Jump to content
North Side Baseball

dew1679666265

Old-Timey Member
  • Posts

    20,547
  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Profiles

Joomla Posts 1

Chicago Cubs Videos

Chicago Cubs Free Agent & Trade Rumors, Notes, & Tidbits

2026 Chicago Cubs Top Prospects Ranking

News

2023 Chicago Cubs Draft Picks

Guides & Resources

2024 Chicago Cubs Draft Picks

The Chicago Cubs Players Project

2025 Chicago Cubs Draft Pick Tracker

Blogs

Events

Forums

Store

Gallery

Everything posted by dew1679666265

  1. Exactly the reason why they shouldn't trade Byrd this offseason - it creates a hole needlessly that we'd have to spend more money to fill.
  2. Trading Byrd would be a really bad idea and really shouldn't be necessary. If you need to free up a little money somewhere to get both Fielder/Pujols and Wilson, there are other ways to do it than to trade one of the best values on the team - I'd trade Marmol and promote Carpenter before I dealt Byrd. I wouldn't be terribly opposed to LaHair as the 25th man next year, but I think Colvin is a better bet to produce as the 4th OF/backup 1B so I wouldn't make any special effort to get LaHair on the roster.
  3. Really excited about the way Tennessee played yesterday. Cincinnati apparently has a terrible secondary, but Tyler Bray, Da'Rick Rogers and Justin Hunter were utterly unstoppable all day. Bray was something like 41-49 on the day and accounted for 5 total touchdowns. The defense was pretty shaky and the running game almost non-existant until about the third quarter, but it appears this team will be able to move the ball through the air. The Florida game next week is going to be really interesting. I think Tennessee can win, but as young as they are they need to get off to a good start. Early struggles in the Swamp could lead to the team unraveling a bit.
  4. Makes the CJ deal look good.
  5. They tried Connor Shaw last week and he was horrid, so no. Garcia isn't that bad, though: 2010 stats: 224/349 - 3,059 yds - 64.2% comp - 20:14 TD:INT
  6. Mississippi State lost just 17-14 to Auburn last year and that was the Cam Newton-led Tigers. Since then Auburn lost a ton to graduation and is starting quite a few young players (talented, but young) and Mississippi State returned a good amount of players, including QB Chris Relf. I don't know if fiver will agree with this, but Auburn is pretty likely to finish either 5th or 6th in West while Mississippi State could be anywhere from 2nd to 4th (depending on how well LSU and Arkansas do). Also, Auburn should have lost to Utah State last week and it took some crazy luck/clutch play/whatever for them to escape with a win.
  7. I covered him when he played in high school. Weird and cool to now see him in the NFL. No doubt. Did you ever think he would burn Harper like a third-string JV player? Haha, not a chance.
  8. I covered him when he played in high school. Weird and cool to now see him in the NFL. Wow that's pretty sweet lol. He was easily one of the best players in the area, but I never imagined he would eventually be in the NFL.
  9. I covered him when he played in high school. Weird and cool to now see him in the NFL.
  10. I can still access Bruce's stories like normal.
  11. Hard to imagine making an offer that low they'll be able to come back and make an offer close to $100 million higher in total value a few months later. It's still hard to imagine, but it's just looking more and more like he's going to hit the market.
  12. With a fully healthy Peyton, I think they'd dominate the intra-division games (probably losing only one or two) and that'd help them get to 10+ wins. As Jim Sorgi said, health is the biggest key for the team.
  13. You know the Brewers are on pace for 96 wins and hold a ~10 game lead in the division right? 96 win pace? I had no idea. When I checked before I think they were something like 5 games over .500 and led the division by a couple games. I knew they had grabbed a pretty solid hold on the division, but didn't realize they were playing that well.
  14. I love the faith you have in the Titans, but I have a feeling the AFC South will be very similar to the NL Central this year. A bunch of mediocrity and a team only makes the playoffs because they have to. I still think the division comes down to either the Colts or Texans and it all depends on how long Peyton is out/rusty. If he's healthy and back to normal form within a couple weeks of the season's start, the Colts win the division with maybe 9-10 wins. If he misses 2-3 weeks and then takes another couple to get healthy, then I think the Texans win the division with about 8-9 wins. In both scenarios the Titans and Jags will fight it out for third with, probably, 6-7 wins. (Exact win totals are more representative of my view of the team than actual predictions - actual win totals may vary).
  15. Cincy's going to be a much tougher test than Montana was last week, but I think we've got a really good chance to win. I actually kind of hope it's a closer game than last week's so that this young team doesn't go into the Florida game cocky. I'm really not that sure what to expect out of Cincy this year, though. They were pretty bad last year, but then demolished Austin-Peay last week ... but it's Austin-Peay. On a side note, I can't express how much I'd like to see Penn State knock off Bama.
  16. If we do go with just 8 teams then I'd prefer to see large rosters or something. It takes a lot out of the league for me when you've got a host of high quality players sitting on free agency.
  17. That's some pretty strong criticism for a guy who BA rated as the 23rd, 38th, and 12th best minor leaguer in baseball from 97-99. He had some solid numbers in the minors, pitched well in very limited ML action in 98 (at 21), struggled some in 99 (at 22), and then was horrid in 67 ML innings in 2000 (at 23). He did need a mechanical (and apparently psychological) overhaul in 2001, but the makings of a very good pitcher were certainly there beforehand. I wouldn't credit Wilken with drafting the best pitcher in baseball, but to give him no credit for identifying talent in Halladay, or to actually criticize him for making the pick, is over the top I think. Barney's a 2-3 WAR player during his cost controlled years. I don't think he should be held up as a great success of the farm system, but he doesn't suck. As a 4th round pick, I think he was a decent selection by Wilken.
  18. Tennessee hired former Alabama assistant AD and Florida State AD Dave Hart as its new athletic director today. Anybody know anything about this guy? He seems really qualified.
  19. Drawing walks is not a purely passive activity. The pitcher has a strategy entering each AB and part of that is to try to get a hitter to expand his strike zone. Maddux rarely walked batters due to poor control, largely it was in an effort to get them to chase pitchers' pitches out of the zone and a lot of times it worked. There are also pitches thrown in the zone that aren't hittable - a batter should lay off of those as well. Being a patient hitter is simply about not swinging at pitches way out of the zone - it's about understanding the strike zone, understanding the type and location of pitches you want to hit, and having the discipline to lay off pitches the pitcher wants you to swing at. Walks are a result of both a hitter who has a good plan when he steps to the plate and a pitcher who struggles to find the zone. It's not all because of one or the other.
  20. Yeah, if the only problem with Fleita is philosophical and he's very good at everything else (whatever else his responsibilities are), then a new GM would force a philosophical change from Fleita or he'll quit/be fired. I still don't like forcing Fleita on a new GM, but this doesn't necessarily mean Ricketts is going to make a bad GM hire or that he's going to perpetuate the same philosophy.
  21. Is Fleita involved in the actual teaching process for players throughout the system or is he just kind of a manager and organizer - a guy who puts the current philosophy in motion but isn't specifically involved in the actual development process? If he's a good manager and organizer, then davearm2's scenario could be even more plausible. Basically, Ricketts may see Fleita as good at organizing and managing each level of the system and good at implementing a philosophy. If Oneri is very good at all of his job requirements other than having an up to date philosophy, it could be that Ricketts believes Oneri will adapt to a new philosophy brought in by whoever the new GM is - which he'll have to since he's a subordinate. Even if all that is accurate, I still don't like Ricketts extending subordinates to the GM before the GM is chosen, but this doesn't necessarily mean there's going to be a perpetuation of all that was wrong with the Cubs' minor league system under Hendry. I'd hope the GM would still have the authority to make the changes he feels are necessary technically and philosophically to the farm system and it'd be up to Fleita to implement those changes.
  22. Was there a better SP option out there last offseason than Garza? I wasn't crazy about the trade at the time because I thought we gave up too much, but Garza was still one of the best SP options on the market. Likewise, after Adam Dunn was there a better 1B option on the market than Pena? The Cubs passed on Dunn, according to reports, not because of his pricetag but because Hendry wanted better defense at first base than he felt Dunn would provide. I didn't then and I don't now have a problem with passing on Dunn in favor of Pena. Adrian Gonzalez was also out there but that would have taken a ton of value in both money and prospects to get him - the Red Sox outbidding us doesn't surprise nor disappoint me. Last offseason there simply weren't very many good FA or trade options out there so the Cubs not spending a glut of money makes sense and was a good decision. I'll be the first to complain if the Cubs pass on Pujols/Fielder this offseason, but cutting spending this past offseason could easily simply be a result of a poor FA/trade class and not Ricketts being cheap.
  23. Missouri seems like it'd be an almost perfect fit for the SEC. It's not particularly far away from Arkansas, it'd be one of the better academic schools in the SEC (I think), and it'd bring in viewership from the St. Louis/KC area - one the SEC currently has no presence in at all. Virginia Tech would probably be a better fit, but Missouri would be really good as well I think.
  24. I may just be listening to the wrong people, but I've heard very few people give Baylor much of a chance tonight. I'm really excited about it since I think it'll be a lot closer than that - I could easily see Baylor knocking off TCU. And I'll probably be pulling for Baylor too since TCU isn't a mid-major anymore (at least long term) so them busting up the BCS wouldn't be as meaningful. I know nothing of Baylor this year, but it seems like they always have the talent for an upset. They were a decent team (certainly by Baylor football standards) last year and Robert Griffin is a fantastic player. I'm not real familiar with this year's version, though.
  25. I may just be listening to the wrong people, but I've heard very few people give Baylor much of a chance tonight. I'm really excited about it since I think it'll be a lot closer than that - I could easily see Baylor knocking off TCU. And I'll probably be pulling for Baylor too since TCU isn't a mid-major anymore (at least long term) so them busting up the BCS wouldn't be as meaningful.
×
×
  • Create New...