noisesquared

Did anyone else catch Hendry's inference that Wood's knee surgery cost him 3 1/2 weeks? The first time I wasn't sure I heard that right, but later Hendry said if it wasn't for the knee surgery Wood would have been ready in mid-April :shock: I'm not a Hendry supporter, but I always thought he seemed like a likeable guy. The more I hear him talk lately, I'm starting to like him less and less. The pressure to perform is really starting to wear on him, I think.

I agree 100% - there's a weird double standard here. I know there's a time and place for discounting one season of abnormal production, and Clark's case would seem to fit this mold. Clark age-wise is on the decline, but Pierre is still in his prime. So by the same argument, Pierre should be judged on career numbers, not last year.

:-k You know he meant 2004. Or more likely, 2005. Well, 2004 was the year we just missed the playoffs and Neifi hit .371 with a near 1.000 OPS in place of Nomar. Actually, 1998 was the year Neifi entered Cub lore as a hero (with his GW HR against SF to force the one-game playoff, IIRC).

Not to beat the 2003 horse again, but how about the 2003 Cubs? When Sosa went down in early May that year, he was carrying a .980 OPS, and was out for about 3 weeks. Patterson was inserted into the 3 spot, and did a fine job in the interim. I'm not sure where they were in the standings when Sosa went down and when he came back, but that was a case of an offensively-challenged team losing their best offensive player for an extended stretch and not having it ruin their season. That being said, I am in favor of giving Murton a shot in the 3 spot. I'd go: Pierre Walker Murton Ramirez Barrett Jones Mabry Cedeno

I'll take any of the Iowa starters and their collective 1.00 ERA before Rusch again.

In an upcoming off-season where the Yankees, the Red Sox, and the Dodgers will be looking at first basemen, signing D-Lee for 5/$65 is a steal. I have no doubt whatsoever that in a bidding war between the aforementioned clubs, 5/$75 would be where the bidding would start and I don't think that 5/$90 would be an impossible figure, especially if Lee has another great year. Heck, even if he regresses OPS-wise but puts up the traditional .300-30-100 line, he'd still get offers that would've dwarfed what he signed with the Cubs.

I linked the 5 injuries above that don't include the Giles collision or the ball to the elbow, which were both freak injuries he had no control over. I think the Giles collision is also an indication of Prior's frail, injury-prone body based on the frequency he's been hurt from simply pitching. If the Giles collision and liner off his elbow were Prior's only two injuries, I would not cite his body as frail, but with the knowledge of his other body breakdowns, it's hard not to. Like the movie Unbreakable, Prior is more Elijah Prince than David Dunn. That said, he's still our best pitcher and Hendry shouldn't even consider trading him while under our control. I see it as the inverse - the Giles collision and the broken elbow actually show how 'tough' he is. When I saw the Giles collision, I assumed he broke his collarbone and would be done for the year. Same thing with the liner off the elbow, I thought it was a season ending injury. In both cases, he was able to come back faster than most expected, and I don't recall anyone calling him soft after returning from those injuries. I wonder if trying to pitch too soon after these incidents caused mechanicial problems that led to some of the other problems.

My version: Anyone who watched yesterday's game understands how badly Jim Hendry's reliance on the health of Wood and Prior has let this organization down.

Why is it that the past two years the W.Sox have just about every game on Comcast? Has anyone figured that out yet? Because the Cubs have WGN as their base. Comcast is owned by a collection of teams/businesses including the Cubs/Tribune, the White Sox, and others. That still doens't make sense. The TRIB still has thier hand in the Comcast pot and why not spilt it 50/50 with the Sox and Cubs. I mean the Cubs get what 2-4 games and the Sox get 20 games? Doesn't make sense. Comcast wanted to show more Cubs ST games, IIRC, but was shot down by the Cubs. I really can't see why the Cubs would have such little desire to start getting their fandom warmed up for the season.

I didn't see this posted elsewhere, but on the 12:30 Score update, Mark O'Neal was quoted as saying Prior is pain free and has been cleared to resume throwing, and threw 30-40 long tosses this morning. No timetable was given for a return by the Cubs. George Offman also reported that both Kerry Wood (3 sets of 20 pitches) and Wade Miller (about 30 pitches) threw yesterday.

Bruce any word on Mark Prior? I know the doc was supposed to pay a visit sometime today...Just wondering when he can resume throwing the towel or ball.... According to Mark O'Neal (on the Score's 12:30 update), Prior through 30-40 long tosses this morning and Prior is reportedly pain-free. No timetable for a return would be given by O'Neal.

and which one of those numbers is heavily weighted by 2002 and 2003, 2 years that player has not come close to matching, even in one of the best hitter's ballparks in baseball? come on now. soriano has shown nothing but decline - walker is the more valuable player. I'm just saying that looking at the OPS+ numbers over the last 2 years may not be that complete of a comparison. Walker has only out-OPS+ Soriano's 2005 OPS+ numbers twice in his career, and last year Walker was helped by having only 433 PA. By looking at career trends and age, I'd say Soriano's more likely to put up a 110 OPS+ than Walker is next year.

People can critcize Soriano for lots of reasons (money, defense, attitude, etc.), but to say that Soriano is only a "marginal improvement offensively" over Walker is ridiculous. I like Walker, but he has to fight for a starting job every year while Soriano is making All-Star teams. Offensively, Soriano is Jeff Kent with speed. 2004: 98 OPS+ 2005: 110 OPS+ 2004: 105 OPS+ 2005: 115 OPS+ Which one is Walker, and which one is Soriano? Highlight to find out Career 111 OPS+ Career 99 OPS+ Which one is 33 year old Walker, and which is 30 year old Soriano?

I'd take Thome every day of the week over Thomas and Everett at this stage of their careers. Over the last 5 years, Thome has only played less than 143 games once. In the last 5 years Thomas has only played more than 73 games twice. Thomas is 38, Thome's 35. Thomas has only had 2 .900+ OPS healthy seasons since 1998. Thome has never had a healthy season as a full-time starter with a sub .929 OPS. Basically, since 1995, the only year Thome wasn't phenomonal was last year, when he was hurt. And what Guillen did last year, seemed eerily similar to what LaRussa does in St Louis. So every year we expect the Cards to regress, and what happens? I, unfortunately, can envision the same w/ the Sox. Deep pitching staffs win divisions.

Has there ever been a rotation featuring 2 300 game winners?

His 300+ "wins" are irrelevant in this discussion. What is relevant is how elite a pitcher can be by racking up only 13 in a season. I don't think a pitcher can be 'elite' based on one season's production. I agree that a pitcher can have a great year without racking up wins, but an elite pitcher will win a lot of games more often than not. I believe Clemens is an 'elite' pitcher, but his win totals are a reflection of how good his ERA/WHIP/KtoBB/etc. have been over his career. Even pitching on some less than stellar teams, he has consistently won games because he puts his team in a position to win. In 1997 Clemens won 21 games with Toronto, who were dead last in the AL in runs scored/game.

Was Clemens top 10 last season? A 1.87 ERA and 1.01 WHIP over 211+ innings is what sets the bar for the rest of the top 10. Too bad he had crappy run support and the TEAM held him to a 13-8 record. I find it odd that Clemens, a 300 game winner, is used as an example for how wins aren't a significant stat for a pitcher :? Last year was an aberration for Clemens - with his peripherals he should have won many more games, much like Wood in 2003. Over the course of one season, the small sample size of starts for one pitcher can allow for good peripheral guys to not win many games, and for bad peripheral guys to win a lot of games. Over a career however, a pitcher who consistently puts up good peripheral stats is consistently giving his team a chance to win, and subsequently that pitcher will win a lot of games.

Did it have a section number or just seat numbers? Section is BLPN34. Bullpen side. You'll either be right up against the far right fall of the bullpen box section or to the opposite side of that section, but you'll still be on the bullpen side of the bullpen box sections. Of course, if you were on the dugout side of the bullpen box sections, you'd be right by the photographers, not the players. I sat in section 34 row 2 once before the bullpen box seats were added and it's pretty nice (obviously). Thanks for the info - I'm pretty excited about the seats. It'll far and away be the best seats I've ever had at Wrigley.

Did it have a section number or just seat numbers? Section is BLPN34.

I just bought 2 bullpen box seats, row A seats 101&102, for the Reds game on Sunday 9/17. Anybody know if those seats are on the bullpen or dugout side of that section?

The e-mail reads: "You may purchase up to four tickets for one game and all sales are final." Does this mean you can only by for tickets for one game only, or does it mean you can buy 4 tickets a game but for multiple games? I'm guessing (hoping) it is only 4 tickets per person max, seeing as this is a lottery of sorts probably done to discourage/disable ticket brokers. Therefore, I'm hoping there'll still be plenty of tix at 2.

I'm in at 2pm. It says that this runs til 11 pm Wednesday, so hopefully good tickets will be still be available in the afternoon.

5 years, 13 million. For a guy that hit .292/.366/.520 with 24 homers last year as a SS? Wow. They didn't buy out any of his free agency years. He may have made a bit more if he kept hitting at that rate throughout his indentured servitude, but it's not that big of a bargain. What did Soriano get in arbitration this year? $10mil coming off a season much inferior to what Pheralta did last year. I think Pheralta would have had an opportunity to make twice what this contract is worth if he'd have went the year-to-year contract route. This is a steal for the Indians.

Offensive value and power are not mutually exclusive. His offensive value lies in his ability in getting basehits, not striking out, stealing bases and scoring runs Yes, but in his quest to not strike out, he loses power. The power is much more valuable than the ability to not strike out. By taking a "contact at all costs" approach, he limits the player he could be. You're defeating your own argument. I don't think anyone is going to try argue that Pierre doesn't give up power when he tries to hit for contact. He does. However, you also need to realize that an increase in power would probably lower his amount of contact, which would lower his amount of hits. In the end, Pierre AND this team are much better off having Juan do what he's best at AND what this team needs. Quite frankly we have MORE than enough power to get this team through the season. What the Cubs have been missing is a/some speed/OBP/guys who take more than 3 pitches types of players. Juan Pierre should fill that void nicely. Is it possible that Pierre's lack of power costs him walks and hurts his OBP? His inability to occasionally turn on a pitch creates a lack of respect from the opposing pitcher. If I was pitching to Pierre, especially with the bases empty, I would not be afraid to throw the ball right down the heart of the plate, because worst case it turns into a double or triple. I feel if Pierre would show just enough power to force pitchers to acknowledge the fact that Pierre can and will hit the ball out of the park, he'd be pitched to a little more carefully and hopefully draw more walks. Are there many low-power (<.400SLG) players who've consistently drawn a lot of walks and maintained a high OBP? Brett Butler comes to mind - his career OBP (.377) is actually higher than his career SLG (.376) :shock:

Taking pitches has not been a strength of Pierre's I believe that Pierre doesn't get many pitches to take. The opposition knows Pierre's not going to get a lot of extra-base hits nor is he going to K much, so why not throw the ball over the plate? They absolutely don't want to walk him, and give him the opportunity to steal second. I have no factual evidence to back up this claim, but logically I think it makes sense.