Magnetic Curses

oh, i want him to be hated because he always bothered me

it's a lose-lose situation. if he gets the job, he'll be fired, bitter, and hated, if he doesn't, he'll be be snubbed, bitter, and hated.

you tell em good!

In case nobody else says it, thanks for the effort on this post. I'm not sure what I think of Colvin overall, but this was a very informative post and interesting to read. yeah good read. impressive observations there. i think the walks will come if he can keep up the power numbers, too.

me too, i'm holding on to that.

i see no reason to move him. he's a good hitter and we need good hitters.

it IS kinda like the captain of the titanic saying, "oh look, a lifeboat. don't mind if i do!"

boom roasted?

he just needs to be kept somewhere safely tucked out of the way where he won't have to be fired due to total ineptitude.

i don't want the manager teaching them anything. the manager should just be there to enforce company policy and yell at umpires a few times a year.

i can't believe that strasburg's hurt again.

i can't wait for sandberg to get fired and be soured on the cubs organization just like almost every single ex-cubs player of my generation.

felipe alou is an incontinent old man who lives in the clubhouse and has cream of wheat brains. i love it.

just shut up and keep losing.

i'll take "cezar izturis and ronnie cedeno as the cubs middle infield tandem for the next decade" for 500, alex.

no no no, bill self found henry while on safari in darkest africa, where he was being worshipped as a deity by the local bushmen. the bulls would have to control the magic talisman to be able to harness his power.

Why do they have to wait until the end of the year to start making a position switch? are you saying that if they were moving soriano to first, they #1. wouldn't call up a position player to take lee's spot and just go with 24 and #2. put soriano at first immediately? No. But if they want to move someone to first base, it would be smart to start having them take grounders and eventually have them play a few games at first before the season ends. Looks like they're doing that with Colvin. but the fact remains that what i was talking about was the possibility of soriano playing first next year and that even if they called up hoffpauir, it doesn't mean they don't have plans to go with soriano.

so......soriano WOULD be above replacement level for a first baseman this season. but somebody told me he wouldn't.

Why do they have to wait until the end of the year to start making a position switch? are you saying that if they were moving soriano to first, they #1. wouldn't call up a position player to take lee's spot and just go with 24 and #2. put soriano at first immediately?

Do the Cubs really need pitching? Dempster's been really good this year (3.98 xFIP), Wells is looking like a mid-rotation type guy at least and Z and Gorzo are good bets to turn in decent seasons (mid 4s xFIP). I'd be really interested in a reclamation project like Brandon Webb, but I don't know that I'd pay ace money to a guy like Cliff Lee who's going to turn 33 next year. Halladay's getting $20 mil a year, Sabathia's getting $23 mil a year and even A.J. Burnett is getting $16.5 mil a year. I can't see Lee getting less than Burnett and he'll likely be a lot closer to Sabathia/Halladay money. With a deep pitching staff and a number of good prospects nearly ready, I don't want to shell out that type of money to a 32 year old. i see a steady rotation, but i'd like to see an ace.

um, i don't think anyone was talking about this year, but okay, sure.

i would love dunn, but if it's a guy like dunn or a guy like cliff lee, i pick pitching. granted i have no idea why lee would want to land in chicago. i DO feel like colvin's earned a shot at starting everyday, and given the payroll restrictions of this team, he could provide real value in the outfield, although it would be far more valuable if he could play center. for the sake of argument i will equate dewitt as a cubs product as he's young, cheap and under team control, and having 4 guys in the lineup everyday that are cubs products provides a lot more flexibility in other areas, granted it would be nice to be able to replace kosuke with colvin and find another bat for left. but i really think we need to shore up the rotation with a big arm and maybe brandon webb.

cost-effective option? what the hell are you talking about? he's already on the team. the cost effective option is to move soriano to first and replace him with colvin in left instead of spending the millions an average first baseman that you could be using to make an attempt at a starting pitcher. and fukudome's salary is magically coming off of the books? putting colvin in left IS money off the books. Soriano is on the roster - great. You're not grasping the point here - Soriano will lose a bunch of his current value if he shifts to 1B. He is a solid defender in LF and LFers are tougher to find, on average, than 1B. If you move Soriano to 1B you have a replacement-level player being paid a huge amount of money. At least as a LF he somewhat justifies his pay. The money on him is already spent, but you still have to maximize his value as a player. You wouldn't buy a dozen eggs so you could drop 8 on the ground and eat 4. That's what you're doing in moving Soriano to 1B - minimizing the value of something you've already bought. It's kind of like using Zambrano in the bullpen. you aren't looking at anything in context. it's not simply what soriano can or can't individually provide at first. if he simply repeats this season and colvin is at or above an .800 OPS in left over the course of a season, and we are able to sign a guy like lee at the front of the rotation, it will be far more valuable than any league average first baseman, signed at whatever a league average first baseman makes, plus soriano's production in left. hoffpauir is obviously the answer to all of our problems. yep, there's your "average 1b" right there, haha. if he's your "average 1b" then we're all in trouble. yes yes, mhuber made it perfectly clear that soriano can't catch the ball, so, case closed. i don't know what your problem with colvin is, he's been good this year. and somehow this notion of him having a "career year" in his rookie year seems [expletive]. he's earned a shot.

Huh? You can stick anyone who can hit at 1B... there's no reason to move Soriano there when he's more valuable in the OF. as if "anyone who can hit" are a dime a dozen. there's a real reason to move soriano to first, to conserve money TO SPEND ON PITCHING.