fromthestretch

The fact that someone is the #1 pitcher in a rotation doesn't necessarily guarantee that he will be in the biggest games. With injuries and off days, it's impossible to make that happen all the time. Where egos might come into play more would be the postseason rotation. And I will bet that money is a much, much, much bigger factor into a free agent's decision than where they are in the rotation. 1. Of course it doesn't guarantee they pitch in the bigger games but teams will sometimes mess with the No. 5 starter's rest so the ace can go in a big series. Also I said it is mostly about the postseason rotation. 2. As I said, in Pedro's case money is not a big factor. His case is rare. He has already made load so of money and showed this season he will take a small contract to go to a contender. Most FA's obviously take money first or at least factor in heavily. Pedro will probably be looking for 1-teams winning likelihood, 2-position in rotation, 3-money. I doubt where a pitcher is in a postseason rotation is a huge factor into where they are going to sign. As far as Pedro, I think he's more focused on having a guaranteed spot in someone's rotation, regardless of whether it's the first or fifth spot. And to say that money isn't a big factor for Pedro is, to use your word, naive. No one was giving him the $5 million he wanted last season, so he sat out a couple months. If he thinks he's worth $3 million to someone this season, he's not going to settle for $1 million.

34 is the correct answer there. But overall those numbers are ok especially playing on a bad team like the Pirates. He was pretty good at it in 08. For example Carlos Marmol allowed 21% to score in 08. In his career he's only allowed 25 percent of runners to score, even alot of elite relievers still allow 18-20 percent of runners score. No. 36 is the correct answer. Actually, if you want to nitpick, it's 35.7% (10/28). Do we really want to bet $7.5 million dollars that 2008 was the norm when it's sandwiched between worse seasons?

The fact that someone is the #1 pitcher in a rotation doesn't necessarily guarantee that he will be in the biggest games. With injuries and off days, it's impossible to make that happen all the time. Where egos might come into play more would be the postseason rotation. And I will bet that money is a much, much, much bigger factor into a free agent's decision than where they are in the rotation. Well, the amount of money a team is willing to spend on Pedro is likely going to be directly proportional to the size of role they plan for him. The correlation won't be 100%, of course, but it is a decent rule of thumb. Of course, but at this stage of his career, he's going to be happy to make a decent amount and know that he'll get the ball every fifth day when healthy. I doubt he's going to demand to be the opening day starter or anything like that.

The fact that someone is the #1 pitcher in a rotation doesn't necessarily guarantee that he will be in the biggest games. With injuries and off days, it's impossible to make that happen all the time. Where egos might come into play more would be the postseason rotation. And I will bet that money is a much, much, much bigger factor into a free agent's decision than where they are in the rotation.

One other thing about this...how do you know his ERA hasn't been saved by other relievers coming in an cleaning up his mess? He could very well be putting runners on, only to have someone else come in a get out of the jam. Oh, and this: with bases empty, he's allowed this line: .250/.322/.396 with runners on: .264/.356/.382 Not what I would call a significant difference, but I think it shows that he doesn't necessarily "focus much better with guys on base".

Where did you get those numbers from? baseball-reference.com 2007: 36% of inherited runners scored. 2008: 24% 2009: 36% You can talk all you want about how good he was in 2005 (10%) and 2006 (18%), but his ERA (a stat you seem to rely on) was a combined 4.44 in those two seasons. So while he wasn't allowing inherited runners to score, he had no problem allowing his own to score. And while he only allowed 19% to score while with the Cubs, he allowed 45% to score while with the Pirates this season. You can try to justify this all you want, but the fact of the matter is that the Cubs were in a good position to let him walk or at least wait to see how the market played out. They have plenty of other solid options for that role, yet they chose to overpay for mediocrity.

ERA, especially for a reliever, is extremely misleading. You say he didn't let a lot of runs score. He allowed 36% of inherited runners to score, which was below average for the NL. In fact, he's been below average in that category in two out of the three years. His control is an issue, whether you want to admit it or not, especially for a guy that isn't exactly unhittable. Marmol can somewhat get away with control problems due to the fact that he's difficult to hit. Can Grabow be a serviceable reliever? Of course. Is his performance worth his salary? Not at all, especially this early in the offseason. There was absolutely no reason for the Cubs, who have Marshall, Gorzelanny, and Gaub, to sign him this quickly.

No one said you should. However, letting Grabow walk wasn't going to leave the Cubs with a bullpen totally reliant on rookies. It's not like the Cubs were completely devoid of left-handed options for the bullpen. They were in a situation where they could wait and see how the market played out.

He was brought up in another thread. I hope the Cubs stay away from Byrd.

Ryan Howard career vs. lefties = .226/.310/.444 Granderson career vs. lefties = .210/.270/.344 Howard still displays decent power vs. lefties. That's because Howard is a better player. I'm not comparing the two other than to say that they both (comparatively) suck donkey balls against lefties (memo to Jim Tracy). But that doesn't necessarily make Howard a platoon player. Of course, he's worse against lefties than he is against righties. However, he's not completely inept against them. He can still take a walk and knock one out of the park against southpaws, while Granderson turns into 2005 Corey Patterson.

Ryan Howard career vs. lefties = .226/.310/.444 Granderson career vs. lefties = .210/.270/.344 Howard still displays decent power vs. lefties.

Except for you know the whole being flexible to stretch and make the catch. He catches the things that he can reach but he doesn't save bad throws. I'm certainly not saying that he's a good defensive first baseman, but for a guy his size, he's fairly agile.

It was actually only 28 games.

From his standpoint, there might not be much point in signing with San Diego, but there are valid reasons why the Padres may want to pursue him. If they can get him on a one or two-year deal for a decent price, he could become a good mid-season trade candidate, which could help them get a prospect or two. Furthermore, when you have a young pitching staff, having a solid defensive team can really help. Cameron would give them a solid glove up the middle. With Peavy gone and Chris Young not looking like he'll ever be what he was in 2007, I dont know how pitching rich they really are anymore. Who said they were "pitching rich"? They still have young arms, regardless of what their ceiling is. The average age of that staff was just under 27 years in 2009. Geer, Richard, Latos, and LeBlanc are all under 27. Having a strong defense could help keep pitch counts down a bit, maybe save a bullpen a few innings here and there.

It's a daily read for me. A free site that pulls together a ton of rumors from all over the place is a nice thing to have this time of year and around the trade deadline.

Heres another of note. Many have him pegged as the Cubs target but MLBTR has him with the Pads. We all know that the Pads are in desperate need of offense, but I dont see Cameron as a guy who could help them out. You cant take a guy with mediocre offensive stats and put him in one of the worst hitters parks in the game and expect results. Cameron doesn't have mediocre offensive stats. OK, he has decent-good offensive stats, and I am in the early stages of warming up to the idea of him thanks some posters here. However, he'll be 37 by opening day, and the Padres are not in the kind of position where a 37 year old with good offensive stats is going to do anything for them. They need to be either A. building a young team around Adrian or B. trading Adrian for the kind of players that could help them compete in the next 3-5 years. I know the NL West isnt exactly a star studded division, but the Padres are just plain bad. On the other hand, the Cubs are in the position where he could be very helpfull as a number 2 or number 5/6 batter in the lineup. Bottom line is Cameron is the type of player who could help a contender get better, but theres no point in him signing with a rebuilding team whose several years away from anything. From his standpoint, there might not be much point in signing with San Diego, but there are valid reasons why the Padres may want to pursue him. If they can get him on a one or two-year deal for a decent price, he could become a good mid-season trade candidate, which could help them get a prospect or two. Furthermore, when you have a young pitching staff, having a solid defensive team can really help. Cameron would give them a solid glove up the middle.

Heres another of note. Many have him pegged as the Cubs target but MLBTR has him with the Pads. We all know that the Pads are in desperate need of offense, but I dont see Cameron as a guy who could help them out. You cant take a guy with mediocre offensive stats and put him in one of the worst hitters parks in the game and expect results. Cameron played in that same park in 2006 and 2007 and performed as he pretty much always has.

It's not like Marlon Byrd is some gold-glove centerfielder, and away from Texas he's a mid-.700s OPS hitter. He's also coming off a career highs in the power categories and will want a multi-year deal for more than he's worth.

Why can't it be all three? :)

Hopefully, more than the Cubs are willing to pay.

I would think people would hate Kramer more than Cardinal. Kramer whines a helluva lot more. Cardinal flopped, dove, etc., but he didn't piss and moan nearly as much when calls didn't go his way. Cardinal never faked getting elbowed in the face to get a player ejected either. While I completely agree that Kramer flopped big time on that play, he obviously did get hit (unless you want to make the case that the blood was caused from him hitting the floor). However, watching his reaction, you'd have thought he got shot. I have no problem with the hustle or trying to sell a call here and there. It's the constant whining when he doesn't get calls that bugs the crap out of me...even as a Purdue fan.

I would think people would hate Kramer more than Cardinal. Kramer whines a helluva lot more. Cardinal flopped, dove, etc., but he didn't piss and moan nearly as much when calls didn't go his way.

I certainly wouldn't object to him turning into a healthy version of Nomar.

I'm sorry. In all seriousness though which farm did you grow up on? I grew up in the town of Fowler, so I wasn't on a farm but I have several friends who do. I am Bubba's year, but I am at Notre Dame. Every year I normally go back over x-mas break for a game in the paint crew. One of my good friends from BC who is my neighbor is actually dating Bobby Riddell. ha. Nonetheless, I am really excited for Purdue bball this year. It's also weird to think that we have the preseason player of the year on our team. We don't have much of a supporting cast, but hopefully one of the freshman can step up and play a decent-sized role. Not to derail the thread, but does 98.1 WIBN still exist out there? haha you better believe it. They broadcast Benton Central's basketball games and have the big bargain show on saturday mornings! I was just curious. I did a lot of sports work for them years ago.

if you hate someone because of the color of their skin, i'm pretty sure that's racism. No its not, I think it depends on why they hate the person. As Truffle just said in the post you quoted: