javy knows my name

Probably shoulda started a rant but I'll threadjack instead. Did you know that every gd sportswriter and lawyer in North America was SURPRISED by this indictment?! I swear to God, I think I heard from 15 different people that ESPN got on the phone and every single one of them started their answer with "I'm surprised." My GOD, ESPN has gotten bad. And I missed flippin PTI! end rant

That doesn't happen anymore, guy. Is that Elle MacPherson in your avatar? Quite funny

He needs to figure out how to strike people out at a clip which would be acceptable for a guy with a 98 mph fb. 5.24/9 ain't cuttin it.

Kershaw is only 19? :shock: I have to think Kershaw for Bedard straight up would go down

Gotta love that IsoP from Ronny. I don't care if he slugs .300 if he gets on base anywhere close to that line.

it blows away the $11.75M or whatever that Hoffman makes (currently the highest for a reliever) I agree 15m is too much for a closer. But let's not compare Mo and Hoffman. I know Everyone is going to jump all over me on this one, so........ENJOY. They are both very good. You're just biased. Mo may be better, but not by a very large margin. Rivera is better and it is by a decent margin. Rivera has had seven years with an ERA under 2 in the stronger offensive league while Hoffman has had one year with an ERA under 2 in a weaker offensive league. Meh at ERA for a reliever. Give me K/BB and WHIP anytime.

What minor league OF do the Cubs have besides Colvin (who isn't going anywhere)? I've been trying to think of what else the Rays have that could interest the Cubs to make Hill and others worthwhile. Can't really think of anything. Evan Longoria? I wish. What about Ben Zobrist, JP Howell or Mitch Talbot? Brignac :pig:

I would be ecstatic about that kind of production from Soto. Anyone else think Carl Crawford = Felix Pie's ceiling?

I still think Crosby could've been something. Brando thinks he coulda been a contendah

If I were Arod, I'd be a jerk to the media as well. Mostly because they are guys like you who still feel like Arod has something to prove because he doesn't have a ring.

That is, simply put, way too effin' much

It's not really that Lou preferred Floyd over Murton. It's that he preferred a left handed bat over Murton. Cubs management views Matt Murton's bat as redundant. They've made the point over and over by saying they want more left handed bats in the line up. The Cubs offense is stacked with RH bats. Lee, Ramirez, Soriano, DeRosa and Soto guarantees you at least 5 RH bats of the 8 offensive slots. Theriot makes 6 and Murton playing everyday would make 7. That's why the Cubs are looking at Fukudome and Crawford. Murton will either hold on to a 4th outfield job or he'll find a new home somewhere else. He's just not in the Cubs plans due to the dominant right handed hitting attack. It's a shame, but that's what's going on with Matt Murton. *Directed at Cubs management* How is a left-handed bat a priority when we have a team that can't hit lefties!?

You really don't want to advertise an affinity for team chemistry or a contempt for metrics here. People will start calling you Joe Morgan. EDIT: You did say OPS is a meaningful statistic so you are safe from Morgan comparisons.

Murton hasn't "turned out" like anything. If Lou would put Floyd out there over him, then you have to think he hasn't gotten a fair shot yet.

Are we trading D. Lee, Aram, Soriano, and Zambrano? You're right, Zambrano of the over 4.00 ERA (Hell, Lilly was better than him last year), DLee of the 20 homers and declining skill set, Soriano of the terrible defense (assists are a product of everyone thinking you suck and can't catch the ball) and awful RBI and OBP numbers for $136M. Ramirez is the only one who you could really argue. Please explain this Just look at last year when Soriano got on and was useless because his leg was hurt. Also, how many DPs did we ground into in the playoffs because we had no one who could steal besides Theriot (who was never really on base a whole lot) Is that a compliment? Um, yeah. For as much as we all hated 4-3 when he was here. Imagine if he was actually able to hit for power AND steal as many bases, only in like 75% of the attempts. Oh ya, and if Pierre didn't have a noodle arm in the outfield. That guy would have been a pretty damn good player...and very Carl Crawford like. oh yes..they are. You're right, he's not going to be Rickey Henderson, but he's also 26 YEARS OLD and signed to a team friendly contract for a decent amount of time. But, you're right, we should spend $50 million more to get a Japanese guy who could be a total bust or could be average (besides Ichiro, which Japanese player has been a superstar?) Matsui has been very good, but he was also the BEST player in Japan for a while...and he's helped by batting 6th on the Yankees. Soriano of the terrible defense (assists are a product of everyone thinking you suck and can't catch the ball) Oh, man. :-s OH MAN :shock: Soriano of the terrible defense (assists are a product of everyone thinking you suck and can't catch the ball) Shoot, there it is again... Oh, man. This makes me think you don't like Soriano that much. Why else would you say something so uninformed?

D Lee and a spare part does not net Loney and Kemp. If it did, I'd do it in a heartbeat. Yanks don't do the deal for Cano and Chamberlain, either. As for NTCs, I think the big three have them, in ARam, Lee and Soriano. Correct me if I'm wrong.

I think CC was given the award on Fausto's behalf as well. Really, though, I thought they'd split more votes and Beckett would win easily

I'm so glad he's not. Also really surprised we've heard nothing about Cordero.

I'd trade Pie straight up if he could play a decent SS.

What do you mean by full season? As a starter? I'd have no interest in either starting. However, given Fontenot's numbers vs RHP this year, .297/.358/.423, I would think he'd be able to at least come close, if not exceed, Infante's career .257/.301/.387 line, as a part-time player. Fontenot v. RHP June: .410/.449/.689 Every other month: .239/.318/.289 Those "other months" were those where he saw breaking balls

so pretty much never follow it, eh? Ouch. You're right, though, it's pretty bad when halfway through the season, you're just hoping for 6 wins and a bowl bid. (Born and raised in Iowa City so not talkin smack) Btw Derwood, when was the last time PSU won the big ten? It's only been a few years for us :lol:

I'm ok with it; just surprised. Braun coupled a historically amazing offensive year with a historically awful defensive one, and he didn't play the whole season. He would have been a lock to compile more errors than Bartlett, and to decrease his AVG and SLG, IMO

WTF I looked all over the place. Nothing about it in the Braun thread.

Woah. Guess no one cares about defense... http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/baseball/mlb/11/12/roy/index.html EDIT: Yikes, two points over Tulowitski!

Good point about Fontenot. I don't think his name has even been brought up. After that good first month, he was just terrible the rest of the year. Maybe Infante is being brought in to fill Fontenot's role. I would have no problem with that at all. I would much rather see them spend $350,000 on Fontenot as the 6th IF than $2m on Infante. What if it's just 1.5 mil? I'd rather have someone who has a shot at being good, Fontenot, over a full season, would be the worst hitter in the league. Yes, and it's wishful thinking to believe that Infante will play second-fiddle to Theriot/Cedeno or maybe even DeRosa following a Hendry trade(see Fontenot's role). The kid will play, at least initially.