squally1313

Some good analysis of the comments in this article: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/the-bradley-comment Doesn't really support one side or the other, but gives some statistics to help clear it up a little bit....

Dunn will get more than 5m. That's just crazy talk. The issue, as has been pointed out, is Dunn's unwillingness to move to 1b. I can think of a host of teams that would love to have Dunn if he'd just move to 1b. Dunn, according to MLBTR and that article is looking for 4/56. With that and the agent's claim that he gets no more than $5 million a year, there's clearly a huge gap. But for the sake of conversation that's not about Peavy (for once), would you.... Give Dunn the same contract, money wise, that Lee has for the next four years? You'd be getting younger at first base with roughly equal production, adding a lefty bat, and adding whatever prospects Lee gets to the farm system while sacrificing first base defense. Salaries would balance out. Yeah, I know Dunn may not prefer first base, but in this hypothetical, $13/year would possibly be a much higher offer than anything he would get anywhere else.

One reason that Dunn is getting so few offers is that he wants to play the OF. Some teams had interest in him as either a first baseman or DH, but Dunn wasn't particularly interested in that. I don't think Dunn is really an upgrade over Lee, and he isn't going to take a 4 year deal that only pays him 7.5 mil a season. I originally didn't think he would take that kind of contract either, but that agent seems to think otherwise, and with money being equal I'm sure he'd rather play for the contending Cubs than the bottom dweller Nats (not factoring in outfield vs first base). In terms of Dunn vs Lee, Dunns OPS projections are at 913/846/871 while Lee's are at 868/870/825. Factor in defense, it's a wash, with Lee probably having a little advantage in terms of simply 2009 first base performance. There are other factors that I think make doing these 2 things very attractive. One, Dunn is 4 years younger, two, it would save salary (assuming Dunn would sign for something like $7-9 million a year, more than what the agent thinks, but admittedly less than the 4/56 he's looking for), and three, trading Lee for prospects would help restock our system.

Alright I know this is way off topic, but I couldn't find a specific one that worked, and since this one has pretty much morphed into general offseason discussion, I figured I'd throw it in here.... Even with the addition of Bradley, it's always good to look for ways to upgrade the offense, and in this offseason, cut down on salary. There's an article in the Washington Post today, and found by MLBTR, that has an agent saying he would be shocked if Adam Dunn got more than $5 million a year. He says Dunn has no big name suitors, and will almost certainly end up with the Nationals because of this. I couldn't find Derrek's 2009 salary, but I know he made $13.2 last year, and I think most people here believe Dunn would be an upgrade over Lee. We know Lee has a no-trade clause, and for a variety of reasons might be unwilling to waive it. But at the risk of sounding too harsh, upgrading from Lee to Dunn at first while paying significantly less (Maybe a 4 year, $30 million deal, plus the incentive of playing for a contender would be enough to get him) would help this team a lot. Additionally, trading Lee for prospects, possibly to the Giants, who could contend in the West and desperately need a first baseman, would go a long way to restocking a farm system that would be pretty bare if the Peavy trade happens. The defense would take a hit, but I think the benefits outweigh the negatives. Again, sorry for being off-topic...searched a while for a Dunn topic and couldn't find any recent one. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/nationalsjournal/2009/01/the_market_for_adam_dunn.html?wprss=nationalsjournal

I'm sure someone a lot more creative than me can think of a good Ace Ventura joke for that extra point there....

http://blogs.chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/fullcourtpress/2008/12/rose-injured.html Before you freak out about the name of the link...it's not that bad. Just...really stupid.

Check your PMs...not sure about the rules for posting links like that...

They're not. They are this game. They're not.

Good tackling.

We'll be feeling the negative effects of this little shooting streak by Hughes for weeks...

Eliminate the wildcard....best of 3 series for the 2 division champs with the worst record, in a 1-2 format. Winner plays the team with the best record in a 7 game set, normal NLCS rules apply. Then 9 game world series. Keep the drama in the division races, with the added drama of finishing with the best record in the league, and stretch out the World Series without going into November. Unfortunately, since the Red Sox and the Yankees play in the same division, it will never happen.

I got a pretty good one.... So I've lived in Chicago my whole life...the Cubs were 8-0 in the games I was at this year. I go to school in Ohio, but this semester I'm spending it over in Europe. Today (it's 9:23 am right now) we leave on a school sponsored field trip to Amsterdam for the rest of the week. Now usually here if it's a somewhat important/interesting game I just stay up late and make up for the sleep the next day. But now our first night tonight everyone is ready to "explore Amsterdam," and the game starts at about midnight local time. The hotel we stay at lets you pay for internet 24 hours a day. Now I know studying abroad is a once in a lifetime thing. And I know that I'll probably never get to be 20 years old and be in Amsterdam again. But I also feel like this is a once in a lifetime Cubs team, and I lived and died with them this summer. I know, I know....two pretty amazing choices. But I wasn't coming here to brag or anything. It's just going to suck having both of them in front of me all week and having to miss out on one.

Rich Harden

Oh my god....Lou....wow

Unexpected

Just to balance out all the optimism in this thread (which, believe me, I'm feeling too)....enjoy this now, because after three days in our personal hell, things could feel a lot differently But seriously...god this is awesome.

Quick, entirely overmanaging strategy question here. Blanco was up with 1st and 2nd, one out. Let's say he walked there, and loaded the bases for Harden, a very weak hitter. Hypothetically, would it be possible to announce Zambrano as the "starting pitcher" every day, and bat him in the 9th spot, so that in the rare cases the pitcher bats in the first, we get a good hitter? If he doesn't come up, then just "substitute" in the actual starting pitcher, Harden. I know you wouldn't want to do it with a positional bench player, because it wastes him, but there's no chance of Z getting into this game anyways, so what's the difference? I have a sinking feeling that the whole "announced pitcher has to throw at least one pitch" thing is going to make all this worthless, but just something that popped into my head...

With that home run, DeRosa ties his career high (13).

Missed the first 7 innings due to work....anyone have a clip of Edmonds waving to LaRussa after his first HR? They don't show it on mlb.com Also...Edmonds is becoming one of my favorite players and Howry actually was effective today. Not sure which one was less likely, but I think hell is freezing over

But we COULD afford a lengthy Howry suspension.... :grin:

Z's pumped...let's hope he keeps it in the 92-94 range rather than trying to dial it up...

Pretty sure he's been visited by Modzilla. Exposed?

I hate you

During an exhibition game. This time...IT COUNTS

Link?