soccer10k

I'll have a drink for them.

But ultimately, he still doesn't have the production of a number of other pitchers. I'm not saying or arguing that Cain should win the Cy Young award. But I just don't agree at all that he shouldn't be in the discussion. If I had a vote, Carpenter would get it. Look at some of the other guys that have been mentioned: Truffle brought up Cain's 3.75 ERA as reason Cain shouldn't be in the discussion. Ok, so then why did you, vance mention Smoltz (3.71) in PRC and Capuano (3.66) in WS. DKWG mentioned Derek Lowe (3.77). KingCubsFan said Cain didn't deserve it but mentioned Brad Penny (4.04). And as I stated earlier, Cain has the second best OPSA in the National League, with Carpenter being the only pitcher better than Cain. Again, I'm not saying Cain should win it but saying he shouldn't even be in the discussion is ludicrous.

Well played.

Cain NL ranks in BAA/OBPA/SLGA/OPSA are 1st/tie 6th/1st/2nd. That's why he merits discussion.

I don't think he will return to the Cubs. He'll probably stay in LA.

Hopefully UC Davis will be able to continue it's I-AA dominance this year against Youngstown State leading up to their game of the year at Cal Poly on October 7.

At Ohio State? I would say that's a safe bet.

My best wishes go out to Lee and his family.

On the whole, I like what Jacque has done as a Cub.

Something I don't understand. Some people on this board don't like to use Batting Average as a statistic to evaluate a hitter (which I agree with) so why should Batting Average Against be used to evaluate a pitcher? Why aren't OBPA, SLGA, and OPSA used as well? Since they are used to evaluate hitters they should be used to evaluate pitchers as well. Carpenter has the best OBPA in the NL, the second best SLGA, and the best OPSA. He wins the Cy. I do think Cain deserves some mention in the Cy Young balloting and one could make a serious argument that Cain has been the best pitcher on the Giants this year.

We know what Joe Morgan would say.

The Cubs should keep Murton.

All I'm going to say for now is that Ohio State is #1. After that I would have, in no particular order, Auburn, WVU, USC, Michigan, Florida, Louisville, and Georgia.

I won't be watching this one because I unfortunately have to work tomorrow morning. The unfortunate part is that I don't get to sleep in and not that I don't get to watch the Cubs game.

I'm not trying to avoid eating crow, but I'm going to hold off on the all out praise of Hill for right now and am willing to say that I'm still not completely sold on him. I have watched some of his recent performances, he has pitched extremely well and has proven me very wrong. But what I want to see is him go through major league teams multiple times because that is when young pitchers tend to get hit harder. He should be guaranteed a spot in the rotation to start next year and shouldn't have to compete for a job (barring a horrible spring training of course). I don't want this to seem like I am coming down on Hill because he has definitely turned a corner and, as I said before, I am more than willing to admit that as of now I am wrong. But there are always rookie pitchers that are able to get hitters out for a while until teams build up a scouting report and the pitchers have to learn to adapt. One example I remember is Francisco Rodriguez. He was lights out in the playoffs in 2002 when Anaheim won the World Series but in 2003 he had a down year (for him of course) partly because teams realized that his curveball rarely ended up in the strike zone so teams would sit on the fastball and let the curve go by. He had to adjust to this - and has done so quite well - to become an effective pitcher. This is what I want to see from Hill. He is going to get hit and teams will start to figure him out. I want to see how he adjusts to this to keep the opposing hitters off balance. I certainly like the path he is currently on though. I wrongly jumped to a negative conclusion about Hill a few months ago so I'm hesitant to jump to a positive conclusion based on one good month and one stellar month.

Not sure if anyone mentioned this already because I didn't feel like reading most of the thread so I apologize if I'm repeating information. Rich Hill's game score today was 92 which ties Dontrelle Willis on 9/10 for the best game score in the National League this year. It is also behind only John Lackey with a 95 on 7/7 for best game score in all of baseball this year. =D> Rich Hill.

I don't think he'll get either Beltran money or years. I think Vance's prediction of 5/60-65 sounds about right. Since it's unlikely we unload Jones, I'm pencilling him in for RF for next year. I don't want to move Murton and think he will develop some more power so he's in LF. Put Soriano at 2B and you have a solid lineup. I also think Hendry will resign Pierre as well to play center and bat leadoff. Not that it's right, but I think that's what he will do.

As for domination on Saturday, you can witness it here. UC Davis dominated every single aspect of that game. In our two games against DI-AA opponents we have outscored them 83-7. I love it. Can't wait for the home games.

I think the referee most definately made the correct call. I don't see a difference between that play and the quarterback overthrowing a receiver by 10 yards. Either way the ball is uncatchable. You can't interfere with the pass if the pass wouldn't have been caught anyway.

If - and its a big if - things go right, ND could possibly have a chance to get in as a one loss team. I think this year may only see one undefeated team in OSU, WVU, or LU and all of those teams have a game or two they could easily lose. Of course its a long shot but I have to remain somewhat optimistic :D By LU I'm assuming you mean Louisville. WVU and LU still have to play each other this year so that eliminates one of them. And since you are assuming Notre Dame finishes with one loss, that means USC will lose a game. Aside from Ohio State (who I think will beat Michigan and run the table) the team(s) you are forgetting is the winner of the Auburn/Florida game. I think a one-loss Notre Dame could jump ahead of an undefeated WVU or Louisville because of the strength of schedule but they will not jump ahead of an undefeated SEC team.

I was honestly surprised at how poorly Notre Dame played today. I thought there was a chance they could lose to Michigan but I still thought Notre Dame would win (as evidenced by my picking Notre Dame in the College Pick Em league). Kudos to Michigan.

Soriano needs to play OF. CF preferably. Why not have him play 2B? because he can't play 2b. His offensive production would look much better at 2B than in the OF. his offensive production would be identical. his defense would be much better. I don't think you can have this discussion without knowing who is going to fill the other positions. I advocate CF because he would be an asset there. his offense is good anywhere though and there are several decent options for 2b out there. Obviously his offensive production would be identical. But his line for a 2B would look much better than a line for the OF. LF is more of a traditional power spot and a team is expected to have a good hitter there. 2B is different and isn't viewed as a power spot. Let me put it this way, would you rather have Soriano at 2B and Murton in LF or Soriano in LF and Cedeno at 2B? Easy decision as far as I'm concerned.

Wow. Cedeno is batting ahead of somebody other than the pitcher. Surprising.

Oh man did that Iowa State player get flattened or what. Wow.