Outshined_One

They were players in the Matsuzaka and Igawa bidding wars, as memory serves me correctly. I think they also briefly were involved with Iwamura. Depending on the way things shake out next season, they could get involved in the Fukudome bidding. He is a free agent and no MLB team would have to pay a posting fee for the right to negotiate, so it wouldn't hurt to look into it.

:D Link

They'd be most welcome, Nate!

The DVD trio takes another hit. Ouch.

:(

While losing Butch hurts Wisconsin, they're a team built for the tournament. They have one of the best coaches in college basketball with Bo Ryan. Most teams they'll be facing have not come across a defense quite like Wisconsin, which can grind things to a halt (hint: bet the under on any given Wisconsin game). Wisconsin has had two weaknesses in the past. The first is with teams like MSU, where a guy can catch fire and drain threes even though he gets bad looks. Drew Neitzel drove me nuts this year because Wisconsin would cover him well, but he would still manage to hit tough shots when he caught fire. The second is with teams like UNC last season, where the opposing team is clearly more talented than Wisconsin. UNC demolished the Badgers last year because they simply had too many guys who were taller, stronger, and faster. Wisconsin can keep it close with those teams, but usually they'll tire or start making mistakes. The United Center will be raucous and full of Badgers fans, which is a huge advantage to Wisconsin. I'm not too worried about UNLV (interesting matchup, but I'm not feeling it) or Georgia Tech (too inconsistent and a terrible road record). Oregon and Florida, on the other hand, scare the crap out of me.

THAT WAS CLEAN!

If Gallagher ends up in AA, I predict his stay down there will be a short one.

Marshall's going to be in AAA, guaranteed.

Not their best effort, but I'll take it from the Badgers.

Has Darko managed to vaguely redeem himself yet or is he still a huge bust?

I can't bother to watch the NC State/Duke game. The announcers are such blatant Duke homers that it's sickening, especially with what they've been saying about the hit on Hansborough.

If he ever gets his power back, I'll be one happy camper.

He's been down there for all of Spring Training. Someone really needs to get a muzzle down there.

It's nice to see Pie play well, but Lou's comments sure make it sound like the decision is already made that he's not going to be up right away. I think that's been the plan all along. Spring Training is never a very good time to make evaluations about whether or not a guy is ready for the big leagues. A guy might look really strong throughout Spring Training, but you can never be sure if he's just hit a hot streak or if it really is sustainable. Pie's looked really good so far, no doubt about it. However, considering the rules of service time and the fact that Pie still has some kinks to work out of his game, it would be a good idea to at least let him start the season in AAA and let him pound the door down. Besides, it'd be a huge headache having Soriano, Jones, Murton, Pie, Floyd, and Ward all competing for potential OF spots at once.

Remind me again, why the heck do people think Wade Miller can be an asset if he throws in the high 80s, yet Prior is washed up for throwing in the high 80s? I'm not saying this is a good thing, but this is a weird paradox to me.

Wonder why the hell I put Neifi Perez in my lineup. ;)

As a general rule, I tend to disfavor stolen base attempts. When you have a guy who is 65% effective, that suggests to me that he either is a below average baserunner in terms of judging reads (or something comparable) or that he had a moron for a manager. However, there are some cases where I'm fine with stolen bases, even if a guy does not have ideal speed. There are plenty of pitchers (Maddux) and catchers (Piazza) who are poor when it comes to holding and throwing out baserunners. These instances tend not to pop up very often. More often than not, I'd rather not have guys try to steal bases.

Meaning? I'm aware of the small sample size but how often do you continue to steal with him? What if he gets thrown out the next time and is now 2-5? When is the sample the correct size? I don't think anyone on this board goes by pure numbers Cuse, you know that. Nobody is going to send Adam Dunn on a bunch of stolen base escapades over the course of the season in order to determine whether he'd be 75% successful or not. Pie has an established history in the minors and the coaches know what he is capable of doing on the basepaths. Once Pie gets a reasonable sample size, then we can make the judgment as to whether or not he should be stealing with any regularity.

What precisely is it about Ichiro that you think causes pitchers to become careful with him and more likely to make mistakes than with Murton? Assuming that Ichiro and Murton both see the same mistake pitch, which hitter do you think has a better chance of making that pitcher pay for his mistake? While Ichiro has the upper hand in batting average, Murton is a much greater power threat than Ichiro. While Ichiro is not quite Juan Pierre-like in that pitchers could simply throw him fastballs down the middle without worrying about the consequences, Ichiro still is primarily a contact hitter without much power. While Murton isn't a hulking monstrosity, he still has a good chance to put up 20-25 HRs in a season. Look, I'd understand your argument if we were talking about someone like Miguel Cabrera, Albert Pujols, or Barry Bonds. Some hitters in the game get special treatment from pitchers because of their good eyes and ability to hit the holy crap out of a pitch. I don't see Ichiro in nearly the same category as those guys. That particular package would seriously hurt the Cubs offensively (and pitching-wise). The defensive upgrade would not nearly be enough to offset the difference in runs.

I understand your win now attitude, but this statement is puzzling to me. While a number of people discard statistics beyond your typical AVG, RBI, R, and so on, I think a number of traditional people would have a problem with something like perception. Following what you sad, if you asked these same pitchers to name the Top 5 leadoff hitters in baseball right now, I'm willing to bet the vast majority would have Juan Pierre among those names. However, those of us who watched Pierre day in, day out all of last season would almost certainly exclude Pierre from that list. Perception does not get you wins. Perhaps those 90 some-odd pitchers would rather face Ichiro, but I'm willing to bet Murton would get better results against those pitchers than Ichiro would next season. Also, future and salary issues aside, this would not be a straight up trade of Murton for Ichiro. The original poster advocated Murton+J.Jones+Marshall+Gallagher as an opening package. Assuming the Mariners took the offer, you'd have the following OF (assuming Pie is in AAA to start the season): Ward/Floyd - Soriano - Ichiro That OF would be much less productive than Murton - Soriano - Jones (with Floyd and Ward on the bench). Given Floyd's fragile body, there's no guarantee that he would be able to play LF most days, leaving Ward as the everyday LF. Maybe Pie can come up and make the OF Soriano - Pie - Ichiro, but it's difficult to say whether Pie would be an improvement over Floyd/Ward, given that he has yet to play in the majors. Secondly, you'd be giving up Marshall and Gallagher. While both have their share of question marks, depth might well be a critical issue this season. After Prior's panic-inducing performance yesterday, a nagging doubt about his ability to start every fifth day is coming to the forefront. If the fifth starter spot becomes a legitimate issue, the Cubs might face some serious problems if they do not have any workable options. Lord help us if someone else goes down with an injury in that situation. In essence, by trading for Ichiro with that package, you run a substantial risk of reducing your outfield's total offensive output and reduce potentially critical pitching depth in the process. That's not a risk this team can afford to take.

He was paid a big bonus, had a good season at low-A at age 17, has a high ceiling and has a relatively good idea at the plate. You forgot the fact that he's a Met. If he were a Royal, he wouldn't be sniffing this list.

If there's anyone who knows Hill with the Cubs, it'd be Wilken. Wonder what he'd think about picking Hill up?

Ronny Cedeno - Ron Ce Mark Prior - Mark Previous Carlos Zambrano - The Lawnmower Cliff Floyd - Cliffy, Pink Floyd, Tim's Brother from Another Mother Cesar Izturis - Izzy, Hail Cesar, Little Cesar Angel Guzman - Gooz Carlos Marmol - The Marmot

Can someone please explain to me why the heck Fernando Martinez is getting such an ungodly amount of hype?