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AHHH!!!!
Pleasetellmeitsathirdrounderpleasetellmeitsathirdrounderpleasetellmeitsathirdrounderpleasetellmeitsathirdrounderpleasetellmeitsathirdrounderpleasetellmeitsathirdrounderpleasetellmeitsathirdrounderpleasetellmeitsathirdrounderpleasetellmeitsathirdrounderpleasetellmeitsathirdrounderpleasetellmeitsathirdrounderpleasetellmeitsathirdrounderpleasetellmeitsathirdrounderpleasetellmeitsathirdrounder...
BTW, what's the money. Better not be over 1 or 1.5 per.
The man can flat-out pitch. Look at his half-a-season of ~4 ERA on Planet Coors in '01. Look at his second half last season (~3.2 ERA pitching in the Bandbox at Arlington). One of these years he's gonna get it all together and put together a season of 3.25 ERA...and with the Rangers' luck it will be '04.
At least that's two draft picks for the Rangers to use (wisely, I hope).
Big John
Anyone else hearing similar whispers. . . or am I just a smidge too paranoid today?
related question: Is there anything wrong with being paranoid?
I know nobody cares, I just always follow Thomson's career because I own him.
My bad, I didn't know it would go waaaaay over there. Expected it wrap down.
BTW, does any one else have problem reading the ZiPS. I can read the raw #s but not the avg/OBP/SLG. I have the copy and paste the post to see those. Not a big deal, just a minor annoyance.
BTW again, "nope... It'll be a first rounder."
To answer the K/BB question, I don't know, but my guess would be that his Control level jumped high in the offseason. That's all I can think.
Marrero's got to be their starting catcher. And a pretty good one, I think. Nice move for both teams.
Marrero will back up Estrada and play RF on the (hopefully few) days that Drew can't go.
;)
Any word on where Andres will land in 2004? Maybe the Yankees will sign him for some reason (or the Mets)
I don't think he is.
Eli, you were not healthy this past season, and thus you were not particularly an "excellent role player" in 2003. However, you were both healthy and an "excellent role player" in 2001-2002, when you had a combined 600 at bats with 24 home runs and an OPS of .769.
"I put up a McEwingesque 224/267/355 last year"
In a whopping 107 at bats. After playing injured early in the season (with a deep thigh bruise caused by a collision with Vina), and after coming back from ankle surgery while still less than 100%.
Meanwhile, your 3-year average is 257/314/433 (in 707 at bats), you can play C/1B/OF (which just happen to all be positions in which the Braves need depth), and in a pinch you could probably handle any position except SS.
If you get hurt again, you may disappoint. But you were reasonably healthy the previous 2 years, so I don't think that it is proven that you are exceptionally injury prone. I also don't know of any alternative players that are guaranteed to be immune to injuries.
Except that Mohr doesn't hit righties and Jones doesn't hit lefties. So it's a trade of one player for two players who are the equivalent of one player. And a trade of SS for OF. Renteria is a better player than Jones and Mohr combined.
Van Slyke ___ Drew
That's Ray King.
It's funny because he's fat.
Get it?
;P
Anyways, IIRC King started out in the Cardinals org. I remember him in a 3way deal w/ the Reds and someone else (anton french was in this deal) then he was traded with Chad Fox (for Mike Kelly I think).
Yaaaawn..
Eddie Perez is a good signing for Atlanta. While Marrero is most valuable as a catcher, it allows the Braves to use his capability of playing many positions.
Mark my words, by midseason this will look like revenge for the Maddux signing. For a Braves team that no longer will get daily dominance from their starting pitchers, the bullpen becomes doubly important. And this guy isn't the answer.
I always got the feeling last year that many of his bad performances were accompanied by the attitude that he felt wrongfully displaced from his closer position under the "you don't lose your spot because of injury" rubric. I think Alf prefers to close because he knows that, as a reliever, that's where the glory (and the money) are. As a marginal 6th-7th inning guy, he's certainly not going to be worth what the Braves probably gave him. But bless them for taking him off the market before the Cubs developed collective amnesia concerning just how many close games he helped turn into blowouts last year. In 25% of his games (15 out of 60) he allowed 2 or more earned runs, a statistic which does not count the number of inherited runners he also allowed.
Unofficially projected to return 'by summer'.
I don't know what would be worse, if he returns or if he doesn't.
Andy Pratt had a nice year in AAA, leading the IL in Ks and had a nice ERA too. I don't know if they are looking at him as a fifth starter candidate (they already have Hampton and Horacio Ramirez as rotation lefties) or as a pen guy.
Can't stand the Braves, but I'm thinking/hoping that Branyan is a good signing. Always liked the guy for some reason, after growing up admiring "Kong" Kingman as a kid.
Branyan has a career OPS+ of 101. Not exactly ideal from a defensively marginal 3B/OF, but a damn sight better than, say, Pedro Feliz. Certainly someone worth bringing off the bench for ~200 ABs in a season.
Hessman?
Sadly, I'm at work without my BPro 2004 to check stats on Pratt. But his raw stats show that he should fit right in with the Cubs -- strikes out about a man per inning, walks too many. 14 WP last year. He's a year younger than Cruz, and I guess that's something.
I'll look at this the same way I looked at the Cubs dumping of Choi. Cruz wasn't going to get to play, so at least they've tried to turn him around for something. I hate to think that, after 2001, they probably could have gotten major value for Cruz. He looked like someone with an unlimited ceiling.
At least you'd have somebody who actually resembled a starting pitcher. Lets face it dude, that rotation sucks.
Cruz has a lot of talent, but fact is, you have to question whether he is a legitimate major league. Tremendous upside, but he hasn't really shown it for any extended period. I liked him as insurance against a starter getting hurt, but I'm not sure that I like Pratt less.
Good trade for the Cubs, I think. Cruz was questionable under Dusty, and Pratt fills a need for a lefty in the bullpen with Remlinger out and Mercker questionable even if his back healthy. Lewis is a nice throw-in.
I'm glad Cruz is going to get a chance somewhere. It's just amaizing that Dusty thought it a good idea to keep Estes in the rotation when he had Cruz waiting in the wings.
Someone who will get the chance to help now isn't so bad (especially with Mercker's age). The Cubbies have enough good young arms in A ball that someone will survive the trip through the minors in time to be needed. If nothing else, throwing the money at Maddux means that one more spot in the starting ro is filled for at least two more years.
Pratt's numbers are pretty decent. His walks are high but his Ks are great and he keeps the ball down. He may have a little added value in a home run park like Wrigley with knee-high grass. I didn't look up his GB/FB... I'm just inferring this from his nice, low home run totals.
Stephenson is hurt and out for the year.
Chief, even the BREWERS beat up on the Reds pitching last year (8-10, 5.36 ERA vs. MIL, 5.09 for the season)
Don't expect any trades from Hendry in the near future that involve supplementing the farm system. Expect perceived needs on the major league roster to be the focus, and his current focus was on lefties in the pen.
I wouldn't call Choi for Lee a challenge trade. Choi for Lee was a salary move by the Marlins and Lee is an established major leaguer while Choi is not. To me a challenge trade is: 2 players at the same position and roughly the same perceived value and level of experience. It's two teams saying: "they look the same, but I think the guy I'm getting is better."
It seems to me that this looks like a swap of 2 pitchers with promising stuff but erratic results/control. That said, considering that the Cubs are getting (a) a lefty and (b) a guy possibly with an option for 2004, I like the deal for the Cubs. At the very worst, they may be able to flip Pratt for something on the back-end and I don't think they've made themselves worse right now than they were earlier this week. As a Cubs fan, I'm not complaining.
It may also be a good deal for the Braves as well, but that depends on whether Cruz can put things together. With Leo Mazzone as his pitching coach, it is certainly possible.
That and he's made Estes look like Walter Johnson in comparison this spring -- 7.1 IP, 17 H, 4 BB, 13.50 ERA. I don't think a young player can survive a spring with Dusty Baker with numbers like those.
Of course, Clement and Hawkins have been about as bad, but I'm pretty sure their jobs are safe. :-)
Also, is Mercker hurt? I see he's got only 2 IP this spring. That would also explain bringing in Pratt.
There's a reason this team has won 92 straight division titles (or whatever it is)...
After they signed Maddux, Cruz' departure seemed inevitable. The Cubs actually getting something worthwhile in return is a pleasant surprise. Still it's disappointing that Cubs team of my dreams is beginning to slip away. Cruz, Choi, Hill, and Bellhorn are all gone.
I dunno. The Braves have had some recent success with a guy who can only go 6 IP or 75 pitches a start. :)
My guess is that 100% of Reds fans have the sinking suspicion in the back of their heads that neither will amount to anything. But that's just a conditioned response.
Good trade for the Reds in theory. Reitsma's solid, but he wasn't ever going to win a ring in Cincy, and he was just counting down the days before he could bolt anyway.
That's a bunch of crap. The Cubs were winning last year with Choi at first, Bellhorn at 3b and Estes (as opposed to Cruz)in the starting rotation. Sure by replacing those players the Cubs have improved themselves, but not by as much as you imply.
1) By 1.8 OBP * SLg, Bellhorn (928) and Ramirez (1048) were reasonably close last year. Assuming Bellhorn's 2003 SLG in the 290's hasn't become a way of life for him, he and Ramirez will be pretty close in 2004.
Of course, there are always exceptions. Jason Schmidt turned out pretty well, as did Odalis Perez.
The whole group isn't great, but it's still better than the track record of, say, traded San Francisco pitching prospects.
Tyner released.
Ranger s press release
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