jersey cubs fan

Not really new news, but things still sound promising. Zambrano's "instability" is completely overblown. He's emotional, big deal. But he's as stable of a pitcher, and baseball player as you're going to find. He's not a crime risk, he takes the mound every turn. He doesn't have Roy Oswalt's groin or Pedro's shoulder. I can't think of many more stable pitchers out there. Ideally you wouldn't have to commit to 5 years to any of these guys, and you could put them on a series of 1 year deals with a team option. But that's not realistic.

I think that's a pretty extreme case of patience there. This season will probably be lost if that lasts into June. I can see waiting out April, but all of May as well? That's 1/3rd of the season right there, well over 200 PA and plenty of time to draw some conclusions. It's not extreme at all. You have to look no further than Ramirez last year, who didn't really start hitting until July. I'm pretty sure there's about a 0% chance Soriano is hitting .200 still in June, which is the only point that matters. Ramirez routinely produced. Soriano routinely puts up weak OBP numbers. There's quite a difference. If he hasn't improved significantly by sometime in May, it's a safe assumption we can rule 2006 a fluke, as far as Soriano putting up decent OBP numbers. We're not talking about benching the guy, we're talking about not relying on him as the leadoff hitter getting on in front of Ramirez and Lee.

we did about 10 picks in a few hours on Tuesday and now we've done 2 in 48 hours.

I think that's a pretty extreme case of patience there. This season will probably be lost if that lasts into June. I can see waiting out April, but all of May as well? That's 1/3rd of the season right there, well over 200 PA and plenty of time to draw some conclusions.

No. Soriano's speed isn't going to make much of a difference with power guys behind him. The speed could help him score with the lesser hitters behind him. Lee and Ramirez are the best hitters on the team, they should be 3-4 at least, so they can bat in the first.

Exactly. Fine, I'll do it.

As close as it was, I'm not sure he would really know. And the fact that someone didn't argue a call doesn't persuade me that the call was correct. I can't think of one time when a bad call was made in a close game, let alone a close game in the playoffs, and the victim of the bad call didn't argue it. Even if Giambi thought it was a tie, I'm sure he would've disputed it. Giambi is a stoned, laid-back, surfer dude from California. He didn't care enough to argue. Plus, all the steroids have numbed his nerve endings so he couldn't tell anyway. Either that, or Jeter's clutch aura just convinced Giambi that arguing wasn't worth it.

I think it's funny that Sullivan is more or less defending Soriano by blaming others for his bad start. As usual, our man Bruce has a more even handed view of the subject. If Piniella is going to keep benching Murton, and they are looking to get more OBP out of the 2 spot while seperating Floyd and Jones, why not put Lee in the 2 spot and Floyd in the 3. Drop Jones back to 5th where his only asset (sometimes decent SLG) can have it's greatest advantage.

Why? A batter should at least jog to first. It seems that Encarnacion didn't even do that. Believe it or not, fly balls and popups get dropped occasionally, and if you want to send a message to your team, now (early in the year) is the time to do it. Yes. There isn't a lot that irritates me more than seeing someone throwing a fit over popping up and not running it out. There's a hell of a lot more that irritates me. That has a negligible effect on the game. Things like first pitch hacking, and pitchers who can't throw strikes piss me off a whole heck of a lot more. But I don't have a problem with a manager trying to nip this in the bud.

What's the gay joke? Apparently best friends forever is gay? I read it as boy friend forever. It's been like 20 years since i was in middle school, so I'm not "down" with the note-passing abbreviations FYI, the standard joke making the rounds is about ARod being desperate for people, especially Jeter, to like him. He's said some things that can be construed as being sad that he has no friends.

I don't see any benefit to cutting Brown. They aren't in danger of going over the cap, and he only makes about $2m, less than 2% of the cap. Manning and Harris are backup caliber safeties, and Archuleta is hardly a lock solid starter. With those 4 guys, they would not be overloaded, just well stocked with solid depth.

And I am saying they really aren't that improved. The Eagles have had McNabb for the entire decade. He was a physical force that brought them to greatness for 5 years. They are now in year 8 of what is usually a 4-5 year window, and I really don't see that team playing any better in 2007 than they did in 2006. The defense is no longer elite, and while Westbrook is a true star, I don't see that offense carrying them to anything better than last year's 10-6 record. Likewise, the third Barber brother may be more healthy than he was last year, but unless he has a Tiki like resurgence, I don't see him returning to elite status. Alexander already has 4 300+ carry seasons, and he turns 30 this year. That doesn't bode well for RB's. He's already racked up the touches that wear down most franchise backs, and is banged up. Seattle finished 9-7 last year with a below average defense and a mediocre offense. I really don't see them being any better, but I guess they could pull off a 10-6 season.

Adam Dunn now plays shortstop, please adjust accordingly. What's the rule for lineup changes? We can change out injured players at any time. But if we acquire new guys, can we change right away or do we have to wait until the next week?

I don't see how you can make that last claim. He doesn't try as hard? I think it's much more like that it took time for him to adjust to the league's adjustment to him. He was better out of leadoff in 2005 than in the leadoff spot.

i agree w/ this, except that soriano HAS shown changes in production when he's moved up and down the order. I would normally say bat him 5th, but his production is vastly superior from the leadoff spot than it is from other places with roughly a season's worth of PAs. There were extenuating circumstances with those changes. His small amount of time in the 5th spot was 2005, and he was actually better in the 5th spot than leadoff that year. Likewise, 2004 was his only time hitting 3rd, and his line there was right in line with his career averages. Soriano basically fell apart during the 2003 playoffs batting leadoff, when he went on a pretty amazing bad streak. He was exposed as a very easy out, and he was forced to change his approach. He was always a low OBP guy, but his .267 playoff OBP in 2003 basically lost him his job as the Yankees leadoff man. He went to Texas and struggled to regain his best success. Was that because of the move to #3 or because the league knew how to get him out and he failed to adjust? I'd argue it was a lot more about the league and his lack of adjustments than it was some mental block about spot in the order.

No they are not. It will be a tough test. The Bears D will be fully healthy with Harris and Brown. So while I do think the Chargers will beat the Bears, but I doubt the Chargers "are going to crush the Bears" as you think. I'm thinking a 7 point differential. Isn't Brown's contract up? I wonder if he will be resigned? All Browns are signed and accounted for. Even if the Raiders improve, they are still pathetic. The Eagles were already a 10-6 playoff team, they're good, but I don't see them being much, if any, better. They are probably toward the tail end of their run right now. The Chiefs? They may have already gotten best they will get out of Larry Johnson, whose production already slipped with a huge workload. If they seriously count on Huard to lead them, I'm not sure they will be much of a threat. They were the epitome of average last year, and I don't see that team being a whole lot more. The Seahawks are an interesting case. They are probably on the backend of their window, which started when Hasselback and Alexander took over and produced a lot of above average and some really good seasons. Unless the long lost Barber brother regains his pre-injury greatness, I'm not sure Seattle will be any better than they were last year. But I do see them as a likely favorite at home against the Bears.

Yeah, the poster formerly known as goony took him. Somebody fix him up, I'm not using that phrase. I'm feeling out of the loop. I don't know if I missed a thread or what, but why is goony using a completely new account? I'm very confused. He was banned. Finally. That goony dude was a douchebag.

It's this stuff that OFFICIALLY pisses me off. Great. Now we get 2 off-days, and they probably rescheduled it during a long game streak with no breaks. It should have been rescheduled for tommorow. End of story. This is stupid excecutive baseball. Actually, it fits better for the rest of both teams as well. If they had rescheduled it for tomorrow, it would have been the first of 14 in a row for the Cubs and the first of 11 in a row for Houston. They rescheduled date is the first game after the All-Star Break. It will be the first of 11 for the Cubs and the first of 7 for Houston. Not to mention all of the logistical problems that would happen if the Astros have to stay an extra day in town now. It works much better both baseball and business wise to play right after the All-Star Break. Not to mention, tomorrow's weather is really up in the air. They are calling for very cold, snowy conditions, and the field will be in questionable conditions from today's weather. It was the right call, both doing in early in the day, and moving it to when they did.

Hey, they were over .500 too. Baserunners and a winning record, that didn't happen very often.

I'm sure the Cubs could too get 16 baserunners, or only score 2? get 16 baserunners and only score 2 (or less) not sure they could manage the former, but definitely the latter. that would be like a .375 team OBP for the day.

I'm sure the Cubs could too get 16 baserunners, or only score 2?

http://www.nypost.com/seven/04092007/sports/knicks/cant_rip_curry_trade_now_knicks_marc_berman.htm

The better he does now, the more they'll be pissed if he doesn't come up huge "when it matters."

mark r owes us a pick in the nfl mock draft thread, and a new game thread.

I hate all the primetime games. I like watching football during the day on Sundays.