A solution to a problem

There has been speculation for the last month the Baltimore Orioles will trade Brian Roberts to the Chicago Cubs for a combination of prospects. This blog will assume that the deal will be completed and the Cubs will receive Brian Roberts for Jason Marquis, Sean Gallagher, and a no-name prospect.

With Brian Roberts now in the fold, the Cubs have some questions that need to be answered.
1st. Brian Roberts only plays 2nd base, which is currently occupied by Mark De Rosa. Based on some reading that I have done, the Cubs would like to move Mark De Rosa around the diamond like a super utility man. Last season DeRosa's numbers were: 293 BA, 10 HRs, and 72 RBI's. If DeRosa does not have a permanent position, how will this affect his offensive numbers? DeRosa last season played 2nd base, shortstop, 1st base, and left field. The majority of DeRosa's games were played at 2nd base, With DeRosa on the bench, which bench player from last season is down in the minors?

2nd. Roberts would be brought in to be the 2nd basemen, but more importantly the leadoff man. Roberts' numbers from last year were: 290 BA, 12 HRs, and 57 RBIs. With Roberts as the leadoff man, where does Alfonso Soriano hit? Most people believe that Soriano SHOULD be a middle of the order guy anyways, however, when Soriano bats in the middle of the order his batting numbers significantly decrease.

3rd. This last point is made under the assumption that the Cubs have to trade Marquis and Sean Gallagher for Roberts, who pitches in the back end of the rotation for the Cubs? Most signs point to Jon Lieber and Ryan Dempster filling out the back end of the rotation. Sean Marshall would begin the season at AAA Iowa, while Kevin Hart would be the Cubs long reliever.

A trade for Roberts was supposed to be the answer for the Cubs; instead the trade would just raise more questions.

Haren's the best deal

There has been a lot of major trades made this offseason, most recently completed was the Eric Bedard deal. I believe that best trade offseason was not the Johan Santana Deal, not the M. Cabrera and Willis deal, not the Nick Swisher deal and not the recently completed Eric Bedard deal.

I will compare the Haren deal to the Santana and Bedard deals.

It was the Dan Haren deal between Oakland A's and the Arizona Diamondbacks. The reason I say the Haren deal over the others is because of the money involved and the age of Haren. Haren is making 4 million this season, 5.5 next season, and TEAM option of 6.75 in 2010.
Haren also is only 27 years old, which is a year younger than Bedard and Santana. Bedard is asking for 6 million in arbitration this year, while Santana is making 19 million this season.

In the deal for Haren, Arizona did have to give some their top notch prospects to the A's, but so did the Mets and Mariners to get their guys. The Mets also had to pay Santana 123.1 million over the next 6 years, while the Mariners will have to pay Bedard more Haren to keep him during his arbitration years, and afterwards sign him to a Santana like deal.

Haren's numbers are also going to better with a transition to the NL west. Last season, Haren was 15-9 with ERA of 3.07, and he also pitched 222.2 innings. While Santana numbers were 15-13 with an ERA 3.33 and pitched 209.0 innings. Santana's number will also improve because of his transition to the NL, but the word on Santana is his better days are behind him, while Haren appears to be entering his prime. Bedard will also see improvement in his numbers when he switches from the hitter friendly Camden Yards to Safeco Field. Bedard numbers for last season were 13-5 with an ERA of 3.16 and 182 innings.

Santana and Bedard will give their teams more strikeouts than Haren, but in my mind judging by the numbers, the Diamondbacks got the best deal this offseason.

A Giant effort ends the run at PERFECTION!

I am very pleased that Giants defeated the New England Patriots in Super bowl 42. I was so tired of the Talk about PERFECTION and dynasty! I think when you watch two weeks of TV saying that you are going to win with no problem, you start to feel confident.


The Patriots were insulted that Giants receiver Plaxico Burress dared to say they would only score 17 points in this game. The Giants defense would make good on Plaxico's guarantee.


The main reason the Giants defeated the Patriots were as followed: 1. ELI's play, 2. receiver play and 3. The whole defense playing well.


1. Eli Manning was the better quarterback in the SUPERBOWL and probably the best quarterback since week 17 of the regular season. He was an escape artist late in the game and made extraordinary play after extraordinary play. ELI deserved the MVP, because he had ice water pumping through his veins all game.


2. David Tyre made two of the biggest catches in his life, a late third down conversion after ELI escaped the blitz, and a touchdown pass. Steve Smith made a big catch and got out bounds in the 4th. Plaxico caught the game winning touchdown.


3. In the first meeting between the Patriots and Giants, Tom Brady was hit TWICE and sacked once. This game Brady was hit constantly and sacked 5 times. The reason the defensive line of Giants could get some much pressure on Tom Brady was because of the Coverage Down the field. The Giants did not let the Patriots receivers catch the ball down field.


Congrats to the Giants!