Outshined_One

Here's the breakdown as I see it, assuming the worst... -If the Cubs are in the race by the trade deadline, Zambrano's going nowhere. Trading your best pitcher in the middle of a pennant race is utter stupidity, especially given the enormous pressure on this organization to win. I have a hard time seeing how the Cubs could trade Zambrano while getting players back in return who could fill in for him immediately. Zambrano for A-Rod is a pipe dream, imo. -If the Cubs are out of it by the trade deadline, I'd absolutely guarantee teams would be lining up and getting into a bidding war with one another for Zambrano. He'd be the best way to instantly upgrade any rotation and could very well be the kind of guy who could put a team in a playoff chase over the top. Moreover, I think a package of players like Kendrick, Weaver, and Morales would be doable. Zambrano is a legitimate ace and we've seen guys with significantly less talent get traded for obscene packages. You don't think Zambrano could command a package like Tabata/Hughes/Sanchez from the Yankees, Maybin/Miller/Jurrjens from the Tigers, Pelfrey/Milledge/Gomez from the Mets? Personally, I think teams would be happy to offer up those packages to get what essentially would be a guaranteed playoff ticket in Zambrano.

A trade like this would utterly destroy our farm system. But it would also give this team one of the most frightening 1-2 punches in recent history. Yeowza.

Give him the one year deal to avoid arby, then try hammering out a long term deal. I know there are plenty of concerns about Z's health, but if he gets away because the Cubs refused to sign him to a long term deal and he manages to stay healthy and productive, rest assured that PLENTY of people are going to be angry about it. Let's hope Hendry decides against giving Cubs fans flashbacks to Greg Maddux's first go-round.

This strikes me as a Cubs top 10 prospect list you'd see for a keeper league, especially since they talked about stuff like EPatt's stolen base ability being valuable to fantasy leagues and Samardzija potentially becoming a closer. Groups like BA tend to focus on matters beyond the traditional 5x5 fantasy stats (AVG, RBI, R, HR, SB x ERA, K, WHIP, SV, W); this list focuses mostly on those stats. Some of those scouting reports are also out of date, imo. Pie against lefties actually is not as bad as this guy is making it out to be. Projecting his splits against LHPs to 400 ABs (amount he had against RHPs), he'd have 95 Ks and 31 BBs, as opposed to 89 Ks and 34 BBs against RHPs. His IsoD against LHPs is .066, as opposed to .056 against RHPs. The only thing holding him back against LHPs is the fact that his AVG and SLG go down a fair amount. I wouldn't be too worried about how he does against LHPs right now. Secondly, Gallagher's velocity jumped from 88-91 to 91-94 this past season. He also has a really good slider which the Cubs will let him use from time to time, but initially scrapped since they wanted him to develop a curve and change that were worthwhile. Finally...Clay Rapada at #10? Seriously? I mean, good relievers are always a positive and he's a fine talent, but that pick makes very little sense.

Something tells me he'll fit right in with the Red Sox. Japan also has . Think we can talk Len into trying out a homerun call like that? :D

This is the same team that was taking shots in the locker room during their WS run. I'll be doubled over in laughter if Red Sox fans throw a fit about this.

That would depend on who was the worst compared to expectations/salary or who was literally the worst. He's factoring salary and expectations into matters, which is why I chose those two. You could make a pretty good argument for Neifury, but the only people who thought he'd do well were kidding themselves. Come on, the guy put up a negative OPS+ (which I didn't even know was possible until I looked him up) in his first 45 major league ABs. That has to tell you something.

Anyone want to guess who #1 will be? I'm guessing Hundley or Hawkins.

He addressed it today (2/9) in AskBA He confirmed that the Cubs will pick #48 instead of #31 in the Supplemental First Round. All teams losing Type A FA's will select before teams that lost Type B FA's. ...okay then. That pretty much came out of nowhere.

I can't wait to hear the first idiot talk about potential draft pick trades. I have no confidence whatsoever in ESPN to pull this off in any meaningful or vaguely intelligent way.

This is the first I've heard of it, especially given the recently revised CBA laid out this new compensation clearly. I don't think it had anything on there about flipping draft slots like this. What XM show did you hear this on?

Whoever is at SS and 2B would have a bad day fielding those throws. Yikes.

Oy. I really worry that Tyrus is one of those guys who needs more of a hands-off approach rather than a kick in the pants approach. This isn't going to help his cause over the rest of the season, either.

Considering their youth and relative inexperience, I think we'll find out a lot more about these guys next season. As we all know, the Cubs love having guys scrap certain pitches so that they can focus on developing other pitches (Gallagher's slider, Pawelek's slider & splitter, etc) and also to keep them healthy. Both Atkins and Taylor managed to pitch roughly 140 innings apiece, which shows that they can at least withstand the grind of the season. Next season will be much better indicators of how their secondary pitches look.

Little bit from Column A, little bit from Column B.

More fun stuff:

You think the Cubs are going to help your sorrows? That made me smile. Hey Packers fans, I now understand your hatred of John Elway. It makes perfect sense after tonight's debacle.

Harvey's production this past season placed him right about where he should be in terms of hype, imo. He did not put up good numbers beyond his power output, imo. For the Cubs, it has to be Pie (with good reason). Granted, he could probably play CF right now and be a decent 7/8 hitter and a good fielder, he's still getting those Vlad Guerrero and Carlos Beltran comps that simply do not fit. The guy still hasn't reached his potential yet, but people are making these comparisons anyways, which I think might hurt expectations for him (remember Corey?). As for in the minors overall, I'll go with Jose Tabata. Yankees fans are about ready to crown the guy the second coming at the rate things are going.

Nifty, thanks.

Pure distilled evil, imo.

Not a bad deal. I hope they platoon him with the right guy.

Um...why are people convinced that Walker and Fuld would be serviceable in CF next season while doubting Pie's ability to produce comparable, if not markedly better numbers? Fuld's never played above A ball and Walker put up Pierre-like numbers at CF for AA West Tenn, only with 100+ strikeouts, and has never played in AAA. If you want to go young, just throw Pie out there. He's more talented than anyone else in the system and already has shown the ability to hit AAA pitching. Don't yo-yo him and give him consistency in the lineup and he'll have a shot at being productive. If you want a stopgap, they shouldsee what Soriano, Jock, or Theriot can do out there and make Pie force their hands by pounding AAA pitching.

Is the point that Price has a bad delivery? Or at least an "unclean" delivery? His mechanics can be cleaned up, but a few parts of his delivery might cause him trouble down the line if they go unfixed. My understanding is that his arm lags behind his body in his delivery and that his arm slot has a tendency to drop. Both help with his deception, but they might cause issues for him in the future.

Matt Harvey, COME ONNNNNNNNNNNNN DOWN!

If the Bears come out wearing Florida Gators jerseys, will they be guaranteed a win considering Peyton Manning's history against them? :D