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XZero771679666304

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Everything posted by XZero771679666304

  1. If the score holds, there will not an above-.500 team in the West after today's games. That is pathetic. They are all already under .500 To think some were calling the West the toughest division in baseball before the season. And how bad are the D-Backs? It's hard to believe that is the same team we saw in April/early May. Pathetic.
  2. Shapiro doesn't have to deal Sabathia, and he knows it. If a team does acquire him, they are going to pay through the nose. I have a feeling Milwaukee would have to give up LaPorta and Gamel, and probably one of their young ML assets as well. If the Crew is only willing to give up one, then I think Shapiro would take his chances with the two draft picks. Would Milwaukee go for that, seeing as they may well have a hole at 1B (which would be filled by LaPorta or Gamel) down the road? I don't think the Cubs have enough to get him, unless they give up nearly all of their top prospects.
  3. Dempster's level of performance is out of left field, but if you had to pick one or the other as a candidate for a successful conversion to starter, Ryan would have been the much safer bet.
  4. A guy who couldn't cut it as a closer, hadn't started in his nine years playing in the majors is now a winning starting pitcher. You don't find those that often either they can't hold up to the many more pitches or just didn't have it to begin with. explain Dempster Dempster was a starter for most of his career, and had success (albeit limited). He also was very good as closer in his first go round. It has always been fairly clear that Ryan is very good when he can locate his pitches. Looper was strictly a reliever until the Cards converted him. Ryan had 3 200+ IP seasons in the past. Now I think Dempster is overachieving, but he =/= Looper.
  5. Regripping clubs is cheap. and make a huge difference. Bad grips make ball striking quite a bit more difficult. Good grips do indeed make a huge difference, not just in stability, but comfort. If you are thinking about the club slipping even before you swing, it takes a toll.
  6. To be fair, they smoked some balls right at people with RISP over the weekend. Soto on Saturday, Ramirez early and both Edmonds and Ward in the ninth last night, to name a few.
  7. No, it's really not arguable at all. Even in his best year to date, Crede's OPS+ was 19 points lower than ARam's. And that is by far the closest he's been. Ramirez has pretty well destroyed Crede in AVG, OBP, OPS+, SLG, RC/G, EQA, IsoP, BB/K and OPS/RISP every year. And I am leaving out stats like HR/RBI/RC to be fair to Crede, since he hasn't played that much. And even in his best full seasons, Joe wasn't nearly as good. And while Crede is a better defender (and nearly all defensive metrics are severely flawed, and Aramis isn't a bad defender), it doesn't begin to make up for the chasm between the two offensively. Crede has gotten off to a good start, but when you compare the offensive numbers across the board over the past five years, trying to argue that he is as good as ARam is an absolute joke. And ARam is no Pujols, but Crede is closer to Jacobs than ARam, statistically speaking (in fact Mike's career OPS is higher).
  8. Yeah, this would be another example of their classless organization. Except Kenny Williams would be the one doing it.
  9. I'm irritated, but not worried. It's a brutal stretch in the schedule, played while Z and Soriano out. And as abuck said, the irritation stems mainly from the boneheaded play. Once Z and Sori get back (and Hendry gets another SP,hopefully), all will be good. I fully expect the Cubs to win 8 or 9 of the 13 games remaining before the ASB. Barring more injuries, this is the chance for the Crew and Cards to catch up to the Cubs. If they don't do it by mid-July, it's not going to happen (IMO).
  10. Yeah, I'm torn between Cherry Coke and Cherry Pepsi, but I will not drink regular Coke at all. Try regular Pepsi with cherry grenadine and maraschino cherries. Awesome. But out of the bottle, I am not sure Cherry Coke isn't better than Wild Cherry Pepsi, and I HATE Coca-Cola.
  11. Kind of hard to score runs when you have had offensive forces like Jacque Jones, Cesar Izturis, Cliff Floyd, Jeromy Burnitz, and Todd Hollandsworth hitting behind you I realize that but for a guy who has hit .300+ with 30+ hr's to never score 100 in 5 or 6 years with that production is pretty rare. Guys in awful offenses who are the guy in that offense still manage to score 100 most seasons. Combine the jokers that have hit behind him with the missed time, and it's really not that surprising.
  12. Taste is relative. I'd rather drink battery acid than Coca-Cola. But speaking of bygone days, I really miss Pepsi in a glass bottle.
  13. Why not say the team with the best record? Saying "the best team in baseball" is bad juju.
  14. But Wright has a gold glove. Winner! And you can bet he'll win it again this year. Wright is not as good a defender, IMO. He has a penchant for the spectacular, but isn't as steady as Aramis.
  15. I don't think that's necessarily far-fetched. I think the Cubs as a whole just needed one year under Piniella and Perry to shake off the Dust, and this year's the payoff. I'd be curious to know how much Dusty's Giants teams walked (other than Bonds). Well, they lead the NL in walks in 2000, were second in 2001, and 14th in 2002. Strangely enough, the more Bonds walked (his walks increased each year), the fewer the rest of the team took. By 2002, Bonds walks comprised 1/3 of the team total, whereas is had been about 1/7 in 2000.
  16. Yes! That stuff is delicious. ...but second to Pepsi, IMO.
  17. I think that is very likely, but not a given. I also think we might see a career year from Aramis this season, being that his second half OPS is over 100 points higher than his first half OPS over the past 3 years, and how his new OBP friendly approach has improved his game.
  18. I think the fact that he entered his prime in over the past 2-3 years has more to do with it, especially since his home/away splits over that time are very similar. Yeah, could be. But he only had one season of +.800 OPS before the Cubs, and since he's been there he's never been below .912 He was also younger than 25 for most of his pre cub career. With these arguements, like CoolHandLuke already said, Wright has a large advantage over Ramirez considering his age. If the OP was leaning towards the question of who would you take if you were building a team today, and wanted an elite offensive 3b who could help you win this year, next year, and so on, I would think Wright would have to get the nod over Ramirez. I would take Wright over Ramirez, but I don't think saying he has been significantly better than Aramis over the past 3+ seasons is accurate.
  19. I think the fact that he entered his prime in over the past 2-3 years has more to do with it, especially since his home/away splits over that time are very similar. Yeah, could be. But he only had one season of +.800 OPS before the Cubs, and since he's been there he's never been below .912 He was also very young, and played hurt for the Pirates after his .886 in 2001. Plus the lineup protection he has gotten with the Cubs hasn't hurt, but I think it's natural progression. As I said, he has performed just as well on the road for almost all of his Cubs tenure. People also tried to make the Wrigley case with Sammy Sosa, but failed to noticed his home/road splits were identical during his prime.
  20. 2007 Cubs +62 2007 DBacks -20 If the Brewers are banking on a scenario with an extremely low chance of happening, then we have nothing to worry about. Milwaukee's season hinges on their ability to pick up a top notch SP (not just an average one). The team as it is currently comprised just isn't capable of sustaining success (sans Gallardo). Also, it is a virtual lock that the Cubs are going to add a #2 or #3 type SP before the deadline, IMO.
  21. I think the fact that he entered his prime in over the past 2-3 years has more to do with it, especially since his home/away splits over that time are very similar.
  22. Look beyond the last 3 months. Wright's significantly better (than ARam) in each of the last 3 seasons. I still don't see how anyone can say they are "close." Wright: 05: .912 06: .912 07: .963 08: .841 Ramirez: 05: .926 06: .912 07: .915 08: .934 I'd say they're extremely close offensively. I'd call it a wash. I don't know how good Wright is defensively, but if Aramis is better like people are saying, then I'd give the nod to him for overall better 3B. Well, Wright was better last season for sure. Other than that, their OPS and OPS+ have been very similar from 2005 on.
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