brinoch

I think Pie will be fine. He was 22 last year and posted a .973 OPS in AAA. Sure, he struggled at the MLB level. Not every prospect is Pujols. Here's what I would do with Pie: let him play. Let him learn. Don't platoon him. He's hit at every level, while being young for his level. He does need to work on his plate discipline and taking walks, but he's shown the capacity to improve. Bat him 7th and let him learn.

I should be abused for ever implyinh nepostism. It's ok, I implied it too. Nobody could have predicted this, I don't think. Rovers scouts were at the game today. Guilty, as well. I thought that Bradley was going to be a mindless destroyer in the middle. Clearly, I was wrong.

Wait who beat Michigan State? Last I checked, Indiana had less losses before the game and was ranked higher. Oh ya, and Iowa beat Michigan State. And to whoever said Uconn was only missing "role" players and then goes on to say "well, the guy was their second leading scorer, but he's not important" Come on now. Just admit that the Big 10 sucks as a whole. Indiana also had less losses and a better ranking than UCLA. I guess using your logic they would be worse than IU? Laughable. Rankings don't mean a whole lot. No, they really don't. They are a media creation and they serve to give fans something to argue about. I only got to watch the 2nd half today, but from what I saw, IU played lackluster defense and Sampson was just plain out-coached. Against a team like UConn, playing four guards can be an advantage if you force their big man into mismatches on the perimeter. This should allow you to drive past the slower big guy and to the basket. From there, you dish, pull-up or try and get a foul on the drive. Who cares if you get blocked? Most of the time on blocks you get the ball back. I would have been aggressive in using my speed and ball-handling ability. More than likely, execution of this would force UConn into a zone which you can pick apart from the 3 point line. Also, the Big East officials are just as bad as Big Ten officials (the non-goal tending call for example was preciously awful). Back the Big Ten, right now, Purdue is playing good ball. They are really improving. I think Wisconsin is solid, but IU does match up well against them.

Regardless of how long the thread is, this is the correct place for all new information regarding Roberts. The thread title will be changed to reflect hard information and the location of the information. If there is an actual trade, a new thread will most likely be created, and this one locked. And the next person who bitches about the length of a thread is likely to get banned. Just kidding. I think.

Yeah we just don't have many guys who fit what he wants and with a 7-man rotation there's no one to put in when he wants to send a message. Gorney is the closest thing to what he wants in a big man and when he shows up aggressive and confident he's put up nice numbers. When he doesn't he's a mess. Johnson has disappeared since the first IU game, our freshman are pretty nice fits but very inconsistent and when things start going bad Freeman gets out of the system and freelances. Against Indiana at home the offense looked really crisp and we moved the ball so well. Plus we only had 12 turnovers in a 74 possession game. Last night we had 20 in a 64 possession game. IU looked much better last night, especially defensively. A lot of it was just unforced errors on our part that led to run outs, but White and Gordon were just unstoppable. There's no question that you need some depth; Iowa's talent level is decent and Lickliter's system works well, but the depth just isn't there and you really need a body inside. More time in the system will also help a lot. I liked what I've seen from Iowa so far this Big Ten season, and I think -- given a couple years of solid to good recruiting -- Iowa will be a contender for the Big Ten title.

IU stomped all over Iowa tonight. Iowa shot very well in the first half, despite consistently good defense to keep somewhat close, but Indiana's defense was very good. I would single out DJ White's consistently excellent defensive help on the perimeter as absolutely key. IU played with the best defensive intensity I've seen so far, and other than a few lulls did an excellent job of protecting the ball. Crawford and Thomas in particular need to focus on what they are doing (they accounted for 8/14 IU turnovers). I also saw some nice gelling among the players. That's good to see. I like Lickliter's (Butler's) offensive scheme, and with a faster, better shooting team, Iowa will rapidly improve. Also, if they get a big man who can shoot from outside to set those screens, that shot will be open against the perimeter help/recovery defense like Indiana played today. Right now, against the kind of stifling defense they saw, I'd time passes to the big man while using a series of off ball screen to open a player in the lane. Then you'll have two mismatches and a defense all out of sorts. I saw Iowa do this a couple of times, but IU is very wuick in recovery, and Iowa generally doesn't shoot well enough to exploit it.

I say we argue about it for another 20 pages. Good plan. I like it.

IU needs to learn to protect the ball and not make so many dumb mistakes. If they don't turn the ball over 26 times, this game probably isn't close. While I like Crawford, he drives me nuts sometimes with terrible decisions. He is a freshman, so that's somewhat to be expected. Likewise, 12-23 free throw shooting? That's awful. Tollackson was 0-7 from the line. 0-7!! I'd never let him get a shot off in a close game. Tubby needs to have them practice at the line. A lot.

That's just not going to happen. This thread rules.

It will be cloudy. Somewhere.

I predict: Nothing will happen today or tomorrow.

Oooo-kay... I guess my reply doesn't count. Neither does Seth's. So, then, what the hell kind of field do you play on? It makes a difference because every field is different and I know I don't want to suggest something that be less than effective for your particular field. Also, what do you want to spend on them? There are a lot of really expensive shoes out there, but you can probably get something that works well cheaper. The field we play on for indoor is an indoor field turf playing surface, but there are only a smattering of the rubber pellets since the field is older with integrated cushioning and made to roll-up quickly. Permanent fields/expensive fields tend to have a deeper, softer surface which may require cleats. (I wear cleats on our outdoor field, for example.) I play keeper for our team indoors, so cutting is less important in any case. I wear a pair of Puma Vencidas. They cost about $50-60. http://www.gameon24-7.com/notsoccer/assets/product_images/PAAAIAKFHPGMFCDA.jpg By the way, I've been actively playing in multiple leagues that run year-round. I played an outdoor game this morning, and I have an indoor game tonight. What about you? Our team -- basically a coed football club -- plays in three indoor leagues per week, plus an outdoor league. The average age of a player on the team is about 30, I'd say. We're hardly elite.

The officiating in the Big Ten is, frankly, awful. And that goes whether one is home, away, or on a neutral court. For every call that Illini fans are complaining about, I can point out one where Hoosier fans are complaining -- and vice versa.

A lot of Orioles Insiders are here looking for new info.

Hopefully they bring him up as a September call-up, then he pulls a Ben Christenson while warming up in that first weekend in Cincy. And it freakishly drives Dusty's toothpick right through the back of his head... into Aaron Harang's nose.

I think this is a "sorry-for-that-whole-Dusty-blowing-your-arm-out-thing" contract.

I play on field turf and wear puma indoor shoes. Just get something comfortable that has good traction -- no cleats necessary.

No, as far as I know, they haven't mentioned it. In fact, I believe they've said time and again that Theriot will be the starting SS.

No thanks on Melky. Frankly, if there's a solid starter that requires Pie, I'd rather just sign Cameron. Or, alternatively, move Soriano or Fukudome to CF and play Murton. A Murton/Soriano/Fukudome outfield would be quite nice, methinks.

I doubt that the Cubs will start DeRosa at SS. More than likely, DeRosa goes into the supersub role. He would be a huge upgrade to the bench, while Roberts would be a small upgrade at 2B, but given the rumors, it will cost us Cedeno. With the emergence of Geovany Soto, the signing of Fukudome, and the apparent determination that Pie will be the CF, Theriot at SS is the Cubs' worst position. Therefore, it's the place the Cubs should seek to upgrade, internally or externally -- whatever is possible. Now, if getting Roberts means that DeRosa plays SS (again, I doubt it), that would be good. Otherwise, let Cedeno and Theriot compete or acquire a SS. One of Greene, Peralta, Wilson, or Lopez could be available. The key here is upgrading from last season's production at SS.

Agreed, I was just saying among the avail. 5th starter that he is the best of the bunch (which isn't saying much). Could sign him, keep Marshall and go with 4 lefties in the rotation. That would be sweet.

If I was a GM/Team President with a clear problem with leaks that I considered to be harmful, I'd try and smoke out the leakers, personally.

Yeah, I don't see the Cubs being as enthusiastic about concerts or outdoor hockey games as they used to be. While there's potential profit to be made from using Wrigley for additional events, there's often a concomitant repair/maintenance cost that somehow never gets factored in.

Curse you!!!

I will.