Transmogrified Tiger

Way to spread the word Bruce! If you say it enough times, does it make it real?

Now that I have received an entry, here's a page to double check that I have received the entries. If your name is bolded, I have received your entry. Brinoch CPattFan27 jtownie CubbieSouthpaw Evers2Tinkers2Chance sweetpeteman RoastTheD---Goat Vance Mizzou ManCrushOnNomar Remember, the deadline's Saturday at Midnight.

Funny you mention that, here's a post I recently read from newbergreport.com after his career numbers were compared to Gabe Kapler. That's true, but on the other hand, he's not even mathcing his (or Kapler's) normal performance at the plate this year. My only point is that while I'd like to have Kotsay out there instead of Nix, I wouldn't go overboard in trying to trade for him. He's a pretty good player, but he's closer to Gabe Kapler than he is to, say, Johnny Damon.

I think Hairston is the 3rd best option for LF. His OBP is higher than expected because of a fluke number of HBP. If he gets hit at the rate he has his entire career(4 HBP v. his 7 now), his OBP is around .340. That's right around Hollandsworth's career line, and Hollandsworth can hit for a little power. Never mind the fact that Dubois could likely approach that with consistent playing time.

His last couple full years OBP: .370/.350/.360/.365/.350 His highest K total is 89 during that time, and he's got just under a 1:1 BB:K ratio. He has also has 5 HR and 37RBI and the ability to hit around 20 HR 65ish RBI/ IMO, He is much different than Hairston with better defense He only had a .343 OBP in 2003 when he had 538 PA's. Kotsay is a fine CF when his power numbers are up, as they were in 2004 and 2002. However, he's not much more valuable than Hairston when his SLG is below .400, especially with his OBP being lower than is norm for him. I'm not opposed to acquiring Kotsay under the right circumstances, since his BABIP is about 50 points lower than expected, and he's been better in the second half than the first the past few years. However, I don't think he's the solution to our offensive woes, and would hope that acquiring Kotsay would allow us to make a deal for another better bat, ala having the flexibility to trade Patterson in a deal.

I agree. Corey is not producing the offense to be a corner outfielder, and the Cubs would be wasting his speed by putting him in LF. He would be more valuable playing CF somewhere else. The problem is potential. Corey is brimming with it, and Hendry has to fear that he will bust out (like Andruw Jones is doing right now) somewhere else. Really tough to trade away someone with Corey's tools, but the decision has to be whether the Cubs can win it all this year with a player (Kotsay) that will be upgrade this year, but possibly not in the future. Tough call. This is why Hendry has the GM job, to make tough calls like this. Is it possible that a switch to leadoff and left could jumpstart Patterson? Kotsay is better than Dubois/Holla IMO and the OF defense would be very solid. I don't know how comfortable CPatt would be going into that left corner either so it's also very possible CPatt could struggle even more. Don't you think moving to Left would be an easier position for Corey? Could you imagine our team outfield speed defense with Patterson/Kotsay/Burnitz? It gets me excited thinking about it. I can't imagine a move to an easier defensive position would affect Corey's offense negatively, in fact, intuitively, you'd think he'd be able to worry less about defense and more about getting his stroke down. I think getting Kotsay would ONLY be a positive thing for this team, imagine the RBI possibilities with this lineup: Kotsay .370 OBP Walker .370 OBP Lee Ramirez Burnitz Barrett Patterson Cedeno Pitcher. :shock: This is a no-brainer, as long as we don't have to mortgage the farm. We are STOCKED with major league ready starting pitching: Wood/Prior/Z/Maddog/Rusch/Wellmeyer/Mitre/Williams/Hill Kotsay's OBP is only .334 this year, and he's slugging below .400. Right now he's basically Hairston with better defense.

Reminder, be sure to PM me your entries before Sunday.

Yeah, .369 is correct

You can include that, but it's not really the point of the contest. The idea is to try and improve from outside the organization.

I'll sit out to let Roast take a chance in the challenge. It was fun last year, but it's not that big of a deal. Oh wow, I'm so sorry Roast, I have no idea how that happened. Place yourself in Sweetpete's group, since he didn't really say if he was in one way or another. Wow, really sorry.

Bump to make sure contestants see this. Lot of traffic in Transactions today.

Jon said in a boxes and discussion thread a couple days back that he was put on the 7-Day DL.

A note to all contestants: Money and contracts play a big part in any deal. The best place for reference right now is http://www.mlbcontracts.blogspot.com. If you have further questions or problems, feel free to PM me and I'll try and help you out.

Vance, Mizzou, and ManCrushOnNomar, here is your scenario: Thanks to some timely pitching and great offense, the Baltimore Orioles find themselves doing the unthinkable, leading the AL East. Your job is to make a move or series of moves that keeps them there, whether you think a bat, a bullpen arm, or starter gets them there. Much like the first scenario, the maximum of moves will be 3 trades, with an obvious minimum of 1. Remember that your deal(s) will be judged on the likelihood of it happening as well as how fair it is for both sides. Please give an explanation of why both sides would make your trade. In the interests of fairness, please do not post your idea in this thread. PM them to me, and when I get all of them, I will post all of them here. The deadline will be Saturday at midnight to turn in your submission. Good luck and have fun!

ROASTTHED---GOAT, CubbieSouthpaw, Evers2Tinkers2Chance, and sweetpeteman, here is your scenario: Once again, the Mariners find themselves at the bottom of the AL West. With no hope of making the playoffs this year, they are likely going to try and improve themselves for next year by trading some of their spare parts and bigger contracts. Boone, Guardado, Ibanez, and Winn all have been named at some point in trade rumors. Your job is to improve them for next year. Use as many deals as you like, but remember that your deal(s) will be judged on the likelihood of it happening as well as how fair it is for both sides. Since this type of trade(s) may involve prospects, please be as specific as possible, with specific players being the goal. Please give an explanation of why both sides would make your trade. In the interests of fairness, please do not post your idea in this thread. PM them to me, and when I get all of them, I will post all of them here. The deadline will be Saturday at midnight to turn in your submission. Good luck and have fun!

Brinoch, CPattFan27, and jtownie, here is your scenario: The Diamondbacks have had quite a turnaround this year, and find themselves in the hunt for the wildcard and the West division title. They have had some horrendous bullpen work, being among the worst in the league. Your job is simply to make them better for the stretch run. While the bullpen might be their most pronounced weakness, they also might benefit from a bat at a key position, or another arm in the rotation. Make no more than 3 trades, but(obviously) no less than 1. Remember that your deal(s) will be judged on the likelihood of it happening as well as how fair it is for both sides. Please give an explanation of why both sides would make your trade. In the interests of fairness, please do not post your idea in this thread. PM them to me, and when I get all of them, I will post all of them here. The deadline will be Saturday at midnight to turn in your submission. Good luck and have fun!

Alright, I'm not sure if Sweetpeteman is in or not, but I'll include him and he can go with it if he wants. Here are the groups Brinoch CPattFan27 jtownie CubbieSouthpaw Evers2Tinkers2Chance sweetpeteman ROASTTHED---GOAT Vance Mizzou ManCrushOnNomar We'll run it the same as last year, a winner will be chosen from each group, and a wildcard from the 6 remaining entries to create the 4 person final group. I'll try and get the scenarios up and running ASAP.

No offense dude, but I'm not anti-Sox, I'm pro-Cubs. I like to think that Sox fans are more likely to have an anti-Cubs obsession than the other way around. Also, that story was posted a while back. BTW, Welcome!

Last reminder before the groupings are made. If you're interested, say so.

Hey, Dusty has been managing Mike Remlinger for 2 1/2 years now and he still hasn't figured out that Remmy is worse against lefties than righties. What makes you think he'll catch onto the problem of having two low-OBP guys batting 1st and 2nd? I loved Dusty's quote about yesterday saying "We all know" Remmy is better against righties than lefties, yet he was still "the best option".

http://fantasybaseball.rotoworld.com/content/clubhouse_news.asp?sport=MLB&majteam=CHC Staggering ignorance.

We can take as many as we can get. We can always divide the groups differently and/or come up with more scenarios than last year.

Bump. Post in this thread or PM me if you're interested in participating, have questions, etc. After this weekend I'll set up the groups and start coming up with the scenarios.

It is a little strange. The Boise roster already has 13 pitchers, so where do Holliman, Billek, Avery et al go? I don't see where the Cubs are going to be able to fit these three pitchers in. Mesa?