Al the Thinking Man

No way I give up on Steitz this early. That's a big investment to throw away. You can't tell me we have 11-12 pitchers at Beloit that we feel have the potential to pitch in the bigs. Stietz throws hard, and many of his problems (16 balks this year) reeks of concentration issues. Way too young to think he doesn't have a shot.

I posted the same thing at Ramblings, JR. And Eddie Perez was available to PH for the P spot, if Brooks reached. I believe the issue here is Ned doesn't believe Royce is awful because several years ago, Royce had some good offensive seasons. Talk about being a decade behind, Clayton is below replacement level, and he's still allowed to hit as if he's ARod. Don't forget, we're only paying this clod $1.75 mil. That's why going young and cheap isn't bad.

Just wanted to mention that... Al's got a good post on his blog with a link to Baseball Crank.... worth checking out. Xis obviously does not know the difference between Spam and marketing. How much do I owe you, Bill?

My biggest problem with having Ford in the rotation is that it seems as though he's being set up to fail, rather than to succeed? *cough* Ramblings *cough*

Free SCOOTER!!!! .304/.388/.522, 910 OPS For this, he was recently removed from the Mets' 40 man. Yet, they see no problem paying Mo Vaughn $12 mil per.

There are no positives to signing a major league contract, not for the club or the player. Ask Willy Mo Pena. The negatives are the player wastes a spot on the 40 man (not the 25), and wastes an option every year until he's out. Then, he sits on the bench like Pena, as he's a AA player who need sto play and learn, but can't be sent down because the team will lose him. As I said, I'd lose Weeks and take a compensation pick next season before I'd offer a major league deal. They are wrong and simply a poor way of doing business.

I missed that info from the box score, MB, thanks. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Both those moves were hellishly bad. So by PHing Brooks in the 8th, we could have PH VW in the 9th, and if walked and a lefty brought in to face Brooks, EY would have still been on the bench... Ned, what was ya thinking?

I'm worried about what being a poor starter will do to the young man's (Ford) psyche. While I'm the first to say 19 innings is a small sample, Ford is 22 and was in high A last year. Our #1 goal is to protect him and set him up for success. As long as we limit him to 80-90 pitches or so, I'm OK with using Matt as our 5th starter, unless he embarasses himself. Truthfully though, I'd continue to utilize him in low leverage (with a medium leverage appearance mixed in once every couple weeks) situations.

As if you needed proof luck is the most important thing in extra inings. I agree Batman, Brooks is doing something no one has done since Babe Ruth. He's probably just replacement level at each (though his pitching looks better every time out), but considering no one has done both for 70 years, it is beyond astounding.

Billy Hall's line: .272/.325/.393 21 walks, 24 doubles in just under 300 AB's.

Anyone else think Knox was chosen as an organizational soldier to go to Indy? A .289 AA OBP in 600 AB's would seem to tell me he isn't remotely ready for that level.

It will have to be the agents, as most players, Mark McGwire and Charles Barkley being the loudest, disdain the money unproven kids get.

Peavey, the Astros can start the game at 11PM if they wish. They are under no obligation to play a day game. The Brewers decided to play the odd 4PM game tomorrow to allow folks to attend a fireworks show after the game. They also are starting at 6:30 Saturday to ensure darkness for their fireworks show.

I have little doubt that EY is the worst fielding starting 2B in baseball today. I said that a month ago and got no debate MB. He hits enough to make someone overlook that, however, as he's an FA after this season.

I'm not saying Gwynn can't play D, I'm saying he was chosen because he can hit and take walks.

Gwynn homered tonight...maybe this young fella can hit a bit after all SoCal, we didn't take him for his defense, he's a BA/OBP man.

Indy is getting mighty close to .500 for the complaining going on down there. I hope Rushford gets a shot after VW is dealt.

Take away the horrible start and they're .500 ever since. Don't fool yourself into thinking a team is better than they are. Every team, including the Yankees and Red Sox have had bad runs this year. Even DET's record isn't horrible if you remove the losing streak. They all count the same. Heck, if you take away all the games we lost, we're undefeated. Pity that doesn't matter.

I didn't think PHIL had turf anymore.

I'm not saying don't build for the future, just don't count on it. Play for NOW. Win NOW. Thank you Mr. Perot. In reality, you need to decide if you are in contention and go from there. If you are a true contender, like TOR, you cannot trade away your veterans like Lidle, Stewart, Cat, etc. If you are not, like MIL, you look to get whatever you can for EY, VW, Leskanic, etc. If guys can't help you win in 2005, it makes no difference when you're a game out of 1st. However, it does when you're several games under .500. If you aim for 81 wins, you'll get there, and it'll be mighty hard getting much higher, as you'll probably have to make some deals to get there. Unless you get to the 90 win barrier, a game or two makes no difference. For example, let's say for argument's sake the Crew is on pace to win 79 games. You feel you can reach 81 if you add another starting pitcher, which makes sense to most all of us here. So, do you trade Corey Hart for Cory Lidle (also assuming TOR falls out of the AL East race)? I would not, as it is unlikely we can sign Cory after '03. Therefore, I'd win 79 games, yet have Hart in my system. I put no "special merit" on winning 81 games. But, some would do that deal so they could proudly say they ended the string of sub .500 seasons. They'd be no closer to contention, and they wouldn't have Hart in the system. They may be able to add a #1 pick if they offer Lidle arby, but that's a maybe. Therefore, it is very difficult to play for now and for later. You need to know your place in the success cycle and go all out to win, given your place in it. Change the scenario to finishing with 89 wins, with no true wildcard team dominating, that might be a trade I'd consider (though, if TOR falls out of the race, it's unlikely I'd need to give a top guy like Hart, hence I digress). But, until you're in the 90 win area, you're still building. As I believe someone here says in their signature, don't worry about anything but the final goal.

2 more scoreless innings for Nance, by the way.

Being paid by the hour is a new thing, the NBA started it, as they have a maximum offer. Ray Allen said he saved himself millions by having a lawyer, not an agent. And they can hire a PR firm or a personal assistant or two to line up gigs like endorsements, and take care of personal needs. Don't need to pay an agent millions to do it.

I think you'll find a picture of Dustin Lansford in the dictionary under "pissing your career away". What a frickin' waste.

Compared to the drivel that Wellstone's plane was shot down, this is like nuclear physics. Have a ball doing your predictions, my friend.

Nice effort from Rusch, huh? And, that's a bad night for Chen, huh?