Balta1701

QUOTE(The Ginger Kid @ Jul 28, 2006 -> 12:45 PM) Win a game against a pitcher who's been lights out. Now that would be impressive. If there's anything left of "Big Game" Freddy Garcia, if that pitcher we saw last year isn't totally dead, then today's the day we'll see it. Winning a must-win game in the middle of a slump against a pitcher who's been dominant lately...that's what Garcia was good at last year.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Jul 28, 2006 -> 12:31 PM) Good stuff and thanks for the recap. Mac is definatley a good interview. He knows what he wants to do, is mature for a guy his age, and really has an understanding for the game and a strong work ethic. I'll be really happy when the deadline passes and he's still on our roster. I'll be even happier in a few years when that change up earns him a really nice looking trophy after he moves into the starting rotation.

QUOTE(SnB @ Jul 28, 2006 -> 10:36 AM) so we all went tarp sliding last night, no wonder people were worried about mark getting injured, this bruise on my hip is HUGE You know...maybe that's the reason for Buehrle's last 5 games...

Do you really think Hezbollah is "getting the crap beat out of them" The Israeli progress has been ungodly slow, Hezbollah has emerged as a much stronger anti-Israeli force than they were before, they've taken some casualties but also inflicted some, and made their head look like a hero to the entire middle east. They've inflamed the entire area against Israel and the U.S., and they've proven to everyone that they're quite a bit stronger than just a few years ago. Beyond that, they've made Israel's military might look less scary to everyone else, since Israel can bomb countries into the stone age but hasn't really hurt the group itself, Israel has nearly crushed the Lebanese government to the point that Hezbollah is basically the only force left to run that country, and they're about an inch away from having what remains of the Lebanese army openly joining with that group.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Jul 28, 2006 -> 11:00 AM) I honestly dont know if he will be traded at all. Detroit will not give up Sanchez, and he also wouldnt be the only piece of the puzzle as the players Bowden was asking from LAA were much higher quality at this point. If I was Washington, I could make Zumaya a cornerstone of any deal. He must be traded. Washington knows they won't be resigning him at any reasonable price. Bowden's job probably depends on how good the package he gets for Soriano is. If the package is 2 draft picks, I doubt he keeps his job.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Jul 28, 2006 -> 10:42 AM) That's kinda funny. The Taimen. Isn't that what it was called? The 15 foot Salmon we discussed (that probably isn't actually 15 feet)? Ah, can't say I've ever heard of those before now, but we really didn't go Fishing either.

QUOTE(iamshack @ Jul 28, 2006 -> 09:48 AM) Does this Lee trade set the bar a little as to what teams will offer for Soriano? I think it lowers the bar. The Brewers took on salary, gave up a potential prospect, and gave up Lee, without getting a single prospect in return. They took on 1 guy who's been decent and 2 guys who have struggled. That'd be like us giving up, I dunno, Politte, Podsednik, and maybe Mackowiak or something like that.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Jul 28, 2006 -> 09:50 AM) Where is my fish? Well, one night while quite ill I did have a couple of room-service prostitutes drop by my hotel room and ask if I was interested. Oh wait, did you actually mean a fish?

QUOTE(SnB @ Jul 28, 2006 -> 09:39 AM) The rangers just don't seem to get the idea that pitching wins championships It's not like the Rangers gave up pitching in this deal. At least not pitching that was performing well.

QUOTE(loltrain @ Jul 28, 2006 -> 09:34 AM) Edit: Bah, the site doesn't show minor league innings. Counting Minor League innings that year, he threw 165. The next year, he threw 211 in the regular season, and 23 more in the postseason. He has not topped 166 innings since.

Chris Cornell will be doing the next Bond theme (sans his band, it appears.)

Y'all can find a selection of my photos from China Here. And yes, I am one ugly dude, so get that out of the way.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Jul 28, 2006 -> 08:51 AM) Texas is a hitter's paradise. I don't see Mench doing much more than he's doing. Cordero has a $5 million option after this season, so he's a little expensive for the Brewers as a set-up man, and if they make him the closer his option goes to $6 million. Nix has struggled in the major leagues for a couple of seasons now. Its probably better than nothing although I think the Brewers would have been better to keep CLee, get the draft picks and spend the money they had planned to give him on free agents or off season trades. It's probably also worth noting that Lee is making what, $8 million this season, and Milwaukee just took on about $7 million in salary this year alone, with probably more after that as Cordero goes up. In other words, Milwaukee actually added salary for next year in this deal. Mench's home stats: 8 home runs, 32 RBI, Slug .491 Mench's road stats: 4 home runs, 18 RBI, slug .423.

Freddy, no more f***ing around with this season. No more wasted starts, no more collapses. Pitch like a man. Pitch like a world champ who has some pride.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Jul 27, 2006 -> 10:38 PM) Kerry Wood Jason Jennings Rick Ankiel Roy Oswalt Captain Cheesburger Kaz Ishii Damian Moss Ryan Jenson Josh Fogg Jason Simontacchi Rodrigo Lopez (197 IP) More Recent Dontrelle Willis Brandon Webb (soft tosser) Jeriome Robertson Daniel Cabrera Zach Greinke Last Year Gustavo Chacin (203) Joe Blanton (201) Scott Kazmir (186) Jeff Francis (184) That was just real quick, in the past 6 years all of them threw 130+ in either their 1st or 2nd year and were under 26/25 years old at the time. Bunch of points in reply. First, the question wasn't if they threw 130+ innings, it was whether they threw 200+ innings. Secondly, and here's the real key IMO; a lot of those guys warmed up on their way to 200 innings, they didn't just jump from 130 to 230. Kazmir jumped from 134 to 186. D-Train threw 157 in 02 in the minors, then 197, then 197, then 236. Chacin threw 165 innings in 04 before throwing his 203 in 05. Jeff Francis threw 160 in 03, 200 between the minors and the big leagues in 04, and 184 in 05. Joe Blanton went 178 to 184 to 201. So a lot of these guys have had a couple years to build up their innings, they aren't always just thrown into the fire in pushing 230 innings their first year after throwing 130 the year before. And another thing, it's probably worth noting how many injuries you have showing up on that list above, or either a combination of injuries and mysterious falling-backs in performance. And those are for guys making less of a jump than Verlander will have to do if they don't sit him down for a while

Maybe he should throw a bat at Tampa bay's management.

Yeah, on paper, Texas may have really got the best end of this deal. I agree with Dick. Now Milwaukee has 3 closers who haven't gotten the job done this year, an outfielder who while at least worth something, is ungodly streaky and has slugged 70 points better at Arlington than outside of Arlington, and a guy who is 3/32 this year and is a career .241 hitter. Milwaukee has to hope that either Mench improves even more at his age or Mike Maddux can turn around Cordero, because otherwise they're going to really be hurt by this deal.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Jul 27, 2006 -> 10:00 PM) How about we name a few pitchers who threw ~200 innings in their first full season in the bigs or even their second full season, either one. No seriously how many can you think of off the top of your head? Mark Prior.

QUOTE(Rex Kickass @ Jul 27, 2006 -> 09:29 PM) I won't be so naive as to say I doubt its true - but it very well could be a false positive. If Landis was a user of testosterone it would make sense that the 16 tests he took prior to stage 17 would also have been positive. Pr show elevated levels at least. From the information showing, you don't see that. He's also on a lot of medication for the hip he's getting replaced in the fall.... But this is another sport where I think, although doping isn't dangerous, I don't think its any worse that any of the other medical training regimens that cyclists go through in preparation from the Tour De France. Testosterone might give someone a little jump in a stage, but to say its responsible for an 8 minute jump in the overall standings three weeks into the tour is giving the drug a lot more credit than the athletes who maintain similar paces the whole time. Well, you're in luck, there's a way to check to see if it's a false positive. Landis gave 2 samples during the stage 17 test, an A sample and a B sample. The A sample is the one that has given the positive result. The B Sample will not be back for a couple of days. Also, I don't think that anything he would be taking for a hip replacement would be enough to screw up the testosterone/epitestosterone ratio. Maybe so, but as a professional athlete, he should have documentation of everything he's taken, such that he can come forward immediately and say "This is everything I'm taking and I believe this product is the culprit." You'll note that he didn't do that today.

QUOTE(supernuke @ Jul 27, 2006 -> 09:19 PM) Well he just went over 130 innings pitched in his last start, so I'm guessing before he thows his next pitch BAM spontaneous human combustion. Verlander could probably be ridden throughout the whole season if the Tigers decide they need to do so. But I still think they run a real big risk of turning him into another Mark Prior if they do. If they're smart, in about 3-4 starts, if Verlander is still going strong, they sit him down and tell him they're putting him on the 15 day DL and he's going to take 3 starts off. It'd help if they could get Maroth back at some point and have him fill in, but having him pitch 230+ innings in the regular season and playoffs this year, when he's only pitched 130 before, is a bigger risk than going to Vegas and betting on the Cubs in 07.

AJC

In other words...start the clock, Kenny's going to do something. Just remember, negotiations with Jon Garland and Jose Contreras have broken off.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Jul 27, 2006 -> 11:51 AM) And if they really wanted to make as statement, they wouldn't be working on a payraise for themselves making their pay over 100k per year, while raising taxes on everything under the sun in the city of Chicago. I know when my companies have lost money, I never got a raise, but hey, that's just me. I think one could say the same thing about an ungodly number of people who run large corporations in this country as well. It'd really be nice if there were easier ways to link the performance of the people in power in either government or business to their pay, it really would. QUOTE(jackie hayes @ Jul 27, 2006 -> 11:46 AM) If you want to talk about contemptible rationalizing, talk about the hypocrisy of these lawmakers. They talk about how everyone should get paid well, then they only apply it to a small group of companies. If you work for a small employer, then you don't deserve a "decent salary"? If they meant anything they say, they'd just pass a $10.75 Chicago minimum wage. One could call it a small business exemption or something like that. I wouldn't agree, and I think it would actually make sense to set a $9.25 minimum wage plus health benefits for nearly all workers in big cities/high cost of living areas, but that's at least one possible rationalization. Another one might be the classic argument that beyond a certain size, if a company doesn't pay its workers enough, it winds up being a drain on tax dollars instead of a supply of tax dollars (the classic Wal Mart has the government paying for the health care of its workers argument that's been around for a few years)