scarey

I wonder if the Yankees would consider Dempster and Castillo for Gary Sanchez. They're going to need catcher help sooner than Sanchez can likely provide it. The scales would have to be balanced out a bit more on that trade though as I see it. The guy I would be most interested in(realistically) would be Cody Buckel from the Rangers. Hoyer would have to sweeten the deal on that one too though. It may not be a bad place to use the positional depth the Cubs farm system has to pull in some pitching talent.

All Mojo has argued is that there's statistical information to indicate that Stewart is capable of still being a good hitter when his wrist isn't injured. The reason he said you're moving the goalposts and putting words in his mouth is that you tried to tell him his argument is Stewart definitely will become a good hitter. Do you see?

You mock him for "blind loyalty", then turn around and speculate something completely unfounded in order to legitimize your feelings of angst about a situation you have close to no information on. it's pretty obvious that he had indicated he'd go to atlanta. how long ago was it that all those quotes came out about theo and dempster keeping in contact and having discussed where he'd be willing to go? the pictures of them in the empty stands, etc. so knowing that, do you think it's reasonable to think that the cubs front office spent time negotiating with atlanta and COMING TO A TRADE AGREEMENT without being under the impression that he'd accept a deal there? it's common sense. we know theo and dempster have kept in contact and have been on the same page. they wouldn't have come to an agreement with atlanta if they thought dempster was unwilling to go there. You don't even know why the trade hasn't gone through. Think about that for a second. Yes, Dempster has not given his approval yet, but you have no idea why. You're just guessing and calling him a cry baby to appease this misguided sense of entitlement you have. we know exactly why the trade hasn't gone through. there were literally quotes from wren saying that they agreed on the trade and they're just waiting on dempster. it sounds like you don't want to accept that ryan dempster might be doing something kinda [expletive] here. I just told you, he hasn't given his approval. I literally just said it in the quote you took. You have no idea why though. You're jumping to the conclusion that he's throwing a tantrum instead of a dozen other possibilities. Also, there's no denial on my behalf. I'm just going to act like a sane person and wait for the actual news to come out before reacting to it.

You mock him for "blind loyalty", then turn around and speculate something completely unfounded in order to legitimize your feelings of angst about a situation you have close to no information on. it's pretty obvious that he had indicated he'd go to atlanta. how long ago was it that all those quotes came out about theo and dempster keeping in contact and having discussed where he'd be willing to go? the pictures of them in the empty stands, etc. so knowing that, do you think it's reasonable to think that the cubs front office spent time negotiating with atlanta and COMING TO A TRADE AGREEMENT without being under the impression that he'd accept a deal there? it's common sense. we know theo and dempster have kept in contact and have been on the same page. they wouldn't have come to an agreement with atlanta if they thought dempster was unwilling to go there. You don't even know why the trade hasn't gone through. Think about that for a second. Yes, Dempster has not given his approval yet, but you have no idea why. You're just guessing and calling him a cry baby to appease this misguided sense of entitlement you have.

You mock him for "blind loyalty", then turn around and speculate something completely unfounded in order to legitimize your feelings of angst about a situation you have close to no information on. ...wow, that sentence just kept going and going.

You know, it's not exactly fair to them, but I really don't care that they're collateral damage in this whole thing. If the worst thing that happens to them in their lives is they don't get the opportunity to play in a bowl game, then I don't feel too bad for them. The NCAA is pretty hypocritical in that it has not and will continue not issuing punishment in most criminal circumstances. However, there needs to be a very clear message sent that if there's anything going on that carries weight equal to child molestation, then it needs to be dealt with pronto. If a few kids don't get to play a bowl game as a result, so be it.

Well that explains it. Most scouts don't think Baez is going to be playing SS when he reaches MLB. I'm obviously no expert, but he looked great at SS when I saw him on Saturday. Maybe he doesn't make it to the big leagues as a shortstop, but he's too good to give up on him yet.

Since Belinelli has played in three of the NBAs deepest, darkest black holes, does anyone care to tell me what kind of player he is? I see he can shoot the three. Can he defend? Like, at all?

Glad I could share. Speaking of sharing, I'll tell you about the Baez homer that was absolutely crushed (I would guess almost 450 feet). After the inning ended a family came in and sat in the seats next to us in the front. The wife, talking to someone else, exclaimed "Yeah, we parked and were walking up to the park and saw a ball coming at us. We got the home run ball!" I look at their 6ish year old son holding a baseball. They had no clue who hit it and just how cool it was to have that ball. I told them, but I don't think they cared much. Hopefully, Mom or Dad keeps it in their mind and when Baez is a perennial all-star, they can remind their son who's home run ball he has.

BTW, have mercy on me on my flinch in the Rademacher AB. The ball looked like it was on a line for us in the camera shot.

Lots of pics here. I'll post in groups of 3-5 in spoiler boxes. Also, I got videos of Baez' single and Rademacher grounding out. Baez: Rademacher:

Geiger looked lost up there. I don't think he made solid contact all night and it was almost like he was just guessing on pitches. I was pretty disappointed. Rademacher was the complete opposite. Pretty good plate coverage and was driving the ball. He also looks like a pretty solid fielder. He made a play in the first inning that would have otherwise turned Cates first two runs into earned runs. Matt Helm hit the ball deep in the power alley and Rademacher made a quick read, sprinted back, and made the catch on the move on the warning track above his head with his back to home plate. Other observations and photos to follow. Cates: as Jumbo pointed out, he has an effortless delivery. His breaking ball looked really good and got some awkward swings. His fastball was getting hit around though. There were a couple of really hard hit outs and Baez made some fantastic plays for him too. I was pretty disappointed. DeVoss: I liked his approach, I just wish he had better contact skills. I get the feeling that he beats out a lot of infield singles for his hits. His stolen base was almost a gimme. The Silverhawks had no chance to get him. His defense was definitely shaky. The first inning error was something you would see on a high school field. He just took his eye off for a moment as the ball was going in the glove and he heeled it. Popped right back out. He did give ground and range to his left later in the game to make a decently difficult play. Chen: In his first PA, the right fielder for the Silverhawks made a very good play in the right field corner to keep Chen from a double (too bad he couldn't do anything on the ensuing Baez dinger). His actual triple should have only been a single, but the left fielder tried to dive to catch a ball that was landing just in bounds. If he pulled up, Chen would have stayed on first. I was extremely disappointed in Chen's defense. His arm is not too strong and he made a mistake fielding a single. He tried to make a play at the plate, but threw the ball too high and Hoilman was unable to cut it off and keep a runner at first. Runner ended up advancing to second and an errant throw from Burruel caused the base runner to reach third. Suarez: Looked good. Was consistently at 94, but was a little wild. Baez: I can't say enough about Baez. He truly looked head and shoulders above anyone else from either team. He made a play deep in the hole and made a perfect throw with his hips still turned towards third. He was max effort all game, especially on defense. He raced into center field to make a catch that Chen really should have had. He had a dribbler that he picked up and fired over to first for an out. He also ran into the Chiefs bullpen at one point and also looked like he bumped his knee, but not even a trainer showed up to check him out. I will be very curious to see how the experts judge him on his defense after this year.

Just bought tickets to go see the Chiefs play in South Bend. I'll be at field level just off the right side of the dugout. Never been there before. Looking at a diagram of their stadium, I think they may have their reliever's warm up right there just like Wrigley (I'm assuming most minor league parks do it like that?). Anyway, hoping to get a good look at Cates and maybe a close up view of some of the relievers while they warm up. Also should get a nice critique of Zapata in RF if he's played there today. I'm crossing my fingers for a big showing from Baez.

No wonder we couldn't get him traded if teams were only interested at the min. I'm surprised he only got the minimum. I would have rather retained him at that price than sign Hinrich.

I assume that's ChiefsVoice making the calls? I'm impressed. It's a shame we have to listen to guys like Harrelson, Brenneman, Caray, and McCarver at the major league level when there's so many better options out there.

That's not why people were and continue to rail on you...

Technically yes. Realistically, probably not. They'd be damaging their ability to negotiate this kind of thing in the future with players and agents. Also, the Rockets will amnesty Luis Scola with 3 years $21 million left on his deal. How about a sign and trade with Asik/Scola? Seems like a better deal than matching Asik. Probably a salary cap issue though? Scola would give us an almost exact duplicate of Carlos Boozer. The meat heads would be outraged. I wouldn't be thrilled either personally as there's no way to get optimal production out of having both of them on the same roster.

Did anyone else realize Mark Malave's middle name was Eckersley?

See also Maholm, Paul. Notably, there wasn't anywhere close to the same reaction as the Maholm signing even though we're paying him significantly more. Because Maholm was a really good value and is a starting pitcher. Reed Johnson wasn't. What is hard to understand about this? Spending any amount of money on 5th outfielders is stupid. We could've used Sappelt in that role. We could've used Campana in that role. It's not about how big of a mistake it is. It's about not making a mistake that didn't need to be made. Great, his numbers look ok because he has faced mostly lefties and has had good BABIP luck. Sweet! Still a completely pointless signing. I'm not sure why people continue to analyze various player's BABIP and make conclusions on luck without considering the line drive percentage. 26% lline drive percentage tells me there's a reason for his .385 BABIP, and it's certainly not all luck.

I don't think you understand how NBA salary caps work.

I am liking Brandon McCarthy personally. I read an interview from last year centered around his comeback. He is a guy that really understands advanced metrics and holds mechanics in the highest regard. He also has a relatively low IP total over his career and has changed his pitching repertoire to help him extend his career. Hamels is going to be the golden goose and I am afraid LA is going to throw ridiculous money at him. Grab McCarthy on a 5 year deal and I would be thrilled. The other guy I think I'd like to target is Liriano. His BBs are pretty ugly, but his FIP is sitting at 4.13 for the year. Not terrible. I wonder if maybe 1year/$6mill or 2year/$10mill could land him if Sanchez or Marcum can't be snagged. 1. Brandon McCarthy 2. Jeff Samardzija 3. Travis Wood 4. Francisco Liriano 5. Brooks Raley Other than that, I wouldn't be opposed to dealing some of the minor league positional depth the Cubs have in exchange for a mid/top of the rotation prospect.

I'm a Kirk Hinrich fan, and I don't believe he'll be as bad as his stats the last couple of years indicate (especially in a diminished role), but why not just bring back Watson? I believe the Bulls had a $3 million player option on him. Why pay Hinrich the same money when Watson has a better PER and is a better three point shooter? I have to think Watson is the better defender at this point too. This one's kind of a head scratcher.

I kinda like that his name is pronounced Jaymer.

I would love to hear an in depth explanation on Perez's fantastic year so far. I wonder if it was just a change in approach and if he can sustain the production. I have a feeling a near doubling of his ISOD didn't happen by chance. If he gets a promotion up to AA soon, he wouldn't be too terribly over aged for his league anymore.

He's had a decent amount of unearned runs cross the plate.