Balta1701

QUOTE(Beastly @ Jun 22, 2005 -> 10:09 AM) I'm going to take a few hits for this. I'm not sure if McCarthy is all what he's made out to be. He's not the next All-Star pitcher like everyone wants to think. I'd think it would be very smart to trade him and Crede...and get someone like a Chavez and a Zito. I just think for the older fans, they want to win now, and not later. And yes, in the stretch run, McCarthy could be good, but I think you could build this team up with a few trades. No way Oakland would make that deal. No way Chavez is coming here. And sweet Jesus Zito is about the last pitcher on the trading block that I'd ever want to acquire. I don't want guys who have recently taken dramatic drops in performance. Especially for a stretch run. Just remember this...Crede's numbers in June are .315, .383, .593. That's not terrible, and in fact it's quite good. He had a terrible May, but his numbers in April and June are both solid.

QUOTE(santo=dorf @ Jun 22, 2005 -> 09:58 AM) I don't recall many saying the Cubs have one of the best farm systems in the game considering they haven't developed an All-Star positional player since Marc Grace, and their overrated pitchers can't stay healthy. And was Mark Prior really considered a prospect considering how long he was in college? The key word in your post is "Overrated". This means that the players are rated highly despite future inability to perform. That is exactly what you want to have when you go out looking to make deals; a bunch of overrated players. Because when you trade them, you get back more value than you sent out. Also...you say that the Cubs haven't developed an All Star player since Grace. While that is true, they've also found several via trades (Ramierez, Lee), and they've done a dynamite job of developing pitching. Even if the guys they kept were the wrong guys...think about the guys they've traded as well - Garland, Willis, etc. If they're not developing position players, there's no reason not to trade for them.

QUOTE(upnorthsox @ Jun 22, 2005 -> 08:31 AM) Ok back to reality for a moment...... I'll throw a name out that's an excellent fit for what we are looking for in a starter, Jamie Moyer. Now there is the issue of his no trade clause, but given this is his last yr and if we are the mortal locks for a playoff spot that we should/could be come the last week of July he may be tempted into a 3 month "vacation" for a run at going out a winner. It's also pretty reasonable to assume that the M's would be reasonable in accomodating him. You know what...that's one I almost might agree with. Veteran guy, playoff experience...price might not be too bloody extreme like it would be with a guy like Clemens or Oswalt.

Even if you don't want to admit it, there really is something to the "Win" stat - you're putting your team in a position to win the ballgame, and that means a lot to me, even if Buehrle's getting a lot of no decisions. I say Garland solely on the dozen wins.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Jun 22, 2005 -> 09:48 AM) Eh, I just figured you would put Widgers better OBP in front of Ozuna, instead of Crede. Oh well, I'll still pat myself on the back. Don't forget, Crede's been hot lately. In June his OBP is .383. In fact, if you remove May's stats...Crede almost looks like an all star. May was just that bad.

I'm a bit surprised Frank is in the lineup today...I was almost hoping he'd get the day off today so that he could have 2 days to rest before the Cubs series. The last thing we need is him getting hurt again in June. Dah well...hopefully he'll hit a few balls 500 feet. Let's go Mark...this lineup is the kind of lineup that you usually make beg for mercy. I'm even gonna bike home to watch this one. Let's finish off the sweep of the entire first half of the season against the Royals, and bring the Cubs in to face a team on a 7 game winning streak. And by the way...this should be my 1000th post here. Am I considered a welcome addition yet?

Black Jack McDowell was one of the best pitchers I have ever watched. I have never seen anyone, anywhere, as capable of going out on a day when he didn't have his good pitches working and still pitching a 1 run ballgame. Mark's got to win 20 before I start putting him in Jack's class (this could very well be the year, btw)

QUOTE(Jabroni @ Jun 22, 2005 -> 12:32 AM) The MLB needs to move the Devil Rays to a less competitive division, like the N.L. Central. Seriously...it's either they do something like that...where they put them in a division that actually gives them a chance to build (i.e. the Pirates and Brewers), or MLB accepts a meaningful luxury tax that actually restricts the Yankees & gives the rest of the league a shot. Those are the only 2 things that will ever make the franchise in Tampa bay into a winner. If Tampa Bay went out & spent $10 million more on players, they probably still wouldn't have a winning record, still wouldn't have a shot at the wild card or the division, and they wouldn't attract enough fans to make up for the money they spent. The single most profitable thing they can do is exactly what they're doing right now.

QUOTE(wsox08 @ Jun 22, 2005 -> 12:39 AM) Gagne was a good reliever. Now let's wait and see how the surgery affects his pitching... He had this same surgery almost 10 years ago & managed to come back from it. Only problem is...he's older now...who knows if he'll heal as well.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Jun 22, 2005 -> 07:41 AM) Kotsay would be the center fielder if Patterson was moved, but if Patterson stayed at they dealt for Kotsay with prospects, K-Orey would continue to be the CF, while Kotsay moved to RF, and Burnitz to LF. So in other words they'd be taking Kotsay as an upgrade over Dubois. That's still a decent upgrade, but personally I'd rather keep Dubois in the OF, get him playing time and let him develop out there. Patterson's had his shot in that park...their hitting coaches can't get through to him.

QUOTE(knightni @ Jun 21, 2005 -> 11:24 PM) Halladay should start. If he starts he would probably pitch more pitches than any other starter. The "win home field advantage for the World Series" is still in effect. Halladay could pitch 3 or 4 innings. Thus, he wouldn't be able to pitch after the Break right away, and wouldn't be as rested as the guys who come in out of the bullpen in the ASG and pitch to a couple guys in relief. That's my main reason for not having Buehrle/Garland starting the game. I've never seen an All Star starter work more than 2, 2 1/3 innings tops. Can anyone else remember seeing otherwise in the last 10 years? Usually the starter gets 2 innings, then the manager starts pumping in the rest of his bullpen. I mean, it's almost a professional courtesy...if your the manager and you run an opposing team's pitcher out for 4 innings and wear him out...why shouldn't you expect the same treatment the next year? No one wants their team's pitcher to be worn out by the AS game.

Bill Plaschke in the LAT had an excellent piece on what the Dodgers did to Gagne the other day.

I highly doubt that Gagne was a steroid case, but even if he was...this injury is completely not due to Steroids. Its due to the exact same th ing the Dodgers did to Herschiser and Valenzuela; they rode their arms to a playoff birth. Last year, the Dodgers traded away Gagne's setup man to Florida. After that, he suddenly wasn't just pitching the 9th inning. He was also pitching the 8th inning a lot of times, because they had no other bullpen option. He even had like 1 outing that was well over 2 innings; came in during the 7th. It was after the Dodgers made that trade that Gagne's blown save streak ended. There's a reason why; they wore him out. They gave him an enormous amount of work last year, and it wore him out. Then, this year...he came in to spring training and hurt his knee. Then he was going out there on a weak set of legs and trying to throw everything with the arm he wore out last year. This is a recipe for disaster for any pitcher. You cannot throw a pitcher out there every day and then expect his arm to take the pounding if his legs give out. Gagne then came back too early...told his team he could pitch...they listened, and then things finally snapped.

QUOTE(Jabroni @ Jun 21, 2005 -> 10:53 PM) ESPN is running a whole "Outside the Lines" story about the Devil Rays, owner Vince Naimoli, and Lou Piniella. They are talking about why the team is still so horrible today. Mainly because Naimoli refuses to spend any money on the team. Saw it a few weeks ago. Honeslty...I don't think I can blame Naimoli for what he and his partners are doing. They're making money hand over fist. They're the 2nd most profitable team in the big leagues, if I remember correct. They get almost enough money in luxury tax revenues to cover their entire payroll, so their concessions, parking, ticket sales, merch, etc. is all profit. Think about this...the Devil Rays are in a division with Boston and New York, who between them have a payroll more than 10x that of the Devil Rays. And on top of that, they have a decent team in Baltimore, and a team that's committed to spend about $150 million in payroll the next 2 years in Toronto. For them to even match Baltimore or Toronto, they would have to more than double their payroll. If they did that, it would significantly cut into their profit margin, and more importantly, it still wouldn't get them a postseason birth. That team is in the single worst possible situation in the league. They are the smallest market in the big market AL East. If they spend more money, it won't make them a playoff team; Boston and N.Y. will still outspend them or buy whatever they need to win. There is absolutely no incentive for the Tampa Bay ownership to spend more money. In their situation...I would probably do the exact same thing. If they spend more money on the team...they'll just reduce the profit margin, and they won't get nearly enough wins out of it.

Right now, every single team in the AL Central not from Kansas City has a record over .500. We have beaten up on all of them...and KC Still hasn't won a game from us. We are this good.

QUOTE(Steve9347 @ Jun 21, 2005 -> 10:29 PM) Uhm, I don't think Clemens is the new Randy Johnson. Compare their ERA's for christs sake! Clemens is barely above a 2! Clemens also has just a 1 year contract...the Yankees are stuck with Johnson until he retires. That said...he'd cost too much, he'd hurt the chemistry, he's just not the antidote this team needs. Just remember this; in 2000 we won in large part because of team chemistry. That was a big part of it. Then we added David Wells (and Clayton) and look where that got us in 2001.

QUOTE(Frank the Tank 35 @ Jun 21, 2005 -> 06:47 PM) Another idea, not saying it's going to happen or is even likely but just throwing it out there, is the possibility of the Braves finally giving up their stranglehold of the NL East and giving up some of their veteran talent. Granted everyone in the NL East has a legitimate chance of winning that division, but the Braves just don't look like they can keep it together with all of their players hitting the DL. The Bravos are now a half game out of the Wild Card...and they've made their comeback starting like 6 or 7 rookies per game, with Chipper on the DL, with Hudson on the DL, and so forth. That team gets healthy...and they may very well turn into the Braves from last year again. Jones is on fire again. Their rookies are hitting. And they can't get any worse than they are right now.

QUOTE(Frankensteiner @ Jun 21, 2005 -> 10:31 PM) I guess I'm ok with the current plan as long as El Duque is injured. But when he returns, I'd like for him to make as many starts as possible. I want El Duque ready to start at exactly 2 times this season; August (our hardest stretch of the year)...and October. That is when we need him. Maybe September as well if someone manages to make it a race. But we need him healthy and ready in August and in October. That is all. That is why he's here.

QUOTE(qwerty @ Jun 21, 2005 -> 08:44 PM) I am glad i didn't get all down on dye's offense the first couple of months. Lot's of people wanted his balls chopped off and gave him a cute nickname ''dead'' All that i really expected from his was .260-.275 and 30 or so homers which it looks like he will be giving us. The one conceren i had about him offensively was how he has hit right handers the past three years, but i felt playing here that should change. I have to also admit i never liked his defense even before we got him. His range was just too poor to me and how he nearly plays at the warning track gets old. His defense has been piss poor... all that i ask from him is hit the cut off man. His bat was absolutely dead the first month of the season, I called him Dead even though I was one of the ones saying he'd come around. My biggest worry when we signed him was his health. He has had a series of freak injuries worse than Mark Prior. Thus far he's been healthy. I'm really hoping he stays that way. That's probably still my big worry with him; I figured he'd pick up a few HR's and so forth by moving from Oakland to the Cell.

Well, the Dodgers got Toby Keith coverage while the Sox were sweeping them on national TV...I guess the least that the world could do is give the Sox some decent music to start a game.

A few years ago, I vowed that I would do whatever is within my power to stop Joe Biden from becoming President. I will campaign against him, I will write letters to newspapers, I will hand out flyers, I will do whatever I have to do. Here's my column on why. The bill was called the "Rave Act".

I'm amazed that its possible for anyone to blame Lou there. I wouldn't be surprised if he really is trying to get himself fired...and I can't blame him at all for it.

QUOTE(Jabroni @ Jun 21, 2005 -> 08:34 PM) Konerko is hitting .250 now. Crede is hitting .249 now. That is all I wanted from Joe this year. As long as he's not hitting .220, he's my guy. He's also hitting .294 in June (probably better after tonight - I don't think ESPN.com's updated yet). If you drop that absolutely awful May from his record, he'd be nearly hitting .300. Konerko, btw, is hitting .340 in June.

You guys remember how its felt to be the White Sox the last few years? Stuck in pretty decent deficits in that division and feeling out of it with a lot of games left to play? Looking up at the team above you and just saying "Damn, why the Hell won't that team stop winning" I can think of a few cities who's baseball fans are feeling that today. And they're not on the south side of Chicago.

QUOTE(rangercal @ Jun 21, 2005 -> 07:50 PM) Please be Mark or Jon I'm still mad at roy for winning CY in 2003 over E-Lo :banghead Esteban blew it when Manuel sent him out with a cold to face the Twins and lost badly. After that game, Esteban had lost the 1 game his team needed to win the most that season. The Cy Young award was decided entirely that night.