Fatter than Joey

My Tivo has gone 848 days without making a call.

No, but it is likely that Durham will drop by 40 points while Weeks will improve by 40. I think it is likely one of those events happen, but probably not both.

Ray-Ray had a .345 BABIP last season, so expecting him to replicate a .813 OPS is a unwise imho. Ray-Ray has had a lot of seasons at ~.800 OPS. He is good at hitting the ball. Will he decline? -- probably -- but Weeks was at .742 -- I don't think Durham is going to drop ~.70 points. As for Rickie, I think it's a good bet that his BA will in fact rise this coming season. He has spent the bulk of his career at ~.235 -- I hope he will improve... Ender points out above his 2007 season was decent -- which it was -- but his BA was identical -- it was his BB rate that dropped that hurt his OBP. I think it may be prudent to have a backup ready for Weeks in place.

No.. McGoohan was #6 in a Simpsons episode.

There is a reason I have "SIX" tattooed on my left forearm. They made reference of this on Simpsons.

Free agent Ben Sheets has informed the Brewers that he is going in a different direction. So would a "different direction" indicate he is looking from moving from the DL to the mound? I can't believe he would just flat out tell them that he doesn't want to come back though, especially since it doesn't seem like teams are beating down his door to sign him to a large deal. I suspect he has teams interested in him, but perhaps everyone was waiting were the Lowe's and Smoltz's ended up first. He probably is not going to get a large deal from anyone, but he is certainly assured a 2 year deal at least from someone.

Good deal... another one down...

Of course my district didn't have to bus anyone around so maybe that makes a difference. Exactly -- It's not just the buses, but the kids standing outside at the stops... I think they are a little more careful about harmful cold today than they were 20 years ago as well -- which is probably a good thing.

Agreed -- I think he had pretty big pipes in 1981.

Are they an uncut sheet? or just laid out super neat.

This is Raines' Rookie Card -- http://www.mybaseballcardcollection.com/d/3681-2/1981+Topps+Traded+Tim+Raines+%23816.JPG Seems like he has pretty good pipes. Here is one in his later years... http://www.checkoutmycards.com/CardImages/Cards/004/796/02F.jpg and here is a recent shot http://www.boreme.com/media/yr2004/i-body-builder.jpg

Do we expect any of these guys to sign before arby, like Hardy did? I'm doubtful that Prince will, but what about the others? The Brewers seem to put an emphasis on avoiding arby I expect most of them will get a pre Arby's deal -- and Prince's case will get uber ugly.

Do we expect any of these guys to sign before arby, like Hardy did? I'm doubtful that Prince will, but what about the others? The Brewers seem to put an emphasis on avoiding arby I expect most of them will get a pre Arby's deal -- and Prince's case will get uber ugly.

Do we expect any of these guys to sign before arby, like Hardy did? I'm doubtful that Prince will, but what about the others? The Brewers seem to put an emphasis on avoiding arby I expect most of them will get a pre Arby's deal -- and Prince's case will get uber ugly.

Do we expect any of these guys to sign before arby, like Hardy did? I'm doubtful that Prince will, but what about the others? The Brewers seem to put an emphasis on avoiding arby I expect most of them will get a pre Arby's deal -- and Prince's case will get uber ugly.

Do we expect any of these guys to sign before arby, like Hardy did? I'm doubtful that Prince will, but what about the others? The Brewers seem to put an emphasis on avoiding arby I expect most of them will get a pre Arby's deal -- and Prince's case will get uber ugly.

Then... yawn... you already know that anything a hit or BA tells you is covered by OBP & SLG No they do not. I understand that BA is a component of BA and SLG. For example you said this: What you want to see out of a higher BA will be reflected in higher OBP & OPS. This is an erroneous statement -- because it assumes that the walk rate will remain constant, which it will most certainly not, especially for a younger player. However, you cannot tell by OBP or SLG the frequency of which a batter gets a hit -- or the BA. Now, in a more generic discussion about a player's offensive value, I certainly agree you can bypass the BA and talk about OBP -- however in this discussion, it seems like everyone agrees that for Weeks to improve he is going to have to improve his BA. I don't think anyone expects Weeks to walk any more than he already is. It is a fact that Weeks had the worst BA among the composite 2b in the NL, and one of the worst SLG. Weeks should not have the worst BA in the NL 2B. You have used BA to show a place where Weeks can and needs to improve -- therefore I feel it is fair game to show how bad Weeks was at hitting the ball. As I said before, Weeks is really good at drawing walks (probably among the best 2b) and that is probably the predominant reason (besides his price tag) he is still has a starting job. I am and have been all along talking about Weeks & Durham while they were both playing for the Brewers. This is not true.... You said this... Durham is a far inferior fielder & weaker hitter at this point I found this statement possibly incorrect regarding the 2 players defense, and certainly questionable, when you look at how Weeks and Durham did overall in 2008 at the plate. I certainly would not argue that Weeks is a better hitter at the end of 2008 than Durham was, or that Durham is a weaker hitter -- In fact I would argue Durham is a better hitter. Now, you did then say this.... Weeks was better than Ray for the entire time after he came over from SF. I think statement is probably a bit subjective. As you pointed out they probably did not face the same pitchers, and there was probably some intention to what 2b faced what pitchers. You are probably right that Weeks produced as much as Durham did (as Brewers), but if you want to say that based on that last month of the season Weeks is a better hitter overall than Durham, I'd regurgitate the standard "arbitrary small sample" argument. Clearly this is Ep. I-III jet-booster shoes R2D2, not Ep. IV-VI 0.78 mph R2D2 Yes -- I should have referred to R5-D4 whose speed remained constant through episodes I-VI. My bad. I can't honestly believe you're going to try & pretend I'm making this up. And it would be nice to not have you just mock me, for whatever that's worth. No, I don't think you are making up the existence of Weeks haters, however, I don't know why people need to give their arguments a bit of depth by somehow implying that they are part of some downtrodden minority, or that "the many" are some sort of faction of hive-minded drones. Same thing with "the casual fan", -- that one grates on me as well. However, I am certainly not trying to mock you..... at least until you start talking about Star Wars http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif -- then you better strap on The Force, because I will be bringing the mockery Death Star-style. Why does it matter what he did for another team? You seem to be out to argue points that no one is trying to make. You clearly said "Durham is a far inferior fielder & weaker hitter at this point" -- I would disagree on "far inferior" and "weaker hitter". I'd point to 2008 as evidence that Durham is a better hitter than Weeks. What I've been talking about is the assumption among many/the chosen/the forgotten that Durham was better than Weeks once he got here. I think you have made a good argument to support your POV on this.

It was a Kevin Costner movie and no one was lucid? Was she in a wheelchair?

A lot of schools have already punted on Thursday. Probably 40 or so.

OBP & OPS include everything that BA gives. Yawn. Yes, I know this, however a hit is not the same as the walk -- I have already stated that Weeks can draw walks. I would hope that he would not be the 2b with the worst BA in the NL (based on my composite team/2b comparison). Weeks is fantastic at getting walks, terrible at hitting. Notice that word's lack of existence in my post regarding his defense. OK Fair enough, -- Let me how I think of Weeks defense in Star War terminologies... Weeks v. C3PO -- Weeks gets to more balls, than C3PO, but C3PO makes better throws. Weeks v. R2D2 -- Weeks throws the ball better than R2D2, but gets to less balls. There. I hope we are now on the same page. I think it's entirely reasonable for him to improve on his BA from 2008, and by quite a bit. Agreed, if Weeks's BA slips in a substantial manner, he probably will not be playing fulltime. He has more room ahead than behind. Yes. At 2B, Durham's lack of range made/makes him an inferior defender. I don't think you can just say that authoritatively. Let's look at the facts. Durham v. C3PO -- Durham gets to less balls than C3PO but makes better throws. Durham v. R2D2 -- Durham gets to less balls than R2D2 but makes many better throws. And the math on the 7/21-31 stat lines is my own, so I apologize if there are any errors (I think I got things right). I said Durham was better in 2008 -- so your math seems lacking. who many suppose was better than Weeks after his acquisition in 2008, actually wasn't. Weeks was better Who are these "many" that you keep referring to? -- Are they like the "chosen" or the "forgotten"? Why does it matter more that Durham was better than Weeks post-acquisition when Durham was better over 2008? Durham improved our 2b situation from when he was acquired. Durham was a better 2b in 2008.

I'm not sure I agree with that. You don't agree.... that they are dumb? that they lost their kids? or that they should have lost their kids? I think it is a bit extreme, but they really brought this on themselves, by pitching a fit when a store would not make them a Happy Birthday Adolph Hitler cake. I can see the Libertarian POV that says that anyone should be able name their kid whatever they want -- but at some point a kid should not have to deal with being named "Blankity Blank Jones" (fill in your favorite expletives) if a parent chose to name their kid that, or even worse, Ned Yost IV. There probably is a line that these dipwads crossed.

I didn't say he had a better year than Durham at the plate. So you are saying that Weeks was so far superior in the field that it washed away Durham's offensive advantage? If you are, I'd probably have to see some sort of stats to back that up. He's not as bad as many people vow. I am awesome, but I am not many people. I think Weeks is defensively among the worst starting second basemen. Even if he isn't as bad as the "many people vow" it certainly doesn't mean he is good. Whether people like it or not, he gets to a lot of balls that other 2B don't. I like that he gets to a lot of balls, in fact I love it.... -- What I don't like is the 17 hops it requires him to get the ball to 1b. You can throw out BA since you're using OBP No you can't throw out BA. Especially since the Weekster's keep talking about his potential improvement in BA. Hitting a baseball with a bat is a skill, one that Weeks is about the worst in the NL at among second basemen. I am not optimistic that Weeks can improve his BA -- and I think if that is the case, he will be walked much less in the future. Weeks saving grace is that he can draw walks, and for that I will tip my hat to him. If he couldn't draw walks, he'd be playing in Pittsburgh right about now. I certainly can buy into the idea that we don't have reasonable options to replace him, and if he gets $2M in Arbys, we have bigger problems to solve.

If he continues to play like this he'll probably just let Weeks walk when he becomes a FA or trade him. This seems contradictory -- If Weeks as an "average player" has value, why would DM let him walk? Why not pay him the going rate for average players? Weeks was better than Ray for the entire time after he came over from SF. Ray put up way better numbers in 2008 than Weeks did. People just fight & claw their way against seeing anything aside from what they already think they know or want to see. If you compare Weeks to each NL team's composite 2bman in 2008. Weeks would have the worst BA, the 7th best OBP, the 11th best SLG and the 9th overall OPS. -- That, to me is below average production. He's not the butcher people continue to claim he is in the field, He is definitely a bad second baseman, if you want to argue to what degree he is bad, that's a good topic for debate, but he doesn't play 2b well.

Bumpity Bump Dumb parents lose their kids.

I know he isn't Ryan Howard, but it is one year later and baseball inflation was probably 10% last year. Basically how the Arby's process works -- is that one side submits a number and the player's side submits a number, and then the Arbysnator, picks one number or the other, not some sort of midway point. So, if this happened Prince offer: $14M DM offer: $1M The Arbysnator would award Arby's to Prince, not because Prince's number is a fair reasonable figure, but because it is more reasonable than DM's. To some degree, I believe that is what happened with Ryan Howard -- It was not that some Arbysnator thought that Howard was a $10M player, rather $10M was more reasonable than what the Phillies put on the table. So in conclusion, I really don't think it is apt to look at Howard's situation as some sort of benchmark.