Hairyducked Idiot

I don't see why. It's not an unreasonable policy, but it's certainly not the only way to do things.

So apparently, we have a team policy that any multi-year contracts for pre-FA players *must* include a bought-out free agent year and a club option year.

Wait. Really? Yes. Jackson at $11m (or $13m if you prefer to prorate the signing bonus) and then everyone else $6m or less.

Huh. I'd rather go on a cash-out-this-year basis, but that's just me.

Are you looking at Cot's? Because they are including part of Castro's signing bonus, which is how the luxury tax is calculated. But for actual salary in 2014, I think Samardzija is above him.

I'm pissed that it's even looked at as news honestly. I don't care if we had to pay him 4.4 or 6.2 or anything in the middle. The tone of some pieces prior to him signing acted like this was a "major" commitment. If a 5ish mill salary is a "major" commitment, it's pitiful. But, in fairness, with our 85 mill payroll, I guess it is..... It makes him the third-highest player on the roster.

We seem to be more or less done. Projection for 2014: Lake (0.0)/Sweeney (1.0)/Schierholtz (1.0) (Ruggiano/Kalish 1.0) Valbuena (1.5)/Castro (2.5)/Barney (1.5)/Rizzo (3.0) (Murphy/Watkins 0.0) Castillo (2.0) (Kottaras 1.0) Samardzija (2.5)/Wood (2.0)/Jackson (2.0)/Hammel (1.0)/Arrieta (1.0) (Various: 0.5) Bullpen rotating a dozen or more guys in and out (3.5) Total WAR: 27 Projected record: 75-87 There's not a single player in the outfield who deserves a starting job on a major-league team. The rotation kind of sucks, too. I still don't see how, short of "every single high-upside player in AAA or higher turns into a stud" or "Epstein changes his mind about 30+ big-money FAs and signs four of them" that this team becomes a major contender in 2015. But, after the trade deadline, the emphasis should begin to shift and we finally leave "asset accumulation" mode and enter the transition phase where we try to actually turn this into MLB success. There's still tons of room for a big sell-off there if we want one. We're going to see some prospects mix in as the year goes on, but maybe not as many as people are starting to expect. It seems like we've entered the time of year where "yeah, it's not impossible he could move up that fast if he has an amazing year" becomes the default expectation and suddenly we're supposedly going to see Bryant, Baez, Alcantara and Hendricks all in the lineup by July.

Taiwan Easterling released

We avoided arbitration with Samardzija. Did this really go a day without being mentioned?

It's purely cosmetic, but I would be intrigued by a version of Wins Above (X) that set X at 90 wins instead of average or replacement level.

I don't know about Olympic-level women's hockey, but the gap in athleticism and skill between boys and girls in high school hockey is larger than in any other sports I've covered.

I already regret not ending that post with "It really makes you think."

Random musing: Epstein was essentially a veteran free-agent top-dollar executive, and Hendry was homegrown.

He hasn't lost rookie eligibility, I presume.

The problem with that is that the QB does have some effect on YAC. Making the right choice and getting the ball there quickly both influence YAC.

Vitters, Rivero, Jimenez

God finally gets his vengeance on Denver for what they did to Tebow.

It's a fluke.

It gets good at the end. It's the one where the Cubs almost blow it, the Yankees get it to 8-7 and get a pinch runner picked off first to end the game. I do not understand how Joe Borowski ever retired an MLB hitter.

http://replygif.net/i/933.gif Why is this amazing game so filled with sadness. WHY? Joe Morgan: "With arm problems, you can never predict a pitcher's career."

See, all that missed development time is a concern for me, not a point in his favor.

Full game from that brief period when Corey Patterson and Mark Prior were actually our star players and everything was coming together: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iP3lEdp8Csw

If the best we have to go on is a flash of talent and 55 picks passing on him, them maybe we should just move him down the list.

(just guessing on the lineup orders here) 2014 April Cubs Name Pos wOBA-ZIPS Sweeney CF .318 Castro SS .319 Rizzo 1b .343 Schierholtz RF .327 Castillo C .314 Lake LF .297 Olt 3b .300 Barney 2b .283 Average: .312 2014 April Iowa Alcantara 2b .314 Szczur CF .292 Baez SS .340 Vitters 1b .305 Villanueva 3b .302 Kalish LF .302 Ha RF .292 Lopez C .281 Average: .304 We're like one Kris Bryant to Iowa away from fielding a AAA lineup better than our MLB lineup.

ZIPS has Torreyes as a 1.2 WAR player this year. Because projection systems have weird blind spots sometimes.