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soapy

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Everything posted by soapy

  1. yeah, my first thought after seeing it was, "That's what she said". Anyway, it sounds like it's basically between Patton, Guzman and Gaudin. As dew (I think) said, I'd trade Gaudin if something of value can be had, but I wouldn't just dump him. He's got value as a middle reliever and spot starter that the other two likely don't. I'd be extremely hesitant to dump Gaudin for a guy who has never pitched above A ball and wasn't exactly dominant there in 07 and 08, though he did have a nice k/bb ratio.
  2. I really think Indiana fans need to reel in the expectations. Crean has brought in 2 good, not great recruiting classes, and doesn't have much room to add any help in the coming years. Crean right now has IU back on pace to within 2-3 years to be where they've been over the past 20 years, a 3-7 finisher in the Big 10. as an IU fan, i more or less agree with SSR here. Crean is doing things exactly as well as I'd hoped so far, but i think it's unrealistic to expect IU to return to the pre mid-90's type of success. having said that, i'm looking forward to seeing what he can do with this situation in a few years. i think being a regular contender for a Big Ten title is a fairly realisic expectation maybe starting 4-5 from now if things go right for Crean. as mentioned in reference to Tim's question, i don't think IU's previous success can be put squarely on Knight. obviously they won two championships before he was there. having said that, IU's era of being a yearly top-10 program have been gone since the mid 1990's. they really haven't been considered a championship contender in the last 15 years, unlikely 2002 tournament run aside. the downturn didn't start with Knight's departure either. his teams had been on the downslide (by previous standards) his last 5-6 years at IU.
  3. it may have already been mentioned, but also working in Hill's favor is that several of the starters supposedly claimed to be very comfortable working with him and (again, supposedly) gave him rave reviews. if Hill and Bako are pretty close in most other aspects, Lou may used that as a reason to choose him over Bako.
  4. Yup give me Torry Holt over Harrison every day of the week at this point. i'm not 100% convinced Holt is a good option, but he's by far preferable to Harrison and it's not close.
  5. The Browns do the Bears a favor. Nice. As to the Marvin Harrison talk: Speaking as someone who sees every Colts game living here in Indy, I don't want any part of Harrison. He is done. He'd be an especially bad fit for the Bears, IMO.
  6. is there streaming audio of the B10 tourney available somewhere?
  7. The Indy Star claims that Dumas isn't likely to play against PSU.
  8. looks great
  9. i'm absolutely loving this stuff with a friend of mine who is a huge Reds fan. he's still in denial, which is fantastic. though what it really is, he just thinks they can win in spite of Dusty because of Jocketty. he recently uttered the phrase, "We're building a dynasty in Cincinnati." it was one of the single funniest things I've ever heard. he went on to claim, "Jocketty already said no more Corey Patterson type deals." when i laughed and brought up Jones it was, "Doesn't matter, he won't make the team." when i brought up that i heard Volquez and Cueto are both pitching in the WBC, he was damn near tears. hahahaha........poor guy. unfortunately, each of these conversations turns into him repeating "1908" until i stop.
  10. I don't know how I missed this earlier, but they mentioned on XM 175 this morning that Cueto and Volquez are both pitching for the Dominican team. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!! I seriously laughed so hard I almost cried.
  11. Samardzija has apparently been penciled in the the sixth spot: Strange that there's no mention of Heilman. It is an AP story though so they may be mistaken. Maybe Bruce can weigh in.
  12. Right, Lou would never do that but I'd probably be cool with it. Fukudome bouncing back would really be huge for this offense.
  13. I like the idea of a good Fukudome up there in leadoff or #2....but my fear of bad Fukudome is keeping me from pulling that mental trigger. i edited after you quoted me to say that if he fails move him down to 8th and put Bradley in the 2-hole. really, i'd just like to see the most productive hitters get the most PAs for the most part.
  14. Threw up a little at the Miles reference. If not Soriano, I'd go with Fukudome. That's assuming he doesn't start off 2009 the way he ended 2008. Other than him, I'd probably just stick with Soriano. Fontenot may be a dark horse, but he's probably not a great option. At this point, I'd probably just keep Soriano there and run with this: Soriano Fukudome Ramirez Bradley Lee Soto Fontenot Theriot ETA: The more I think about it, if Fukudome does fall on his face, I'd move him down to 8th and bump Bradley up to 2nd. Might as well give the best hitters the most chances.
  15. I've enjoyed this season far more than I expected. It's still frustrating as hell to see all the horrible turnovers and free throw shooting, but I've been fairly pleased overall. It's been nice to see Dumes, Jones III and Roth improve as much as they have. Adding Rivers next year will be big of handling the ball and limiting turnovers to some extent. I still think a .500 record and an NIT birth is at the high end of what to expect next year.
  16. Bruce hit most of my keys, with some slightly different angles: Rotation: I'm not worried about the fifth spot so much as injuries in the rotation. I'm fairly confident that one of the guys battling for that fifth spot will be effective as a fifth starter. I'm more concerned about the 6th-7th guys because of my severe worry about the health of Zambrano and Harden. If one or both go down (which I think is somewhat likely) then I'm worried. Bradley and Fukudome are no-brainers. Bradley for health and Fukudome for production. Bullpen: Not worried about closer so much as I am about having an effective set-up or stopper (for lack of a better term). Basically someone to fill the role that Marmol did last year. I think Marmol is the early front runner to be named closer and I'm worried about games getting blown by the bullpen before they ever get to the ninth. I'm very anxious to see what Gregg and Guzman do. Bench: Right now the bench has been severly downgraded from last year. It was a strength in 2008.
  17. There's actually a fantasy sports forum. You should check there: http://www.northsidebaseball.com/Forum/viewforum.php
  18. well, tonight is probably IU's best shot at avoiding an 0-18 big ten season. i won't get my hopes up though. on the most annoying player stuff, even as an IU fan i have to throw Daniel Moore into the mix. i still give it to Kramer (probably because he plays for PU), but Moore is really annoying to watch. i can't tell if it's because i'm and IU fan (i.e. he's terrible) or despite being an IU fan. the problem is they are pretty much forced to run him out there for substantial minutes at this point. guys like Moore are annoying becuase they get an irrational amount of praise from announcers/fans/etc. for making a couple of nice passes or taking a charge, but then their mistakes are just glossed over because, "Hey, what do you expect? He's a walk-on."
  19. Manny has put himself in this position by "being Manny" in the past. Nobody is willing to trust him to a lengthy deal. That said...I don't blame him at all for holding out for a better deal. certainly there's reason to be cautious with manny, but i still think expecting him to accept a one-year deal is absurd.
  20. why all the hate? don't you think it's more about the years than the dollars per? regardless of his age and/or the bad economy, manny sure as hell still deserves more than a one-year deal. he's probably looking to sign the last contract of his career so he doesn't have to go through the whole free-agent process again. i don't see the problem. it's a lot more complicated than just calling him an a-hole claiming that $25 million isn't enough for him.
  21. The point is it's worth the risk. PTBNLs are rarely worth anything, just some AAer. Id just assume risk giving him another chance and hope for that miracle, and risk getting nothing as opposed to just giving up on him and getting some 28 year old AA middle infielder. so would i, but i can also see where Hendry is coming from on this.
  22. tough situation for Hendry, really. considering how low Hill's value is right now, i think i would have brought him into spring training and hoped for a miracle. having said that, i can't really blame Hendry for trying to get something for him, i guess. if he didn't land in the rotation or bullpen out of spring training, he was gone for nothing. as much as i hate to give up on him, Hill didn't do anything at the end of last year or in the summer league to demonstrate he might come out of his funk. this blows. what might have been...
  23. The insanity of this thread has actually distracted me from my disappointment in this trade, so I thank you all.
  24. soapy

    Pie

    yeah, i agree. i just remember thinking the Gathright signing indicated that Pie was probably part of the Peavy deal. They have too many CF'ers as it is. i didn't say my thought process was well thought out.
  25. soapy

    Pie

    yeah, i agree. i just remember thinking the Gathright signing indicated that Pie was probably part of the Peavy deal.
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