cubweiser03

Did anybody see this one coming? I dont remember ever reading the Pats being interested. From PFI... While not completed the number will be basically be $7.5 million per year and $17 million guaranteed.

Boston Herald reports Adalius Thomas to the Pats.

Offensive Guards go early... Steinbach 7 years 49 Million=Browns Dockery 7 years 49 Million=Bills $$$ DAMN $$$ More... NFL Network's Adam Schefter reports the 49ers agreed to terms with cornerback Nate Clements on a eight-year, $80 million contract. $22 million was guaranteed. Clements can say he's the highest paid defensive player in NFL history, but he didn't get the most guaranteed money and the deal is essentially six years and $44.5 million. NFL Free Agency is awesome. They dont mess around.

Steinbach to the Browns. 7 year deal. Cross him off.

From Adam Schein at Foxsports... Joe Horn is flapping his gums a bit too much in the aftermath of the Saints decision to let him go. League sources have confirmed to us that Horn failed his latest physical with the Saints. Thus, cutting him was a no brainer. In fact, the Saints did want to keep him at a lower number for this year, but Horn refused. And that's strange on 2 fronts; Horn knows he failed his physical and he told Sirius NFL Radio when he signed his extension a few years ago that he knew he would never see the back end of the deal. Cutting him was a no brainer by Mickey Loomis and Sean Payton. Maybe it would be wise if Horn stopped trashing the Saints. His loose lips certainly won't be attractive to his next team. And neither will his questionable health.

From ESPN.com Bengals guard Eric Steinbach is heading to Cleveland for a visit, with secondary trips set up with Tampa Bay and Seattle.

$16M. WOW. Young is a very good player but wow. Aramis deal looking pretty damn good.

Sweet

Sweet

Game Thread. WOOOO!

Why? Because i think the stats premise is bunk.

I echo much that has already been said so ill add these stats i pay particular attention to. B's ISoD-Not all OBP is equal, gives me an idea on plate discipline. BB/K-Gives an idea on plate/strike zone coverage. Some guys have high OBP but terrible plate/strike zone coverage. I find this especially usefull for minor leaguers. HR's and Double-Old School but i use this more than SLG and OPS. Ps' BAA-Measures 'stuff' BB/IP and K/IP. WHIP is all nice and quick but your gonna have to look at these 2 stats anyway to get 'inside' WHIP. I wish SLG againsts and OBP against were more readily available. Defense Ugh im pretty old school i guess. Range Factors and Zone Ratings are neat but they still need to put in context, Errors are damn usefull, plus yes i prefer what i see in the field. Did i just set off the NSBB fire alarm... VORP is usefull at the end of the year, i dont use it during. Anybody use this for evaluating minor leaguers, never heard or seen much of that. Ohh and just gotta say this.....Voris McCracken and his 'stat' can kiss my ass.

I hadnt see Houston play so i can't comment on his skills compared to Hall's. Hall being the first CB selected is a good indicator that this CB class doesn possess the lock down corner. If he is selected first i think thats more of an indicator than the publicity he garnered from playing for Michigan or how good of a CB he truly is. #1 by default, any other year he is not the first CB taken, however he would still be 1st rounder. He really hadnt got much publicity in his four years, Marlin Jackson got much more publicity than Hall ever had and in the end didnt possess the coverage/ball skills nor the timed speed Hall just put up. Hall>Marlin but by the publicity it would be reversed dramtically.

Leon Hall and Leron Landry impress scouts today. Landry with an blistering 4.35 Hall goes 4.39. Faster than many anticipated. I suspected about a 4.5

I hope Dempster doesnt straighten his hair our for his solo pic.

LB's Willis 6'1 242 goes at 4.49 David Harris 6'2 243 drops a 4.53. Damn. Timmons 6'1 234 goes 4.59 Poz 6'1 238 goes 4.67 Beason 6'0 237 goes 4.64 For you PSU fans...Shaw 6'1 236 drops a 4.51 Earl Everett- 4.88 Ouch Rufus-4.70 Link with all the combine numbers. http://fflivewire.com/players/PlayersCombine.asp Relative unknown linebackers Antwan Barnes and Zak DeOssie had impressive workouts at the combine. Barnes, an outside linebacker from Florida International, put on an impressive display of speed and strength. He led all linebackers with a 4.40 40-yard dash and finished second among his peers with 31 reps of the 225 bench. At 6'1" 240 pounds he has the size, speed, and strength scouts love. DeOssie, a huge linebacker from Brown, showed amazing speed for someone his size. After weighing in at 6'5" and 250 pounds he went out and ran a 4.53 40-time.

Chris Henry runs the fastest 40 for RB at 4.33 followed by... Peterson runs a 4.38 Pittman runs a 4.42 Lynch runs a 4.49 and 4.52 Pittman is a solid RB that isnt get as much acclaim as he should. Here is a scouting report of a player before his combine and 40 yard time. WR Jason Hill While there is nothing Hill can’t do on the field, he really does not possess any outstanding physical trait. He is not a true burner that will fly by defenders, and he does not have great size to physically outmatch defensive backs. Dude just ran 4.32.

Yeah you could say Jim needs to work on his shirt rotation a little more too. That shirt must be his ace.

Thats awful. TE speed.

Wade is more about throwing that hard curve, he's not a locate and finesse pitcher. Velocity may not matter so much on his fastball but it matters on his hard curve and getting that hard bite. If he is throwing high 80's fastball he aint gonna be the pitcher he was.

Wood throws 25 live rounds to hitters today. From Cubs.com..... "If I were Kerry Wood, I'd be very pleased with the way I threw," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "He looked nice and comfortable out there. He threw the ball nice and easy. [For the] first time out on the mound, [it was] very encouraging." Not only was Piniella impressed, but so were the hitters who faced him. Just ask infielder Casey McGehee, a non-roster invitee to camp. "It wasn't fun," said McGehee, the first batter to see Wood. "He looks pretty good. When he's telling you what's coming and he can buckle you on a breaking ball, he's got a pretty good one going. "I've never faced him before but the ball was coming out of his hand good, and he threw a couple sliders, and he buckled me even though he told me it was coming," McGehee said. "He located the ball pretty good." "He had some life, threw some real nice breaking pitches," Piniella said. "I'm sure he was probably a little nervous going out there first time out. I'm not talking about [first time] throwing batting practice but getting through the 25 pitches he threw. It was really encouraging." Next step for Wood will be 35 pitches to hitters. He's a little behind the rest of the pitchers after being slowed this spring by a freak accident when he fell out of his hot tub and bruised his chest. The right-hander could see Cactus League action next weekend.

Im pretty sure that guy in the middle is not Kerry Wood. Me either. Dempster?

Havent really seen or heard much of Lilly. Yes its early but he seems to be flying below the attention radar. Oh and stealing a line from my wife.... 18 months? http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070223/capt.azmg20202231927.cubs_spring_baseball_azmg202.jpg

Me either until i hear numbers. FWIW Brian Billick just signed a 4 year extension, prior to that on Jan. 17 he signded a one year contract at $5.4M. Lovie should be in his neighborhood.

haha, exercise cage. How bout we lock that cage and keep Eyre in there for a couple weeks. He needs to work on what hes working on a little longer.