theriot, i guess.

wait a minute....Willits for Pie? wait a minute....Willits for Gallagher? wait a minute....Willits for Theriot? Sign me up for the latter!

You're right...people are reporting the Cubs are interested. Rosenthal: The Cubs aren't interested in Crisp. Miles: The Cubs really aren't interested in Crisp. Levine: If the Red Sox trade for Marquis, Crisp could be coming back, the second part is of course purely speculation. There are three things mainstream reporters have reported: 1. The Cubs would like to acquire a centerfielder. 2. The Red Sox would like to trade a centefielder, Coco Crisp. 3. The Cubs aren't interested in Coco Crisp. However Hoops says they are and some speculation by writers when the three above facts are apparent leads you to believe that they are proving him correct (when in fact they are proving him incorrect).

and when i responded regarding Peavy, he vanished.

if you draft someone with a high BA, nab him. or thome. preferably thome since you can get him lots of rounds later.

I'm sorry.. your "sources" called the Choi Lee trade. I mean everyone and their grandma knew the Cubs were interested in upgrading the slop from 03 at 1B. I mean everyone and their grandma knew the Marlins were cleaning house. I mean even Peter Gammons said it was a possibility days before it went down, but you and your "sources" came up with it. My ass. My god don't play semantic games with me. There "may be some discussion." This is similar to me saying that the Cubs are discussing the potential profit increase by raising ticket prices. Yeah, it may or may not be going on. There may be discussion is even an understatement of what miles said. He said lukewarm, at best. To be lukewarm is to be indifferent. To have solid interest is not to be indifferent. so yeah... miles pretty much said you were wrong. not to mention every other "rumor" you have ever come up with is either A: written on the wall, B: already known, or C: too dumb to be true. So you're 1 for 1000. Outstanding. Keep em coming. And please dont ever analyze a thing about baseball, mmkay pumpkin? besides i trust my sources more than i do yours. then again i dont leak my inside information Are you kidding me? Who cares that one writer's opinion is that the interest was lukewarm. Hoops was still the first person to report that the Cubs had any interest in Crisp. I know part of your gimmick is to rile everyone up, but you are going over the line here. Not that Hoops was correct in personally calling you up and attacking you a few days ago, but you took it too far in your response. Now you're just lying. There were published reports that the Cubs were interested in Crisp during the GM meetings. Since the Cubs did nothing to solve their perceived center field problem, any person with at least crap for a brain would realize that the interest would probably remain. As usual, HoopsCubs didn't break anything. This is information we already knew. At least I did...and I'm sure most people here did. disclaimer: Hoops is smart enough to know the interest would remain.

I'm sorry.. your "sources" called the Choi Lee trade. I mean everyone and their grandma knew the Cubs were interested in upgrading the slop from 03 at 1B. I mean everyone and their grandma knew the Marlins were cleaning house. I mean even Peter Gammons said it was a possibility days before it went down, but you and your "sources" came up with it. My ass. My god don't play semantic games with me. There "may be some discussion." This is similar to me saying that the Cubs are discussing the potential profit increase by raising ticket prices. Yeah, it may or may not be going on. There may be discussion is even an understatement of what miles said. He said lukewarm, at best. To be lukewarm is to be indifferent. To have solid interest is not to be indifferent. so yeah... miles pretty much said you were wrong. not to mention every other "rumor" you have ever come up with is either A: written on the wall, B: already known, or C: too dumb to be true. So you're 1 for 1000. Outstanding. Keep em coming. And please dont ever analyze a thing about baseball, mmkay pumpkin? besides i trust my sources more than i do yours. then again i dont leak my inside information

Hmm... By points? Ill take screenshots for now. P_A is points over average, P_R is points over replacement level. DH levels were found by doing 2/3 OF + 1/3 1B at the level. http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f189/kctigers23/Fantasy1.gif http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f189/kctigers23/Fantasy2.gif http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f189/kctigers23/Fantasy3.gif http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f189/kctigers23/Fantasy4.gif http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f189/kctigers23/Fantasy5.gif http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f189/kctigers23/Fantasy6.gif http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f189/kctigers23/Fantasy7.gif http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f189/kctigers23/Fantasy8.gif

hey reds44, krivsky signed off on baker. hes a dumbass for that alone. the reds organization is run by a people dumber than the people who run the cubs organization, and that's saying something.

It's really mind numbing how similar Mark Prior's career is to WaMi's.

Hart's Projections (R/HR/RBI/SB/BA) 100.4/28.2/90.4/24.6/.288 99.4/26.9/92.4/28.1/.297 96.9/26.1/88.6/22.9/.289 Kinsler's 92.1/21.3/80.5/22.8/.267 107.6/24.7/81.6/26.0/.271 115.5/23.1/79.0/21.9/.269 Ramirez's 108.0/19.9/82.6/36.6/.306 113.8/22.6/69.7/45.1/.314 113.0/22.4/81.6/41.3/.306

my old cubs keychain broke about a year ago, but i never wanted to buy one online and pay more for shipping than the keychain itself. havent really bought and cubs shirts in awhile either, so I figured Id throw it with this one so it wasnt so bad.

well i bought the fukudome shirt and http://www.wrigleyvillesport.com/istarimages/mp/24028!GAM-3209133_d.jpg

nope

shows how often i get up to chicago. i didnt realize wrigleyville had a brick and mortar. can never tell with some of the online places you see.

what about wrigleyvillesports?

I conducted my first real draft of the year this afternoon. Oh man did the mocking pay off. I got one beast of a team. 1-3) Hanley Ramirez, SS - Florida Marlins (#2 Meph Ranking) When I saw that I had got the third pick I had my eyes set on drafting Albert Pujols third overall. I knew that one of my big four would fall to me. The big four being Pujols, Alex Rodriguez, Ramirez and Johan Santana. I figured that I could pass on Santana and pick up Jake Peavy in the second round based on where he has been going. I figured Rodriguez and Ramirez would go 1-2, but the first pick of the draft was Pujols, by someone named St. Louis Saints. Rodriguez went number two, so I jumped on Hanley Ramirez thinking I would be able to squeeze by and hope to grab Derrek Lee in the fourth round. 2-22) Jake Peavy, SP - San Diego Padres (#9 Meph Ranking) Jake Peavy fell to me (barely). He's the 19th rated player where the draft was, so it wasn't a slam dunk. There's a big difference between Peavy and Santana, but it's not nearly as large as the difference between Ramirez and whatever shortstop I would pick up later. However, after Peavy the pitchers fall off sharply. 3-27) Victor Martinez, C - Cleveland Indians (#8 Meph Ranking) The steal of the early draft. Quite frankly people don't know how to rank players at positions of scarcity. Martinez is a huge pickup for me in the third round. As you can see, when you put his stats up against everyone else, he's really quite impressive. Out producing guys Ryan Howard, Miguel Cabrera and Jimmy Rollins - consensus first rounders. Oops. 4-46) Adam Dunn, OF - Cincinnati Reds (#61 Meph Ranking) After the first three picks your draft ought to fit your team. You should have the entire draft scripted. With guys I was planning on picking up later, Dunn becomes ultravaluable to me as his batting average won't dent my overall batting average. In a perfect world this pick was reserved for Derrek Lee, but he went the pick right before me. Dirty Cubs fans. 5-51) Manny Ramirez, OF - Boston Red Sox (#50 Meph Ranking) This pick was quite difficult for me. I took the entire 90 seconds to make my selection. I was debating between Ramirez, Corey Hart and Cole Hamels. I passed on Hamels hoping to pick up Halladay and Smoltz as with my later picks. I also thought there was a slim chance Hart would make it back to me in the sixth. I figure there's a good chance Manny has one big year left in him. The upside was just too great to pass up in the fifth round. 6-70) Corey Hart, OF - Milwaukee Brewers (#20 Meph Ranking) Corey Hart's considerably undervalued right now. Your 25/25 outfielders who will score runs and drive them in without hurting your batting average in general are. I was surprised to see that Hart lasted to the 70th pick. My alternative here was Chris Young (OF). He'll hit for more power, but I didn't know if I was going to support his batting average AND Adam Dunn's. 7-75) Chipper Jones, 3B - Atlanta Braves (#46 Meph Ranking) I was not intending on taking Chipper Jones at all, I had my scripted 3B as Mark Reynolds late. However, I decided that his BA was too good to pass up. This scripted pick was Roy Halladay or John Smoltz. Both guys were available, but pitchers were not flying off the board so I figured I could wait an extra round and nab Jones. Whatever power Jones adds is gravy. I drafted him to offset Dunn's batting average...which he'll do nicely. 8-94) John Smoltz, SP - Atlanta Braves (#18 Meph Ranking) John Smoltz does not get enough credit as a fantasy pitcher because he hasn't racked up the wins the last three seasons, but he's a WHIP and ERA God. Drafting Smoltz's WHIP and ERA allows me to take guys with good ERAs later and rough WHIPS who will get some wins. Roy Halladay wasn't available at the slot, I was hoping to take both of them back to back. 9-99) Ian Kinsler, 2B - Texas Rangers (#44 Meph Ranking) Ian Kinsler wasn't a guy I wanted, but I couldn't let him slide any further. I could take another hit on BA because I already had Dunn's offset. Kinsler is an average 2B, but 2B in the mid rounds are valuable as the drop off is quick...which is why he's ranked relatively high. Kinsler also could break out this year and hit .290 going 25/25. 10-118) Rich Hill, SP - Chicago Cubs (#54 Meph Ranking) Hill is Smoltz lite. He won't have a great ERA, high 3.00s, but he's an above average strikeout pitcher and an above average WHIP pitcher. He'll ground those two categories allowing me to take someone like Tom Gorzelanny later, who won't have a great WHIP but a solid ERA. At this selection I figured I couldn't wait any longer to take my third starter. My lineup was filling up fast, I only had two positions open (1B and UTIL). 11-123) Matt Kemp, OF - Los Angeles Dodgers (#33 Meph Ranking) That's not a typo. That's #33, ahead of Carlos Beltran, Carl Crawford, Lance Berkman and Carlos Lee. Like I said with respect to Corey Hart. They're similar players, their type is invaluable. It's MUCH more efficient to build your SBs in small amount with 20 or so steals at each position than taking a guy like Pierre, Reyes, Crawford or Figgins who all offer little else other than runs scored. In fact look at the two outfields: Rocco Baldelli, Lastings Milledge and Matt Kemp Carlos Beltran, Carl Crawford, and Alex Rios Those bottom three are going in the 2nd or 3rd rounds at the latest. Kemp's going in the 11th round. Baldelli and Milledge are going undrafted. By PECOTA 281.7 R, 62.3 HR, 249.3 RBI, 67.2 SB, .285 BA - {Beltran, Crawford, Rios} 269.5 R, 67.5 HR, 256.0 RBI, 61.9 SB, .284 BA - {Baldelli, Milledge, Kemp} Obviously, the group of three top three round picks are better than the 10th round pick + 2 undrafted players, but by that much? Down in HR and RBI. Tied in BA and 12 runs above and 5 SBs above. Of course Rocco's health is a concern, but you can replace him with Felix Pie or Jeremy Hermida and achieve the same results. Just some thoughts. 12-142) Jacoby Ellsbury, OF - Boston Red Sox (#366 Meph Ranking) This ticks me off. During the draft I agreed to trade this pick, Corey Hart and Jake Peavy for Johan Santana, Chris Young (OF), and his next pick. The jackass won't agree to the trade afterwards and I'm stuck with Ellsbury. He's got some trade value and I'll try to flip him for something. It really ticks me off. The guy I chose him to pick was Joakim Soria. He just wants to trade Soria for Ellsbury and won't accept the deal with Peavy and Hart like he said. Note to self: Kick his ass. 13-147) Todd Helton, 1B - Colorado Rockies (#72 Meph Ranking) I love Todd Helton. When I selected Adam Dunn I fully expected to offset his BA with Helton. The two of them combine for some excellent production with no adverse consequences for my batting average. Once I selected a falling Chipper Jones I could afford a second hit to my batting average with Ian Kinsler. So Helton and Kemp offset that quite nicely. God I love picking to the team. 14-166) Eric Gagne, RP - Milwaukee Brewers (#117 Meph Ranking) The Brewers didn't give him 10 million to setup. He'll get 30 saves if he's healthy, which is all I care about for my closers. 15-171) Ryan Zimmerman, 3B - Washington Nationals (#128 Meph Ranking) I'm not kidding. He's ranked in Yahoo's top 100. I drafted him for trade value. If I can't dump him for an upgrade I'll keep him and look to see the offers for Jones. Remember, RFK is gone and Nationals Park appears to be league average offensively. That alone makes a huge difference for him (and of course Lastings Milledge). 16-190) Jim Thome, DH - Chicago White Sox (#87 Meph Ranking) I'm not kidding. He's ranked in Yahoo's top 100. I drafted him to play. He's Adam Dunn lite. He's Dunn without the OF eligibility. Sure his BA sucks, but I won't play him and Dunn. I drafted him planning to dump Adam Dunn for an SP, I"m thinking Cole Hamels. For my team the difference between Thome's production and Dunn's is like .2 roto points. Dumping Dunn for Hamels more than makes up for that, don't you think? 17-195) Troy Percival, RP - Tampa Bay Rays (#182 Meph Ranking) Saves. 18-214) Brian Wilson, RP - San Francisco Giants (#223 Meph Ranking) Saves. I thought he was my fourth closer. So I though I had about 100 at the time. 19-219) Randy Johnson, SP - Arizona Diamondbacks (#108 Meph Ranking) The systems like him if he can stay healthy. Big question, but couldn't pass up the risk. I mean if he's hurt big deal I can pick up someone like Tom Glavine and be fine with Peavy and Smoltz. 20-238) Barry Zito, SP - San Francisco Giants (#130 Meph Ranking) Zito is tremendously undervalued right now. He's crapped out like he did in 2007 before and was fine afterwards. He's good for an ERA around four flat this year. He won't help you in your WHIP, but I have Peavy, Hill, Smoltz and Johnson who are all elite there...and... 21-243) Greg Maddux, SP - San Diego Padres (#144 Meph Ranking) Maddux still provides great value in his WHIP. His ERA won't kill you, but given the rest of my staff he's fine. So my team is this: C: Victor Martinez 1B: Todd Helton 2B: Ian Kinsler 3B: Chipper Jones SS: Hanley Ramirez OF: Adam Dunn OF: Manny Ramirez OF: Corey Hart UT: Matt Kemp BN: Jim Thome BN: Ryan Zimmerman BN: Jacoby Ellsbury SP1: Jake Peavy SP2: John Smoltz SP3: Rich Hill SP4: Randy Johnson SP5: Barry Zito SP6: Greg Maddux RP1: Eric Gagne RP2: Troy Percival RP3: Brian Wilson I'll go to war with that team. Now the projected roto scores: 103 - PECOTA (Actual) 102.2 - PECOTA (Projected) 102 - James (Actual) 103.4 - James (Projected) 100 - ZiPS (Actual) 98.2 - ZiPS (Projected) The fact that it's elite in all three systems means you don't simply choose one guy from one system who is tremendously undervalued because of an "odd" projection. That's why you use three and not one. Now that I have access to the fantasy depth charts on BP, I'll add them. The other three are based on my PT projections. In case you're interested: R/HR/RBI/SB/BA 874/221/830/130/.290 - PECOTA 886/237/836/141/.298 - James 876/221/857/117/.290 - ZiPS W/SV/K/ERA/WHIP 82/94/1121/3.70/1.25 - PECOTA 88/85/1205/3.49/1.20 - James 88/90/1168/3.63/1.21 - ZiPS Keep in mind these totals are elite for what they are, but likely fall below what is elite for actual scores at the end of the season, as projection systems are inherently conservative. However, any additional impact is usually going to be equal for each team and normally distributed, so these scores when compared to other scores via the same method work perfectly well and that error is not an issue, so keep that in mind. Ill release the spreadsheet soon. I am going to add a few more teams to get the rankings more true. Since theyre mostly my drafts and Im a Fantasy God, "good" teams are too frequent (as im skewing the results). I've got four trade offers sitting out there. Hopefully they'll be accepted: 1. Ryan Zimmerman, Greg Maddux for Roy Halladay 2. Adam Dunn for Cole Hamels 3. Ryan Zimmerman for Billy Wagner 4. Adam Dunn, Ryan Zimmerman for Matt Holliday