cubweiser03

Different situations. Aramis wasnt a free agent last year. He gave up his chance for free agency this year by signing a contract with 3 more guaranteed years rather than 1. If he were a free agent this year their would be a lot of talk surrounding his hamstring. He got a good deal, plus he can opt out if he wants to test the FA market next year.

Smoke Em? I admire you confidence but thats pretty strong. Both of OSU's losses were to top 5 teams and games they could have won. Its not like they got blown out verse texas or penn state. When was the last time OSU got smoked, probably not since Cooper was coach, it just doesnt happen. You neednt think about OSU/ND bowl game, Michigan will hopefully take care of business this coming saturday.

Profanity rules need to be lifted in this thread. There's a time a place for everything, this is that moment. Anyway the best i can do is DAMNIT. Why didnt they give hairston this money or are they going to do that too? Oh wait....he cant catch the ball.

This is unbelievable. I didnt know what the terms were til on got here but $2.5M is ridiculous. To me that is not bench player role salary, that is starter salary which totally sucks. As others has said before who would pay neifi the same as todd walker, whatta joke. Without a doubt this the most ive ever been disappointed in Jim Hendry since he became farm director for the Cubs. "Ive decided i like guys who catch the ball"? What kind of moronic statement is that. Jim has been around the game long enough and now he 'decides' to like guys who catch the ball?! Is this because of him watching the white sox, man that is so lame.

NU Vs OSU. Northwesterns offense might do well against the bucks. OSU had trouble with Michigan State's spread offense, they didnt stop the run well and drew stanton had open guys throughout the game. OSU might be looking ahead to the Michigan game as well.

Yes. Fist pump time.

Im pumped for this game even though i can only get it on the radio. Ill be really disappointed if they dont win this one. Cant say ive felt that way in a while.

Juan Gone-Selfish bastard Josh Beckett Kirk Reuter Kenny Rogers John Rodriguez. Dont call yourself JRod please.

Penn State looked reallllly good. Their offense is nothing like last years and Mrob is much better in this more spread out offense. I cant believe this is baiscally the same team as last years. I was surprised at how well the Dline shut down wiskys offense. If they dont win the big ten id be shocked. NU with a nice victory too. Can they beat the bucks, i hope so. Miami's D is awesome.

Why is Penn State favored by 10.5 points against Wisc? If this game is about determining the Big Ten champ why is the spead so huge? Penn State 3.5 maybe but 10.5. No way.

The Cubs were cleary more patient with RISP than without. .267/.316/.447 No one on----3,275 PA .270/.324/.440 Overall .258/.336/.414 RISP----------1,359 PA So not only did they raise their OBP with RISP but thats with there batting average falling 9 points. A total patience addition of 29 points. The problem with lack of RISP is batting average, it doesnt really do all that much to get a walk with runners on, tis better to get a hit. While the Cubs had a lower BA with RISP the Cardinals drastically improved theirs. .259/.321/.409 No one on----3,108 PA .270/.339/.423 Overall .291/.377/.436 RISP----------1,425 PA The Cards raised their OBP 56 points with RISP but they had a 32 point increase in their BA! Without the batting average increase they raised their OBP 24 points compared to the Cubs raising theirs 29 points, less the batting average decrease, with RISP. Not getting hits at opertune times is what cost the Cubs runs, nothing to do about patience.

This is the 1st year pujols has stolen more than 5 bases in a year (16). Pujols career is 2-1 SB/CS while Arod career is 4.5-1 SB/CS. Arod has more speed no doubt. If i need a guy to steal a base im going with Arod. If i need a guy to score from second on a hit im not thinking twice about sending Arod but i'll think twice on pujols. There isnt a question on who you would rather have on base in the game, especially in the late innings.

Ill take a great pitcher over a great hitter anyday, especially the playoffs. What would be a great game by a pitcher and what would constitute a great game by a batter? Pitcher CG shutout. What are the team records of a pitcher throwing a CG shutout...probably pretty damn good. Id say over 90% (im not saying pitching is 90% of the game, just saying that # for effect). Batter. This is harder. Find something that happens as often as a CG shutout and see what the teams record are in those games. 2 homerun games, 4-5 RBI's. Im going to guess a 'great' game by a pitcher has more a winning effect on the outcome of the game than a 'great' game by a batter.

If the Cubs were the Tigers id say go for it no problem and put him in the rotation. If they are going to put him in the rotation they better have jerome williams on the team and in the pen in case Angel gets hurt again. Rusch is not a fall back option. Jerome isnt as good in the pen but if you want Angel to start your going to have to accept those bumps. Jerome pitched pretty well as a starter for the Cubs, its going to be hard for him to accept a role in the pen. I dont think its easy for a team like the Cubs who want to win the division to give Angel the #5 starter position and have him go down with an injury or even...gulb....fail. It seems safer to have him come out of the pen at the beginning of the season.

No. Well, yes, but the team hasn't come close to playing a good full 4 quarters since week 1 against Ohio. And MSU has? They blew a 21 point lead to ND and needed OT for the win and just this week had OSU beaten with 5 minutes left until they blew it after recovering Troy Smiths fumble. This will be a serious shootout. NU has a very good chance of winning this game. State's loss in Columbus was a huge letdown.

Giles is my #1 offseason choice. I really wouldnt mind if they overpaid for him either. If the Cubs can good production (like many here think they can) from Murton the corner outfielders as a total would still be pretty inexpensive even if you overpay for Giles. Murton wont be making more than a $1M for the next 2-3 years. $13M+$1M/2= $7M for two positions. Giles would be a great compliment to Lee and Ramirez. Abreu would be a total bonus. Who does Philly have to replace him if they trade him?

WS conteding team is what i want.

well...JP uses stats/probability to pick a player. it isn't a full proof method, but the likelihood of him picking a solid player over the traditional scout method is appreciably greater. it may take time before we see it, but it will happen given enough time. BASED ON WHAT?? Everyone keeps spouting off old-schoolesque cliches about Ricciardi and nobody seems to have a single shred of evidence as to why he's a better GM than Hendry. =D> I just don't get this convo. What - other than pure speculation - makes all of you think that he is a "better" GM than JH? IMO, he's shown a lack of judgment in his offseason acquisitions. Koskie is a nice player, but they already had guys to play on the corners of the IF. What they needed was some back-end bullpen help, or even another starter to take the pressure off of Halladay (Lily, who Riccardi has constatly touted, has been brutal). I prefer not to say this (b/c it almost always comes off as antaganistic), but I think some of you like this guy simply due to his former association w/ Mr. Beane. For reference purposes: Koskie in 2005: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?statsId=6110 And career: http://www.baseball-reference.com/k/koskico01.shtml Jay's roster: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/teams/roster?team=tor Can i add not resigning Chris Carpenter to his list of bad offseason decisions. Bad, very bad. To me he is riding the coattails of beane and moneyball. EDIT: They released him and gave up on him.

Nor the Vinny Castilla 2 year contract.

Id be willing to throw in a kicker for Nomars 2006 incentives. IF he can reach 550 PA id be willing to have 2007 be guaranteed at say $10M+. When Nomar plays he rakes, if he can stay healthy in 2006 then offere him an opportuntiy to have 2007 guaranteed. Just like Maddux but hope he doesnt suck as much.

Dope has more upside than moore but i think the probabilty of moore being more successful in the majors is better. Dopes year was just horrible. They are the same age and moore had a much better year than dope. Moore improved a lot this year while dope regressed a lot. I know moore repeated but again i go to they are the same age. Top prospects dont put up numbers dope just did this year and regress that much.

Home runs. Way to many long balls. He's giving more home runs/inning than greg maddux. He's got a better BAA than in 03 but the long balls kill him. Hes just as hard to hit but when they hit em they are hitting it harder. Plus hes walking too many people. 3inn-1bb instead of 4-1 in 03.

So hitting .350+ in AA isnt success. If only he put corey in more situations to be successful, Im going to blame Dusty for Corey's failures now. Can it go that way too?

Corey would be last of my options and heres why. In this situation an extra base hit is worthless all i need is a single or walk. Of this group corey clearly has the most knack for a extra base hit but i dont need it here, the game is tied and all i need is one run. Of the 4 players listed im going to go into extra innings 7 out of 10 times, not good. Id rather have corey as a man to lead off an inning and better utilize his power and or speed. Or i could use him as pinch runner later in the game to steal a base and score from second on a hit ala dave roberts. Corey is most likely to hit a homer in pinch hit situation but again i dont need that here. Ill get fried in the press room by not using him but that ok.

For comparison im going to look no further than Michael Barrett. I dont see why he cant put up AT LEAST .280-.290/.340-.350 and hit 10 more homers than Michael next year in full time duty. In the few games ive watched Murton i see a lot of similarities (statistically speaking too).