Transmogrified Tiger

Ack! Where has the evening gone? Pie's staggering case forthcoming.

Flippin sweet, it's Bynum

You're going to feel very foolish by voting before the undeniable case for Pie has been made. All talk. Where is this undeniable case? This evening, I promise.

You're going to feel very foolish by voting before the undeniable case for Pie has been made.

Outside of having a high OBP, I completely disagree with everything you said.

A very good batters eye/backdrop?

It's more fun if you wait to vote until the case is made for each player.

Why? Why? Why? Fun fact: The Cubs offense scored more runs before they acquired Lofton than after. Giles, yes. Pierre, emphatic no.

The overwhelming evidence in Pie's favor will be presented later today. Hopefully we won't see a repeat of last year's tragic mistake of Nolasco not winning.

A big thank you to Marcus Giles, Brad Hawpe, and most importantly, Dusty Baker. Without you ruining Prior wouldn't have been possible.

You really should care.

http://minorleaguesplits.com/

Wuertz is a freak of nature, Howard, Burrell, then another LH Dellucci.

Oh man, I just realized when the Sox get tired of Ozzie and fire him they'll promote Cora and it'll be like Lord of the Flies.

I'll nominate Pie

I didn't even realize Coats was on the 40 man.

That stat line cannot be right. He doesn't have an OBP above .300. It's OBP/SLG/OPS

It's only $5 a month. Big Mac, fries and a coke will cost you more than that! And nsbb won't clog your arteries. [more sales job]And if you can front the 50 bucks for a yearlong subscription up front, it's only $4.50 a month[/more sales job] Someone's not a math major. It's about $4.17.

Not true. Clark is better offensively and defensively.

Cat would be wonderful, hes one of the best value players in the league. But this is Hendry we are talking about. A more realistic option would be Nixon. We'd pay more, but if used properly, would still be worth the money. I'd have to believe that our MI would be Cedeno and Izturis, so unfortunately I don't see us being able to improve at 2b. I think we can look across town to see how Pie would be next year if we brought him up. I'd like to take a more conservative approach and leave him in AAA for another year (or a good part of a year) and let him continue to hit like he has the last couple months. Dave Roberts is a guy who could do a nice job being a placeholder for Pie. Also, the cubs had interest in him a couple years ago. Roberts Nixon/Murton Lee Ramirez Barrett Jones/Resto Izturis Cedeno Yeah, there are two auto outs, but I think thats just the reality of our lineup next year. I think this is the best we could do, while also affording a Schmidt/Zito. Like I've said elsewhere, I'm not convinced that Cedeno is penciled into 2B next year. Especially with the departure of Perez, I think Hendry could go after a 2B and use Ronny as a utility player. I don't think Hendry is actively trying to avoid having Cedeno at 2B, but I think he sees it as a spot he could stand to upgrade. You're probably right about Cat, and Nixon for the price may end up being a better option. I would think Jones would move to LF, which would make the Murton/Jones platoon more likely. The hard part might be convincing Nixon to come as a platoon player, and convincing Hendry Nixon needs one. Also, I disagree with the Anderson comparison to Pie. Pie has shown pretty steady progress throughout his trek through the minors, and is hitting his stride at AAA now. Anderson's numbers got progressively worse as he moved up the ladder and was much older than Pie. Especially with the adjustment we've seen Felix make at Iowa, and the fact that despite his age he's managed to hit for average everywhere he's gone, I don't think he'd be as much of a washout as Anderson has been. That said, if the situation called for it, I wouldn't mind Pie starting at Iowa next year.

Muchas gracias

EPatt goes 2 for 3 with a double Pie 0 for 5 with a K Soto goes 2 for 3 with a HR and a walk

Pros -Terrific mentality. Tenacious, intimidating, and fearless on the mound. Approach to pitching kind of reminds me of Gallagher in that respect. He's also a robust 6'3, 240 pounds...almost like a linebacker. -Workhorse. Despite being a year out of HS and 19 years old all season, he's pitched 131.2 IP. He's actually improved his numbers in recent starts, oddly enough. -He's economical. He's averaging a little over a walk and a half for every nine innings pitched. -Keeps the ball in the park. While his GO/FO is roughly 1:1, he's only allowed 8 HRs on the year. -Young for his level. A 19 year old at Low A is ahead of the curve and should help him along as he advances. Cons -I wonder about his stuff. I believe the three best ways to judge a pitcher are by his Ks, BBs, and HRs (be it by IP or PA). Taylor keeps his BBs and HRs down...but his lack of Ks are worrisome. Perhaps it's because the Cubs have ordered him scrap a certain strikeout pitch for the season, I don't know. But if something like that isn't the case, then he will have to continue keeping those two things down. I like his chances, but he will have a much harder time moving up the ladder than other pitchers who can strike out tons of guys every game. -Much like Gallagher, his stuff hinders his projected ceiling. Whether or not he meets or even exceeds that ceiling is left to fate for now, but with the way guys develop, mature, and so on, he has a tough road ahead if he is to become a #1 or a #2. Unlike, say, Pawelek, Huseby, Samardzija, or Ceda, Taylor doesn't project to have ace-quality stuff. Taylor has an arsenal of pitches that could see him developing into a good #3 pitcher. That's perfectly acceptable, but it hurts his prospect ranking. -His BAA is a rather surprising .266, despite his BABIP being right in line with the expected norms (.292). I don't know if this is a trend that will continue or what, but it's noteworthy enough for some concern. -He's already fully developed, as far as I can tell. 6'3 240 sounds pretty physically mature, no? But, it'll hurt in adding velocity to his fastball. -This is a minor sticking point for me, but it still was something I had to factor in. The Midwest League has been a very strong pitchers' league this season. I'd have to wonder what his numbers would look like against overall better hitters for that level. If you cornered me right now for a possible comparison, I'd say Chien-Ming Wang would be a pretty good one. Still, he's a ways away and plenty could change over the next few years. Great stuff. Any reports on his fastball velocity? What are his secondary pitches and what quality are they?

Cut for Cap Space takes Dallas Clark, TE, Indianapolis

Nope, I'm pretty high on EPatt.