ZoomSlowik

QUOTE(southsideirish @ Jul 25, 2006 -> 11:06 AM) Who are our big OBP guys that will be leading off? I don't get it. We don't have one if we get Soriano and Pods gets squeezed out of the lineup, which is my whole point. Hell, I'd rather have Iguchi lead off in that situation, but that isn't great either. Soriano's OBP is about 65 points higher with men on, and his slugging is almost 100 points higher. Because of that, I'd rather not have him as our leadoff hitter.

QUOTE(sircaffey @ Jul 25, 2006 -> 12:15 AM) Iguchi's whole Japanese career was middle of the order. That's Japan, not the majors. There's a major difference, the league is somewhere between AAA and the majors in terms of quality.

QUOTE(sircaffey @ Jul 25, 2006 -> 12:06 AM) I don't think you mess with Soriano's season right now. He's mashing to all hell, and you risk corrupting him similar to the experiment with Iguchi down in the order. If the Sox signed him to an extension, perhaps you experiment with it next season, but I see zero reasons why to mess with the way he is going now. You're already "messing" with his season by moving him to another team in another league in another park. That could conceivably mess him up just as much if not more. If moving to an extreme pitchers' park and playing a new position doesn't screw him up, I don't see where he bats really affecting it. There's also a big difference between Iguchi and Soriano. For one, Soriano has some experience as a middle of the order hitter. Secondly, he's got a lot more power and is more effective as an RBI-guy, so he's a better fit down there than Iguchi is.

QUOTE(fathom @ Jul 24, 2006 -> 11:52 PM) Soriano fits perfectly in the leadoff spot with this team. We already have a great 3-4-5. I don't really see that as the case. I'd rather have him being a major power threat at like 5 or 6 with our big OBP guys on base already instead of depending on Uribe and Anderson to get on in front of them, or possibly #2. He has more value driving runs in than getting on base in front of other big sticks. Seriously, this is the first year that he has ever cracked 40 walks, and he's never finished the year batting over .300. IMO he's really miscast as a leadoff hitter and people keep putting him there because he can run. The leadoff spot really seems like a waste of his best traits. I don't really like the idea of having a guy that hits 28 homers in an off year leading off. His OBP and impatience aren't really an issue lower in the order as well.

QUOTE(southsideirish @ Jul 24, 2006 -> 11:30 PM) He is a true leadoff hitter. He is better than Podsednik at leading off. If we acquire him, who would bat leadoff? He is not a middle of the order hitter. He is best when batting leadoff, so why move him? And he is not pretty much a leadoff hitter every year. In Texas he was batting 3rd and 5th a lot. I would bet just as much or pretty close to as much as he did leadoff. How is he a true leadoff hitter? I would say that a true leadoff hitter consistently makes contact, gets on base, has good speed, and is willing to take some pitches. Soriano only has one of those traits. Power isn't a pre-requisite. Before this year, Pods got on base a lot more than him. Put him in front of the Yankees lineup the last few years and he scores just as many runs, though obviously the power numbers would be lower. It's debateable as to whether or not he was at his best when batting leadoff. He was in a much better position in the lineup in New York than he was in Texas, which is where he lead off more. Texas had a decent lineup, but he didn't have as many hitters behind him. He had nothing hitting 5th, and Teixeira hadn't really developed yet when he was hitting third. Anyways, his numbers didn't really suffer much in those spots. In 2004 with Texas, he hit .280 with a .328 OBP and a .907 OPS from the third spot. In 2005 he hit .276 with a .301 OBP and a .781 in just under 100 at bats leading off and .270 with a .315 OBP and a .838 OPS from the 5th spot. Those are right around or above his career totals in pretty much every category for the other spots, and shows you that he didn't necessarily dominate EVERY time he lead off. He hit almost exclusively leadoff when he was with the Yankees, and now with the Nationals. That comes out to about 2250 at bats, compared to about 1100 in other spots.

QUOTE(nitetrain8601 @ Jul 24, 2006 -> 11:26 PM) I don't think they told him that part really. I think if Florida made the World Series which they were expected to do, they would've kept that team together. He also got a sizeable extension out of the deal. I seriously doubt the Sox would have given him that much.

QUOTE(southsideirish @ Jul 24, 2006 -> 11:07 PM) He is definitely a leadoff hitter. His best years have always been batting leadoff. He can't hit anywhere else. Think what you want, but he is a leadoff hitter and he would come here to do just that. How could he not hit anywhere else? With his power he can easily hit in the middle of the order. He's pretty much lead off every year, so that'd be true by default. The only time he hit lower in the order was in Texas where he didn't have much protection behind him. He still put up pretty solid numbers down there, and was better in that spot than leading off those years. It still mystifies me why people insist on batting him leadoff. He doesn't get on base nearly enough and doesn't see very many pitches. If we needed a middle of the order bat that'd be one thing, but unless we can get him for only prospects acquiring doesn't make sense to me.

QUOTE(southsideirish @ Jul 24, 2006 -> 10:52 PM) He would bat leadoff, not middle of the order. We have enough in the middle of the order with Thome, Konerko, Dye, Pierzynski, and Crede. He's not really a leadoff hitter though. He's having a monster year and his OBP still isn't much higher than Pods. His career OBP is a pathetic .325. It's like .360 this year, but I'd attribute a lot of that to teams pitching around him (his OBP is .338 with no one on, .400 with runners on, despite a virtually identical BA). Just because he can run doesn't mean he's a good leadoff hitter. He displays very little discipline at the plate.

Honestly, if it brought back a potential impact player, the only player I'd even remotely miss is Sweeney. Fields seems to be blocked right now, and I don't have a ton of faith in the other guys.

To whomever "LiveWire" is: I have removed your team from the league because I have no idea who you are. If this was a mistake and you are on the roster, please post here or contact me. Otherwise, you will be banned from the league if you try to join again.

If you really need the bench spot you can drop Harden. He could come back and be a major factor down the stretch though, so I'd personally like to stash him (in fact, I did in one league). Lee is probably an even better player to keep on the roster after what he did last year. If he comes back, he can have a monster impact. I did the same thing with Lance Berkman last year. He missed the first two months and started slow, but he basically won the league for me in the playoffs. I guess it depends on whether you think you need hitting or pitching more. Both can be impact players down the stretch. Lee might be a little off because of the wrist though, just something to consider.

QUOTE(shawnhillegas @ Jul 24, 2006 -> 03:47 PM) first of all, there is no pitching available. second of all, trading tyler lumsden does not mean you are abandoning your core here folks...i mean, lumsden has never been mentioned on any national circuit, hes not exactly a top of the line prospect nationally. pitching AND defense is the key part there. A Soriano-Pods-Dye outfield is pretty horrendous defensively. Balls would be landing in the gaps all over the place, making our pitching look even worse.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Jul 24, 2006 -> 02:35 PM) Then there should be a window to sign a long term deal then with Soriano. Soriano is a hell of a player and is young, and can play at a high level for a long time. But Bmac for a 2 month rental is a bit high. Prospects I could care less about, bmac actually showed that he could play in the majors. Soriano is already 30. I wouldn't call that young. I agree that B-Mac would be an insanely high price and doesn't make sense for a guy that is only a lock to be on your team for the rest of the year.

For those of you suggesting that Soriano is a long-term leadoff hitter, take a look at his career OBP again. It's .325. It's around .360 this year, but how often would you pitch to him in that lineup? If it's McCarthy for Soriano, I won't be happy at all. If it's for other prospects and Pods, I can live with it. I don't want to see him leading off for the next 5 years or so though (assuming we try to re-sign him). As for MacDougal, he's a project with a great arm, but Lumsden is a fairly high price for a guy with little proven success and injury issues.

Who is that Livewire team?

This doesn't exactly excite me. He's having a good season, but he's very expensive (money and talent) and is a pending FA. Plus he's not really a defensive upgrade. That career .325 OBP also worries me, although somehow he's already reached his career high in walks this year.

QUOTE(Frankensteiner @ Jul 22, 2006 -> 10:03 PM) Nomo was a different case than Willis. His numbers got progressively worse with each successive year. That would support the theory of batters getting familiar with his delivery. I'm not sure how to explain away the 2 good season he had upon his return to the NL west. Again though, Willis having his best season in year 3 would seem to dispute the notion that he's a gimmick pitcher, which is the only reason given as to why he's not as good as his numbers. Or is there some other reasoning I'm not familiar with? I don't see how the fact that Willis was at his best in his third year changes things. He actually pitched better, that would be the major factor. That's the same as Nomo coming back and doing well for a couple of years. Just being familiar with his delivery doesn't necessarily translate to success. He does throw pretty hard, so he will be tough at times. That's far from being able to put up a lot of great seasons though. He might not get Nomo-bad, but I don't see him being worth what he'll fetch. It's not about him being "as good as his numbers" because a lot of his numbers aren't that good. His walk and strikeout totals have never been very impressive. Plus a 3.94 ERA in the NL in a pitcher's park with a 1.42 WHIP doesn't exactly have me excited.

QUOTE(Frankensteiner @ Jul 22, 2006 -> 11:19 AM) If Willis was really no better than Nomo, do you guys think Kenny would be chasing after him like this? Not to play the "these guys know what they're doing" card, but our scouting department must see that he's not doing this with smoke and mirrors like it's being suggested here. And if we're going by your theory, shouldn't Willis have peaked in his first year instead of his third? It's not like he adopted that delivery last year. Hitters should have been used to seeing him by last season. As far as this year, his numbers are pretty good outside of the horrible month of May. His biggest problem is he's walking too many hitters (BB/9 is the highest of his career). On the other hand, his G/F ratio is the best it's been. Also, saying he pitches in a pitcher's park is irrelavent as his home splits are just terrible compared to his road splits (6.17 ERA vs 2.49). Nomo still had more than one good year. He may have been at his best in his first year, but he was also solid in his second year as well. He also had two other good years much later. The only problem is that he had 5 mediocre to poor years sandwiched in between. He also struck out a lot more guys than Willis. So far Willis has about half a good year as a rookie, a poor season in his second, a great year in his third year, and has been mediocre so far this year. That's far from enough evidence to conclude that he's an ace for the next 10 years.

For some reason I've never really been a fan of any pitchers. The only one I can think of is Shingo. It was fun seeing him make people look stupid with that breaking stuff. I also loved his intro and the gong after every out.

What the hell happened to Jake Peavy? The guy is absolutely awful this year. He's getting rocked again, and is ERA is over 5 as of right now. That is absolutely horrible, especially in the NL in an serious pitcher's park. How is this the same guy that posted ERA's of 2.27 and 2.88 the last two years while striking out more than a batter per inning?

QUOTE(ChWRoCk2 @ Jul 21, 2006 -> 03:50 PM) What Zoom said, if you happen to have an all star outfielder off the bench and are in need of a third basemen then you could think about it, but all those for vlad wouldnt even be worth it let alone santana I don't know if I'd go that far. I'd definitely take Wright and Colon for Vlad. However, it's not even close to enough for Vlad and Santana.

QUOTE(dasox24 @ Jul 20, 2006 -> 10:45 PM) Is there any team that yall could just compare to the White Sox? That would make my decision a lot easier. I definitely can't think of anyone that fits that profile. You'd have to find a non-trendy team with decent but not stellar spending that is generally competitive and at least makes the Champions' League every once in a while. The elite teams (Man U, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool) all have a seriously dedicated following. I guess if I had to pick one that fits it'd probably be Liverpool. They have an impressive history, but outside of their recent Champions' League title they haven't been as successful as those other teams recently. I don't really have a team, maybe one of these days I'll pick one. I was following AC Milan in Serie A because they had a lot of players that I liked, but with the match-fixing scandal I might have to pick a new team.

I'm not a Willis fan at all. He's way too erratic and streaky for my liking, plus his delivery looks like a Tommy John surgery waiting to happen. He walks way too many guys and doesn't strike out a whole lot of them, which is generally a recipe for disaster. His WHIP is 1.42 this year. I don't see a whole lot of 2005-Dontrelle in his future. He looks like the second coming of Hideo Nomo to me.

Pass. You'd basically be dealing two studs for one. Granderson is okay but not that special, and Colon is a serious downgrade from Santana.

QUOTE(WCSox @ Jul 19, 2006 -> 05:54 PM) Even if Freddy is a slight improvement of Trachsel, the prospects to get Freddy plus the $14 million or so left on his contract would preclude the deal. If Minaya has to give up something to get a better pitcher, he's going to need a significant improvement over Trachsel in return, not just a minor one. This is the Mets we're talking about, money isn't an issue for them. If it were someone like the Reds that might matter, but the Mets are anything but cheap right now. I would argue that Garcia is still a lot better than Trachsel anyways, that guy sucks big time. At least Freddy is still semi-competent, especially if he moves to the NL and pitches half his game in Shea.