That's also saying that everyone will stay healthy all year as well. We remember how that went last year.
Yeah... everyone stayed healthy for about 2 games until some twat charged the mound and broke Zack's collarbone...
Bills was never supposed to be Kershaw, fans desperate for a Kershaw blew the expectations sky high because he had raw talent. I don't think the coming season will be a good one for him either, it rarely is for a pitcher coming off a major surgery. But to say he couldn't be a fifth starter on this club (when healthy) is just ridiculous.
Seriously? Won-lost record? Seriously? My point in stating he never had a losing season is that it is kinda remarkable considering some of those years the club couldn't score a hooker with a bag of hundred dollar bills. He was consistently starting 30+ games, 190+ IP, ERA mostly 3.65 over the career, low home runs/9. ANY club would consider (when healthy) him for a #3, he'd be an incredible #4, and of course if he was a #5 he'd be the best in baseball at that slot. And you think his numbers may not assure future employment? The only thinking affecting his employment is the state of his health. A few weeks ago posters were saying on this board that the only thing they feared about trading Kemp is that he might come back and be the 2011 Kemp. I have the same fear with Bills. We let him walk for nothing and BAM! Career year. Oh yeah, he turns 29 in June.
The 29 part is his best defense and its been proven possible to come back from Tommy John and not throw like a girl like Carl Crawford. My long time opinion of Bills being talented but slightly over his head, he pitches well until he manages to implode one-more-time again. He may be good elsewhere, he could be a #2 with the Padres, he may even heal fully but given where our team needs to be this year I'm simply not wagering heavy on anything named Billingsley. Just me. Like you said, he's 29... he could still mend and come around again to being something reliable but... He was fair when we were fair... but aren't we past that? give him a chance? sure... but don't put your flowers in that basket when the chips are down
Multiple writers are reporting that the Cubs have stepped up to the plate and are willing to drastically overpay to lure Tanaka to the South side (or North side, I don't fucking care). Seems hard to believe that he would choose the Cubs as they are a couple years away from competing and he has said he wants to play for a competitor and be on a coast. Granted this could all be talk to make the Dodgers or Yanks up their bids, but interesting to see with only a few more days left before he needs to make a decision.
On a separate note: When Tanaka was first being talked about, all the scouting reports were along the same lines, he's a good #2, doesn't possess ace stuff, good but not great, not what Darvish was, blah blah blah. Now it seems like everyone is starting to say, this guy is an ace worthy of a massive contract, could be better than Darvish and a savior to a team like the Yanks who need an ace. What the fuck happened since the last pitch he threw in Japan in October? It is like that game telephone, the scouts who watched him all year were making those original assessments that I was talking about, then some second tier writers and bloggers started making him out to be something better than that and now the mainstream media has tagged along for that ride and blown him up more. It seems like this guy is on a serious helium trip.
I I never said he couldn't be a fifth starter on this team but he has shown that he is inconsistent. A 3.00 era through the first half coupled with a 4+ in the second will leave him with a solid ERA for sure.
I've always been a fan of Bills as I always felt he could be something great behind Kershaw and the truth is he has always shown glimpses. His problem is not what does or does not swing between his legs, it is his inability to repeat his delivery throughout a season. He gets himself so out of whack and it seems to happen every year. He is the pitching version of Loney, worlds of talent, but starts fucking with his mechanics the second something starts to go wrong. Once you do that, everything falls apart. The TJ surgery is going to be interesting to see how he comes back, you do sometimes come back stronger, but the bigger thing is your command and mechanics are better. Prior to my TJ, my mechanics were shit, elbow was below the shoulder and arm angle at 5/8's(who saw that surgery coming!?!). When you train to come back, you have someone watching you telling you what to do. It is like learning to throw all over again. Everything is nice and slow and you really finally learn the proper way to throw a baseball. Maybe finally Bills will learn to throw with an easy repeatable delivery and finally develop into a good #3. The guy is young enough and he certainly has the stuff for it.
Bills, when on, is a legit 3 bordering on 2. He was billed (no pun intended) coming up as a 1 and I think that is what people were pissed about. I think the same of Lee. Because we have Kersh and Greinke, when he looks more 3 or 4 than 1, expectations will not be nearly as high. Bills did not have a Kershaw in front of him. We were patchwork (unless you count Penny for two seasons). Insofar as Tanaka goes, I was under the same impression about him being a number two until I listened to an actual player talk about his ability to turn it up a notch and what he comes to the mound with. Reports from scouts are just that. Reports from actual players is something else.
Well, Kasten had commented that extending Kershaw would not prevent them from still going after Tanaka. What I'm wondering, is, would signing Tanaka now after the Kershaw deal then preclude them from giving Hanley an extension? I'd think that between the two, locking up Hanley longer term is the bigger priority for the team. Getting another top pitcher would be great, but not worth losing Hanley's bat over.
