Warpticon

Wow. That was crushed.

...I came home to grab some food and found out the game was on. Well, don't expect to leave any time soon.

What a half-assed way to start the season.

Quoth Dan: Of course, Gonzalez has failed to adapt to the Triple-A level despite repeated attempts. Adrian Gonzalez at AAA last year: .338/.399/.561

what does this have to do with howie kendrick? Because they'd be trading Kendrick for another outfielder? Kendrick is an Angels prospect - not DBacks. ...Okay, that changes eveything. Oops. :oops: So, um, nevermind! I wonder what it was that keeps me confusing the Angels with the Dbacks. Oh, I know. It's the absurdly good shortstop prospects.

what does this have to do with howie kendrick? Because they'd be trading Kendrick for another outfielder?

Heh. This trade proposal makes almost no sense. A top prospect for top prospect trade makes little sense anyway. However, considering the Cubs have Patterson (same age, better defense, faster, better base stealer, much better at walking, less power, strikes out a lot more, less minor league experience) as a 2B prospect, and the D'backs have Gonzales, Quentin, and Young as upcoming outfielders. This would be a case of both teams trading from need to get something they don't need, which is preposterous.

What? So as long as somebody is getting paid to do something, it justifies doing it? You aren't making any sense here. Wojo has the right to call Farns an idiot, and to even go beyond that in the way he calls him an idiot. But others have a right to call him a hack for how he goes about doing his job. Go ahead and criticize what he writes. I could care less about that. But don't criticize him for writing. There is a distinct difference between the two. Obviously you don't understand the difference. I am not a hypocrite because I'm not criticizing either of you for voicing your opinions. I don't agree with what you are saying and am voicing my opinion on that. Wojo is getting paid to write a column and his job description requires him to write his opinion on the current happenings of the sports world. He is getting paid to do that. As I said, if you don't like him then don't read him. It's not very complicated. I understand what's happening here, and it's pretty clear you're writing yourself into a corner. I can criticize him for writing what he wrote. I'm not criticizing him for writing. I'm not even criticizing him for what he wrote. I'm pointing out how absurdly hyprocritical it is to say a writer has the right to write what he wants as long as he's getting paid, but a normal citizen doesn't have the right to criticize him for writing what he wrote. No matter how much you try to twist it, that's what you are doing, and you are plain old wrong. So first off, you were calling me a hypocrite. Secondly, I never said that a normal citizen doesn't have the right to criticize Wojo for writing what he wrote. I just said that nobody has the right to criticize Wojo for writing in general. You have not understood my statements. I said it's okay to criticize what somebody wrote. My point was that it's Wojo's job to write what he thinks and you can't criticize him for writing what he thinks because it's his opinion column or book. Again, you can completely disagree with everything he says because that's your opinion. You can even say that he is a horrible writer and you will never read his work. But you can't criticize him for doing his job. That's my point. Oh, so you were rebutting an argument that was never made. That's much better.

3 good leadoff hitters? Where?

I might be way off on my impression of Pena, but I see a young Sammy Sosa without the speed. He just turned 24. He's never had more than a half season of at bats, yet he's had as many as 26 HR's in a season. A guy with that kind of power can K all he wants if he can hit 40+ HR's a year. Sammy had a horrible OBP when he was that age also. I disagree with that last statement. 200 k's and 40 walks would be pretty awful. I don't care how many HR's you hit. Especially if he's only going to hit around .250 for average. So, do the runs that score on the 40 homers count less because he struck out on other plays? The .250 average and the 40 walks are much larger concerns than the strikeouts in that scenario.

Is it just me, or does the thread title sound about as pertinent as "Baker to arrive at Wrigley Field with team" or "Baker to awaken in morning?"

Dusty's talking up youngsters on XM today. He said that Marshall or Hill could be in the rotation when they go north. He mentioned Marshall first, though, if that means anything.

I'm not sure what that has to do with comments he makes, especially after his playing career. so the guy was asked about sosa and roids, he didnt give sammy up, probably could have(if sammy was doing something)he basicaly said "i know nothing, but then again look" yeah his mouth is freaking huge Well, you were at least relevant this time. We're going somewhere. I just don't see how his being a good player should have anything to do with critique of him as a sports personality or any of his comments. Joe Morgan was one of the best second basemen of all time, and well....

I'm not sure what that has to do with comments he makes, especially after his playing career.

http://www.nfl.com/

The Reds need pitching desperately, particularly pitching they can afford. Arroyo becomes their best pitcher (even if he should be a servicable 3rd), and allows them to shift Dunn back to LF, and possibly add another pitcher . Pena may seem like a lot of talent to give up, but the Reds could afford to give him up (and clearly favored Kearns more), and they still might be able to acquire another pitcher with the financial flexibility Arroyo provides. It really is a smart move for them, as well as Boston. I'm sorry, I don't understand "allows them to shift Dunn back to LF." a) how is that positive? b) Who's playing first if he's in LF?

This isn't making any sense to me. At all. First off, the reason for your expecting Murton won't stick with the team is because he's young. So you're saying they'll trade him for...more young players? How does that work? And it's not like he won't be older and more veteran in July. When July comes around and the Cubs are out of it, one of two scenarios will exist: a) He will have done a good job, in which case with the team out of it, it's important to have one of the cornerstones of the future team play, or b) he will have not done a good job, in which case his trade value will be minimal. And the Cubs are working on an extension for Lee, who is, at worst, their second best hitter. Nothing about this scenario seems likely at all.

Why do you act like he's happy to be just sitting on his ass, not pitching, competing, and picking up a paycheck? Honestly CubbieRich, you have it out for him on a personal level. Did he still a girl from you in a previous life or something? I know he's being paid, and not performing to that paycheck, but it seems your dislike and hatred for him go above and beyond just a player who is oft-hurt. Badger, my friend..looks like you're coming over to my side. I expect the highest paid pitcher of the Cubs to lead the team by his performance, very hard to do from the perpetual DL. After years of denying he has bad mechanics, he now admits that he has changed them this winter. Steve Stone is right again. Thank goodness this $12 million DL veteran will be somewhere else next year. Are you moved yet? Have you found Mickey's Diner in St. Paul near the State Capitol? Hope everything is going well. Here how's he suffering through his rehabs every year. How much offense could that house buy?j http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y238/CubsGallery/krissyhouse.jpg What in the world does that have to do with anything? So because he has a big house, he doesn't care that's he's been hurt and less effective the last two years? How absolutely ridiculous.

Offensive value and power are not mutually exclusive. His offensive value lies in his ability in getting basehits, not striking out, stealing bases and scoring runs Yes, but in his quest to not strike out, he loses power. The power is much more valuable than the ability to not strike out. By taking a "contact at all costs" approach, he limits the player he could be. he loses power, which he probably wouldn't have much anyway, and gains obp. in this case, I think the increase in OBP is worth the loss of power. its not like he'd be adam dunn if he struck out more. I can't see his OBP dropping much if at all by just trying to make more solid contact all the time. First of all, I'm not talking about just hacking away with two strikes, I'm talking about getting his pitch and driving it, not just trying to put the ball in play and run. Furthermore, with the amount of weak contact he makes in all counts because of his approach, He's not losing a bunch of singles to gain the doubles and triples. Of course he's not going to become Adam Dunn, but he'd be better, and that's better for us. Why is it ok for you to ignore the fact that his obp would drop if he struck out more? Maybe because that's not a fact?

I don't know; old used balls may have too much sentimental value for somebody. Just ask Anna Nicole.

I love empty, meaningless media quotes.

argh not "skull growth" again

It's hard out here for a [Cubs third baseman]

I've had knee problems, and they only pop up every once in a while--my knees are loose and prone to popping or twisting out of joint, but it happens maybe once to twice a year, so I haven't done anything about it (expense and all), and every once in a while they'll swell for about a day and be hard to move. So we're talking 4-6 days per year of bother that could probably be fixed pretty quickly with some surgery, and I'm pretty sure if I were seriously active, I'd have had something done by now, but I haven't because it largely doesn't affect me. The point of this rambling, by the way, was to point out that there doesn't have to be spin for him to have been feeling no pain.

Can you please list numbers that show this? Sheets has had the best season between the two, and the most recent dominant season. Wood, on the other hand, has had many more good seasons than Sheets. I don't think it's conclusive in either's case who's better--just that both are dominant when healthy and neither has been that for quite some time.