David

:thumbsup: Did a search, couldn't find a thread. It looks like something might be imminent with D'Antoni. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3383366 I have to say, I'm excited/intrigued about seeing D'Antoni's system and how it would work with the Bulls' personnel. People seemed to always compare the Bulls to the Suns the past few years due to the jump shooting and all that, but Skiles was obviously running a lot more half court offensive sets. The run n' gun style should be exciting. I hate to make the comparison, because Nash is an MVP, but if you look at his numbers at around the same age, they're very similar to Hinrich's. Nash really flourished under D'Antoni, and people seem to forget that he was "just" a very good PG with a couple all star appearances before going to Phoenix and suddenly exploding after age 30 into an MVP type of player. I'm not saying Hinrich would make that same massive jump, because that would be asking a lot and nobody is Steve Nash, but I could see him really benefiting from the system. I do have concerns about his emphasis (or lack thereof) on defense, but the Bulls at least have players who are already considered to be strong defensive players. D'Antoni's playoff record concerns me, too. That said, if nothing else, it could be a lot of fun to watch. I have games like the Denver game from this last year in mind (obviously they shot out of their minds, but yea). I kinda rambled a lot more than I had intended to there, but thoughts?

Looks like another slip up at Halas Hall... Taken from the chicagobears.com board... (Bennett refers to Grossman as the starter too) I wonder if there's anything to it. Either way, was there any way that Grossman was going to lose out to Orton in a TRAINING CAMP battle of all things? Rex is a god in practice. On the field, during the actual games, the gap might be a bit narrower, but I don't think it's even close on the practice field (at least, not from what I've seen the few times I've been to TC)...

lol at you guys responding to this troll attempt I bet it's another one of Meph's ae's

fixed Or anyone else, considering his success rate and the fact that he should've been called out two more times this year. He should be 5 of 13. I don't care about sample sizes in this case, I'm tired of seeing him (and Lou) waste outs on the bases.

Yes. Geovany Soto, unfortunately.

Blasphemy. Seriously.

LOL, right...especially that last part after "and"

Idiots. I'd explain why, but I think the issue of whether or not the Cubs "need" a left-handed outfielder doesn't really need to be explored. I agree, but I can't say that I'd mind getting Bradley into this lineup.... Soriano, Fukudome, Lee, Ramirez, Bradley, Soto, DeRosa, Theriot/Cedeno Wow.

Not a ton. It's mostly affected by the small number of plate appearances. Pie is definitely much closer to Soriano as a hitter than Fukudome in terms of patience and discipline. However, he's been a very productive hitter at every phase of the minor leagues, and he'll be a productive hitter on the major league level if given the chance. The real Felix is much closer to his production over the past two weeks than it is to his production over the first two weeks. I figured as much, especially the sample size part. I'm not totally sold on Pie's ability to eventually produce like the projections suggest, but I would really like to see him given an actual chance to do so.

What, in major league play, shows you that Felix Pie is a better hitter than Reed Johnson? You can show me all the projections in the world from baseballprospectus that tells you that, but that doesn't mean jack. Felix Pie has been a disappointment this year. He strikes out at an high rate, and doesn't walk. If that doesn't scream Corey Patterson to Cubs fans, nothing will. Felix has looked overmatched this year many times. This year OPS vs. right handers: .603 .661 Guess which one is Felix and which on is Johnson. Don't want to talk about Pie's .224 batting average? Or his horrible .291 obp? Despite which Pie is still outperforming Reed Johnson? That IsoD of 67 seems like a decent sign, too. But I'm not sure how much it matters with a BA that low.

Heh, I was way behind this post. I'm guessing ESPN's stats are behind, because these would seem to reflect today's performances by both players.

What, in major league play, shows you that Felix Pie is a better hitter than Reed Johnson? You can show me all the projections in the world from baseballprospectus that tells you that, but that doesn't mean jack. Felix Pie has been a disappointment this year. He strikes out at an high rate, and doesn't walk. If that doesn't scream Corey Patterson to Cubs fans, nothing will. Felix has looked overmatched this year many times. FWIW, while he hasn't been better, Felix hasn't been that much worse against RHP than Johnson. Might as well play the younger player who needs to be given a chance to sink or swim and plays better defense, to boot. Johnson vs. RHP this year .654 OPS (.283/.333/.321) Pie vs. RHP this year .644 OPS (.231/.311/.333) Sample size. I know. I'm just saying it's not like Johnson has done so well that you can't pull him from the lineup. He's barely performed better than Pie, while everyone talks about how terrible Pie has been. He's pretty much just as much of a black hole against RHP as Felix.

Carpenter will make a huge impact for the 2 weeks hes back. Nah. He might be gone again after two weeks, but he's not going to do much during those two weeks.

If we keep scoring runs the way we have been, it probably would.

I don't think Lou is joking. sounds like Dusty describing how he didn't know Corey Patterson was struggling because he wasn't striking out. It's amazing how similar Dusty and Lou really are. They seem to differ extremely in perhaps the most important area.

Who cares about defense in that scenario. That puts the Tigers lineup to shame. While I'm all about the "fielding doesn't matter all that much" school of thought, I'm not in love with the idea of signing guys to huge contracts and putting them in positions they've never or barely played before. So in your scenario, replace Teix with Vlad the Impaler. Too old and not walky enough. How about signing Teix and trading DLee for Kemp and Young? :pig:

Yep, X-Rays negative Nice, thanks.

So, has ARam at least had x-rays or anything so we can confirm he didn't fracture anything?

Carpenter sometime around the break. Not sure on Mulder, I've heard he's been struggling in rehab starts or something. Either way, I wouldn't expect either of them to make much of an impact.

Roberts isnt a great option to lead off either He actually is. I hate the reference to "lead off" and I'll just say that he's a very good hitting 2B and is a great option anywhere. Don't go crazy with a month's worth of stats this year (that aren't even bad).

Who cares about defense in that scenario. That puts the Tigers lineup to shame. While I'm all about the "fielding doesn't matter all that much" school of thought, I'm not in love with the idea of signing guys to huge contracts and putting them in positions they've never or barely played before.

Teix has played like 15-20 games at RF in his career and hasn't in like 4 years.

Why? Because if the rumors start flying that he'll up payroll to $175M in one year, it's going to make it likely additional owners would vote against him. True. I would hope nobody would pick up and run with some complete speculation on a Saturday talk radio show, but I guess I've seen far stranger things (understatement).

Or a division that sucks so bad that you win it with like 83 wins and then a hot streak in the playoffs. Their "consistency" would've been good for around 3rd place and no playoff appearance in most divisions.

Why?