Transmogrified Tiger

Gathright's not going to put up a solid OBP unless he hits for a very high average, which is very difficult and he hasn't proved able to do at the big league level. Also, his lack of power is beyond slap hitting. Juan Pierre, slap hitter extraordinaire, had a minor league IsoP of .062, and a major league IsoP of .070. Gathright's minor league IsoP is .045, and .051 in limited major league time.

Interesting. I wonder who they are leaving off of the list. From the firesale, it looks like only Grant Psomas from the Delgado deal isn't on the 40 man.

SCORE! Pierre- Ack Lugo- Leadoff? I guess. Wilkerson- YES Gathright- Ack No Damon- yay Why are people so down on Gathright? I admit that about the only thing I've heard about him is how fast he is and that he has no power. But looking at his minor league numbers, he gets on base at a decent rate. 2003- At age 21 he put up a .324/.406/.359 line in A ball. In 85 AB's in AA he put up a .376/.419/.388 line. 2004- In 32 games in AA he hit .341/.399/.397. In 236 AB's in AAA (age 22) he hit .326/.384/.373. He hit .250/.316/.250 in the bigs. 2005 (age 23)- In 226 AAA AB's he hit .305/.388/.407. In 203 ML AB's he hit .276/.316/.340. Obviously he hasn't done real well at the major league level, but he's had some pretty good success as a leadoff man in the minors. He's 191/247 in career stolen bases, good for a 77% success rate. If he had produced those numbers in the minors in our organization I think people would be a little more excited about him. Gathright hits nothing but singles. Literally, he hits a historically small number of 2B, 3B, and HR. That alone depreciates his value. Therefore, his entire limited value is based on him getting lots and lots and lots of hits, since he doesn't walk at an exceptionally high rate. He's not going to be able to hit .330 at the major league level, as he's proven thus far. Since he's worthless without the very high AVG, and not very valuable with it, he's not worth going after.

Lugo and Gomes plz

Gathright wishes he could be as good/bad as Juan Pierre. Which is a terrible thing if the Cubs are targeting him.

SCORE! Pierre- Ack Lugo- Leadoff? I guess. Wilkerson- YES Gathright- Ack No Damon- yay

Worse, actually.

According to the team's website, their 40 man roster stands at 36 right now. It includes both players from the Castillo trade, so it's up to date.

I will weep.

We aren't the ones making up the Patterson for Bradley, or Patterson plus for Wilkerson rumors. I understand the point you're trying to make, but most of the rumors involving Patterson have been media-based.

Three things: Using just last year to define a hitter is not wise. While he did have the best numbers in the NL, he did so without enough PA to qualify, which takes away some value (ie. he's not a franchise catcher). There are multiple AL catchers who are better. Only 7 catchers in baseball qualified. That's not a huge indictment IMO. Setting 300 PA's as a benchmark, Barrett was 3rd in MLB in Catcher OPS.

I think at least a couple don't have to be on the 40 man, but they traded a bunch of guys away, and had some more leave in free agency.

The reason we appreciate Bruce Miles's presence here and the information he provides is not only is he knowledgeable, but he has connections that most of us do not. He's able to pick up the phone and talk to Jim Hendry and through his work as a beat writer is closer to the organization than we are. While I appreciate you commenting on my knowledge, I don't have those ties. I have to rely on speculation and information that I glean from other places. It's for those reasons that we appreciate someone who could get us closer to the sources than we are able to get. In addition, unlike many journalists, Bruce Miles seems to report things with a great deal of integrity and doesn't seem to get as caught up in the rumor mongering that occurs with a lot of journalists who want to get "the scoop." Yeah, most people value Bruce's posts because it's much more in tune to what might or will happen.

If you can upgrade RF over a potential Jacque Jones signing, then it might be worth it to slightly downgrade 2B. I still think Soriano is a strong possibility. Loretta is a guy I know the Cubs would have interest in, who seems to be available for relatively cheap. I'd do Walker for Cliff Floyd. Trade for Loretta or Soriano and go get Wilkerson or Bradley I don't have access to ESPN TV during work - is it true that Lugo has been discussed as a 2B acquisition? Disturbingly yes. Gammons said that we could trade for Lugo and put him at 2B.

Gammons says we're looking at Pierre, or Wilkerson in a "Patterson plus" deal. Trading for Lugo and put him at 2nd?

Sweet typo, Furcal's OBP was .348, not .384

It's either for Bradley, or for prospects after Bradley goes somewhere else(for Zito?). I really doubt that a Patterson for Drew trade would work, and they don't have much that we would want, unless it was Patterson for Lowe, which also seems unlikely.

No kidding, but Furcal is a good defensive shortstop, and so is Lugo. In fact, they're very similar.

And Gold Glove Rafael Furcal made 27, 31, 24, and 15 errors the last 4 years. That's a terrible way to determine defensive value, especially at short-stop.

What makes you think that if the Cubs got Lugo Cedeno would start at 2nd? He and Neifi would be first in line, but that wasn't really part of the point I was making. Cedeno not starting because better players are in front of him = good. Cedeno not starting because the abomination formerly known as Neifi is in front of him = bad.

Where's this Lugo is a bad defender nonsense coming from? He's well above average defensively.

Getting Lugo is a good thing. Not "SS and leadoff hitter is our number one priority" good, but it keeps Cedeno out of the starting lineup(until Walker is traded away), and pushes Neifi further into oblivion. You know this word oblivion? It means to be completely forgotten by everyone, forever. And it's where Neifi would be right now if it were not for the stupidity of Jim Hendry.

Please, take away Carpenter and his horrifying blank stare.

The Cubs will sign Neifi Perez to a 2 year contract worth millions of dollars.

Modzilla wins most fitting avatar ever.