David

LOL You can tell who the pessimists are when the outrageously wrong/lopsided rumors come out (i.e. the ones Hendry floats so that the actual trade doesn't look so bad) and they start freaking out. I will say it right now, there is absolutely no chance that Hill gets traded in a deal for Roberts. The only way something like that would have an iota of a chance of happening would be if it were a package Roberts/Bedard deal. I know I might be being generous here, but there is no GM that inept.

Saw a post on OH that says that Dave Kaplan on WGN Radio is reporting the following... I don't know if I buy that Andy MacPhail is asking for Rich Hill. He'd be laughed off the telephone immediately.

Option A is more or less what I'm thinking (well, realistically hoping) we'll see.

This is why I don't care when the local radio guys call up the other city's local guys to have them on the air. More than likely it's some schmo who doesn't know anything about anything anyway. Just like our own local guys, by and large.

Derrek Lee's a good bet to have the best OBP on the team, and a pretty decent bet to be the best hitter on the team. Dropping Lee in the order isn't good. He's our best all-around hitter (arguably). He should be 3rd, with ARam 4th and Fukudome 5th. Who do you bat 2nd if Roberts is leading off? Personally, I'd go Roberts, Fuku, Lee, Ramirez, Soriano, Soto, Pie, Theriot I think that's unlikely, though. They'll want to break up the lefties (well Roberts is a SH, but yea)... I just really hope they don't drop Theriot in the 2 hole.

Also note that that's actually less than a half season, since they're Post-ASB numbers. I'm pretty sure they played a bit over 81 games Pre-ASB.

Care to elaborate? Yes, people on this board need to take the blue tinted sunglasses off and realize this deal is a steal for us. We getting one of the best leadoff men in baseball, an all-star and another great club house guy for pretty much nothing. You guys are blowing your loads over the 2 pitching prospects that have showed us NOTHING. Leadoff isn't a position. All-Stars mean almost nothing. I don't care if someone is the worst clubhouse guy in the world as long as they could play ball. I'm not the biggest fan of this deal, but I wouldn't be bummed if it went down, as long as we made a move for another pitcher (Blanton or Burnett). Basically this isn't the trade I'm worried about (if it stands as Marshall-Gallagher-Cedeno), but what comes after this trade that concerns me. Really? I would. So you would have rather had Bobby Murcer than Reggie Jackson? Bobby was loved by his Yankee teammates and Reggie was hated by them. Why do people need to jump on people's comments like this and take them to extremes? Obviously he wouldn't. He's just saying that a player's clubhouse demeanor and how he gets along with other players is a factor he'd take into account. Nothing wrong with that. I think Murcer and Jackson is closer than it seems, though.

FWIW, DLee in the second half last year... .302/.386/.554 16 HR and 17 2B in 258 AB

FWIW, if they're dead-set on separating Roberts and Fuku, which they might be, I guess I'd go... Roberts, Lee, Fukudome, Ramirez, Soriano, Soto, Pie, Theriot

Why would you want to give Soriano more PA's than Derrek Lee (now that you're not pandering to his desire to hit leadoff)?

They'll be pretty good even if Pie sucks. They'll be pretty damn good if Pie does that, though. There I go with these subjective terms again.

My favorite was the "many times the pitcher makes the last out" part.

Why do they even bother with garbage like RBIs on these things? Aside from the fact that it's a worthless stat, it's almost impossible to predict them if you don't know how the lineup positioning will shake out.

No, we know where that is. Zinggg

I'd still wager that this trade is done and is announced before the convention at the latest, if not sometime this week. That's not based on anything other than my own opinion.

You do notice that not a single NSBB insider has verified this story don't you? :lol:

I think it's hilarious that people think the guys at that forum are full of it. badnews is gonna jump on me for being a "Great Defender" or whatever now. That's fine. Yep, 90% of that forum hangs on their every word and has for years, but it's all a big hoax. Hell, they're all in on it. That's why they already have a "Brian Roberts Appreciation" thread up already. They want to fool everyone and anyone that comes and lurks on their forum. The admin is in on it too! That, or that must be the biggest and most highly concentrated group of gullible people I've ever seen. I mean they keep getting duped and they just come back for more. I'm not saying that their following makes this report right, but the fact that they've been able to build that trust and sustain it for a while says something to me. Remember when Sanjay predicted the Lee trade over here and achieved God-like (ok, not really, but you get the idea) status on this forum for a while? Those guys have come through with even more stuff. Stuff like this is always fluid until it's final and there's always a good chance that bad info gets floated through or that things fall through. That doesn't mean that there's a bunch of guys just making stuff up for attention, which a few people have gone so far as to imply. I just don't get why some people can't just take that stuff at face value and run with it however they want (speculate, ignore it, whatever)....

Marcus Gi.... Oh, wait.

The guy didn't really say anything of interest. IMO, he sounded like he was afraid to offend some of the O's fans by speculating on the trade. Either he doesn't know or he was keeping his true feelings close to the vest; at one point he admitted that the O's have been shopping Roberts for a position player(s) and pitching then he says he thinks it's "70%" that he doesn't get traded. Which is it? So he refused to spout off a tirade of rumor and innuendo and present it as if he has "inside information" so everyone should just believe him? There's a novel concept. What?

The guy is a feature columnist. 99% of the time, these columnists know jack anyways. They usually don't talk about sources, and they don't break stories. They just write opinion pieces and (depending on the guy) often just like to stir up controversy. News-wise, they usually have little of substance to offer. Think Jay Mariotti or Rick Morrissey.

OBP is needed throughout the lineup, not just at the top. It is what defines a good offensive player inherently (well, that, and slugging ability, but OBP is more important). It tells you how good a player is at not making outs, which is the name of the game if you want to score runs. I'm just tired of hearing that we need OBP at the top, or that we need this at the middle, and this at the bottom. We need OBP everywhere, regardless of lineup position.

lawl... amazingly awesome and well supported logic.

hahaha it's even more fun when people don't pick up on the references than when they do.

God, you're stupid. Thank goodness for that ass.

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