SB Nation User Blog: bren

Dice-K anyone?

bren — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 16:57:40 -0000

Dice-K anyone?

Not really surprising that the Sox would be tempted to shop him given all the pitching they already have, one could reasonably expect Daisuke to perform better in the NL, and as the link states, the Sox take good care of their pitchers and have already paid the largest portion of his deal, the posting fee.

5 Biggest holes on contenders

bren — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 04:16:45 -0000

5 Biggest holes on contenders

4) Cubs, 2B

Production to date: .229/.283/.312 (60)
League average at 2B: .269/.337/.407
The Guilty: Mike Fontenot (-1.2), Aaron Miles (-8.0), Andres Blanco (-5.1) and Jeff Baker (-1.0).
The Targets: Freddy Sanchez (22.7), Omar Infante (7.6), Jamey Carroll (4.0), David Eckstein (2.7).

I wrote about how trading Mark DeRosa has hurt the Cubs last week. Here's more proof: The Cubs' keystone hole is the third deepest in the majors. Their situation is very similar to the Twins', but their deficit in the division is even smaller, thereby making the potential impact of an upgrade that much larger

SI's Top 100 Players in Baseball

bren — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 14:49:25 -0000

SI's Top 100 Players in Baseball

Brought to you by Joe Posnanski. It seems that these are his current rankings, taking current performance into account, otherwise I dont know how Pablo Sandoval could be rated higher than any Cub.

Results of previous trades for Aces

bren — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 03:27:17 -0000

Results of previous trades for Aces

Pretty good article here from Jerry Crasnick sizing up recent trades of Aces, such as Colon, CC, Tim Hudson, Dan Haren, Johan amongst others.

Lou still looking for a LH Hitter

bren — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 01:46:47 -0000

Lou still looking for a LH Hitter

From Lou:

"Look," he said, "we still need a left-hand bat who could hit in our lineup and drive in some runs."

I dont even know where to begin.

Scoop Jackson's take on contenders offseason

bren — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 16:54:32 -0000

Scoop Jackson's take on contenders offseason

"San Antonio Spurs
Tim Duncan at center. Antonio McDyess at one forward spot and Manu Ginobili at the other. Roger Mason and Tony Parker at the guard spots. Richard Jefferson as sixth man of the year. With "Walk TPG" still intact and (hopefully) healthy, Pop can experiment with McDyess at power forward (moving Duncan to center on occasion might be a smart move on the back end of his career) and run Mason at the 2 as Ginobili and Jefferson share minutes and scoring. Off the bench, Jefferson (canceled wedding and all) can be more dangerous scoring 15 points per game than he was in Jersey or Milwaukee putting up 20 ppg, and he's a great insurance policy in case Ginobili goes down again. Almost more important, Matt Bonner. If he continues to play well and can spell minutes for Duncan and McDyess, the Lakers will have trouble in the West."

Interesting he sees Manu as a starter and RJ as the sixth man and places a great deal of importance on Bonners potential contributions.

Lugo Let Go

bren — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 16:50:15 -0000

Lugo Let Go

Julio Lugo was DFA'd today by Boston and presumably will have a few suitors, so will Hendry be in the mood for more dumpster diving?

Best/Worst Free Agent Signings of this year

bren — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 17:23:05 -0000

Best/Worst Free Agent Signings of this year

No surpise who is at the top.

"1. Bradley, Cubs OF. Who else? He doesn't always count outs. Of course, if he did, he'd know he's made plenty of them, way more than his share. An absolute train wreck, he showed his ability to get hurt in spring training, and since then, he's showed all the other myriad issues. No one should give this man a three-year deal. One good thing, if he doesn't reach 75 games, the third year is wiped off the books and the $30-million, three-year contract is only a $20-million, two-year deal (still too much for him, though)."

Kerry Wood also makes the Worst list, so perhaps we dodged a bullet

ESPN Stories on Cubs travails

bren — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 16:06:36 -0000

ESPN Stories on Cubs travails

First one is on Lous mixed messages and its affects on the team

Then this one is about the "Cubs Experience" and the toll it takes on players, Bradley in particular, and Lou compared to their other big city experiences.

http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/columns/story?id=4292219

Looks like the Nats will get this guy too, Bryce Harper

bren — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 19:22:03 -0000

Looks like the Nats will get this guy too, Bryce Harper

Enrolling in Junior College may make him eligible for 2010s draft, which is shaping up to have the Nats at the top