Clem Fandango

Are the Royals trying to build an offense of gritty, light hitting, slick fielding speedsters?

Everything I've read says that's just their offer, and that he hasn't actually signed

[b2B Signal]

Would be nice to have him... but I'm not holding my breath

4 players for Jason Bartlett?

I wouldn't doubt that since Carter might not be read for the majors yet. And Barton isn't a bad hitter, per se, he's just not great for his position. Unless you have someone at a generally weak offensive position (like SS, CF, C, or 2B) providing big offensive production that would make up for Barton's lackthereof, there shouldn't be a reason not to move Barton as soon as Carter is ready for the bigs

I had to stop reading to come back here and post.... Team President Clown Kenney? Really?

Or just because it was for charity. And again, who cares about collectors? Like I said, I'm not gonna justify it, because I'm not right and there's no way I can supply a compelling argument to make my case seem logical because it isn't. I just... don't... like it

WTF kind of auction has a max bid? By max bid, I meant that she had the highest bid on all the items. Yeah... but it's also a collectors auction, and people traveled from long distances to get their hands on some of this stuff, charity or no charity, and this witch took it from them just because she could. I'm not going to justify my hatred or convince anyone that I'm right here. I'm not. I just irrationally hated Brian McRae ever since that incident because I was a 10-year old kid, I loved baseball cards, and I REALLY wanted that Whitey Ford card and she took it from me. My most expensive card I had at the time was like $20, and this one was worth $50, which back in the early 90's was a lot of money for a baseball card, especially for a kid and I was gonna get it for only $10 that I saved up from doing chores specifically for this event... then she swooped in last second and got it for [expletive] $12. Really? You couldn't let a little kid have it? You cold blooded banshee. I'm sure that extra $2 is really gonna make a difference to whatever charity it was. You know what that $2 went to? The "Destroying Logan's Happiness" Foundation. This shouldn't be a big deal, but it is to me, and I'll never forget it. So [expletive] Brian McRae

Is Daric Barton a good defensive 1B? Don't know much about his defense, but offensively he's basically Jack Cust but without the power. He's great at drawing walks and that's about it. Carter is able to draw a lot of walks while providing serious power. I don't see why they wouldn't immediately move Barton in favor of Carter so long as he shows the ability to stick at the MLB level. Barton's numbers would be great if he was a scrappy 2B, but he's not. He's a 1B and as a result, walk rate aside, his numbers are pretty uninspiring

He basically only comments on anything I post that's Cubs related by poking fun at it and providing this heir of superiority for being a White Sox fan. His status after the Cubs signed Wood was... Which makes no sense whatsoever. He's from the south side of Chicago so he's a lifelong Sox fan, but he's just a typical Sox fan who focuses on the rivalry between them and the Cubs. Even if Kerry Wood wasn't a hero to Cubs fans, and was just another reliever on the market, this is still a good signing no matter how you slice it. To ridicule it is stupid because there's not really anything bad about it Just tell your friend that he's clearly too stupid to be a fan of any team but the White Sox and never speak to him again. I can't imagine being friends with someone who not only thinks this, but would send it to me in an email. In my defense he's not really my friend, he's just in the same fraterntiy as me, but he's from a different school and he happened to come to our parties and that's how we met. I've never actually hung out with him in a friendly capacity. I actually haven't physically seen him in nearly 3 years, nor have I talked to him in person in those three years... but every time I mention the Cubs on Facebook, here he comes to take a jab in the White Sox's honor. This will come as no surprise to any of you, but I figured I should also let you know that he's a devout Juggalo. Also, he has yet to respond to me since. I would've mentioned the fact that the White Sox were offering him that 2-year contract but I was under the assumption that was false information? Cause that report hit the net and then not too long after it was reported that the Cubs were moving in on him, and I didn't really hear much about the White Sox offer after that

He also took a jab at me after I mentioned how pleased I was with the decision to sign Carlos Pena by saying... He basically only comments on anything I post that's Cubs related by poking fun at it and providing this heir of superiority for being a White Sox fan. His status after the Cubs signed Wood was... Which makes no sense whatsoever. He's from the south side of Chicago so he's a lifelong Sox fan, but he's just a typical Sox fan who focuses on the rivalry between them and the Cubs. Even if Kerry Wood wasn't a hero to Cubs fans, and was just another reliever on the market, this is still a good signing no matter how you slice it. To ridicule it is stupid because there's not really anything bad about it

He was valuing Wood based on what he accomplished relative to every inning thrown in the last 3 years by every pitcher in the majors. Took me a while to figure out how he came up with them (moreso on why he came up with them), but I deduced it to this... 167 / 4374 = 26.19 167 / 3 = 55.67 Had a little trouble on this one since I came up with a different number, but I think it was 196 / 4374 * 9 = .40 So yeah... he judged his appearance rate and K rate relative to every inning thrown in all of MLB over the last 3 years The math sucks to begin with because that first equation, which is how he came up with Wood's innings per year relative to the MLB's total, has lower results for pitchers who pitched more often. Jesse Crain averaged 60 innings a year over 3 years and based on that math he pitched fewer times than Kerry Wood each season. I'm confused as to how he determined that he only pitched 26 innings per year... when he never pitched less than 46 in one of them. I'm not sure how the hell he determines that to be an accurate analysis of a player

I hated Brian McRae for two irrational reasons 1) At a local charity function, at the peak of my baseball card collecting childhood, a silent auction was being held on a bunch of really great baseball cards. I had asked my Dad to put some bids on on some cards (An old Whitey Ford card worth $50 at the time was one of them). I figured it was in the bag... nope. Not for me. Not for anyone... because Brian McRae's wife came by and put down the max bid on EVERY [expletive] ITEM. So all these collectors can go to hell, rich Brian McRae's wife just stole everything out from under you for. Thanks. 2) The reason she was even at this event in the first place is because her sister, and McRae's sister in law, was my 2nd grade teacher... and she was a [expletive] evil, mean spirited, bitch And this is why I hate Brian McRae. I know, I know...

I just got the dumbest response form my White Sox friend asd to why the Wood signing makes him laugh... here's the back and forth... He actually said that. Took me a few minutes to figure out how the hell he came up with these numbers, and I then responded with...

A friend of mine... well more like an acquaintance, who is a White Sox fan felt compelled to post this on my Facebook wall after mentioning the Cubs signed Wood I'm struggling to find the humor in this deal, regardless if you're a douche bag White Sox fan or not

Wow... this makes me happy :yahoo:

Dopirak was actually starting to put together a nice little comeback when he joined the Blue Jays. He struggled this past year, but in 08 and 09 his numbers were great (though playing at low levels most of the time probably helped him out). 2008: .304/.368/.550/.919 29HR 101RBI 2009: .317/.371/.549/.921 27HR 102RBI

This is true, and next season a lot of money will come off the books so if a big raise for him is due to a big year, we should be able to easily afford it... but why spend that money if the team itself doesn't stand a chance of competing? This is all speculative, obviously, but I'd rather have the catcher you build around for the future at league minimum in that situation (if it arose)

I'd lean toward no, but might be talked into it. The only reason I consider it is because Soto is 28 and may only have 2-3 really good years left in him. We could potentially get 2-3 times that out of Montero. The problem with Montero, though, is that he likely won't be much better than Soto at his peak and if he needs to move from catcher, he loses a ton of his value. That's the caveat with him. You move him to first and he becomes an above average 1B (offensively speaking), but that's about it. A .300/25/100 season for a first baseman his fine... great even, though it's far from elite. You put that line up at catcher and you might be the best offensive catcher in the game, which he probably will be capable of doing if things pan out for him. His value really depends on whether he improves his catching ability. If he played any other position he probably would be a Top 25 prospect instead of a Top 5 Some of the reports I've read suggest he could move to 1st and still be an offensive force. Perhaps, but I don't think he'd be in Pujols territory or anything. He'd definitely be a valuable commodity there, but nowhere near as valuable as he would be at catcher.

This year and this year alone, it depends on how the rest of the offseason pans out. If we don't make any more moves, yes. If we make a couple that could pay big dividends in the form of a realistic world series run, no. Soto would be too valuable in that situation, but if we're out of it at the deadline, and the next couple of years are looking bleak, I'd do it in a heartbeat. No point in keeping and paying Soto a premium to play on a non-playoff caliber team when we could be paying a much younger Montero league minimum to put up similar numbers.

I'd lean toward no, but might be talked into it. The only reason I consider it is because Soto is 28 and may only have 2-3 really good years left in him. We could potentially get 2-3 times that out of Montero. The problem with Montero, though, is that he likely won't be much better than Soto at his peak and if he needs to move from catcher, he loses a ton of his value. That's the caveat with him. You move him to first and he becomes an above average 1B (offensively speaking), but that's about it. A .300/25/100 season for a first baseman his fine... great even, though it's far from elite. You put that line up at catcher and you might be the best offensive catcher in the game, which he probably will be capable of doing if things pan out for him. His value really depends on whether he improves his catching ability. If he played any other position he probably would be a Top 25 prospect instead of a Top 5

This seems like some serious revisionist history. It's not. A lot of places said Montero's bat was one of the best in the minors, if not THE best. He wasn't atop the lists because outside of his bat, everything else that goes into begin a top prospect needed a lot of work, IIRC. His defense especially was (and still is, as far as I know) a big question mark, but I'm pretty sure there weren't many people who didn't consider his bat to be MLB ready at the beginning of the season. Obviously there's no way to prove that, but I just personally believe that Montero has the ability to provide some very serious offensive production. Whether or not his defense improves or if he even sticks at catcher is to be determined, but his bat can play at the MLB level right now

Montero's average year will be an .890 OPS, .385 wOBA and 3.5 WAR? That'd be better than Mauer. I was speaking more in terms of basic production numbers, not rates, but even when Jason Heyward was the #1 prospect in baseball, scouts and analysts were calling Montero arguably the best pure hitter in the minor leagues. The guy is going to be an offensive powerhouse. His defense might be for [expletive], but his offense is going to be special. He put up an .870 OPS as a catcher in AAA at the age of 20 and that was a down year for him. The guy is going to be great.