jjfanec

To be fair Hardy got traded for garbage again this off season. Before busting out again this year JJ's last two years had an OPS of .659 and .714. Not really all-star material. As a big JJ fan I am not sure I thought he had another year like this in him. JJ had little value when Melvin traded him. Baltimore either saw something in his swing they could fix or got really lucky and they are being rewarded for that

Minnesota banked a ton on two great hitters who also have been injured quite a bit recently and that really hurt them this year. Injuries hurt them but I dont think it is as good of an excuse when the guy has been hurt consistently. Kind of like the Dodgers saying they are unlucky Furcal is hurt when the guy is consistently hurt. On top of that their infield is terrible. They trusted Valencia would repeat. They brought over the SS who looks really bad at the plate. Casilla was handed the starting job with no recent history of success. In the OF Span's injury does hurt because Revere and his 600 OPS has to play. Kubel should never have been in the OF but Young's injury, laziness and poor play forced him out their. They have had some bad luck but they are also a poorly constructed team that was banking on one year wonders producing again. Then you get to their pitching staff. They let half their bullpen go and had no one in house to replace them. Capps is decent but they got fleeced in that trade - Ramos would look good on that team right now. Nathan has lost a ton of velocity and relying on him to be your closer or even 8th inning guy was a mistake until he proved he was back. After that they dont have much other than Perkins. Their rotation is fine at best. No number 1 and no number 2 really. Maybe Baker but that would be the only guy. Most guys sit as number 3 or 4 type guys. For a team that was constructed so well the last decade this team is not. Injuries hurt them but even before that they had big questions in the infield, in their bullpen, who would be their top end starters, and if their big money guys were guys who could consistently stay on the field at their positions.

He is a D-bag and a huge reason I don't like that team though. Him and LaRussa. Link to him doing something D-baggish off the playing field?There isnt anything that I know of. He stares down home runs which is annoying and he made the "awoke a sleeping giant" comment after the Charlie V thing, but if you look into his community service he is a great guy. Just google Albert Pujols charity work and a ton of stuff comes up. Here is a blurb from a link about a 60 minutes piece about his charity work "Locally, we've had more than a decade of being impressed by Pujols' dedication in helping Down syndrome kids as well as his annual offseason relief effort to assist impoverished citizens of his native Dominican Republic. Pujols has been doing this for a long time, and he doesn't seem to attach this to an image-building effort. His devotion is genuine. The Albert Pujols Foundation is a fixture in our community and sets an example for other prominent St. Louis athletes to follow. And because Pujols represents the Cardinals and St. Louis, it was nice to see him receive overdue national attention for his charitable deeds. I wonder how many U.S. baseball fans were aware of the depth of Pujols' commitment to those less fortunate." Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/bernie-miklasz/article_331a7675-8f0c-549d-9577-24d8afd37bfd.html#ixzz1QPgXkSVx

I just want a SS who can be average in the field and average at the plate because that is a huge step up from Yuni. If we could rotate counsell and Furcal maybe we could get that but Furcal has been pretty bad this season even when healthy. Hardy will like cost a lot but I would love to get him. I dont want Reyes with what we would have to give. I honestly dont know if we have enough to get him. SS and 3B are the two places we need improvement. 3B could cover itself with Casey bouncing back or Taylor Green coming up. SS has ZERO internal options. If this lineup could get decent production out of the SS and 3B we would be so dangerous. Our rotation is settled in very nicely and Axford is doing his thing.

Minnesota is starting one guy with an OPS over .685! If we lose more than 2 games to them that is disappointing. To put that in perspective Lucroy would be their second best hitter stats wise each night. On the Brewers Lucroy is behind - Weeks, Morgan, Braun, Fielder and Hart. Injuries have crippled that offense with Kubel and Span being out and then injuries to guys who were already underperforming badly in Mauer, Morneau, and Young. I am confused with how that lineup as it is right now was the one that won like 9 of 10 or whatever it was.

I am one of the few who actually like Pujols. I dislike his home run stares but that is about it. He plays hard and I have seen interviews with him and he seems like a good enough guy. Also know some people in St. Louis who know him and say he is a stand up guy

Since we were able to get someone to take Salmons and Maggette's contract what are the odds we can get someone to take Gooden's as well. Man Free agency last year was bad

Or we could just hope JJ goes into one of his prolonged slumps and then Baltimore is willing to deal him. I am a huge Hardy guy as you can tell by my name but the guy is as streaky as they come. Baltimore would be wise to deal him while his value is high

I agree. I like Melvin more than most but he does seem to stick with guys he brought in too long. Yuni should not be on the team and Casey should be sitting for a while.

1 for 10 in his last 3 games average back down to .249 and OPS struggling to stay north of .600. His glove is great but his he rarely walks and does not hit for power. However I would rather have him than Yuni

I thought the first rumor was 10 for 13 and 24. How do we now have to add Ersan and get worse picks?

I think people overrate the Twins right now. I know they are hot but look at that lineup. It is really bad. They still have the second worst record in the AL even after their run. They are getting by on pitching and maybe that staff really is good but I dont fear a rotation of Pavano, Baker, Liriano, Blackburn and Duensing.

That makes sense. He started the first 3 games and got into the 3rd in the 3rd game, but got lit up. After that the length went down and he pitched more back to back games. I think the stretching him out must have been abandoned

Are you sure of this? In a span of like 10 games he pitched 5 times and no time was over 2 innings. He has appeared in at least 10 games in AAA and only went over 2 innings once and that was 2 2/3. If they are stretching him out as a starter they are really taking their time. I am not saying you are wrong but it is confusing to understand how they are exactly stretching him out. Usually when stretching a guy out that at least start the game with him but Jeffress has been used as a late inning guy the last 7 times out. Maybe it started as him being stretched out to start but it doesnt look that way anymore

It may not have been the first of the year, but Tyler Thornburg got in the team photo this week for the BA's prospect hot sheet. I think Gamel got some mention in the man among boys category but that might be it. I still think Thornburg should have made the top list at least once this year but I think his age hurts him.

Odorizzi bounces back from him worst start to go 5.2 giving up 4H 2BB and 2 unearned runs while striking out 11

We got fleeced? Come on. We gave up a no hit shortstop, a reliever who can't through strikes (back in AAA), a solid CF prospect and a young pitcher in Odorizzi who has great potential but is still in A-ball. Over his last 27 innings (6 starts) he has given up 31 hits and walked 10. He has only given up 13 runs in those but he definitely not been dominant lately. I really like Odorizzi and like Cain so we did give up talent but what of my issues with people on this board is that they post something after every great game from a prospect we gave up but not a peep when they struggle

Sad thing is he is doing that. 5 of the 6 Cub outs are K's

To be fair he also was spotted 4 runs in two innings and has given up some hard hits. I would say he is on the hook for 2 to 3 of the runs, but you are right the defense is killing him

Gamecast is calling it a wild pitch. Was that on Greinke or Kottaras? Seriously Zack I had your back earlier! No lead is ever safe in this series. Why is there a rule that any ball the Cubs put in play today is a hit

But I thought Greinke was never allowed to give up a run.I thought he couldnt give up a hit either

Zack may have gotten out but I love seeing a pitcher take an opposing pitcher 9 pitches in the count

I am so tired of people complaining about this team. Just sit back and enjoy the ride. Am I right? I agree 100%. We have the fourth best record in all of baseball, are winning our division, and the team is playing solid baseball, yet you read a lot of stuff hear and our GM has no clue what he is doing, our manager is terrible, and more focus seems to be on our SS, 3B and backup C then our guys who are performing really well

Greinke gave up one run and then Kottaras gave up another. The negativity towards Greinke is kind of strange. He struck out two with a runner on third or at least would have had the second had Kottaras caught an easy ball

For some reason Gamecast says it is an earned run which makes no sense whatsoever.