stitchface

North Carolina is not that good and xavier and oregon? Well, their tournament teams at least, maybe. Are any of them even ranked? The Illini should enter the Big Ten unbeaten - then things get tough in a hurry.

Those are Bill James projections. 21 HRs for Pie? Seriously? I'll take those numbers from Pie, Cedeno, and Murton. wow, .874 OPS. I'll say right now that if all three posted a +.800 OPS, this team would be vastly improved (assuming they actually got to play). How did James make his projections?

if you hate rule 5, did you read the new proposal? I never did sort out the details but it liberalized AAA.

People mistakenly believe the walk is the value when in reality its not making an out. Therefore, OBP is a direct reflection of not making an out. runs=plate appearance-outs-LOBs. So the more plate appearances relative to your outs, the more you score. The number of outs is fixed so to score more, get more plate appearances and leave fewer runners on base. anyway, I don't know if defense is the new obp, or even what that means actually, but I do think the Cubs staff would benefit from better defense more than an average staff. With the number of walks the Cubs allow, they need to get outs when they are made. On the other hand, they allow fewer balls in play than any other team, so maybe defense is less important? Also, the Cubs play in a small park so defensive range in the outfield is less important. I think Wilkerson is a good fit because of that and because his marginal power will be boosted by Wrigley.

christian guzman, vinny castilla, - reasons to hope.

batting order does matter, just not very much (this is what BP says). and you are correct that beane is not obsessed with OBP so much as value. oakland continues to succeed via the draft more than anything else adding harden, crosby, swisher, johnson and others as well as trades calero, haren, etc.

are you really at fort bliss? Most inappropriately named base ever . . . If its Wilkerson in right and Pierre in center, I don't like it. I would trade corey for wilkerson in a heartbeat but we need some more pop in that outfield.

chuck, we have some questions on your roster - let me know when you have time to fix it.

wow, that would be cool. where is the link to the column?

actually I would think the three of them being solid throughout would be sufficient if we strengthen the offense and bullpen. leftcoast is right of course, at least about slugging (I couldn't care less about batting average). Only OBP has been proven by others with far more time to research it, to be about 30 percent more important than slugging. defense is important but not nearly as much as pitching, slugging, and OBP.

I would sign giles, nomar, and keep walker. then leave corey in CF. If he flops, look for a deadline deal for another cf. while I don't expect much from corey, he can probably hold down the 8 spot if you have production from the rest of the lineup. if you want to be a little better defensively, sign furcal instead of nomar.

I would take Abreu because he looks like Sammy and reminds me of happy days. actually, were those happy days? I expect Giles will age well and only cost us a 2nd round draft pick.

maybe. but if abreu puts the cubs over the top, I make the trade. if neifi is starting and batting 2nd, I agree with you. You have to see that Pie is still more likely to become corey patterson than carlos beltran. I should add that I never suggested we trade pie for abreu, just that if I would listen if his name came up in that kind of trade, not if it in came up in a bradley or pierre trade.

father took me to wrigley as a child (1976). Cubs blew a two run lead in the ninth to lose to the pirates.

well, Illinois has about the worst non-conference schedule I've ever seen.

:shock: That's the way to play your last home game. :) UCLA holds on and wins it 45-35, Drew Olson falls 5 yards shy of the all-time record. UCLA is now 9-1 with the battle for the city in 3 weeks. Will USC break 80 in that game? UCLA's defense does not impress.

That would be good Funny, because to a normal fan that would mean not corey not not pie.

What is the point? Why should Hendry be fired for trading prospects for a solid if not spectacular rightfielder? It certainly makes more sense than signing Neifi and Glendon and he didn't get fired for that. I will be surprised if either Pie or Murton has even one season (albeit happily surprised) that surpasses Abreu's 2006.

I think there is a better than average chance neither murton or pie ever has an OPS over .900 and there is certainly a good chance abreu does.

neither was dontrell and look how he ended up. if hill can come up with a decent 3rd pitch (like a cutter or straight change) to go along with the low 90's fb & awesome curve, he will end up being a very good ml starter. You do know that Dontrelle is two years younger than Hill, right? what does that matter? hills still young. it just took him longer to harness his stuff & find his control. hill has better stuff than dontrell imo. alot of willis's success has to do with his command & deceptive delivery. Why does dontrelle matter? You can't evaluate every players value based on one guy you misjudged. Willis should have absolutely nothing to do with how you evaluate Hill. I'm pleased to hear Hendry is considering Bradley though - its encouraging that he isn't completely close-minded. Given what is being sought, Bradley, Pierre, Mench, Hendry should be turning away from offering Pie, Murton or Hill. Those names should be reserved for discussions about players like Dunn or Abreu.

It's like evaluating a QB by W/L record and pass attempts. Like Brady? Wins by Brady mean nothing to this bunch. oh, they mean a lot. he should retire since he clearly forgot how to win this year.

Right :roll: . The man is 32 and keeps himself in excellent condition. Very few people have sharp declines at 32, and those that do aren't nearly as talented as Ichiro. I wonder how many people said Kenny Lofton was due for a sharp decline 6 years ago, or Finley 8 years ago, etc. And those guys aren't as talented as Ichiro. If Ichiro bats .280 next season, then you essentially have Neifi Perez. I'm just saying it's due. It might not happen, but I wouldn't be shocked. You can apply this to every major league player. Barry Bonds might only walk 20 times. ARod might only hit 15 HR's. Pierre might only steal 10 bases. Manny might only drive in 60 runs. Randy Johnson might only strike out 40 guys. I wouldn't bet on any of them happening though. No, the point is that Ichiro's entire offensive value is tied to him hitting .330. He doesn't walk alot, and he doesn't hit for good power. As he ages, he'll slow down and lose bat speed, and all those extra singles he got will dwindle away. Ichiro hitting .280 means he has an OBP/SLG of .330/.390. Abysmal for someone with his salary. I'm not saying he's going to hit .280, but Rocket's point is correct. For someone who's offensive value is defined by his ability to get a bunch of extra singles, it's a smart bet that his decline will be sharper than others. For someone who thinks signing Bradley to be a great idea, I'm hard pressed to understand how you dislike Ichiro? How many times has Ichiro been suspended, sent home or sent to anger management? relevance? I bet Ichiro could hit 20+ homers at wrigley.

You doing FEMA work Chuck? I know a few people down there.

Of course hendry can't say anything until tomorrow so why read anything into it?

We could have the "killer Zs" and pipe in snoring.