As we all know, the Astros are one of the worst teams in baseball, and it is no secret that they will sell all the way this season.  They have several interesting trade chips, including two outfielders who could interest us: Hunter Pence and Michael Bourn.  Pence has become a popular name thrown around these parts, but unless we could get him for a steal, I want no part of him.  Here's why:

 First of all, Pence has an unsastainably high BABIP of .389, which is second in the majors.  This is one reason for his career-high .323 batting average.  We should see a major dropoff in the batting average department in the second half.  He also isn't showing much power this season, as his career-worst .173 ISO is somewhat concealed by his average.  One of the things our team needs is a good on-base guy, and Pence is not that guy: He has just a 6.1 BB% this season, and his career rate is not much better.  On top of all this, the Astros will probably dangle him with the hopes of selling high.  My hope is that Frank Wren will not be fooled and give up top prospects for Pence, which I'm sure is what the Astros want. 

 On the surface, Hunter Pence appears to be having a very good season.  But if you dig deeper, you will see his true colors.  We need to stay as far away from him as possible.

Heading into this season, I wasn't really sure which player would be more of an asset on defense.  Julius Peppers was being touted as a savior to the defense, and he represented the pass rusher that we have lacked for many years.  The returning Brian Urlacher, of course, was more experienced in the system and was our emotional leader, even though he had supposedly lost some of his skills.

Four months later, I am still not sure who was more valuable to the defense this year.  But that is not a slight to either of them.  I will be the first to admit that both of these players performed much better than I initially expected.  The two of them have helped our defense return to prominence this season.  I am still torn on who our defensive MVP should be, so I'll let you decide.

After the Braves acquired Dan Uggla from the Marlins a few weeks ago, I was as happy as any other Braves fan.  Frank Wren had finally added the right-handed power bat that had eluded us since Andruw Jones' departure.  He would make a perfect cleanup hitter for us.  But then I started wondering: who should bat third in the lineup?  It is generally assumed that Chipper will be back next year, but I am not so sure he is still capable of the production that
he might think he is capable of.  Personally, I think that Chipper should be dropped in the order in favor of Brian McCann.  Assuming we do not add a leadoff center fielder, this is the lineup I would prefer:

Prado

Heyward

McCann

Uggla

Chipper

Gonzalez

McLouth

Freeman

Hello everyone.  As we get closer to NFL football, I am getting more and more excited about football season's arrival, regardless of how the Bears do this season.  That said, I am curious of your opinions on what team and individual statistics for 2010 will look like.  Just say "over" or "under" for each of these:

Team: 7 wins - same

Johnny Knox: 1000 recieving yards - over

Julius Peppers: 12 sacks - under

Brian Urlacher: 100 tackles - under

Greg Olsen: 40 receptions - under

Offensive Line: 50 sacks given up - over

Jay Cutler: 20 interceptions - over

Jay Cutler: 30 touchdowns - under

Matt Forte: 800 rushing yards - over

Devin Hester: 60 receptions - over

Mark Anderson: 7 sacks - under

Feel free to add more.

I know we all want a big name to patroll right field to be the bridge to Heyward, or maybe even Heyward himself, but why not a low-cost platoon to keep his seat warm?  Matt Diaz is a good player, but he can't hit righties that well, so he is best suited for a platoon role.  What we would need is a guy who can hit righties well, and there is one available in Eric Hinske.  He's not the flashiest player around, but he gets the job done. 

 

Here are his stats: <http://mlb.mlb.com/stats/individual_stats_player.jsp?playerID=400134>

 

Notice the power he supplies.  This past year he hit 8 home runs in just 190 at bats.  He can also steal a few bases, too.  He has had double-digit steals four times in his eight-year career.  He can take walks, too, as his .336 career OBP against his .254 average suggests.  And on top of his production, he will come very cheap.  The Pirates signed him for about $850k last offseason, I believe.  And if that isn't enough, he has been to the World Series three straight years.

 

I haven't heard his name mentioned much at all yet, and he is a possible solution.  As I said before, we could platoon him with Diaz until Heyward gets the call, and I think that platoon would be productive.