Warpticon

...I don't understand. Is there something wrong with having power if you play CF? Isn't that a good thing? And his power is still developing, so he's definitely better suited for CF in terms of value, especailly with his defensive skills. And it's not as if Beltran is the only power hitting CF in the game--Sizemore? Edmonds? Damon? (how does he have 21 homers already?) Wells? Cameron? Jones? Hunter? Pie could probably use another half season, but he deserves a shot. He had an enomous slump a couple of months ago. In May and June, Pie hit under .230 and struck out 63 times. In July and August, he's figured it out. Only 41 K's in more at-bats over the last two months. In August he's been fantastic, hitting .340/.394/.620 with 12 doubles, two triples, four homers. Since the ASB, Pie is hitting .330/.378/.542. Also, after strugglng badly with stolen base accuracy, he is now 8 for his last 9 steal attempts. If he were putting up his overall numbers in AAA consistently over a season, I wouldn't be so inclined to give him a shot. However, Pie has shown at every level an ability to adjust. As a 21 year old in AAA coming off a half season injury-related layoff, it's not surprising that Pie might struggle, but it's mighty impressve how quickly and drastically he's turned it around. Comparing him to Patterson, keep in mind that Corey was promoted when he was having a bad season at AAA to be a sparkplug or some other bullcrap. He hadn't shown anywhere near the improvement over the course of the season that Pie has this year. Being cautious of rushing is important, but the situations aren't parallel. Yep! You can see him improving in all areas that have always been question marks with him, that's why I say let him keep improving down in AAA. If the Cubs were a good enough team to absorb his struggles (like the Sox did with Anderson) then I would entertain the thought, but obviously we aren't even close to that... So if they're not even close to that, then they're not going to compete. If they're not going to complete, then why not give him a shot?

...I don't understand. Is there something wrong with having power if you play CF? Isn't that a good thing? And his power is still developing, so he's definitely better suited for CF in terms of value, especailly with his defensive skills. And it's not as if Beltran is the only power hitting CF in the game--Sizemore? Edmonds? Damon? (how does he have 21 homers already?) Wells? Cameron? Jones? Hunter? Pie could probably use another half season, but he deserves a shot. He had an enomous slump a couple of months ago. In May and June, Pie hit under .230 and struck out 63 times. In July and August, he's figured it out. Only 41 K's in more at-bats over the last two months. In August he's been fantastic, hitting .340/.394/.620 with 12 doubles, two triples, four homers. Since the ASB, Pie is hitting .330/.378/.542. Also, after strugglng badly with stolen base accuracy, he is now 8 for his last 9 steal attempts. If he were putting up his overall numbers in AAA consistently over a season, I wouldn't be so inclined to give him a shot. However, Pie has shown at every level an ability to adjust. As a 21 year old in AAA coming off a half season injury-related layoff, it's not surprising that Pie might struggle, but it's mighty impressve how quickly and drastically he's turned it around. Comparing him to Patterson, keep in mind that Corey was promoted when he was having a bad season at AAA to be a sparkplug or some other bullcrap. He hadn't shown anywhere near the improvement over the course of the season that Pie has this year. Being cautious of rushing is important, but the situations aren't parallel.

I voted Veal. Would have gone Gallagher, especially with him being at a higher level, but the enormous spike in his walk rate gives me concern. Veal may walk batters at a near identical rate and at a lower level, but he's been consistent, and even improving in that regard. Sean, not so much--and Veal makes up for his walk rates with an absurdly low hit rate, while Gallagher's WHIP in AAA is currently 1.47, which is not good. Love them both, though. Pie is performing admirably for his age and level, but Veal and Gallagher have been dominant, while Pie has just been good. This isn't a top prospect award, or I'd probably have given it to Pie as well.

Hill: rotation. Has shown in August that he can dominate at the major league level. Needs a regular job to demonstrate it in the long term. Guzman: rotation, depending on the next couple of weeks (looks as though he may have turned the corner, though). Marmol: AAA (He's had some really nice starts, but his command needs a LOT of work--more walks than strikeouts on the season is inexcusable, and he can't be counted on). Marshall: up in the air. Control issues are pretty significant (not Marmol significant, but still), but if healthy, could be ready to turn corner. His control issues weren't exactly reflected in his minor league numbers, so it could just be an adjustment issue. Pagan: Pleasant surprise. Give him a shot at some PT. I'd favor dropping Pierre and having him as a cheap alternative in CF (failing readiness by Pie), but that's not likely to happen. Can he sustain what he's doing with regards to power? Maybe, maybe not, but there's no way to find out without additional PT. Murton: Somewhat disappointing season in some regards, but he is showing increasing power and the ability to be a quality contact hitter at the major league level. He'll never be a 30 homer type, but there is reason to believe he can't provide 18-25 home run power and a very good OBP over the course of his prime years for an 800-850ish OPS. Considering this team's deficiencies, I think that's worth nurturing with more playing time.

I guess Patterson takes offense to people saying he's not ready to be promoted!

:D Daunte looked great yesterday, and Harrington looks to be a more than capable backup. Not concerned with the offense much at all. Whether this is a 9 win team or a 11-13 win team will depend on the development of the defensive backs--got burned in the first game, and not so much in game 2. I want to see what Jason Allen is like when he's really game ready. Big Daddy looked awesome, though. The Dolphins' line rotation is ferocious. The league isn't ready to see so much Sam from Jason Taylor.

My subjective, unprofessional analysis of his game is that his swing, his approach, his contact rate, and his physical makeup give him a good chance of being a pretty steady .290/.360ish hitter. Right now, he is extremely similar to a less defensively gifted Mark Kotsay. I think he'll hit for more power down the line and slug from .445-.475, with maybe a crazy peak year somewhere, through his prime, if he's given the chance to get regular, full-season PT. Even in a disappointing year as far as slugging is concerned, he's still at a pace to hit 14-16 homers in 550 at-bats, which, while not impressive, isn't horrible, and shows signs of improvement. Worst case, his splits keep him from playing everyday and he becomes a very good bench bat in the Mark Sweeney mold. I'd really hate to give up on Murton for someone who is not potentially spectacular.

Errors aren't a part of the game the hitter can control, and fielder's choices? Seriously? You know why it's called a Fielder's Choice, right? Because the fielder conceivably could have gotten you, but he got the lead runner because it made more sense. The only difference between a FC and a popup is a different guy standing on the bag. If there hadn't been a man on, you would've just grounded out. It has no place in evaluating a hitter's ability to get on base.

The funny thing is that you could have used Soriano in both scenarios.

Andruw Jones hit .207 with runners in scoring position last year. That earned him an RBI title and the runner-up for the league MVP.

Which is offset in your scenario by 130+ games of Blanco. Wells isn't that much better than Barrett, and especially when you consider the difference in what they'll be paid.

Apparently, you're lumping two different groups of people together: "stat geeks" and crazy people. I know nothing of the above scenario, but I'd love to know what stat supposedly supports Perez being better than Jeter. Every stat that exists except defensive ones show Jeter to be worlds and worlds better than Perez. Any so-called "stat geek" worth his salt would tell you the same.

I challenge you to name one person not Neifi Perez's mother who believes that.

There's no way anyone pries away Brian McCann. we will have an excess of good young pitching this offseason. Not nearly enough to get McCann, who is the best hitting catcher in baseball at age 22.

I said it before, and I'll say it again. Those same champion Red Sox were a few innings from getting swept in the ALCS. The previous year's Red Sox were a bad Little decision and an Aaron Boone homer away from going to the WS. If you tell me the difference between those situations was Orlando freaking Cabrera, I cannot in any way take you seriously.

FOOkooDohmay Pretty much every Japanese name you hear in baseball is commonly badly mispronounced. Matt Sooie!

No, it won't. Home runs are not balls in play; they are not counted in BABIP. The only way you can really try to justify that statement is by saying that fly balls that would have been outs have been leaving the park, reducing the number of outs on balls in play and increasing his BABIP artificially--and that's quite a stretch. More consistent power does offset a low natural BABIP a lot, though. If he can hit a higher number of balls out of play, he won't need to sustain a high BABIP to be productive so much.

Wow, heck of a night for Felix and Ryan. Pie is seriously on the rise the last month or so. If he continues and gets his OPS to about .800 (came into play tonight at .768) as a 21 year old in AAA ball, he seriously deserves a chance to jump to the majors. He's now hitting .282/.339/.439/.778 on the season, so he's not far off. If he does end up repeating the level, I expect a huge season (better than his half season in AA last year) from him.

I'm so sick of RSYN.

Moving from catcher might be a good idea for Barrett--five years from now when he's past his prime, to extend his career. It's not going to help the Cubs improve their offense, and it's not likely to help Barrett improve his production over what he's doing right now. I don't think I can articulate how terrible this idea sounds for any immediate plans.

Bad starts and lack of offense are part of the game, but an error isn't? If you want to win a championship, than, no, an error like Gonzalez's (not saying every error) should not be part of the game. People can ridicule me all they want, and keep making absurd claims using "my" logic, but I think we all know that, had Gonzalez made that play, we would have most likely gone on to the world series. Therefore, I don't understand how people on this board seem to dismiss defense and claim that, because it's such a small part of the game, it should be completely ignored. There's a reason the Red Sox traded Nomar for Cabrera, and there's a reason the White Sox have had .200 hitting Juan Uribe as their shortstop the past two years: defense matters. Obviously, it doesn't mean as much as offense or pitching and if you build a team solely around defensive players like Izturis, you will most likely be a bad team. But to be a championship team, you need defense from critical positions along with good pitching and hitting. Show me one example of somebody saying the bolded. I'll bet you can't.

Bad starts and lack of offense are part of the game, but an error isn't? And it's not like we're talking about a guy who sucked with the glove, either.

People were definitely down on him due to his horrid walk/k rate. And average isn't everything. If he was putting up .256 and getting on base at a respectable clip, there'd be a lot less concern. The combination of not walking and striking out tons translates to difficulty advancing and poor projection. Not saying that's how things will definitely go by a long shot--he's only 21, but concern over Harvey's horrible peripherals certainly didn't just arise this year. It's not just that he's been hot of late. he sucked a lot longer than he's been dominant--he's just been THAT dominant. His strikeout rate has increased, his bb/k rate has increased, his slg and isolated power have fallen. There's still time to change that, but if he hadn't been SO bad for most of the seaosn, it's likely people wouldn't be that concerned that he's just riding a hot streak, and that the real Harvey is closer to what he's been doing all season. Personally, I'm going to wait and see. I'd like to see him repeat the level next year. if he continues tearing it up, he can always be promoted midseason. If he's seriously working on his plate discipline, he'll probably more easily establish good habits against lesser pitchers. he'll be less likely to get frustrated and fall into old habits. That would be good for his development, i believe.

Again, I can't provide any sort of numerical backing just because it'd take a ton of time - but there's no way they'd only save "a run every three or four games". On top of runs prevented, what about helping keep a pitchers pitch count low due to them turning the DP, making exceptional plays, etc? I'd be shocked if they actually saved a run that frequently. And the comment on turning the DP is exactly where the defensive arguments usually get convoluted. A superb shortstop is not going to turn *that* many more double plays than an average or even slightly below average SS. There is a difference, yes, but not an enormous one.

What does? Sabrmetrics? "Defense wins championships" is a cliche that people recite out of sheer habit, and was established in sports like basketball and football that are more directly team-oriented than baseball can dream of being. Baseball is 90% the individual matchup of pitcher versus hitter. What wins championships in baseball is a balance of run scoring and run prevention, which is a much, much larger part pitching than it is fielding defense. The difference between a bad hitter (see: Izturis, also Neifi and the current production of Cedeno) and an average hitter in terms of the difference made to the team is much, much larger than the difference between an average defender and an exceptional defender, and this team isn't good enough to take an offensive hit like that in order to be a little better on defense at one position. Lots of mediocre to bad defensive teams have won in baseball.