Lefty

There is always hope, there's that word again, that maybe he is taking a longer time to recover from his 2006 surgery. He did get some power back last year. And the move to the NL should also help his numbers (and thus his production). No way I trade Marshall for him.

... and not own the Cubs. :cry:

I went to my first Cub game in 1970. I do not even own any Cub paraphenalia because I would be too embarassed to wear it. I thought I might get a nice hat this year and wear it if they at least won the pennant, but scotch that. Maybe next year.

Care to explain this? I was a big fan of Hermida, but he took a step backward last year. Do you just happen to think it was a fluke because he's still so young, or is there something I'm missing? Falling off a little was probably to be expected with as high as his BABIP was in '07, but his '08 is masked by terrible numbers in a terrible hitters park. His .288/.364/.487/.851 line away from home as a 24 year old is pretty stellar, and with his age and minor league pedigree you can expect him to improve. He'd also combine with Soto to give a great cost effective pair of hitters to ease the pain of Lee/Ramirez/Soriano declining or leaving the team. As you know, throwing out half of someone's stats isn't the best thing to do. Not generally, but when you have a guy who plays in an extreme pitchers/hitter's park, it gives you a decent idea of what you might expect out of him in a more neutral setting. Not looking more at road stats when judging guys who play in places like Florida and San Diego or Colorado is really not an better an idea. And thats why you take his home stats and park adjust them...even though park adjustments aren't great, thats infinitely (well not infinitely) better than cutting your sample size in half. Throwing them out is just plain wrong. "Throwing them out" is wrong if you are trying to measure his production. After all, he was killing the Marlins when he batted at home. But in trying to see how he'll do for us, it is a good tool. You don't want a half-year of stats(?), look at the last two years on the road. Good prognostication requires tools that are sensitive. Hermida might be no big deal. But he has a chance, unlike Matt Murton for instance, to be special. Aren't we trying to measure his production? Baseball stats is really a sample size game, it'd be irresponsible to throw out half your sample especially for a guy with such little major league time. Look, there is a "normal" gap between home and road performance. If over a three year period (and I don't have his career numbers in front of me) someone's performance has differed greatly from what was expected, we have to put some stock into that. Where we surprised when Burnitz didn't put up the same numbers here that he did in pre-humidor Coors? This is just the opposite. And if your trading partner has soured on him because he is not producing in their environment, then you have a chance to capture some added value.

Now you can tell us. Did someone who was very close to you reside there last spring?

Care to explain this? I was a big fan of Hermida, but he took a step backward last year. Do you just happen to think it was a fluke because he's still so young, or is there something I'm missing? Falling off a little was probably to be expected with as high as his BABIP was in '07, but his '08 is masked by terrible numbers in a terrible hitters park. His .288/.364/.487/.851 line away from home as a 24 year old is pretty stellar, and with his age and minor league pedigree you can expect him to improve. He'd also combine with Soto to give a great cost effective pair of hitters to ease the pain of Lee/Ramirez/Soriano declining or leaving the team. As you know, throwing out half of someone's stats isn't the best thing to do. Not generally, but when you have a guy who plays in an extreme pitchers/hitter's park, it gives you a decent idea of what you might expect out of him in a more neutral setting. Not looking more at road stats when judging guys who play in places like Florida and San Diego or Colorado is really not an better an idea. And thats why you take his home stats and park adjust them...even though park adjustments aren't great, thats infinitely (well not infinitely) better than cutting your sample size in half. Throwing them out is just plain wrong. "Throwing them out" is wrong if you are trying to measure his production. After all, he was killing the Marlins when he batted at home. But in trying to see how he'll do for us, it is a good tool. You don't want a half-year of stats(?), look at the last two years on the road. Good prognostication requires tools that are sensitive. Hermida might be no big deal. But he has a chance, unlike Matt Murton for instance, to be special.

Hermida was such a stud prospect, and he has been productive. His home park isn't helping him. I always think of Utley who had pedigree and terrific minor league numbers but took a couple of years to establish himself. I don't really doubt that Hermida would have a few .900 ops seasons in a friendlier park.

So the conclusion is that Fukudome is going to be productive, right?

I don't think he has that much value given his age, contract and production. Many of us think we can move him and sign Texeira. Not happening.

Require the Cubs to show up. Geez, is this what we're complaining about? If it was best of seven we would have been swept out a day later.

This encapsulates the Wall Street thought process. Keep it simple.

Hendry could sign Furcal, then move Theriot to Second and put DeRosa in Right. Let me say I think that is a terrible sequence of events, but I can see that as Hendry's solution. It only requires one new person, one that Hendry has coveted in the past, to be brought in. I can't beileve I am already thinking about next year. Well I can believe it but I hate it. Hey did anybody see the BP article that had Harden as the most dominant starter in the Majors this year (by Kevin Goldstein's measure)? One game at a time.

yea I'm gonna be pretty depressed for the next 24 hours I hope that's it.

Get in line.

Remember, we can't play the Brewers in the first round. If Brewers make it we get the Dodgers. So I want everyone to knock themselves out as long as we get one of the teams knocking themselves out.

Absolutely not true. The Cubs would have lost a WS game if they made it. But the NLCS was 2 games at the East winner, 3 at the West regardless of who made it.

Wednesday is Rosh Hashanah, so I miss an afternoon game. But the Cubs are 0-8 in playoff games west of here, so I am not sure I want the Dodgers and night games either.

I was living on the Upper West Side at the time and caught the WFAN update when I got home from work. I was absolutely sick.

I think he said "that's a ball" and the ump thought he said BS.

Except for the miracle ninth in STL last Thursday, when was the last time Wood pitched a scoreless inning?

Ramirez Double Edmonds Single, drove in Ramirez. DeRosa single. GEOVANY SOTO I only turned it on because I had some work to finish up in my home office. All with two outs. Unreal. Gotta win it though.

Uhh, swear to G-d. Picked up my daughter from a friend after a Brewer was thrown out at the plate in the ninth. Just saw Marmol strike out Cameron. What the heck happened?

Last I heard was single game Sunday and DH Monday. Looking at the weather report I think they're smoking something. And as far as neutral sites, how are the Astros going to get out Saturday? What a mess.

Don't talk to Larry!

If we split with the Brewers we have the tiebreaker with them. If we go 2-4 we don't. If we split with the Mets we have the tiebreaker with them. If we go 1-3 we don't. So the "right" wins and our magic numbers could actually be less. I try not to watch road games because I can't handle the pressure. After seeing the replays I am sure I would have enjoyed the end, but I may have preserved a few days of my life.