dew1679666265

Kendall's got decent speed, though I don't know how Parra handles the bat. There we go, Yost did it and Lou guessed right.

2-1 Cubs bottom 5th

He's only slightly off his career numbers and had a 131 OPS+ just last season. He's got a 119 OPS+ this year and has shown signs of breaking out of his recent slump. Plus he's only 32 - no spring chicken but he should have 2-3 years left before any serious decline.

Looks like just one man's opinion though. He doesn't cite any polls. I'm surprised to see Tennessee that high (10th) and Alabama that low (8th). I would have put Bama ahead of, at least, Oklahoma, Miami and Texas. Possibly as high as fourth (kicking Florida down a peg or two). And I respect the heck out of Bear Bryant.

:lol: Is it possible to express how happy I am that Ed Wade is the Houston general manager?

Talk about robbery, they must be nuts. If they keep that stance, they can stuff it.. [-( This is the same organization that wants the Yankees to pick up all of Jarrod Washburn contract, plus give up a TOP prospect. So, it doesn't surprise me that the M's are asking for Pie and another good prospect for Ibanez. If you think about it, what do they really have to lose? They're going nowhere, so whats the worse that coukd happen? Either they get pospects or drsft picks. While theyd probably take some good prospects over the picks, theyd take the picks over crap prospects. I dont blame them for trying to get as much as they can. Problem is, they likely won't get two draft picks for Ibanez. He's looking like a Type B, which means one sandwich (I believe) pick. Two to three decent prospects would be better than one sandwich pick oftentimes.

I agree that Manny is a, well, whatever he is, but even if the Red Sox DO finally ship him out, Manny's not going to stop Being Manny. He'll just become a clubhouse cancer with the new team. Not right away maybe, but it'll develop soon enough. If the new team quickly pays him 17-20 million for roughly 4 years not to be, I don't think he will (moreso than a goofy act now and then). He's really acting up now because he doesn't want to be in Boston because he knows they won't give him that money.

I've never seen Gammons get that pissed off on the air. He wasn't really irate when he thought Phillips was blaming Manny's behavior on Terry Francona.

33 days until the first Tennessee game on Sept. 1. When I hit media day Saturday, I'm going to be going crazy til the season starts.

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=224434&src=152 Hmmm, Stern is very much a traditionalist and would fit well in perceived "good ole boys" clubs. Seems like his recommendation would have quite a bit of impact for anyone riding the fence on Cuban.

Colvin is worth - in perceived value alone - far more than a good hitter/terrible defender. I'd give them Sam Fuld and maybe Jose Ceda. Otherwise they get mid-tier pitchers like Kevin Hart and Mitch Adkins or I don't do a deal. Of course, I like Colvin so many on here would think I was an idiot. :D

I wouldn't have a terrible problem with Pie platooning with Reed, but if we could bring in a proven, consistent hitter for the remainder of the season, I'd prefer it. If our option is Coco Crisp or someone of his ilk, though, I'm more than happy with Pie. Just out of curiosity, I've never heard of Pie partying too hard. Where was it you heard that from?

Who is this optimistic person posting in place of JeffH and what did you do to the real one? :wink: Honestly, though, Ibanez would be terrific for the DH role. I wouldn't acquire him just for that, though.

if an 825 OPS is pretty bad, I'll gladly take it. Which is strangely better than Ibanez's season numbers. That said, at least Ibanez is healthy and would probably be counted on to be healthy. I still prefer the Edmonds/Johnson platoon If Edmonds is healthy. If that's the case, I don't want any part of Ibanez. But, if he comes very cheaply (again, Hart and Adkins perhaps) he'd allow us to not have to play Reed against righties or Pie should Edmonds go down for an extended period of time (more likely than most, but granted not a guarantee).

Oh I wouldnt say its the most important, but to say its not at all important when comparing hitters makes no sense The problem is, if you look at OBP and SLG, you get everything batting average tells you plus how often they get on via a walk and how often they hit for power. Average is an ok stat for certain purposes, but it's terribly limited in what it tells you. average is a really good number to look at when you want to know what someone's batting average is You got me there. :D

Oh I wouldnt say its the most important, but to say its not at all important when comparing hitters makes no sense The problem is, if you look at OBP and SLG, you get everything batting average tells you plus how often they get on via a walk and how often they hit for power. Average is an ok stat for certain purposes, but it's terribly limited in what it tells you.

I wouldn't say Dunn will come cheaply, but it sounds like there is very little interest in him. While we'd obviously have to give up something better than what the Reds will get back in draft compensation, but that'd sure be worth it for the stretch run (and our draft compensation). Frankly, I don't buy the whole "intradivision" pricetag in a situation like this where one team is way out and the player will be a rental. If the Reds like what we're offering more than 2 draft picks, then why should they hurt their team by turning us down? They aren't competing against us for the rest of the year. Given that Ibanez has some teams very intersted in him with the M's having a big asking price, I really don't think the cost will be that different for the two players. And definitely nowhere near the difference value. I'd agree with this if it was a guarantee that he was only a rental player. But, with Cub's ownership currently in flux, that isn't a guarantee. If Mark Cuban bought the team, there is always the possibility that he could give Dunn a lengthy contract. Are the Reds willing to trade Dunn to a team in their division and then face him for the next 5 some odd years? Unless they plan on signing him to an extention then theres no difference between them trading him to us now and letting him walk in the offseason. If there's absolutely zero market for him, I'd agree. But, if they've got two offers on the table with one from the Cubs and one from the Rangers, they'll demand more from the Cubs than Texas - simply so that if they have to face him constantly for the next five years, they'll get a really good haul from the intradivison team. HES A FREE AGENT AFTER THIS YEAR. Regardless of whether or not they keep him, trade him to the Cubs or any other team, the odds are most likely relatively the same that he will be a cub in 2009 and beyond. Unfortunately, those odds are slim to none, but the point is, tradin him to us now does not mean he will be with us for the next 5 years. It doesn't necessarily mean it, but there's a good chance the recently free-spending Cubs will have the inside track to resigning him if they acquire him. If they don't, they'll have to fight for him on the free agent market like everybody else (and have to spend more most likely). Teams have generally erred on the side of trading out of division even with expiring contracts when they have the choice. It's a bigger deal if it's a young guy under contract for a few more years (McLouth), but it's still something other teams will (right or wrong) consider for someone like Dunn who's a long-term contract candidate.

Rupert Murdoch, I think. That's what I was thinking it was, but it didn't sound right when I typed it up, so I replaced the last name with "somebody". At least I didn't say Rupert Holmes. :grin: I don't believe Rupert Murdoch (FOX) spent beyond his means and then cut costs after purchasing the Dodgers. That may be what some people believe the current owner (McCourt did), but I'm not sure. Oh crap. I was way off base. I meant Frank McCourt. McCourt spent beyond his means to purchase the team and then cut costs the first few years he owned the team. I thought it seemed odd that Murdoch would cut costs at all, but I figured you knew more about the Dodgers than me anyway. :D

as someone who corrects people for their grammar, you might want to avoid phrases like "might could" :lol: :lol: :lol: Is that some kind of Louisiana thing or something? I've seen that before, though extremely infrequently. "Might could" is a very southern thing. I hear it around here all the time. I used a could talk good until I moved to the south :lol: Well dadblastit son, maybe you ought ta move back up thar to the north so you can start talkin better. :wink:

Ah, I knew it was one of the many mods who brought that up. Sorry for the confusion Tiger and NCCubFan. :D

I wouldn't say Dunn will come cheaply, but it sounds like there is very little interest in him. While we'd obviously have to give up something better than what the Reds will get back in draft compensation, but that'd sure be worth it for the stretch run (and our draft compensation). Frankly, I don't buy the whole "intradivision" pricetag in a situation like this where one team is way out and the player will be a rental. If the Reds like what we're offering more than 2 draft picks, then why should they hurt their team by turning us down? They aren't competing against us for the rest of the year. Given that Ibanez has some teams very intersted in him with the M's having a big asking price, I really don't think the cost will be that different for the two players. And definitely nowhere near the difference value. I'd agree with this if it was a guarantee that he was only a rental player. But, with Cub's ownership currently in flux, that isn't a guarantee. If Mark Cuban bought the team, there is always the possibility that he could give Dunn a lengthy contract. Are the Reds willing to trade Dunn to a team in their division and then face him for the next 5 some odd years? Unless they plan on signing him to an extention then theres no difference between them trading him to us now and letting him walk in the offseason. If there's absolutely zero market for him, I'd agree. But, if they've got two offers on the table with one from the Cubs and one from the Rangers, they'll demand more from the Cubs than Texas - simply so that if they have to face him constantly for the next five years, they'll get a really good haul from the intradivison team.

That's not even an improvement on what we have right now. If Edmonds gets injured or drops off, it is. And while there's certainly no guarantee that Edmonds will miss significant time with an injury, he's already having nagging issues.

If Ned Colletti gets desperate for him, I've got no problem shipping him off now. I don't see how it makes us better this year, and I don't see how we're going to get anything significant enough for Eyre and Cedeno to help us in the future. It wouldn't make us better or worse this year - but if we could get Hu and, perhaps, Kuo from Colletti, it'd make us a good bit better in the future. Obviously, though, I'm banking on us being able to take advantage of Colletti's lack of intelligence. I wouldn't give the two away for nothing. I can't see why the Dodgers would trade away Kuo if they are looking to acquire Eyre (or is it just Cedeno now?). I don't know that they'd do it, but NCCubFan (I think) brought the Kuo idea up. I'd try to structure something around Cedeno for Hu.

Then let them, I guess. I wouldn't give two "quality" prospects for him, unless they see quality as Hart and Adkins.

The fact that they haven't really looked at long-term answers leads me to believe they haven't given up on Pie completely yet. If they got a long-term guy, they'd have to give up on Felix. You could use Pie to keep the other player cost down though. Definitely. I'm not sure I've seen an outfielder I'm willing to give Pie up for, though. Definitely not DeJesus. Maybe McLouth - though would Pittsburgh give him to us without absolutely scalping us? I'm not a fan of trying to acquire players when their values are at all-time highs, as in McClouth's case. Especially buying high inside the division. We bought low on Aramis when we got him from the Pirates. . . this is different.