dew1679666265

Uhhh..is that good? :oops: Baker! A .699 OPS is bad. A shortstop probably should be in the .750 or so range. Oakies #-o I should probably amend that number to .780-.800 range for a pretty good shortstop OPS. That would put a player in the middle of the pack or slightly better in the NL this year. For instance, Theriot's .784 OPS puts him 11th in the NL.

Uhhh..is that good? :oops: Baker! A .699 OPS is bad. A shortstop probably should be in the .750 or so range.

Baker has reached base 19 of his last 33 PAs (Len mentioned it on the broadcast). Amazing.

Kosuke ties it with a homer!

I think it's a little ambitious saying we've got the edge in 3 of those matchups...they are even in my eyes Weaver: 5.56 ERA/1.44 WHIP/47:27 K:BB Gorz: 5.24 ERA/1.16 WHIP/22:8 K:BB Wolf: 3.43 ERA/1.14 WHIP/123:43 K:BB Wells: 3.01 ERA/1.19 WHIP/71:27 K:BB Haeger: 3.86 ERA/0.71 WHIP/2:0 K:BB (one start, 7 IP) - career minors: 3.87/1.41/673:429 Lilly: 3.42 ERA/1.14 WHIP/111:27 K:BB Billingsley: 3.70 ERA/1.24 WHIP/144:66 K:BB Dempster: 4.28 ERA/1.39 WHIP/117:53 K:BB I'd give the Cubs an advantage in games 1 and 3 (Gorz and Lilly) and the Dodgers an advantage in game 4 (Billingsley). Game 2 (Wolf/Wells) is tough to call - I hadn't realized Wolf had been that good this year.

You don't see this often. Peyton wants Colts starters to play more in the preseason.

Since this was being discussed here, I figured I'd toss it out. Mike Rizzo has been named the permanent Nationals GM.

I want no part of Orlando Hudson but would love to get Uggla from Florida. I know the defense is pretty bad but putting up those numbers in that park is pretty promising. Maybe Hendry/Lou give up on their lefty obsession and at least explore the idea. Offensively, Ugglas a really poor mans version of Adam Dunn, and defensively, hes just not very good. I'd be interested in Uggla. A second baseman who can OPS in the low .800s with bad luck (this year) and .874 in a good year (last year) is a really nice player to have. UZR has his defense as not so good (-2.7 UZR/150), but not terrible. The Marlins will likely want too much for him, though. Uggla is going to be 30 next season; I see a decline coming. Decline from what, I'm not sure as he's not a very good hitter. Power I guess. He's had OBPs of .360 and .356 the past two seasons and SLGs of .514 and .454 those same years. That .454 SLG is the worst he's had in his career, but he's slugged .610 in the month of August. He's a good player, especially for a second baseman. That said, he is about to turn 30, but I don't think a sharp decline is likely. And he's not a free agent - he's still arbitration eligible for (I believe) two more seasons. Thus, we'd likely have a pair of one-year deals for him at likely between $5.35 million (his current salary) and probably $9-$10 million. That's a pretty decent deal, if the Marlins don't demand too much.

The Cubs have hit the 5th most home runs of any team in the National League and 7th of 16 in slugging percentage. Slugging hasn't been what's hurt the offense this year. 7th of 16 when you want to finish in the top 4 in the standings can be a problem. It certainly doesn't help, especially when you are just 9th in OBP. They are 10th in OPS and 10th in runs scored. I think the lack of power in LF, RF and C has played a pretty significant role in failing to meet expectations. But that's kind of Lou's point, they are built to hit for power (but not just to hit for power) and haven't been doing it enough. We need to hit for more, I agree, but power hasn't been the #1 issue with this offense - that's probably how I should have worded it. Our OBP has been a bigger detriment (even if just a little) and our lousy RISP numbers (whether luck or whatever other reason) have hurt as well. This team hasn't had enough power, but it has been a powerful team.

The Cubs have hit the 5th most home runs of any team in the National League and 7th of 16 in slugging percentage. Slugging hasn't been what's hurt the offense this year.

really? an 80 year old closer who just came off TJS? Hes 38, and hes been hitting 93-94 in his rehab. He hasnt walked a batter either, and says his slider is better than its been in recent years. Hes 11 months removed from TJS, so its not like hes rushing back. If it would cost us very little, Id be all for it. He has a 1million buyout option for next year, or 8million if hes not bought out. Its not like Wagner has alot of innings on his arm. Hes averaged under 70 innings a year in his career. If hes hitting 93-94 right now, Id bet by start of next year hes around 95-96, and Id rather have hiim for 1 year at 8mil, or buy him out and see if he will take around 5mil, then any of the big name closers out there who are going to ask for 4+ years. Plus, despite his age, he's been really good every year. Right, I figured everybody already knew that, and didnt need stated :D His numbers are so remarkably consistent, its pretty crazy. Honestly, it amazes me that he's been this good for this long. He was pretty close to dominant at 35-36. He may still fall off a cliff due to age or the surgery, but I'd have to think a guy who's been that consistent has a decent chance to remain good. I wouldn't give him a three-year deal or anything, but 1 year/$8 million for next year might be a decent gamble.

They absolutely have a chance. They're currently in 3rd place in their division, but only 1.5 games out of first. I'm not familiar with how wild cards work in the PCL (or even if they have them in the first place), so I'm not sure if that's another route to the playoffs. Good news, thanks. If they make the playoffs, hopefully he'll remain in Iowa to start in the postseason. Once the Iowa season ends, however, there's really no reason not to call him up - even if he's used sparingly. Any chance some players on the 25 man are optioned down to Iowa to help with the playoff push? I wouldn't think so. In order for a player to be eligible for an MLB postseason roster, they have to be on the 25-man at the start of September (or you have to DL a player for each player you want to add to the playoff roster that wasn't on the 25-man). Also, the Cubs are in the middle of a playoff push themselves and likely feel that the current 25-man roster gives them the best chance to reach the playoffs. And an MLB playoff push is more important than a AAA playoff push.

really? an 80 year old closer who just came off TJS? Hes 38, and hes been hitting 93-94 in his rehab. He hasnt walked a batter either, and says his slider is better than its been in recent years. Hes 11 months removed from TJS, so its not like hes rushing back. If it would cost us very little, Id be all for it. He has a 1million buyout option for next year, or 8million if hes not bought out. Its not like Wagner has alot of innings on his arm. Hes averaged under 70 innings a year in his career. If hes hitting 93-94 right now, Id bet by start of next year hes around 95-96, and Id rather have hiim for 1 year at 8mil, or buy him out and see if he will take around 5mil, then any of the big name closers out there who are going to ask for 4+ years. Plus, despite his age, he's been really good every year.

I want no part of Orlando Hudson but would love to get Uggla from Florida. I know the defense is pretty bad but putting up those numbers in that park is pretty promising. Maybe Hendry/Lou give up on their lefty obsession and at least explore the idea. Offensively, Ugglas a really poor mans version of Adam Dunn, and defensively, hes just not very good. I'd be interested in Uggla. A second baseman who can OPS in the low .800s with bad luck (this year) and .874 in a good year (last year) is a really nice player to have. UZR has his defense as not so good (-2.7 UZR/150), but not terrible. The Marlins will likely want too much for him, though.

We also picked late, so slot would have us paying less than most every other team, too. We did, but the Cubs also shied away from guys who dropped due to signability reasons for much of the draft. I look at what the Pirates did this year and find myself quite jealous of them (which is an incredibly bizarre feeling to have towards the Pirates) for what they did after the first day of the draft. Even with their draft as it is, it would have been nice to see the Cubs spend another $1m-$2m to get some of the guys they did draft. Maybe word will leak out about Esquivel/Walker/Sheppard/Whaley/etc in the next few days, but for now, it's a bit of a bummer. Their draft was fairly underwhelming at the time and it's still looking that way now. I wonder if/how much the ownership issues factored into the draft strategy and how many/which guys they signed after the draft.

Most of the difference between Rob's "actual line" and "expected line" is luck. For instance, Soto and Fontenot have been extremely unlucky this season. Meaning they've hit the ball hard, but it's gone right at defenders. Players in those situations are good bets to improve either later in the season or the next year. Likewise, players who don't hit the ball particularly hard but have it fall in nonetheless are getting lucky and, thus, are not good bets to continue that production for an extended period of time. Luck doesn't always even out over the course of a season, but sometimes it does.

I know the chances of him regressing are still there for next season, but it's a good sign to see that Lee's great season hasn't been largely due to getting lucky. Maybe it bodes well for him continuing to be good/very good next year. I remember he was getting extremely unlucky in the early/mid parts of the season and that accounted for most of his struggles. Despite his age, this signing is looking very good right now. If he can continue this OBP level for the next two seasons, he may be overpaid but at least he'll be productive. Hopefully some power will return next year.

If the question is whether the .952 OPS with the Cubs is a fluke, then the answer is likely yes. However, I think the evidence is there that he can be a very productive player (for a second baseman). He OPSd .791 last year and overall this year is currently at .813 (.384 Colorado OPS and .952 Cubs OPS). It's not a certainty, but I also don't think it's a stretch to think he could be a low-mid .800s OPS guy.

v RHP: .264/.316/.377/.693 v LHP: .325/.372/.600/.972 overall w/Cubs: .343/.395/.557/.952 I'm not sure how his lefty/righty splits break down since his torrid streak began, but those are his splits all year and his overall numbers as a Cub. I'm all for keeping him next year, but having a lefty around in case he struggles with righties wouldn't be a bad idea.

They absolutely have a chance. They're currently in 3rd place in their division, but only 1.5 games out of first. I'm not familiar with how wild cards work in the PCL (or even if they have them in the first place), so I'm not sure if that's another route to the playoffs. Good news, thanks. If they make the playoffs, hopefully he'll remain in Iowa to start in the postseason. Once the Iowa season ends, however, there's really no reason not to call him up - even if he's used sparingly.

The Iowa season ends Sept. 7, though I don't know if they have a shot at the playoffs or not. Once their season ends, leaving Shark in Iowa wouldn't do him any good. Yeah, but bringing him up wont do us any good either. You could say that for most of the guys on that list. Id rather have a guy who hasnnt proven he can do the job over a guy whose proven he cant. There's no reason why Shark would have to pitch in close games. Make him a long reliever, bring him in during blowouts and let him work on his pitches. He's still got a lot of potential (he's only 24) but right now he just needs to work on improving his secondary pitches and get a little more confident. With roster limit not an issue in September, there's no real reason not to bring him up and use him as a long reliever.

The Iowa season ends Sept. 7, though I don't know if they have a shot at the playoffs or not. Once their season ends, leaving Shark in Iowa wouldn't do him any good. Yeah, but bringing him up wont do us any good either. You could say that for most of the guys on that list.

The Iowa season ends Sept. 7, though I don't know if they have a shot at the playoffs or not. Once their season ends, leaving Shark in Iowa wouldn't do him any good.

Yeah, Hendry made the decision to go with Hee-Seop Choi over Thome in the 02 offseason. Then, after the 2003 season, he dealt Choi for Lee.

2008 Gregg: 3.41 ERA; 1.282 WHIP; 58:37 K:BB 2008 Wuertz: 3.63 ERA; 1.433 WHIP; 30:20 K:BB Gregg wasn't great last year, but he was better than Wuertz. Also, Gregg got hurt around this time last year (the same knee injury he struggled with early this year) and that's why he was taken out of the closer's role. Please add 2005-07 to your comparison 05-06 have nothing to do with the comparison because he was talking about Gregg's time with the Marlins. I probably should have added 2007 in, though. 2007 Gregg: 3.54 ERA; 1.226 WHIP; 87:40 K:BB 2007 Wuertz: 3.48 ERA; 1.369 WHIP; 79:35 K:BB They were closer that year, but Wuertz still wasn't clearly better. Still very similar results, though.