is matt morris having fun or what? it's obvious when you watch him pitch --- he just loves getting people out. doesn't matter what the score or the situation; outs are just fun. read his postgame quotes over at fungoes today and it becomes even more obvious what a happy camper #35 is. dude explains he "smelled" pena's homer last night as it roared overhead en route to saturn . . . .
dunn and dumber: adam dunn a cardinal? i doubt it; the cards are focused short-term, worried about this season/postseason, and dunn is not a fit in that context; maldistributes the talent, wastes excess capacity on the bench. i'm not convinced he's a fit long term either; he has what bill james used to call an "old player's" skill set, ie power and strike-zone judgment. he's 25, but it's an old 25. in three years he'll be a big liability in the field (if he isn't already) and the kind of offensive player who can only do three things: walk, whiff, and hit homers. pete incaviglia / dave kingman we do not need.
a player who might -- if the price comes down -- be a fit comes to busch this weekend: preston wilson (stats here). i wouldn't want him as an everyday player, but as a fourth outfielder i think he'd be an asset. right-handed hitter, can play centerfield, has power, runs the bases well. the rockies are desperate to move him but disappointed in the market -- and the market's soft because wilson, like most rockies, isn't as good as his numbers suggest. away from coors he's hit .244/.312/.441 over the last three seasons. but even if that's his true ability level, a guy who can play all three outfield spots and slug .440 is a player worth having on your bench. the price keeps falling for this guy; i'm guessing a package of brad thompson and corey haerther will end up being competitive. would i make that deal? depends on a number of things -- anthony reyes' shoulder and larry walker's neck being two of them. . . . .
the cubs have been flirting for weeks with this guy and might end up getting him -- but they'd likely play him everyday, which might expose his liabilities. then again, wilson's no worse a hitter than russell simon, who played over his head for two months in 2003 to help propel the cubs to the div title . . . . . the prospect does not excite the northside partisans at Bleed Cubbie Blue.
cardnilly's series preview is up; also a new post over at the birdwatch about, among other things, yadi's hidden value . . . .
