UK1679666180

I seen this posted 20 minutes ago and still can't make sense of it Heh, I'm not sure what his initial appearance was. What I was trying to say what for the 3 title games I was present for in Lexington, it never was as bad as what it looked like last night.

Its weird not being down in Lexington for this one. They played great as a team, despite having anywhere from 4-6 1st rounders. KU couldn't overcome the talent difference. UK will need to cont the annual roster overhaul. With Davis doing as well as he did, that should open the door for Noel and despite the troubles Shabazz as well. We'll see if UK gets caught, too. Disappointed by the behavior down in Lexington, the 3 title game appear nothing to this extreme really occured. Officiating was brutal on both sides.

I'll be there when they're in Beloit for at least 2 of the games. Not a strong group but interesting nonetheless.

Anyone analyst who says he's still struggling to miss bats hasn't paid attention to Appel this season. And keep in mind, he's probably pitched against the toughest competition of any college pitcher this season. He's #1 there's no doubt about that but this is the 1st, he's shown that which is huge. I don't know if he's tightened his secondary stuff or just locating his FB better but its very encouraging. I watched plenty of Cody Scarpetta (Brewers) when he was throwing 89-92 with a hammer against bad Rockford teams and seen him strikeout very few and wondered the same thing, he's proven that theory wrong so far.

Illinois should be a top 15 program, curious to see what they do to Assembly Hall with the new cash. I do think having an interim President weighs more than what has been brought up as has trustee interference as far as job attractiveness in the short-term. Chicago is so overrated in regards to how important it should be to Illinois basketball, Self recruited nationally as should Croce. It hurts that Peoria isn't the hot-spot as it was 10-15 years ago, but it shouldn't be the difference between an annual top 20 team and what has happened over the last few seasons. Illini are likely going to have to get dirty to get AAU kids and the few top Chicago guys, like Kentucky, Kansas, Duke, etc. I can't fault Stevens or Smart for not leaving, I don't think them being at mid-major schools diminishes Illinois' accomplishments beyond what has already been known that it's not a top 5 job, which is what it would've taken most likely.

what are you asking? How you can say "obviously this job isn't that great when you were rejected by your 1st 2 options, and wound up with a meh candidate." Was UNC 2000 obviously not a great job? Was UK 2007 obviously not a great job? I don't remember who UNC went after in 2000 besides Roy. I do vaguely recall NBA coaches like George Karl lobbying for the gig, though. UNC's big problem is that it limits its pool by refusing to go outside the Carolina family. They'd probably get any coach they'd want if they didn't limit themselves. ETA: Unless they did go outside the UNC family, and I just forgot. In the case, just ignore this entire post. ETA: I just checked, and it looks like they pursued George Karl, Larry Brown, Roy Williams, and Eddie Fogler (lol). Swinging and missing on those guys (with the exception of Fogler) is significantly different than swinging and missing on Smart and Stevens. I also don't remember the circumstances around UK. Who did they pursue? UK went after Donovan 1st and likely Few at Gonzaga, Izzo, and Barnes at Texas before Billy Clyde. There were rumors about Calipari but neither side was too interested at the time. Look at this old thread: http://www.northsidebaseball.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=39260&hilit=donovan Nice call on Crean, Exile.

That doesn't mean that Wacha's is poor, it projects as a plus pitch. Gausman just maintains his arm slot and speed better than anyone in the draft, Wacha's change is very good and helped by the fact that Wacha has the best feel for his FB of anyone in the draft.

I don't see him passing Fried, his velo has been down this Spring and he's still raw even for a HS pitcher. The interesting part about him is that he's just learning how to pitch now and is projected in the 1st. If he can get his velo to sit 90-93 and touch 96 as reported in the past compared 88-90 touching 91 where he's been, it'll get interesting.

75-78 is ideal for the loopy 12/6 break, we have 76 as the ideal mph for that type of curve and 85-86 for the slider. Once he starts getting into that 80 range, it'll start to look more Pedro Martinez where it breaks more 1/6.

Who knows what the Cubs are thinking, this draft is going to be such a crap-shoot for them. They have area scouts that were under Hendry, obviously a new FO, and all the draft changes all wrapped up into 6 months of chaos. Fried has supposedly touched 96 and sitting 91-93, I don't think his curve has gained the same velo yet that his FB has gained compared to when he was 87-90. You take a lefty with that type of breaking ball, you immediately think of Zito in his prime, combine that with the potential of his changeup to be a plus pitch. I wouldn't pass him up if he's there.

Sweet. Let's go with college pitching........Appel, Zimmer, Wacha, and Gausman. Far ahead of every other college pitcher this year? How would you project these 4 in the future? And I might as well ask about Stroman as well. You think he can stick as a starter? (Sorry about the delay) There's a couple of gaps between those 4 and everyone else. I like Heaney out of OSU as well, not getting much pub, but could be fast-tracked. Appel - He's hard to figure out for me, the size is there, there's little rigidness to his delivery and flashed a plus change and a once in awhile good curve, and despite that with a plus-plus FB, he's just learning to miss bats. I project Appel to be an all-star, the development of his curve will determine whether he's an annual top 10 starter or an occasional all-star. Zimmer - I had him a notch below Appel and Gausman at the start, but I like him more than Appel as far as ceiling, velo is similar to Appel with a better breaking ball. Less likely to reach ceiling compared to Appel. I expect him to have a Morrow type career. Gausman - Has to find a breaking ball at this point, has the best change-up of the 4 listed, the most raw of the 4. I'm hoping he's avail at 4. I imagine the Cubs are going to be patient with arms unlike previously and he's possibly going to be there but who knows with the injuries so far. Wacha- Uses his FB the best among the 4, pitches to both sides of the plate and doesn't try to just throw it for a strike and overpower like Appel. Like Gausman, doesn't have the breaking ball down yet, lowest ceiling among the 4. I project Stroman to close, a team might try him as a starter but the difference between a 92-94 FB as a starter with a very good slider and a 95-98 FB and a plus-plus slider. I expect a similar situation as Cashner. Teams will likely be quicker to stick him at closer given size and Gordon comps.

If there's any prospect you guys want to know about, let me know...

That was a fun game to watch, there isn't a way to defend UK and then combine it with that FT %. If that kid doesn't go pro IU is a top 10/likely top 5 program.

Its no surprise that Davis is the key. I do worry that gets a big lead early and then relaxes, usually they do the opposite and play to the level of their opponent and then go on one big run. IU has the shooting and permieter defense to keep it close.

I'm looking forward to this matchup. IU's strengths give UK trouble. Adam, ISU is a damn good team.

Is that the market rate for a strong average pitcher? Given what previous pitchers last year rec'd as well as what the Marlins paid this year, I think it's a good deal for Anaheim. Yes, for a pitcher that projects to be a strong avg. (57-60 on the OFP scale).

Wow, I wasn't a fan of his as a scouting director. I can only imagine how he'll do as GM.

Despite my feelings on Wilson as far as what I thought he'd get being the best pitcher on the market, I think that is a good deal for the Angels.

How many star/impact pitchers are there? 5? Look at the guys ahead of him in value since he turned to starting. Halladay - 20M AAV Lee - 24M Verlander - 16M (20M for FA years bought out) Sabathia - 24M Hernandez - 16M (19M for FA years bought out) Haren - 11M (12M for FA years bought out) Weaver - 17M (17.5M for FA years bought out) Kershaw - 1st year Arbitration eligible He's an elite pitcher that's a free agent, he's going to get elite money. Look at his swinging strike ratio, he was rather lucky given his K/9 for the amount of bats that actually swung and missed. He's, I don't see among the league's best in the duration of his contract, including the 1st 3 years (31-33).

Ok, you want me to use different terms? He'll get paid like a star/impact pitcher rather than a strong avg. pitcher.

This will another case of a #2/3 starter getting paid to be a #1 starter simply b/c he is the best FA arm (excluding Jarvish).

I don't know how he is as far as mechanics or teaching new pitches, but for the one year he was in TB, Victor Zambrano and Geremi Gonzalez never matched their effectiveness or IP after that '03 season.

I'm curious to see what his numbers were last year taking the White Sox out of the equation? Take the Sox out of the equation and his ERA jumps to 4.3 and H-IP goes from +3 to -10.

http://www.northsidebaseball.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=58762&start=2471 Hmmm.

That's...not good. The idea of trading Geo has been gaining traction with me throughout the offseason. That insight does nothing to diminish the appeal of that idea. He had a 25% decrease in contact with pitches outside the zone compared to the avg. batter and 20% lower overall contact ratio. Now I wish I had been paying enough attention to see if it was explainable. That's not the kind of trend one wants to see in a hitter. He was at a 43% contact ratio clip on pitches outside the zone, while the league was at 68%, I wish I knew how that changed by count to see if pitchers pitched him backwards or just went to breaking balls/off-speed when he was behind in the count.