Outshined_One

Huh. Perhaps they were scouting someone on Kane County?

ya damn right

Brave or foolish? :wink: The line between the two is quite thin.

...okay then. This constant shuffling of the bullpen doesn't make much sense, but hey, whatever.

Early morning (10 AM) in the first half of the season, then later in the evening (7 PM) for the second half of the season. And yes, something tells me Josh Donaldson would be glad to move to Boise for the weather upgrade alone.

Minnesota's first rounder signed quite fast. Don't remember his name, but he signed for way below slot level money as well. He was also an incredible overdraft, as memory serves.

Depending on who you ask, it was anything from a change to a splitter.

Is it me or have the Cubs been crapping the bed whenever they manage to get to 5.5 games behind the Brewers?

People look at the 40 HRs and the power-hitter body and automatically assume Dunn's a middle-of-the-order run producer. He's not. He doesn't put the ball in play nearly enough to drive in the guys on base ahead of him with any sort of consistency. I recently came across a stat called OBI (and OBI%). OBI (Others Batted In) = runs batted in, except for the batter driving himself in via a home run. Equal to RBI-HR. OBI% = the fraction of runners on base who were driven in during a batter's plate appearances. Baseball's elite run producers show OBI%s of around 20%. Numbers in the high teens are good; mid-teens are decent; low teens are below average. Dunn was at 12.7% in 2006 (good for #208 of 256 guys w/ 300+ PAs), and 13.5% in 2005 (187th of 275). Needless to say, that's not the sort of production you want out of your #3/4/5 hitters. Here's a legitimate question I have about that, however. Is this a byproduct of Dunn not being able to drive in runner in these situations or is this a byproduct of Dunn not having anyone in front of him who got on base regularly enough for him to drive in those runners through something other than homeruns? One other point I think people are overlooking. Even though Dunn is prone to strikeouts, he's really good at drawing walks. While there are incredibly few situations where a walk can produce an RBI, it's a productive AB and gets another runner on base. That's something worth having in a situation with runners on.

410 I believe Where are they building the new park? Z is looking good tonight, at least on gameday. I really have no idea about the new park. I only know it's 410 to CF because BB was talking about it earlier. The new park will be about 6 or so blocks south of the Capitol near the Anacostia River. Cool. When is the projected date for the completion of the park? For some reason, I keep thinking in 2008..... Of course, I could be wrong as usual. :D In time for the Nationals' home opener in 2008, by all accounts.

griiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiits

That or Zambrano running through a stop sign and creating a play at the plate. Believe me, I wouldn't put it past him to bowl over a catcher. That's what I was worrying about-Theriot doesn't get that many extra base hits, and if he did single Z had a good chance of getting himself thrown out somewhere on the bases. I was more worried about Z deciding the create a collision at the plate and getting himself injured in the process.

That or Zambrano running through a stop sign and creating a play at the plate. Believe me, I wouldn't put it past him to bowl over a catcher.

Any time there's a chance of Zambrano going from first to third, it piques my interest.

Great, now the Second Coming could happen tonight and it STILL wouldn't be the lead story on BBTN! Yep. Easy lead story for ESPN. No debate tonight. Hmmmmmmmmm................. I smell Pedro Gomez Bob Ley's working on the latest installment in his 589,798,432 part series "STEROIDS STEROIDS STEROIDS STEROIDS STEROIDS" as we speak.

Great, now the Second Coming could happen tonight and it STILL wouldn't be the lead story on BBTN!

I'll buy you a cookie if that ends up being the final line.

Braun has been struggling lately on D, is he supposed to be a good defensive 3rd baseman or no? Average.

Everything I'm hearing suggests Yi's going to Golden State. That Jason Richardson trade was dumb from the Bobcats' perspective and gave the Warriors plenty of ammunition for an eventual trade for Yi.

This team better have brought the offense with them to the ballpark today. Something tells me life's going to be interesting on the mound with the way Lilly's pitching.

Between this and Hank White, I think the Cubs would be set.

I dunno. At this early stage in his career I'd rather see him continue to exercise patience, even if it doesn't work out as much. I'd hate to see him go 'first-pitch crazy' like CPatt did. Yes, his swing is much better than CPatt's, but still. How did Patterson make it to the majors with that terrible loopy swing anyway? You don't see many quality four seam face-high fastballs and sliders low and away at AA and below. He never learned to recognize those pitches and it's just absolutely creamed him at the major league level.

He made it, but he's listed as a National for some reason.

If we're assuming health and sanity, Rick Ankiel, Mark Prior, and Kerry Wood would all have to be up there with Pedro, wouldn't they?