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Lefty

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Everything posted by Lefty

  1. Lefty
    One step closer, many to go.
  2. Lefty
    I just can't believe that Hendry would really want Soriano. Could he really have no grasp on reality?
  3. Lefty
    Where's the love for Jerome Williams?
  4. Lefty
    Subjectively, I always liked Farnsworth and wished we had kept him. But if this report is true, I am feeling a little better about the Howry and Eyre contracts.
  5. Lefty
    But the Dodgers have to decide whether to offer Bradley arbitration. If they do, they might be on the hook for a salary that a) they don't want to pay and b) a contract they can't get rid of. The Cubs would be trading Walker to make the Dodgers' decision easier and to avoid competing for Bradley on the open market. That seems like a high price. But it fits with Hendry's seeming impatience to sign the two middle relievers.
  6. Lefty
    Who would lie about John Mabry?
  7. Lefty
    [quote name="Gunned That's called correlation. Negative correlation' date=' actually. Essentially, what that graph shows is that pitchers with lower ERAs on average strikeout more batters. It's not a co-incidence. More strikeouts mean fewer balls in play. Fewer balls in play mean fewer hits allowed. And fewer hits allowed mean fewer runs allowed. A strikeout is an out every single time. A ball in play, well, it could go just past the dive of your shortstop with lousy range.[/quote] So why doesn't that hold true for hitters? Prospectus are the same people who believe that a strikeout for a hitter is the same as any other out, right? I'm not trying to be contrarian ... I just want to know what the difference is. Because strikeouts for a pitcher are an indicator of "stuff." Strikeouts for a batter are not an indicator of anything specific. But it will usually correlate with power and walks. And that's an attractive combination. Think of it another way. A batter who only strikes out won't be in the Majors. One who is will have the compensating strengths.
  8. Lefty
  9. Lefty
    There was a LOT of talk about hawkins being the closer immediately after he was signed and for the rest of the offseason and early in the season right up until he actually became closer. It was something that everyone gave thought to, unlike this time where at least one of us (me) isn't thinking about it. Borowski was the closer. Hawkins set him up until Borowski's suckage could no longer be ignored (and then Borowski admitted that his arm was taped on). As a matter of interest, those who talked about Hawkins closing before the season began are the same ones who like these signing(s). That's not a criticism, but a mindset.
  10. Lefty
    Because unlike when they signed Remmy and Hawkins, this time there is no "serious" talk of Eyre or Howry (if signed) to be their closer. They are signed (or will be?) to be relievers or set-up men - and God-willing - that will be their job all year. I realize that Eyre has a bonus pending if he becomes the closer, but as long as Dempster maintains his form of 2005, there is no reason for that bonus to kick-in. Hawkins wasn't signed to be the closer. And I personally don't believe in the whole closer thing anyway although Hawkins pushed my beliefs quite a bit. We paid Hawkins $8 million for about 90 innings. So that is a bad contract.
  11. Lefty
  12. Lefty
    Whoa whoa. You're saying that Howry and Eyre are equal to Wuertz and Ohman? Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. Ohamn career era - 4.17 Eyre career era - 4.52 Wuertz career era - 3.96 Howry career era - 3.58 Derrek Lee career OBP - .363 Ryan Freel career OBP - .369 Aramis Ramirez career OBP - .329 Bobby Hill career OBP - 343 So are Lee and Freel equal? Are Ramirez and Hill? You can't just look at a player's career stats and tell me that they are one and the same at the current stage. You left out SLG. That's half the equation.
  13. Lefty
    But that's the point. Those guys were paid nothing. Each team built a bullpen where the first year salary was about the same as Howry is supposedly getting.
  14. Lefty
    He's done that with relief pitching, but not all his acquisitions. Barrett and Ramirez weren't exactly at their peak when the Cubs acquired them. That said, relief pitching is probably the worst position to focus on when it comes to expensive free agents. That's what I meant. The variablity of relief pitcher performance is so great, it is indefensible to spend this much money on two guys (if true). If you have unlimited resources, fine. But not even the Yankees have unlimited resources. You have to collect arms and sort them out. Even the Cubs do it. Dempster, Rusch, Williamson and Chad Fox were all reclamation projects. Why they still sign middle-relievers after the Remlinger, Hawkins (who I liked personally) and Alfonseca experiences is beyond me.
  15. Lefty
    Get over yourself and your armchair opinions. Lol, thats probalby construed as a personal attack, but I agree with you. You can't act like you know more than a GM in baseball, the guy has his job for a reason. GM's are smart, smart people, with degrees from great universities. I know Epstein is a Yale grad. Having your opinion is one thing but just keep at that, an opinion, don't try to make it fact! edit - grammar Let's see. I am 39 years old, run a successful business, and have a 144 IQ. I have a BA from a better school than Hendry (need some anonymity on this one) and have two graduate degrees. I've played competitive baseball since I was ten and still do. I have read all the Sabermetric material since 1983. So whatever you think of that stuff, I certainly have an informed opinion about baseball stats at least. So tell me, because I haven't taken the baseball career path, I have to keep my mouth shut? You give me a break. Could I be a GM? I don't know. I have lousy people skills.
  16. Lefty
    Get over yourself and your armchair opinions. What is the difference between opinion and armchair opinion?
  17. Lefty
    Koronka su-ks.
  18. Lefty
    This is bizarro world. With the Cubs recent history of overpaying free-agent or nearly free-agent relievers, Alfonseca, Remlinger, Hawkins, and some of the cheap gems like Borwski '02 &'03, Rusch '04, Van Poppell '01, Worrell '00, you'd think that all the scouts that Hendry talks about could find the next Bobby Howry (waivers 2004) or Scott Eyre (waivers 2002) for the league minimum. Hendry is the guy who buys a stock after it's been the top performer for two years running because now he feels he can trust it.
  19. Lefty
    [quote name="Sarcastic As for everything else' date=' criticism is fine, and I never said it wasn't. I would say also that none of us really know how Hendry does his job, but my point isn't that criticism of Hendry is wrong, just that some of it is absolutely outrageous, and partially brought on by the popularity that bashing Hendry has with a big chunk of the board.[/quote] Well, we do know that Hendry does not use advanced performance analysis. He's very much a "tools" guy; just look at his 40 man decisions. But I would agree with you that if anyone is calling for his murder we've kind of lost focus.
  20. Lefty
    What is the fascination with Rich Hill? With a thin free-agent market the Cubs' best bet is to take on salary in the spirit of 'Choi for Lee.' Lee was 4 years younger than Abreu, though. Pie for Vernon Wells anybody?
  21. Lefty
    I am intelligent enough not to resort to insulting others. And I don't take the Cubs that seriously as to liken Hendry to an axe murderer. Hendry goes about his job in a most unscientific way. And that should subject him to a certain amount of criticism. In few other professions could one get away with that. So whether it's signing marginal major league talent at a premium because he doesn't understand true scarcity, or stating that Jeromy Burnitz had the sixth highest slugging percentage in the NL for players striking out 100 or more times, I'm going to criticize that. The White Sox have given me way too much hope. Because, in truth, nothing the Cubs have done precludes their winning the World Series next year.
  22. Lefty
    We just reassigned a guy who is probably even better than Hill based on these criteria: Mike Fontenot. I don't know all the rules about roster space and free agents and the like, but has the organization explicitly chosen Macias over Fontenot?
  23. Lefty
    [\quote] I haven't been around these boards lately due to the incessant sniping at Hendry. I can understand the loathing towards Baker, but why Hendry? Is it just 'popular' around here to badmouth him or what? Hendry misses the big picture, and that bothers some of us more than others, and some of us are more intellectually honest than others. Signing middle relievers to long and expensive contracts makes no economic sense. You all know the arguments by now. It's not like the Cubs have unlimited payroll. He pays way more than minimum to players like Perez and Macias and Blanco. Hendry perceives a lack of available mediocre talent. In all his talk about depth he doesn't understand that great frontline talent is immeasurably more important. Yeah, Baker is awful. But when Hendry signs Macias and Perez, and lets Baker carry 12 pitchers, well he is an "enabler." Some poster has a great sig. "Jim Hendry: Overpaying for mediocrity since 2004." That sums it up very nicely.
  24. Lefty
    Hendry is clueless. We'll all be winners this year. Either the Cubs win, and then who cares how or why, or Hendry and Baker are gone.
  25. Lefty
    He'll get a nice raise, sorry.
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