buckeye27

STL w/out albert is still competitive. CLE w/out lebron, we all know where that went.

Albert is still, and will be a beast for years to come. His "off" year was still pretty productive, and his problems early on stemmed from him chasing bad pitches, getting behind in the count and then reaching for "junk". He'd make contact with a bad pitch, but obviously couldnt get good wood on it, and the result were groundouts or double plays. Following him for 11 years, I've seen him go into this, just not as long as he did this year. Obviously, he turned it around and still had a productive season, including taking us to the WS and winning it. Wherever he lands, people will not be disappointed. He is truely a once in a lifetime player, but you dont need me to tell you that.

I don't really see why the cubs would consider dealing garza unless the package was flat out incredible. This past year, garza made 5.9m dollars. Garza in almost any estimation is a top of the line starter. He is ace type material. In comparison, the pirates are "close" to a deal with Clint Barmes. 2 years, 11m. Garza is a guy you can build a rotation around, and if the goal is to be competitive, trading off the best starter on the staff isn't the best idea. Unless there's something that im completely missing about him, he's a keeper. I'd love to have this guy on my team.

How long a track record do you require before you consider a guy a star player? I could understand if he had one random breakout year, but he's had two really good seasons and has shown considerable improvements in his peripherals from year one to year two in one of the best hitters parks in the majors. And again, nobody's talking CC/Lee/Halladay money here. A 5/90 deal would be $30 million fewer total dollars than Lee got for having a resume that isn't much better, if any. i believe he was looking for a 6/120. thats probably too much for wilson. but who knows.

Hopefully the victims will be willing to testify and offset any decrease in his credibility. I keep hearing people in the sports media comparing McQuery to Mark Furman and saying he's going to blow the case by losing credibility. From what we are hearing, it seems to me like the Sandusky case is a slam dunk. All the victims, the Costas interview, the 1998 account, and even McQuery's account makes this case a given. Even if he did lie about going to the police, he clearly has a motive to lie and say he told the police. He has no motive to lie and say he saw Sandusky raping a boy. Does anyone with an IQ above that of an OJ Simpson juror honestly think that McQuery is making this stuff up just because they can't find a stupid police report? I think the McQuery stuff has a bigger implication on the inevitable civil suits, because it will speak to how bad the university cover-up was. Because from what we're hearing about the cover up, it looks like the courts and the victims lawyers are going to engage in some serious "horseplay" with the Penn State. They are going to obviously going to try to discredit McQuery. I wonder if McQuery has positive ID on the kid, as Sandusky's attorney has said that the kid will deny what McQuery has said. If it happened almost 10 years ago, you have to wonder how familiar on a name basis McQuery was at the time with the various kids from Second Mile. But, even if McQuery doesn't work out, you'd think between the 8 original victims, as well as the additional ones that may come forward, would certainly provide enough evidence.

As long as boise state keeps losing on missed FGs, im happy with whatever system they throw out there.

I am by no means saying that wilson is a bad pitcher. He will make one of the best #2's on a staff somewhere. Watching him pitch, he does not seem to have shut down stuff. He seems to have control problems at times. And is apparently looking for 120m or something crazy along those lines. His numbers have been very very good the past 2 years, regular season numbers. I think you do have to consider that he does play in the AL west, where two of the worst offenses in the AL reside. The angels which would complete the division aren't much better offensively.

In 2 years in the post season, wilson has a 1-5 record with a 4.82 era. While I may overrate carpenter because of a personal bias towards him, it does stand he is 9-2 lifetime in the playoffs with a 3.05 era. Obviously he is older, aging and who knows what he has left in the tank, Carp that is. But when I'm looking for a true number one, no matter what team I am a fan of, I'm thinking longterm, I'm thinking playoffs. And while people may write off Wilsons playoff record, it still stands there as 1-5 with a close to 5.00 era. If im looking at wilson from the standpoint of a team that is making the playoffs, then you'd be crazy to to discount his post season struggles and ignore them when signing him. But I think that when viewing wilson, it really depends what you're looking for when considering signing him, are you looking for that shutdown ace? I just dont see him as that.

his numbers the past 2 years i bet are better than cliff lee's numbers. do you think anyone would rather have wilson over lee? while numbers surely mean a lot and absolutely are a huge negotiating point, its his terrible post season that has people devaluing him. in my mind, a number one is that guy who stops losing streaks, who takes the ball every 5th day and wins most of his outings, but above all, when absolutely needed in the post season, elevates his play in big games. he'd be our #3. he'd be philly's #4. while on some dumpy team like the pirates, he'd certainly be a #1, but i sure as heck wouldnt bet my playoff series on him starting twice.

He's been an elite starter for two seasons now and has just 700 MLB innings on his arm. He's as good a risk as you're going to find on the pitching FA market. He's been very good, but I wouldn't pay him like an ace. I'd give him five years, but not for more than 15-16MM per year. CJ wilson is not a #1. simple as that. and he shouldnt be paid like one.

Who said anything about dollars being close? Nobody ever said Pujols would leave St. Louis over a negligible amount of money. That's a COMPLETELY different argument. And that brings me back to Albert. The Cardinals offered him a very substansial package to stay there. There is no way the Cubs are going to blow the offer the Cardinals made him out of the water. NOT. GOING. TO. HAPPEN. If the Cubs offered him 210M over the course of the contract to the Cards 200M, he'd most likely stay in STL and it has everything to do with loyalty to an organization. If the Cubs offered 250M, that is different. But again, that is also not happening. Being from St. Louis, I would think it would take a lot to get albert out of here, it would have to be the perfect situation and a crazy contract. His foundations, restaurant, fans, statue, friends, roots are all here in st. louis, and have been for 11 years. As a diehard st. louis fan, I obviously don't speak for every cards fan, but I can tell you this, if we were to sign him for 9 years, I have zero expectations of him. I am blessed to have been able to watch this guy hit for 11 years, and if he hit 280 with 25 hrs and 80 rbs the rest of his career, with a massive 8-10 year contract, I would personally have no problem with it. He owes nothing to the fans nor the organization. If he goes to a non playoff team, he is expected to take them to the playoffs. If he goes to a playoff team, hes expected to win the WS. If he stays in st.louis, he will be revered as a legend, up there with Musial. I am not knocking the cubs nor any other organization, but the level of comfort he has here with everything around him, would make it very tough to pull him out of here unless it was a crazy offer. Ontop of it all, he has won two world series here and knows we are commited to be competitive. I do hope the cubs make a FA splash, but I personally feel it wont be with Albert. I am supposed to hate the cubs, but I could not personally imagine a wilder scene than if the cubs win a WS.

z's trade value currently is nonexistant. the best the cubs can do, is unload him and his contract. if they offered him and got back a case of ballpark brawts, they'd take it just to get rid of the contract. i wouldnt expect anything substantial in return, as this is obviously a huge salary dump

Better defense. No annoying pause in his delivery. That's all I've got. i actaully have to disagree about him being doug davis. davis in his entire career, won double digits only 5 times. buhrle has 11 straight double digit win seasons and in EACH of those years, he finished with 200+ innings. out of those 11, 8 of them he had a sub 4 ERA. buhrle has never had an amazing whip, nor strikeout totals, but if you want to bet on a guy to win double digits in a year, he's not a bad bet. i severely underrated this guy. but i think that goes with the job he does, its not flashy, but he has proven without electric stuff, that he can get batters out and he can win games. i would bet that buhrle continues to win 10+ games for at least a few more seasons, then who knows.

as for the marlins, i see a lot of this a PR stunt. it may or may not be true and this is all pure speculation on my part, but with the crap attendance they've had, they need to stir the pot. making a FA a "substantial" offer, doesn't mean jack, a "competitive" offer, thats another story. would you, or I, or anyone, consider say, a 7 year 133m contract substantial? yes. 133m is substantial money. is it competitive? heck no, not for what say, albert or prince are looking for. imagine this, imagine living in florida...the news is probably how they made offers to 3 FA's. are they going to get all 3? most likely not. almost certainly not. but its still news and its still talked about. the team most talked about in baseball right now, is probably THE miami marlins, and they have yet to ink a big player. but everyones talking about them. get some excitement down there, drop a new name, logo, and awful stadium, and its all still news. if i were a GM, and i thought i had 1% chance to sign albert or prince, i'd fly them in and take the chance. you don't know till you try. do i think either of the first basemen are going to down there? heck no. considering they draw 14,000 or so per game, they need to drum up interest in an area thats never proven to be a baseball hotbed in terms of fans attendance. give the fans hope, show them that they are trying, or at least give them the illusion that they are trying.

I'm guessing they're finally going to give Brown his chance in LF. I don't think they are going to have too much problem replacing the guys they lost in 2011, but it's the guys they are going to lose in 2012/2013 that are going to be an issue. They aren't going to be able to keep all of them, and they don't have many replacements for them waiting. i agree that brown should be getting his chance. though im not quite sure that this signing makes a whole lot of sense. the phils are lacking offense, consistant offense. and obviously theres a window there as some of the guys are getting older. i'd have thought they'd look to upgrade the offense more than spend a ton on a closer. when we faced them in the playoffs this past year, i can honestly say that noone in their lineup scared me. i felt that rollins was hot and was getting on a lot, but after rollins, you can get those guys out. the bottom of their lineup was just abysmal. so im not sure what their plan is, but whatever it is they are good at hiding it.