Disclaimer: This article was written for fantasy baseball purposes. Nonetheless, there's plenty of statistical support for the notion that we haven't seen the last of the good player named Geovany Soto.

How 'bout we put the kibosh on the weight and weed jokes for a while and get behind Geo for the 2010 season, hmm?

I'm still a WAR novice myself, but I thought this Hardball Times article was an interesting look at what the oft-cited stat may NOT be good for. Sabermagicians, please weigh in.

In 2007, Rich threw 195 innings for the Cubs and led the starting staff in strikeouts. He's now a free agent seeking a minor league deal.

If the poll included in the article above is any indication, Orioles fans don't want him re-signed. So should Jim Hendry welcome him back into the fold with a minor league contract?

Honestly? I'd never heard of him either.

I came across this rather fascinating blogpost today written by a Tampa Bay Rays blogger whom I follow on Twitter (@RaysIndex). He's trying to determine whether Rays manager Joe Maddon, who I happen to think is a pretty cool guy, was the worst skipper in baseball this season.

To do so, he's used each MLB club's team WAR to calculate its expected wins and then compared those results to its actual wins. As you can see, according to this method, our 2009 Cubs won almost six games more than they should have, based on their statistical results.

So, assuming you buy into this blogger's methods, were the Cubs somehow both unlucky (in the context of their preseason projections) and lucky (when viewed in the context of their actual play) this season? Or was Sweet Lou better than many of us thought?

I'm curious to hear your thoughts - especially any sabermagicians out there.