Awesome, so glad we got the sweep. Especially against those damn Cubbies (I love to see them losing so badly)
You know it. A couple of buddies and I got to witness first hand the sorrow in the eyes of the Cubs fan as their team snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Beautiful.
Reunion weekend vs. the Royals... Elarton tomorrow and Duckworth Sunday. and Johnny Buck behind the plate? sounds tastey to me.
Solid win today... but I still don't understand Garner's insistence that Taveras bat in the #1 or #2 hole every time he plays. Obviously, he needs some playing time out there to attempt to make him a solid contributer, and try to gain some confidence back... but the guy is clearly overmatched in the leadoff spot (or anywhere near the top of the order)... probably not the best place to put him against one of the league's best pitchers. Zambrano had NO fear of throwing fastball after fastball right down the middle to Willy... and the best Willy could do was foul off a ton of them, eventually before flying/grounding out fair (he didn't throw those fat pitches to anybody else in the lineup, with the exception of Everett... who did get a double off the wall). I know I've been criticizing (borderline whining) about Willy a lot lately (I don't want to turn into some of the other "whiners"... )... but its just hard to see the "theory" behind making him a leadoff man, or just hand him 5 AB's every game he plays, if he can't get on base, can't hit for extra-bases, doesn't take walks, is not a HR threat, and has his only strength (speed) neutralized by his inability to get on base. On the contrary, I think he could actually be a "strength" if he was used as a late-game pinch-runner (like Dave Roberts for the 04 Red Sox), or if he was simply batting 7th or 8th (where not much is expected to happen with this lineup anyways... and if Willy does get on base, he'll have more free reign to run).
For the sake of argument, what do you believe Willie's trade value is? Would he and one of the young arms = Crawford perhaps?
What happened to Willy bunting for hits? Last year they knew it was coming too, but couldn't stop it. DD
no he isnt buddy haha. but he did get the game winning hit. i cant take that away from him. pop quiz: who is in dead last amongst all MLB Catchers in Caught Stealing % with a blistering .118, throwing out 4 out of 34 runners? haha i'll give you one guess buddy haha. come on buddy haha. haha i know you can answer this correctly. one guess. but he is a GREAT defensive player. i mean he just calls PHENOMENAL games like no other catcher in the league is capable of, right? i mean, look what he did for oswalt the past 2 seasons....20+ wins each year! oh...wait a minute! that was RAUL CHAVEZ catching him! wierd! ability to "call a great game" isn't a load of bs or anything, is it??? wait, maybe you're right, i mean, look what he's done for Wandy Rodriguez. I mean, who would have thought that the kid would have 8 wins and be amongst the league leaders this early in the season??? oh, whoops....that's the legendary ERIC MUNSON who catches him! man am i good. i dont know why i care so much about trying to knock sense into clueless "fans", but it's fun for me! and i love how i'm always right, and you can all sit in silence and in awe of me because there is no possible argument to the points i make. most of you don't understand that just because he was hitting .350 a few weeks into the season doesn't mean he wont be hitting .240 by season's end. brad ausmus is an awful baseball player. he is inept at everything besides blocking balls. did i want him to get a hit to win the game for us? of course i did, and i hope he does something beneficial to the team every time he's in the lineup. but i am realistic (one of the precious few on this board). every dog has his day. i'm ecstatic that we won the game. it was a huge hit. but one hit does not a player make.
I don't think he has that much trade value right now... I'm pretty sure every team has one speedy player in their system, who doesn't walk and doesn't get XBH's. Willy does play CF (albeit not the "gold glove" variety... but he does cover ground, and has a plus arm), and he is still relatively young with major league experience... that will count for something. But, the key to that deal will obviously be the young pitchers you include (which the D-Rays need desperatly)... NOT a position player. Hell, the Astros have a solid CF in AA named Josh Anderson... who is actually a decent CF with the potential to hit some extra base hits, steal bases, and his OBP isn't below .320. He may fetch more in a trade, or he may even be the future CF if Willy doesn't start improving.
