CubsInNC

The reason he went nuts on the ump was, supposedly (his coach confirmed it, IIRC), the ump made some racist comments. That doesn't necessarily justify anything, but it's a whole lot more understandable than him just thinking it was a bad call. I believe he tore his ACL as his coach was restraining him. Just a freak injury. You can't really call that a freak injury when it happens to a guy who is always hurt. It's just another example of how fragile he is. Line drive off of Prior's elbow was just another example of how fragile he is? I hope you don't really think that's a good comparison, because that's pretty bad. When you get a line drive off your elbow, you expect to get hurt. That's not being fragile. Did you see the Bradley injury? He barely even got his leg twisted or anything. The vast majority of the time, that does not result in a torn ACL.... unless you're really fragile. My grandma took a worse look fall than that a couple weeks ago and she didn't tear anything I mean, come on. Comparing a line drive off the elbow to a harmless looking fall resulting in a torn ACL is pretty ridiculous. How many times does a line drive off the elbow in that same spot result in a fracture? How many time does a fall like Bradley's result in a torn ACL? I wasn't making a comparison, just pointing out ridiculous your generalization was. A more ridiculous comparison was you insinuating that your grandma is less fragile than Bradley because she didn't tear her ACL when she fell. (A fall that was worse than Bradley's!) Yes, the guy has spent a lot of time on the DL, but that doesn't mean he can't be involved in a freak injury or accident. If his grandma can OPS over .900 and is willing to take a backloaded deal it might be worth it for Hendry to at least get her in for a workout before he commits anything to Bradley. All I read was backloaded and grandma.... not sure I wanna read any more.

They made a few movies about the undone dead, you might wanna check those out. They sound up your alley. Who are you, IMB in disguise? It's well documented that I can't spell, and I type fast, so I am prone to misspelling words...Geez... Good god, sorry to pee in your cheerios. Lighten up Francis. This offseason needs to end soon, before we kill each other. Oh good god, I'm sorry, that came out alot worse then I wanted it. I forget to add 8-). Again that came out as wrong as I intended. So I am sorry if you took it the wrong way. Sorry, calling someone IMB is pretty bad. :P Bygones are bygones. I chalk up most of the hostility here to this wonderful offseason. That said, go get Peavy already, so the fans can feel like you accomplished something, milton bradley won't cut it. Even if I think it's not the smartest opportunity cost move.

They made a few movies about the undone dead, you might wanna check those out. They sound up your alley. Who are you, IMB in disguise? It's well documented that I can't spell, and I type fast, so I am prone to misspelling words...Geez... Good god, sorry to pee in your cheerios. Lighten up Francis. This offseason needs to end soon, before we kill each other.

They made a few movies about the undone dead, you might wanna check those out. They sound up your alley.

What about a team on a limited budget, trading away an outfielder to sign a bigger name? maybe Rays and Crawford parting ways, so they could sign Dunn/Ibanez/Abreu? Personally, I doubt that the trade will be one we're absolutely thrilled with, if it even materializes.

I have a ball with both Marshall's and Murton's autograph on it. I'd like at least one of them to have success. i have a ball somewhere at my parents with shawn estes and joe borowski's autographs on it. ill sell it for $2000 OBO I'll give you a piece of used chewing gum, and a penny, if you include shipping.

1. 84 wins +0 2. 8 wins +100 3. 772 runs +25 4. 714 runs +125 5. 2nd place +100 +350 1. 31 +25 2. 33 +20 3. .389 +0 4. 101 +20 5. 16 +40 6. 3.97 +50 7. 183 +0 8. 147 +5 +160 1. Rich Hill's K's +0 2. Jon Leiber's starts +0 3. Pie's at bats +0 4. Soto +30 5. Lilly +30 6. Ramirez +0 +60 1. Soriano +30 2. Lee +0 3. Ted Lilly +0 4. Wood +30 +60 Tiebreaker: May 4th Total - 630

She lives across the street from Brian and keeps popping in uninvited. But she means well.

Is there any realistic chance Demp/Marquis + prospect would net us crisp? If I'm not mistaken, Boston doesn't want him anymore and would readily move him in a trade. Marquis/ Dempster and mid level prospect might do it. They may still demand more, but seeing as how they have a hole in their rotation, they could be desparate. They don't really have "a hole in their rotation", at least not one that Dempster or Marquis would meaningfully fill. Beckett - Daisuke - Buchholz - Lester - Wakefield I recall reading/hearing from Papelbon that he likes his role as closer, but isn't there a decent chance they'd stretch him out to start as well? I see them needing someone down the stretch when the youth are tired, and Wakefield/Beckett are on the DL. I don't think they're as desperate as we'd hope (to take Dempster/Marquis). I think they'll have enough to enter the trade market for a pending FA arm in June (Sabathia, Sheets, a healthy Prior, Burnett).

There may have been a time where Ramon Garcia was an ok pitcher. That time has long since come and gone. Yeah, Ramon Garcia had a 108 ERA+ and 1.305 WHIP in 1997, with Houston, but his 3 years in the bigs are little if any information other than he stunk. Ramon Ortiz though, hasn't been above average since 2004, and horrid the last few years. I'd rather use Marquis/Marshall/Gallagher/Lieber for the last 2 spots.

Sadly, ESPN will refer to this as the ultimate collapse and failure, and spend the next offseason discussing it several times a week.

WooHoo! 18 - 1.

While I agree that Raines belongs in the Hall, why those numbers as an arbitrary cutoff point? And you forgot Lou Brock (938/3023). I mean, he just barely qualifies is that group. Heck, he's not in the group that starts at 810 steals and 2610 hits. But he's one of 7 (Brock, Cobb, Henderson, Matthews, Carey, Wagner) at the 700/2500 cutoff (still very elite company and HOFers). It's more a pet peave of mine, but I've never understood why any numbers are an arbitrary cutoff point. Raines was a great player. He was outrun by Henderson and Coleman, and outhit by Dave Parker, Bill Buckner, Robbie Alomar, Dawson, Baines, Bonds, Boggs, Palmeiro, Biggio, Gwynn, Yount, Brett, Ripken, and Molitor. His teams were lackluster at best, and by the time he reached the series in 96, it was clear his career was winding down (basically over). He toiled in anonymity in Montreal until '91 when he went to CWS, and had 2 years before his legs/hamstrings tired out on him - neither of which was that great. By the time they saw him and might have cared, his brilliance was gone and they just saw him as a guy who just got hits, but didn't do it as well as the best players at the time. So, while I think he's Hall worthy, I can see why people who get paid to be homers, I mean the BBWAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaa... don't vote for him.

I like this comment left by someone there:

Thanks, that's all I was looking for. I saw the ERA difference, but being a novice at the stats aspect, I couldn't put it all together. As for the BABIP, how much of that is park related? Over the career, Harden's split is 15 pts higher on the road, Haren's been higher both home (2007) and away (2005 and 2006), Zito was basically even, Mulder was all over the place with more seasons 50 points higher than under 50, and after Hudson's first 2 years (1 higher home, 1 higher away) he was consistently in the 20 point higher away range. Kennedy and DiNardo haven't been there long enough to draw many conclusions from their data. And Gaudin was even as a starter, and almost +70 on the road as a reliever. The only "consistent outliers I could find were Redman and Saarloos, who were higher at home than on the road. Looks like all randomness to me, or a non-quantifiable explanation at the worst. (ie. whenever they travel Blanton always gets a hotel room with a mattress made of nails and can't sleep before a start). What about Blanton's OPS difference home vs. road (.674 vs .771), yeah 41 points of it is from the difference in OBP (.297 vs .338), which is predominantly tied to the BAA (.251 vs .290 - and very related to BABIP), but there's the SLG component at .377 vs. .433. Are the majority of the parks he pitches in hitters parks? And for the record, I'm all for a pitching upgrade if 1) Roberts is not acquired, and 2) The cost to acquire the pitcher isn't too steep (not much more than the rumored Roberts package). I'd rather upgrade SS. But that's not happening.

So, in your opinion, Home/Road splits are worthless for pitchers in general? (Just asking, sorry if it comes across as an attack). If so, I would assume that you only factor the adjusted stats then?

you can find random splits in everything. But why are Blanton's home/road splits random, and Greene's are not?

Not trying to be argumentative, but why are Blanton's home/road splits irrelevant (or I'd guess any pitchers) but Greene's (or any hitter, I'd guess) home/roads aren't?

There was no $10mil signing bonus. It was $4mil.

I think the argument people are making is that many mistakes were made to bring the situation to this point. In a vacuum, you can't argue with Hendry's decision to non-tender Prior. Paying him $3.5M with no certainty on when he'll pitch in 2008, if at all, with full certainty that the player will explore free agency would not have been a good financial decision. Several media people were saying he does not wish to be here anymore. The analysis really needs to focus on how both parties got to this point. So, I commend Hendry for making the right vacuum decision yesterday, but pan him for allowing the situation to reach the point where the player no longer wishes to be part of this franchise. Hoops, did it start with the pay cut last year? Or with the media labeling him as a pansy, with the Cubs not responding? If the latter, what does the typical professional sports club do, to combat that, without royally peeving the writers who spout these things, and thus get even more vilified in the press?

BR and Cot's vary significantly on this. I wonder which one is right. Either way, don's way off base with $25mil total payments. Cot's lists Prior at: 2002 $250k 2003 $650k 2004 $1.6m 2005 $2m 2006 $3.65m 2007 $3.575m It indicates he got a $4mil signing bonus. It appears to have figured in his $100k for his AS selection in 03, as well as the $500k escalators in 04 and 05, for that. I wonder which one is right. If either of them.

Didn't Hendry offer Prior a 2 year deal? The reports I saw indicated he did, and that Prior's agent (or Mark, doesn't specify) didn't take those offers seriously. And what should it say to Prior? Hendry gave Miller and Dempster 1 year deals, with second year options that paid them $1mil during the rehab year. By all accounts, Prior wanted (and will receive) more than that for his rehab time (07 and part of the 08 season). We don't know what the Cubs offered him specifically, but odds are it was at least on par with those deals, if not better. The straw that broke the camel's back with Mark was last season, when he had to take a pay cut. I think it was then and there, that his opinion of the management/organization took its turn south that made him ultimately decide to leave. My next question, is how much of this reluctance to take a reduced contract is also from pressure from the MLBPA, and the precedent it might set for other, oft-injured pre-free agent players? Just speculation, but something to consider. I'm sad that the Prior era is over, but I saw it coming. I think he was happy here. He seemed to get along with the players, the manager, etc. I think, for the most part, he even probably liked us, the fans. I think his issue with Chicago started and ended with Hendry. Perhaps those with better knowledge of how baseball (and Bob for the insurance question) works can answer these questions: 1) Many times when an athelete gets injured, there's an insurance policy that can/will kick in, to pay their salary and rehab costs. Wouldn't signing Prior as an already injured player, basically eliminate that possibility? Whereas, in the past, when he was hurt (especially 2007) the insurance policy would have covered the expenses related to him? 2) Could an MLB team sign a player to a pro-rated contract, based on when they come back from the rehab process? Say, for example, sign Prior to a 1yr $6mil deal, pro-rated based on when he actually comes back, ie. return immediately after the ASB he'd only see $3mil of that? 3) Would the dedication of Prior to the player's union, influence his likelihood to reject a contract that pays him less, even if he's rehabbing, especially based on taking a paycut for the 2007 season? Sitting back and looking at it, I ask myself if we'd be in this same place, if when this whole thing started and the Cubs doctors, nor Prior's doctors could find anything wrong in his shoulder, if instead he'd opted for exploratory surgery/cleanup rather than rehab. I think we would, as the media in Chicago loved to pansy him (midwest insecurity, leading to anti-west coast bias). Just wish it had turned out differently.

That'd be nice. Maybe we can swindle Brandon Wood away from the Angels somehow as well I think that in that deal Wood would end up with the Orioles. I've posted this twice (with some tweaking), but it's obvious the Orioles would want Pie in a deal from the Cubs. The Cubs aren't going to want to include Pie unless he's replaced. Some have heard Hendry would trade Pie if he could get a player like Figgins. The Angels would like Tejada for third base, hence a three-way deal. Here's something that I had in mind: Angels get Tejada Cubs get Roberts and Figgins Orioles get Pie, Brandon Wood, Marshall, Ervin Santana, Cedeno, and Murton. That would be a framework, but other players might need to be involved to make it work. The Orioles might want better pitchers than Marshall and Santana. The Angels may feel they are giving away too much in Figgins, Wood, and Santana. So, some changes likely would need to be made, but the principals of Tejada to the Angels, Figgins and Robers to the Cubs, and Pie and Wood as part of the package to the Orioles could remain the same. vance, Not to bubble burst, but who would play RF on that Cubs team? We'd subtract some really small salaries, but add $6.3mil for Roberts, and $4.75mil for Figgins ($11mil). We'd have $4mil left to spend on RF, plus anything else. I'm just not convinced that DeRosa would be the solution out there. And if we trade off bad SP contracts, we'll have to send a better prospect with them to get anything back let alone not send money. And we can't afford to trade away too many SP (cheap or expensive) without getting SP back. If we acquire Roberts, we have to get rid of Derosa, or be satisfied with him in RF. He's an improvement over RF based on Murton, but not by as much as the cost differential is. Roberts is $1.5mil more expensive than Derosa, worth the cost differential to me. Figgins is $4mil more expensive than Pie, and if he repeats 2007, worth it, but if not, not. And that would leave us with Theriot at SS, and no backup plan outside of Derosa (and then who in RF?). And a rotation of Z/Lilly/Hill/Marquis + Dempster/Gallagher/Hart/etc. And you'd likely have to send Prior to Anaheim for them to justify the losses.

Yes, it's a very small sample size, but in his rookie year, in 51 games at SS, he made 14 errors. The last time he played short, in 03, for 2 whole games, he made 2 errors. This trend CONTINUED his minor league issues at shortstop. He hadn't played FT at SS sine 2001, where his SS at AAA experiment failed. Tejada didn't force his shift to 2nd. Roberts started playing there as a regular for Baltimore in 03, before Tejada signed. And he was so stellar at shortstop he couldn't replace Mike Bordick or Delvi Cruz. A career .933FP in the Majors at short, and a remarkably similar .932FP in the minors. I think his SS days are behind him.

And this is why we should know who is cheating and who isn't. If I were a GM I'd hire Jim Rockford for 200 bucks a day plus expenses and get the dirt on who's cheating and who ain't. Roberts indicated just before that season that he had had corrective eye surgery, as well as, was wearing the contacts that enhanced the color red, so he was able to pick up the pitch almost as soon as it started moving. He followed up that great year with a .757, and an .809, so to me that doesn't explain it very well. I'm a big time believer in the better usage of your eyes when it comes to hitting and I wonder if he also gained any strength too? Contacts don't make you stronger and steroids do help you see better. Just curious because I'd hate to make a big trade for a Brady Anderson type player. I'd hazard a wildly speculated guess that it is corrective eye surgery, combined with a career year. His next 2 years are still at his past levels or better, but nowhere near as good. I'd think at this point, he'd have been caught with PEDs, if they were still aiding him. Was he battling injuries either of those years? I seem to recall him having had some leg injury in 06, that he played at less than 100%. But I very easily could be mistaken.