Gmoney08

IIRC Harden's slider and splitter were very nasty too. One was regarded as one of the best pitches in baseball as in Harden had one of the top splitters or sliders.. but I cant remember which one.

Those are beauiful small sample size stats. But when looking at those stats you also need to look at these. 09-26 starts- 141 innings 08-25 starts- 148 innings 07-4 starts(7 games)-25.2 innings 06-9 starts-46.2 innings 05-19 starts(22 games)-128 innings 04-31 starts-189 innings So when you start talking about paying a guy 7.5m -10m for one season when at best your most likely going to get 140 something innings probably isn't worth the risk. Especially considering nobody factors in you need to have better pieces around Harden. Otherwise it's gonna take away alot of the good he does when he does pitch. Plus that 6th starter or better relievers could often be used as resources in other trades. But you would have to keep them around just to help Harden out. Umm thats the reason he is only getting 7.5 to 10 million... So you say Harden needs to give you 200 innings for that type of money? Your delusional because if Harden was a consistent 200 inning a year pitcher he would be making 16 million a year easy and be signed longterm somewhere. I would say hes still a steal at at 7.5 million even if he only gives you 140 innings.

Can anyone post quotes from Sandberg where he is clearly against SABR or Advanced metrics? I know he is big on bunting, with every batter in the lineup which I dont like. But, is there anything else? Also has Trammel had quotes where he was clearly in support of Advanced metrics? What coaches around the league have clear positions on this whether it be against or for? I think I heard Freddi Gonzalez before as a big SABR guy? I know Theo Epstein as a GM is a big SABR guy right?

I heard on another board he's 3 for 8 in his first two games in the dominican winter league.. I guess he just isnt going to stop playing baseball ever..

I think alot of it has to do with the leagues hes playing at and excelling at for his very young age. He has done excellent for being in high A and then double A. Usually you see someone his age in short season ball then low A. So I know you tried to make it seem as his stats arent very good but I'd argue they are very good to excellent for someone his age at the level of competition he has played. Then the other side of the story is his raw talent sets him apart from most shortstops as well. So not only is he performing he also has alot of high end potential.

They dont do top 100 lists for just leagues right? So they are going to rank Vitters 7th of all prospects in the minors in the update? Im not as discouraged about his 2nd half of the year struggles as others are but 7th still seems a little high for me.

I don't know what he projected as, but he had 15 HR, and 67 XBH in his first two years compared to 6 and 51 for Starlin, so he was already more powerful. If you think about it though that doesnt seem drastically more powerful then me. Thats 2 years stats. So per season Hanley was averaging 7.5 HR to Castro's 3 and 33.5 XBH to Castros 25.5. Thats with their 18 year old stats in there. But, then if you look at just age 19 Castro was playing in High A then Double A while Hanley was in low A the difference is even closer. Castro 31 XBH to Hanleys 35. Granted Hanley hit 5 more Hr's but Castro was playing tougher competition. Im not saying Castro will have Hanley or Arod type power. But, I would not dismiss it as insane. Especially for as raw as he is.

Starlin had a very similar year actually probably slightly better than Hanley at the same age of 19. Plus Starlin was playing in High A then AA, while Hanley was in Low A. My question to NSBB did Hanley always project for this much power at a young age. Or was he similar to Starlin with meh power number at age 19 and it was a big question mark whether he would fillout with power or not. I've heard reports that Starlin's growth plates are still open and expect him to grow another 2 inches and be around 6'3 190-200. Thats almost Arod type stature. Although I usually LOL at growth plate reports because honestly how can you project that. Besides for that Starlin looks 12 and doesnt look like hes hit puberty yet I dont know any other basis for that projection. Plus even for a late developing guy growing 2 inches at 19 years old seems far fetched.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&page=rumblings091119&campaign=rss&source=MLBHeadlines Even though im quite sure this is Stark overexaggerating, I wont lie I came in my pants.

I would do Theriot, Gorz, and a Wellington Castillo type prospect.

Who would you rather have in CF for the future Gomez or Pie? I remember they were compared alot a couple years ago.

My guess...........Soriano, then Soto, and perhaps Fontenot. IMO, it has to be in the order for the Cubs to have a successful offense next yr. I hope Milton Bradley is one of this projects.

Soriano did start his career in Japan.... maybe he's got an urge to go back.

Maybe he would preach power and taking good hacks at the right pitch. Yet, Lou would still stress OBP as well. Sounds like it could be the best of both worlds. Although Cubs like it would be disastrious and we would have the lowest OBP and power numbers in the league.

That's not how bankruptcy works. Unfortunately...........

When is he a free agent? I wonder if him, King Felix, and Lincecum all stay healthy and dont sign longterm deals with their own teams what they will command in the free agent market.

IIRC, he was brought up in trade rumors back to back years around 06 and 07 for the Cubs? In fact I think the main talk was for the bullpen back then. This was also the time I believe he had anxiety issues and his stock was way lower. I dont remember how close the Cubs ever got to getting him but I remember I was very high on Greinke then despite the anxiety issues and his stock being alot lower. Can anyone shed some light on how close the Royals ever were to trading him? Also does anybody remember much with the Cubs discussions. There was rumors of the Cubs going after him though right?

Wow we had different sets of signals in high school ball when runners went on base. We would either use the 3rd sign, 4th sign etc in the sequence and switch it up when runners were on base. Stealing sign has been used in 3 different Centuries. I see no problem with it, I believe its the Catchers/Pitchers fault if they dont hide their sequence good enough.

This type of treatment should never happen to the greatest hitter of alltime. The only ballplayer that could warrant this treatment is Aaron Miles.

+1 Actually it's a bunch of BS. We're supposed to be happy with this team because they won the division 2 years in a row and are 2nd now? They've had one really good year in the Hendry era. One 90+ win season. They won the division with 85 wins the year before, a win by default more than accomplishment. They should be dominating this division every year with their incredible financial advantage over the competition, but their inefficient use of those resources is a waste. You have a manager whining about stupid stuff like needing left handers and a GM who is more than happy to waste money providing those unnecessarily specific demands. And the health excuse is a bunch of garbage. Rich Harden is going to be on the DL. We knew that before he was acquired, they acknowledge it when he was acquired. The fact that they decided to stop with the preventive measures of extra rest for him this year doesn't all of a sudden make it accepable to say, "oh geez this season would be great if Harden didn't surprise us and go on the DL." And Zambrano? He has an issue every season, plus he's a pitcher with a ton of innings on his arm the past several years, he is going to miss time. Bradley is an injury machine. Ramirez gets hurt every year. The team we have is fine? If fine is what you want, then be happy. But I think being a fan of a team, and wanting them to win a lot, would seem to be a good reason to want more than fine. Fine gets you 85 wins, which normally doesn't get you in the playoffs. Quit bitching about fans who actually want the team they root for to win lots of games. Because this team isn't and they will need improvements to do so. Except Harden wasnt the only player injured this year? We have had like 8 players who have been in the All Star game the past 3 years injured.

Granted the year hasnt made me happy but I dont care what we spent on the team this year. I doubt many teams would have performed as good or better than the Cubs this year with the injuries we have had. We have been missing our best hitter Aramis Ramirez for a chunk of the season. Not to mention fellow recent All Star position players like Soto, Bradley, and even Lee/Soriano have not been truely healthy. Plus our starting rotation has been great despite Zambrano, Lilly, Dempster all being injured this year (also all recent All Stars). Then theres been Guzman who missed sometime, Reed Johnson and Im sure a few more people. Yet, we are still in 2nd place and right in the thick of things. I think the worse thing for this team would be to rebuild right now. I would go for it with this core of players for at least a year or 2 more again. It took the Red Sox a few times before the Pedro, Manny core finally brought home the title. They missed the playoffs too a couple years IIRC.

Someone in the crowd at Wrigley dumping a beer on a player or throwing something at them as that player is about to make or is making a play? Please list some of the "many, many" times this has happened. Weird that I remember this, but the first time I seen the beer dump I was about 7 or 8 years old. Somebody dumped a beer on Brian Jordan of the Cardinals during a day game at a play by the wall. IIRC, he got really pissed too.

And to think we could have traded him straight up for Tejada. There's a bunch of myths surrounding that supposed trade... there was never a straight up offer. The Cubs offered Prior for Tejada and Bedard. The Orioles offered Tejada for Prior and Pie. I thought a young Erik Bedard was involved as well. I thought it was the Cubs wanted Tejada and Bedard for Prior. The Orioles wanted more back from the Cubs if Bedard was involved. Also this was after the 04 season or was it 05 when his trade value was already down a bit. Im sure a deal after the 03 season involving Prior could have netted us anyone in baseball.

So I hear alot Castro has alot of tools. What kind of tools does he project to have? Ive heard he has good range. So does he have good speed like he may steal a base here and there and have the range for SS? Or does he have great speed where he might project to 30+ steals and is an absolute burner. Does he have a strong arm? I heard he hasnt hit for much power yet. Does he have the tools for more power? Does he have quick hands? Does he have gap power at this stage? Or has he just been all base hits?

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