Ryno12

Ok, so I just made the offer. Since Kinsler is on the DL, I also threw in Polanco to fill in for him, and asked for Zambrano in return. The guy is a Cards fan who loves veterans, so I hope it works. He was already talking about dropping Zambrano today, so I figure he might like to get something in return for him, plus Polanco had a big day today.

Soriano, at least swing like you give a [expletive].

Marshall is dealing.

It's amazing how much better a teams defense looks when they have a real shortstop (with the exception of Glaus who looks lost).

I'm on the fence on whether I should offer the following trade. I give: - Ian Kinsler - Derek Jeter I get: - Troy Tulowitzki - Robinson Cano It is a 6x6 keeper league with the regular 5 hitting categories plus OPS. My reasoning for offering this trade is that Kinsler, though awesome, is a pretty high injury risk. Also, obtaining Tulowitzki would give me a top flight SS to build upon in the future. I feel this trade would pretty much be a wash in terms of production this year, but would be beneficial moving forward. Would you offer this deal?

I would take Dunn. He can play U and be a backup at OF and 1B. There is way too many worthwhile SP's this year to take an injury prone, older SP over a near lock 40 HR guy. I too would take Dunn for the reasons stated above.

How do you guys think UNI matches up with Mich. St? I'm not sure how I feel about it, but it should be a good game. Having Lucas out would be huge for UNI, but I have to think he'll find a way to play if at all possible.

This is what UNI has been doing to teams all year, just making them look bad with their defense. UNI really got screwed on their seed, but lets see if they can hold up here. Go Panthers!

Give it time. Kansas' depth is really going to help in this game. UNI's depth is one of their main strengths, so I don't see depth being the deciding factor in this game. Go Panthers!

Kevin Goldstein has his system rankings up now. The Cubs come in at #8, which I have to think is slightly higher than many on here would have guessed. http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=10183 Here is what he had to say about the Cubs:

That's no joke.. But hey, on a positive note my alma matter just won the MVC tourney and is dancing for the 5th time in 7 seven years. Way to go Panthers!!

We're not getting Rolle. And no I'd rather have Taylor than Westbrook. Westbrook is a concussion away from retiring. I'm just constantly refreshing hoping for more news!

Not really, maybe higher than expected, but KG loves tools. In the chat he is doing right now, he just said he thinks Castro is more polished, but that he thinks Lee has better tools.

Kevin Goldstein's Top 101 Prospects list is out: http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=10142 Four Cubs made the list: 31. Josh Vitters 37. Starlin Castro 63. Hak-Ju Lee 96. Brett Jackson Castro is his 4th SS behind Alcides Escobar, Dee Gordon, and Miguel Sano. This shouldn't come as much of a surprise as KG is more down on Castro than most others, though 37 isn't bad. Also, none of the pitchers made the list, but since he didn't rate any of them higher than 3* prospects, this isn't a surprise.

The problem is none of the other teams in the bottom half are losing anybody either. Michigan and NU are the only lower half teams to lose a senior of significance, and Northwestern is replacing that senior with a returning Kevin Coble. The biggest plus for Iowa next year is that we will actually have some depth. When John Lickliter is seeing meaningful minutes during the B10 season, you have zero depth. I contend that it we had any depth this year we would have held off Ohio State in Iowa City. We won the first 38 minutes of that game, then hit a wall and lost it late. I don't think 7-8 wins in the B10 is out of reach next season, though it is probably our ceiling.

Fixed your post. Come on, man. You crazy. If you don't think this team has improved dramatically then you haven't been watching. From the middle of January to the end of February they had one game where they weren't competitive. What game is that? Northwestern game? Are you forgetting the Purdue game @ Purdue, or the Michigan game @ Michigan? That's three right there. Also @ Ohio State and home vs Illinois. But hey, that's only half the games where they were totally uncompetitive. Iowa still isn't good, and has had plenty of games where they just flat out got worked. However, they have improved by leaps and bounds since the beginning of the year. They were straight terrible at the beginning of the year though, so it's not saying that much.

DRose still not getting calls...

My view is that you shouldn't make decisions about a top prospect based on the interests of a lesser prospect. Castro is by far the better prospect, Barney by far the lesser. So send Castro where it's best for Castro, and then deal with what that means for Barney. If you think it's best to hold Castro back at AA, because he needs more practice there, or the pitching is easier, or the weather better, by all means repeat him at AA. Personally I'd prefer that they did so until/unless he was relatively dominant there. If the decision is that Iowa is better for him, then don't hold him back on account of Barney. I think the same for Vitters. I have many doubts about him, but I still view him as a higher prospect than any of the other non-Castro infielders. If the Cubs think AA is the best place for him, then send him there. But assuming that Daytona is more appropriate (as I think is the case), don't rush Vitters up to AA on account of Lemahieu or Flaherty or Lake. Your point about not making decisions about a top prospect because it is better for the interest of a lesser prospect is well taken. However, I'm don't necessarily think that Castro needs to spend time at AAA. I think he can continue to develop at AA, given that he only has around 100 abs there, and still has several things to work on (patience, eliminating errors, etc). Thus, as long as there is no real need to bring Castro up to Iowa, there is no reason they shouldn't just allow Barney to continue to develop. I don't see it as sacrificing Castro's develop in favor of Barney's. If anything, it may keep the Cubs from rushing Castro too fast.

I'm definitely pleased to see 5 guys on there. Castro at 16 is somewhat surprising, but I won't argue with it. Also, I'm a little surprised that Hak-Ju Lee didn't sneak in there since BA loves tools so much.

Yes please. The Bears have so many holes, but getting someone like Rolle in the secondary would be huge.

I'm not sure if this would work, but I'd rather get Ray Allen than keep TMac. If we were to sign Bosh, a starting 5 of DRose, Allen, Deng, Bosh, Noah looks pretty damn tough to me. Allen would give us a shooter to keep the defense honest and open things up for Rose and Bosh. I agree with this. I'd rather get a guy that has a better track record health wise. Also rather have a guy that is familiar with being a role player and would be ok not being the star. I don't know that TMac could handle that role. Is the point of this trade talk actually getting the right player? Or is it more about getting the right contract? I don't see why a team as mediocre as the Bulls would trade for any of these has beens unless it was strictly for the expiring contract. If the player actaully does well and sticks around don't you run the risk of falling for the same thing they did last year when they got Salmons and thought they discovered something when in fact they were just still the same old below average team? I think that any trade made right now should be to get more cap room this offseason. I don't think the Bulls should make any trades right now for this year, because I'd rather be in a position to make major moves after the season than possibly make it out of the first round this year.

I'm not sure if this would work, but I'd rather get Ray Allen than keep TMac. If we were to sign Bosh, a starting 5 of DRose, Allen, Deng, Bosh, Noah looks pretty damn tough to me. Allen would give us a shooter to keep the defense honest and open things up for Rose and Bosh.

UNI = MVC Champs! At least one of my schools plays good basketball, and hopefully the Hawkeyes can scratch mediocracy sometime in the next two years...

I don't see this happening simply due to having Barney at Iowa. I think the Cubs see some value in him and are unlikely to sit him when they can just keep Castro at AA and bring him up from there if needed. As far as AAA being harder than AA, I'm sure the pitchers are more polished at the very least. However, the Cubs have called prospects up directly from AA before (Cedeno in 2005 comes to mind).

I really hope Iowa beats NW tonight, and that loss keeps NW out of the tournament. Just out of spite for NW ruining our perfect record in football this year.