Northside Blues

i don't think Dodgers are in it, unless McCourt sells the team Kansas City really doesn't make any sense and Nationals blew their load on Werth already this is how i see it now, in order of likelihood: Cards - Cubs - Yankees - Angels - Red Sox - Marlins Marlins? Not a chance. I would consider the Red Sox a more likely landing spot than the Yankees. There's a chance they don't get Alex Gonzalez locked up, which means they have all the incentive in the world to go hard after Pujols. The Nationals could have afforded Werth and Lee this offseason, so there's no reason they can't afford Pujols. They're going to be players for him. Maybe not on the level of the Cubs or Angels, but they're going to be among the top bidders, dollar wise. The real problem could be that the Cardinals may be out or significantly far behind come July. If they're eight games out and sitting behind Milwaukee and Cincinnati, I know he and they have said a trade won't happen, but you've gotta think that it will enter both people's minds, even if Albert wants to resign. It's not likely, though, that the Cardinals are out of it then though.

When I think of hockey, I don't think of southern rednecks, or midwestern rednecks, or any rednecks whatsoever. It's all about Nascar.

I hope not. I want him the hell out of the NLC (with the obvious exception of the Cubs). With them out, if he goes anywhere, it's almost certainly to the Cubs, IMO. Would the Dodgers not be major players? Do they even have money? I thought they were insanely cash strapped (and worse than the Cubs about wasting resources on crappy veterans). Furcal, Blake and Kuroda are FA's combining for about 30 mil gone after the year. You're right though. And a lot of that money will be used in arby for Billingsley, Ethier, Kemp, Kershaw and Loney (though w/ AP they'd nontender him one would think). They couldnt keep Russell Martin around for christ's sake.

I hope not. I want him the hell out of the NLC (with the obvious exception of the Cubs). With them out, if he goes anywhere, it's almost certainly to the Cubs, IMO. Would the Dodgers not be major players? I would think the Cubs, Red Sox, Yankees, Dodgers and Angels would be the main bidders, though I wouldn't be surprised to see Kansas City make a serious run or even the National squeak in there. Rangers?

I hope not. I want him the hell out of the NLC (with the obvious exception of the Cubs). With them out, if he goes anywhere, it's almost certainly to the Cubs, IMO. Would the Dodgers not be major players? Of course they would be, Angels too though. Not that it's a realistic option, but I'm sure the Nationals will throw a lot of money at him.

Not exactly true. By size of TV markets they are 7th. By MSA they are 9th. By CSA they are 6th. They are a small market team, but they have some things going for them. There's no NBA franchise. There's no dominant college sports program, like a USC, Michigan or Ohio State. There's an NFL team and them. I guess there's the NHL... Not sure that counts. It's also a sports happy city/area and baseball is ingrained into the city. That plus it's ideal situation near the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers means that there are a lot major business HQ's/distribution centers to invest in the team, through advertising, etc. St Louis, for example, has more fortune 500 HQs than Los Angeles, Boston and Philadelphia. Add all that together and if you were to rank teams by areas of potential profitability, the Cardinals would probably rank in the 10-15 range. Definitely a mid-market team. I think they're also top five among MLB teams in merchandising, not sure how much of that is shared though.

That's a really bad idea.

So, remind me why Billy Wagner retired?

Why? Tony Thomas may never amount to anything, but without an obvious long term heir at 2B on the horizon, what's wrong with keeping him around. He had an OPS over 800 in Double A, maybe he was a year old or so for the league, but no reason to give him up for our some guy who will never make it out of our Triple A bullpen.

And a pitcher bitching and moaning three years later doesn't exactly prove it either. My point is that if there was no damage there, then one game like that wouldn't hurt him. If there was damage there, and his arm was more sore than normal, it's HIS job to TELL someone. Like I said earlier, the conversation probably went something like this: DB: Aaron, hey dawg you good to go for awhile? AH: Uh, *glances for cleats*, yeah. DB: Alright go warm up, youve got a few innings in you. after inning 2. DB: Aaron, you alright? AH: Yeah. after inning 3. DB: Aaron, you alright? AH: Yeah, arm feels fine. after inning 4: DB: Good job Aaron, 9 SO in 4 IP, just 2 baserunners. DB: We'll make sure to push your next start back two days. At no point did that conversation ever go something like this. DB: How are you? AH: I'm too fatigued DB: Rub some dirt on it meat. AH: Uh, okay.

No one has ever done a study that has verified anything to do with that. No one ever will. At best, the "studies" you are talking about say that pitchers who throw 150 pitches a game lose more effectiveness than pitchers who throw 100 pitches a game in the future. They do not say that pitchers who throw 150 pitches a game are more likely to get hurt than pitchers who throw 100 pitches a game. They do not say that pitchers who throw 150 pitches a game are more likely to have a drop in true talent level than pitchers who throw 100 pitches in a game (pitchers who throw 150 pitches in a game are a selection bias: ie you have to be performing well to throw 150 pitches). They do not say that pitchers who throw 150 pitches in a game are more likely to drop their arm angle. They do not say that pitchers who drop their arm angle are more likely to get hurt (in fact, physiologists would argue that a lower arm angle puts less stress on the labrum and rotator cuff).

Because every said study tries (and fails miserably) to look at the cumulative effect of higher pitch counts on regular rest. This was a one time thing, nor was it on regular rest, so all of those studies are completely irrelevant. Nevermind that the three years prior to 2008 Harang was #5, #3 and #4 in Pitchers Abuse Points (PAP) - if you believe in that sort. #2 overall over the three year span (of course #1 was Zambrano).

can you explain this? Harang seems to trace his struggles with fatigue back to that point and his performance corroborates his understanding. You have no established basis for your point, but you're pretty confident in your position, which is directly contrary to Harang and the results of much of the study of pitcher use over the last decade. This is false.

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Fixed.

Someone needs to get Angel Guzman on a 10,000 calorie diet. Geez.

and that sounds like a first class jackass for a ballplayer then. im not saying that it wasnt part of the problem, but if the guy was 100% healthy something like that wouldn't hurt him. now if he had some minor tendonitis, yeah sure it could. if thats the case it's on harang for not speaking up. odds are baker (or the pitching coach) talked to him and he said he was fine. if there was something wrong, it's his job to let baker know. a zillion pitchers have come back on the third day with 60 pitches and didnt have a problem. you can bitch and moan about baker ruining prior and company and have a legitimate point, but this is hardly his fault.

Not really true. He started on 5/22, pitched in relief on 5/25, and then started on 5/29, and only threw like 73 pitches in the start afterwards. well, i guess you would know better than the guy who was actually throwing. Sour grapes and bad experiences. Harang and baker never got along.

That was week six of Dusty in Cincinnati. Not month six. He wasn't abused by Baker. In fact he in all three years prior to Dusty he had a higher NP/GS than he did for Baker. Not to mention 230 IP.

This is BS. One 60 pitch game isn't going to ruin his career. How many times have people done that in history without getting hurt? Too many to count. Not really true. He started on 5/22, pitched in relief on 5/25, and then started on 5/29, and only threw like 73 pitches in the start afterwards.

Oh, the last four times that the Cubs were first in the league in ERA, they went to the World Series ('45, '38, '35 and '32). In fact, the Cubs have gone to the WS ten times. 8 of those 10 they led the league in ERA. The other two (1908 and 1929) they finished 3rd and 2nd, respectively.

Hernandez was at third about half the year. Kevin Orie was there about a third. The last month it was Gary Gaetti who was a world beater down the stretch (.320/.397/.594/.991) after being acquired in late August. Jeff Blauser was our SS most of the season. He did not even slug 300 after having an 880 OPS the year before for the damned Braves. We were third in the league in runs scored that year (behind San Francisco and Houston). Since World War II we have led the league in runs scored four times (1967, 1984, 1989 and 2008). The '67 team scored 702. For comparison, we have not led the league in ERA since World War II. We have finished 2nd in ERA twice (1963 and 2007).

For the sake of fun, I think we should just look at some ex-Cub prospects in their post Cub life. My favorites. Nate Spears, 2B (of the Corey Patterson trade) is now in the Boston organization and last year spent the season playing 2B in AA doing his best Ben Zobrist impression. He hit .272/.380/.463 with TWENTY home runs, he hit 15 in the four years he spent in the Cubs organization. He also had 84 (plus additional 11 HBP) walks, compared to just 93 strikeouts and stole 13 bases to 1 caught stealing. Not to mention 30 doubles and 4 triples. Yowza. Granted, he's 25 but like I said, he's doing his Ben Zobrist impression. He (allegedly) throws in good defense to boot. He's an NRI invite to Sawx camp this year. On a side note, former prospect extraordinare Joel Guzman hit 33 homers in the EL and was miraculously still 25. Darin Downs, LHP, has spent some time in the Rays system. He spent 2009 as a starter in High A primarily, where he went 12-6 with a 2.23 ERA with a whopping 120:27 K:BB in 133 IP before his season ended short with a liner to the head (clocked at 103, lucky to be alive). The Rays moved him back into the bullpen for the 2010 season and he went 12-4 with a 2.95 ERA and a 102:32 K:BB in just 88 innings. Downs just turned 26 a few months ago (and he's been around seemingly forever), and recently was a minor league signee with an NRI by the Marlins. Anyone got some more?

The Cubs have scored 800 runs just twice since World War II. The 2008 Cubs (855) and the 1998 Cubs (831). By comparison, since 1998, the Astros and Cardinals have done it 13 times combined.

We do, but that picture doesn't piss me off. It just makes me sigh wistfully. It just reminds me that the Giants and Phillies could turn into, well, us, within four months.