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In the baseball world. Using 3-year splits, do you know how many 2B have put an OPS over .800 besides Roberts? Utley, Kent, Cano, and Polanco (Hudson doesn't have the 2005 to qualify, I think from injury, but he should be there). There are other young guys without 3 years that project over .800 in 2008 such as Johnson, Uggla, and Pedroia. Utley and his .900+ OPS is in a tier by himself. Then you have a 6-10 guys who might give you .800+, which should be considered plus production for that position. In the baseball world a guy that gives you plus production at a position and still close enough to age 30 to be relevant has value. Whether your personal baseball beliefs include steals or not, many in the baseball world tack a 50+ steals rider onto an .800+ OPS as additional value. Honestly, I don't get the problem, unless you've been playing too much PS3. 4 players is a lot only if you consider 'proven' MLB numbers in the package. 4 players is not a lot if all would qualify as unproven talent and none qualify as can't miss prospects, and in this case Murton, Cedeno, Gallagher, and one B prospect constitutes a package of unproven every day talent and it does not include a can't miss prospect. Take out Roberts "roid" year of 2005 which his OPS was .902 and he's not in that .800 OPS club either. In fact, if you look at the last 2 years of production and we are focusing on OPS, DeRosa's avg OPS was .802, whereas Roberts' was .783. I'm not going to argue how valuable Roberts is to ANY team, but I will argue just how much of an upgrade he is to THIS team. I realize that he's an incredible leadoff man, and can steal bases, which the Cubs do need, but not in a 2B. If he played SS, do what it takes to get him. First, welcome to the board. Second, the smack-down. Unfortunately for you, you cannot simply choose to remove a year of player's career to suit your argument and get anywhere, especially around here. And it's a clear overstatement to say 'roid year' when Roberts name has been linked to one usage of hgh publicly. So both sides of your argument really have little relevance and don't contradict anything I previously posted. Not that I disagree with your premise, but if you think Roberts only used HGH one time because that's all the Mitchell report could uncover, I've got a bridge to sell you. I'll disagree with you on that (maybe again?). Why would Roberts admit in casual conversation that he used steroids, then lie about how much he used it? He either would lie about it completely, or he would tell the truth. It simply doesn't make sense that in 2004 he was willing to tell his friend, who he knew to be another steroid user, that he used steroids but then lie about the frequency.

Craig Kenney is the head of the Cubs business operations. He and Hendry are the two heads of the club right now, with Kenney handling the business side and Hendry handling the baseball side.

You have Fukudome and Colvin both listed for RF Bruce. I'm assuming Colvin defers to Fukudome and moves over to left? As for Fontenot, does the organization still have any trust left in him at SS after last years debacle? I'm not saying to start, but after last year it seems that his days at SS were at an end even as a occasional thing.

The normal lineup doesn't look that top heavy. When Ramirez or Soto take days off, it's going to be pretty badly top heavy though. Look at this potential lineup that has the potential to happen twice a week: Soriano Fukudome Lee Ramirez DeRosa Pie Theriot Blanco Pitcher On those days, it might make more sense to move Pie or Theriot up to 2nd and Fukudome down to 5th.

What did Kap say? There was a Cubs fan on OH who said that Kaplan went on TV and said that the Roberts deal is heating up and that the Orioles want both Pie and Ceda and the Cubs want Sherrill in the deal. The Pie part makes me skeptical that it would ever go through, unless the Cubs are planning to trade Marquis for Crisp and Pie, Ceda, and Marshall for Roberts and Sherrill. There have been numerous reports that Pie isn't going anywhere though. And I see no reason why this poster would lie, which is why I passed it along even without seeing it myself. There's no real value in lying about a television report that's just a rumor anyway.

I think this shows how little stock Lou puts into the 2 spot. He's worried about Fukudome, so he wants to move him to 2nd which he sees as a low pressure position. It may end up being the best thing for the Cubs, but Lou has repeatedly shown that he'll stick people in the 2 spot who don't seem to fit anywhere else in that day's lineup, no matter what type of hitter they are. From 3 on down, the hitters are then usually organized in order of ability.

I certainly hope that Levine and Kaplan don't know what they are talking about on the Roberts trade. There have been some ugly possible deals mentioned in the last couple of days.

That conspiracy won't have much legs when Marshall comes in the game in an inning or two :D

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Griese on Tampa Bay prior to the Bears? Yup..and the Bears picked him up approximately 2 years ago. So apparently TB never wanted to give him up, and are now willing to pay what I believe to be a crazy price to get him back.

PECOTA projections Payton: .267/.309/.400 (vs. LHP .282/.330/.414) average CF defense? (+2 in LF) Crisp: .271/.335/.415 (vs. LHP .280/.337/.413) GG CF defense (+8 in CF) Big salary differences, though. Plus throw in the fact that Crisp has already said he doesn't want to be a reserve OF, and I don't really believe that Crisp will outproduce Payton against left-handers. Here's their 3 year splits against LHP: Crisp: .264/.323/.400 Payton: .288/.339/.444 I think Crisp is the much better player overall, but Payton is probably a better option to be a 4th/5th OF and platoon partner against LH'ers.

You know that these things have to be said. I didn't expect it to get any worse then it was. Lou should be the one apologizing though? That's stupid. Marquis should apologize for thinking anyone cares what his opinion is. He hasn't built up the cache to make statements about who should be starting and who shouldn't. Lou was completely in line with what he said. Did Marquis just come out and say these things, or was it in response to a question from the media? If it was in response to a question, I see no reason for him to apologize. From what I've read, he simply expressed a desire to start and that he feels he has earned that right. Nothing indicates that he drew a line in the sand or anything. And how do we even know that he didn't apologize to Lou? If Marquis needed to apologize, why would it have to be a public apology? Lou overreacted, plain and simple. He should have waited to hear Marquis' exact words before responding. Marquis wasn't exactly an All-Star last year, but he's been league-average or better in three of the past four years. Not a staff ace, but an OK back of the rotation guy (although he's getting paid a bit much for that role). As much as he struggled down the stretch last season, I still have more faith in him as a starter than I do in Dempster. He re-iterated what he said though. Sure he put a spin on it, but the man is STILL basically giving this team an ultimatum. Which is total crap. Plus, go back and read Lou's comments. They weren't the explosion some people say it was. He's saying Marquis should earn a spot in the rotation like anyone else. We've got 7 pitchers competing for 5 spots -- that's a good thing for a team, not bad. That's the situation teams *need* to be in at this time of year. And if Marquis wants a spot, then simply earn it. I don't see how there is much wrong with what he said anyway. It's not that he has to earn his spot, it's more the "he can just leave then". That's not really acceptable for a manager to say because it paints the team into a corner with the player.

Rosnethal has been absolutely terrible this offseason after a very good offseason last year.

Assuming you're talking about June 2007 (when Barrett was being shopped and then traded to SD, so I assume you're talking about in the midst of those negotiations), let's forget Hendry for a moment and think about Towers. Do you think he would trade a 27 year old SS who is pretty well liked in San Diego and at a position that San Diego had no legitimate backup for who also plays great defense for a 30 year old catcher who has terrible defense, just got into a fight with his pitcher, is batting no better in 2007 than the SS, and at a position where San Diego already had a decent player? To believe this story, you have to believe that Towers is incredibly dumb to offer the deal to top off the fact that Hendry would have to be dumb to reject it. I find that way too far of a leap to make. I doubt Hendry would have rejected it (especially in June, when Lou wasn't happy with either of his SS's) and I know that Towers wouldn't have offered it.

Yeah, it sounds like the Moss rumors were just that, a rumor. It spread pretty fast. NFL Network did report earlier tonight that the Patriots and Moss were close to a deal. That part at least is on Rotoworld.

I would agree with you with one exception. There's no way the Cubs break camp with exactly 1 SS on the roster. 1 of Cedeno or Cintron will make the team (likely Cedeno unless he's traded).

And it's been reported on a radio station that the Patriots have signed Moss to a 5 year, 52 million dollar deal with 25 million guaranteed. No guraantee on that one, so take it with a grain of salt.

Congratulations dew...Adam Schefter is reporting that Alge Crumpler has chosen the Titans.

Effectively? Seriously? Does he really think that he's done well the last few years? To be fair to Marquis, for the 2 stats that most pitchers/casual fans care about, he has done pretty well. 4 straight years of 12 wins or more, and 3 out of 4 years of an above average ERA. Most people care about durability as well, and he also has that: 4 years of 190+ innings. I'm not saying those matter (especially the wins) but I can perfectly understand why Marquis thinks he has been effective. I thought Marquis should have apologized as well as Lou, but I'm not surprised he didn't. I'm glad Lou apologized anyway.

There was a chitchat thread once in social. I'm not sure but I think some transactions and or game threads may top this as well. Milestone Post thread and Movie thread The Movie thread is longer. The Milestone Post thread is only 209 pages long. I expect this thread to be the longest on the site currently in a week or so, passing the movie thread. I tried to find a bit of Brian Roberts news to go along with this, but it's not easy. I can tell you that the sentiment from Orioles fans increasingly seems to be that they would like to keep Roberts and wait for the trade deadline rather than get rid of him for middling players like the Cubs have. I happen to not agree with them (I think the Orioles would be best served making the trade if they get Gallagher+2 others) but it is interesting to track how both fanbases perceive the trade as time goes on.

Michigan State, a team who is known for its defense, cannot miss right now. IU could play their A game and be down by 10-15 right now. Instead, they are losing by 30, but as long as Michigan State is shooting over 80% from both the field and from 3 point land, there's not much you can do.

Especially with the Bears having tweaked their scheme slightly in order to take advantage of the strengths of their linebackers, I like the 6 for 36 million deal for Briggs a lot better than trying to match the 6 for 42 million deal that Berrian got. While I still believe the position he plays helps Briggs in looking better than he actually is, I also believe that he is a very good player that will be very close to if not worth that extension, and that made it a very smart move for the Bears.

At least 10 veteran starters around the league make this sort of statement every year. Wade Miller and Jon Lieber are two easy examples of pitchers who did it last year. The Cubs were never planning on Marquis to be in the bullpen anyway, so really its overblown. The Cubs choices in the first place were either the rotation or a trade, and my guess is that he'll be in the rotation Opening Day.

the #'s the news up here reported were 6 yrs, $20 mil garanteed. thats not far from Angelo offered. If they were that close, what stopped the Bears? the garanteed money? seems like BB got a resonable deal. Angelo offered 8 million in guaranteed money. If Berrian really received 20 million guaranteed, the two sides weren't even close to the same ballpark.

Seriously, what the hell? Yea, a few people on there are pretty delusional about Roberts's trade value. I certainly hope this doesn't represent the majority opinion over there. Christ that's stupid. No, it certainly doesn't represent the majority opinion. Most people over there want a little more than most people over here are willing to give up (which is typical). I'd say most people want something like: Gallagher, Murton, Veal, Cedeno for Roberts and Payton Some people want Colvin for Murton, Ceda for Veal, or Patterson for one of Cedeno/Murton/Veal, but the typical trade from an Orioles fan over there is a 4 for 2 with those players involved.

Even without Gallagher, the team has Zambrano, Lilly, Hill, Marquis, Dempster, Marshall, Hart, possibly Marmol, and anyone who might break out this year(Samardzija, Veal, Atkins, Holliman) as available starters. I agree with opposing this deal, but the one thing we certainly have is starting pitching depth(even if Gallagher is dealt) to make sure Les Walrond doesn't see Wrigley Field again without a ticket. i guess i am not even considering marmol since he (a) sucked as a starter and (b) was lights out in the pen. i'm also assuming that dempster will either be terrible or will hurt himself. so then that cuts down the options to zambrano, lilly, hill, marquis, marshall. it's a pretty solid bet that marshall will hurt himself; is hart for real, or was last year a fluke? i don't think samardzija, veal, atkins or holliman are viable options, unless one of them really makes a mountain of progress in a few months. Lieber is also an option, and then Mateo is also an option. Sure there are questions about them as well, but the odds that Lieber/Dempster/Marshall/Hart/Mateo are either all hurt or absolutely awful (and they'd have to be north of 5 to be considerably worse than Gallagher is likely to give you this year) is pretty low.