XZero771679666304

I think Zito has a better FB. Rich's fastball is quite average, IMO. Edit: I meant Zito's 2-seamer. He also has a change.

Cintron missed that pitch by a foot.

Yay... I think I'll just forget he ever said that. I don't agree with it, but I thought that was a foregone conclusion.

I have a hard time believing LaMar would give Huff up for Shoppach alone. He is too stingy.

What kind of throw was that?

Quite the understatement..... Hairston AB R H 2B 3B HR TB RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS 07/23 - 07/29 22 0 4 0 0 0 4 0 2 2 0.182 0.250 0.182 0.432 I was trying to be kind.....

Damn wind. :evil:

I hate to say it, but Hairston hasn't been doing a whole lot lately.

Gonzo flies out to deep right.

I was referring more to Rolen's first half of 2004: .339/.415/.599 18 HR 80 RBI Not as far over his career numbers as Lee, but a pretty big stretch. Also, Lee spent most of his career playing in an extreme pitchers park, whereas Rolen has played in neutral or hitter friendly parks. Lee is nearly as good a first baseman as Rolen is a third baseman, and Lee is bigger, stronger, and faster. So yes, I think Lee has always had more star potential, at least offensively. And Neifi did play over his head, but you guys have a slew of guys playing over their heads.

Sometimes I wonder if that isn't what Dusty actually wants.

If we're talking about someone Dusty will play over Holly, then yes. I still think Murton should get a shot until he proves he can't handle it, unless of course a monster should come our way (Huff, ManRam). Can't you just see Dusty not playing Huff or someone right away? "We've got to ease the dude in, man. I mean, he doesn't have any experience in our ballpark, and that's big, dude."

If the Reds are currently shopping Dunn, Kearns, Griffey, Casey and already traded Randa, aren't they basically conceding the division for the next 5 years anyway? Whether the Reds want to reconcile with it or not, they need to rebuild that team from the ground up. The problem is, I think their front office may thing that by hanging on to Dunn, Kearns, Griffey, etc., they have a shot at contending in the next couple of seasons. Of course, they do not.

You are going to waste a whole lot of time trying to police hyperbole around here. Just to ignore it, or at least take it with a grain of salt.

I want it to happen, you want it to happen, but we all know that it won't happen. The organization seems to like the guy as a 25th man. Yeah, the guy hitting .283 off the bench is just killing this team. If Macias was used like a 25th man should be it wouldn't be a problem. He comes into games way too soon.

Awful? A little loose with the hyperbole aren't we? 4.17 ERA in the PCL is far from "awful". True, but it's far from top notch too. I think the difference is that Wainwright was a first round pick and the expectations at the major league level are higher. Well I know the Braves had serious doubts about his ability to make it to and succeed at the ML level, and that contributed to their willingness to trade him. And the Braves rarely make bad decisions when it comes to young pitching.

Awful? A little loose with the hyperbole aren't we? 4.17 ERA in the PCL is far from "awful". True, but it's far from top notch too.

The Cards have 2 or 3 very good pitching prospects that were much more highly regarded than Hill. Wainright is the only name that comes to mind but Jocketty has shown he's not afraid to trade prospects for splash deals. See Haren, Dan & Isringhausen, Jason Had they NOT wasted Haren, Calero, and Barton on Mulder (not an ace, not an ace), then I would be worried about the Cards getting Dunn. But seeing as their FARM SYSYEM is very limited in what the Cards can/can't do, I not to worried about the Cards getting Dunn, cause they don't have enough. They have enough, but aquiring Dunn would take the remainder of the top talent they have in the minors. Since they don't have much now, it would leave their system effectively barren.

Derrek has played far better than his norms this year. But his norms were far better than the norms of the players mentioned in Truffles' post. On the playing-over-their-heads scale, Lee is pretty far down from those guys. And while we may never see Derrek hit like this again, but you will almost certainly never see Rolen hit anything like did last year again, regardless of health. I guess to be fair you could say Carpenter showed flashes of brilliance in Toronto, but comparing any of the other guys on that list to Lee is rather silly. Well I agree with him, Derrek Lee is playing way over his head. But really, who else on the team is playing out their butt? ARam has better than career average numbers, but considering he put up nearly a .900 OPS at age 23, it's not all that surprising that he's as good as he is now. At least he's at the point in his career where he's supposed to be steadily improving (only 27, after all). I don't think there's anyone else. Neifi? He came back to earth. Walker, Barrett, and Hairston are all doing as well as expected. Patterson was as disappointing as Lee was surprising, and Hollandsworth is having one of the worst years of his career. Murton is going nuts and won't keep this up, but at least he's a legitimate prospect unlike that J-Rod clown. Pitching: Prior and Zambrano are actually a little worse than expected. Wood is way worse. Remlinger and Maddux have done what old guys on the Cards seem to not do - get worse. The Cubs don't have any journeymen relievers with ERAs under 3 because, well, the Cubs don't have any relievers with ERAs under 3. Or pitchers with ERAs under 3 for that matter. Yeah, Lee is playing over his head. The point I was trying to make was that least Lee had star ability. These scrubs on the Cards who are tearing it up are career filler material or worse who suddenly explode for inexplicable reasons. And whil Lee is playing over his head, he is no more so than Rolen in the first half of last year.

Derrek has played far better than his norms this year. But his norms were far better than the norms of the players mentioned in Truffles' post. On the playing-over-their-heads scale, Lee is pretty far down from those guys. And while we may never see Derrek hit like this again, but you will almost certainly never see Rolen hit anything like did last year again, regardless of health. I guess to be fair you could say Carpenter showed flashes of brilliance in Toronto, but comparing any of the other guys on that list to Lee is rather silly.

I am almost positive Manny would not carry over his stats.

That's quite a haul of prospects for Tampa.

Yes, I would be mad. Aramis is younger than Manny, better than Soriano, and better and much younger than Mueller. I would absolutely love to have Manny, but Aramis is a player I want to see on the Cubs for a long time. Plus I don't think that trade makes the Cubs all that much better overall.

Ichiro just got a 4/44 extension. I'd be absolutely shocked if he didn't get a No Trade Clause as well. If he did get that clause, I might classify him as the least likely player in MLB to be successfully traded.

Suzuki as in Ichiro? Is that even the slightest bit possible? I think that Seattle moving Ichiro is as unlikely a thing as you would see. It's the knid of move Hendry likes to make out of the blue. I agree he's a fixture there but IMO he would be a nice fit in the leadoff spot for the Cubs. Seattle needs pitching and the Cubs have plenty of it, unless as you say...or I think you're saying....the Mariners just want to keep Ichiro as the face of the organization and not improve the team. The M's could trade Ibanez and/or Moyer for young pitching. Ichiro is the fixture in Seattle, who has a lot of Japanese ties. We'd have to pay an exorbitant price for the Mariners to even consider it.