Transmogrified Tiger

It hurts my brain.

My personal preference is Sweeney, but whatever. Does it bother anyone that Mabry had a sub-300 OBP in nearly 250 AB's last year?

I don't have an opinion one way or the other on Gathright, but: Minor league IsoP: .045 Major league IsoP: .051

From what I have, Clement's contract breaks down 6.5/9.5/9.5. Cot's Contracts agrees(which probably means that's where I got it from).

Yep, I'd only like a player of that caliber and salary if we're using the bad contract to help shore up the outfield(Lowe+Bradley/Drew, Vazquez+Quentin/Tracy, etc.)

I love the state-of-the-art tissue paper design as well.

It's a pretty widely held belief that the pitcher doesn't have a lot of control on balls put into play(read, hits, non-K outs). Therefore, the better off a pitcher will be when they control how the batter gets out, which is via the K. Plus, there is the added effect of K's not being able to advance or drive in runners like other outs, but that's secondary to the pitcher's lack of control over batted balls. Also, looking over the last several years, Ryan gets out more batters than Eyre, and is similar to Howry. However, because Ryan K's so many and gives up so few XBH's, his OPS against is much better than Howry and Eyre, only similar in their career years this past season.

Every report thus far about Giles has been 3 years to my knowledge. Maybe so, but it's early.. Beltran didn't sign until January last year, so I expect something similar w/ Giles. Lots can change in a month and a half... However, I'm certain the daily Giles' meltdowns will remain constant. :) Even the early reports for Beltran had him getting a long deal. I'm not saying that Giles will absolutely not get more than 3 years, but while that is all that it takes, there's no excuse not to be doing everything possible to get him in the fold.

Every report thus far about Giles has been 3 years to my knowledge.

Still no mention of Giles wanting/requiring more than 3 years. GET HIM.

The Idaho Bags Wait for it... Ahem... Boo.

During the VT-Miami game they touched on it as well. They didn't give a back story, but just that it isn't an animal and originated from within.

I don't think so. Ramirez hasn't done THAT great the last couple of years in the minors. He's been their "top" prospect for quite some time now. He's such a great prospect, they went out and signed a FA SS to a 4 year deal last off season. His numbers in the minors compare favorable to Hill's when Hill was on the verge of breaking through. The only place he might have additional value over what Hill did have at one time is that he's a SS, while Hill was primarily a 2B, and SSs have more value. Ramirez is doing the same thing at the same level at a harder position while being THREE years younger than Hill was. There's quite a difference there.

Amazing game. Hopefully MSU bounces back tomorrow against the loser of UConn-Arizona, but I don't know what legs they're going to have. Ager was absolutely ridiculous. Too bad Suton missed that bunny, young guy was too wide open.

Playing a brutal non-conference schedule every year will do that to you. It's worked out pretty well for them thus far I'd say. with all due respect, hawaii is not a brutal team. They're a good team, and they're very good at home. I was also addressing the sentiment of the yearly occurrence too. They cramped up real bad in the second half of that game, and were much better in that aspect against Chaminade. But even disregarding Hawaii, they now have back-to-back games in back-to-back days against top-10 teams, plus Georgia Tech and BC in the next 2 weeks. That's the brutal I was referring to. I'll be happy if they go 2-2 in those games, hoping for 3-1. I understand that, but for the last 3 or 4 years, it seems to me that Michigan State is very overanked in the preseason polls. I follow the Big Ten pretty closely and for a few of those years I couldn't understand how they could possibly be ranked that high. It just didn't make sense. They do play well in the tourney so maybe that's it. I wasn't surprised to see them ranked so high this year, and I wasn't surpised that they lost their first game. Honestly, you don't think they are a top 5 team in the country, do you? I'm not saying that they are a bad team, but I see them more as a 15-10 than a top five this year. I suppose my feelings are similar to my feelings about Michigan this year when everyone said they would be playing for a National Championship. I don't know if they're a top 5 team, I haven't really seen them play(watching the Gonzaga game now). But with the talent they're returning, and given their finish last year it doesn't surprise me at all.

Or you could just keep his current deal and use him as a bridge to Cedeno. If you are giving up quality prospects I want more than a bridge. You shouldn't have to give up a LOT to get Lugo, because he's only got a year on the contract. IMO the lack of available quality SS's makes him worth more and if Furcal gets 10 per for 4 or 5 years I see teams giving up a lot for Lugo if he is dealt. Then take on Huff's contract and spin him somewhere to be a DH in order to lower the cost of acquiring Lugo.

Or you could just keep his current deal and use him as a bridge to Cedeno. If you are giving up quality prospects I want more than a bridge. You shouldn't have to give up a LOT to get Lugo, because he's only got a year on the contract.

Or you could just keep his current deal and use him as a bridge to Cedeno.

Maybe if he had a bunch of incentives tied to games finished or something else tied to being the closer, but I don't know how well it would hold up otherwise.

Ryan + Novoa + Cedeno = Howry + Eyre + Neifi moneywise We might be looking at that regardless, and it's part of the point. If you are going to spend big money in the bullpen, get big talent and big performance.

isn't he supposed to be the clubhouse/chemistry/attitude superking? if so, he should take it in stride since it would be the best thing for the team. Sure. That seems to be the response anytime this question or one like it comes up. Its a very helpful and productive solution. A better argument - and one I could understand - would be that we should not have resigned Dempster until we took a run at Ryan. That's a reasonable argument. fine. whatever argument you want to use...but dempster + ryan (in whatever order) is better than eyre/howry + dempster. and i don't care whose feelings get hurt...this is baseball, not the girl scouts. dempster should be happy w/ the $15 mil he got and pitch whatever inning they tell him to. I love how these guys are treated like robots simply b/c stats exist by which we can evaluate them. I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on this. The guy just got a huge extension! We're not taking money away from him, we're putting him in a different role. Would you accept a demotion if you got a huge raise and job security for several years?

Not really. Ryan is likely to go there if Wagner signs with the Mets. Well, in this scenario we already have Ryan. With Wagner in NY, Philly's out of luck. OK - so now we are advocating signing Ryan, thus forcing us to trade Dempster, who just signed a new deal and is thus likely to be untradeable under the players CBA. But even if that were not the case, Hendry is now (once again) in a terrible negotiating posture b/c the he must deal Dempster. Its fantasyland, IMO. You only need to trade Dempster if he throws a fit about not being the closer, which isn't that likely anyway. He never HAS to deal Dempster.

Not unless Dempster wants to set-up. Ryan says he wants to close, which is why the Yanks are not getting him. Then let Ryan close. Sure, its that simple to just walk in and tell Dempster he isn't closing anymore even though that's what he was signed to do and he did it well last season. Then trade Dempster if he has a huge problem with it, his value will likely never be higher anyway. Use him in a deal for Abreu, Philly needs a closer. Not really. Ryan is likely to go there if Wagner signs with the Mets. Well, in this scenario we already have Ryan. With Wagner in NY, Philly's out of luck.

Not unless Dempster wants to set-up. Ryan says he wants to close, which is why the Yanks are not getting him. Then let Ryan close. Sure, its that simple to just walk in and tell Dempster he isn't closing anymore even though that's what he was signed to do and he did it well last season. Then trade Dempster if he has a huge problem with it, his value will likely never be higher anyway. Use him in a deal for Abreu, Philly needs a closer.

Who is your favored candidate for SS? AGonz? Neifi? Cedeno with all of 80 major league at bats? an injury prone and past his prime Nomar? Lugo Lugo Lugo Lugo Lugo... Is he available? What would it cost the Cubs? Tampa Bay supposedly talked to the Braves and Mets about Lugo a few weeks back. I have no idea what it might cost. I wonder if Lugo would come cheaper if we took Aubrey Huff's contract with him and shipped him somewhere looking for a DH? Mike Lowell style, if you will. Cubs give: Hill, Patterson, Ryu(or similar prospect) Cubs get: Lugo, Rowand White Sox give: Rowand, good prospect White Sox get: Pierre, Huff D-Rays give: Huff, Lugo D-Rays get: Hill, choice of Ryu(or similar) or Sox prospect Marlins give: Pierre Marlins get: Patterson, remaining prospect Cubs solve SS and CF with pretty good offensive fixes for not a lot in return. Sox get their DH and Pierre who they covet, for only the incumbent at CF and a prospect. D-Rays clear nearly 12 million dollars, plus get a couple of quality prospects. Marlins clear more salary in their firesale, get a cheaper replacement they supposedly are interested in, plus a prospect.