sbrylski

Actually, Mench and DeRosa both hit lefties well, so it wouldn't make sense to platoon them. It would probably be Hart full time with Gross and Mench platooning, and DeRosa as a bench player that can play all over (3B, 2B, OF). (And a minor objection would be listing Schmidt ahead of Sheets. When Sheets is healthy he is one of the top 10 pitchers in the league, if not better.)

I honestly hope that the fans are the very last thing on Doug Melvin's mind when he makes a move. I would say Melvin is just a fan with control. All fans want to see their team win, be competitive, make the playoffs, ect. So does Melvin, and he's working to get the team there.

I'm much more accustomed to this type of dining: http://wheatlandpca.org/_images/food.jpg

If I were the Cubs, I'd probably do it. Pie did not have a very good AAA season last year. Eyre was good, but they could just go out into FA and sign the best reliever anyway, so I would think he would be expendable. In Hill's last 80 innings last year he had a 2.93 ERA with a 1.05 WHIP though, which is pretty good. I would say this would be the equivalent of us trading Villanueva, Braun, and Wise for Rodriguez. And I'd do that. (Hill's probably better than Villy, but I think Braun might have the edge over Pie)

It's disheartening to see people comparing apples and oranges Isn't that what you are doing when comparing a playoffs where 50% of the teams make it verse a playoffs where 25% of the teams make it?

Kubel would be awesome, though I doubt the Twins would want to take on $11 million in salary. We'd have to pay at least $3-4 million, though it may be worth it.

Any Carl Crawford deal would be sort of Sexon-like. What type of package would it take to get Adam Dunn? Maybe something with Doug Davis? How about Davis, Turnbow, and ZJ? They want pitching.

I disagree. The Brewers biggest problem right now is that the pitching is at a more advanced level than the hitting. If the hitting doesn't catch up, Capuano could be gone before the Brewers offense becomes respectable. I don't agree with this sentiment. The batters are in the bigs, and have at least three years of Capuano to improve as hitters. Weeks-Fielder-Hall-Hart should be a very good middle of the order for the next three-five years. Add in Braun, then guys like Gabe Gross and a veteran catcher. I think the pitching has to keep pace with the hitting, though it seems they are pretty close to being on pace.

He's saying that's the highest amount he would pay, not what he thinks it would take to get him to sign.

Is there anything that will convice some of you that Soriano isn't this Johnny BigGuns that some are making him out to be?

Good post. Its gotta be time to start taking some risks. If your not going to take risks then we are in the wrong business. Yeah, calculated risks. Betting $80 million that Soriano is going to post an .850 OPS for the next 5 years is not a very good gamble, IMO. Look, his OPS's the two years prior to this one were .807 and .821 with OBP's of .324 and .309. And that was in a top 5 hitters park. Can you imagine the backlash if we were in the 1st or 2nd year of a 5 year / $80 million dollar deal and the guy was posting a low 800's OPS and a .315 OBP? Fact is, he is coming off of a career year that he is very unlikely to repeat. I find it crazy to consider giving him $80 million and close to 25% of our payroll. That is a risk that is very unlikely to pay off, IMO. (Notice I'm against signing Soriano, not signing a top free agent in general. This year would be a good time to sign one, but if a player isn't there, we shouldn't reach.)

The most I would go is 4 years / $50 million, which means I wouldn't be getting him.

I would not give up Capuano nor Gallardo. Rogers definatley, Inman probably, Eveland and Jackson go ahead.

Per TampaBayOnline.com: An established ace and two top-tier prospects!? Ouch.

RAA: PRAA:

People who wear headphones, yet they might as well just have speakers because everyone in the room can hear what they are listening to. The PA voice on the Madison Metro buses drives me nuts.

Actually, he averaged 6.1 innings per start, and can still go 7 to 8 innings. I'll give you the third time throught the lineup (9.50 ERA / .339 BAA), but not the second (3.59 ERA / .241 BAA)

Yeah, does anyone have more details about Nix's contract? It seems like he's actually really close to recieve arby.

Yeah, I'd sure love to get a guy like Garcia with much better stuff than Davis. K/9, 2004-2006 Davis - 7.57 Garcia - 6.40 FIP, 2006 Davis - 4.43 Garcia - 4.64 I pretty much consider these two pitchers similar. If anything, an edge to Garcia, but not enough to take on his salary.

Actually, the guy I'd target on the White Sox is Javier Vazquez. His FIP this year was 3.91. He had a high BABIP and a low LOB%, which resulted in his high (4.84) ERA. In comparison, Freddy Garcia's FIP was 4.64. Vazquez is signed to a bigger contract however (1 year left / $12.5 million verse 1 year left / $10 million for Garcia), so we would need to get a few million from the Sox for the deal to go down.

Propose Jenkins for Pat Burrell and $3+ million, lowering his cost to $24 million for 2 years. If that trade goes through, also trade Kevin Mench for a prospect or a relief pitcher. Sign a very good RP, I'll pick out LHRP Jamie Walker (3 years, $10 million (3, 3, 4)) Decline Miller's team option to save $1.5 mil, as he will in all likelyhood pick up his player option. Consider signing a free agent catcher, though the crop is rather weak, and we can do just fine with a Miller/Rivera tandem. (When Miller leaves after next year, Michael Barrett will be a free agent and could be a great signing) Also, explore trading Clark, though it would be okay if he was still around next year. And see if Turnbow still carries any demand, as he seemed to have quite a bit of trade value at the deadline. I'm not ready to give up on him, so it would have to be someone pretty good for me to trade him. Resign Cirillo - 1 year / $1 mil Resign Shouse - 1 year / $2 mil Negotiate with Hall and Capuano to buyout their arby years. Hall - 3 years / ~$16 mil (4, 5.5, 7) Capuano - 3 years / ~16 mil (4, 5.5, 7) Negotiate with Davis for a three year deal Davis - 3 years / ~$18 mil (5, 6.5, 6.5) Move Hall to CF and leave him there, barring any IF injury, for the rest of him time in Milwaukee, hopefully his career. 1. 2B Weeks $ .500 2. 3B Koskie $ 2.000 3. LF Burrell $12.000 4. 1B Fielder $ .330 5. CF Hall ~$ 4.000 6. RF Hart $ .330 7. SS Hardy $ .355 8. C Miller $ 2.250 OF Gross $ .335 OF Clark $ 3.800 OF Nix $ .330 (else Gwynn or IFer) IF Cirillo $ 1.000 C Rivera $ .330 1. Sheets $10.000 2. Capuano ~$ 4.000 3. Bush $ .352 4. Davis ~$ 5.000 5. Villanueva $ .327 LR Eveland $ .330 (else Spurling, Sarfate, other FA, Mench trade) MR Turnbow $ 2.300 MR Walker $ 3.000 MR Wise $ 1.000 SU Shouse $ 2.000 SU Capellan $ .330 CL Cordero $ 5.000 ------- TOTAL $61.199I would welcome Jenkins back, I just don't think he will. If he isn't traded for a big leaguer, Gross starts in a LF platoon with Mench, also getting time in CF if Hall does have to play some infielder because of injury. I'll probably change my mind again. I liked going back and rereading my really long post Edited because inaccurate coding made for extra wide post

I don't know how many people read this, but: 2006 Ben Sheets FIP - 2.48 That is first in the league among all pitchers (except Roman Colon and Hong-Chih Kuo who both worked in relief for under 60 IP.) I can't believe some people think he isn't an ace. EDIT: Bush - 3.94 (44th) Capuano - 4.09 (59th) Davis - 4.43 (99th)

I can't seem to find anywhere that lists their totals for the league. Anyone know?

Has anyone ever seen the movie "Pi"? I'm not a big movie guy, but I really liked that one. The whole movie is in black in white. Here is a summary from wiki: I recommend it.

I would definatley make Inman and Eveland available to them. I'm really warming up to the idea of making a push for him though. I keep hearing about how Melvin wants to add speed to the lineup. C - Miller/Rivera 1B - Fielder 2B - Weeks 3B - Koskie/Cirillo SS - Hardy (or Hall) LF - Crawford CF - Hall (or Gross) RF - Hart With Gross (or Hardy) as top bench bat. That lineup would excite me.