text:
Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
UPDATE #2: Rob Neyer linked up to us and didn't cut my article to shreds. Neat.
UPDATE: Wittenmyer tweets that it's $3M for 2010, then $5.5 in 2011 and $6.5M in 2012...not terribly unreasonable and similar to DeRosa's deal from the Cubs (2.75, 4.75, 5.5M). Now only if Byrd could play as well as DeRosa did his two years with the Cubs.
The Cubs signed outfielder Marlon Byrd to a three year, $15M deal today. As one would expect with a Jim Hendry contract, it's backloaded to give the Cubs more flexibility this season. Specific terms have yet to be released.
Byrd will be penciled in to play center field and if or when he proves he can't handle that on a regular basis, he'll be a perfectly adequate 4th outfielder and the Cubs will continue their center field quest. $5M a year is actually a decent price for Byrd, but depending on the structure of the deal, the final year will probably be impossible to unload when the Cubs realize they're paying a back-up outfielder $6-$8M or whatever it ends up to be.
I gave my thoughts on Byrd earlier, but the cliff notes version is: decent offensive production for center fielder, terrifying home/road splits over the last 3 years including a major drop in power, walks way too little and at best an average center fielder.
Feel the excitement.
Assuming no more than some bullpen and bench roles to be added, I expect the Opening Day lineup will be:
Theriot, Fukudome, Lee, Ramirez, Byrd, Soriano, Soto, Baker or Fontenot
I also expect Lou to start bitching about needing a left handed bat in the lineup by March 1st. He may flip the 7 and 8 spots and if Soto has a good spring and Byrd doesn't, they could flip as well. Here's hoping Soriano and Soto get their groove back.
Happy New Years Cubs fans!!!
(Give credit to QuietMan for the brilliant headline)
Re: Cubs Catch a Marlon
Well..I suppose that Byrd is the lesser of 3 evils?
Meh...I'm going to have to wait to make judgement on this.
Re: Cubs Catch a Marlon
Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Backloaded deal as usual.
What are the odds on a no trade clause?
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
naww. i don't see byrd wrangling a NTC on this one.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
I didn't expect a NTC. I was just saying...
Wittenmeyer has the terms:
"Byrd's contract backloaded, putting just 3M on '10 payroll (plus 5.5, 6.5)"
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
I understand the logic of backloading contracts, but it would be so awesome to frontload a few of these. I really think Hendry just always assumes the current year will be his last so he won't have to deal with the end of the contracts.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Submitted by 10man on Thu, 12/31/2009 - 1:12pm.
naww. i don't see byrd wrangling a NTC on this one.
10man: As a Article XX MLB FA who signed after the conclusion of the MLB Free-Agency Filing Period, Byrd will (at the very least) get an automatic "no trade" through 6-15-2010. (Same goes for Grabow, BTW).
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
good catch, AZPhil
Re: Cubs Catch a Marlon
Meh. This is not a 2010 contending team as it stands today. If they went after Granderson, I would be impressed. I do realized we painted ourselves into a corner with bad contracts and little to offer compared to other teams (Damn you Arti!). Color me jaded.
yes, I have the goos about Dero. I'll get over it...eventually
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Wittenmeyer tweets:
cst_cubs: Byrd's contract backloaded, putting just 3M on '10 payroll (plus 5.5, 6.5)
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Well we have Fukudome's platoon partner. Now... who plays center?
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Now... who plays center?
Slamin' Sammy Fuld
You've got Neyer
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Well done Rob and Co.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
I think the outstanding content you provide had this place on Neyer's radar long ago.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Wow Rob congrats on officially making the "big time".
Please don't forget all the little people.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
well maybe the "mid time". now if Rob G. had been quoted by Carrie Muskat, that would be big time indeed LOL
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Hendry needs to be fired before he does any more long term damage. Cubs need a GM who can shop Hendry's big contracts at the trade deadline and next winter.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Sort of a repost from the previous thread, and the only reason I am doing it is because as soon as finished writing I realized Rob would be posting a new Byrd thread.
The only other option in the free agent market for lead-off CF was Pods, and that it is one washed up player, I think.
I've always been a big believer in a plate setting lineup and I can't say this one qualifies. But I don't see any answers out there.
I'd be interested in seeing how many great leadoff men are developed within a team's system. That would be a great stat to see. I looked up two, Jimmy Rollins and Tim Raines, and sure enough they were both in their parent team's minor league system when they came up.
Bob Dernier was traded to the Cubs but he had a .288 (!) OBP the year before he was traded to us. In 412 PAs for the Phillies!
As much as Hendry is pissing me off lately, it's unfair to ask him to pull a rabbit of his hat like that.
It IS fair to ask him where the position players are, but it's also fair to say there are indications that Tim Wilkens and company are starting to show some progress. The draft choices have not panned out but a lot of the rest seems to be doing okay.
Hendry rolled the dice with Soriano and Fukodome and Bradley in the hopes of getting us cranky fans a pennant.
I really don't hate the guy for that. The dice didn't roll his way, or our way. FUCK! Let's hang the bastard.
Manny Trillo has done a nice job of getting everyone on the Hate Hendry bandwagon (Hendry has provided plenty of assistance, I realize), but I'm not really quite there yet. I am close because I think he may be part of the old school scouts vs. Moneyball but I think Hendry is pragmatic enough not to believe completely in his own shit.
You can't, if you're running a big organization like the Cubs.
I really can't hate this signing. Byrd will cover the center fine and will hit well enough.
Now, the season is up to Starlin Castro.
I'm fine with that.
I love dropping sarcasm at any moments in a post and knowing that there are smart people who can parse it all out, btw.
Happy New Years to the smartest baseball posters on earth. I know about 3000% more about the game I love than I did before I hit this site.
Re: Dernier
My argument (it's NYE so I almost wrote argrument) wasn't that Dernier was an example of how a guy can have a better year than the year before. I think Byrd probably had his career year last year and he'll do the typical Hendry swan song.
I just didn't see anything on the lead-off end of things to think we could get help in the OF and lead off. My point about Dernier is that it is rare that good lead off men, I THINK but have no solid stats to prove it, are mostly home grown. And that Dernier was kind of an exception to that, maybe because he had a really crap ass year the year before. I mean, 288 obp is pitiful.
I actually preferred Ankiel just from a possible upside standpoint but overall I like the overall comments here that sort of all have this consensus of "meh" going on.
I think 2010 is gonna be all about "meh", so I'm pretty indifferent at this point on this and any other move Hendry makes this year unless he's got another Ramirez type trade under his rather ample belt. And I think those days are behind him for whatever reason.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Marlon Byrd.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Coco Crisp would have been cheaper.
Think of all the cool writeups I would have had to do on shoulder surgery if they had signed Covelli Crisp
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Byrd in the 5 spot? Let's hope Soto 2008 shows up this season. Also, what are the odds Fukudome leads off? His splts are better than Theriot's in this spot. Obviously not a running threat, but is anyone on this team a threat on the bases?
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
You're on crack if you think Sori will not be in 5 spot.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
He hit in the 6th spot last season and Pinellia has been quoted multiple times in the off-season saying that Soriano has found his home in the 6 spot. Don't tell me I'm on crack...have you been under a rock for 6 months. Maybe it was his .220 batting average, I'm not sure?
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Didn't mean to be harsh.
But Bradley is gone, I can't imagine Soto or Byrd hitting in front of Sori.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
What's wrong with being on crack? You kids don't know how to have fun anymore.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Soriano has a long track record and the only spots he's hit well in are 1st and 5th.
You can look it up.
On the other hand, while Byrd has always been a middle of the order guy with a .905 career OPS hitting 4th--.845 hitting 3rd--and .827 hitting 3rd, he's been a dud hitting 5th.
Lou will be bucking the stats if he doesn't hit Soriano fifth.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Lou is bucking the stats by not batting Soriano leadoff. Let's leave those batting position splits alone, please. They are roughly meaningless. The fact that Byrd has a career .697 OPS batting 5th and a career .845 OPS batting 6th should not affect where Lou decides to bat him with the Cubs.
Re: Lou is bucking the stats by not batting Soriano leadoff
There are 34 reasons why Soriano can't bat leadoff anymore. And 18 million reasons why he should bat fifth.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
I should've stopped reading when you wrote that Byrd has always been a middle of the order guy.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
He has knucklehead. Look it up.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Actually, Byrd has more games started and at bats as a leadoff hitter than any other spot in the lineup. Then it's 6th, 5th, and 4th. Significantly worse numbers hitting 5th than 4th or 6th.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Well it's settled then. Everyone welcome our new cleanup hitter, Marlon Byrd.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Fangraphs sort of likes the Byrd acquistion (they like the deal but not the player?)
Jack of all trades, master of none, thy name is Marlon Byrd. To be fair, he's been a bit above average the last few years, but the Cubs are signing him for his age 32-34 seasons, so they should be building some regression into his past performances. Projecting him as a +2 win player going forward is fair.
$5 million a year, even on a three year deal, is a good contract for the Cubs. He fills a hole and should provide a solid performance at a cost of less than $3 million per win. Even in this kind of market, that's a move worth making. Byrd is not a star, but he's good enough at everything to be a useful role player, and the price was right for the Cubs.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
one more thought...
With Byrd signed for 3 years, it reminded me that Fukudome has only 2 years left. I suspect it's doubtful that Fukudome will get re-signed by the Cubs after his contract is done unless he puts up some really stellar seasons in the next two years (I'm not holding my breath for that to happen). So if Byrd isn't a complete bust, he could move to RF at that point unless a Wilken prospect or two (Brett Jackson, Ty Colvin) actually work out and pushes Byrd to the bench by then.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
this is troublesome, Capt. Wrongway Phil Rogers gives the Byrd acquisition his stamp of approval (and gets in his last backhand slap at MB).
Byrd can help. He's a professional player and a worthwhile part. He's not Granderson, but the more relevant issue is that he's not Milton Bradley, either.
Re: Wrongway Phil
"this is troublesome, Capt. Wrongway Phil Rogers gives the Byrd acquisition his stamp of approval"
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Keith Law takes a stance in the opposite direction.
I don't have an espn insider subscription. But if someone else does, maybe they can fill us in.
Re: Keith Law takes a stance in the opposite direction
Frankly, this was a lazy column by Keith Law. He's just unimpressed with Jim Hendry. Thinks he made another lame move. To make a long story short, he doesn't think Byrd plays CF well enough to start there on a pennant contender and he doesn't think his hitting ON THE ROAD is good enough to play LF or RF. To illustrate his point all he gives us is this
(Byrd posted a) .290/.339/.415 line in 516 road PA over that time, a line that won't cut it in left or right field.
But just for the record, the overall averages for all outfielders in the National League are similar to Byrd's road averages.....he was much better at home of course.
2009 average OPS by position. These include both home and road stats.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
How is this team a pennant contender? We are two middle of the rotation guys, a high OBP 8 and an average OPS 4 from contending, imo. And probably a set up guy
2010 is going to suck
Re: How is this team a pennant contender?
Well, I did some straight line projections of how many runs the Cubs would have scored if their starters had been healthy and able to play 154 games and even with the down years most of them had the Cubs would have scored enough runs to pythagorean to a 91 win season with one game left to play.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
If we get the Bill James projection for Byrd in 2010 (14 HRs .279/.340/.438/.778) and average CF defense, he'll be worth 3-5 million a year. I think that's optimistic, though. I also think Reed Johnson would've been just as good and will age better than Byrd at 6'0 245 (5 inches shorter than Zambrano and only 10 pounds lighter, according to both their MLB.com profiles).
Byrd has spent a decent amount of time in the minors since breaking into the majors. I think his 2008 stint was just rehab, but he was assigned to the minors for chunks or more of every season from 1999-2007, including at least 100 ab's in the minors each season from 2004-2007. 2009 was his only full year as a pro in the majors. (and 2008 if you don't include the rehab stint)
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
I'd rather have Fuku in center and Jake Fox in right than Byrd, or at least their bats in the line-up. These moves just aren't making much sense. I'll hop on the Hendry is done bandwagon. Like, fire him tomorrow.
Byrd will be ok for the money, no offense to him. I won't boo him. He's not getting Soriano or Fukudome type money.
"Theriot, Fukudome, Lee, Ramirez, Byrd, Soriano, Soto, Baker or Fontenot"
This line-up sucks. Unless they don't next year.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
If Soriano and Soto can produce similarly to 2008, A-Ram is healthy, Lee stays productive, and the rest basically just do what we can reasonably expect out of them, that will be an decent lineup with little room for injuries, etc. Cubs prospects are going to have to be productive in order for the Cubs to win the division though--meaning either they have to produce for the Cubs or they have to be valuable enough to rope in some more talent in trades to improve the rotation, 2B, or a spot where we've suffered an injury.
Somehow I'm less excited about the season now that Byrd has signed even though very little has changed. That lineup plus our somewhat weakened rotation and question mark bullpen just makes me a little pessimistic, I guess.
Well, Fuku was just awful in CF, it was his lack of range that was the main problem. Byrd at least has almost an average UZR range rating, whereas Fukudome was a -15 last year. So that's an improvement, even if Byrd is slightly below average at the position overall. Offensively, even with a drop in production, Byrd is probably still a better hitter than Fukudome, but that's because Fukudome is so inconsistent and hasn't hit for power.
What gets me about the deal, without picking on Byrd, is that this is something like Hendry's 11th CF since he took over. He failed on Corey Patterson, Juan Pierre, Alfonso Soriano, Jacque Jones, Felix Pie, Jim Edmonds, Reed Johnson, Kosuke Fukudome, and he's giving up on Sam Fuld and Tyler Colvin with the 3 year Byrd deal (rightfully so, since Fuld and Colvin haven't shown any reason to think they can be big league starters). It bothers me that Hendry clearly has a problem evaluating talent, and that gives me major doubts about Byrd's ability to lock down the position for 3 seasons.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
I would agree that this position is turning into a bit of a revolving door of suck, but I don't think Jim Edmonds was a fail - .937 OPS as a Cub. Ironically, the other CF that has been solid was another mid-season pick-up not re-signed - Kenny Lofton, who hit .327 / .381 / .471 in 56 games in 2003.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
I was thinking the term "failure" is more of not finding a long term solution at the position. Even if Byrd gives us nice production for the salary, I don't really think he's the long term solution, a 32 year old with Tony Gwynn's body. I hope he doesn't relax and start packing on the pounds now that he's got a 3 year deal. If so, maybe we could sell his contract to the Bears, they're always in need of a fullback.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
I can see why Hendry would have an interest in a 4th OF like Spillboroghs. Our bench right now (Hill, Fontenot/Baker, Blanco, Fuld and Hoffpauir) could use a bit of work.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Cubs should start talking to Lee soon about him waving NTC by trade deadline.
Then do what ever they can do to get Gonzalez from SD.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
I don't see this team needing a somewhat better, lefty first basemen in order to push them over the top. If they are getting guys to waive NTCs, they might as well put everything on sale for high ceiling prospects and cheap young players.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Hope Fukudome can take the racists comments coming out of the right field stands.
LOL....He managed his first year somehow, especially early in the season, when they were xtra ruff on the poor guy.
I'll never forget that huge swarm of black dudes that came to the park just to boo Todd Hundley. Sigh. Those were the days.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
It's really funny how none of you brain scientists point out the fact that Hundley flipped off the fans and still lasted longer than any of the black boo targets at Wrigley and never 'had' to be traded.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Ummm. What? TRN...you okay? You not getting the joke somehow? Yo mamma pissin you off?
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Great article, it got some laughs out of me. I was actually expecting them to give him more so this is a nice surprise.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Actually, 3/5.5/6.5 is better than 6.5/5.5/3, as they can ship him off with $3M to another team after season #2, or maybe only $1M or $2M if he doesn't suck. If he's a complete waste of flesh and air (see Gaithright, Joey), then they're out $15M no matter what the structure of the three years was.
I'd have preferred a straight 12/2 deal, but that was not going to happen.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
It's official the window for this team is nearly over. Byrd seals the fate of Hendry...after multiple mistakes (Fukudome, Bradley, Soriano) mixed with a few good moves..(ramirez, Soto, Lee, Lily). The pitching staff is mediocre, the bullpen unstable and hitting unreliable. The division is weak but the Cardinals are going to be tough to beat unless the middle of the order reverts back to 2008...I'm a cubs fan hopeful as usual but not blind to see the serious flaws and downturn we have in store after this year.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
I have one word.
I'm joking of course, but I am looking to Spring Training Trip #4 (in a row) if only to see the kid play a bit and see if there is anything at all to the hype.
And, of course, to see if I can spot AZ Phil in the stands somewhere. I'm assuming he'll be wearing a white hat.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Byrd shouldn't seal the fate of Hendry. The fate of Hendry should have been sealed years ago with the lack of homegrown position players under his watch. He's been so bad for so long it's as if many Cub fans I know think the GM has two jobs: sign free agents and rip off other teams in trades. Obviously, neither would be necessary if he did the most important part of his job with even minimal success.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
I agree, sort of. Maybe it's time to start the Wilken debate.
A GM's job is to hire talent underneath. Wilken seems like a good hire. Call me crazy.
He has zero count in the majors for us, so I guess the craziness starts there. But it is funny that fans drive the process so much that we run guys out of town just when they start hitting their stride. Happens all the time.
I say, let Hendry swallow his own cum and hope that there is somebody underneath. The scouting system has obviously improved, if the so-called experts are correct.
This Hendry hate machine is pretty boring.
Re: Maybe it's time to start the Wilken debate.
You need to pay attention. I started the Teflon Tim debate last year.
I never understood the Teflon Jim comments. EVERYTHING sticks to that guy. He willingly takes the blame. But Tim Wilken? Nobody but me sees an empty suit.
Dude. You want me to pay attention? To this shit? I have a job. You pay attention, I respond once in awhile if you're fucking lucky. And if that pisses you off, I'll buy you a beer during spring training and you'll look into my eyes and see I love sports but I don't cream in my pants if things go wrong.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Wilkin is the guy making the farm system work again. I think it's misplaced aggression. The farm's been widely viewed to be shit-tastic for a while and it's finally being built up to respectability again. I don't know how Wilkin can be the cause of the team's problems right now
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Agreed. Wilken's had a few suspect first round picks, but he drafts depth well. Fleita's much more of a problem in my mind. Whether it's him or Jumbo, the Cubs player development system is sub-par. Far too many "can't miss" prospects have not only missed, they've been nowhere close.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
I can only assume you mean Jimbo.
I like that they're leading the charge in Korea, but I always wonder how all these great players from DR seem to dodge the Cubs. I know Sosa is Dominican, so that should be enough for me, but I agree that I don't see as much talent from Latin America as it seems we should.
I'm glad we've got a plan for athleticism. Draft only CF and SS and they'll fit anywhere. I'm sure we'll need to draft some pure power as well but it's nice to see real positional prospects.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Whoops, yeah, Jimbo. Sorry. Although the moniker fits him well too, I think.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
The Cubs top four positional prospects:
2 from US
1 from DR
1 from KR
And three of them are up the middle players.
What exactly are you asking for?
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
1 from KR
One from the planet Krypton?
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Hendry has always been a GM who has blinders onto the world. He telegraphs his moves and he doesn't multi-task. He focuses on one target at a time and is pretty much incapable of dealing with anything else.
This isn't new, this is the way he has always operated. I commented about it during the Dusty years. He loves fringe talent and the only saving grace was Zell opening the check book to sign the biggest free agent in the last 20-30 years in Soriano. Now were back signing scrubs, and making wishes on the magic baseball lamp while we pray for guys like Milton to not be crazy and for midnight to not strike on Byrd.
Yes thats right we are back to the 80's and 90's of finding lighting in a bottle, only were doing it with a 140 million.
A fucking hate the lightning in the bottle method, and if this team isn't at the top of the division by July 30th, then the owner needs to ask everyone to waive their no-trade clauses and pump some life into a dead farm system and do an actual rebuilding of the franchise. Again much like the big free agent signing, is something this team hasn't done for decades. Just slap a bandaid on it call it fixed, move onto the next season and do some praying.
Its a method that has served this franchise well for the past 100 years. Its got us 5,6,7 or so championships. No wait its a big fat zero.
Byrd is just a continuation of a 100 years of making dumb ass decisions.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
"A big fat zero"
That's Manny Trillo's fault. Not OUR Manny Trillo, but THE Manny Trillo. Kicked the ball so manny times...
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Uh oh.
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Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Y2k, ten years late.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Bleh....Marlon Byrd another prime candidate for an epic failure in waiting.
He might, just might.....barely get above 40 RBI if were lucky.
Hendry needs to read my book on not paying for scrub players coming off career years with no history of backing up those stats. Well thats pretty much the entire book right there.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
BTW, Rob, nice! An ESPN link is always cool. Does this mean we can't use the F word anymore?
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Does this mean we can't use the F word anymore?
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Let's just all get it off our chest. F*** ESPN.
Seriously, it's way cooler than getting a Phil Rogers endorsement. That would totally suck and I'd have to find a new baseball forum.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Oh, and, um, CashCall? You can stop hounding Rob now -- his ship has come in.
HAPPY NEW YEAR ROB G and the TCR family!!
Congratulations on Rob Neyer's clean quote and link to TCR!
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
for those TCR readers experiencing 16 degree weather in 2010 in chicago...
Happy New Year
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Byrd will likely start the season in center but I predict he will be the DeRosa of the outfield, playing the bulk of his games in right.
By June 1st I predict the lineup to look like this:
Fuld cf
Theriot ss
Lee 1b
Ramirez 3b
Byrd/Fukudome rf
Soriano lf
Soto c
Fontenot/Baker 2b
I think the Cubs realize that Fuld will give them good defensive play, high obp and speed from the leadoff spot. Byrd will play plenty, spelling all three outfielders. In fact, I think their late inning defense will be Byrd in left, Fuld in center and Fukudome in right...
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
I am a Sam Fuld fan, if only because he's a stats head who slams his head into the bricks.
SERIOULSY:: If Hendry lets Fuld out of the system, I will become a fan of the team that lets him in. This is actually my Hendry Test. Fuld? Or not.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
I am actually a big Fuld fan as well, just for his take no prisoners defense. I do have concerns about his durability though.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
As much as everyone love's Fuld's defense, here's an interesting stat. His career fielding percentage in 27 games in CF and 8 games RF in the majors is 1.000. In 30 games in LF in the majors his fielding percentage is .962.
His career minor league numbers include fielding percentages of .985 in 242 games CF, .972 in 31 games in RF, and .933 in 11 games in LF.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
I am not a Fuld fan, i don't understand why people want him starting. The only thing that pegs my interest in him is his batting eye, everything else looks like Ryan Theriot. In fact they could be clones of each other for all i know.
What gets me scratching my head is the Cubs need to spend big money on flash in the pan players like Bradley and now Byrd who come off career years at age 31 or 32 with no history of being able to repeat it.
A guy like Sam Fuld could very likely match a Bradley season or a Byrd season and save you spending alot of money. The question always comes to what do you think reality is closer to? Are you going to bet on the high end estimate of the flash in the pan players repeating something they have never done before? Or do you let an unproven player play who will probably have just as a shitty of a season as Bradley for 300k?
Its the risk/reward system of who you think is worth the money to spend on, and what they can give back in return. Spending 30 million on a guy who averages 50ish RBI a year is something you can pay Sam Fuld to do for you for 300k.
Its all about spending money wisely. Bradley and Byrd go completly against that rule.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
While I'm not crazy about the Byrd signing, nor Hendry thinking Byrd is an RBI guy, his career average with RISP is better than Bradley's.
Bradley's career line with RISP: .259/.385/.419
Byrd's career line with RISP: .285/.357/.441
So it looks like Byrd makes more contact with a smidge more power than Bradley, who continues to look for a walk with runners in scoring position, something we saw throughout last season.
I don't really think Byrd's power numbers translate that well to hitting 5th, but 6th or 7th shouldn't be so bad, unless his production comes to a complete halt.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
What gets me scratching my head is the Cubs need to spend big money on flash in the pan players like Bradley and now Byrd who come off career years at age 31 or 32 with no history of being able to repeat it.
I'm not sure Hendry has a single idea in his head that doesn't come from his staff. If you recall he has repeatedly said he doesn't have any long term plans for the Cubs. So, when his staff recommends someone, he goes with it.
In the examples you give, Gerald Perry was the hitting coach for the A's in 2006 when none other than Milton Bradley was there. Perry was the prime impetus for bringing MB to the Cubs. And, coming off the season the Cubs hitters had in 2008, he had a lot of credibility with Hendry who had considered going after Bradley in the past. Of course, when Bradley quickly flamed out and the rest of the team wasn't hitting well either, it got him fired.
Now with Byrd we have a similar situation. Rudy Jaramillo highly...HIGHLY....recommended him to fill the center field hole and bat somewhere in the middle of the order. Both were with the Rangers last year. RJ not only vouches for Byrd's ability to hit but also thinks he's one of the best centerfielders in major league baseball.
How could Hendry pass him up?!
For some reason Fuld has problems in LF.
I don't think Fuld would drive in 50 runs over a full season in the majors. He might be an OK lead off guy since he takes walks and works the count. As much as I'd love to see him succeed in the majors, I don't think he'll hit for enough power to be a starter in CF, i.e. at least 8-10 hr's a year and somewhere near 30 doubles or more.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
If he goes to Oakland, will you be Old and Green?
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
I'm hoping the Marlins-Old and Teal
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
I like him too, but that seems extreme. I'm not sure he'll be an impact player in the long run.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
New Muskat article...
Marlon Byrd as Evangelista for his coaches, especially Slamma-Jaramillo (and vice versa).
"You know what this will do is get my system out a little quicker and faster," Jaramillo said. "Marlon is a good teacher. I want hitters talking to one another. He provided that for us in Texas. He knew his swing and sometimes he was good at recognizing stuff that other people were doing. I wanted those guys to help each other and talk and coach each other, too."
Byrd has primarily played center and credits five-time Gold Glove winner Gary Pettis with helping him improve on defense. Cubs fans will see that, Jaramillo said. "I don't know how much people saw him play center field but I guarantee he was one of the top two or three center fielders in the American League," Jaramillo said of Byrd. "Our park was a big park with big gaps and he was outstanding covering those gaps. He threw the ball well and accurately.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
I hope we don't all hold Jaramillo to the Marinovich standard. Oh, silly me, that dude who lifted Houses from the bench. I meant Marinelli.
No, what I mean is, I'm sick of the fucking hype. And if the Ricketts clan thinks they can snake oil us with .... oh fuck, never mind.
I already hate the 2010 Cubs team and probably 2011, too. And by 2012 I'll be fucking dead, so Old and Blue will be blue, too.
Fuckhead bastard motherfuckers.
Ricketts: We are leveraged out so we can't really buy free agents!
Stupid ass mother fuckers why did you buy the team, then? You have to take out a loan to buy the Cubs? Hey, MLB, why not ask us Cubs fans to take out loans? We'll do a lot better than this weenie ass.
What bullshit.
My credit is 760. What's Rickett's? 450 or so, I bet.
Seriously, this shit pisses me off.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
I hope we don't all hold Jaramillo to the Marinovich standard.
...and probably 2011, too.
One Word: Sandberg
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
I rarely rant here. It sure felt good. My poor wife tells me I need a life.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
You missed this interesting quote: "The Cubs wanted some left-handed bats, but if we can hit right-handers, what difference does it make?" Jaramillo said.
Maybe he should be GM instead of hitting coach.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
B-b-b-byrd, byrd, byrd, b-byrd's the word
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Haven't you heard about the Byrd?
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
I heard on mlbtraderumors that he surfs. Can anyone confirm?
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Hmm..there's nothing about it in the papers...a certain..orinthological creature....I thought everyone knew about...
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
BA on Dawson's HoF worthiness:
The heart of the problem is Dawson's .323 career OBP, nine points below the park-adjusted league average for his time. Like Rice, his walk totals certainly don't support the notion that he was a feared hitter; his career high was just 44, and for unintentional walks, it was 39. In 1987, he drew just 25 unintentionals to go with his 49 homers. The result was a hitter who consumed outs like Babe Ruth ate hot dogs. Dawson ranks 20th all-time in outs (AB - H + CS + GIDP), and while he's in good company among Hall of Famers and would-be Hall of Famers there, he's got the lowest PA total of any of the top 30 in that category. An admirable player, but not one worthy of a Hall of Fame vote.
There's considerably more if you read the full article, and I think that non-subscribers can see the "scores" at the top.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Tim Kurkjian on Dawson's HoF worthiness:
"There are certain classes of Hall of Famers, and Andre Dawson is a Class C. He's no Willie Mays, he's no Tony Gwynn, but a Hall of Famer is a Hall of Famer, and to understand Dawson's place you had to see him at his best. I did. And it was breathtaking to watch."
More here:
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Like Rice, his walk totals certainly don't support the notion that he was a feared hitter; his career high was just 44, and for unintentional walks, it was 39. In 1987, he drew just 25 unintentionals to go with his 49 homers.
Revisionist history at it's best. Both Rice and Dawson were feared hitters. Anyone familiar with baseball knows that. Yet, their career walk stats weren't high enough (at least for the writer), so it suggests they weren't feared hitters.
Dawson only drew 25 unintentional walks in 1987, so he must not have been feared, despite the fact that he hit 49 HRs. Shouldn't his HR numbers suggest he was feared rather than his unintentional walks numbers suggest he was not?
This analysis reminds me of the saying that "You can know the price of everything without knowing the value of anything." In this case, the writer knows how to read stats, but must have no idea what really happened.
Note: Now that I go back and review the record, I'm not even sure that the writer can read stats. In 1987, Dawson did have 49 HRs. That part is true. But the writer has the walk total wrong. Dawson had 32 unintentional and 7 intentional walks in 1987. His career high for unintentional walks was 44, for intentional walks it was 21. Is the writer from BP getting unintentional and intentional mixed up?
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
...his career high was just 44, and for unintentional walks, it was 39
Do walk totals include both intentional and unintentional walks? If so, that explains my confusion. However, it doesn't change my main point.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
People who are too young to have watched Dawson and Rice, and for that matter that era of baseball, can't get the full picture from the stats. Even the people who were kids then but only saw Dawson as a Cub didn't get the full picture. Dawson and Rice were dominant players of their time. The only criticism one can make is that Dawson's bad knees robbed him of even more ab's, and Rice had a relatively short career compared to some of the 20 year freaks. But they were both as good as it got for a decade, and that's HOF worthy. To criticize them for not taking more walks in an era that didn't value the walk is nonsense. That's the same dorky argument as saying Santo's career numbers don't compare well to a player from the modern day. These were different era's and runs were harder to come by, both in Santo's time and Dawson/Rice's.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
To criticize them for not taking more walks in an era that didn't value the walk is nonsense.
Tony Gwynn, Wade Boggs, and Ricky Henderson valued the walk and walked right into the hall. Tim Raines should too one day. All eras value getting on base. That's not just walks, though. It's the first step to scoring runs.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Actually, it's impossible to build a legitimate HoF case for Santo without saying that he walked a lot.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Santo is right around the 100th best player in baseball history according to win shares, 7th or 8th in career win shares for third basemen, and perhaps even in the top 50 of measures for all-time players. You should read this and check out this rankings.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
That's true Rob. Of course being a 9 time all-star, 5 time GG winner, and averaging 25 HR and 90-some RBI's per season while playing predominantly in the 60's isn't a bad argument either.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
No, his point was "without saying that he walked a lot."
If he had said "without even mentioning any statistic that incorporates a walk in it" then that would be different. Hell, even runs scored are dependent upon how many times you get on base, and thus walks. So then what's the point?
My point is simply you can make a convincing case for Santo being in the Hall of Fame based on number of different approaches. You can look at his great combination of offensive and defensive production, is place among all-time third basemen, his awards and accolades, his traditional count stats, his performance during his peak years, or new sabermetric statistics, etc.
Also, add to all of this the fact that he played with diabetes and he is a no brainer. There is no measure of how much better his stats would have been without diabetes, but not only was he done at age 34, but he hit 10 points lower at night - when it was harder to control - on the road than during the day on the road. He also hit significantly worse on the road than at home, at least partly due to the added difficulties managing diabetes in the 1960s while traveling.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
So, your contention is that Santo is a hall of fame baseball player if he has an ISO OBP of .044? Without his walks he doesn't sniff that top 100 list.
Santo's entire HoF case relies on the "new found" appreciation of OBP and his continued association with the hugely popular Chicago Cubs.
If you apply the same test to Santo that so many people say makes Dawson a HoF'er i.e. "Did he look like a hall of Famer?" the answer is no.
The diabetes, though sad, doesn't really belong in the discussion, unless you want to start adding blind athletes to the hall of fame based on the idea that they would have been great hitters if they could only see.
Could his home/road splits have had anything to do with him being a RH hitter playing at Wrigley? Ryno also had diabetes by that measure.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
First, when anyone used the eye test to argue for Dawson you said UNEQUIVOCALLY that the eye test is not relevant and that we were stupid for using it, and now you use it yourself to say that Santo is no a Hall of Famer. Ok.
Second, did you just compare playing major league baseball at a high level in the 1960s with diabetes to being blind?
Whatever dude, keep smoking whatever you are smoking.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
The eye test puts Eric Davis and Darryl Strawberry in the HoF.
What I want is players who pass both the eye and the statistical test. How is that inconsistent?
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
TRN..I understand your argument. However, did his 9 All Star games and 5 Gold Gloves gome from just the walks too?
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Wow...his OBP is most important. Ok...fine.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Marlon Byrd interview on ESPN1000 with Bruce Levine/Jon Hood
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Only newsworthy thing I heard in this is he recognized his poor OBP and expressed that he wants to improve it this year. Stuff you'd expect a ball player to say.
Neil from CCO has a nice review of the Bruce Levine Saturday Talking Baseball show...
including Byrd stuff, some rumors about the bench and 1-2 more pitchers (re-mentions of Jason Frasor, Ben Sheets and a Jon Garland rumor)
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
If the Cubs are concerned about Ankiel's mental toughness (or at least his ability to overcome adversity) then Lou would not exactly be the preferred manager for him.
I'd still be intrigued by him as a 4th OF.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
an article on the odd lack of interest in Kiko Calero (referencing Grabow getting a contract and not much interest in KC)
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
if they put down the spreadsheet long enough to check his public-known medical they might figure out why the 35 year old looking a multi-year deal is finding a cold market waiting for him. it's got little to do with what he throws or how well he throws it.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
get rid of superior player for a lesser player and 1 more year of club liability...check
pay 9m extra for the privilege...check
give a roster spot to a horrible pitcher who was recieved in return for a hitter who can actually play better than his replacement that "really costs" 9m extra on top of his 15m deal...check
awesome. i can't wait til we get our next 3-4m a year manager. who gets to be traded away in 2010 because of lockerroom issues?
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Yeah..sadly, if Byrd hits .270/.340/.420 with 15 HR and 70 RBI, with a decent CF...he'll have had a better season than Milton Effing Bradley.
He stunk crunch. He wasn't good in the field, he wasn't good at the plate..oh...excuse me, on the road he was so pathetic that he brought his total numbers down to below average. He was barely average in RF,and off the field...lol...yeah..not going there. I'll take 130-140 games of Byrd over the juggernaut that is Milton Bradley...
I am not a fan of Silva..but that the Cubs had to take him to get rid of Milton Bradley shows just what people in the league think: that he's a pain in the ass you'd better be prepared to swallow a lot of shit to have on your team.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
he was good in the field, though. he wasn't a god, but the guy had/has the legs, arm, and glove for RF.
he was good at the plate when he wasn't pounding crap into the ground, too. evidently a .378 ob% don't get you as much respect as it used to, either. his power wasn't what it was supposed to be, but as much as people want to bitch about bradley's lack of RBIs with men on no one wants to care about his .400+ ob% with men on. maybe he should have batted 2nd more often, huh?
byrd and silva combined don't have the talent of bradley, but it's not like bradley is or was supposed to be aram/dlee.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
The problem was that Hendry brought in Bradley to be a lh power bat which the Cubs have not had since Henry Rodriquez.
He could have signed Dunn.
Hendry is an idiot, and so is Lou who signed off on it also.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
dunn had nowhere to play. he doesn't even have a RF'r arm even if you want to discount how horrible he played LF.
either way, you place your players where it fits your managerial style and/or gets the production the player can provide. lou, unlike dust and baylor, isn't big on the #2 hitter being a solid contact guy and is prone to playing the ob% guy there. fuku is no slouch in the ob% department, but he was lifting the ball a lot better. by mid-late june he should have been the guy deeper in the lineup with bradley setting up dlee/aram, imo. btw...during this time soriano was still our leadoff guy with theriot hitting 2nd rather than leadoff. lou mostly played with fuku/bradley in the 2 slot later in the season after he figured out soriano wasn't much of a leadoff guy.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
My God, man, when does the 'man-crush' torch you're carrying for Milton flame out? He's produced one - count 'em - one season that produced 77 RBIs in TEN seasons. He's worn out his welcome with SEVEN MLB teams because despite all the talent you mention - and most of us acknowledge - he's a piece of shit human being that doesn't produce enough baseball benefits to overcome the FACTS that he's a miserable f'n human being who brings crap to a MLB clubhouse that no one wants or needs. This was Hendry's screwup to sign him in the first place. It wasn't any manager's job to wipe Milton's ass or 'motivate' him or discipline him beyond what any manager to date has done with Bradley. The reason Milton screams at the rain is because he doesn't think he should ever get wet. He's a dick and most people in the front office of MLB teams know it and are smart enough not to soil their team with the bullshit that is Milton Bradley.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
my god, don't let statements about his performance get in the way of dismissing me presenting them as having a man-crush.
also, you're gay, your mom wears combat boots, you smell bad, and i'm pretty sure you did 9/11.
yes, bradley isn't a fun guy to be around. yes, we just paid heavily to get lesser talent on board to get rid of mr. fun time. i don't think bradley being a dick is anything new.
also, i don't know what your RBI rant has anything to do with what i wrote, especially since it has an aside addressing those who harp on about the RBI thing.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Pick any offensive or defensive stat and with an average of 96 games played per year, MiltoN doesn't produce enough of anything to justify a roster spot. And he's still a piece of shit, he beats up women, and appears to have few if any socially redeeming characteristics.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
this isn't about milton's HOF credentials or how much of a dick he is to his wife.
this is about paying a lot of money to get rid of a player for a lesser player while paying a Cadillac-level manager who has to trade away yet another player because of clubhouse crap.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
No. This is about a dumbass GM who signed a pathological behavior problem with 'great potential'. Six prevuous organizations had already figured out what the seventh team now knows. He's not worth more than a one year contract with a low base and performance incentives.
John McGraw, Bobby Cox, nor Lou Pinella couldn't manage this problem child because he doesn't want to be managed. Seattle will be the eight team to realize this.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
the GM and the manager both went on record saying they could take the risk.
based on what i've read and heard lou pretty much gave up on managing his personality before a few months of the season even passed.
there's a string of managers out there who have a recipie for milton that involves massive amounts of inputs in order to keep the guy mostly stable. it's work...it shouldn't have to be done for him...but it DOES have to be done.
for all the problems he's had he's had very few where the lockerroom turned on him. that was a different issue in the self-policed and no-wood/derosa leaders clubhouse. there sure wasn't a manager stepping up to police the clubhouse because lou doesn't go into the player's clubhouse too much (this is a trait of his managing style and not unique to him).
john mcgraw and bobby cox can at least be counted on to be in the clubhouse with their players rather than sitting shirtless in an office using coaches to "call in" players for talks...bobby cox, especially.
btw...bobby cox beats his wife, too.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Does anyone actually think Lou Piniella is worth his salary? He really seems more concerned with where he's going to go for dinner after the game than anything on the field at this point, and who can blame him? He's an old man who should be retired.
We all know baseball's an old boys club, and Lou is a prime example of that. There are probably well over 5000 people in this country alone that could do just as well as any number of MLB managers. Setting lineups and pulling the starter after 6.1 innings isn't exactly rocket science and certainly isn't worth $3-4 million. You can't even argue that he attracts free agents after that one study among players that put him as number 2 on the list of managers they'd least like to play for.
What any of this has to do with Milton Bradley I don't know, but let's hope we can get some more payroll flexibility by not paying our next manager any more than the bare minimum.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Crunch can make this about Pinella if he wants but Bradley is well past the age where personal responsibility supercedes youthful immaturity. Bradley supposedly made promises to Hendry about 'behaving' during the well-mentioned steak dinner during his courting sessions as a free agent. There were also stories about Cubs players who made efforts to befriend Milton to no avail. Milton obviously had other plans.
I'm not a Pinella or Hendry fan as both are overpaid for what they've done and produced if paid over $500,000/year. And you can't say Bradley's past locker rooms have or haven't turned on him, but the fact remains that he's beginning his 8th organization in 11 seasons as well as all potential trading partners would have taken Bradley ONLY as long as the Cubs paid most of his contract or took a bad one (i.e. Silva) back. This way they can cut him at any point and only be out the money they already would have been out.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
he was good in the field
How many times does this have to be corrected???
Bradley was average or below by most measures.
Range Factor/9 Innings Bradley 1.99 Average RF 2.08
Fielding Percentage Bradley .985 Average RF .986
Outfield Arm Runs Bradley -2 Average RF 0
Total Fielding Runs Bradley -1.5 Average RF 0
and so on
and so forth
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
"...arm runs"
if feet smell-nose runs...yer upside down?
Re: "...arm runs"
Actually, it's "Outfield Arm Runs Above Average" or Rof at BR. BP uses FRAA, fielding runs above average.
Re:that is so cute coming from you, dude.
Classic. You just get done whining about people getting personal with you in their comments and then you dismiss your lack of knowledge of fielding stats by getting personal with me.
I don't know who was worse last year, Milton or your lamebrained defense of him.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
actually, im using my knowledge to make fun of ARM and total fielding runs.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
GO to your room with no supper!
Actually, I think I'll probably use my MLB.TV subscription next season to check out how MB is doing with the Mariners. If he has a good year, Hendry can go to Lou and say, "this is what I hoped for." If MB tanks in Seattle, Lou can go to Hendry and say, "I knew he was bad for the club."
I guess we'll have to wait and see. It's not a man crush, just a thought that maybe Lou has already reached the end of a great career and MB (and fans) paid for it. We'll see...
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
there are no winners in this...SEA is paying a LOT of money for bradley once silva-money washes out in this.
either way, byrd vs. milton as far as which is a better player pretty much only washes out to milton being a superior player when it comes to getting on base while they're pretty even (or close enough) in other places.
still, aside from people in the clubhouse being happier by subtracting someone it's an expensive fix to a problem the cubs shouldn't have signed themselves up for if they weren't going to put the work into trying to please baby milton.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
I would agree that his defensive game in 2009 was slightly above average based on gut feelings.
His defense certainly wasn't good enough to justify the rest of Milton Bradley's game and behavior on and off the field. I won't get into it... it's been discussed ad nauseum and I think we all know where everyone stands on the issue.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
crunch....he stunk in RF last season, for as good as I kept hearing he was supposed to be. He was better than Burnitz I spose...but thats damning with faint praise.
He wasn't even Milton Bradley last season. For a struggling player to pop off like that continually? Brilliant..I can't believe the fans weren't on board.
He's gone. We'll all just have to move on somehow...without all those good fielding plays, clutch hits, and...oh...yeah..not those things.
Maybe he should have just played better?
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
uh...okay, sure.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Sarcasm is great crunch, you're a witty, knowlegeable poster...usually. But your insane defense of Milton Bradley is surreal at best.
I think it's the "pop off continually" and "he stunk in RF" bits that crunch called bullshit on. Even your hater clan mate showed that he didn't "stink" in RF. Counting the missed slides and throwing the ball into the stands, statistically he was a hair below average, and crunch doesn't acknowledge the validity of the statistics.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Ok..MB didn't stink in RF, but he wasn't good either. Combine a below average season at the plate, being a hair below average in the field, and yes TRN, a poor attitude towards life in general, and you get what?
I watched about 122 Cub games last season. I saw a lot of bad play, from a lot of Cubs. Bradley was just the hardest to put up with. I just an glad he's gone. Now we'll have to find someone else to bitch about in 2010. If Soriano doesn't bounce back, my money is on him.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Fenway Field? ...at least when it comes to Hockey.
Maybe Ricketts left a little something when he visited Boston?
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
BP on the price of chemistry...
Yet when the Chicago Cubs signed Marlon Byrd to be their new center fielder on New Year's Eve, they provided us with at least one data point as to how much money a major-league club is willing to spend for essentially the sole purpose of making their fans, the media, and perhaps even the rest of the roster happy.
...The decreased production they should expect from their outfield actually makes the Cubs' investment in team chemistry and media appeasement considerably north of $5 million, but both Jim Hendry and the majority of sports-radio callers seem to think it's well worth every penny. By September we should have a better idea of whether they're right. I'm skeptical, of course, but then again, I didn't have to go to work every day last summer and deal with Milton Bradley.
When you let the fans run your baseball team you're in for a world of hurt. Hopefully the Ricketts will realize this sooner rather than later.
That Seattle teams looks like it can be pretty damned good, especially if they fill 1B correctly.
The great thing for the MB torch crowd was that they already have their built in excuse for when they watch him tear up in the playoffs next year: "He would have never done that in Chicago."
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
To claim that the Cubs traded Bradley because of the fans (or reporters) is nonsensical. If the Cubs were trying to build a team simply to please the fans, they would have never traded Mark DeRosa or let Kerry Wood walk. Love him or hate him, Jim Hendry is trying to build a winner, not appease the fans.
Milton Bradley was traded because he was an unacceptable distraction to the team. The coaches didn't like working with him and the players didn't like playing with him. In order to build a better team for 2010, Bradley had to go.
It doesn't matter how well Bradley does in Seattle. He wore out his welcome in Chicago (as he did in several other places), and he had to go.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Really, Neal?
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
When the Cubs have dissapointing seasons, the fans pick out one person as the center of that angst. That player seldom if ever survives the off-season.
2009? Bradley HAS to go
2006? Dusty
2004? Sammy
2002? Hundley
As well as some mid-season guys. How did '04 and '05 turn out again?
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Ok. So the Cubs got rid of MB, so they will stink this season.
If the Cubs get good seasons from the core of the team, they will be a good team this season. By core, I mean:
Yes, they will need help from Byrd, Fukudome, whoever plays 2B, Wells, 5th starter TBD...but it's not like the Cubs are trying to replace a player who had a good season last year.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
IMO, the Cubs aren't going to win it all in 2010, because they are unlikely to get good enough seasons from enough of their core players.
Bradley was brought on board last season because the Cubs had a rapidly closing window to win, and Bradley was a high risk high reward signing that didn't work.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
I agree. I don't think this team can win it all either.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
I agree with you completely on that point: Fans like to (fairly or unfairly) pick on a scapegoat.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
TRN - Do you find this surprising? How many teams have poor seasons and then stand pat the next year without moving someone?
Dusty left after the 2006 season because his contract was up, not because the fans were upset. If Hendry had listened to the fans, Dusty would have been gone sooner.
Are you suggesting that Hundley was moved because he got on the fan's bad side? IIRC, Hundley was moved because he was not a very good player and the Cubs had the opportunity to trade him for some better players.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Please open your eyes and realize that all the players/managers that get scapegoated out of town have one thing in common. THEY ALL SUCK. They suck in Chicago, then they suck later. So it's not just dumbass fans booing a guy who has one bad year. They are booing player/managers that are currently shit and will continue to be shit in the future.
Byrd will have a better 2010 than the retard that got run out of town.
Five worst deals of MLB offseason
The Bradley trade makes the list, although I am not sure I agree that the Cubs would have been better off simply releasing him.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Well, I think the best move would have been not signing him in the first place....but yeah...
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Agreed, but the article seems to think the Bradley trade was bad, because they signed him in the first place (sunk cost), they took back Silva (while ignoring the money the Cubs got back), and because the Cubs are paying Soriano too much.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Yeah...that Soriano contract will be an albatross for many years if he doesn't turn around last season's pukefest.
Way, way, way off-topic
A syndicated columnist who actually thinks The Onion is real. Read it before they take it down, lol.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
He might be wise to it.
...anyone who has ever lived with children will surely recognize the grain of truth contained in these ersatz findings.
Though it's a pretty dry wink.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
The Onion article is already assuming that the readers will see the "grain of truth" in the story. He either doesn't get that The Onion is fake, or he thinks repeating the joke in print is funny.
Yet, some people are unemployed right now.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
So Neal Cotts is moving on with the Pirates. That marks the end of 2010.
Re: Cubs Give Fans the Byrd
Rosenthal likes Cubs chances to sign Sheets. Works for me.
Recent comments
Kershaw gets hurt by his defense and gave up 2 more runs. Blach has 8 shutout innings.
Mets already won as did Cards.
tomorrow is gonna be helluva fun if Giants hold on. We're all rooting for a 3-way tie I presume.
good news is now 5 K's for Lester through 4 (in a quest for 200 for season). Bad news is he's already at 86 pitches.
be curious how long Maddon sticks with Lester to try and let offense get back into it and get him the win (4-2 as I type, was 4-0)
Fwiw, he needed 2.1 IP to cross 200 for season so he got that at least. He also needs 9 K's for 200K's on season and he has 4 through 3.
cubs score 2 runs thanks to predictable reds pitching and horrible CIN defense...cubs only down by 1 now. heyward even got a gift 2rbi double out of an easy popout. neat.
something named Ty Blach has outpitched Clayton Kershaw through 6 innings (1-0 Giants).
not that finishing 2nd place will matter much nor did this game, but have to think if Hendricks pitches well tomorrow, he could leapfrog Lester in Cy Young voting. Don't see anyway Scherzer doesn't win it regardless and it doesnt' look like Lester has any incentive clauses that matter. Also might give Cueto some votes.
Rather remarkable how many teams have really good 1-2 options this year.
Nats: Scherzer and Roark (and Strasburg was great before injuries)
Cubs: Lester and Hendricks (and Arrietta is still damn good just not as consistently lately)
pretty much what I'm gathering from this thread is that it doesn't matter who you play in 5-game series, but no one wants to have to deal with Cardinal fans if we end up losing.
I can respect that.
first game for lester giving up more than 2 runs since july 24th. hell of a run.
doh, yes...dunno what happened there. jake arrieta is all "bro wut?"
lester going for #20...cubs haven't had a LH (thanks jpep for the correction) 20 game winner since d.ellsworth in 1963.
fwiw, all the games are free on mlb.tv
Short rest for MadBum would be 2 days. WC game is Wed., Games 1 & 2 are Friday/Saturday.
A left-handed one...
J-Hey not finishing with an offensive onslaught.
If Geoff Blum could be a Playoff hero, there is hope still...
Giants scare me. I think you're wrong about Bumgarner, he would pitch on short rest for Game 2 and then full rest for Game 5. Cueto would go Game 1, then short rest in game 4. Add in some really tough outs in that lineup and I want nothing to do with them. With that rotation they can easily steal a series.
Cards are a tough matchup. The rivalry evens out their comparable lack of talent. And like someone said, they love HRs, which is how to beat the Cubs. The upside is that I would feel really good about Lester twice against STL.
j.buchanan with a nice start...5ip 2h 1bb 3k, 0r/er
zobrist with 2HR and a double through 8
heyward 0-4 :(


text:
7 Tips for Not Screwing Up College
College is the greatest time in your life, but only if you screw it up. It's meant to be the greatest time in your life so far, while permanently improving you and the rest of your existence. That it's a wonderland filled with more adventures, sexy people and incredible scientific breakthroughs than the Bond franchise is a mere side effect. But students are sometimes too distracted by how they've just taken the safety catches off their genitals.
Luckily, sexual friendly fire is a lot more fun.
If you've just arrived in college: Congratulations! Allow us to correct the fact that you're already screwing around on the Internet instead of learning with some crib notes for the next four years.
#7. Don't Do Anything Easy
If you've signed up for a degree just because it's "easy," drop out and get a job. The shit you need to learn is way more important and isn't taught in college; staying is four years of making yourself even more unemployable. The point of college is to get better at things, and while only one of those is your degree, it's still important. If your only priority is screwing around, that tuition money can buy far better times than falling asleep in lecture theaters.
Doubles Jet Ski 101 is particularly recommended, and still cheaper.
An "easy credit" is also a waste. You're spending countless dollars and the most energetic years of your life, and you're happy to find a course that doesn't improve your brain? If you bought an empty box of chocolates, you wouldn't be happy that it's "easy" to finish. You'd be pissed off! Forrest Gump would be pissed off! And thinking less than Forest Gump is a good sign that you're losing at college.
#6. Choose a Subject You Care About
We live in the most amazing time ever to exist, a world where people can spend years upgrading themselves with a deeper understanding of something they love. This is new. It didn't used to matter if you were the next Isambard Kingdom Brunel: If your father was a poor plague rat masturbator, that was it, you had to take over the family trade when he died of the worst STDs imaginable.
You got soft little hands, college boy.
Now you can learn molecular biology, or comparative theology, or programming or ancient Greek languages or medicine or whatever you want. The STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) fields drive the entirety of human progress, while the arts and humanities give us even more reasons to do that. But you have to care. You need either a love of the subject or a deep passion for getting paid later. Preferably both, but at least one. And yet every year we read scare stories about a million percent of new graduates being unemployed, followed by interviews with idiots who stumbled through a bare pass in philosophy and are now genuinely shocked that regurgitating the basics of a field where they were supposed to be learning how to think didn't work out.
If he'd read Marcus Aurelius instead of copy-pasting, he'd have a better job, or at least be more stoic about enduring this one.
If you drop your textbooks the instant the finals end, you're wasting your time with both. You don't scrape a pass and then clock in down at the Existentialism Mines. People do not order Gender Studies in the Works of Shakespeare to go at fast food restaurants. Those are important subjects, and their continued study is a vital function of academia, but if you're just turning up for attendance, your own time is worthless and your professor's is wasted. You are spending years to permanently alter your brain based on your degree. If that's scary, good -- you've just learned that you need to change your degree. I don't regret an instant of my physics training, even though my job is now overanalyzing He-Man. Because I still love and study science every day, and the scientific habits of research, analysis and logic are useful in every occupation. If you're not going to use it later, why on earth would you learn it now?
#5. Level Up Your Social Life
It used to be that if you were unpopular back in Nowhereville, your only smart option was saving time by skipping straight to marrying your donkey. At least that way you kept warm at night. Now you get a special facility exclusively populated with everything you could ever want to learn, try, experiment with or do, many of which are actually whoms -- countless members of whichever gender orientation(s) you like (or want to try), all aged between 18 and 24, and just as eager as you. Education promises a better land than most religions.
"Existing" is another advantage, and also more fun in college.
How things went in high school doesn't matter. Some people felt like they'd failed at something important despite getting the highest grades in the class. They'd specialized in all the wrong skills, screwed up the conversation trees, and they didn't have enough party members to proceed. Possibly because they'd spent far too long playing RPGs like Chrono Trigger.
Square Enix
Chrono Trigger gave me wildly unrealistic romantic expectations.
College is the part where you leave your crappy Generic Home Village and march into the world, suddenly able to do things and meet new characters. Your mission is to explore and level up, and you do it the same way as in the game: walking up to as many new people as possible. College is a social accelerator. Instead of dumping you in a city where everyone already has friends and automatically assumes strangers are hiding a knife, they take in a horde of brand new people at the same time, then stuff the place with societies whose sole function is to get people together based on shared interests. Join with as many as possible, and that applies to both societies and people.
#4. Try Everything
As an adult, suddenly deciding "I want to trampoline right now!" is frustrating and awkward to organize, especially since you'll have to get out of the straitjacket first. In my university, it just meant going down to the trampolining club, and to this day I regret not going because I wanted to save the five dollars that night.
Two pints of Foster's were not a good trade.
Try everything in college. It will never be this easy again. There are dozens of clubs set up just to get you fencing or mountaineering or publicly arguing that a truck is better than a jet fighter (debating is fun), and many offer free trial days. And anything you think is expensive now will cost a real fortune in money and precious time later. Try everything you're interested in -- many people (including Cracked columnists) discover their real passion during this almost unlimited "try-out" phase. And make sure you join at least one club like climbing or kayaking, where the group has to travel for weekends of physical activity together while sharing cramped accommodations. Trust me on this.
It's a cram session for the University of Life.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
e2Campus Alert System was implemented in September 2007 to alert JCHS students, faculty, and staff in emergency situations and to keep the JCHS community informed of breaking news. The e2Campus Alert System allows the JCHS community to opt-in to an emergency alert system that delivers important notices to cell phones as text messages.
Jefferson College of Health Sciences students, faculty, and staff are not required to participate, but are encouraged to do so to protect yourself and others around you in case of emergency. Please note that by opting into this service, you may incur charges if your cell phone provider charges for incoming text messages.
Visit the e2Campus website for more information about the alert system and to sign up for the service.
The Campus Alert System Policy defines an emergency situation as:
- Fatal or life threatening accidents occurring on a campus, involving students, employees, or members of the public when injuries require medical attention
- Violence of a major nature, occurring on or in close proximity to College property, which might endanger life or interfere with College activities
- Reports of illness, involving humans or an epidemic or pandemic nature
- Reports of outbreaks of illness or injury due to food poisoning or consumption of similar products distributed on College property
- Environmental incidents, including major spills or major air emissions
- Explosions
- Natural disasters, including fire, flood, hurricane, or tornado or other weather-related closings
- Other timely warning notifications covered under the Cleary Act or notifications deemed appropriate by the President


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Percussion EnsembleAll percussion majors gain experience by performing in the Duquesne University Percussion Ensemble, directed by Eliseo Rael.04/08/2014Time: 7:30 pmLocation: Pappert Center, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PAwebsite
Electronic EnsembleShowcasing an eclectic mix of contemporary, classical and jazz fusion material, students perform on electronic keyboards, violin and cello; wind and guitar controllers, and electronic percussion. Lynn Purse & Kenneth Karsh, directors.04/09/2014Time: 7:30 pmLocation: Pappert Center, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PAwebsite
Music 101 - Robert MoirRobert Moir, Pittsburgh Symphony Senior Vice President of Artistic Planning & Audience Engagement gives an informal lecture, titled "Adventures in Programming."04/09/2014Time: 12:30 pmHeinz Hall, 600 Penn Ave., Pittsburgh, PAwebsite | map
Bugs Bunny at the SymphonyA fantastic fusion of classical music and classic animation, Bugs Bunny at the Symphony is created and conducted by Emmy Award-winner George Daugherty. The concert features favorite Warner Bros. Looney Tunes characters on screen in their most memorable moments, all with live accompaniment by the PSO. "The roaring kettledrums, the sweetly confiding strings, the braying brasses, and luxuriant woodwinds were every bit as vibrant as the colors and choreography of the animation on screen." -- The Chicago Tribune04/10/2014 - 04/13/201404/10 - 7:30 pm04/11 - 8:00 pm04/12 - 2:30 pm04/12 - 8:00 pm04/13 - 2:30 pmHeinz Hall, 601 Penn Ave., Pittsburgh, PAwebsite | map
The Playboy of the Western WorldIrish playwright J.M. Synge's The Playboy of the Western World takes place in the early 1900s at a pub on the west coast of Ireland, where a young man running away from his farm, claiming he killed his father, finds the locals are more interested in vicariously enjoying his story than condemning the immorality of what he did. At the pub, he captures the attention of the barmaid, who also is the owner's daughter. Kim Martin directs in the Rauh Theatre.04/10/2014 - 04/19/2014Pittsburgh Playhouse, 222 Craft Ave, Pittsburgh, PAwebsite | map
Don Quixote with the OrchestraRanked among ballet's most complex choreography, Don Quixote weaves a rich tapestry of love, illusion and adventure based on Cervante's classic Spanish novel. Packed with balletic bravado, intricate footwork and virtuoso variations, Don Quixote claims one of the most breathtaking grand pas de deux in classical ballet.04/11/2014 - 04/13/201404/11 - 8:00 pm04/12 - 8:00 pm04/13 - 2:00 pm237 Seventh St., Pittsburgh, PAwebsite | map
Swimmy, Frederick & Inch by InchMermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia draws from Leo Lionni's exquisitely crafted Caldecott Honor books. Swimmy, a tiny fish, uses ingenuity to fend off danger. Frederick, a poetic mouse, makes everyday life an artful experience. A lovable inchworm shares his facility for measuring absolutely everything. All stories incorporate puppetry and a gentle style. (Ages 3-10, 60 minutes)04/11/2014 - 04/12/201404/11 - 11:00 am04/11 - 7:00 pm04/12 - 11:00 am04/12 - 2:00 pmLocation: Byham Theater, 101 Sixth St., Pittsburgh, PAwebsite
PantagleizePantagleize is a wild rumination on revolution; an explosion of theatricality first produced in 1931 by Michel de Ghelderode, Belgium's great anticipator of the avant garde. Subtitled "A Farce to Make You Sad," it takes its title from the central character, a philosopher-clown unwittingly involved with a cell of revolutionaries who take him for their leader. He robs a bank, falls in love, and goes head to head with forces far beyond his understanding. Jed Allen Harris directs a new adaptation by Jay Ball.04/11/2014 - 04/27/2014Location: Lexington Technology Center, 400 North Lexington St., Pittsburgh, PAwebsite
Palace of the Sun KingIn 1664 Louis XIV began transforming a humble hunting lodge into the most magnificent palace the world has ever known: Versailles. Sublime soprano Sherezade Panthaki joins us to explore the music heard in its resplendent halls. With guests: Adriane Post, Baroque violin; Andrew Appel, harpsichord.04/11/2014 - 04/12/201404/11 - 8:00 pm04/12 - 2:30 pmLocation: 2 locations: Synod Hall and Chatham U.website
Bobby Watson & HorizonAfter an eight-year hiatus, this electrifying quintet (nicknamed "The Happy Band" by fans) is back with a brand new album and tour entitled "Horizon Reassembled." The group has evolved into an all-star ensemble of Terell Stafford, Edward Simon, Essiet Okon Essiet, and Victor Lewis, each leaders in their own right.04/12/201404/12 - 7:00 pm04/12 - 9:30 pm1815 Metropolitan St, Pittsburgh, PAwebsite | map
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Carolina Boxer Rescue
Please go to Website to fill out/submit online adoption application. A
homevisit will then be scheduled.
P.O. Box 87
Hampstead, NC 28443
Patrick is a 3 year old male Boxer who loves people! He is happy to be around anyone. He loves to give great big sloppy Boxer kisses. He does well with other dogs, young and old. He thinks he's a lapdog.


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Murcia et al. contend that the concept of a 'novel ecosystem' is poorly developed, has no evidence base, and has little management application and potential negative policy impacts. However, it is more accurate to observe that conceptual development is ongoing (as would be expected in a relatively new area of endeavor), empirical evidence is mounting, many managers find the ideas us... read more
The 'novel ecosystem' concept has captured the attention of scientists, managers, and science journalists, and more recently of policymakers, before it has been subjected to the scrutiny and empirical validation inherent to science. Lack of rigorous scrutiny can lead to undesirable outcomes in ecosystem management, environmental law, and policy.
Click here for more information. read more
This first volume of The State of the World's Forest Genetic Resources constitutes a major step in building the information and knowledge base required for action towards better conservation and sustainable management of forest genetic resources at the national, regional and international levels.
Click here for more information. read more
The Restoration Opportunities Assessment Methodology (ROAM), produced by IUCN, provides a flexible and affordable framework approach for countries to rapidly identify and analyse forest landscape restoration (FLR) potential and locate specific areas of opportunity at a national or sub-national level.
Click here for more information. read more
SER partnered with IUCN and WRI in in the organization of the Brazil-China Learning Exchange on Forest Landscape Restoration. Last month, experts and leaders from two of the world's biggest countries and emerging economies met in China to share knowledge on how restoration of degraded lands can be accomplished at large scale.
Published November 10, 2014
Click here for more info... read more
By Andre F. Clewell and James Aronson
Ecological Restoration, Second Edition, published in 2013, offers a comprehensive and coherent account of the field for everyone who initiates, finances, designs, administers, issues government permits for, manages, and implements ecological restoration projects, and all those who serve in supportive roles. Ecological restoration is a rapidly growing ... read more
Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO) is the flagship publication of the Convention on Biological Diversity. It is a periodic report that summarizes the latest data on the status and trends of biodiversity and draws conclusions relevant to the further implementation of the Convention. The fourth edition launched October 6, 2014.
Click here for more information.
read more
A new peer-reviewed analysis finds that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife habitat restoration programs are extraordinary engines for the U.S. economy. The report, Restoration Returns: The Contribution of Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program and Coastal Program Projects to Local U.S. Economies, finds that, in working directly with partners to implement vital on- the- ground habitat restoration, these... read more
To assist countries in achieving the globally-agreed Aichi Biodiversity Targets, the Korea Forest Service launched the Forest Ecosystem Restoration Initiative (FERI) on 14 October 2014, in the margins of the twelfth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 12) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), being held in Pyeongchang, Republic of Korea, from 6 to 17 October ... read more
Hebei, north China's worst-polluted province, has set a string of ecological restoration goals for rivers, lakes, mines, forests and underground water. The province, which surrounds Beijing and Tianjin, will plant 530,000 hectares of forest by 2017 and raise forest coverage from 28 percent last year to 32 percent, according to a recently unveiled official plan.
Published October 5, 2014
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The latest generation of the world's #1 database, Oracle Database 12c is available on a choice of platforms. Oracle Database 12c Enterprise Edition features more than 500 new features including a new architecture that simplifies the process of consolidating databases onto the cloud, enabling customers to manage many databases as one without changing their applications.
Oracle provides a wide range of options to help you get the most out of Oracle Database 12c Enterprise Edition. Oracle also offers optimised and preintegrated engineered systems for all database workloads, and the most comprehensive enterprise-class platform for cloud computing, big data, and data warehousing.
Oracle's partner community includes more than 3,000 specialised partners worldwide with 70,000 specialists to meet your Oracle business needs.


text:
SOUTH CHARLESTON - Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin hinted Thursday that an ethane cracker still could be built in West Virginia.
"The Commerce Department continues to talk with those interested," Tomblin told reporters during the Associated Press Legislative Lookahead at Marshall University's South Charleston campus. "We still have a great deal of confidence we will have one here in the future."
Tomblin smiled broadly as he made the statement, prompting requests for more specific information about a potential cracker plant.
Article Photos
Inter-Mountain photo by Matt Burdette
Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin speaks during the Associated Press Legislative Lookahead at Marshall University's South Charleston campus Thursday.
"I wish could tell you more," he responded. "The talks are ongoing."
Hopes that the Upper Ohio Valley would become home to a cracker plant were high in late 2011 and early 2012, but local sites ultimately were rejected by Royal Dutch Shell in favor of a potential location in Monaca, Pa. Shell still has not committed to building a cracker at that site, however, and other companies have expressed interest in building plants to process, or "crack," ethane produced from natural gas wells in the Kanawha River valley.
State lawmakers, meanwhile, dont think legislation requiring voter identification will surface in 2013, though Republican lawmakers believe such a measure is needed.
Senate President Jeff Kessler, D-Marshall; House Speaker Richard Thompson, D-Wayne; House Minority Leader Tim Armstead, R-Kanawha; and Senate Minority Leader Mike Hall, R-Putnam, also took part in Thursday's event. The Legislature convenes for its regular session Wednesday, with Tomblin set to give his State of the State address that evening.
"It's an important issue," Armstead said of voter identification. "It won't keep anyone from voting. The way it is set up now, it wouldn't deny the person the right to vote. It just should make certain the person is who they say they are. ...
"How can we say it's fine to have to show identification to cash a check, but isn't fine to assure one of the most important rights a person has?" he added. "With the history we have here in West Virginia, we have to make sure."
Thompson said 2,000-3,000 bills will be introduced by the 100 House members during the session, and each has to be considered on its merits.
"We have to look at each bill and think, 'How much does it cost?'" he said. "If the costs outweigh the benefits, we won't run it."
Kessler said if a voter identification bill comes up as a "voter suppression bill," he will oppose it.
"If they can demonstrate fraud is happening, it's a whole different story," he added.
Kessler spoke of complaints he received following the state's implementation of the Real ID driver's license law requiring residents to show multiple official proof of their name and to have official documentation regarding any name changes in order to renew their licenses. People don't want to go through such a process again to register to vote, he continued.
"We don't know if we have a problem with voter identification fraud," Armstead said. "We have no way of policing it. None."
Kessler also doesn't believe bills pertaining to abortion or drug testing for welfare recipients will move through the Legislature this session. And he said it is unlikely a gay marriage bill will be considered.
"You will likely see that resolved at the U.S. Supreme Court," Kessler said. "We can't get an equal rights amendment passed in this state, so I'm not sure you would ever see a gay rights amendment."
He added he would be interested in legislation pertaining to gay rights to ensure homosexuals are not discriminated against in such areas as employment or housing.
Armstead rejected the notion that the question of gay marriage should be decided at the federal level.
"The people of West Virginia have the right to decide," he said. "They would want the traditional definition of marriage upheld."


text:
Top Definition
When a male inserts his penis AND testicles into the urethra of another male, causing the receiving male to have a "fat sack".
Guy 1: Honey,I want myself in you, but I'm tired of just anal
Guy 2:Okay, let's give me the fat sack.
Guy 2:Okay, let's give me the fat sack.
додав Ballsballsballssack 22 Лютого 2010
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Can you define these popular missing words?


text:
Stetson football coach Roger Hughes knows there is no way he will be able to practice what he has been preaching in the leadup to the first Hatters football game in 57 years.
He also knows it will be tough for his players.
For many of those players, it has been an almost 400 day countdown to the return of Stetson football. For Hughes, the countdown has been even longer. For the community of DeLand and the University itself, the countdown has covered lifetimes.
So, no matter what the coaches having been preaching during this final week, emotions will be very high for the Hatters on Saturday when they take the field at newly renovated Spec Martin Memorial Stadium to face another first-year program, Warner University. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
The sellout crowd will be emotional. The many former Stetson players from the 1940s and 1950s, who will be recognized on the field, will be emotional. There will be tears shed. Stomachs will be twisted in knots from excitement and anticipation. There is no way for that to be avoided.
Hughes, who admits that he is an emotional person, knows that he will be a basket case. But, at the same time, he knows that he and the rest of the Stetson coaching staff will have to make sure the Hatters players stay calm, stay focused and stay relaxed.
"The fact that we will have a packed stadium and all of the distractions of having the first game in 57 years, you just can't simulate those things," Hughes said. "We have been talking to our team about focus. The thing that we are excited to find out is we think we have some talented players at certain positions, but we just don't know how they will react. They don't have any experience, and there is no substitute for experience."
Not only do the Hatters not have game experience, but they also don't know much about their opponent. Warner coach Jeff Schaum and his staff are going through much the same experience as the Hatters. It is the Royals first game, with a largely untested squad. What Warner does have that Stetson doesn't is upperclassmen. The Royals have two seniors and five juniors on their squad.
"I think our kids are anxious to see another color jersey," Hughes said. "Our coaching staff is anxious to find out where we need to improve and how our players stack up against the others we are playing. We don't really know the offensive and defensive schemes that Warner will run against us. So, for the first quarter, we'll be trying to figure out is they are a four-man front, a three-man front, what looks they will have in the secondary."
For the coaches and players, those things will take care of themselves once the ball is in the air. It will be those final minutes before kickoff that will be the most difficult.
"My biggest concern, in addition to not knowing what to expect, is that our guys are going to be so jacked up," Hughes said. "We are going to have to calm them down and make sure they are using their techniques and do the things that we are supposed to do. There are going to be things where they won't know what to do. They just have to remember to handle their rules and keep going. It is going to be a four-round prize fight, it won't be won in the first quarter."
The players also know it will be difficult to control their emotions. One of the four captains, Fletcher Eldemire, who was one of the first players on the squad, said they will have to look to their coaches to find a sense of calm.
"I have talked to the offensive line about it being a little too much to handle," Eldemire said. "My heart will be beating out of my chest. The coaches always talk about business, so I am going to have to find a way to keep my cool but, at the same time, soak it all in. We want to be able to stress that it is a huge day but, at the same time, not let the kids get too emotional."
Hughes said showing that calmness before the game will be difficult for all.
"I am going to be as emotional as they are," Hughes sais. "I am an emotional guy and I am sure it will be intense. I am going to be pretty jacked up for the game. I don't know how you couldn't be when we have a crowd like we are going to have, with an atmosphere like we are going to have. Division I athletics is the best and, hearing the buzz in the town, seeing the response we have had at scrimmages. Football is a big deal. I would be lying through my teeth is I said I was going to be stone-faced and unemotional, because I am not."
Once the ball is in play, however, the emotion will be out of the way. Then, it will be a matter of taking care of business.
"It has been our mantra since we have been in fall camp to not believe the hype," Hughes said. "All of the talk about this game leading up to it may make you think that you are better than you are. We are not going to be as good as some people think we are, but we are also not going to be as bad either.
"We have tried to create some distractions for practice, but there is just no way that we can control the adrenalin of 18 and 19 year olds. We will try to manage it and, after the first hit and they have been knocked down, we'll be able to get their focus and get down to business."
Pregame festivities will begin in the stadium at about 6:30 p.m. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. Fans unable to attend the game will be able to listen to the Stetson Radio Network on AM 1230 in New Smyrna Beach, AM 1490 in DeLand and AM 810 in Orlando. The pregame tailgate show will start at 6:30 p.m.
In addition, fans who want to see the game, but we unable to get a ticket, can watch online at GoHatters.com on Hatter Vision. The cost for an annual membership to see more than 150 Stetson Athletics events online throughout the year is just $69.95. The cost to watch just the game on Saturday is $7.95, which is the same price as a monthly subscription.


text:
1988-1996 Buick Regal Front Strut Cartridge 6 Piece Set (Monroe Sensa-Trac)MNSSP00083-475077
Part Details
- Front / Rear Location: Front
- Product Line: Monroe Sensa-Trac
- Quantity: 6 Piece Set
This part replaces:
- Monroe 73305, 901921, 902994, 902995
- New
(2) Monroe Sensa-Trac® Strut Cartridge 73305
(2) Cushion Mount Kit 901921
(1) Lower Spring Seat & Bearing Kit LF 902994
(1) Lower Spring Seat & Bearing Kit RF 902995
This is a new MONROE FRONT Strut Cartridge Kit PAIR!
Quantity: (2) Sensa-Trac Strut Cartridge
Side: Fits Both the LH (Driver) & RH (Passenger)
Location: FRONT
Vehicle Type: All FWD (Front Wheel Drive) Models
Engine Size: All
Built to strict quality control standards:
Includes the following components :
- Sensa-Trac Strut Cartridge
- Cushion Mount Kit
- Lower Spring Seat & Bearing
- Attaching hardware
The Monroe® Sensa-Trac® strut with PSD (position sensitive damping) and the Safe Tech&trade system combines our exclusive precision tapered grooves in the pressure tube with application engineered valving and Fluon banded piston to improve the ride, handling, and safety characteristics of the vehicle.
These features allow the Monroe Sensa-Trac strut to adjust more rapidly to changing road and weight conditions than any other available shock absorber.
The result: enhanced control with uncompromised ride
- All Weather Fluid: Contains special modifiers to reduce friction and ensure smooth rod reaction.
- Rod Displaced Valving: Tuned specifically for each application, this valving automatically adjusts to road extremes to provide consistency and ride comfort.
- Fluon Banded Piston: Works with the existing groove tube technology to provide responsiveness to changing road conditions.
- Unique Groove Tube - PSD: Precision tapered grooves in the pressure tube perform like an additional stage of valving for optimum ride tuning.
- Hardened and Chrome Plated Piston Rod: Long service life.
- Nitrogen Gas Charged: For improved ride and handling, helps maintain tire to road contact by reducing aeration.
- Unique Rod Guide and Single Lip Seal: Bronze reinforced rod guide bearing and special seal provides longer service life and consistent performance.
- Special Dust Boot/Jounce Bumper*: Protective dust boot reduces dirt and any moisture build-up. Jounce bumper helps prevent severe suspension movement.
2 Year Warranty
This item is backed by a 2 Year Warranty. In the event this item should fail during intended use, we will exchange the part free of charge (excludes shipping charges) for the original purchaser. Please keep your invoice for proof of this warranty.Warranty Note: Tenneco Inc. warrants qualifying Monroe products against defects and wear-out when used on private passenger cars and light trucks under normal operating conditions for as long as such original purchaser owns the vehicle on which they were originally installed. Tenneco's obligation under this warranty is limited to replacement of the worn-out or defective product in accordance with this warranty. Cost of removal and installation are not included, and any incidental and consequential damages are excluded under this warranty, regardless of when the failure occurs. This warranty has no cash value. This warranty does not apply to products which have been modified, improperly applied or installed on vehicles used for commercial or racing purposes. Qualifying Products are Monroe OESpectrum Shocks and Struts, Monroe Reflex Shocks and Struts, Monroe Sensa-Trac Shocks and Struts, Monroe Quick-Strut replacement assemblies, Monroe Gas-Magnum Shocks
Vehicle Fit
- 1988-1996 Buick Regal Front Strut Cartridge 6 Piece Set (Monroe Sensa-Trac)
- 1990-1994 Chevy Lumina Front Strut Cartridge 6 Piece Set (Monroe Sensa-Trac)
- 1988-1991 Olds Cutlass Calais Front Strut Cartridge 6 Piece Set (Monroe Sensa-Trac)
- 1988-1997 Olds Cutlass Supreme Front Strut Cartridge 6 Piece Set (Monroe Sensa-Trac)
- 1988-1996 Pontiac Grand Prix Front Strut Cartridge 6 Piece Set (Monroe Sensa-Trac)
Part #: MNSSP00083
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Brand #: 73305, 901921, 902994, 902995
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Customer Feedback
"Thanks for the fast reliable service. Great price, and the headlights were as good as oem or better!!! Keep up the good work..."- Dwuan M.
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