witesoxfan

So Wood and Prior from last year don't count? The Cubs were 5 outs away from going to the World Series and most likely winning it, but Bartman/A-Gonz ruined any shot they had. Wood had one bad start in the playoffs last year, and Prior had no bad starts. Wood and Prior single-handedly shutdown a very, very potent Braves offense, and damn near knocked Florida out in Florida, had it not been for Beckett. And Maddux has a World Series ring too. I think I'd take that him my playoff staff. Not over Roger Clemens, but I'd take him. Maddux is not there to be the ace, he's there to be the #3 or #4 pitcher. I take Prior over Clemens, Wood over Pettitte, Oswalt over Maddux, Zambrano over Miller, and Clement over Redding. And if you switch that around and have Zambrano be the #3 and Maddux #4, I still would probably take Zambrano over Oswalt(Zambrano is less injury prone and puts up better numbers), and possibly Maddux over Miller...I'd have to think about that one. And I take them no matter what park we're talking about.

He's been a setup man this year, and BS's can be a misleading stat for setup guys. Regardless, that's about a BS per month. I could handle that, and I'm pretty sure the Cubs could too.

How's it dumb? Shingo's never closed in the major leagues. I don't care if he's closed in Japan before or not, he's never closed in the majors, period. Hawkins closed when he was a s***ty pitcher. He is no longer a s***ty pitcher. And even if he sucks at closing out games...as I said before, the Cubs will find someone who will close out games. Be it Urbina, Mesa, Smoltz, whomever. They will fine someone. I'd rather have Hawkins closing for me then Koch or Borowski, I can tell you that much for sure.

If that's your opinion, then Shingo Takatsu is not a major league closer either. History says he hasn't been able to close(or that he hasn't been given the opportunity to close). Hawkins will be used as closer, and if he can't get the job done, someone will be brought in. How many times have I said that now?

This is true. Even with that, I still take the Cubs rotation over the Astros rotation. Maybe I just prefer power pitchers(Maddux aside) over finesse/non-power pitchers (with Oswalt and Clemens aside). If you can strike 10-15 out a night, it does not matter what ballpark you play in.

Robertson got traded to Cleveland in ST. I assume Houston figured with Clemens-Oswalt-Pettitte-Miller-Redding and then Duckworth and Hernandez, Robertson was expendable. Damn how that has bitten them in the ass. Redding has been mediocre this year, and Duckworth has been awful too.

Hawkins hasn't been given a shot to close since 2001! He was a s***ty pitcher prior to 2001 and and was just as bad in 2001. In 2002 and 2003 he was a very good pitcher, albeit, not closing. Who says he can't close now? Billy Koch is different. He has been a very good closer before. I think I remember hearing about how he had the most saves through the first 4 years of his career then anybody ever(or something to that extent). Koch has gone from being a good closer to being a s***ty pitcher. Hawkins went from being a s***ty closer to a very good setup guy. BTW...going from being a setup guy to closer is not unheard of. Hell, Octavio Dotel is doing it in Houston this year.

I still take Prior-Wood-Zambrano-Maddux-Clement over Clemens-Oswalt-Pettitte-Miller-Redding any day of the week.

That tells me a hell of a lot. Knowing our situation, those -3 could very well come from the #5 spot in the rotation. Quite frankly, this team doesn't really need Maggs. We need another starting pitcher who can be consistently good for us, like maybe Freddy Garcia(or Arnie Munoz). We get that 5-man rotation, it's over. That's a tight-ass diagram too. Makes me think the Sox are probably one of the best teams in the majors.

To pull a Steve... If you love him so much, why don't you marry him?

Right now, no. We need a guy that, at the very, very, very least, CAN be an ace. In other words, just get Freddy Garcia.

I'd like the pen to be a little deeper then it is. When you only have two pitchers you can count on, you're in a s***load of trouble. Koch is a gas can, Politte is shaky, Jackson can't be trusted, and Adkins and Cotts are mopup pitchers. Why not send Cotts down and call up Wunsch? Even if he's not 100%...let him figure it out up here.

Is it like Carlos Zambrano-like life?

The Phillies won it all in 80...first of 4 years in Philly for Pete Rose.

Bonds makes about $20 mill Vlad makes $15 mill Pujols makes $14+(and that's just because he's in his 4th year in the league). $12 mill is fine for Maggs...better then the $15 he wanted earlier. That's right around Garret Anderson money, and that's just fine with me. At the very least, we could do worse

Yay, I'm a geek. 22.28797% - Geek

I would too. But the Giants are over .500 now and are back in the race. They are probably another pitcher and a bat away from being big time contenders. So Schmidt probably won't be available.

You've never heard of a pitcher maturing before? Assuming Baker puts Hawkins in at closer(and he should), Hawkins will be fine. And it's like I said, if Hawkins isn't fine, they'll do something about it.

Koch isn't going anywhere, and with Maggs out, I guaran-f***ing-tee you that Caballo and Kong are staying put too unless we get an absolute stud pitcher in return(ala Jason Schmidt)

We did. Stewart beat the Tigers, Porzio beat the Indians(I believe...that could be wrong), and Cotts beat the Rangers.

Urbina's been worse then Koch. If we could get Urbina straight up for Koch, I'd do it. Otherwise, no.

At the very least, it can be misleading Marte leading the league in BS's is a bit exaggerated...he has been better then his numbers would indicate. However, he does deserve some blame for those BS's. The one I recall the best was opening day, and I do remember him having a walk-a-thon against Minnesota in the first game of the 3-game set in Chi-town(Shingo's worst outing in a pressure situation. To expand on that thought, Shingo gave up a hit, and that was pretty much all he allowed. That's how good he's been. Given, Javy Lopez damn near took him way out for a grand slam in Baltimore, but Shingo somehow kept it in the park). Otherwise, he's been pretty solid.

The fact that you still like him and defend him like you do is pitiful. He is not a major league closer...hell, he's barely a major league pitcher. You defending him and tell us how much we hate him is also taking up space. It's blind faith, and it's ignorant as hell and, quite frankly, can piss people off. Blind faith...no matter what you do or what you say, I'll be behind you. The only time you have blind faith is in family. So that means Billy Koch is your husband(I hope not, because then I'd be verbally abusing his wife, and that would be a b****), you're his kid(again, I hope not), or you are somehow related to him otherwise very closely. Either that, or you're Kenny Williams. If you're KW, take this :fyou for the Ritchie trade...lmao

Middle relief. 6th or 7th inning man.

They can have Koch...we'll take a hot woman off the beach.