chw42

Yes, please. Putz can be insurance for Pena and Linebrink.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Dec 8, 2009 -> 11:07 AM) I can't post the full rant I usually do about BABIP but we can leave it at I'm not a believer in BABIP as a useful stat for hitters, and we don't need it to explain Carlos's aberrant stats last year. BABIP is not the only way to evaluate the "luck" of a hitter. You have to look at what type of balls he put in play as well.

What the hell? The D-Backs got screwed in this. Ian Kennedy? You serious? I understand that they got Jackson, but Ian Kennedy...?

Well, it bought out arbitration. Not a bad move.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Dec 7, 2009 -> 10:42 PM) Players offered arbitration and their decisions: ACCEPTED Rafael Betancourt Rafael Soriano. That's huge, that Atlanta bullpen just got significantly stronger and significantly more expensive. There almost has to be a trade made here. Carl Pavano Declined Brandon Lyon Jose Valverde Adrian Beltre Mike Gonzalez Joel Piniero Matt Holliday Fernando Rodney Brian Shouse Marlon Byrd Rod Barajas What do you guys think about picking up Brandon Lyon?

Edwin Jackson has very high appeal at this point. I don't know why the Tigers shouldn't trade him to get the most value, especially if they get Scherzer back.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Dec 8, 2009 -> 10:46 AM) His BABIP was low because he wasn't hitting, which there were other reasons for. Had nothing to do with luck Not entirely true. Quentin hit 16.3% line drives last year, a percent up from 2008, which means that his average should have been better than .230. His ground ball rate went down by 8% while his fly ball rate went up by 7%. It is true that fly balls are more likely to be outs than ground balls, but from what I remember, Carlos hit a lot of ground balls to third because he was rolling over the ball so much. I didn't remember him hitting as many lazy fly balls for easy outs. I do however, remember him getting robbed and hitting fly balls near the warning track. His HR/FB also went down by 6%, so there's part of the reason why he didn't hit that many home runs. If we get a spray chart with the ball locations for Quentin, we might actually see some fly balls that could have been home runs or some line drives that might have been snagged. That's my perception of it at least. Quentin was unlucky last year, but he was also stubborn with his approach, so you can't give him the full excuse.

I simply would not do this. It's simply a money issue. We have Quentin under control for at least 3 more years. Crawford's going to get paid after this one. Plus, we all know what Carlos can do when healthy.

Eh, I'd rather have Crisp than Pierre since he's much cheaper. Pierre's been a leadoff hitter all his life and he's never eclipsed 60 walks, that's horrible. If we want a leadoff man who will get on base, you do not get Pierre, especially considering he's going to cost you money and a player in return. They're pretty much the same in terms of speed and defense. Pierre is obviously faster than Crisp, but Crisp's defense is better.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Dec 7, 2009 -> 07:05 PM) Brad Penny signed a 1 year, $7.5M deal with the Cardinals. Really? $7.5 million? What he did in San Francisco did not justify $7.5 million. I understand it's only a one year commitment, but that seems a bit much.

Nope, do not need.

Although the Rios contract isn't good, one bad season doesn't make it bad.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Dec 5, 2009 -> 11:02 PM) I question Schmidt's contract being so high there, I know it didn't work out, but the guy had no injury history, it was just bad luck. Carlos Silva was just always bad, Darren Dreifort was never any good, those are worst contracts, although I am surprised our friend Rios wasnt on there. A few years from now Alfonso will be high on that list as his contract increases and he gets old and keeps getting worse. Signing guys after career years and giving them a lot of money is the worst kind of signing you can have. Signing guys who are close to their prime to a lot of money with no injury history is nowhere near as bad. Pavano, Dreifort, and Silva are easily three of the worst signings on there. Only because you knew there was a good chance they were going to suck.

After seeing Texas barely win against a mediocre team, I don't know if I want them in the title game. It'd be great to see TCU or Cincy in there.

So what's the Championship game then? Texas and Bama? I'm assuming there's no way Nebraska wins.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Dec 5, 2009 -> 12:15 PM) I wouldn't hesitate to give him 4/$30M Then you're just giving Boras what he wants. Beltre shouldn't get more than $20 million for 3 years with the year he just came off of.

Hahaha, yeah right. No way in hell would I want him on this team.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Dec 3, 2009 -> 10:26 PM) i wonder how much the deal is for...a 33 year old utility guy who just had a career year...im thinking they probably overpaid Plus they'll lose a draft pick. They definitely overpaid. Somebody like Figgins would have made more sense for them and their money. Figgins could play SS and 2B, but you can slide Pedroia over to SS and move Figgins to 2B. You get a guaranteed player instead of one that's coming off a career year. However, Scutaro does have some nice peripherals, he walks a ton.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Dec 3, 2009 -> 04:51 PM) Uggla expects to be traded. What would the Marlins want? Package around Alexei + Flowers/Danks? Becks moves back to SS, Uggla to 2B obviously.... 1) Beckham SS 2) Uggla 2B 3) Quentin LF 4) Konerko 1B 5) Pierzynski C 6) Jones DH 7) Rios CF 8) Teahan 3B 9) Kotsay RF ? Or maybe we give them one of Danks/Floyd instead of Alexei and keep Alexei at SS, Becks at 3B, Uggla at 2B, and Teahan into the OF? Alexei and Flowers/Danks? Get out of here, no way. Dan Uggla is barely good enough to warrant Alexei alone.

QUOTE (League @ Dec 3, 2009 -> 09:14 PM) They're going after Bay, Harden and Lackey as well. That could be one hell of a club. Well... Bay, Gutierrez, Ichiro is one hell of an outfield. Plus, putting Figgins at 3B helps a bit. They'll re-sign Branyan for 1B or DH. Wilson will be at SS with Lopez at 2B. I don't know who they'll have catching though. They traded Clement away and Johjima's back in Japan. Their lineup looks decent, but if they get Lackey and Harden to go along with Felix, they could really do some things with that bullpen of theirs and a decent offense. But this is all on paper. There's no guarantee that Harden even stays healthy.

Oakland eats Aaron Miles' contract to get a potentially good DH in Fox. Good for them.

Saito signs with Atlanta. $3 million for one year. How many old relievers do the Braves need? Seems like a very good deal, definitely one we could have offered.

QUOTE (C_LEE45 @ Dec 2, 2009 -> 03:47 PM) i would love for the sox to get Derosa, Hudson. I would have liked DeRosa a lot better than Teahen.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Dec 3, 2009 -> 10:28 AM) And the Raul Ibanez contract ain't lookin' like the bargain it was after he fell off considerably in the second half. That's the 'danger' when you're in win-now mode. Raul still has a couple of years left in him. Just not the type of year he had last year.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Dec 3, 2009 -> 09:32 AM) $18M total. That's an incredible haul for Polanco. I'm curious as to what Boras' asking price is for Adrian Beltre if the Phillies would rather shell out $18M for a 34 year old Placido Polanco who had a down year at the plate in 2009 and hasn't played the position since 2005 and a total of 153 INN since 2003. He hasn't played 3B since 05. I don't know how the Phillies came up with this plan...