fromthestretch

A lot of people keep saying this, but I'm not sure that it's an accurate statement. While he may see a slight improvement in his overall numbers, it's not like he's going to turn into Roy Halladay. Garza would probably be better off in the NL West, where the ballparks tend to be more favorable to fly-ball pitchers. True, but he won't have to face the mega-offenses of Boston and New York, plus it's always easier for a pitcher to go from the AL to the NL than vice-versa because of no DH. Will he put up Halladay numbers? No. But I think his stats could improve. Saying he could improve is a lot different than saying he could "excel". I never said he would "excell". But I think Garza would be an improvement in our rotation. Z/Garza/Demp/Cashner/? isn't like Oswalt/Hamels/Halladay, but it's not terrible. Solid at worst. You didn't, but Northside Blues did. You quoted my response to his post. I'm not saying Garza wouldn't be effective. I just don't see it as a big enough improvement to justify paying $3-4 million more than Wells is making.

A lot of people keep saying this, but I'm not sure that it's an accurate statement. While he may see a slight improvement in his overall numbers, it's not like he's going to turn into Roy Halladay. Garza would probably be better off in the NL West, where the ballparks tend to be more favorable to fly-ball pitchers. It's also not like people are pretending he is going to turn into Roy Halladay. See my last post. Expecting improvement is one thing. Expecting him to "excel" is another, unless you consider a slight improvement from his current performance as "excelling".

A lot of people keep saying this, but I'm not sure that it's an accurate statement. While he may see a slight improvement in his overall numbers, it's not like he's going to turn into Roy Halladay. Garza would probably be better off in the NL West, where the ballparks tend to be more favorable to fly-ball pitchers. True, but he won't have to face the mega-offenses of Boston and New York, plus it's always easier for a pitcher to go from the AL to the NL than vice-versa because of no DH. Will he put up Halladay numbers? No. But I think his stats could improve. Saying he could improve is a lot different than saying he could "excel".

I'm questioning if you've watched either of them pitch if you think he's a significant upgrade, especially when you factor in cost. Garza has better stuff, but he's been far from dominant. Furthermore, when you consider that he's a fly-ball pitcher that pitches roughly half his games in a stadium that suppresses offense, his numbers look even worse. Of course, you forget to include that he pitches in the AL and the AL East, at that. Same division as the Yankees/Red Sox (two teams that put up massive number of runs a year). Again, his ERA+ and WAR was worse than Wells last season. Since ERA+ is calculated using league ERA and adjusts for ballparks, I fail to see how he's much of an upgrade. His fly-ball tendencies are a bit scary, as well. This would not be a move that would make the Cubs noticeably better, and it would end up costing them more money. If they could trade some spare parts for Garza, then sure. But trading a significantly cheaper pitcher who's been pretty much just as effective doesn't make much sense. The ERA+ was 102 to 101 in favor of Wells. No wonder you didn't put the numbers up. The three years previous, Garza had a 117, 119, and 110 ERA+. Last year Wells had a better WAR. The year previous to that, Garza had a better WAR. OK, how about these numbers? Wells 2009 ERA+ was 146, compared to Garza's 110. The difference in their WAR that year could probably be attributed to the fact that Garza made five more starts. No one is claiming that Wells is a world beater, and I've acknowledged that Garza has better stuff. That simply has not translated into significantly better performance that to me justifies trading a pitcher who has pretty much been just as effective the past two seasons and makes significantly less money.

A lot of people keep saying this, but I'm not sure that it's an accurate statement. While he may see a slight improvement in his overall numbers, it's not like he's going to turn into Roy Halladay. Garza would probably be better off in the NL West, where the ballparks tend to be more favorable to fly-ball pitchers.

Moore really stepped up though, and I have to say that it's nice having Lewis Jackson healthy and running the point. Byrd's shoulder is obviously still bothering him, but at least he's able to play through it. Terone Johnson really needs to work on his shot. I really hope JaJuan can make it through the season. The only way he's getting much rest is if he gets in foul trouble. Yeah, and Ryne Smith actually had some nice shots. The first half sucked - but I guess it was the biggest game of the year for Valpo, and a road game. I think Moore and JJ are going to be gassed come tournament time. Terone Johnson looked awful shooting. He just looks so hesitant out there. I wish he had Barlow's agressiveness. The next few games are cupcake central so I want to see a lot of minutes from the bench guys. Of course, I call out Smith, and he turns in a nice game on both ends of the floor. The thing that bothers me about T. Johnson's shot is that it's flat. He's just firing line drives at the rim. It would be nice to see him try to cut to the basket a little more. As much as I rag on Barlow, that dunk he had late in the game was pretty impressive. There's no question about the kid's skills.

I'm questioning if you've watched either of them pitch if you think he's a significant upgrade, especially when you factor in cost. Garza has better stuff, but he's been far from dominant. Furthermore, when you consider that he's a fly-ball pitcher that pitches roughly half his games in a stadium that suppresses offense, his numbers look even worse. Of course, you forget to include that he pitches in the AL and the AL East, at that. Same division as the Yankees/Red Sox (two teams that put up massive number of runs a year). Again, his ERA+ and WAR was worse than Wells last season. Since ERA+ is calculated using league ERA and adjusts for ballparks, I fail to see how he's much of an upgrade. His fly-ball tendencies are a bit scary, as well. This would not be a move that would make the Cubs noticeably better, and it would end up costing them more money. If they could trade some spare parts for Garza, then sure. But trading a significantly cheaper pitcher who's been pretty much just as effective doesn't make much sense.

I'm questioning if you've watched either of them pitch if you think he's a significant upgrade, especially when you factor in cost. Garza has better stuff, but he's been far from dominant. Furthermore, when you consider that he's a fly-ball pitcher that pitches roughly half his games in a stadium that suppresses offense, his numbers look even worse.

Somehow what I was writing disappeared. Anyway, price difference should easily be $5m+ this season with Garza being arbitration eligible coming off a 15 win sub 4 ERA season. Also, ERA should not be only way you judge him, and I believe his ERA might not be as good as advertised. It isn't. In fact, his ERA+ was actually worse than Wells in 2010.

Tampa would never go for it, but it would be an upgrade. It's really not that much of an upgrade, and when you factor in the salary difference between the two, it makes little sense for the Cubs to make that trade.

Moore really stepped up though, and I have to say that it's nice having Lewis Jackson healthy and running the point. Byrd's shoulder is obviously still bothering him, but at least he's able to play through it. Terone Johnson really needs to work on his shot. I really hope JaJuan can make it through the season. The only way he's getting much rest is if he gets in foul trouble.

Agreed. I think people put way too much emphasis on defense at first base. IMO, in some ways yes and in some ways no. Since athletic ability is not nearly as important and skills are more important (scooping the ball, footwork, reflexes) there are bigger gaps. There are certain first basemen who are naturally skilled at those things and that can be a big help. There are certain players who can't learn those skills whatsoever and they'll be a liability there. But 96-98 percent of players are around the same ability level at first base. It's not nearly the continuum that other positions are and first base defense is largely overrated. But at the extremes the differences get larger quite quickly. If they're just looking for a plug in for 1 year LaRoche isn't bad but he's absolutely not a guy you lose any flexibility over. My point, which I probably didn't explain clearly and which you pretty much addressed in your post, is that first base defense is largely overrated. I'm mainly referring to comments (not just on here) that Castro and Ramirez will commit 40 errors each with someone like Adam Dunn at first base.

Hendry does. Protection for Castro, being his reasoning. Even a crappy first baseman can dig throws out of the dirt and jump up to catch a high throw.

Agreed. I think people put way too much emphasis on defense at first base.

LaRoche is more than an adequate defender. :roll: Depends on your definition of adequate. He was average in 2010, pretty crappy in 2009, and for his career, he's been below average.

He'll probably be better than Lee was last year, so that's something. No guarantee. Lee was a 2.0 WAR player last year, LaRoche has peaked at 2.6 in his career. According to baseball reference, Lee had sub-1 WAR last year. He was 1.5. They separated out his values for the Braves and Cubs.

While not an ideal choice, Laroche is a much better hitter than Coomer ever was.

Don't forget Byrd. Hopefully he'll be back sooner rather than later. Maybe it's Terone Johnson time (as the #3 scorer)? Ryne Smith's time to shine!!! :banghead:

And another injury for Purdue. John Hart, the team's third-leading scorer and a solid three-point shooter, is out 4-6 weeks with a a stress fracture in his foot. Between football and basketball this season, the number of key players they've had miss significant time due to injury is depressingly high.

He's going to be bad in RF, not LF (unless something tragic happens to Matt Holliday).

To basically echo the sentiments of just about everyone else, this sucks. If anyone deserved to see the Cubs win it all, it was him, and the organization just couldn't deliver during his lifetime. R.I.P. Ronnie.

Barlow is extremely athletic, I think his issue is that he's just kinda... well... dumb. Agreed on Ryne Smith. What does he do out there? Also, for all the talk about the 'other' bigs (Bade, Marcius, Caroll) improvement during the off-season - I haven't seen much of anything. If JJ were to go down, I could honestly see us finishing in the bottom third of the conference this year. We're that thin at forward. I know he's only a '3 star', but I'm pretty excited about Jacob Lawson at PF next year. Purdue picked up Bryson Scott last night, which is the lone Purdue bright spot over the weekend. It's tough for Marcius, and Carroll to show much when they're only getting a handful of minutes a game. I think Painter made a mistake by not giving Carroll and Marcius some more minutes in the first few games of the Chicago Invitational. He really cut back their playing time after the first two games of the season. Marcius still has some work to do on the offensive end, but he's shown that he can rebound well. For all the talk about his offseason improvement though, Bade doesn't look that much better than last year. As for Smith, he was always billed as a great outside shooter, but his shot is terrible. He's not physical enough to play defense against Big Ten opponents.

They still look lost when they have to set up the offense. It doesn't help when Jackson is the only point guard on the roster that is smart enough not to pick up his dribble before he knows what he's going to do with the ball. Barlow routinely picks up his dribble without any clue what he's going to do. Also, Hart needs to get more minutes, preferably in place of Ryne Smith. If the graphic during the broadcast was correct, I believe Richmond has won 6 of its last 10 against ranked opponents now. Still no excuse, but it makes me feel a little better about the loss.

Agreed. It was good that they were able to open with a couple of very weak opponents. I'm not necessarily worried about how the Boilers will play defensively, and I'm cautiously optimistic about their rebounding. My concern right now is how they'll react to an opponent that plays strong defense.

To break up all the Illinois and IU talk, here are some observations from Purdue's lopsided victory over Alcorn State: 1. This could be Purdue's strongest rebounding team in a long time. Johnson, Carroll, Marcius, and even Bade give the Boilers more depth in the paint than they've had in awhile, and all are showing the ability to get position for rebounds. Granted, it was against Alcorn State... 2. For a guy who's only been playing basketball a few years, Marcius looks like he could contribute some quality minutes. Has a little trouble catching the ball though. 3. John Hart and D.J. Byrd look like they've both taken their game up a notch. Obviously, no one is going to make up for the loss of Hummel, but these guys could help soften the blow a bit with some strong outside shooting. 4. Lewis Jackson is never going to be a big scoring threat, but it's nice to have someone who can run the point and get the ball to the scorers. For a guy who's only about three feet tall, he manages to get a decent amount of rebounds, too. 5. Ryne Smith still doesn't impress me, although he looks a little more like he knows what he's doing on the defensive end. He's going to get pushed around by more physical teams though. 6. Kelsey Barlow is still a d-bag. If he doesn't get his head out of his rear end and stay out of foul trouble, he's going to lose some playing time to Terone Johnson fairly quickly. 7. Despite putting up 103 points, they don't look like they know how to play well together as a team yet. Hopefully, we'll see improvement there before conference season.