Bull

Might be worth it for the league minimum. *ducks*

I certainly don't agree with people questioning a poster's masculinity because of what he posted, but I honestly find it odd that one can claim to not pay attention to a player when he is frequenting a thread about the player and has posted multiple statistical updates about said player. A point worth noting. once. maybe.

In my field there is a lot of discussion about whether offense (of-FENSE as in "I'm offended") is taken or given. Did you offend me, or did I take offense? There is a developing school of thought that offense is more often taken than given. As I sat in a seminar my thoughts drifted to Cubs baseball and I began to wonder whether offense (OF-fense) in baseball is taken or given. I read a Muskat mailbag/inbox article today (I know--first mistake) in which she showed no concern over Colvin's anemic walk rate, but seemed very concerned about the bullpens walk rate. I'm sure some of the regulars here will loathe the idea of rehashing the discussion, but there are new folks here every day. So here goes: Question 1: is there a way to differentiate between offense that is given and that which is taken? Will there ever be a way? It seems to me that some of the statistical anomalies could be eliminated if we knew that X number of Sammys home-runs in 1998 were meatballs served up to him by Jose Lima (intentionally or not), or that a new guy on the scene is hitting pitchers pitches for extra bases. Question 2: Is there a way to find out who is taking walks and who is being given walks, and similarly who is giving up walks vs who is being worked by elite-patience hitters? Bonus: if your take on the original premise (of-FENSE taken or given and the effects on community dynamics) finds its way into my next book.

I've got an idea! Let's all pile on a poster who did nothing but what has come to be expected in these parts: accompany his post with cold-hard stats. Regarding Bradley: the better he plays the less you'll hear about him. If he sucks again, it will get ugly. That is all.

right, because I'm not responsible for my actions if I had a traumatic childhood.

Missing Fred's reliever usage chart.

Soriano is the fifth best outfielder on this team. /irrational hate.

Makes sense to me. First Base is a very easy position to fill with quality hitting numbers and defense matters less there than most positions. As much as I love DLee, I don't think you build a team around a first baseman as one of your key cornerstones. You hire a mercenary bat at first. JMO

not enough.

I remember 1985 as well. Eventually the entire starting staff was on the DL and they had AA-quality pitchers who never played in the majors again in their starting rotation. I'm sure everybody remembers Johnny Abrego and the like. Was that the year of the bad mayonaisse? That I don't remember..one year the whole rotation was out with food poisoning. I'm thinking Sanderson, Trout, that crew, but that Sut was already out with a real injury

I remember 1985 as well. Eventually the entire starting staff was on the DL and they had AA-quality pitchers who never played in the majors again in their starting rotation. I'm sure everybody remembers Johnny Abrego and the like. Was that the year of the bad mayonaisse?

Pat says skies are clearing.

But pitchers get hurt all the time, which is why it's risky to count on pitchers to carry your franchise. The plan did not work fine. The plan was to designed to make the Cubs as successful as the Braves, and they weren't even close. It is absolutely absurd to suggest the plan worked fine from any standpoint. They failed. They had a miserable record and were terrible far more frequently than they were good. It wasn't risky, it just wasn't idiot proof.

The plan worked fine from a development standpoint. If Baker hadn't broken Woody and Prior, there would be a lot different tone to this discussion if we would be having it at all.

Andy Sisco

Definitely. Guzman is a known quantity. Having system depth is good. Bullpens are a crapshoot. That is all.

HAHAHAHAHA you're pathetic. no, YOU'RE pathetic. I know you are, but what am I? I know you are but what am I? I know you are, but what am I? I know you are but what am I?

What would Cubs'nClippers_1 say about Millar? :DSurely this is a joke account?!?

http://www.chicagobreakingsports.com/2010/02/cubs-update-day-3-in-mesa.html mama said if you can't say something nice...

and some of them work. better than sticking with something that wasn't

Also Starlin Castro. Elvis Andrus, who had a lesser bat coming into the majors last year compared to Castro, was pretty respectable last year for a 21 year old light-hitting prospect. If we rush Castro, hopefully Rudy can help keep him afloat those first few months. Here's a question for us to ponder......If we were pretty certain that Castro would put up Andrus' line of .267/.329/.367 in the majors in 2010, would we want him in the majors or not? no he said ponder, not react.

bankrupsey dollors in bring Mr. Selig

Not only are the WS second to the Cubs in Chicago...

the part i don't like is when news stories from the AP or CNN or whoever use reactions from twitter. then you have idiotic things like "OMG, can't believe U R gone!!!" in a news story about a death of a celebrity. otherwise i don't have a problem with it. I can agree with that. But I think the benefits of it far outweigh the annoying things. solution: just say no to CNN.

moral? doubtful. morale? definitely.