Shilzzz

What is a good website to find these? Thanks

Jenks is ok, better than Grabow, but he is definitely on the down slope.

ZiPS has his end career projection at a 147 ERA+ This years line, however, has him at 66IP w/ 4.50 ERA and a 99 ERA+, though that's completely based on him being a Phillies pitcher playing in the NL East as it is currently rostered. I just really love Pedro. That Grabow contract just irks me so grating; why wouldn't we give Billy Wagner that money, and just inquire about Pedro maybe coming out of the bullpen every so often for the first half of the season to keep his arm attached until the second half? I know he's not going to do it, but I think Martinez could be very effective from the pen, and if Wagner keeps up the numbers he threw at the end of last season... Why do they settle on boner faces like Grabow? Nothing personally, but, shouldn't Hendry have just, if he wanted to be nice and make Grabow rich beyond deserve, let him take the more lucrative Pittsburgh rumored offer? I just can't believe he did that.

Those 2 situations weren't really the same. Yeah, regardless, I am saying that this situation reminds me of times in the past where the Cubs have had prospects who were highly valued by other GMs and down the road didn't end up with much value out of them. Hill had a good short stint in Chicago, but Cubs prospects under the current farm system instruction (esp position players, we have recieved good value from pitchers) just never figure it out, and can't take a pitch to save their lives.

the more rumors that pop up the more i get a little worried this is going to become a felix pie, rich hill situation with castro.

I'll worry about getting to the playoffs before worrying about possible clubhouse chemistry or negative ego issues in the playoffs.

Regardless of whether he pitches on the second day or fifth to start the season, I would like to have Pedro Martinez as the final piece to the Cubs rotation next year. There, better?

Hendry, seriously, give up your argument. it's wrong. just because someone has a lexus in the driveway of a million dollar home in a quiet suburb does not mean he isn't in debt up to his ears. is it incorrect to drive by that house, take a glance, and think to yourself, that guy must be wealthy? no. but if you pull up to the house next door, and this neighbor is the accountant for said lexus driver and the accountant shows you every bank statement, collection letter, credit card account, and pay stub of the lexus driver, is it then incorrect to drive back by the house on your way out of the neighborhood thinking to yourself how wealthy the lexus driver is? yes. The entirety of a logic argument can not be based on a quick glance through the back of a baseball card or 8x8 fantasy league numbers. If you have access to a wealth of statistical data, your opinion becomes well informed to the point that you can separate the meat from the bones, if you will. ERA is not a horrible stat, there is just no way that ERA explains the breadth of a player's whole. Not giving up runs IS the point, in that you are correct, Jim, but the best way to figure out whether the pitcher is good or bad at giving up runs can be more completely explained through more advanced statistics such as FIP, ERA+, VORP, WAR, etc. ERA is an elementary stat, in the way that batting average doesn't explain just what a batter is giving you. No one here is trying to abuse you, but so long as you make straw man arguments that you won't back down from in the face of clear evidence which contradicts your point, it's better to use the information others are giving you so that next time you consider signing a relief pitcher to a 2 year, 7.5 million dollar contract, you think better of it. Okay Cubs26?

I'm not sure that Billy Wagner's contract will be that much more than Grabow. But his numbers will be.

Outside of Mariano Rivera and Joe Nathan, the dumbest thing a team can do is pay a relief pitcher dollars like this. I don't care who it is. It's the biggest waste of money. Relievers, especially mid tier ones, are just too flukey to count on. I guess at this point I'm just kind of glad that Hendry is doing everything he can to get himself fired.

Really would like to see this happen, even if his stuff isn't near what it used to be. Good number 5 options, and just as cheap cost/benefit as anything else. I am a Pedro Martinez homer, though.

No, they do get paid that way. Look it up. Who do you think is paying for all that stuff? The prison money fairy? Look at the incarceration rates after the Rockefeller drug laws, and the "war on drugs," and i think you will see where i am getting this. I understand it teeters on conspiracy non-sense, but, really, this is why it hasn't been decriminalized. They make money now. Money is always, always the bottom line with the law makers. Nothing else matters. So why else wouldn't they legalize something that obviously isn't very harmful? Because they are scared people will get lazy? Nah. Because the general population is afraid of Reefer Madness? I think we are past that at this point. They find every way possible to maximize profits; these guys come up with ways to take your loose change in the middle of a highway for crying out loud.

Ever heard of the Rockefeller drug laws? This makes no sense because other organizations are fighting them for tax dollars? I really don't know what doesn't make sense about what I said. The state already is banking off of drugs as is, and therefore don't need to legalize to profit.

I just noticed this comment. Please explain to me how they make money imprisoning people. Do you know how much it costs to keep a person in jail? What they make money off of is fines and probation fees... not locking people up... that's where they lose money. Basically a large (LARGE) percentage of people incarcerated are in jail for petty drug charges. the way the system works is that if a person is sentenced to, lets say for instance, a year in jail for intent to distribute, they only serve 3 months (iirc) of their sentence, and are released. well, for us tax payers, we still pay for the entire year of the term, so the system gets, what, 300% more money on taxes than it actually costs to hold a prisoner. And with the prisons overpacked (the jail here in peoria county where the rapist just escaped was about 150 over capacity, with inmates sleeping on the floor), you can see how that adds up quickly. So, sure, the state is going to make a lot of money taxing decriminalized drugs, but between the jail money and all the money they already cease (including vehicles, houses, etc) from drug busts, you can see why they have no need to decriminalize any time soon. I don't think it's right the way the system is (i haven't touched weed in years, though i used to smoke alot back in the day, fwiw), and the state obviously isn't in the interest of rehabilitation, but they bank, and are able to make more money from taxes they need to charge by employing the swat teams, prison guards, wardens, general police, drug czars, and all those good people.

As an addendum to Greinke's award; Use of Statistics Helps Greinke to Cy Young that is pretty awesome.

Cubbie Shwagger?

Re: Zack Greinke's gf / TINWOP lol @ johnny damon

Gomes isn't bad, he's not particularly pretty in the field (in left field this year he had a 2.2 UZR/150, up from -40 and worse in years previous, but was still awful in right, sporting a -43.1). He should be non-tendered. Balentien and Dickerson will probably share time in left until Juan Francisco is ready, if he moves his walk and strikeout rates in the right direction (which may not happen... the guy has crazy pop though). I'd probably take a flyer on Gomes, though. An 18.6 VORP and that .914 OPS v LHP is pretty. As a secondary option, the Cubs could certainly do worse.

Kevin Goldstein Chat today at BP

sometimes, it's just that obvious. :wink: Edit: Some moron did give Justin Verlander a first place vote over Greinke, though.

The thing about Red Sox prospects is that they have big years in A ball because it's a super hitter friendly field, then they move on to Portland which is a big time pitchers park, and the hitters all struggle. So, a large part of Lars Anderson's 09 campaign can be chalked up to tougher competition in a severe pitchers park. He has all the tools to be a big time slugger, though.

Is it weird and/or stalkerish if i just sent a facebook message to Trey McNutt and a friend request to Starlin Castro? What about your friendsssssss

Greinke wins Cy Young in a landslide Good. He deserved it.

So the Angels are going to give up some good prospects to get an expensive DH? Why don't they just sign a FA like Blalock, Matsui, Huff, Vlad, Thome, Byrd, Dye, Nady, Tatis, etc. to DH for less money than Konerko ($12 million) and no prospects? Hey, I didn't make up the trade idea.

Yeah, again, it was a joke. I should have made more clear that my intent was to laugh at White Sox fans thinking Cubs fans are all lilly whites, when, really, they are the much more translucent team. Pale Hoes