Outshined_One

Some fun info on Burke: -19 year old at Low A, which means he's quite young for his level. -Strikes out a lot (73 Ks in 213 ABs), but also walks a decent amount (26 BBs with a .094 IsoD). -Not much power to him. 7 2Bs, 1 3B, and 1 HR. -His home/away splits are intriguing: .484 OPS (Home) versus .665 OPS (Away). -Despite his low average, he's actually been lucky with BABIP. I really wish I were making this up. His BABIP is .321, which means his batting average is actually higher than it should be. -He wasn't much better in the AZL last season, either. .313/.294/.607 in 163 ABs is not that good. ...what in the heck? Does someone have his scouting report from the draft when the Padres took this guy?

Kyler Burke's a RF at the Padres' MWL affiliate. If it's a pitcher, it ain't him.

This I like better. The reasons why I disliked the Barrett + E-Patt for Bowen + Linebrink deal... -Patterson has a chance to develop into a legitimate above average 2B with some amount of power and speed. I like Fontenot and Theriot, don't get me wrong, but Patterson has a much higher ceiling than those two. -Defense from a catcher is overrated. We already have three guys (Blanco, K. Hill, and Soto) who can play C every day who won't produce much offensively. While Bowen has improved offensively this season over a small sample size, his numbers don't suggest he'll be much of an upgrade over those three. -Barrett's been slumping at the plate, but he has a good enough bat that he'll be able to turn it around in the near future. Part of the problem has been his poor performance in a short period of time this season, but to assume he won't turn around and be productive again is just folly. -Linebrink is a good setup man, but he's on the wrong side of 30 and he pitches in the most pitcher-friendly park in the league. I'm leery of that.

If it's Barrett and E-Patt for Bowen and Linebrink, I'll be angry. While Barrett's stock has dropped this season, that's just a dumb trade.

Screw that, if there's a trade involving Garnett, take him over Kobe. Garnett would be a perfect fit and solve a heck of a lot of the Bulls' woes underneath.

Would anyone be opposed to Brandan Wright if he fell to 9? It sounds like he needs some seasoning and strengthening, but he has the highest ceiling in this draft behind Durant and Oden.

Have these talking heads SEEN some of the deals which were used to acquire stars of Kobe's level? The most recent one was the Shaq deal and we all saw how that turned out! Kobe's got the Lakers over a barrel and the Bulls don't even need to trade for him. If the Lakers want a deal like Deng, Gordon, Tyrus Thomas, PJ Brown S&T, and the #9 for Kobe, the Bulls could tell them to buzz off without losing anything in the process.

Giddyup Boise!

:shock:

Here's my thing... I'm all for getting Kobe on the Bulls. Frankly, he's a superstar and he still has plenty of gas left in the tank. For all the grief he gets for being a me-first player, he also has had to deal with a horrendous supporting cast in recent years. If you give the guy a good team around him, I think he'll be a much better team player and those whispers about him not being a team player would go away. He wants to prove he can win a title with a team that is solely his own and I think he'd go to some extraordinary lengths to do so. However, there's a problem with picking up Kobe. While he'd give the Bulls a lot, he does little to nothing when it comes to the Bulls' lack of a consistent and effective inside presence on the offensive and defensive glass. Let's face it, the Bulls need a big man down low who can score and open things up for everyone. Ben Wallace and PJ Brown don't inspire much in me when it comes to those things, especially considering their ages. Tyrus Thomas could develop into that guy, but I don't know if he'll ever have the size to be able to consistently take the punishment down there. In all honesty, if the Bulls decide to do this trade, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they manage to hang onto at least one of Tyrus Thomas and the #9 for that very reason (or if they can somehow get Bynum along with Kobe). Kobe would be able to make up for pretty much any other player traded (and most combinations thereof), but otherwise...egh. The Pistons series showed that this team needs a legitimate threat under the basket. Kobe won't give that to the Bulls.

Somewhere, Dusty Baker and Flippy Alou are cackling maniacally upon hearing this news.

I don't think anyone here is advocating trading DeRosa simply for the sake of trading him. I think most people on this board would agree that he was a surprisingly good pickup and has been one of the better players on this team both offensively and defensively. However, at the same time, it is possible that his value might be at an all-time high right now. Maybe there's a good likelihood that he'll continue to produce beyond the amount of money the Cubs are going to pay him over the coming seasons, but at the same time, there was plenty of consternation when he was first signed over his possible productivity. Maybe he's producing well now, but will he continue throughout the duration of his contract? Along with that, this team has a surplus of cheap and potentially productive guys who could play 2B in Theriot, Patterson, and Fontenot. Once again, it's not a given these three guys will outproduce DeRosa over the coming seasons, but the Cubs have a lot of options and they're going to have to start freeing up some space. I think I should emphasize something right now, though. I'm not burying DeRosa. Far from it. I think he's one of the most valuable members of this team in terms of what he brings to the table for what the Cubs are paying him. I'd hate to see the Cubs arbitrarily trade him away for low level prospects and spare parts. However, if the Cubs traded him for some worthwhile prospects or as part of a larger deal for a worthwhile upgrade at a position of need, I'd be all in favor of it.

It's also what makes him a valuable trading chip though. Precisely. If some team is dumb enough to part with a B+ level prospect or better for DeRosa, I'd take the prospect and run.

Florida traded him to Texas with Will Smith and Ryan Snare for Ugueth Urbina. Wow.

Considering his youth and ungodly IsoD, I'd say no. that 38.7 K% certainly isn't helping things. that's an ungodly K rate. The guy sucks at making contact, but his relative youth and high BB rate are reason for some hope.

Why do I have a feeling this will be one of those games where Maddux goes 7 and won't see a single ball leave the outfield?

Why do I have a feeling this will be one of those games where Maddux goes 7 and won't see a single ball leave the infield?

Tulowitzki has been awful this year, granted he has big upside. Theriot and Tulowitzki have virtually been the same plyer, except Tulowitzki has hit a couple more dingers and Theriot has stolen more bases. Adding Tulowitzki would be a wash with the way he's playing right now, we might as well keep Theirot at SS and Fontenot at 2B. Plus if we trade Barrett we need a bat to supplement the loss of power from his position, and Hawpe fits the bill as well as the debacle in RF, and I'd miuch rather have Hawpe and his 139OPS+ over Tulowitzki's 84OPS+ Considering Tulowitzki was called up last season, the Cubs would have him under their control for a considerable amount of time. He also skipped AAA altogether, so some of his development time went flying out the window. He'll get better with time. I'd do Jones + Barrett for Tulo in a heartbeat. However, something tells me that's not going to happen. The Rockies have a pretty good system talent-wise, although many of them have been struggling or putting up unimpressive numbers on the season with a few exceptions (Greg Reynolds). Plus, the team has shown a complete blasé attitude about throwing around cash towards players who don't deserve it...so something tells me money wouldn't be a factor in terms of acquiring talent. I think they'd make a good trade partner.

Ugggggggggggggh. What a disappointment.

http://img299.imageshack.us/img299/9674/hamsterwh8.gif

The Barrett fight hurt him in my eyes, but this guy is so hard not to like. I was cracking up when I read about this.

While some guys are legitimate flops, others seem to be more the victim of injuries than anything else. That's something else altogether, imo

Daniel Moskos will soon be joining those ranks, based on what I've seen of the guy.

My favorite umpire story... My dad went to medical school down in South Carolina and the school had a club baseball team. The umpire behind home plate was giving the team a rough time one day calling balls and strikes to the point where the pitcher pretty much had it. The pitcher goes up to the ump and the following exchange occurs: Pitcher: "That's it, I've had it! If you ever get carted into the emergency room, you better pray I don't take your case." Umpire: "Boy, if you're as good of a doctor as you are a pitcher, then you'd better let me bleed!"

Here's a fun exercise, go to the National Baseball HOF website and look at all of the second basemen inducted who played most of their careers after 1945. Here's the list: Nellie Fox Rod Carew Bobby Doerr Bill Mazeroski Joe Morgan Jackie Robinson Ryne Sandberg Red Schoendienst That's it. Some comments... -Carew spent the first 8 years of his career at 2B, then the last 7 at 1B/DH. Robinson's best stretch was during the five years he spent at second, but he played much of his career elsewhere around the diamond. It's a bit tough to classify both as 2Bs compared to some of the guys on this list who spent the overwhelming majority of their careers at 2B. -The two players above aside, what an underwhelming list. Mazeroski was a joke of a selection while Nellie Fox was a bit of a head-scratcher. Schoendienst is a name I'm unfamiliar with, ditto Doerr, so I can't comment on either. However, Doerr's offensive numbers compare pretty well to Sandberg. I wonder how his defense compared? After a cursory evaluation of players from this era and the ones on the above list, Biggio is a lock. His numbers slot in pretty well with Doerr and Sandberg, plus there are enough other positive factors in his favor to see him get elected. Frankly, he deserves it. However, the more fun question is, what other 2Bs from this era have a shot at getting in? Here are some possibilities: Robbie Alomar Jeff Kent Lou Whitaker ...ouch. Whitaker was a really underrated 2B, though. In spite of the lack of accolades (save for AL ROY), he put up some darn good numbers.