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I think the reason he hasn't hit in the #2 spot yet might be either overreacting on my part or they're trying to see who can hit 2nd in case Walker is traded. He's fine fundamentally as a #2 hitter, he's selective, he can bunt when need be, & can pull the ball between the 1B and 2B gap. Defensively, he's probably not what they want and they're looking to replace him b/c of it. He didn't hit 2nd or play 2B yesterday, I can understand him not hitting 2nd w/Moyer, but if you have someone who you question with the glove, you'd like to get him as many reps as possible to either improve or further evaluate if you have any desire to keep him.

Stubbs will be gone top 5, too athletic w/a great skill set not to be drafted early. We'll have to wait and see who his advisor is, it might determine whether or not teams like TB, Col, Pit take a chance on him. If he's there when Seattle is drafting, he won't slide past barring some injury. Hodges might be there, LaPorta will be there for the teams looking to take a sure thing, even if LaPorta does stick at 1B instead of 3B. Wes Hodges is somewhat of an upgraded version of Murton at 3B, Hodges has a similar work ethic as Murton, nothing overwhelming as far as his tools, but doesn't project to hit for a higher avg. and for more power than Murton while being better defensively at 3B than Murton in the OF. The Cubs appear to have some good luck with the bees minus not drafting Micah Owings. I like Matt Latos, but he appears to be a Giants type of pick.

Raisin, that was an impressive win over NCST today.

It can work, if they all run parallel. Rivalry Games: (6 games) Cubs vs. Sox NYM vs. NYY STL vs. KC Wash. vs. Balt Houston vs. Tex Phil vs. Balt Cincy vs. Clev ATL vs. TB Tor vs. Pitt Mil vs. Minn LA vs. Ana Oak vs SF Sea. vs Col SA vs SD AZ vs Det (not all are true rivals but it works out) Interleague: (9 games) 1st series: Cubs vs. Clev Stl vs Det Mil vs KC Cincy vs Minn Hou vs. CWS ATL vs NYY Phi vs Tor Pit vs Balt Wash vs. TB NYM vs Bost Col vs. SA SD vs Ana LA vs Oak SF vs Sea AZ vs TX 2nd series: Cubs vs Det STL vs Clev Mil vs CWS Cincy vs KC Hou vs Minn ATL vs Tor Phi vs NYY Pit vs TB Wash vs Bos NYM vs Balt Col vs Ana SD vs Texas LA vs Sea SF vs SA AZ vs Oak 3rd and final series of Interleague: Cubs vs Minn STL vs CWS Mil vs Clev Cincy vs Det Hou vs KC ATL vs Balt Phil vs TB Pit vs Bos Wash vs NYY NYM vs Tor Col vs Texas SD vs Oak LA vs SA SF vs Ana AZ vs Sea

On any given day, who is playing whom? Unless you are committing to interleague play throughout the season, there's always an offday. I still say we should expand by two more teams, ditch interleague, ditch the wildcard and go to four divisions of four teams. I guess I'm not completely opposed to interleague play, but I would ditch the "rivalry" series as it makes for an uneven playing field. The scheduling becomes cake and you actually have to win something to make the playoffs. Before anyone starts with the "watered-down pitching" talk, let me issue a preemptive strike -- there's more talent in the game per team than there ever has been before. You have (4) 3 game series and (2) 4 game series vs. each divisional opponent, that'll get you to 20 each. Interleague can be kept as 3 games series at 5 different points (MLB will keep the "rival" series at 6 of those 15 games). For Intraleague and non-division opponents, you have (1) 4 game series and (1) 3 game series vs. 7 of the league opponents and (2) 3 game series vs. the other 3 division opponents.

You have 20 intradivision games per 4 opponents. 80 games 15 Interleague games, they're at 95 games. You have 10 teams left within the League and 67 games. 7 of those teams play 11 games and 3 of those teams play 6 games.

His bunt is fine, he's got a good bend in the knees, his elbows makes a nice triangle. His hand placement is fine, he has the bat cupped in the web between the index finger and thumb, it gives him bettet bat control. He doesn't have the bat angle at 45 degrees as previously mention, but he has the head of the bat above the center of the ball. It's a difficult pitch to bunt, it's at the top of the strike zone, most bunters would let it go by fearing they would pop it up.

I meant NL east from the get go. It would give them 5 teams again. In state rival with Philly and they have no true current rival in the NL Central. 15 in each league, 5 in each division in the NL, Then debate, whether or not KC should shift to the AL West (personally, I think KC belongs in the AL Central) to make it 5 in each League. Or if MLB considers Portland a viable option in regards to Minnesota, maybe wait till that situation is more clear.

If they assume he could do the job, he would have had a guaranteed contract. It's still up to the person judging to fairly evaluate them.

Then you have a problem with who is doing the judging rather than the concept.

(Pittsburgh to the East, my apologies Raw)

And like I said, it's up to Baker to fairly evaluate if he still has those skills.

There are certain potential advantages of having Grissom over Restovich, Greenberg, Sing, etc.. He has shown the ability to LH'ers and can play all 3 OF positions. Now, it's up to Baker and the rest of the staff to fairly evaluate him compared to the others. Baker is correct in pointing that he does need to show the bat speed to prove he can still hit the FB, unlike younger players who need to show they can hit a major league breaking pitch. The potentially troubling part of the quote is when Baker says, "Grissom doesn't have to have a great Spring". He might not have to have a great Spring, but he should have to outperform the other candidates. Would Sing, Greenberg, Restovich, Theriot, etc. have to play great in Spring to earn a roster spot? If I was involved with the media and had the chance to ask Baker that question, I would (Hint for Bruce :) ). Then depending on his answer, compare and contrast his answer about Grissom.

I mentioned them as the best possible location the last thread that was on relcation, they would be a nice fit in the AL West.

He's in your SoCal area, just North in Anaheim. I love Rodriguez.

Lidge's slider (except when hanging to Pujols) is one of the best pitches in baseball, then his upper 90s FB makes him one of the most difficult to hit based on pure stuff. Sutter's best pitch was the splitter.

Using ZiPS projections: I adjusted the OPS (OBP*1.4+SLG) Lee-.558/.582 Ramirez .502/.541 Barrett .479/.468 Murton .490/.430 Cedeno .465/.412 Walker .470/.435 Pierre .484/.364 Jones .446/.433 Even while adjusted, the value of their OBP doesn't match their slugging. They're the only two that applies to. Based on these projections (although, I think Jones will surpass them) and not factoring R/L and how it impacts a batting order. Pierre Murton Lee Ramirez Barrett Walker Cedeno Jones P

Lee and Ramirez would be the table setters for Walker and Murton. Although Lee and Ramirez have much higher Total Bases per hit than a typical 1-2 combo, it wouldn't compensate for the inability of Walker, Murton, and Jones to drive them in at a similar ratio as Lee and Ramirez. It seems backwards to me.

I've never bought these types of examples. Is it wise to have your 2nd worst hitter and an automatic out right in front of your best hitter? The amount of extra ABs seen throughout the year would not compensate for the lack of baserunners in front of your overall best hitters.

This is a very good article from a great site at baseballanalysts.com. I just added specialized Cubs comments. http://baseballanalysts.com/archives/2006/03/pitchers_pitch_1.php Pitches within the strike zone: Not surprising Maddux was in the top 5 as far as pitches within the strike zone compared to pitches out of the zone. Dempster ranked 5th worst and Wuertz ranked last, it might be a concern as far as Dempster if hitters weren't as aggressive late in the ballgame, he might be able capitalize on the overaggressive nature of a hitter in a pressure situation. Wuertz, Baker's likely usage patterson will consist of early relief and a situational RH'er so having Wuertz consistently use the slider won't hurt as much as always is outside of the strike zone. Getting hitters to swing and miss on pitches out of the zone: Rusch ranks 2nd to last as far as getting hitters to swing and miss on pitches outside of the strike zone, he is typically always around the plate and has more of a change of speed type of deception rather than sharp break. Wuertz enters the list again at 4th best in baseball as far as getting hitters to swing and miss at pitches outside of the zone, this has to do with his best pitch, his slider. That pitch is most effective out of the zone and he throws it well. Batter's contact when he swings: Kerry Wood is #1 in the majors for starters at making batters swing and miss. As everyone knows, he has great velocity, great movement, and great deception. Wuertz makes the list for relievers as only 60% of the batter's swings make contact with the pitch, once again his slider is very difficult to hit and make contact with. Percent of pitches fouled off: Mark Prior (not a shocker) is #1 as over 20% of the time when a batter makes contact it is a foul ball, which gets the batter behind in the count and also runs up the pitch count in a hurry. Scott Eyre also makes an appearence, which is valauble for a reliever as well especially getting the batter to 2 strikes and being able to finish him off. Both Prior and Eyre made the top 10 overall lists.

They should be on the rebound, it's just tough in the Pac 10.

Unfort. that hasn't translated to ways to try and ensure the health of the rotation.

I've always had a great deal of respect for Rolen, he's one few of players in the game where you & Little League player could follow him around the park from the time he arrives till the time he leaves after the game and not say, "I would've done that different". He would've made a great teammate on the Cubs.

Rolen is great for the game.

It's good to see it get up to 109, it was 29 when I submitted my signature.