Cubswin11

Ian Desmond is the only SS in all of baseball this year with an OPS between .800-.850 and it's at .825. The next closest are .781 by Reyes and Cabrera. So if Castro can settle in as a .800-.850 OPS then yes, he's a guy you build your team around as he'd be one of the best offensive SS in baseball.

Why? They aren't going to win [expletive]. They were one game from winning it all. I wouldn't want that to eat at me all year long. I mean to be so close and choke it away. It has to eat at Ryan. In what season were they one game from winning it all? A few years ago in the finals against the Lakers, maybe?

And it's good for the league. "Super Teams" make the product better and the league more intriguing/exciting to watch, imo. I'd rather there be 3-5 teams with 3+ all stars on their roster than have it be spread out where every team has one and the rest of team is made up of [expletive] role players. But that's just me, I get the argument for the other way around too. Also contraction of 3-4 teams would be nice to concentrate the talent even more. Which is why the NBA and MLB are more popular than the NFL, where they have a straight cap that prevents super teams... Yeah that's why the NFL is popular. Every team having a chance to win has to be a part of it, no? A good 1/3 of the league has no chance of winning this year (assuming by saying chance to win you mean superbowl). MLB is just as wide open for teams having a chance to win as the NFL is.

And it's good for the league. "Super Teams" make the product better and the league more intriguing/exciting to watch, imo. I'd rather there be 3-5 teams with 3+ all stars on their roster than have it be spread out where every team has one and the rest of team is made up of [expletive] role players. But that's just me, I get the argument for the other way around too. Also contraction of 3-4 teams would be nice to concentrate the talent even more. Which is why the NBA and MLB are more popular than the NFL, where they have a straight cap that prevents super teams... The NBA has seen a huge spike in popularity over the last two years and superteams are a big reason why. The NFL is more popular for other reasons and I don't see how that argument is relevant to what I said. Plus it's not like the NFL is some super even or balanced league. Sure every year there are teams that were bad the year before who make the playoffs and the other way around but the MLB and NBA have that. The NFL is still top heavy there are only 4 or so teams every year that truly have a chance at winning the superbowl. I doubt that last part at all. Last year at this time how many people would have said the Giants would be a favorite to win a super bowl? I'll give you that, but the NFL isn't anymore wide open or "competitively balanced" than the MLB/NBA because of having different spending limitations. Over the last 5 years the top teams in the NFL have pretty much remained the same (with just shuffling of rankings) between the Patriots, Steelers, Saints, Packers, Giants, Ravens, Bears, Colts, Eagles with the Colts being the only team that's fallen off.

And it wasn't particularly close to being a strike

And it's good for the league. "Super Teams" make the product better and the league more intriguing/exciting to watch, imo. I'd rather there be 3-5 teams with 3+ all stars on their roster than have it be spread out where every team has one and the rest of team is made up of [expletive] role players. But that's just me, I get the argument for the other way around too. Also contraction of 3-4 teams would be nice to concentrate the talent even more. Which is why the NBA and MLB are more popular than the NFL, where they have a straight cap that prevents super teams... The NBA has seen a huge spike in popularity over the last two years and superteams are a big reason why. The NFL is more popular for other reasons and I don't see how that argument is relevant to what I said. Plus it's not like the NFL is some super even or balanced league. Sure every year there are teams that were bad the year before who make the playoffs and the other way around but the MLB and NBA have that. The NFL is still top heavy there are only 4 or so teams every year that truly have a chance at winning the superbowl.

Vitters has looked more than adequate in the field so far (but it's been an extremely small sample size)

Love it, I [expletive] hate Boston

And it's good for the league. "Super Teams" make the product better and the league more intriguing/exciting to watch, imo. I'd rather there be 3-5 teams with 3+ all stars on their roster than have it be spread out where every team has one and the rest of team is made up of shitty role players. But that's just me, I get the argument for the other way around too. Also contraction of 3-4 teams would be nice to concentrate the talent even more.

This came up in another thread a few days ago but I think we've mostly played .500 teams or better on the road so far this year and the road schedule gets easier the rest of the year

Nash Kobe Artest/Jamison Gasol Howard That's a lineup that could compete with the Thunder, but I still think the Thunder are a better team in a 7 game series. Lakers need to get another shooter, athletic guy for defense and better back up PG than Blake. Side note, I hate that trade for the Magic. I don't know why they wouldn't have wanted Bynum in a trade and also figured out a way to get rid of more bad/long contracts other than Richardson and those draft picks they got are ass they will be in the mid-high teens at best.

Time to start a petition for the NL to adopt the DH

Deal is done Lakers get Howard 76ers get Bynum and J. Richardson Nuggets get Iguodala Magic get Afflalo, Harrington, Vucevic and 3 protected first rounders from all 3 teams http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/8252042/sources-dwight-howard-los-angeles-lakers-four-team-deal-complete

Looks like Dwight to the Lakers is finally going to happen by sometime tomorrow

Trent Richardson to have surgery on his knee, say he will be back for the season though. Anyways Sports Gods continue to hate Cleveland. http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/8248705/sources-cleveland-browns-trent-richardson-knee-surgery-thursday

You stay classy, France

Randy Wells was good once too and had similar results over a little bit more time but roughly has the same stuff as Fiers

I don't think that's a thing, Sveum has/had very little to do with Rizzo performing so well so far Sveum was who got Rizzo to shorten his swing. I assume this was in spring then? Who was responsible for making sure things stayed the same while he was in AAA then?

I don't think that's a thing, Sveum has/had very little to do with Rizzo performing so well so far

I hope the meaningful guys do well (Castro, Rizzo, Vitters, Jackson, Shark, Cabrera) but we are only 3 games from the #2 pick and 10 from #1 a loss isn't the worst thing if those guys aren't playing bad.

Didn't Muskat tweet yesterday that Vizcaino was with the team in San Diego? Or did she confuse him with Brett Jackson?

I wonder if he'll play tomorrow then. Typical Cutler having babies and stuff and skipping a game and quitting on the team

I kind of expect someone lauded as a great prospect not to strike out 7 of 8 times. He stopped being a "lauded" prospect when he struck out 222 times in 154 AAA games over the last two seasons. While not seeing any of his other offensive numbers spike (SLG, OBP, BB%, HR/FB, etc.) to make up for his contact inneficiencies.

I looked up BABIP numbers this years and McCutchen has a .420 BABIP, wow!

You think? With Castro's ability to make contact and put the ball in play he seems like a guy who will be able to sustain a higher BABIP. Maybe not .340-.350 high, but he's down to almost .300 this year. I'd think he should be able to settle in about .320 or so. No?