fromthestretch

... You realize that the students that were there during the Keady years are not the same students that are there now, right? Yes, I'm aware, but you have never seen that dropoff in student/fan support at IU or any other dormant basketball powers. The student section didn't drop-off nearly as much as you're making it seem. What dropped was ticket sales to the folks living in town, not the student base. The noise from the student section certainly dropped off during those years, since they didn't have a hell of a lot to cheer about.

Don't let your hatred for Da Bum cloud your judgment.

Yeah, no other student section does anything like that. At all. Ever. Does Iowa even have a student section at basketball games? Don't they give the tickets away free to students and they still don't show up? Maybe he just can't hear Iowa fans getting upset over calls because they aren't at the game? Good point. The student section at the Michigan State/Purdue game was the largest I have ever seen it at Mackey. I don't ever remember it covering that much of the arena, even when Glenn Robinson was playing. Being there in person, you could easily tell when they were booing just to boo and when they were genuinely upset about a call/non-call.

Yeah, no other student section does anything like that. At all. Ever.

He'll take them. He won't get that money elsewhere. I agree that he will probably stay with the Yankees. However, a big hurdle for him this offseason was that he's a Type A free agent. If draft-pick compensation changes, that could change how some teams pursue him and could open up some more opportunities for him. With the needs of other teams changing each year, who knows what he could get somewhere else. Perhaps Soriano decides he wants to close again after the 2011 or 2012 season. He has the flexibility to pursue an opportunity to close for another team.

Apparently, only the first year is set in stone. 2012 and 2013 are player options for Soriano. http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/01/14/nice-work-by-scott-boras-on-the-rafael-soriano-deal/

I didn't realize until today that Smith has only taken seven shots inside the arc this season. He's 4-for-7 inside the arc, 32-for-62 behind it. I hope that a) they can keep getting him open looks and b) he keeps hitting them.

So trade them for a better player or one that better addresses the team's needs. Selling high is fine. That seems to be the point that some people are missing. No one is saying the Cubs can not or should not trade off valued prospects. It just sucks when they bundle that much value into a trade for Matt Garza of all people.

.... let me guess, you are pissed because you think we gave up a lot? Without knowing what the Cubs got in return (besides Garza), they did give up a lot. I'm not seeing it. Isn't Garza what we hoped Archer would become? And Lee, I don't buy that he was going to ever be anything more than a light hitting, fast, good defensive SS. The other two, who cares? If Garza was what we hoped Archer would become, then why are we trading away the younger and cheaper Archer PLUS a highly-regarded SS prospect PLUS an intriguing OF prospect for Garza as Garza is starting to get more expensive and Archer wasn't exactly that far away from the big leagues?

.... let me guess, you are pissed because you think we gave up a lot? Without knowing what the Cubs got in return (besides Garza), they did give up a lot.

It is nice to see Ryne Smith hitting his shots. I really wish he could contribute more defensively though. Between Smith, Byrd, and Hart (once his foot heals up), Purdue has a few guys who can hit some outside shots when teams are making it difficult for Moore to get open. Terone Johnson has looked pretty good the past four games, as well. I'm actually going to be in Mackey for the Purdue-Michigan State game on Jan. 22. I'm really looking forward to that one. I wish I could get back down there more often. I wanted to go to Madison to see them play, but it's on a Tuesday night. Smith needs to get his foul issues under control. When he's staying on the floor, because he's hitting his shots, he gets in foul trouble. I think he has committed more fouls than anyone on the team so far in Big Ten play. That's wierd for a 3-Point specialist. All three opponents so far have been from the bottom half of the league - but you've gotta be happy with an average of 82 points a game for and 65 points per game against. Terone, LewJack, and Ryne Smith have impressed me the most lately. Hart is really going to have to work for minutes if those guys stay hot. I'm looking forward to seeing how far along they are with all the renovations they're doing. I think the main reason Smith gets into foul trouble is that he's just not that quick. He can't keep up with some of the more athletic guys he has to defend and he ends up playing defense more with his hands than moving his feet to get better position. He ends up swiping at them as they drive by him, and more often than not, the refs are going to call a foul. That and he attempts to take charges a lot, which oftentimes leads to a blocking foul. Compare that to Barlow, who is quick enough to keep up with just about anyone he's guarding but constantly gets into foul trouble because he's over-aggressive.

It is nice to see Ryne Smith hitting his shots. I really wish he could contribute more defensively though. Between Smith, Byrd, and Hart (once his foot heals up), Purdue has a few guys who can hit some outside shots when teams are making it difficult for Moore to get open. Terone Johnson has looked pretty good the past four games, as well. I'm actually going to be in Mackey for the Purdue-Michigan State game on Jan. 22. I'm really looking forward to that one.

On a one-year deal, his age isn't really a concern. If he's looking for a multi-year deal, then it becomes more of a concern. His flyball tendencies and durability worry me more than his age.

How are either of those things "true"? Cubs starters combined for the following stats in 2010: 7.3 K/9, 3.5 BB/9, 8.8 H/9, 1.364 WHIP, 2.10 K/BB, 4.00 ERA You're telling me that Garza will "greatly improve" that? Will the degree of improvement he offers be worth what the Cubs would have to give up to get him? If he replaces the worst performer of the bunch then yes he could improve them. I don't doubt he would be an improvement, but I'm questioning whether he would "greatly improve" the rotation. Outside of Samardzija's three starts, no Cubs starter was really a disaster last season, so I'm not sure the improvement is worth overpaying in prospects.

How are either of those things "true"? Cubs starters combined for the following stats in 2010: 7.3 K/9, 3.5 BB/9, 8.8 H/9, 1.364 WHIP, 2.10 K/BB, 4.00 ERA You're telling me that Garza will "greatly improve" that? Will the degree of improvement he offers be worth what the Cubs would have to give up to get him?

Agreed. What makes Hughes so good is that he's able to give detail of the action while also injecting a little humor. I have no doubt he'd still do a good job alone in the booth, but it just wouldn't be the same experience for the audience.

That's pretty much the definition of the ball being in Beltre's court. It's up to him to make a decision now, as the teams pursuing him have supposedly decided they are not going to increase their respective offers to him.

His only real outlier year was 2004 and he pretty much played to his contract in Seattle. Take a look at how badly that park killed his numbers. His rebound with Boston was very predictable. On top of that, he's great defensively. Offensively, he's not going to post a great OBP (unless he's hitting over .330), but he'll hit a good number of doubles and around 25 homers.

Based purely on what he did at the end of the 2010 season, I see Quade going with: Fukudome Castro Byrd Pena Ramirez Soto Soriano DeWitt I imagine that with Colvin in, he'll probably slide DeWitt up to leadoff and bat Colvin near the bottom of the order. Again, this is based on what he did with the lineups at the end of the season. I'm hoping he'll move Ramirez up and Byrd down a bit. I would prefer: Fukudome Castro Ramirez Pena Soto Soriano Byrd DeWitt/Baker

No one's saying Wells is great. However, considering how much he makes, how much Garza makes, and their respective levels of production, some feel that it just doesn't make much sense to trade him for Garza, who might be a slight upgrade for about 10x the price. I'd rather spend a little money than what limited talent the Cubs have in the system. Sometime very soon the Cubs are going to have to get an impact player, somewhere. It won't be through the system. And it probably won't be via free agency So trade bait should be stockpiled for that purpose, not spent for second and third tier players. I'm not necessarily disagreeing with any of that. The Cubs also will need money to pay for that impact player, and having someone cheap like Wells can free up some cash. Garza's going to start getting expensive fairly soon, unless he tanks. A lot depends on the prospects being discussed in this deal. I agree 100% that we shouldn't be giving up our best trade chips for second and third tier players.

No one's saying Wells is great. However, considering how much he makes, how much Garza makes, and their respective levels of production, some feel that it just doesn't make much sense to trade him for Garza, who might be a slight upgrade for about 10x the price.

I agree that it doesn't make sense to do so. But I also don't like the idea of including three "top" prospects for the likes of Matt Garza. For me, it really comes down to which prospects are being discussed. It sounds like Chirinos is included, which is fine. Like a few others have mentioned, I'm hoping that they might consider Lake a top shortstop prospect. I'd also prefer to deal Jay Jackson than McNutt or Archer in a deal like this, although it sounds like Archer is off limits anyway (thankfully).

Kind of was hoping to keep Chirinos to use in the deal with Texas to get O'Day and Davis. Maybe one of them would accept one of our other catching prospects instead? This has the potential to be a really, really bad trade. I'm not necessarily opposed to trading Wells for Garza, I just don't think it makes a whole lot of sense. However, I would really prefer not to include Lee in any trade for him. I'm hoping that someone considers Barney one of the Cubs "top shortstop prospects", although I realize that's highly doubtful. The way they're paraphrasing Levine's comments, it leads me to believe that the Cubs would be throwing away quality prospects in this potential deal. I'd actually prefer to deal Wells than overpaying for Garza with prospects.

One other thing to consider is how much Garza was able to benefit from a solid defense behind him. Tampa Bay has been a much better defensive team than the Cubs the last few seasons. I'm honestly not sure how much of an impact that may have on his numbers.

Seriously? Blah is 3 years in the MAJORS of 117, 119, and 110 ERA+? Blah is 3.2, 2.0, and 3.8 WAR? The catcher thing I'm assuming/hoping is sarcasm. What does his ERA+ look like after you exclude about 8 to 10 starts against 3 of the top 5 best offenses in the major leagues (NYY, Boston and Toronto)? A sub 4.00 ERA in the AL East year after year is appealing to me. The difference of facing Milwaukee, Houston and Pittsburgh 8 to 10 times in comparison to the Yankees, Red Sox and Blue Jays should lower that ERA even more. Probably not an ace, but certainly a middle of the rotation arm that should be good for many more years yet. Granted, the sample size is small (11 starts), but he hasn't exactly fared well against NL opponents in inter-league play.