Outshined_One

The teams that would most likely be interested in Lee's services (imo): Boston - Probably the #1 suitor considering the black hole of doom and defensive despair they currently have occupying 1B. NY Yankees - Like they wouldn't enjoy sticking it to Boston? Baltimore Orioles - Considering what happened to their previous 1B, they might also have a good amount of interest. Toronto Blue Jays - They've got money to throw around and Eric Hinske is their current 1B. That can't be a good thing. Atlanta Braves - I think LaRoche is a decent player and all, but the Braves would be more than happy to make this deal. I'd avoid accepting pitching from them, however. Washington Nationals - I have no idea what to expect of this team, but taking adavtage of Bowden would be fun. Arizona Diamondbacks - Not a bad candidate overall, considering the prospects they have. Hmmmmmmmmmmm... LA Dodgers - We could get Hee Seop Choi back! :D In all seriousness, this is a team always looking for bats. SD Padres - Although, this move would forever doom Lee's offensive numbers. SF Giants - Hitting behind Bonds would definitely be a treat for Lee, though. Every team I left off either didn't have the financial resources (KC, TB, etc), had good cheap young talent in place at 1B (Philly, Milwaukee, etc), or would be a guaranteed damnation for the Cubs (STL, HOU).

That I can agree with...unless Bonds comes back next season and tears the cover off the ball (again). Personally, I think Pujols is closer to 30 than 25, but still under 30.

I have a bridge connecting two burroughs of New York City available for sale if you actually believe he is 25.

Konerko's career numbers: .279/.349/.488/.837 Lee's career numbers: .276/.363/.501/.864 Yeah, I'd say Konerko money is about where Lee should be looking. He's a couple of months older than Konerko, but he's a more productive player career-wise.

After the season he had, the Cubs should be demanding players on the level of Miguel Cabrera, Vlad Guerrero, or Felix Hernandez for him. We're talking either young talent that could turn into really good players down the road, or players who are established top guys in their prime with a few years left before they go downhill. Even if his numbers still take a bit of a dip next season, he has the potential to be a Top 5 offensive player for the next few years along with being the best defensive first baseman in the game. I understand that first basemen are much easier to come by than other positions in terms of talent, but Lee is a special player.

Hilarious av and sig O_O It was hard to resist putting my new avatar up. 8)

Huff in the OF is a defensive disaster. If the Cubs get him, they better put him in LF. Having him in RF would not be pretty, imo.

As memory serves me, Andy Shipman is like a better version of JVB.

Main highlights: -Harvey has a lot to work on before he can put up .280/35/100 numbers -Pie will be ranked in the 20-41 range in the Top 100. -Soto and Mark Reed are the closest things to "catchers of the future". -Pawelek has a tremendous ceiling. -Cedeno should make a solid regular. -Veal's stuff was down a little and he was farther away than most of the other pitchers, but could jump into the Top 10 next season. -Marmol is just outside the top ten. -Pinto needs to work on his pitch location. -Murton, if ranked, would be at 2 or 3, ahead of or behind Pawly. -Dope is expected to head to AA next season. -Sing was ranked below Dope due to age considerations and ceiling. -Guys to look out for next season: Yusuf Carter, Dylan Johnston, Johnny Defendis, Michael Phelps, and Mike Billek -Gallagher was outside the Top 10 due to his average stuff. -Petrick is a wait and see case since his surgery is troubling. -Fuld is comparable to Greenberg. -Brownlie does not = Sisco in terms of rostering. -JVB could become a good 6th/7th inning guy. -Cubs minor league system is above average, but should slip out of the Top 10. -Moore needs time before he can be considered ready. -Gooze was ranked so high because of his tremendous ceiling. -Cubs draft BPA, which typically results in them getting high schoolers more often than not. -Pie needs time in the minors to mature. -Montanez needs to hit in AA or AAA in order to prove this past season was not a fluke. -E-Patt is legit, although he needs to work on his D. -Aardsma needs to straighten himself out since his stuff has fallen off the table. -Grant Johnson played with a pulled quad that slowed him down this past season, so he's a wait and see guy. -Berg and Blackford are both "interesting" pitchers. -JK Ryu has the ceiling of a #3. -Rohlicek could be a decent LOOGY. -Hill could start for the Cubs next season out of ST, but that's not a given. -Lewis and Fontenot should round out the Top 30. There ya go. Shorter chat than I expected.

I got both of my questions answered. :D But I sent both in late last night. Go figure.

There's a tendency in the minors to allow for a player to have more room to make adjustments than in the majors. In the minors, no one cares if a guy goes on an extended slump because he's working on a new swing or because he's getting used to throwing a curveball from a new arm slot. If those things result in positive results for that player and they make a habit out of it, then yes, it will improve that aspect of a player. However, in the majors, especially for young players, there is very little room for that kind of thing. You do try to hone your game at a major league level, but the margin for error is much smaller. You're playing in front of larger crowds in more meaningful games. That ain't the best time to try out a new batting stance, ya know? Pie can work on developing good habits in the minors. While it's likely he'll never be an OBP machine, he could at least develop better strike zone recognition if given more time in the minors, imo.

Things just get weirder: New Resident in Old Busch Stadium

Gotcha. 8)

Derrida and the latest generation of continental philosophers pretty much threw that concept out the window. They've never been able to conclusively disprove that concept either, though. :D

Any particular reason you have Veal behind those other guys?

BA's predictable. :D When they're evaluating prospects, they take the following into account, in order: 1) Ceiling 2) Rarity of player type (C, SS, CF, LHP) 3) Floor 4) Injuries/Setbacks 5) Statistical success 3 and 4 kind of go together. A guy who has an injury or developmental setback (Marshall, Guzman, Dopirak) will thereby lower his floor. The highest ceilings in the system are arguably Pie, Pawelek, Guzman, Harvey, and Dopirak in that order. Even though three of them slumped or were injured, they were still ranked due to their ceilings. What had me curious was Veal's lack of a ranking. He was given the #2 overall prospect status in the NWL Top 20 and has quite a nice ceiling, from my understanding. It could be that his velocity is still in question, though. Wouldn't surprise me if he was ranked somewhere in the 11-15 range, though.

Here's the rest of what I rated: 11. Marmol 12. Nolasco 13. Gallagher As I said to the others, there's a pretty significant dropoff after these guys. However, I could put any of those three being in the top 10 and defend it pretty well. Not a fan of Veal or Moore?

I believe mine is 161.

He's not that projectable, despite putting up good stats in Peoria and Daytona. His fastball (88-90) and change both project to be average at best and his curve could get pounded at higher levels. He could hone these pitches, but, physically, he's already fully grown according to most reports. Should be interesting to see how he handles better hitters, though.

Those of you who had Sean Gallagher in your Top 10s, explain yourselves. :D

They've checked the ISPs and everything. It's him.

They can have him for Joel Guzman. ;)

You can tell how desperate we are for something. :lol:

Sorry, OO. I just included the writers for the site and UK, who I keep trying to convince to be a writer. And people have been trying to convince me, too. Thanks to my laziness, that has yet to unfold...although I could whip up some articles if you want. ;)

You left me out Tim. :cry: