UK1679666180

O_O, you seen B. Jackson live yet?

Dusty didn't ruin anyone's career, IMO. Players take responsibility as well for knowing their limitations and being able to separate injury/pain. With that said, Dusty was excessive as there were plenty of opportunities in games that were decided that he left SPs in there whne he should've taken them out to preserve them. If you assume Prior as a career that was ruined by Dusty, you should also look at Bill Swift and Van LandingHam with the Giants as far as arms that could be considered pushed beyond the breaking point by Baker.

Guzman has been head and shoulders above everyone as the best reliever this year, I like him in his current role as it limits the wear on his arm. Marshall has been the second best out of the pen but like Guzman has been used earlier in the game than Marmol/Gregg. The problem isn't Gregg, it's been Marmol as he's been the disappointing one. I expected Marmol to come close to what he did last year but he hasn't, I expected Gregg to be the 3rd or more likely the 4th best arm out of the pen but the Cubs could overcome the below avg. production for a closer with an offense that produces. With Marmol struggling and the offense not scoring, it has emphasized the importance of Gregg which has hurt them given his stuff isn't beyond that of a 7th inning guy yet he does have some balls to get outs in close/late games despite meh stuff. I thought and still think that the pen is the biggest flaw on the team (this and 2B) and I'm sure they tried beyond Grabow for building up the pen but not overpaying to do so. I just hope somebody else is closing our playoff games. Hopefully BJ Ryan pulls a miracle out of his ass. He better have balls of steel b/c I don't think he'll have the stuff. As much as I whine about Gregg's lack of stuff, he looks like the Dodgers version of Gagne out there compared to the reports on Ryan.

Yes... I'll admit that I've never been a Castillo guy based prim. on his Peoria days. To me, he looked sloppy behind the plate with sloppy footwork, good arm strength. He has some power, but I don't think he'll be able to hit well enough to say he projects as a starting C. His ceiling is that of a poor man's Damian Miller, IMO. Colvin is likely going to end up as a 4th OF'er, capable of playing all 3 OF positions (corner OF playing CF when he does have to play CF). With Clevenger, Soto, and Hill or whomever is the back-up, I think that is enough Cs on the 40 man as you already mentioned. We'll see what happens with Reed Johnson (personally that salary should be used elsewhere) and with only 5 OF'ers on the 40 man, that spot would be better being guaranteed for Colvin despite the limited ceiling and the supposed lack of opposition salavating over the poss. of him being exposed to Rule V.

Guzman has been head and shoulders above everyone as the best reliever this year, I like him in his current role as it limits the wear on his arm. Marshall has been the second best out of the pen but like Guzman has been used earlier in the game than Marmol/Gregg. The problem isn't Gregg, it's been Marmol as he's been the disappointing one. I expected Marmol to come close to what he did last year but he hasn't, I expected Gregg to be the 3rd or more likely the 4th best arm out of the pen but the Cubs could overcome the below avg. production for a closer with an offense that produces. With Marmol struggling and the offense not scoring, it has emphasized the importance of Gregg which has hurt them given his stuff isn't beyond that of a 7th inning guy yet he does have some balls to get outs in close/late games despite meh stuff. I thought and still think that the pen is the biggest flaw on the team (this and 2B) and I'm sure they tried beyond Grabow for building up the pen but not overpaying to do so.

Yeah that usually me... "UK from Chicago" I think with Jackson, his FB everything I've heard that it touches the mid 90s and sits in the the low 90s. For a RH'er, a 50 (avg. FB) sits at 91 so his velo is prob. 55, his movement doesn't hurt him as it's prob. avg to slightly above avg., and his command/control is solid as well. It's above avg. but it's not a plus pitch (60+ on the OFP scale). Cashner hasn't been consistent enough with the slider, IMO. Sure it flashes plus which is good but without that 3rd pitch, it has to go from once in awhile "2 plane late break" to more often than not "2 plane late break" even before factoring command/control of the FB. Carpenter has the highest ceiling but he is most likely to flame out (not including Samardzija) b/c of those reasons, but I believed he showed a feel for the change at Kent St. as well as that frame, he's the highest boom/bust candidate while Jackson is the safest pick to reach a #3 starter. For them to take that next step as a farm, they need the equiv. of the ceiling of Vitters off the mound, or two of each, maybe get 2-3 in the top 50 and sprinkle the few names towards the btm of the top 100. I know they don't have the money to spend but I would've liked some high ceiling arms within the 1st 10 rounds. Rusin was safe, Kirk might be that guy his FB wasn't overwhelming even for a lefty, Raley didn't have overwhelming stuff. Whitensack depending on how his FB velo actually is and plays off his breaking ball might be that guy as far as boom/bust. Of course, BAs list is purely subjective and is never truly predictive but given the resources, I feel it is the most accurate.

Nah, I just thought... "a 3-1 slider belt high" & "damn did he miss on that FB".

Carpenter does and he has the K ratio to prove it. Cashner has flashed the real good slider but for it to be a plus pitch, they have to do more than flash it and you can say the same with Jackson and as you mentioned they don't have the combo with a 3rd pitch. With plus FBs (minus Jackson at this stage where it's more likely avg.), if they have better secondary pitches you would've seen the higher K ratios and Carpenter who might have the most consistently good breaking ball of the group has the better strikeout ratio to show for it. Each pitcher has a flaw/something to work on that is preventing them from becoming a #1 type of starter down the road. Cashner is the 3rd pitch, tightening the slider. Jackson is a lack of plus FB, Carpenter it's the 3rd pitch and maybe staying healthy, Samardzija it's command & consistency with the splitter/slider, Archer it's throwing strikes. They have good arms but they don't have the great arms yet. I don't like to compare it to the '02 farm but, it's a fair comparison as there likely isn't a Prior, Cruz, and Zambrano in this group as far as elite arms.

This will be his 5th year of more than 175 ABs.

If I was to rank them: 1)Clevenger 2)Gaub 3)Maestri 4)Parker 5)Colvin I'm not high on Papelbon nor have I been high on Castillo.

Raisin, (as you know I'm lazy) I have to be there for the upcoming series in Beloit. What's the rotation looking like for the series? Bristow, Archer, Beliveau?

Player that plays a premium position that has underperformed significantly compared to previous results = keeper for next year. But there's only so many keeper points to go around. Yes, but I have a decent number of exempt players and injured guys to possibly absorb him. I want to keep: Doumit (missed most of the year) lower points Prado-exempt Hardy-lower than expected points. Manny-missed significant time. CC or Grienke (maybe both if poss.) Johnson-exempt Romero-exempt Carmona-exempt Maine or Duchseherererererererer- injured Glaus-injured There's somewhat of a method to my madness. I'm hoping the point system doesn't take too much of a beating to where rosters completely change every year b/c there are no points.

He has valid reasoning in some of his negative viewpoints. Of course when that's all you do is provide negative thoughts & regardless if it's valid or not, it isn't anything different than your avg. troll.

Player that plays a premium position that has underperformed significantly compared to previous results = keeper for next year.

The WS have never been in the forefront when large market teams are mentioned and Kenny Williams has always been given way too much credit for building something without the "OUTRAGEOUS" payroll that "free-spending" Hendry has while Hendry is bashed for whatever success he has achieved because he has this outrageous payroll and should do better. The Sox have really never been mentioned in the forefront of anything, especially nationally but Williams does get credit as far as being an aggressive GM which he deserves and Hendry is also in that same boat (except this year). Williams has something of extreme value on his resume that Hendry doesn't have, so he'll always receive more credit than Hendry as far as building of a team until Hendry/Cubs win one.

The Cubs definitely have improved their depth, especially on the positional side of things with this recent draft as well as the progression of Castro, Lake, Lee, Burke, maybe Flaherty, etc. they have built a nice little stable of position prospects that project as ML regulars. As previously mentioned, they lack the star prospects (minus Vitters). They do have some power arms with Archer (although I must've caught him on a bad day), Carpenter, Cashner, Samardzija, etc. but they really don't have plus breaking balls/off-speed that other power arms in other organizations have and separate star arms with ML avg. arms.

I don't think many have described the Sox as a small market/low payroll team. The only thing I really hear about the Sox in comparison to the Cubs is how there's much more attention via the media and other outlets given to the Cubs than the Sox. They've always been one of the more higher payroll teams in the League.

Hendry is an ok GM, he's probably avg. overall and middle of the pack, he's been able to take advantage of a declining division since the middle of this decade (STL has regressed since '04 and Hou. has done likewise since that same time) and a large payroll to help assemble the Cubs into back to back division winners. He has flaws in how he feels the team should be built and hasn't had much success with FAs minus Lilly but he's had more good trades than bad. If the Cubs could get Logan White, I'd be all for him as the new GM as I would be willing to accept the risk that he would likely bring more to the table than what Hendry has while without fully knowing that it's a given. But if it meant trusting upper Cubs management to create a search for the next GM and not knowing who it would be, I would prob. rather them keep Hendry.

Definitely. Gorzo>>>>>>>Hart How can Littlefield be such an excellent scout if he was such a pathetic GM? GMs spend very little time scouting players, they spend most of their time on the phone with the scouts scouting the players. Flaws w/GMs come more from poor philosophy rather than lack of judgement. If Littlefield scouted Gorzelanny based on performance as well as the 1st hand knowledge of the days in Pitt. as far as his make-up and what not, I think it's a good thing that Littlefield scout him and recommended him rather than not trading for him b/c of questionable judgement.

I thought (and wished) that you were done posting here. Go work on that novel you've been wanting to work on....

TB receives 1B/3B Russell Branyan for OF Todd Frazier and the 2010 1st rd. minor league pick.

Northside Baseball receives TB's 2010 1st rd. minor league draft pick.

I have nothing against them or most of their fans, I wish them well. On a personal level, I have a greater respect for their front office than the Cubs.

This is a good move for the Sox, I respect the fact that Williams is one of the more aggressive GMs at this time of year and has the backing of their ownership group to make these types of deals even w/the fragile nature of expensive starting pitchers especially Peavy given the stress he puts on his arm. Hopefully with the health of Quentin, they have the offense to get them into the playoffs. Jenks has to be a concern, but hopefully it was the kidney stones that caused him that discomfort. They probably needed one more bullpen arm to be safe.

I've been lucky for the most part this year and didn't really didnlt have the talent to match my overall record. My team has been streaky and nothing in-between and hopefully with the improvements this week, they'll be more consistent.