Bruno7481

General consensus is that he's the best pitching prospect to ever come out of Japan. Take that as you will. Personally, I'd throw money at him like there's no tomorrow. Hideki Irabu came with the same description and accolades. I think its a risky proposition. When Irabu came to America he was almost 29 years old. He also had no where near the success as this kid, who is 26. I think the posting fee is huge, but signing this guy would be like getting a top of the line starter just entering his prime. My only point is that it is a risky proposition. He could come over and be dynamite, I don't know. Whoever signs him just better have done their homework and know what they are getting.

General consensus is that he's the best pitching prospect to ever come out of Japan. Take that as you will. Personally, I'd throw money at him like there's no tomorrow. Hideki Irabu came with the same description and accolades. I think its a risky proposition.

Ouch, that sucks for Sean Casey. Spend your whole career playing for some pretty terrible teams, finally make it to the playoffs and something like that happens.

Promoting within. When's the last time the Cubs did that ? It makes sense and I think Listach has a good chance to be added as the 1st base coach next season. They promoted Speier from within to the staff. They promoted Hendry to GM from personel guy. They just promoted McDonough. And they've promoted lots of "interim managers" from within. I'm pretty sure Speier came over from Arizona after Brenly was let go. It was right after Wavin' Wendell was let go.

The A's are having a few Cub-like moments.

Lou does have a point about the pitchers concentrating only on the batter with runners on base, and infielders not having to cheat up the middle allowing them more range in the field.

high risk/high reward type move for the Cubs. I think Harrington will have a chance to be somoeday a solid middle reliever. Interesting move. Wouldn't it be a low risk/high reward move?

You think Beane regrets shipping Bonderman out so soon?

Go Tigers Guess I'm in the minority from the looks of this game thread...

How does he pronounce his name? If it's pronounced the way the blonde on CSN Sportsnite said it last night, I don't think I could handle having him on the staff next year. Kwa-day

Exactly. Isn't really something he should have to do. But it is the Yankees, everything is blown up to a higher magnitude.

Serious question... Is it just me, or does it always look like Kruk has a dip in on the set? Maybe that is just the natural shape of his lips, but I swear it looks like a dip.

Having flashbacks to a few years ago when Kaz Matsui was all the rage. Not against the Cubs making a run, but they better be very sure they know what they are getting.

Just another good trade by Hendry. His FA signings have been questioned, but he's made some tremendous trades.

Gee, how did you come up with that post? :wink: I'll give DB credit for 2003. I think it is a similar situation to what happened with DET this year. Both teams were coming off of terrrible years. Both teams got a new manager with a history of winning. We'll see how it turns out for the Tigers in the next few years. I think there is something to that. Bringing in a guy who has had success to a team that hasn't tasted much of it. Again, there is no way to accurately measure that, but I think it does exist.

I think Leyland alone deserves maybe 6 or 7 of those wins, but most of it came from those young guys improving so much. In general, I just believe many are quick to blame the manager when things go bad, yet simply point to other factors or refuse to give any significant credit to managers when things go well. I think it is hard to put an exact number of how many wins a manager can contribute, it is an arbitrary number. I do think there is some value in the Tigres organization bringing in a guy like Leyland who was won before. Especially to an organization like the Tigers who have had a pretty brutal recent history. It is more of a mindset, that he would be willing to go there because he thinks they can win. That isn't anything that can be measured, but has to have an impact.

Has been a lot of talk about the relative impact a manager has, or may not have on a ballclub. What about Leyland? Did he have an impact on the Tigers? From 71-91 to 95-67? They really didin't add a whole lot to that club outside of Rogers. Guys like Verlander, Zumaya came up to produce. Does Leyland get any credit?

Someone explain this to me please. When the A's don't advance in the playoffs, the whole "postseason is a crapshoot" argument is made. When they do advance it is because of Beane, OBP, SABR, Moneyball, etc. Can you really have it both ways? I"m not sure who to root for in the AL, I'd be happy with either team.

There is no way they Reds would trade Dunn for Jones. Nobody is saying Dunn isn't productive, he is, flaws and all. There is just debate in regards to if Dunn is worth what it would take to get him.

While his average may have slipped, he still had a very respectable 365 OBP. The only Cubs who had a higher OBP than that were Theriot in his limited AB's and Lee and Barrett. Murton matched him in this area. His low BA does not affect his ability to get on base. With that 365 OBP, he produced a 490 SLG, his lowest in three years. That SLG combined with his OBP gave him a 855 OPS. Only three Cubs were better, Theriot (who won't repeat these numbers over a full season), Ramirez, and Barrett. Looking at only BA as a metric for Dunn is asinine. He's still extremely productive. Furthermore, he's only 26, there is time for him to improve his game. His adventures in the field are overplayed. The clutch argument against Dunn is a joke. With a man on third, with less than two outs, Dunn has a 355 OBP. In close and late situations, he has a 389 OBP. With runners in scoring position with two outs, he has a 410 OBP. In a line-up where he could be sandwitched with two good hitters as he could in Chicago, Dunn would be a great asset. With bases loaded, he batting 273, his OBP was a poor 214, but in those situations he slugs 636. Dunn would be a huge upgrade for this team. I think the argument can be made that in those type of situations, he is not driving the runs home. I would think that is one instance where his Batting average would matter. He is a run producer, those are situations where he needs to HIT, not walk. Sure the walk helps and the OBP is great, but it isn't bringing the run home. Hitting .094 with a runner at third and less than two outs is atrocious, regardless of his OBP. I'm for getting Dunn despite this, but I don't think he is worth what it will take.

Your opinion. He has his, as do others. Everybody is entitled to "bitch and moan" if they want. I'm sure you will once the hire somebody not named Dierker. Actually, I'm pretty certain they won't hire Dierker. That's a shame. I'm more likely to bitch and moan that won't even interview Dierker. My issue was with "they'll hear from me," like the Cubs will give a damn. Understood, I thought that was over the top as well.

He told Loria to quiet down and let him handle the umpires. Good for him. If you could point to one signle shred of evidence to support he is a control freak you'd have a much stronger argument in that regard. Again, it won't upset me at all if he isn't hired, but he is a viable option.

Your opinion. He has his, as do others. Everybody is entitled to "bitch and moan" if they want. I'm sure you will once the hire somebody not named Dierker.

I don't think Piniella has much support here. My theory on Piniella. He was an awful fit in TB with that kind fo team. Low-payroll and very young, and a terrible team. I know he took the job because he is from the TB area and wanted to be close to his parents I believe. In Seatlle, with a mix of some young guys and established players he was pretty good. The payroll was larger, therefore leading to more opportunity for development and player acquisition. If he got the Cubs job, and the Cubs went out and improved this ballclub I don't think he would do a bad job at all. He proved in Seattle that he can win with this type of team. I don't think you would see terrible results like his TB tenure if he took the Cubs job. It goes back to Hendry getting the players to make this happen though. We have late 90's Griffey, A-Rod, Big Unit, Buhner, and Edgar Martinez? Sweet. I can bold things too.

I don't think Piniella has much support here. My theory on Piniella. He was an awful fit in TB with that kind fo team. Low-payroll and very young, and a terrible team. I know he took the job because he is from the TB area and wanted to be close to his parents I believe. In Seatlle, with a mix of some young guys and established players he was pretty good. The payroll was larger, therefore leading to more opportunity for development and player acquisition. If he got the Cubs job, and the Cubs went out and improved this ballclub I don't think he would do a bad job at all. He proved in Seattle that he can win with this type of team. I don't think you would see terrible results like his TB tenure if he took the Cubs job. It goes back to Hendry getting the players to make this happen though.