Transmogrified Tiger

Seriously dude, you're obsessed with the White Sox. If we get a good deal we should take it no matter who the team is. Not to say either way about Eyre, but trading in general. Yes I hate the Cardinals and White Sox. After the Garland-Karchner deal, I don't want to trade w/ them unless we get some good help for now AND the future. There are teams to dump players for nothing in return, but the White Sox and Cardinals are not among those teams Who has ever, said anything, about "dumping players for nothing in return" to the White Sox.

first of all, rusch has NO upside. none. secondly, you're kidding yourself if you think the cubs can get a "decent" prospect for a guy that would be w/o a team if not for the cubs. he's old and he has a 7.29 era. the cubs aren't getting crap for him. Don't forget a multi million dollar contract through next year.

Schmidt is one hell of a pitcher I wouldnt mind having him here but there is a injury concern with him. He hasn't had less than 29 starts in 4 years. Performance wise he dropped off last year, but has been as good as ever thus far in '06. If that performance holds I wouldn't worry about signing him, especially since the idea is to sign him to a shorter deal.

Seriously dude, you're obsessed with the White Sox. If we get a good deal we should take it no matter who the team is. Not to say either way about Eyre, but trading in general.

If Wood doesn't come back, I'd be pretty tempted to throw a high dollar, 2 year deal(possibly 2 + option) at Schmidt.

yay EPatt

Wow.

didn't we say that about the white sox last year Arroyo, Harang, Milton, and Claussen is a far cry from Buehrle, Contreras, Garcia, and Garland. This is true, but to be fair, this time last year it wasn't that big a jump at all. Yes it was. Buehrle and Garcia have always been better than anyone on that Reds staff.

didn't we say that about the white sox last year Arroyo, Harang, Milton, and Claussen is a far cry from Buehrle, Contreras, Garcia, and Garland.

Maybe the Cubs should invest in guys who take 6 or 7 pitches per at bat. Those guys tend to be better hitters. They'd also help get to the bullpen much sooner in games when the opposing pitcher is on. Who on the Cubs takes the most pitches? Their best hitter, Derrek Lee. Coincidence? Do you think Jeff Francoeur is a good hitter? He's a notorious first pitch swinger. Have you seen his average? .252/.268/.439/.707 Either way, outliers(Vlad would be a better example than Francoeur) don't prove the practicality of the approach.

But the great hitters do it better than the bad hitters. therefore its something to strive for - if you can't recognize pitches, you will not be a major league hitter. Have you ever hit in the major leagues? Just because something is difficult does not mean its not the right approach or goal. and btw, the condescending tone adds nothing to your arguments. My condescending tone? Yet you try to get real tough with your "I'm not looking up anything for you." I have not hit in the major leagues but have hit against pitchers who have played in the major leagues at a fairly high level. You get maybe 3/10 of a second to recognize ball vs. strike. It's far too simplistic to say go up there and swing only if you can hit the ball hard. Put a good swing on a pitch you think you can is all you can do. I don't think you're giving Major League caliber hitters nearly enough credit.

The Reds are not good. Neither are the Astros, and they caught the Cards reeling without Pujols. Pretty soon the dog days of summer will show up, one of Harang or Arroyo will fall off, Milton will remember he's terrible, and their bullpen will at best have a bad stretch. It happens every year people.

So a group of people discuss the issues of the Cubs by answering to certain topics?

Not to be a jerk by quoting myself, but I don't know how else to say it other than this. Just because pitching coaches preach getting ahead in the count doesn't mean that pitchers are throwing BP in order to get ahead. Sometimes they do, and that's when you want to swing at the first pitch, but for the most part they don't.

So you're a witch doctor. Full disclosure up front plz

they also seem to be acting like they just heard of HGH today. The problem with HGH is that the body produces it naturally and at different levels in different people and at different levels at different times of day. Testing for it is pretty complicated. artificially produced HGH (i.e. the HGH that is prescribed) can be detected independently from natural HGH due to different modifications added to the amino acids during the production process. Sounds made up. Sounds like I'm actually a scientist. Prove it. Without pictures, you got nothin'.

How often is the first pitch a pitch worth swinging at? The answer is not very often, or at the very least much less often than the Cubs swing at them. The point of having an approach to hitting is to get a good pitch to hit(which is what BSB is getting at). Problem is there aren't that many thrown when the pitcher isn't behind in the count.

they also seem to be acting like they just heard of HGH today. The problem with HGH is that the body produces it naturally and at different levels in different people and at different levels at different times of day. Testing for it is pretty complicated. artificially produced HGH (i.e. the HGH that is prescribed) can be detected independently from natural HGH due to different modifications added to the amino acids during the production process. Sounds made up.

http://www.brewcrewball.com/special/milb+teams

What is wrong with you Bowden. I'll have no more of this good move nonsense.

Lee has also said he wants to stay in Milwaukee, but he does indeed still live in Chicago and make the daily commute. I don't see the Cubs acquiring him in a trade as they have no shot at the playoffs this year. I would be he will be a free agent target though if/when he hits the market. Inter-divison trades happen all the time. Teams make deals for the best players back in return regardless of who they are trading with. Off the top of my head: Cubs-Pirates Aramis Deal Casey from Pitt to Reds Shawn Green from LA to Arizona Delgado from Marlins to Mets What do all of those deals have in common besides being inter-division trades?

Do you seriously believe this?

I thought it would be fun to see if there were any big deviations in the splits of some of our best prospects. First up, Eric Patterson. Home: .242/.312/.293/.605 (~110 PA's) Away: .330/.383/.585/.968 (~121 PA's) IMO, this is very good news for Eric. His patience is down a bit away from Pringles park, but he's hitting for quite a bit of power, and obviously for much more average. His BABIP corresponds to this change, with the difference(.397 to .308) being similar to the difference in the batting average. Patterson's L/R splits aren't near as extreme. Now, Felix Pie. LHP: .316/.400/.509/.909 (~65 PA's) RHP: .250/.311/.405/.716 (~169 PA's) This split is both a good and bad sign at the same time. While in a short sample, it shows Felix can hit LHP, which is a concern for many left handed hitting prospects when they reach higher levels. On the other hand, it masks that Pie has been struggling with RHP in many more of his PA's, which lends the question of how ready he is. In other Pie splits, he appears to be unlucky with BABIP at home this year. Next, Rich Hill. v. LH: .300/.344/.300/.644 (7 IP) v. RH: .161/.215/.241/.456 (24.7 IP) Another reverse split, although this one is pretty good all around. Hill has been unbelievable against RHP, and still hard on LHP despite giving up some baserunners. Certainly bodes well if Hill gets another shot at the rotation. On the topic of lesser prospects: Sam Fuld is crushing RHP, and hitting well with no power against lefties. Same story with Home(crushing) and Away(hitting with no power) Scott Taylor is getting Rocked by left handed batters, and away from Home. Jae-Kuk Ryu has been better at home than away from Iowa. Same with Gallagher to minor extent. Jake Fox is hammering RHP, with similar preference for his home park. Donnie Veal REALLY likes pitching at home(.301 OPS against vs. .714 on the road) Jerome Williams is getting slaughtered by LHP at Iowa, and he seems to be facing an inordinate amount of them(18 IP v. LH, 16 IP v. RH).

Pie isn't ready to come up. Stick Pierre at the bottom of the order, hope he can improve some and get us a pick when he leaves at the end of the year.

Why in the world would you put Teasley on a ballot over Veal?