CubbieBum

nice bump =D> I was thinking about this thread an inning ago but hadn't gone to find it.

I hope you were kidding about moving the fences back. For one only one or two guys on every team have the power to hit 400 foot home runs more than a hand full of times in a season. For instance Sosa and Ramirez can/could hit bombs but D . Lee doesn't really hit bombs but just 370-390 foot home runs. Also offense would only improve by moving the fences back. Think about it. How hard is it to cover the outfield? Imagine it being 50 feet bigger everywhere. Teams would just hit the gaps all game long and have doubles and triples. Heck you could see more inside the park home runs than actual home runs. That said the DH I think is a neat idea but not something that should be used at the MLB level or minors level; college eh. This said as much as I like seeing pitchers hit (and I really do enjoy it because if they get a hit it's like getting a home run) I would more so just like it to be equal. The Dh gives the AL too big of an advantage. No NL teams have a great bat on the bench (well Ward would make a good DH in the AL) meanwhile AL pitchers can't bat but neither can NL pitchers so the AL comes out ahead. The argument against this is why is it all-of-a-sudden a major issue. To me I believe it is the change that AL teams have finally realized its an advantage and are willing to spend the dough to have a good DH. In the past a lot of AL teams didn't seek out DH's they just plugged the best leftover guy into the DH slot after Spring Training.

The NFL blackouts if the regional team doesn't sell out for that weekend's game. I would assume MLB believes blackout will get more fans to go to the games as the NFL does.

He is my favorite Asian next to Yao Ming. :good:

Okay I'll give you credit on this one. I don't think many other people got the Ted Lilly from the pictures.

The mystery is solved. It's not Fukudome; it's the bat he uses. Looks a lot like a black lighting mark on his bat. It's the second coming of Roy Hobbs and his Wonder Boy bat watch out for the hot blonde and woman dressed in black Fuku.

Better question is how the hell are the Cardinals off to best start since 2000.

:rotfl: :amen:

Note to producers of the game. Never ever show a good looking girl and immediately cut to a close up of Soto giving the signs. Not a pleasant experience.

The beard aided Lee on that catch. Respect the beard. Kyle Orton does.

I agree now that we've seen Fukudome has the ability to hit well at this level already. I would go ... Soriano Fukudome Lee Ramirez Soto Derosa Pie Pitcher Theriot And I don't see why everyone just went off on Theriot for getting out quick when Soriano did the same thing. If Soriano would wake up our offense might actually start scoring some runs. Looks like Soriano just sucks the first month of each year. Not good when Lee does the same thing.

Julio Lugo is batting .400 let's trade for him.

Trading Marmol wouldn't make this bullpen stink. The Cubs have the luxury of selling high on a player like Marmol and still having a competitive or better bullpen. Greene's numbers are dragged down by playing half of his season in the cavern that is Petco. Look at his splits. His away OPS was .840 last year. .863 the year before that. Get him out of Petco and into a place like Wrigley and his numbers overall will soar. He's a serious power threat, especially for a SS, and he plays excellent defense at a position where we could use it. Plus, as opposed to Marmol's one inning every other game, he'll play almost every game. If you can use a reliever as a package to get a young, excellent everyday player like Greene, you do it. If it's Marmol for Greene straight up then yes you probably do it but not with all the other guys you listed.

Yeah the difference was Prior was actually a great pitcher and not just above average. Hampton's contract isn't the worst in history; Juan Pierre's is. No Pierre's is up there but Zito has him beat by a good margin. The Zito signing would be like Hampton getting his contract after the two year's in Colorado when he had 5-something ERA's.

Look, the argument for Greene has been spelled out clearly over and over again. If you're going to sit there and reply that him having a lower BA compared to Ryan-freakin'-Theriot is the main argument against him and ignore everything else, this is over before it even begins. Secondly, trading Marmol for the right player is about as far from idiotic as one could get. On the contrary...if the Cubs wised up and sold high for once, Marmol as part of a package could net a very juicy return to fill holes the team desperately needs to fill. At the end of the day, Marmol, as great as he is, is a reliever. You don't choose to horde a reliever when he could help net you desperately needed upgrades. The only way I'd want the Cubs to keep Marmol is if it looks like he can be stretched into an effective starter or if the bullpen suffered a slew of injuries. Short of either of that, he should be packaged up and sold high. To me, netting Greene in return for such a package would benefit the team much more than Marmol's relief appearances. I know a lot of people here would agree with that. And a lot of people would be making a really big mistake. RP are extremely important. If your bullpen stinks you will not be in the playoffs. We have a good but not great bullpen and to trade our best guy in that pen (and a lot of other guys who have good trade value) for an above average SS would be a big mistake. Green had an OBP below .300 last year :shock: . Sure he got 27 HR's but a lot of guys who can get away with swinging away every atbat without being benched could get 27 dingers. In the end what he is is a good fielding SS and a frustrating hitter for the team he plays for.

You got me on the Braun. He has surpassed Pujols as least favorite player.

Yeah the difference was Prior was actually a great pitcher and not just above average.

Don't forget Lilly :-"

I'll start my thread where I good and darn please thank you very much.

Sorry no one beats LaTroy in my mind.

Zambrano has him beat. 33 Wins-0 Losses-165K's-33BB's-.60WHIP Sorry to burst your bubble.

They had a poll during the game today and it came out the Brewers were our biggest rival. I don't put much stock into it because we were playing the Brewers but it does raise an interesting question. Who is our biggest rival at the moment :-k . To me it is always no matter what is going on 1. Cards 2. White Sox 3. Best team in division 4. Best team in NL. And once again Brenly provided us with the great insight of "your biggest rival is whoever you are playing on that particular day." No no Bobby rival=arch nemesis=the team you hate most=the team you root against even when you are playing them no matter who they are playing.

Ugh, why? This starter is a righty, as far as I can tell. Either Lou is already going away from him or Pie is hurting more than we thought from the HBP. Either way, I don't likey. N0, no, no guys - you've got it all wrong. Didn't you see Truffle's forecast? Lou's just playin' the odds and hoping to get as many righties in there to hit 'dem balls up into the jet stream . . . (wishful thinking, grasping at straws - hoping Pie's OK!) My guess is its a combo of a couple things. The HBP on the wrist, wanting to not have Reed get cold, having a pre-determinantion that Pie will play a couple games then get a day off. Pie has the second best batting average on the team among starters (.273) so it can't be because he hasn't been playing well.

Because we have an Asian Sensation by name of Fukudome.

I would not be opposed to those moves but why Pie so high and DeRosa so low? If you were to flip them I'd be on board. I would not want my #5 hitter to be an offensive liability like Pie who at times will be completely overwhelmed at this level and will struggle to just make contact. The #5 hitter seems to be an unavoidable hole at this point. Sure, they can bat Fukudome there, but he's much better served at #2 or maybe even #1. DeRosa is in the same boat. Both are decent hitters who can take pitches, but they (likely) don't have the power threat to really shore up #5. Of course, Soriano is ideal hitting 5th, but personally, I'm not confident of him being as valuable as he can be anywhere besides #1. I know it's a broken record and probbly no chance of happening, but man, picking up Greene from SD would so wonderfully solve both the SS and #5 issues. I wonder if a package of Marmol/Cedeno/Gallagher/Murton would have a chance of getting that done by the deadline. Let's not give up one of the best relief pitchers in baseball for a SS that bats for a lower average than Theriot. Greene is head and shoulders above Theriot but giving up Marmol would be idiotic. I would find Greene frustrating to watch because he is a guy who swings for the fences 90% of the time but isn't really a great power guy. If he changed his approach and went for more contact he could be a .280 15-20 hr guy while playing good defense. And to answer the blame it on Hendry stuff. Yes it is Hendry's fault all we have is Theriot but we can't have great hitters at every position. We have signed Sori, Lee, Aram, Derosa, and Fukudome in recent years (extensions on some) while developing Soto and Pie. SS is the one position we never improved at (well Theriot is an improvement over Izturis) but its not like there is an abundance of good SS. Boston had Lugo all of last year is Epstein a bad GM for that?