Clem Fandango

When I grow up I wanna get injured a lot, JUST LIKE KERRY WOOD!

Pretty much this. Keep the Wrigley sign on the outside as well. That too. I was thinking more inside-the-park, but yeah that, too, is special and should remain. Pretty much anything iconic about Wrigley that people immediately think of when the word "Wrigley" is even mentioned should stay. Nobody thinks of the outfield gates when they hear "Wrigley" and then complain about how they ruined the integrity of the ballpark by putting "Under Armour" logos on them. If they do they suck and should be punched in the junk for not wanting the Cubs to generate revenue to improve their ballclub.

You're right, but B-R has it wrong. Josh Bell's (Baltimore) minor league page has him confused with the other one.

Because if he has the ability to hit well enough to be a starter, and he costs next to nothing, he holds more value as a trade chip than a bench player. Why would you put a guy on the bench who can hit for a reasonable average and mash 30 homers a year if given full playing time. It's a waste of resources. if you have that guy and he's NOT in your plans, then he likely is a viable option for someone else. You find out who that is and you milk LaHair for all he's worth. You ruin his value by benching him.

Circle of Life, bro.

I would take a flier on Josh Bell if we didn't already have Vitters in the system. He and Vitters each have their pros and their cons and they kind of balance each other out, but Vitters is younger, in AAA already (where Bell would be), and is easily a better pure hitter than Bell (who provides a little more patience and power than Vitters). I like Bell, but we don't really need him.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/04/list-of-top-young-pitchers-without-extensions.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=facebook This is a handy little write up by MLBTR spotlighting the best young arms who have yet to sign extensions.

Keep the ivy, keep the scoreboard. Those are iconic. Screw everything else.

Want more craziness? Starlin Castro isn't the only SS with 4 errors this season. Tulo made his 4th last night. HE'S GOT THE YIPS. BUY LOW!!!!!

Tulowitzki committed 6 errors last year at SS. SIX. He's committed 49 total errors in his entire CAREER. 6104 innings. 49 errors. That's 5 full seasons and small chunks of two. Ozzie Smith, "the greatest shortstop ever", reached 49 errors before he even got to the ASB during his 3rd season. I mentioned Castro's RF/9 and RF/G earlier which was 4.59 and 4.51, both which are above the league average and respectable numbers. Tulo's was 5.05 and 4.84. His career rating is 5.02 and 4.85. Over the last three seasons his triple slash has been .304/.376/.554 with a .931 OPS. (He also only committed 25 errors over those three seasons) Troy Tulowitzki is [expletive] awesome.

Nothing new...

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/04/giants-extend-madison-bumgarner.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=facebook

I get the feeling that a lot of the national types who like to talk about Castro's work ethic and defense are probably just not aware how young he came into the league and how limited his minor league experience was. Right, and also errors are a tangible thing. He's getting to balls, as long as he doesn't go Steve Sax he's going to be very good at fielding his position. This. It always pisses me off when people judge his entire defensive game on his throwing miscues. His range at short is well above league average and one of the better ones in the league and he made more throwing errors than fielding errors last year (16 to 11). His RF/9 was 4.59 to the league average 4.41 and his RF/G was 4.51 to the league average 4.40. He's pretty darn good at FIELDING his position. It's his arm accuracy that needs help. I just hate it when people dismiss his entire defensive game because of that. if he cut down on half of his throwing errors last year, he'd be one of the top defensive SS in the game.

This made me look up Rizzo's numbers so far in the minors to see if he was off to a slow start at all... Holy [expletive].

"Brian Wilson: The Road To Recovery" reality TV show, coming soon.

I'm sure I attended many Cubs games during my youth because we used to go every summer when we visited my Grandmother in Dundee, but I can't seem to pinpoint any specific game other than a slugfest between the Dodgers and Cubs in the mid 90's. Sosa and Piazza hit homers, that's all I remember. Night game. That's my earliest Wrigley memory. Otherwise I do recall seeing the Cubs vs. Marlins in Miami at Joe Robbie Stadium around 1994 or 1995 and it has a distinct lasting impression on me because there was nobody there and the guys sitting behind us mimic'd the announcer's tone of voice when he would cal out the Marlins players and now every time I see Jeff Conine's name I pronounce it "Jeff.... Ca-hooooooooooo-niiiiine"

Whenever I hear the sound of a fastball being caught it becomes very apparent to me that the ball has, indeed, been thrown and is now in the possession of a man who squats behind a plate wearing a mitten made out of the skin of a bovine creature.

Seriously, like a [expletive] load of Cubs players. In replays? Sure. Live? No. I haven't seen Castro hit one. I haven't seen Byrd hit one. I never saw one of Pena's home runs live last year. Then again... I haven't had cable or mlb.tv for two and a half years, so...

He's the principle stock holder of Remetee

Also, this is the same guy ("Pomeranz!?!?" guy) who dropped Neftali Feliz before he even made a start in favor of Felix Dubront. And he's also made 21 transactions... we're 5 damn days into the season. He's "that guy". The one who adds and drops and adds and drops in an effort to snake is way into stat padding. That [expletive] infuriates me.

We're winning already

I'm sure if Ozzie steps out of line again Carlos won't hesitate to give him a black guy

Disco Vlad doesn't advertise

Swoon

I'm in a rotisserie points league for the first time ever. I didn't know it was a rotisserie points league. I'm not a fan of it. I prefer H2H. That being said, it was $50 buy in with folks I know and we did a live in person draft so it was a lot of fun. It is a keeper league, where we keep 2 players with set rules (that basically make the first two rounds of draft picks unkeepable). I had the 2nd pick in the draft, here's how I picked (numbers next are the overal rankings on ESPN)... 4 Troy Tulowitzki, Col SS 21 Giancarlo Stanton, Mia OF 28 Carlos Santana, Cle C 45 Zack Greinke, Mil SP 52 Brandon Phillips, Cin 2B 69 C.J. Wilson, LAA SP 76 Madison Bumgarner, SF SP 93 Freddie Freeman, Atl 1B 100 Yu Darvish, Tex SP 117 Martin Prado, Atl 3B 124 Chris Young, Ari OF 141 Dexter Fowler, Col OF 148 Brandon McCarthy, Oak SP 165 Brandon League, Sea RP 172 Sean Marshall, Cin RP 189 Kendrys Morales, LAA 1B 196 Bud Norris, Hou SP 213 Jonathan Broxton, KC RP 220 Lorenzo Cain, KC OF 237 Derek Holland, Tex SP 244 Ike Davis, NYM 1B 261 Jason Kipnis, Cle 2B 268 Devin Mesoraco, Cin C 285 Drew Pomeranz, Col SP Things of note... 1) One guy said my choice of Carlos Santana in the 3rd round was the dumbest pick he's ever heard of because, and I quote, "He can't hit above .240". Yes, a catcher who draws nearly 100 walks and hits nearly 30 home runs and has the potential for 80+ RBI is a TERRIBLE 3rd round pick... because he didn't hit above .240 in his first full year in the majors. Nevermind the .263 BABIP and all. 2) I was chastised for taking Bud Norris "strictly for K's". Nevermind the fact that he's actually a decent pitcher. To which they responded "He's not going to get any wins on that Astros team". It's like they don't realize there are multiple categories. 3) They called my 9th round pick of Yu Darvish "a reach" 4) Also "Pomeranz with your last pick? Really?!?!". Yeah, really, guy who drafted Mike Trout with your 20th pick when guys like Mike Moustakas, Mike Minor, Trevor Cahill, Edwin Jackson, Chad Billingsley, and Ike Davis were still available... and then dropped him as soon as the season started.