Transmogrified Tiger

Very very good.

Exactly. Although I'm okay cutting Neifi yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

BK actually did a study on this and found that small ball teams don't really score runs more consistently than long ball teams. He just found that they tend to score fewer runs. Well empirical generalizations are interesting, but that doesn't mean they apply to every situation - as the word 'generalization' implies. I know I watched the Cubs very closely - and when we had Lofton we scored more consistently from game to game than we did in '04, with a team that lead the NL in home runs. Emprically the 2004 Cubs were one run better in total offense, but that just proves how statistics can be misleading and fail to take many factors into account. If you want to talk about how it's best to have your 1-8 hitters hit 60 home runs apiece as compared with a small ball team, I'd agree, but in real life situations, not in the airless and overconfident void of statistics, having balance to the lineup is a real-world neccesity. I'd like to see a real leadoff hitter like Pierre or Podsednik on the Cubs team to provide balance since we have holes and don't have 8 Babe Ruths and never will. When I think of 'small ball' I don't think of a team that scores a lot of runs, I think of a team that tries to be the most efficient and takes advantage of every opportunity, which results in more consistency, and which (for which there is no stat for) is a more tenacious team to face 3 times in a row. If you're thinking about the same type of 'small ball' I am(sacrifices, advancing runners, stealing bases, 'situational hitting') that is actually a much less efficient way of offense.

In honor of Lewis Black's comedy central special, which was on this evening: I'm going to repeat that, because it bears repeating... 2004 Road: .244/.291/.444/.735 2005 Road: .230/.270/.382/.652

I love the new look too. One thing though, you have the Reds numbers v. Zambrano, not the Cardinals.

Ab-so-freaking-loutely! why dont you lazy bums get real jobs or mine. come get my job. from me. tomorrow. Better do it fast too. Letterman's over in a half hour.

Hey, if you've never heard of it, it must be useless.

OMLOMLOML hardball times now has individual player pages link Lofton's babip is high, but not insanely so. ld% is way way way up from last year though (15.8% vs 24.4%). Pass. THT just got bumped up the bookmark list. They should add career and/or splits though.

I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but attacking other posters isn't tolerated here.

B-A-B-I-P

In case you were serious, overpaid.

I fear that unless we get a CF that hits like a corner OF, Murton will/should not be a long term solution on this team. I wonder how his defense would be in center.

I concur

For Mueller, minor leaguer Jeff Verplancke. For Tucker, the infamous PTBNL, who later became Shawn Sonnier.

Other people posted stats in the first Pierre discussion, some people just chose to ignore them because it hurt their argument that "Pierre sucked". Awesome.

Dempster does seem to walk alot of betters. He invites blown saves. While he ends up getting the outs, its going to come back and bite his ass sooner or later. His WHIP as a closer going into today was under 1. That's really really good, even if he does walk more people than ideal. So his great rate at preventing hits has made up for his walk rate thus far.

Wood has been our number 1 starter? HAHAHAHA!! Please tell that to opposing teams. Maybe Kerry's not soft, but he sure leaves a lot of games. He'shurt so often, might as well call him soft...whatever, doesnt change the fact that the "man" cant stay healthy. If he's hurt, he shouldnt be pitching cause he obviously hurts the team when he does. Everyone just assumes hes a warrior because unlike Prior, his delivery is very violent and looks very much like his is trying to throw the ball through a brick wall. Why do you think hes always getting hurt? Magic? Did Harry Potter cast a freakin spell on him? No. He refuses to change the issues in his mechanics that cause his arm ailments and that is stubborn. Wood has been A number one starter, not OUR number one starter. He's been among the top pitchers in the league for the last 4 years, look at the numbers if you like. Making judgments about his character is a ridiculous thing to do. Neifi hasn't gotten any better in his career, he hasn't made adjustments to his swing mechanics, he must be stubborn too. It's a ridiculous,unnecessary connection to attempt to make.

I think Brenly made a note during Prior's outing that Blanco loves going on the outside corner. Maybe this is an issue as much with our catchers as it is with Wood and Prior themselves. Just throwing it out there, I haven't seen Wood or Prior pitch much this year to make any sort of judgment.

Actually, they are facts. Whether his is soft or not, it is clear that the guy cannot stay healthy whatsoever. Yes, Kerry did change his mechanics, the change was not affecting the part which causes him to have arm trouble....Im not going to be nice to him cause "its hard to change"...Boo hoo. Its his job. Bolded one of your key words. Yah, hes been a good pitcher when healthy, not great, not unbelieveable. Solid, but not a number 1 starter who everyone should cringe to have to face. The media just always hyped him and Prior as an unbeatable 1-2 punch just because Kerry has great stuff. Thrower, not a pitcher. Just wait in see come 2007 and tell me if you really want him then after two more inconsistent and unhealthy years. Wood has been a number 1 starter for each of the past 4 years, the numbers bear it out. There is a distinct difference between gettin hurt and being "soft". It's a ridiculous assumption to make just because I guy gets hurt that he's "soft" and can't take it. It's really aggravating that seemingly everytime a player is frustrating to watch and/or is struggling, that people think it's something wrong with them personally. Lack of performance/health does not mean the person is "stubborn", or "soft", or "doesn't listen", or "stupid", or whatever.

Dunn, it's not remotely close. Dunn is outproducing Murton's AA numbers, and those AA numbers were probably unsustainable given the BABIP he was at. I really can't emphasize enough how much better Dunn is.

Is VORP park adjusted? 2004 Road: .244/.291/.444/.735 2005 Road: .230/.270/.382/.652 No thanks.

None of these are facts. For all we know Wood pitches through incredible pain everytime he goes out there, or he wants to leave as soon as the slightest pain. We just don't know. Similarly, changing pitching mechanics is not easy, and Wood has done it at least two times following injuries. I think that is evidence enough that he is at the very least open to new ideas. And lastly, for seemingly the hundredth time since he got hurt, WOOD IS A VERY GOOD PITCHER WHEN HEALTHY. Even in his shortened and suppposedly inconsistent year last year, he was around the 20 best starters in the game. Never mind that he's consistently been great the last three years(going by ERA+), and that argument is undeniably and absolutely false.

This should be a unanimous decision.

Sure I'd do Hairston and a low prospect for Pierre, but I think the Marlins would laugh Hendry off the phone at that offer.

1) Dempster has been outstanding as our closer. One bad relief outing doesn't change that. 2) The bullpen has had struggles, but relief is one of the most fickle to project, and in the long run, it made sense to count on our glut of arms(Mitre, Leicester, Wellemeyer, Wuertz, Novoa) to fill a couple spots on the pen. Remember, this pen would look a lot better if we had the Hawkins of last year in a setup role. 3) Walker is a better leadoff hitter than Hairston, and right now he's probably one of the best leadoff options in the league, nevermind the team. I put it on Dusty for not trying Walker there. 4) Wood has injury issues, but Hendry has no choice but to build his team around the talent in the rotation. Prior is not injury-prone, most of his time missed is due to accidents that could happen to any player(line drive off the elbow, collision on the basepaths). Prior has been very good since returning.