Splendid Splinter

Yes, but Lucas Oil is a football-only stadium, isn't it? I have no knowledge of the dimensions of the place or anything, but I do know that when the Dodgers played in the LA Colosseum for a few years there were some crazy dimensions (something like 270 down each line and 510 to CF or something like that) so that probably wouldn't be the best idea. I wouldn't be opposed to a team in Indy, however, if they could get a new stadium for it. I am really not sure of dimensions but when I was there it looked absolutely huge on the field level... I could be wrong though. It probably wouldn't work at the moment. Like Erik said, the dimensions would be weird, plus Lucas Oil also holds so many events every year that it would be tough to add a baseball team on top of that. I'm not sure if there would be enough of a following (Dan) to support a MLB yet... For example, NW Indiana got White Sox/Cubs/Brewers, SW got Cardinals, S (around Jeffersonville/Louisville area)/SE got Reds, NE got Tigers/Indians. That's 7 teams in one state. Is there another state that follows that many teams and doesn't have a MLB team? Also a lot of these teams are driveable in their area. Heck Indianapolis to St. Louis is under 4 hours (probably closer to 3 hours). A lot of these teams have been around for a long time and it's been passed down from generation to generation in the family. Like I'm 4th generation of Cubs fan (Great-Grandpa was a Cubs fan and was alive when they won their World Series) and pretty much my whole family is Cubs fan (except for like 3 people). That's gonna be tough to overcome. But again, Central Indiana is a mish-mash of fans of different teams (at least from people I know that lives there) and it's why it support the AAA team. Pacers are having a heck of a time trying to draw fans to their arena right now. Another reason why I don't see enough of a following, unless they start off the first year winning. Now if you ask me 5 years from now (I believe it's still growing at a great pace) about having a MLB team there, I think it'll be very possible to do it then. Right now, I'm just not sure. Now don't get me wrong, I would love to see a MLB team in Indianapolis. Actually, if it happens, I will probably move there (I grew up 100 miles NW of Indianapolis). It's a great city and has tons of things to do there. Say MLB wants to put a team in Indianpolis within the next 2 years (due to like relocation of the Rays team or something), but not enough time to build a stadium. Realistically I can see it 2 ways until they get the stadium built. First is to add on more seats to Victory Field (from like 12,500 seats to like 20,000 if possible) or probably the better way is to renovate Bush Stadium to hold a MLB team while a stadium being built. Another question to ask is where would you build the stadium? I'm not sure if there's any places/lots in or around downtown that's big enough. The area for the RCA Dome would've done it, but they made that for a huge convention center already. I'm trying to think of a place in that area that would be suited for a MLB stadium, but I'm drawing blanks. You could put it in one of the suburbs, but again, which suburb? Also... will the taxpayers be willing to pay for another stadium (I believe Colts only paid $100 mil out of $720 mil for Lucas Oil)??? Plus if Indianapolis do get a team, they're gonna have to do some serious realignments in the their NL/AL divisions... Hopefully it would be in the AL so it'll become the AL team to root for for me... There's a lot more that I can talk about, but I'll stop there...

Can anyone tell who to watch out for in this list??? I’m at University of Arkansas and want to see some games this year. Here are the home games I can attend to: Vanderbilt (Mar. 25th-27th) Might be gone cuz it’s the end of spring break. Oklahoma (Mar. 29th) Texas State (Apr. 6th) LSU (Apr. 8th-10th) Miss St. (Apr. 15th-17th) Southeast Missouri State (May 3rd/4th) Florida (May 5th-7th) Ole Miss (May 19th-21st) Which teams should I try to go see? I imagine Vanderbilt/LSU/Florida are all good (I actually has never follow college baseball before- just followed/watched a few players every year, but that’s it). I wanna change it so I can get into college baseball. Also when you pick out the teams to go see, what players on those teams to watch out for??? If someone can help me out, I could come here and talk about the game/players that I went to....

Yeah Royals had their single game tickets open this morning at 10 am Central. I got a single tix to the Cubs/Royals game (by the time I got in after about 45 minutes, the only 2 tixs side by side I could get either the really expensive ones or way the all back on the upper level)... The Sunday June 26th game... Section 102 Row D... $41 after all the taxes and whatnot ($31 face value). Then I got 2 tixs in Section 250 Row EE for the Royals/Red Sox (I waited maybe 15 minutes to get in for this game) game on August 19th... That was $74 (after everything and $30 face value). Figured I would throw this out there for you guys to compare what other places (Kauffmann in this case) are going for their tixs... How are my seats (considering I've never been to Kauffmann)??? I really wanted to sit in the OF this year (as the last time I've done that was like '98 at Wrigley)...

Yeah Royals had their single game tickets open this morning at 10 am Central. I got a single tix to the Cubs/Royals game (by the time I got in after about 45 minutes, the only 2 tixs side by side I could get either the really expensive ones or way the all back on the upper level)... The Sunday June 26th game... Section 102 Row D... $41 after all the taxes and whatnot ($31 face value). Then I got 2 tixs in Section 250 Row EE for the Royals/Red Sox (I waited maybe 15 minutes to get in for this game) game on August 19th... That was $74 (after everything and $30 face value). Figured I would throw this out there for you guys to compare what other places (Kauffmann in this case) are going for their tixs...

Thought Railcats were indy. I didn't even know South Bend had a minor league team there. South Bend and Peoria are about the same time-wise (2 1/2 hours or so) and Fort Wayne is about 3 hours. Indianapolis is like 1 1/2-2 hrs depending on how fast I wanna drive. Indianapolis was nice cuz it was basically ALL interstate (except for like 20 miles maybe) for me. I have seen the Chiefs in Peoria a couple years ago. I did it when it was a weekend game and it was an all day event for me. It was nice for what it was. Now living in Fayetteville, AR, the Arvest Ballpark in Springdale, AR is like literally 10 minutes from my place if that. It'll be nice for me on some nights when I'm bored or got nothing to do and just drive over there and watch a game and not worry about how late I'll be getting home that night (then getting up for work or school the next day). Back home, I had to plan the trip and couldn't go to a game on a whim. Now back to the BA Top 100... Did Vitters make the list or no? I can't remember if he did now. It's nice to see Cubs had 4 guys (5 if Vitters made it) in the top 100, even though we traded 2 of them. I think it bodes well for the Cubs farm system and what Wilken has done for them so far... It'll be interesting to see next year who's on the list for the Cubs. Hopefully a few guys step it up and get on the list (I think Jackson probably won't be there next year as he'll be in the majors this year sometime).

I like this lineup although I wouldn't mind Soto up to 2nd/Pena to 3rd/Castro down to 7th. A little less pressure for Castro and it give Ramirez 3 guys who walk a lot in front of him. The only thing I'm iffy about the lineup above is having Soriano/Pena back to back. I can see pitchers walking Pena a bit to get to Soriano (esp when he's in his slumps) and if he's in front of Ramirez, they'll have to pitch to him more often. Fukudome Soto Pena Ramirez Soriano Byrd Castro Dewitt/Baker It looks like Ramirez and Castro (and possibly Soto- depending on which Pena we get) are the guys who would get walked in order to face the next batter in my lineup. Castro I can see for sure. Ramirez could sometime, but if Soriano has a decent to solid year then I can see pitchers pitching to A Ram. Then again... I don't mind having Castro at 2nd and see how he does this year, but I think he'll see a lot of pitches his way. I'm just hoping that he gets more walks this year and improve his plate discipline. Plus at the 7 spot, I think he would get to run/steal more often than at the 2 spot.

Dude... if he's in AA this year, I'm going to see him. I don't care if it's in Little Rock/Springdale/Tulsa... It's why I'm pumped about living in Fayetteville now (used to live in NW Indiana and closest minor league was like Indianapolis Indians- which is like 100 miles away so I didn't get to go often- I think Gary, Indiana or somewhere up there has either a minor league team or indy team). I'll be going to the Naturals (Royals AA team) games quite a bit this year and get to see other big time prospects in the Texas League.

To be fair... they have Bard waiting to take over the closer spot. They probably want to trade Papelbon so they can get something out of him instead of letting him go for nothing. Plus Bard is most likely going to be as good as Papelbon or at least Red Sox won't have to worry about the 9th inning if Papelbon is gone.

NICE!!! I am also hoping to get good seats for the Royals-Cubs games (June 24th-26th). KC is only about 4 hours from here (Fayetteville, AR) and my bday is June 27th so I'm hoping that my parents would either pay my hotel or tickets for that weekend or just pinch in some money for that weekend. I'm hoping to see 2 of those Cubs games, if possible, along with maybe 2-3 more games (Rangers/Twins/Rays/Yankees/Red Sox are my top 5 other teams with Angels/Cardinals (just to see Pujols and hopefully Theriot go either 0-4 with 3 errors or go 4-4, all singles and get picked off every time)/White Sox behind those 5... Does anybody know where to sit in the Kaufmann Stadium? Any recommendation on the stadium and the surrounding area? Like what to see and where to eat and etc...??? It'll be my first time in the KC area.

I just might have to join you... Dang... if it was a weekend game, I would drive over to see that game.

Can Pena play 3B? hahaha...

Derrek Lee last year?? or was he a 10/5 guy? I know he waived something to go to Braves, didn't he turn down a trade to Angels or someone on the West Coast?

to abuck and wade... Lets say someone did gain 20 lbs in 3 months, realistically... how much of that 20 lbs is muscle? Like what's the max? And then, the more likely amount? Just curious to what you guys think... My freshman year of college, first couple of months was me losing a little weight (5-10 lbs) while getting toned then the last 3-4 months I gain about 17 lbs (Most of it was muscles added) overall. I end up being 217 lbs (goal was 215-220) from being about 200-210 at the start and I'm 6'2"-6'3"ish. I was getting advice from Ball State University football strength coach (cuz I knew several football players and they let me work out with them). The only "supplements" (if you wanna call it that) I used was creatine and whey protein... I remember I went from like a 13-14% to 9-10% body fat (over a period of 5-6 months). Granted I didn't gain "20 lbs of muscles" or even gain 20 lbs... I bet when in the article... they really did gain 20 lbs or whatever. I know it's not all muscle (cuz you gotta in account of water rentention/fat/etc...), but can it realistically be like 80% of that (so 16 lbs out of 20)?? 20 lbs over 3-4 months isn't that much since esp. if the kid is 6'5" (DJ) and still growing into his body. It's like Dustin Keller from the New York Jets (I knew him from high school)... His redshirt freshman year at Purdue, he went from being 6'2" 170 at the start of the school year to about 235 before the school ended that year. I know it wasn't all muscle there, but he easily gained at least 35 lbs of muscle out of that 65. It wouldn't shock me if it was close to 50 lbs of muscles. That's about a 9-10 months period there.

Is it me or Maddux looks like he's 5'6" and about 140 lbs??? Hahaha

Why would the Cubs, with an opening at the position and a ton of money coming off the books, never be an option, but the Red Sox and Yankees, who both have very big long term money tied up at 1B be likely destinations? Because that's all ESPN cares about in MLB... Red Sox or Yankees. So naturally that's where they want every good FA to go to...

Another 2011 projections for the Cubs... From rotochamp.com... http://www.rotochamp.com/players/TeamPage.aspx?Team=CHC Lineup Player POS Team AB R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG 1 Starlin Castro SS CHC 605 90 4 55 13 0.294 0.344 0.405 2 Kosuke Fukudome OF CHC 407 72 12 48 8 0.266 0.378 0.430 3 Marlon Byrd OF CHC 541 77 14 80 6 0.293 0.348 0.445 4 Aramis Ramirez 3B CHC 498 76 26 84 1 0.273 0.337 0.484 5 Carlos Pena 1B CHC 471 84 32 75 4 0.236 0.364 0.486 6 Alfonso Soriano OF CHC 501 66 24 74 7 0.257 0.321 0.481 7 Geovany Soto C CHC 444 71 21 66 0 0.275 0.382 0.482 8 Blake DeWitt 2B CHC 522 63 7 57 3 0.257 0.334 0.368 Projected Rotation Starter Player POS Team IP W L ERA WHIP K 1 Ryan Dempster SP CHC 202 12 10 3.58 1.31 188 2 Matt Garza SP CHC 204 11 11 4.02 1.26 160 3 Carlos Zambrano SP CHC 184 10 9 3.94 1.41 160 4 Randy Wells SP CHC 196 11 10 3.84 1.37 139 5 Carlos Silva SP CHC 115 5 6 4.63 1.36 71 Top Relievers Player POS Team IP W L Saves ERA WHIP K Carlos Marmol RP CHC 70 3 3 35 2.42 1.23 111 Kerry Wood RP CHC 46 2 2 5 3.77 1.35 51 Sean Marshall RP CHC 70 3 3 1 2.91 1.23 73 Andrew Cashner RP CHC 54 2 2 0 4.43 1.57 50 Esmailin Caridad RP CHC 4 0 0 0 5.59 1.25 4 Thomas Diamond RP CHC 29 1 1 0 4.46 1.76 36 Other Players Player POS Team AB R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG Tyler Colvin OF CHC 365 49 20 56 4 0.257 0.321 0.499 Jeff Baker 3B CHC 188 22 4 23 1 0.259 0.319 0.410

I rather chance it with Pujol's elbow... He's been playing with it basically his whole career (supposely and I know it started very early in his career anyway from what I can remember???) and hasn't broken down yet... Plus that little clean up surgery he had a couple years ago (I think 2 years ago) I think helped him put off major surgery until he's retires IMO. Then again, it can break down cuz he's getting older and played a lot more. Either I wouldn't want to give either one more than a 6 year deal, but if I HAD to make a choice on which one to give a 7 or more year deal... it would be Pujols.

Isn't Darren O'Day plus cash with Young/Davis in the trade "rumor or whatever it is"??? I might do that depending on how much Texas wants to kick in on the cash part. I'm ok with Young being a 2B/3B even though his defense sucks. Is there any solid 3Bs out there that's gonna be a FA in the next 2-3 years beside A Ram? Cuz if you think you can get a good solid 3B (thru FA or trades or just keeping A Ram or heck... if Chris Davis show signs of hitting for contact again) and move Young to 2B (where his offense has more value at), then I'm willing to listen to the trade offer and figure out how much money Rangers should kick in. If they kick in enough money where Cubs is paying less than 10 mil/yr (prefer more like 7 mil/yr) for Young, I'm ok with them making the trade. I don't know how many years and how much Young is owed though.

What the heck? That's like Adam Dunn in terms of IsoP. I know he had a .500 SLG with his .254 AVG last year, but I can't see him improving that over a whole season... Esp. when pitchers know what to do with him this year. With only 23 HRs, he must been getting like 50 doubles or like 30 doubles and 10 triples along with that in order to get that SLG since Dunn hits 38+ HRs like every year.... Last year Adam Dunn had 36 doubles, 2 triples, 38 HRs for a .539 SLG with a .260 AVG. Unless Colvin gonna have the same amount of ABs as last year, I don't see him hitting a .520 SLG. All of the sudden he's gonna be a XBH machine???

Where at and when exactly? I'm only a hour and half away from Tulsa... I might go to that game then (if it works out for me).

Hahaha If Pujols is 47 then Mariano Rivera is 83...

Bring Pie back to the Cubs... LOL he's fine as the last bench spot. He would be better than Reed Johnson/Perez/any other OF options for that spot if they decided to go with a 5th OF with the last spot, but I think it'll go to Max Ramirez IMO.

He hit .276 .342 .504 .846 last year in 272 PA and posted positive UZR in both CF and RF. I doubt he has much left in the tank, but he certainly didn't suck last year. That's with him sitting out the whole 2009 season. I don't know how he didn't get signed that offseason after what he did with the Cubs. Had he played in 2009 season, he would have over 400 HRs (need 7 to 400) and seriously become a candidate for the HoF.

Yeah, he's definitely the #1 TE in this draft. He'd be a slam dunk for Atlanta if Gonzalez was retiring. Heck, they may pick him anyway. I hope Gonzalez doesn't retire just yet... He still got 2 more good years left in him. Mainly though, I just want to see him hit 100 TDs (need 12 more)... But like you said, I can see Falcons picking Rudolph even if Gonzalez stays for another year or 2...

I'm glad he got signed. I'm looking forward to one day on ESPN top 10 this season where someone threw either 3 ft outside of the zone or in the dirt and Vlad still hits a HR out of it somehow... Dude just swings at EVERYTHING and still hits them. If only Soriano could be like Vlad...