ZoomSlowik

I'm not a huge Briggs fan, but the old saying is "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." The other linebacker spot is an area of concern though, so I wouldn't mind seeing them draft someone in the first couple of rounds.

Hey, he got through Goldy and Blacksox with a 1-1 record. Despite the nasty draw, the results are impressive.

The difference between Buehrle's and Garland's strikeout rates is minimal. Garland retired 82.65 percent of batters last year without striking them out, Buehrle did the same thing at a 79 percent rate. There is no way that 3 balls out of 100 outs makes the difference between a very good pitcher and a mediocre one. That comes out to roughly 3 more balls in play against Garland in every 5 starts. Even assuming that all of those are converted into hits, that difference is minuscule.

If Paul Byrd throws any softer I'll have more velocity on my fastball.

QUOTE(santo=dorf @ Apr 13, 2006 -> 07:52 PM) So does this mean Comedy Central won't show the "Super Best Friends" episode where Mohammed teams up with Jesus and Seaman? Interesting question.

I'm surprised that Lirano didn't make the rotation over Lohse or Baker. I had him as a major fantasy sleeper before that. Of course, this is the team that waited about a year longer than they should have to put Santana in the rotation too.

QUOTE(Frankensteiner @ Apr 13, 2006 -> 02:30 PM) The thinking on Hampton was "we can fix him, because he's been very good before." If Garland has a bad season, the thinking will be "he had a career year 2 years ago, he's not worth that contract." Brown was 14-9 with a 2.39 ERA in 211 IP the season before being traded. He made 32 starts. I don't know how "consistently" hurt he was that year. Benson was 10-8, 4.13 ERA last season. I don't know if that qualifies as brutal in my book. So they're not going to do the same thing with Garland? He had a very good year last year, and he was a former first round pick. Those guys tend to hang around longer than they should. Hampton had weaker stuff and was making about $8 mil more per year. That contract was about as unmoveable as you can get. First of, Brown still missed 3 starts that year. Second, Brown was nursing a late season injury when the Yankees acquired him. He didn't even pitch in the majors in 04 because of it. He was also making about $18 mil a year, making him virtually untradeable. Those numbers for Benson aren't very good, especially in the NL in a pitcher's park. Plus, Benson has done basically nothing since his surgery, but people still seem to want him. Garland is a 27 year old starter signed to an affordable contract that had a pretty good year last year, and still might this year. If we really wanted to trade him, someone would take him. However, that's quite a knee-jerk reaction after two starts.

QUOTE(Frankensteiner @ Apr 13, 2006 -> 02:19 PM) Hampton wasn't a one year wonder. Brown was coming off a good season when traded to NY. Benson had a decent year last season. All their situations are different from Garland's, IMO. All of them were making a lot more money and all of them were either bad or hurt. Hampton was brutal in Colorado and was 2 years removed from pitching well. Brown was consistently hurt, even in the year before he got traded. Chris Benson has been brutal since his arm surgery, and that's in the NL.

QUOTE(heirdog @ Apr 13, 2006 -> 02:14 PM) Pujols and Rolen Guerrero and Anderson Rolen typically bats fifth behind Edmonds.

QUOTE(Frankensteiner @ Apr 13, 2006 -> 02:12 PM) If he continues to struggle, all the more reason as to why he won't be traded. No one is going to pay $20 M for a below average pitcher. If you can trade Chris Benson, Mike Hampton and Kevin Brown, you can trade Jon Garland.

QUOTE(jphat007 @ Apr 13, 2006 -> 01:22 PM) Wow. That would be awesome. What's even scarier is that I have Hafner on that team too. It's hard to decide whom to bench every day. I'm hoping to deal Shelton while he's hot for a good OF, hoping that someone will overpay. I really think Shelton will cool down eventually. He's a good hitter, but I just can't see him keeping it up and hitting 40, especially in that park. He will probably end up hitting around .300 too though to go with maybe 35 homers.

QUOTE(jphat007 @ Apr 13, 2006 -> 01:20 PM) That is crazy. As amazing as Thome has been, Shelton has been better. That's nuts. It sure is fun when they're both on the same fantasy team.

QUOTE(SnB @ Apr 12, 2006 -> 11:32 PM) that's one of my favorite. Another good one is the one where bobby joins the soccer team instead of the football team and then hank's disgust throughout. Yeah, that one is pretty good. Coach Sauers is great. "Alright Louisa May, go play your ballerina ball. Just leave your penis in the bucket."

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Apr 12, 2006 -> 10:22 PM) If by sucks you mean above average. He's not an ace or anything but he's still a damn solid pitcher. Meh. He's had some decent years, but there are a lot of mediocre to poor ones mixed in too. He's got a 4.22 career ERA, which I suppose is okay. He's been over 4.4 for 5 of his 11 years, and was under 4 only 3 times. He's a decent #3, but unfortunately for the Twins he's been a #1 or #2 for them most of his career.

Most of those pairings aren't all that good. A couple are one good pitcher and one mediocre one. Buehrle and Contreras should be pretty high, and IMO Garcia and Garland could beat some of those pairings. I won't argue Oswalt and Pettitte or Harden and Zito. Honestly, I won't argue Schilling and Beckett either because both are pretty talented (although there's no way they're #1, they gotta be lower). Hudson and Smoltz are okay. Both are past their prime and they shouldn't be that high. All the others are one good starter and one mediocre to decent one.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Apr 12, 2006 -> 09:39 PM) Bobby: Whatever You Do, Don't Burn the Pancakes Seriously, definately ranks in my top 5. HILLARIOUS show. This is just further proof of why we are so amazing My favorite was the one where Bobby went to the women's self defense class and started kicking everyone in the crotch. That was hilarious. I almost died laughing when Bobby was fighting Peggie. Peggy- Well, Bobby, as you can see, I don't have any testicles. Kahn- She's bluffing...finish her!

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Apr 12, 2006 -> 04:13 PM) They seriously showed the NY one? I haven't seen anyone broadcast that rerun since, well, you know, the unpleasantness back in 2001. Yeah, the one with Homer's car between the towers. They didn't show it for like two years, but it's been on a few times now.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Apr 12, 2006 -> 04:04 PM) Indians aren't as good as most of you seem to think. That pitching is mediocre at BEST. I've said that numerous times. They're not exactly the mid-90's Braves. Sabathia, Westbrook, and Lee can be pretty good for stretches, but they don't have anyone that is consistent.

QUOTE(hammerhead johnson @ Apr 12, 2006 -> 06:00 PM) Well, if you have stellar stuff, you're not walking many people to begin with, because by definition, the most important ingredient for "stellar stuff" is control, and WHIP is easily the best measure of control on an individual basis. Maybe some of the position players behind you suck defensively, but they can't walk guys for you. Walks are the biggest killer in baseball IMO. That's why I sweat Frank Thomas so hard. And Billy Beane too.. That's not really the case. Stuff and control are totally unrelated, or at least in the sense that they are normally used. Good control means that you can spot your pitches, while stuff means that the raw quality of your pitches is good. Guys like Zambrano, Burnett, Lackey and Jenks have good stuff and bad control, while guys like Moyer, Radke, Maddux and Glavine (at least at this point in their careers) have fairly good control but poor stuff. You won't hear people saying that the pitchers in the llatter group have good stuff. You can definitely have one without the other. If anything stuff is generally inversly related with control because if your stuff is good you can get away with weaker control.

I'd rather have Maroth, he's mediocre. Verlander might be young, but he's got electric stuff.

QUOTE(rventura23 @ Apr 12, 2006 -> 01:03 AM) true, although I havent seen old simpsons for a while so Ill have to assume that its as good as I remember it to be They have a habit of showing the newer ones too much on the re-runs, but they're showing some older, good ones right now. Just this week they've shown the one where they go to New York and the one where Homer joins the Naval Reserve. Those are both pretty good, and it looks like they're showing my all-time favorite "The Cartridge Family" (Homer joins the NRA) tonight.

Damn. I know the Reds can't field, but s***.

QUOTE(LEXNLIV @ Apr 12, 2006 -> 02:25 PM) I think its a 4 game series. Nope.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Apr 12, 2006 -> 02:22 PM) Perfect in save situations but still looking fugly -- 6.23 ERA. It'd be a more respectable 4.4-ish ERA if Anderson catches the ball.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Apr 12, 2006 -> 02:20 PM) I love the gamecast: Shelton homers HARD to left. I honestly didn't think he hit it that hard. It barely cleared the wall, and it didn't sound like he hit it quite that solidly.