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hawkeyecub

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Everything posted by hawkeyecub

  1. hawkeyecub
    Good to hear. I was just going off of what I had been reading recently. Hopefully we get him up here fairly soon.
  2. hawkeyecub
    It sounds like Blanco may be done for the season, if not longer. Bowen is two years younger than Hill and probably has a little more upside. Although the two are comparable, Bowen had a bit more success at younger ages than Hill. Soto has been banged up a little and hasn't been playing catcher full-time lately. We needed another catcher for now and Bowen makes more sense to hold onto for the future than Hill.
  3. hawkeyecub
    Anyone hear Boers and Bernstein today? They were pretty adamant that Barrett isn't very well liked in the clubhouse and that the person his teammates see is a different person than the fans and media see. They kept claiming that his teammates saw him as phony and a jerk (although they stopped short of cancer) and even though they won't say it, most of the clubhouse is happier now. They talked about how Lou and Hendry had discussed him before and as we all suspected, Hendry was a big Barrett guy and Lou did not like him. I don't listen to them very often and take things they say with a grain of salt, but while this would be a bit of a surprise, it wouldn't shock me. I will say that while I don't think chemistry makes much of a difference on a major league team, the one place on my team where I don't want a divisive figure is catcher. I don't think losing him will create a dramatic improvement with the pitching staff or other position players, but it's another factor worth taking into consideration. Now I just hope we can get Soto up here soon to see what he and Bowen can do.
  4. hawkeyecub
    I agree.
  5. hawkeyecub
    I'm just hoping that by late 2009 or the beginning of 2010 we could have at least one solid starting catcher and one quality backup from the trio of Soto, Donaldson and Bowen. We have the potential to get adequate-solid production from the catcher spot to go along with good defense at a low cost for the next 5 years.
  6. hawkeyecub
    I'm just hoping that by late 2009 or the beginning of 2010 we could have at least one solid starting catcher and one quality backup from the trio of Soto, Donaldson and Bowen. We have the potential to get adequate-solid production from the catcher spot to go along with good defense at a low cost for the next 5 years.
  7. hawkeyecub
    I've seen the arguments for him spelled out...can you do the same from the other side? 703 career OPS. Cause that .756 career OPS for a terrible defensive catcher is astounding Bowen is also terrible defensive catcher. Really, you're sticking to that huh? Just because he hasn't thrown out baserunners while catching a staff that's notorious for their inability to hold runners? You make generalizations and rush to judgment on things which you aren't very familiar with more than anyone I've seen on this board. Keep ignoring those scouting reports talking about his defensive ability though. Maddux is the only one on that staff that can't hold runners. To throw their pitching staff out as an excuse for his peformance behind the plate is a copout. And as I stated earlier, the San Diego broadcast team and color analysts couldn't wait for this guy to get out of town. And they follow the team on a daily basis. You would be wrong on the first count. I'm also guessing that you're exaggerating on the second paragraph.
  8. hawkeyecub
    I agree for the most part, but am I the only one who thinks it appears that Bowen has some offensive upside? He's been productive at appropriate ages for his level a few years. I don't know about him long-term, but I think he can be at least adequate at catcher if not a little better.
  9. hawkeyecub
    I've seen the arguments for him spelled out...can you do the same from the other side? 703 career OPS. Cause that .756 career OPS for a terrible defensive catcher is astounding Bowen is also terrible defensive catcher. Really, you're sticking to that huh? Just because he hasn't thrown out baserunners while catching a staff that's notorious for their inability to hold runners? You make generalizations and rush to judgment on things which you aren't very familiar with more than anyone I've seen on this board. Keep ignoring those scouting reports talking about his defensive ability though.
  10. hawkeyecub
    LOL what a surprise. As I said earlier, he appears to have a little upside offensively. He had a big '03 in AA and AAA at 22, struggled while repeating AA in '04, in '05 he was at least adequate in AAA and he's had some solid moments in the big leagues. I think he could give us close to the same offense as Barrett has thus far, while giving us better defense.
  11. hawkeyecub
    Can anyone tell me where Bowen rated as a prospect or how he's considered defensively? At 26 it would appear he could have a little bit of offensive upside. He had a great year in '03 in AA and AAA at the age of 22 before getting a cup of coffee. They had him repeat AA the next year and he really struggled, but then in '05 he had a respectable season for a 24 year old catcher. I'm guessing he's had some injury problems throughout his career.
  12. hawkeyecub
    Can anyone tell me where Bowen rated as a prospect or how he's considered defensively? At 26 it would appear he could have a little bit of offensive upside. He had a great year in '03 in AA and AAA at the age of 22 before getting a cup of coffee. They had him repeat AA the next year and he really struggled, but then in '05 he had a respectable season for a 24 year old catcher. I'm guessing he's had some injury problems throughout his career.
  13. hawkeyecub
    Those runners just didnt appear out on the basepaths by themselves. Besides if you drink the Kool Aid around here, you would know that Barrett can do no wrong. He is the Golden Child. [sarcasm] His defense has never cost us a single game this entire year. Any small defensive deficiencies he has are more than made up with his awesome offensive prowess as he is a force to be reckoned with. The .246/.305/.733 line isnt bad at all, because it fails to capture the true depth and meaning of the force that is Michael Barrett and the positive contribution he makes to his team. For those that dont understand this, we can only hope that they can become so enlightened.[/sarcasm] Don't you ever get tired of your own act?
  14. hawkeyecub
    Plus he's got the upcoming games to deal with. He's already stretched thin as it is. He's got to have someone who's arm isn't dangling by a couple nerves in case Zambrano or Hill has a bad outing (God forbid). Lou was totally taken out by Wolf and his stupidity. It was only a matter of time before the Braves took the lead in that game. Nothing could reasonably be expected from a manager who has just had his balls cut off, beyond what he actually did, which was try to patch together 9 innings with a shaky bullpen with already tired arms and no upcoming days off. Gee, burning wuertz in blowouts wasn't a good idea, huh You're right, he should have anticipated having to use his bullpen for 7+ innings Saturday and 8+ innings Sunday. Why wasn't he planning ahead for that? Unbelievable. He had two days off heading into the series and I didn't have a problem with him using Wuertz Friday night. After that all bets were off and his hands were tied. You also have no idea from the outside, who is saying they can't throw on a certain night or who is saying they can only go an inning on a certain night.
  15. hawkeyecub
    I didn't think Lou did a bad job managing the pen under the circumstances. Marmol was struggling after giving up the HR and it was probably the right time to pull him after 43 pitches. Same goes for Ohman. Maybe he could have brought Wuertz out for a 2nd inning, but it was his 3rd straight day of going a full inning. He may have told Lou or Larry he didn't have more than an inning tonight because otherwise I think Lou would have made a double switch with Murton coming in. He had Howry who had 3 days off and Dempster who had the previous two days off. He had to hope that Howry and Dempster could get through the last 4 innings with help from Eyre if needed. Could Howry have gone the 8th? Maybe, but 2 innings and 35 pitches likely was the limit to how long we coud use him effectively.
  16. hawkeyecub
    Exactly. A number of the people who prefer production over relying on scouting reports are just reacting to a couple scouting reports, while almost ignoring that he produced so well as a catcher in the best conference in the country.
  17. hawkeyecub
    That's a huge red flag for me. The guy isn't going to learn plate discipline with the Cubs, and he isn't going to handle those pitches against pros. If we have another 4:1 K:BB guy on our hands, he won't help at all. FWIW Keith Law and espn.com has his plate discipline graded out higher than Dominquez, Moustakas and Heyward (although they were just raving about his discipline earlier).
  18. hawkeyecub
    I'm not a draft wonk and hadn't read up much on these guys until recently, but it seems like espn.com and some other sources think he has a pretty high ceiling. A lot of what I've read has him projected to have plus average and plus power, with average plate discipline and average (with some saying he could develop slightly above average) fielding. What are others saying that gives him a low ceiling? Just the defensive questions and that he may not have major power?
  19. hawkeyecub
    I really do not understand the complaining about Vitters. We don't know that the Cubs would have passed on Wieters if the ownership/signability angle wasn't an issue. The only thing I've read is that Wilken and co. were told they couldn't go over slot money. They then took what many see as the best bat available in their slot. He's more polished than guys we have taken in the past (Harvey) or the other high school bats. He has a higher ceiling than the college bats left. There don't seem to be any signability or character questions. It was the best available pick in my opinion.
  20. hawkeyecub
    A- Corey isnt worth that much. His lifetime OBP is lower than Neifi Perez's now. The guy is just a bum. B- We thankfully dont need more OFs. C- I would become a Cardinal fan. (ok, i wouldnt...but i would be very very angry.) On a happy note, Jon Leicester was one of the guys brought up to replace some of the Orioles DL cats. Nice to see him reappear after some serious type surgery. Hopefully he will do well. yeah, he's a "bum" for not having a .400 OBP. man, he must eat fetuses in his spare time. i bet he's the cause of global warming, too! watch out everyone.... corey patterson is coming to eat your children, even those that are still in the womb. he and that "headcase" kyle farnsworth will probably team up. what will we do? What in the world are you talking about? Nothing you typed does anything to dispute what he actually said. It's just a bunch of absurd hyperbole that makes no sense and has nothing to do with what he originally wrote.
  21. hawkeyecub
    Maybe I've been seeing things differently and I haven't been able to see all of the day games, but he's really surprised me with his CF play thus far. I wasn't in favor of Jacque's signing and couldn't stand him last year. This year he's grown on me a little bit. While he'll still have the occasional awful at-bat, and his power hasn't been there yet, he's looked much better in his approach and in the field than last year. Regardless of how you analyze it, DFA'ing him is absurd in my opinion. I agree with a lot of the thinkin on Pie, but there's also that fine line of setting Felix up to fail too much by playing him against a lot of lefties. I'd rather Jacque deal with that than Felix.
  22. hawkeyecub
    The Hawkeyes are having their best season in a while and are currently tied for 3rd in the Big Ten at 14-8 (26-15 overall). Jack Dahm has done a heck of a job getting the program on track. The offense was supposed to be the strength, but has exceeded expectations. They're 7th nationally in batting average, 16th in runs, and 22nd in slugging. Travis Sweet is a Junior to keep an eye on. As a sophomore he was a singles hitting 2B who struck out a fair amount. This year he's hitting .422/.487/.645 with 7 HR and 42 RBI, 19 walks to 22 K's, and 20 stolen bases (unfortunately in 32 attempts). In the 22 Big Ten games he's hit .410/.495/.710, 5 HR, 20 RBI. He's now playing CF and has been solid defensively. Sweet went to the same high school as Ryan Sweeney. Hopefully the Hawks can find their way into the NCAA's, but it will likely take winning the Big Ten Tournament. Although if they find a way to finish 2nd overall, they may have a shot at an at-large with a good showing in the BTT.
  23. hawkeyecub
    He's been playing really pathetic today. Another awful shot just about seals the deal. Didn't get the game here in Topeka, but it seemed like another Illinois road game --- has lead can't hold it because they can't shoot and can't hit free throws. Some of the highlights I've seen showed McBride holding Haluska. I hope that wasn't the case the whole game. If so, I see why Haluska scored 26. All I can say is thank goodness we didn't play in Columbus or in Madison this year. It was our team under Weber with his own recruits again. We had no offense and let a Chicago kid, who suprise we didn't get make two threes to beat us. Did Illinois fans actually want Freeman at the time though? I honestly do not know. It seemed like there were a lot of mixed opinions on him coming out of high school. I love his game, his attitude and confidence. He's just not a PG? I think he's the prototypical combo guard. Decent shooter, good passer/vision, average ball handling but not the right temprament to be a PG. Hopefully we can get a true PG to allow him to play off the ball next year because I think he can be very good in that role.
  24. hawkeyecub
    He just can't fathom that a non-tournament bound team could ever beat his alma mater at Cameron Indoor Stadium. You all need to leave Jay Bilas alone. He said this morning that "Iowa makes a much better case than most people realize" if we win out and win a game in the Big Ten Tournament. For that he gets a reprieve from me. Seriously though he's good. He's the Kirk Herbstreit of college basketball. Instead of favoring the Big Ten in football, he favors the ACC in basketball. But like Kirk, he's fair and gives credit when deserved.
  25. hawkeyecub
    Iowa is definitely the long shot right now. They need to win 4 in a row. If that happens, I think they get in. The only way they're really even on the bubble is if they win these last two and then the 4/5 game. MSU isn't in for sure yet, but I think if they win Saturday it might be enough. 2 wins will do it for sure. If Illinois wins their last two, they're a lock. Lose both and they need to do some work in the BTT. Win one, lose one and who knows.
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