jjfanec

Tom H is reporting that Taylor Green just underwent wrist surgery and will likely miss the first month of the season. It is odd that they did not find this until now. Hopefully it is not a lingering issue and Taylor can get his swing back quickly.

Now if Sheets does sign somewhere at worst we will have one 1st round, three sandwich pick, and three 2nd round picks. So we could have 4 picks in the top 54 and 7 picks in the top 75. That along with last years many picks should help restock the lower level of the minor leagues. I wish Shouse the best in Tampa. It puts him on a team I like anyway. That said getting a sandwich pick for a 40 year old loogy is a plus.

Baseball Prospectus had him out of the top 11 maybe a 2 star prospect. Sickels had at 8 and graded him at a B- thinking about downgrading him to a C+. Garrison is not ranked in the top 20 by Sickels. The two guys we drafted with the Linebrink picks were Dykstra (8 and C+ in Sickels, 7th in BA, 9th and 3 star by BP) and Fredrickson (18 and C in Sickels and just missed and probably 2 star in BP). These two guys will determine the trade just as much as Inman and Garrison but Inman's falling stock and Garrison's injuries do make this trade look better than it was originally received.

I really doubt that Salome could get a number 1 type starter let alone more prospects. There are serious questions about his ability as a catcher defensively. There is no doubt he can hit but would you trade Salome where is now for Yo a couple years ago. No way. Salome is rated behind Jeffress in the Brewers own system, so maybe best case scenario is he nets someone like Jeffress who has great upside but also some question marks. I do not see how we could get anymore in return. That being said I am biased and like Lucroy as our future catcher more because his defense is more polished.

Well I still doubt Sheets is an option since they have 5 starters already and Hughes and Kennedy to back them up. So we do not have to worry about only getting a 4th round pick. I think Juan cruz would make a ton of sense for the Yankees. Only a 4th round pick for a really good set up man. They still have a 1st round pick as well.

While I love Yo, I would take Lincecum in a heartbeat. It is interesting how hit and miss prospects are even when they are in AAA. Bailey and Hughes were ahead of Yo but both struggled mightily. Yo was hurt most of the year but still pitched more meaningful innings than Bailey. That said young arms are a premium and I would love to try and get as many as we can and see who sticks. It would be nice to develop pitching like the Twins.

These are my feeling exactly. With the rotation we have right now we need as good of defense as we can have and trading Cameron hurts that immensely. I would love Hughes and would take Kennedy although obviously I am not as high on him. Someone early said Kennedy project at best as a 3 and most likely is a 4/5 kind of guy. With our starting pitching in the minors being slim especially at the top levels I would love to get a guy who could be even a middle of the rotation guy. Having a number 4 starter who is young and cheap is better than having to give a free agent 5 million to come in and pitch or a giving a guy like Suppan 10 million a year.

This is a thread asking if the Cubs have improved. I think most fans are anxious to rely on two young pitchers one coming off an injury and another who has had a history of injuries. So, we are honest and not setting a double-standard. The overwhelming majority of people on this board seem to have a realistic view of the team going into next year. We know the Brewers have a lot of questions. However, what this threads main point is is that the Cubs also have more weaknesses than some may realize and their off-season was underwhelming.

In looking at the Yankees new rotation they have CC, Burnett, Wang, Joba and Pettitte. That leaves Kennedy and Hughes on the outside looking in at a rotation spot. CC, Burnett, Wang and Joba are all there for the next few years. That leaves Pettitte's spot as the only open one in the next couple years barring injury. They do not really need both guys although one would be good for depth. What would it take to get one of these guys. It would be nice to have a young starter with good upside (albeit coming off a rough year) to go with Yo and Manny. Obviously, Hughes would cost more but I wonder what the cost would be right now.

I think Gregg ending up with more saves that Wood would be a near impossibility or it would need at least a severe Carlos Marmol injury. They have said Marmol will close and Gregg will be the set up guy. To me this hurts them because Marmol was so valuable in his previous role and I think he loses some value at the new spot.

Prince > LeeWeeks = Miles/Fontenot Hardy > Theriot Ramirez >> Hall/Lamb Bradley > Hart Cameron > Johnson Braun > Soriano Soto >> Kendall The offenses do not look that different heading into next year for these two team so why are the Cubs in good shape to lose one or two starters but the Brewers desperately need to add pitching. The Cubs are average or below at 2B, SS, CF. Even Derrek Lee was only 9 out of 11 in OPS for 1B in the NL. I really do not think they have an offense that can withstand 2 of their starters going out especially with the lack of depth they have in the rotation. Also you disregard BAbip which you just cannot do. Sure BABIP could be used incorrectly. There are some guys who have proven that they can sustain a high BABIP over thier careers but the Cubs players being looked at have not shown that. In 2007 Theriot had an .50 points lower than last year. That is a huge difference. Reed Johnson had a BABIP of .360 for his career it is closer to .330, although he did have one year at .360. The people using BABIP in play to show that the Cubs regress a bit on offense are the same people who said Braun's numbers would regress last year and that Kendall's first half numbers were somewhat of a fluke due to the same stat. The stat when used correctly really does point to reasonable projections. I also laugh at the idea that Cubs players have high BABIP in play because they know how to put good wood on the ball. I watched Theriot hit the ball at a lot last year and good wood is not a good word for his hitting. He looks a lot like Kendall to me and when his bloops and slow rollers do not find green grass his numbers drop just like in 2007.

A salary cap does seem to get people to go to less desirable places because teams are on a level playing field financially. Big name guys have signed with Minnesota, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, and many other teams. As for people saying a team like the cowboys can still go get whomever they want that is not true. Right now the Packers have 23 or so million to spend in FA where the Cowboys have 10 million. The Cowboys will not be able to go out and sign a couple guys to huge contracts. They can probably get one big guy and lower level guy or two and sign their rookies. Is the salary cap perfect? nope. Is baseball's system broken? Nope. However there definitely are things that could be done to level the field a little bit. The reality is if a big spending team has a smart gm they are set for a long time like Boston. If they have a free-spending owner but make dumb decision they are not gauranteed anything. The reality is the margin for error is so much different for the Brewers to even the Cubs and especially the Yankees that something like a cap looks more appealing each year to me. I don't know if it is a stricter luxury cap, or higher level cap that allows the Yankees and Red Sox and the like to spend just not outrageously. Listening to Collin Cowherd (who I don't really care for) he said a cap was not a good idea but contraction would solve baseballs problems. Not really sure about that but it was an idea I did not see thrown out here.

I definitely do not want to insinuate that you like baseball more than football is wrong. I like baseball more than football, I think partly because of the long season, and I have seen the Packers win and want badly to see the Brewers in the Series. I just think some tweaks to system whether it be a cap, a better more useful luxury tax, or revenue sharing that goes into payroll not owners pocket baseball could level the playing field a bit. I think passion can be raised for the average baseball fan if a more level playing field is set up. Over 90% of NFL fans go into a season thinking their team has a shot, or they find out that they do have shot part way through the year (like Atlanta, Baltimore, Arizona, Miami, etc this year). I do not think that is the same about baseball and I think that keeps the passion away from the average fan. Where in football a lot of the average fans I know still are passionate about it. Do not get me wrong I love baseball and do not what a complete upheaval, I am just sick of the certain free-agents only really having 8 teams that they would go to. That along with teams being able to spend over slot in the draft to make up for losing picks to signing free agents keeps the competitive balance down. A small market team has to draft amazingly well for numerous years to compete. Part of the reason we are good now is because of our terrible teams giving us high draft picks and then hitting on a good handful of those picks.

Those are good points except that the NLF on Fox, NBC, and CBS each have higher ratings (10.4, 9.9, 9.5) than the World Series did this year (8.4). So, even when they are up against one another they beat the best baseball has to offer. Remember that is average so is not just Cowboys games. It is easy to say the product is not as good so dont look at the ratings (that is what I do with Two and a Half Men - i hate that show), but the reality is people like it and gravitate to it. The fact most people like the product the NFL is putting out there. I think the fact that football gets high rating even if it star teams or players are not going head to head is a great testimony to its strength. Yankee's vs Red Sox in the playoffs did beat Monday night football a couple times when they went up against one another but that is one of the few times baseball one head to head that I could find. How has not having a salary cap lead to great match-ups in the world series? Philly vs Tampa, Red Sox vs Rockies, St. Louis vs Detroit, White Sox vs Astros, Red Sox vs St. Louis ( the best of the bunch) etc are not big match ups.

You may say that but the reality the rapidly growing fan base and consistent dominance in tv ratings shows that a lot of other people disagree. I love the fact that this year the Houston finished with the same amount of wins as Washington. Teams that make smart draft choices and good free agent decisions can turn franchises around way quicker than in baseball. Atlanta was able to bounce back this year and it was a great story. In baseball it is just harder to do that. Sure drafting well can do it, but lets look at reality. Tampa had to lose for what 12 seasons and get great draft picks in order to compete. The ability for a bad team to turn it around quickly is what makes football's system much better to me. Sure players change teams but it really is not as bad as people make it sound. It is actually no different than what the Brewers will be looking at. In baseball lower market teams are forced to break-up teams and trade players so they can keep under the cap. In football teams are forced to decide who to keep and who to let go. The Packers have not lost a player they would have really liked to keep since Mike Wahle or maybe Ryan Longwell due to salary cap reasons. Not that many good players actually come up for free agency each year. The last big name qb was Drew Brees and that was only because San Diego had Philip Rivers and wanted to move on. I cannot remember the last young running back who hit the open market. Each year a couple studs do hit the market but not that many. Last year the best qb was Chad Pennington after he got cut, the best wide receiver was Bernard Berrian, the best running back was a career back up Michael Turner who SD could have kept but did not think they needed to. The fact is just as many if not more big names hit free agency in baseball this year including CC, Burnett, Manny, Tex, K-Rod, Lowe, Dempster but only 8-10 teams can afford to try and sign most of these guys without crippling their payroll in the long term. Footballs non-guaranteed contracts also help because there is less risk in the deals.

Gamel at 86th is crazy to me, because his bat will play in a corner OF spot or 1B (not the traditional big hr guy but definitely solid). I really do not see Salome ahead of Gamel because both have serious defensive questions but Gamel looks to be able to move around because of his size where as Salome is a catcher or DH. I guess I can see where we do not have the top-end guys because I agree that MILB probably overrates Escobar but I think both Escobar and Gamel should be between 20-35.

Gamel at 86th is crazy to me, because his bat will play in a corner OF spot or 1B (not the traditional big hr guy but definitely solid). I really do not see Salome ahead of Gamel because both have serious defensive questions but Gamel looks to be able to move around because of his size where as Salome is a catcher or DH. I guess I can see where we do not have the top-end guys because I agree that MILB probably overrates Escobar but I think both Escobar and Gamel should be between 20-35.

Gamel at 86th is crazy to me, because his bat will play in a corner OF spot or 1B (not the traditional big hr guy but definitely solid). I really do not see Salome ahead of Gamel because both have serious defensive questions but Gamel looks to be able to move around because of his size where as Salome is a catcher or DH. I guess I can see where we do not have the top-end guys because I agree that MILB probably overrates Escobar but I think both Escobar and Gamel should be between 20-35.

Would giving Prince a two year deal like this make him easier to trade next off-season if we wanted? His salary for 2010 would be known up from so teams looking to trade for him would not have to wonder about what he would get in arby. At the same time the teams who would look at trading for him probably are not the teams that really worry about a guys arby numbers too much.

I wonder if Green can be a quality 2B. Some of the questions on him have to do with his glove at 3B and if he has enough power to be a 3B. He would actually provide good power for a middle infield guy. Now I don't know if he has the quickness for 2B but I would be interested to see.

I know they have questions, but I am just looking off rankings and if a guy is a top 10 prospect (which I thought was too high) like Escobar that seems like an impact player. I am okay with the statement that we don't have any impact players, because each scout views players differently. I am interested to see what this organization will be next year if Gamel and Escobar are able to spend most of the year in AAA.

I know they have questions, but I am just looking off rankings and if a guy is a top 10 prospect (which I thought was too high) like Escobar that seems like an impact player. I am okay with the statement that we don't have any impact players, because each scout views players differently. I am interested to see what this organization will be next year if Gamel and Escobar are able to spend most of the year in AAA.

I know they have questions, but I am just looking off rankings and if a guy is a top 10 prospect (which I thought was too high) like Escobar that seems like an impact player. I am okay with the statement that we don't have any impact players, because each scout views players differently. I am interested to see what this organization will be next year if Gamel and Escobar are able to spend most of the year in AAA.

I have wondered this too. Escobar was the number 8 prospect on MILB and Gamel was 23. That seems like impact prospects. I am sure Law must not be as high on Escobar or Gamel but when you have two guys in the top 23 that is pretty solid.

I have wondered this too. Escobar was the number 8 prospect on MILB and Gamel was 23. That seems like impact prospects. I am sure Law must not be as high on Escobar or Gamel but when you have two guys in the top 23 that is pretty solid.