JoshiQ

The stuff I see keep saying that they asked for DeWitt in a deal for Stewart. I don't think it means a straight up switch. I doubt all they would want is DeWitt. Now, they probably wouldn't want a ton more, but they are probably wanting a prospect along with DeWitt.

I don't get a lot of Astros fans. From a few forums that I've read it appears that they are looking for a new team to cheer for because of them moving to the AL. Say wha...? If the Cubs had to move to the AL or Royals moved to the NL, I would understandably be very pissed off, but I don't get the thought process behind ditching the team entirely. Seriously, would anyone here stop following the Cubs if they had to move to the AL West or AL Central?

You know, I think the Royals have just as good of a chance of winning the AL Central as the Cubs do the NL. Pirates may have gotten a bit lucky this year, but the Royals aren't quite the "at least we aren't the Royals" joke anymore.

Apparently Penny was just upset that Rodriguez was cursing loudly after he popped out. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Baseball/MLB/2011/08/26/18606066.html

I'll be there the 24th and the 25th. Should be a stress free weekend since I'm a fan of both teams, and they both suck this year.

Welcome home, Cedeno.

Nice throw, Koyie.

Aren't pitchers who throw this slowly supposed to be accurate?

Yeah, he'll be starting at first. Butler has been DHing pretty much the entire season with Kila Ka'aihue getting much of the playing time there (Gordon and Betemit getting a bit too). Kila was sent down with this move, and I know a lot of people on this board are fans of his. He could probably be picked up pretty cheap at this point. Of course, he's only batting .200 or so with 2 homers in somewhere around 100 ABs.

I was getting ready to post something about how "I told you so! We should have signed Adam Dunn!"...but he isn't exactly setting the world on fire. Yikes.

Is this some kind of magic or natural law? Magical.

It's not about whether it "goes your way" or not. It's about ensuring to the greatest degree possible (and practical) that games are decided correctly, which flows into correct statistics, correct playoff/non-playoff teams, correct draft positions -- everything. The plays are normally called correctly. The ones that aren't are probably close enough that there wouldn't be enough evidence to overturn the call. The time it would take to fix incorrect calls and then the argument that would ensue is just not worth it. What I'm saying about the "goes your way" comment is every team will end up getting the same amount of unfair calls by the end of the season. And it will probably end up with the right teams still being playoff teams and getting the right draft order.

for the same reason that you have officials on the field of play in every other game, to make a ruling on the routine plays (which constitute 99% of the calls probably) and rulings on close calls, with those rulings being maintained if video cannot change the call conclusively. do you really want a guy in a booth spending 15 minutes trying to figure out a bang-bang play at first? you let the umpire make the call, if look at it for a minute or two, if you can't overturn the call then move on. "sometimes it goes your way, sometimes it doesn't" just strikes me as lazy and irrational. But the guy in the booth wouldn't need 15 minutes. He'd just hit a red light for an out and a green light for safe. It would take a lot less time for him to do it that way for the "routine plays" and all of the bang-bang plays are going to go up to his booth anyways. And like you said, it wouldn't take 15 minutes, it would take a minute or two. And if you want to make it so the manager can only "throw the red flag" on 2-3 plays a game then eventually a call will be missed anyways. There really would be no reason for umps. And what the "sometimes it goes your way" comment has to do with being lazy is beyond me.

Then why even have umpires (except for home plate)? Just have some guy up in the booth watching on TV and he can make the out/safe calls. I've always been a fan of the human error aspect of the game. It's just part of baseball to me. Sometimes it goes your way, sometimes it doesn't.

Can't wait to see Cashner pitch this season. Hopefully he starts off on a positive note.

Bah. So close.

Mark Grace, please be quiet.

Which team is getting 10 runs? I can't believe Willie [expletive] Bloomquist went deep on us.

Stupid EI, giving me the DBag announcers.

You're being silly. No GM is thinking, "yeah give me the guaranteed .620 OPS." If they think they know what they're going to get, they obviously have their sights set higher than that. But how is that then "knowing what you are going to get"? That's hoping for something better than what is probable. Look you asked, "If you know a player is probably going to give you an OPS of .620, but you aren't quite sure about another second baseman, isn't the smart choice to go with the unknown?" And my response was, there isn't a GM in baseball that would disagree with that. So who exactly are you calling out here? If you'd go back to my original post I was responding to Rob. And it wasn't calling him out, he had just posted that Hendry seems to put a premium on "know what he is going to get" from a guy. I see people using that all the time as am explanation for when a GM signs a veteran that sucks. I know Rob wasn't saying it was going to be a good signing or anything like that, I just don't understand why a GM would want somebody over an unknown when the known is more than likely going to give you a less than .700 OPS. So there was no calling anybody out until you for some reason decided to respond to me.

I would be stunned if he was a Cub. We have 3 second baseman on the roster already, and all have more upside than whatever Castillo could give us offensively and defensively. The only reason he would become a Cub is if Jim Hendry's fetish for collecting broken down second basemen returned. We have three underwhelming young guys who don't offer anything we might be able to call consistent. Just knowing what you're gonna get is something Hendry seems to place a premium on. Hendry will send DeWitt down to AAA, platoon Castillo and Baker, and let Barney play backup MI. He'll then look to upgrade the position with an Aaron Hill or Kelly Johnson (maybe even a Jose Reyes) around the deadline if we're still in it. proclamation> I've never understood certain GM's fascination with getting plays because they know what they are going to get. If you know a player is probably going to give you an OPS of .620, but you aren't quite sure about another second baseman, isn't the smart choice to go with the unknown? I would think most AAA 2B can at least pull that number off, if not higher. But because you don't want to be surprised you will just go with the definite. Stupid decision making. You're being silly. No GM is thinking, "yeah give me the guaranteed .620 OPS." If they think they know what they're going to get, they obviously have their sights set higher than that. But how is that then "knowing what you are going to get"? That's hoping for something better than what is probable.

they had 11 hits...that's plenty. Not when they are 11 singles. Or did I miss an extra base hit? Huh? You can easily win a game with 11 singles and XBH. I'm guessing if you average 11 singles a game with no extra base hits, you will lose many more games than you win. Just ask the Royals last year.

Not quite the bomb I was hoping for. Not a great start to the season. Not overly impressed with anyone except for Castro.

I remember the days when that would have been gone easily.

Castro = OBP machine!