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This still upgrades the team for next year. Is it nearly as much as upgrading some of the other positions? No-but a Floyd/Murton platoon (which I hope isn't a straight platoon, but hopefully at least more of an equal share of the at-bats (with my real hope that Murton gets at least a decent majority, but I will happily settle for equal) will likely outproduce what Murton can do by himself. In addition, that means a big bat is going to be sitting on the bench every single day, which means the Cubs will finally have some good options coming off the bench in key situations. While I agree with the poster above that Murton is not a problem and therefore shouldn't have been nearly the highest priority to upgrade, this still makes the team better in 2007.

Sure, if that's a guarantee, but I don't buy it. I think Lilly/Marquis at 200 IP each would give you better years than Guzman/Marshall over 200 IP each. But that's MY opinion vs. yours... I really don't think Guzman or Marshall would have to do much to outpace Marquis 2005 and 2006 numbers. As Goony said, stable badness isn't worth much. I don't see how it pitching 200 bad innings is worth anything, 2006 definitely, but 2005? I think Guzman or Marshall would have to do a little more than you think to become a slightly above average pitcher in the league like Marquis was in 2005 (4.13 ERA, 103 ERA+).

Again, in fairness, nobody has any idea if Marquis even wants to wear #21 right now-it's all just speculation because of what his number was before.

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=2607 I understand the point, but without the threat of the stolen base some of those disruptions by a runner on first do not exist, such as the first baseman could simply play back. That suggests a team should steal just enough to keep the threat very much alive in the opponents heads, but no more. Do they factor errors into the equation when calculating the percentage though, if it be the pitcher mis-throwing the pickoff throw or the catcher throwing the ball into center field?

I think the rule is that if it is ruled a fumble, the Bengals would get the ball at the point of the fumble (therefore the same as a sack).

Carson Palmer should know to never run backwards against the Colts D. The Colts ends like to rush outside, and frequently are behind the QB-if the QB starts running backwards, things like that can happen. Not that I'm complaining-let's go Colts! :D

Negative points are possible because there are deductions for things like giving up points. I got negative points from Grossman in one of my leagues a few weeks ago. Yes, everyone knows negative points are possible, but the odds of the Cincy defense giving up the 40 or so points necessary to get negative points without getting any sacks, fumble recoveries, or picks are quite small. In the standard yahoo scoring, a team gets -1 for giving up 28 or more, and -4 for giving up 35 or more-I could easily see the Cincy defense giving up 35 and only getting 1 turnover, which would give them a -2 overall. I would bench them. Of course, the Colts defense might give up even more-but that's another discussion. :D

Go to baseball reference, and then choose a franchise and year. I'm linking the 1998 Mariners to this post-once on a team page, one of the options right above team batting is a link to all the batting orders that a team used that year. It's actually quite interesting. http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/SEA/1998.shtml

It looks like it's taken from Muskat's last mailbag, and she is probably referencing the one where Lou talks about the batting order. You're right, it was a couple weeks ago that he said that, and we talked about this last week as well. My guess is DeRosa becomes the #2, which will push Izturis to 8-but other players could slide in at number 2 as well, as I'm pretty sure Lou wasn't at all settled with any lineup yet.

So do I and all the options are bad except finding a CFer or keeping JJ. Keeping Jones and playing him in CF is not a bad option. It's a mediocre option, but not bad. I think that's what he was saying, the options are bad except .... keeping JJ. I think the bad options are using DeRosa in the OF and playing Theriot everyday, or starting Pie. Jones in CF is the best realistic option at this point, unless some trade target becomes available. From the quotes that keep coming out, I don't think that the Cubs are planning to play Jones in CF whatsoever. Look at the quote carefully-it says for Soriano to play one of the corners, they first have to move Jones. If Jones ends up not getting moved, I bet the defensive alignment will have Soriano in center and Jones in right, although the Cubs would prefer to trade Jones, sign a center fielder, and have Soriano in right.

why? because i'm tired of hearing the "drew's going to fail in boston because he's not their kinda guy" stuff. it's weird how people somehow think they know players. not sure how you're not doing the same thing in this case. but I think the gist of the argument is people knowing a fanbase, not a player. while generalizations tend to be dangerous, there's a history here and general sentiments do develop. I personally would love to see Drew on the Cubs. but he's not, nor is he on a rival of the Cubs. thus, I don't give a rats ass how he does. not sure why that would be a badge of honor for you. how am i doing the same thing? and i didn't say it would be a badge of honor for me. well apparently you purport to know he will handle the pressures in Boston just fine, so apparently you know the player. of course you didn't say it would be a "badge of honor." but what would you call having some irrational hope that some player on a team you presumably don't care about does well simply to show you were right on a message board? sure Drew is a fine player, but do you really have this affinity for him or do you want this odd couple of Drew and Boston to work out just for the 'badge of honor' of saying I told you so? fine...you got me. i was going to get t-shirts printed up that say "i was right about jd drew, idiots!" haven't you ever just wanted people who say stupid things to be proven wrong? that's all i'm saying. hope that's good enough for you. People who say that the marriage between Boston and Drew will not work out are now saying something stupid? It may work out, but it's perfectly reasonable to say that it won't. 1) The majority of fans already hate the signing-being in Boston, they will certainly let him know that early and often. 2) Drew has been characterized as soft by former teammates, and I think that included mentally as well as physically (especially since Dodger teammates said that as well, where Drew didn't miss much time physically). 3. Drew doesn't do enough in the "traditional" stats to appease the common fans even if he is playing well for the amount of his contract. 4. There is still the possibility that he will get hurt for at least part of one of the next couple years, and that will make an angry fanbase even angrier. 5. The media in Boston will be all over everything, and Drew by his characterizations seems like somebody who would be affected by what the media said about him. If it works out for them, great. It's going to be much harder working out in a frenzied city like Boston though than if he had gone to a place where the spotlight was a little less bright.

It was a very entertaining game. Both teams played hard, IU got some lucky bounces on a couple 3's, and then the rebounding and turnover edge really helped IU. It was fun to watch a game with so much defensive intensity on both hands-good luck to your squad the rest of the season.

The Titans now have 3 defensive TD's on the day. It's 24-10 Titans, and they've had the ball on offense for only about 10 minutes through about 3 quarters now.

Pitt always plays a terrible schedule and is overrated. Maybe sometime this century the Big 10 will win a National Championship? Do you think? I think someone will this January. They should also be playing another Big Ten team for the title. I beleive we had a basketball team that would have won if not for standing within two feet of Sean May being a foul. Just because Illinois couldn't stop Sean May to save its life in that game doesn't mean you have to throw out untrue statements like that. Don't get me wrong, I was rooting for Illinois that year but there was no favorite playing by the refs in that game. I would agree with that-I was also rooting bigtime for Illinois, but I thought that game was called very fairly.

What? Schilling wasn't "liked" by the Boston media, until the sock. Before that he was a cocky guy who provided great quotes. A consistent .900 OPS player is unlikely to succeed? I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt that he'll hit in that lineup in that park. True, but the fans liked him. For the most part, they already hate Drew. He won't put up enough in the "traditional stats" to change their mind, and if he gets hurt again they will really hate him. What the fans think is not important for some players success, but for a player like Drew who is somewhat sensitive to those sorts of things that constant pressure will wear on him-he has probably 2 productive seasons there, maybe 3, and then he will probably want out and be traded. If he gets hurt, that could cause him to be forced out even quicker.

Dewan, in the Fielding Bible, said Taveras should have won the gold glove in 2005, and Taveras ranks near the top of most advanced metrics. I'm not saying I want him - far from it - if the Cubs trade for him, I'm selling all my tickets again this year - but defense is the one positive he brings. Which would then make perfect sense for Colorado to keep him, since they have the most spacious CF in the big leagues. That's what I don't understand. In Colorado (and to a lesser extent Houston) and a few other ballparks he has value because of his defensive range in CF. He might have the most range of anybody in the NL now. However, if he comes to Wrigley, his biggest asset is mostly wasted, and that just further exposes the things he cannot do with the bat.

Rotoworld: That's a whole lot of cash. I think it's smart for him to take it now. There's no way to know what the market will be like next year, especially with some other really good CF's on the market. I agree. This is the largest signing of the offseason of position players (by amount per year). Looking over Wells's numbers, I'm not sure he is guaranteed to get 20 million per year-in fact, if he had a year like 2004 or 2005 his number could go at least a little down from this contract. Also, two other things to remember-this makes him a substantial raise this year, and the amount that he is going to make after this contract even at 35 years of age is likely going to be higher than the amount he would have been paid this year without an extension, so that helps. Also, it says he has an opt out clause-if he can opt out at 32 or 33, he might be able to get another huge deal on the market, which makes this deal even better for him.

This Guy Thinks MVP Throw his name among the top rookies, but he's not the ROY in my book and no way is he MVP worthy. I would agree with that. I didn't support Dante Hall for MVP a few years ago, and I don't think Hester deserves it now. He may deserve ROY-right now the top 5 candidates (in no particular order) are probably Bush, Colston, Hester, Vince Young, and Addai-any of those 5 probably could win the award (although I think Addai is a little behind the other 4 at this point). One thing to remember also is that Hester has given 1 or 2 TD's to the other team as well- he basically gave up a TD in the Miami game on a fumbled punt (and he might have had one other, or maybe the other one was just a close call that he fell on, I can't remember), so that should be factored into his TD totals as well.

Krivsky has to be rapidly getting there as well.

I think we need another backup middle infielder more. Right now the team has one backup that can play both MI slots, one guy that can back up all the outfield spots, one guy that can back up the corner OF and first base, and a backup catcher. 3B is covered with our starting second baseman, but we still need a second backup middle infielder that can make sure that we have at least one left on the bench on the days when DeRosa plays 3rd. If we could get somebody that could back up 2nd, SS, and 3rd though, that would be very good.

Which is generally why I prefer college basketball. Don't get me wrong. I love my Bulls and seeing former players from your college in the NBA (Wade) is awesome, but college hoops in March is just about as good as sports can get. College hoops in March on TV is awesome, but as far as atmosphere in the stadium, the NBA playoffs are better than college regular season, NBA regular season, or college playoffs (this is from somebody who has been to all 3 all the way up to Final Four games). I'm not saying it's not fun to go to the tournament-it is. It's been my experience that it's a great deal more fun to go to NBA playoff games though, especially Knicks games :D .

:shrug: Career records aren't the best of things to look at in terms of a pro prospect. Both Quinn and Palmer didn't play with that many playmakers at other skill positions and Quinn hasn't played with a good defense. And, of course, Carson Palmer was coached by Norm Chow for just the last two seasons...and really had one good year at USC - his senior season. Looking at stats isn't the best idea - gotta look at the overall picture. Being able to run a pro offense was good for Carson and it will be good for Brady at the next step. Brady doesn't have the arm strength that Carson did, I think their accuracy is about equal. When coming out of college, Carson was a better prospect than Quinn will be. But in this era where franchise QBs are king, no way Brady Quinn shouldn't go with the top pick. I was just responding to BigSlick's post that Quinn might end up busting because he "can't come through in big games". Of course, I don't consider 22/45, 330 yards, 3 TD, 0 INTs, and 70 rushing yards (his USC stats) when your team is letting you down repeatedly with dropped balls and no blocking "not coming through", but that's another thread. I would agree with that. Brady may very well bust because of his sometimes questionable accuracy, but he won't bust because he can't show up in big games. Brady's biggest strength is his ability to make good decisions with the football. That is what caused him to have so few INT's on the year (and remember, 2 of the 3 INT's against Michigan were a ball off the tight end's hands, a ball where Brady tried to throw it deep, got hit as he threw, the ball sailed about 12 yards and was picked off, and the third INT was Brady trying to force it into coverage trying to make a play down by a bunch in the 4th). With the huge emphasis in the NFL on ball security, Brady's decision making will keep him in the league-if his accuracy can become more consistent, he could be one of those true franchise QB's-if it doesn't, he could flame out and be a consistent backup after a few years. Oh, I forgot, Brady is as tough as they come. Forget the "Brady is courageous" talk during the USC game-that was simply ridiculous. If you want to see toughness, Brady's freshman year when he played USC was unbelievable. They hit him with shot after shot after shot in the second half, and Quinn kept standing up and staying in the pocket-I have no idea how he came out of that game alive. He's not afraid to stay in the pocket and make a throw, and that will help him on the NFL level as well.

Darius Walker + Rhema McKnight = little chance of pro success. Jeff Samardzija = slightly overrated pro prospect. Anyone on our defense not named Victor Abiamiri or Derek Landri = terrible pro prospect. Maybe exception for Zbikowski. Chew on that. :D The funny thing is, it seems like most fans that are not ND fans really want Zbikowski for their pro team-I think he's one of the most overrated players in the country, and it seems like you do as well. I agree with you about the different players projections.

Oh, they were just too afraid to take the floor against the bulls :wink: It's possible-apparently those 3 went to the same place to eat last night, but Jermaine did not and neither did some of the other crew members, and they all got sick Monday as well. They're calling for a conspiracy of food service workers. :D

I think I might have to stop reading your posts for a while Raisin because of that sig-I think I have nightmares of Jones-Drew running all over the place when I try to close my eyes, and seeing him with my eyes open doesn't help:(. Oh well, at least it is happening to what seems like a very quality individual-I'm just worried about him being on that team who likes to take a great deal of cheap shots.