Jehrico

If Williams goes anywhere I'll be ticked. I really liked the trade that brought him here, and I think he showed a load of potential. I'm not saying he'll ever be a Z or Prior caliber starter, but I could see him being a very solid #3 guy. He's not someone you want to get rid of easily. I wouldn't package Jerome in a deal for someone like Pierre, but I would for someone like Dunn. I'd have to think real hard about Wilkerson. Does Williams have any options left? I almost wouldn't mind seeing him get a little AAA time, be the first guy called up if someone is hurt, and take over Rusch's spot if (should be more like when) we trade him in the summer.

Have we offered them the opportunity to talk to Dusty? They can have him, and all we'll ask for comp is the guy they're trying to get rid of (Bradley). :D

As far as I am concerend he is just as much a victim as his wife. Good for you. Preganant woman vs. muscular professional athlete. I'd say we are in for a Super Bowl XX-like match up. Nice logic. I guess no muscular professional athlete can ever be victimized by someone who is smaller/weaker then them. Please don't take this the wrong way, I'm not saying I'm cool with what Bradley (allegedly) did here. But let's not act like he can't be a victim just because the person (again, allegedly) assaulting him his weaker. My experience with stuff like this is that the truth is usually somewhere in the middle. I'm sure there is some fault that lies on both him and his wife. That said, if the offense wasn't serious enough to warrant an arrest (assuming the officers on the scene weren't giving him far more of the benefit of the doubt than the situation warranted due to who he is, and I'm nto sure if that's a fair assumption or not), I'm not about to label him as a wife beater and put him out of consideration for acquisition based on that either.

For $5 mil, I'll be a gutless, choking dog for a year.

Who is this? Carmen Pignatiello, nicknamed "Piggy", is a 23 year old soft tossing lefty in the Cubs' system. His fastball tops out in the mid eighties, but he has excellent control, very good changeup and curveball, also throws a slider, and has done a good enough job recording outs to move pretty quickly through the system to Triple-A. He's a personal favourite of a lot of people here that follow the minor leagues, simply because the odds are stacked against him ever making it because of the lack of velocity. His numbers over the last three years... 2003, Daytona, 156.1 IP, 144 H,, 13 HR, 55 BB, 140 K, 4.38 ERA 2004, West Tenn, 148 IP, 167 H, 16 HR, 39 BB, 137 K, 4.56 ERA 2005, West Tenn, 80.2 IP, 67 H, 3 HR, 28 BB, 77 K, 2.68 ERA 2005, Iowa, 47.1 IP, 52 H, 6 HR, 20 BB, 43 K, 5.51 ERA I have no idea who Jehrico thought "Piggy" was, because "doesn't have as good control [as Nolasco]", "little more overpowering [than Nolasco]", "I expect his control to improve as he moves up" (he's already at Iowa!) and "better chance of success at higher levels [than Nolasco]" are sentences that have never been used to describe Carmen Pignatiello. Then again, I got the impression that Jehrico was just making it up as he went along. Ricky Nolasco certainly doesn't strike out more than a batter an inning by tossing it up there gently. His fastball sits comfortably in the low-nineties with a lot of movement, and his curveball is definately a plus pitch. And while I'm at it, going back and doing some homework, Ricky Nolasco repeated AA last year. He got a taste of AAA in 2004, and his K rate suffered quite a big drop. Piggy, on the other hand, struggled like Nolasco in his first taste of AAA, but his K rate remained fairly constant. So while you're going to accuse me of just making it up, that would tend to support my belief that Piggy's stuff will hold up a little better at higher levels than Nolascos, as Pig's peripherals didn't take a big hit at the next level. I don't think either of them have much of a future with our org, but that wasn't the question that was asked. Have you ever seen either pitch, or do you just sit around and read scouting reports and then accuse other people of making stuff up because maybe they saw a performance that wasn't in line with the scouting report?

Who is this? Carmen Pignatiello, nicknamed "Piggy", is a 23 year old soft tossing lefty in the Cubs' system. His fastball tops out in the mid eighties, but he has excellent control, very good changeup and curveball, also throws a slider, and has done a good enough job recording outs to move pretty quickly through the system to Triple-A. He's a personal favourite of a lot of people here that follow the minor leagues, simply because the odds are stacked against him ever making it because of the lack of velocity. His numbers over the last three years... 2003, Daytona, 156.1 IP, 144 H,, 13 HR, 55 BB, 140 K, 4.38 ERA 2004, West Tenn, 148 IP, 167 H, 16 HR, 39 BB, 137 K, 4.56 ERA 2005, West Tenn, 80.2 IP, 67 H, 3 HR, 28 BB, 77 K, 2.68 ERA 2005, Iowa, 47.1 IP, 52 H, 6 HR, 20 BB, 43 K, 5.51 ERA I have no idea who Jehrico thought "Piggy" was, because "doesn't have as good control [as Nolasco]", "little more overpowering [than Nolasco]", "I expect his control to improve as he moves up" (he's already at Iowa!) and "better chance of success at higher levels [than Nolasco]" are sentences that have never been used to describe Carmen Pignatiello. Then again, I got the impression that Jehrico was just making it up as he went along. Ricky Nolasco certainly doesn't strike out more than a batter an inning by tossing it up there gently. His fastball sits comfortably in the low-nineties with a lot of movement, and his curveball is definately a plus pitch. I don't know what your problem is, but you can quit with the condescending crap. If you're not sure, ask for context. Overpowering doesn't always mean speed. I don't have a whole lot of time watching the guys in the minors, but I have picked up a couple games here and there while I've been stateside. I've seen Nolasco pitch once, and Piggy twice. If I have the extra time, I try to go out and catch a game when the time rarely permits. And based on my personal observations, hitters had a considerable harder time putting any kind of wood on the ball against Pigs than Nolasco. I'm sorry if I don't get to watch that many games, I've spend much of the last 27 months prior to August overseas, and no, I don't have nearly as much time as you apparently do to sit on my rear end and read scouting reports. The guy asked me a question, I answered. If you feel like acting like the sole source anyone should be consulting, then why didn't you just answer the post when he asked me? Or better yet, why don't you get off of this high horse you've been sitting on and ask questions rather than throwing out baseless acusations?

If the Yanks don't get Giles pretty soon, I can see them swooping in and picking up Bradley before someone else picks him up as their plan B. Their offseason is off to a horrible start, and they know they can't go into next year without a decent CFer. I don't think they'll spend too much time chasing Giles and end up with nothing at all to show for it. But we are talking about Steinbrenner here, he may just stick to Giles and offer him $16/4 or 5 or something ridiculous like that out of frustration.

Why do you think Kearns is better than Wily Mo, out of curiousity? I was wondering the same thing. Wily Mo strikes out 900 times a year. He strikes out just a hair more than Dunn. I'd put him in the second tier...he's young and has alot of upside. I think he could become what alot of people thought Kearns would become. Well, maybe 2nd tier if your concerned with the long term, 3rd tier if you're more worried about 2006 and you don't care about 2007 and beyond. What is there to like about Pena other than the raw power? He doesn't walk. And probably never will, as he hasn't improved (.06 BB/100 in 05, 04 and combined in 02-03) . That's why a team can handle Dunn's K's and not his. What do you mean he doesn't walk? So he doesn't walk as much as Giles or Dunn...that's the far end of the spectrum. He walks enough to put about a 50 point difference between his average and his OBP. And he's 24. You act like hitters don't ever refine their strike zone beyond the age of 24. That notion is ridiculous. He's another guy that was rushed to the minors too soon, like we did with Corey. They brought him up when he was 20. He's got a good ability to put the bat on the ball. If he can refine his judgement of the strike zone over the next year or two, he'll be a very good hitter. And again, if you're going for Pena, you're going for projected upside. He's a project, and I'd rather take a gamble on him than settle for a mediocre guy with no likelihood of improvement, like Jacque Jones or Raul Ibanez. You can't possibly dispute the fact that he doesn't walk enough. He's a career .060 BB/100 hitter. He was exactly on that number the last 2 years. And yes hitters do refine their strikezones as they age. I never said they didn't. But my point is, if you are gonna go with a young hitter with upside who doesn't walk, K's a ton, and has some power.....you might as well stick with Corey Patterson. At least Corey has had past performance to look back at. I agree he was brought up too early. But I don't see his zone getting better. I'd much rather go with Kearns as a project who at least has more of a clue of the zone. I'm not disputing the fact he doesn't walk enough. I'm saying he walks about as much as one of the other 2nd and all of the 3rd tier guys listed above. If you're settling for something other than a top tier RFer, Pena shouldn't be out of the realm of consideration amongst the 2nd tier and below because of his walk rates. He walks enough to put a .050 difference between his batting average and OBP. I would like to see more, but you were saying he doesn't walk at all. Walking enough to put a .050 difference certainly leaves something to be desired, but it's not like we're talking about Corey who only puts about .030 up there. Several decent serviceable starting outfielders out there put up about .050 to .070 points on their OBP over their average by walking. If you look at some of the other alternatives out there, Raul Ibanez historically is good for a .060 boost due to walks, Jacque Jones is jsut under .050, Mench .062, Encarnacion .048, etc... Basically, he's well behind any of those top tier OFers, but if you're settling for a 2nd tier guy or lower, his walk rates really aren't nearly as bad as you're making it out to be. You're throwing that .06 figure out there, but you're not putting it into context against the other alternatives he was listed against.

I feel you pain CPatt. Are we the only Buc fans on the board? The Buc defense outplayed the Bears, but it's hard to stop someone from the 1 yard line. The Buc defense didn't outplay the Bears...your offense is on a whole level above ours. Our defense allowed fewer points to a superior offense, yours allowed more points to an inferior offense.

It was a photoshop job. How do you know that? Look at the pic closer. If it were on tv the video would be floating around. So, maybe it wasn't taken off of video. Thousands of people have taken still cameras to games. I'm pretty sure that was a real picture.

Why do you think Kearns is better than Wily Mo, out of curiousity? I was wondering the same thing. Wily Mo strikes out 900 times a year. He strikes out just a hair more than Dunn. I'd put him in the second tier...he's young and has alot of upside. I think he could become what alot of people thought Kearns would become. Well, maybe 2nd tier if your concerned with the long term, 3rd tier if you're more worried about 2006 and you don't care about 2007 and beyond. What is there to like about Pena other than the raw power? He doesn't walk. And probably never will, as he hasn't improved (.06 BB/100 in 05, 04 and combined in 02-03) . That's why a team can handle Dunn's K's and not his. What do you mean he doesn't walk? So he doesn't walk as much as Giles or Dunn...that's the far end of the spectrum. He walks enough to put about a 50 point difference between his average and his OBP. And he's 24. You act like hitters don't ever refine their strike zone beyond the age of 24. That notion is ridiculous. He's another guy that was rushed to the minors too soon, like we did with Corey. They brought him up when he was 20. He's got a good ability to put the bat on the ball. If he can refine his judgement of the strike zone over the next year or two, he'll be a very good hitter. And again, if you're going for Pena, you're going for projected upside. He's a project, and I'd rather take a gamble on him than settle for a mediocre guy with no likelihood of improvement, like Jacque Jones or Raul Ibanez.

Why do you think Kearns is better than Wily Mo, out of curiousity? I was wondering the same thing. Wily Mo strikes out 900 times a year. He strikes out just a hair more than Dunn. I'd put him in the second tier...he's young and has alot of upside. I think he could become what alot of people thought Kearns would become. Well, maybe 2nd tier if your concerned with the long term, 3rd tier if you're more worried about 2006 and you don't care about 2007 and beyond.

It's easy if one takes logic and the realities of the baseball business out of the equation. I hope someday I can be as smart as you think you are. Let me try this on you: I grow tomatos. I've been growing them for five years. Three of those years my crop was not tasty but the last two of them my tomatos were sweet and juciy. My neighbor has been growing tomatoes for five years as well. Every year his tomatos are plump, sweet, and juicy. My neighbor and I go to the market. We meet wholesalers who knows our growing histories. One says to me I'll give you $1.50 per pound. Another says I'll give you $1.51 per pound. A thrid says I'll give you $1.49 per pound. A fourth says I'll give you $3.00 per pound. I don't need to ask a fifth. Now my neighbor has been watching me. Where do you think he will start the bidding? Look, I'm happy Hendry is upgrading the pen but to suggest that these signings didn't impact what Ryan got is to completely ignore the business side of baseball. That's a bad analogy. Hendry is out of the market, so the market is set by what the remaining 29 GMs would be willing to pay. Going back to your tomato example, if the guy who paid $3 per has bought enough to satisfy his demand, the other three vendors are laughing at him, and are going to be bidding against themselves for the other guy's crop. Maybe they go up to $1.60 a pound, none of them go up to $3 per because they know the others aren't nuts like the first guy. If Hendry were still in the market for a third reliever, it'd be different, because the other GMs would have to outbid Hendry to get the third target.

That was one incredible photoshopping job. I thought/think it was real.

So does Jim Edmonds. I'm sure you have a better idea then any of us Vance. :P Isn't Jim Edmonds the one that was photographed grabbing another player by the cup at home plate?

I hope it is Patterson and prospect, not couple of prospects. Wilkerson is good but not that good. I wouldn't mind if Wilkerson at all. Depends on who the prospects are. Nolasco and Aardsma? Count me in. Pinto and Piggy? No thanks. What's your opinion on Nolasco, and what's your opinion on Piggy? I'm not as high on Nolasco as some people are. His control is pretty good, but he's not overpowering. I think that is going to catch up to him as he rises through the system. Piggy, on the other hand, doesn't have as good of control but is a little more overpowering. I expect his control to improve as he moves up, making his "stuff" even better. I think he has a better chance at success at higher levels than Nolasco. If I could get equal return on trading either of them, I'd trade Nolasco first.

You mean it gets worse than watching Todd Hundley?

We are talking about the Reds now, so I wouldn't bank on them doing what made the most sense or what was best for their team.

First off, you can cut out the condescending crap. I admit, I'm guilty for dropping to your level in the last post with the eyes closed comment, I won't do it again. Second, ZR is unreliable according to who, you? There are no perfect defensive stats, and ZR is far from perfect, but so is just about any other metric. Just because you think it's worthless doesn't mean it is. Third, forigve me for throwing the .945 in there...I went back one year too far. His ZR last year was considerably lower than when he first got to Boston, and there have been no signs of improvement. I don't care if the collision is the source of his problems, the fact is, he's digressed. You're saying he's better than Pierre because of his past performances, which I say are not likely to be predictive of his future performances. He wasn't any better than Pierre last year, there's nothing to support he was. If you think I'm wrong, and you wanna attack me for using ZR, then paint me a picture with an infallible metric that shows me I'm wrong. All you've done is condescend without offering anything to support your own statement.

From all reports, Hendry does want to acquire another starter to improve the rotation this year.

The opposite. Several reports(including Hendry himself I believe) said that Pie would have been up last year if not for his injury. Yeah, I heard that too. But I saw a quote within the last week that said he isn't slated to get called up during the '06 season. I wish I could recall where I read that, because it stuck out so much to me because Hendry said he would have been called up this last year had he not gotten hurt.

I hope it is Patterson and prospect, not couple of prospects. Wilkerson is good but not that good. I wouldn't mind if Wilkerson at all. Depends on who the prospects are. Nolasco and Aardsma? Count me in. Pinto and Piggy? No thanks.

If Milwaukee picked up half of his salary, and we were not able to land Giles, Abreu, one of the Cincy outfielders, or someone on that line, I wouldn't mind him. He'd beat Jacque Jones or someone like that as a plan B or C.

I'd prefer Dunn too, but if Pena is asking to be traded, they may choose to shop him instead of Dunn. Or they'll play him like he's asking and shop Dunn. Either way...Pena is probably a more realistic acquisition. I don't think we match up well enough with Cincy as trading partners to get Dunn. They'll want Z in order to justify sending him to another team in the NL Central, and we don't want to give him up.

Arm strength is only one component of defense. LF is one of the positions that can most tolerate that deficiency. Murton's range is pretty good and his instinct are solid. After watching Dubois, he looks like a gold glover, lol. Actually, I thought they were pretty similar. Obviously, it's the bat. Dubois looked lost out there, hunting for every fly ball. I saw Murton take a couple bad jumps and one ill advised dive, but other than that, he looked to be tracking the ball very well. Every time I saw him in Wrigley live he played the ball well. Gerut was awesome defensively (just thought i'd throw that in there, lol). His arm is fairly weak. I agree about his bat. That's the deciding factor. At worst, he's a back of the lineup guy with plate discipline and little power. At best, he's going to be an absolute stud next year, especially since the league hasn't seen a whole lot of him. At best, I think he could be the next Kirby Puckett.