Mike Fontenot
2009 Recap: Mike Fontenot

A year ago, I was one of the few who argued that replacing Mark DeRosa with Mike Fontenot at second base would be A-OK, that he'd be able to keep up the good work of his 500 or so major league-level at-bats, play decent defense, and generally avoid suckage.
We all know that's not how it turned out.
Given the results of the 2009, many fans probably wish the Cubs had waived Fontenot instead of Casey McGehee, the former Cub third baseman "prospect" who got some playing time in September 2008. But given what was known at the time, I don't hate team management for making the move they did.
(At the same time, given Hendry's experience/supposed baseball aptitude, it's kind of his job to make the right moves.)
Of course, a lot of McGehee's value was difficult to anticipate at the time of his waiving -- nobody assumed A-Ram would choose to separate his shoulder and miss a bazillion games.
But Fontenot's ability to fill in at third was actually decent. Fangraphs' Ultimate Zone Rating suggests Mike defended like a league average 3B in his time at third.
The problem, of course, was his hitting -- specifically against lefties (.212/.246/.308). What happened to the .909 OPS of 2008?
Why did Font's numbers suffer last year? You don't have to believe me, but I'd argue a good portion of it had to do with luck.
If you're into the stat side of the game at all, you've heard of BABIP, which stands for batting average on balls in play. The metric tries to keep track of how many bloops and bleeders went the hitter's way in a given year. It can function as a sort of "luck" metric for hitters, since it tends to be constant for all baseball players.
To demonstrate, look at the league average in BABIP for the past three years, compared to Fontenot's BABIP. I'll drop his OPS in, too.
2007: League - .306, Mike - .330, Mike's OPS - .738
2008: League - .303, Mike - .355 (!), Mike's OPS - .909
2009: League - .302, Mike - .281 (...), Mike's OPS - .677
One other thing I'd look at: Font's ratio of at-bats against lefties to those against righties over the past three years. From '07 to '09: 1-to-3, 1-to-10, 1-to-6.
Take that for what it's worth I guess -- and, according to me, expect a bounce back next year if Font gets any significant playing time. If it were me, I'd probably give a 2B platoon of Fontenot and Baker another shot to start the 2010 season. We'll see what happens.
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A late season post about middle infielders
What? We have no tags for Jeff Baker&Andres Blanco? We need to rectify that, because they are here for the long haul.
A very popular topic of conversation amongst Cub bloggers is the Mark DeRosa trade. Over the months of this abortion of a season, two camps have sprung up - the "Mark DeRosa is not God" camp espoused by Desipio Andy, and, um, everyone else who tends to track the entire spiralsuck of 2009 on the New Years Eve trade. Naturally, I tend to think the truth falls somewhere in the middle.
Mark DeRosa can be counted on to hit close to 20 homers, drive in close to 70 runs, hit around .260 and get on base 34% of the time. He is not a great fielder, but not a liability, either. His two main talents in life are that he is friendly, and that he leaves his ego in check well enough to allow himself to go play a corner outfield spot, third base, second base or first base.
The latter talent is vitally important to Lou Piniella, who if he had his way would expect every member of his 25-main to be able to play more than one position. Except Z, he would pull his lazy fat core muscles playing in the field. Lou loves DeRosa. Which begs the question: where is all the Lou love for Jeff Baker? Baker is essentially DeRosa, only younger, covers a tad more ground, hits for a better average (albeit less power), and can and will play all the positions Mark does? Of course, I don't recall seeing Baker in a cute YouTube skit, or in the paper much commenting on the cartoon-watching proclivities of a Bobby Scales, or something cutesy like that.
My take on Mark DeRosa, on this 25th day of September, 2009? I do not blame the entire fall of the 2009 Cubs on the loss of Mark. I do think losing him took away one of Lou Piniella's safety blankets, and it would have been better having him around than giving 400 at bats to Mike Fontenot. If you believe that DeRosa was traded, so that his salary could be leveraged to pay Milton Bradley, then you have every right in the world to be pissed off. On the other hand, he was traded at the peak of his value (for once in Hendry's tenure), and although a popular meme in the papers these days is for Hendry to right the wrongs of 2009 by re-signing DeRosa this winter, it seems pointless to have a roster with DeRosa AND Baker AND Andres Blanco AND Ryan Theriot AND Mike Fontenot AND Aaron Miles.
Unless, of course, you do the following:
- install Andres Blanco as the starting shortstop
- sign DeRosa, and let him and Baker rotate between second base, spelling Ramirez at third, spelling Alfonso Soriano in left, and spelling whomever in right.
- this leaves very little room for Fontenot. Get rid of him.
- But! But! What about The Riot? He's our shortstop! He's our starter! He hits .300. If you don't like his fielding at short, can't he play second? Won't he be mad if we got rid of Fontenot?
Yeah, probably. In my humble opinion, I am through with Ryan Theriot at shortstop. I like his .300 batting average, but I don't like his baserunning and I don't like his lack of playmaking ability. I forgot what a real shortstop looked like until Blanco came up from the minors. Compared to him, The Riot looks really bad. So could Theriot play second? Sure.
And here's where it gets complicated. Who starts then? Theriot or Baker? And then, if you re-sign DeRosa, things really get jammed up at second. Therefore, it makes no sense to me to bring back Marky Mark unless you get rid of Theriot, because then you have three starter-caliber guys wanting to play one position, and occassionally spell guys in a couple other positions.
Besides, if you got rid of Theriot, then who backs up Blanco at short? We'd be forced to keep Aaron Miles. Ew. I just threw up a tad.
So, in my world, I start Blanco at short, with Theriot at second primarily, and against lefties, Theriot plays short, and Baker plays second, spelling Theriot once a week. Baker also plays third for Ramirez once a week, plays left for Soriano once a week, plays right once a week, and second 2-3 times a week. Theriot gets about 550 PA, Baker about 500. Soriano and Ramirez get more rest in 2010. The defense improves dramatically. If you sign DeRosa, it would have to be based on the terms I just outlined for Baker. Then you trade Baker, while HIS value his high.
Aaron Miles is allowed to start selling insurance, and Mike Fontenot can go back to Baton Rouge to run a combination batting cage/bar/laundromat.
Wood & DeRo - Where are they now?
Jim Hendry has deservedly received a lot of flack for his off season moves this year. He rolled the dice on Bradley -- so far coming up a loser, although time may tell a different story -- he took a risk on Fontenot -- also a loser move -- and he dealt for Kevin Gregg after declaring that Wood had no home in Chicago.
The loss of Wood and Mark DeRosa in particular upset a lot of Cub fans. How many times have we heard or read this year that "da Cubs would be doin' betta with Da-Rosa!" How many of us lamented that Kerry Wood -- a certifiable "big game pitcher" -- was to be replaced by Kevin Gregg and his hipster-doofus glasses?
While the fan in me still misses Wood considerably, at this point Hendry's decisions look less decisively poor and more ambiguously positive than they did back in May.
Wood presently has 14 saves and 4 blown, while posting an ERA of 4.93 through 34.2 innings of work. Not exactly elite. Compare that with Gregg, who has 21 saves to 3 blown with an ERA of 3.42 in 47.1 innings of work.
DeRosa, meanwhile, is still hitting the crap out of the ball -- he's batting .266 with 18 homeruns so far this year. Although, since coming to St. Louis, DeRo is hitting a Fontenesque .244.
Speaking of Fontenot, at this point he has me longing for the days of Mickey Morandini. Font is batting .229 and should never, ever face another left handed pitcher in a game that matters.
As for Milton Bradley, he is doing better but not great. He's certainly not earning his contract this season. He was chosen by the Cubs over guys like Bobby Abreu, Adam Dunn, and Raul Ibanez, all of whom are either lacking power, defense, or a legitimate "I'm doing it clean" argument.
Nevertheless, the Cubs are now leading the NL Central. They'd undoubtably be better off with a guy like DeRosa on the team, but Gregg at least is looking very good. And Bradley? Meh. Let's talk about him again in a year.
Disappointing Year
Let's face it Cub's fans this season has been a disappointment thus far. There is a good chance the Cubs may need more than Aramis to get out of this funk. After last season, I thought the Cubs needed to add some pieces to prove they truly deserved the title of World Series contender.
Their most tradable player was Mark DeRosa. There was a huge belief that he peaked and it was very unlikely that he would not match last year's output. I agreed with that belief. A player who never hit more than 13 home runs in the season and before the age of 30 didn't hit double digit home runs in his career was probably would not to have season that matched '08. In hindsight, the reason why they traded DeRosa made some sense. The Cubbies also dumped Jason Marquis (somehow one of the leaders in wins.) Chicago was trying to gain the pieces to trade for Peavy. Given Zambrano's emotional and recent physical issues, it was understood that Hendry felt the Cubs needed a true ace.
Another incredibly more important issue Hendry had to answer was the Cubs need for another bat. His belief that the Cubs lineup was too right handed bought in Aaron Miles and the infamous Milton Bradley. Here is where things go really interested. In addition to these acquisitions, the Cubs let go of Jim Edmonds, Daryle Ward, and Hank White. Jim Edmonds was crucial for the Cubs last season. He had two clutch home runs against his former team; the hated St. Louis Cardinals. He also brought a number of exciting catches with him. However, he was at the end of the road, and there was no way the Cubs were going to resign him. Daryle Ward had a number clutch hits, but Micah Hoffpauir and Jake Fox more than replaced him. Henry Blanco on the other hand was the only man in history who could pull of a feathered mullet and tattoos. He was Big Z’s countryman. He gave guidance to Carlos. Unfortunately, he would have asked more money than the Cubs were willing to give him.
Essentially, Milton Bradley or “board game was brought into replace DeRosa’s bat in the lineup. Ideally, Fontenot would have replaced Edmonds production. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Fontenot instead of living up to the nickname of “Little Babe Ruth” has turned into “Mini Mickey Morandini” (or Mini Morandini for short). Kosuke Fukudome was expected to be much better than last year. So far, his fall has come sooner than last season. Based on last season, Milton Bradley was a great acquisition. He put up great numbers in Texas. He lead the AL in on base percentage and OPS. He even lead the majors in OPS+ which takes ballpark into consideration. One problem with Bradley was that he played more than 120 games in season only twice in nine seasons. Everyone knew about Milton being a head case. This season has only given further proof of his jackassery. In Zambrano’s own words, Milton is the living embodiment of a “screw.” Worst of all, this season he really stinks. To put things in perspective, Scott Podsednik was taken off the trash heap and he has a higher batting average, more RBIs, and only two less home runs. This is while playing fewer games than “Board Game”. I realize this is beating a dead horse, but if he played better we would probably forgive his idiocy.
Now, it is unfair to blame all of the Cubs problems on Milton and Hendry, but they have to take a huge chunk of the blame. The assumption was that the combo Bradley and Fontenot would make up 40 home runs and 136 RBIs. Fukudome was asked to bat 40 points higher than last season and produce more runs. Neither of these has happened. In my opinion only Fukudome’s hitting was the only thing that could be expected. One can say that the loss of Aramis was huge. Yes, his injury was huge loss, but it did not cause Soto bat around .220, it didn’t cause Fontenot to resemble former Cub Mickey Morandini. Soriano is a hacker that rarely thinks about pitches, so how would Aramis’ presence made any difference in his performance?
At the beginning of the season, I felt the Cubs would win 88 games and win the division. Hendry really didn’t improve the team. In fact, the team has taken a step back talent wise.
Sure, Edmonds was old and on a downslide, but it would have made more sense to find someone who could play in right field who could replace his power numbers. Everyone and their dog knew there was no way the Cubs could do anything but continue to play Fukudome. They had no choice but to platoon him with Reed Johnson.
Last season, there were a number of wins by the Cubs where they had problems against the starter but were able to light up the other teams relievers. That is what we saw against the Indians. This season starters have gone further against the Cubs. This team needed another bat, not a replacement for DeRosa. If Bradley was supposed to be a left-handed replacement for DeRosa, then he was a clearly more expensive one. If they wanted another leftie in the lineup, they could have started Fontenot and still moved DeRosa to right field. That would have been a cheaper alternative for the same result. You don’t have to overburden your lineup with lefties if they are mediocre or bad. The Phillies’ lineup is an anomaly. There is no point trying to emulate the Philadelphia lineup. The Cubs were a good team. Still, I wanted to see the Cubs sign either Ibanez or Abreu(I was leaning towards Abreu). If Hendry had more patience, he would have be able to snag either for a decent cost, but here we are overpaying for crap the next few years.
Gamecast: June 10th at Astros
Carlos Zambrano (4-2, 3.72 ERA) vs. Wandy Rodriguez (5-5, 2.97 ERA)
Story Lines
Well, how about that? The Cubs found a way last night to beat a pretty bad pitcher into submission and not have to worry about the bullpen. It was nice for a change to go to bed and not have to worry about the outcome.
In an added benefit, the Cubs gained ground on both the Brewers and Cardinals to pull within 2.5 games.
Tonight the Cubs go against a lefty that has given them trouble. Wandy Rodriguez pitched six innings of 1-run ball way back on April 7 to give the Astros a victory. Wandy was quietly putting together a nice season, but has been roughed up in his last two outings.
The Cubs counter with Carlos Zambrano, who pitched very well coming off this suspension. With 6 2/3 innings of shutout ball, he lowered his ERA by about half a run last time out. Hopefully, he will follow that up with another strong outing against the woeful Astros.
In other news, Bruce Miles says the Cubs will send Jake Fox down to make room for Aaron Miles today. let me tell you, that makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. My guess, and Miles agrees, is that Fox will make his way back when the Cubs play in AL parks. He'll probably split time with Micah Hoffpauir, depending on who pitches.
I'm about to run into class, so lets keep this short.
Who's Hot
Mike Fontentot - Mike went 4-for-5 last night with a HR and two runs scored. In the process, he raised his average to .249. We're getting there folks, and we just need Aramis Ramirez to get back, so we can stop playing Aaron Miles and the like.
Kosuke Fukudome - I love it when a plan comes together. I called out Fukudome last night, and he promptly responded with two hits, two RBI, and two walks. Now if that can work with Milton.
Geovanny Soto - I know it was just three singles, but he has to start somewhere.
Ted Lilly - The ace of the staff hands down right now. Randy Wells might have the great ERA, but Lilly's been doing it all year.
Who's Not
Milton Bradley - Milton went 1-for-7 last night. Oh wait....0-for-6, since the bat he broke doesn't county. He lowered his average to average to .208, and doesn't look close to breaking out of the slump.
Conclusions
Cubs win in a close one tonight thanks to a Carlos Zambrano hit. The Cubs have 3 of 5, and are improving. I really think we are on the brink of a big winning streak.
Game Recap - Cubs 7, Astros 1 - Sweeeeet.

(with additional contributions by Kurt)
Good teams beat up on bad ones, and that's precisely what happened in Tuesday night's game.
Brian Moehler sucks. Before tonight's game, he'd allowed 10 earned runs in 6.2 innings pitched against the Cubs this season. He was no better tonight, giving up another five runs in just three innings.
His replacements fared no better, as the Cubs feasted on Astro pitching. Five Cubs ended the night with multiple hits, and a couple of young-and-struggling types in particular boosted their numbers with great hitting.
Mike Fontenot went 4-for-5 on the night, including a double and his sixth home run. And right on cue, Geovany "I love you, Rob!" Soto went 3-for-5. Unfortunately for Soto, however, while a three-hit night is great for the OBP, he'll need more than singles to return to his '08 form.
On the other side of the ball, Ted Lilly pitched a great game, and was an out away from a sub-3.00 ERA on the season. Furthermore, after being given a big lead, Aaron Heilman and Sean Marshall both threw strikes, giving up a combined zero walks.
There was really only one negative aspect to tonight's game.
That was having to watch Milton Bradley try to remember how to hit major league pitching throughout the game. Bradley ended up leaving ten men on base, going 0-for-6 with three strikeouts and at least one weakly hit pop-fly in foul territory that I remember.
Am I worried? No, not really. In fact, I'm HAPPY! The Cubs looked great tonight, and I hope it's a sign of better things to come.
GO CUBS!
From Kurt
Minute Maid Park has to be the weirdest in baseball. How many ground rule doubles do they have a year? Even Ted Lilly hit a triple! Ted Lilly! A triple! Afrghth!1! And yet, on a night when the Cubs offense was cracking, the Astros nearly got no-hit by Lilly... again.
Ryan Theriot and Milton Bradley -- who is returning from another near-miss with the DL -- were the only two Cub regulars to miss out on the party.
Anyway, it takes more than one big game to turn a team's offensive woes around but two or three more would be nice. Nicer still would be an adjustment to the lineup, dropping the Fonz to cleanup or 5th, but I digress...
Guess who's back..back again
NO, NO, NO, no, no!! You're all doing it all wrong!!!
So, how are you all enjoying your Memorial Day weekend so far? (For Canucks such as Kurt, the fourth weekend in May here in America is set aside for...) Ok, Kurt is actually here somewhere in the lower 48, and of course he grew up in New York, and that's probably the last attempt at humor from me for the rest of this post, because this shit just ain't working. I came out here after the first 20 games, I think we were 11-9, and I pointed out that Geo Soto was fat and sassy, that Milton Bradley completely had his head stuck up his ass, and that Derrek Lee's best days are absolutely behind him, and you all flamed me up one side and down the other, leaving me with a nice charred crust with very little pink in the middle, because by gawd, it's only TWENTY games, give guys a chance, for cripes sake!!
Now, it's forty games in, we're 21-19, which means we've played .500 ball since that last post. I did what you said, I gave them a chance to work things out, and what's happened since?
- Geo Soto still ain't hit dick
- Milton Bradley is still pressing
- Derrek Lee is not only still struggling, but he's now doing it in the cleanup spot
- and, now, we've exposed Mike Fontenot for what HE is, useful as a backup, but not capable of hitting on an everyday basis
- and, as an added bonus, Ryan Theriot has gotten away from what HE does best (go to right field) and he's swinging for the fences, with the predictable result of a plummeting batting average, on-base percentage, and overall usefulness
- and, of course, Aramis Ramirez' shoulder is still fusing itself back into one piece
- and, we now have not one, but two useless utility men burning at-bats and butchering plays in the field. Sometimes, the Orioles aren't stupid, and I know pretty much the Cardinals aren't.
But what worries me the most is looking at Lou Piniella night after night. There is a noticeable cognitive difference in him from 2007 to today. His job is stressful - particularly when he has come so close twice, and have it all slip away so suddenly and completely. This job turns people. When Dusty Baker hit town, he was all California Cool. By his last year, he spoke and acted like someone was spiking him in the groin. When Don Baylor hit town, he was all New Age Enthusiasm. By his last year, he spoke and acted like someone was spiking him in the groin. When Jim Riggleman hit town, he acted like the slimy horndog he was. By his last year, he spoke and acted like someone was spiking him in the groin, which was probably somewhat based in reality, considering his typical nighttime activities. (When he and Mark Grace left town, it left a lot of dental hygenists and flight attendants in their mid-30s unfulfilled)
Now, Lou don't talk like he's in pain, but I have talked to people trained in diagnosing dementia, and they notice how he can't seem to put a coherent sentence together when he is asked a question. He is probably the most confused man in Chicago presently, and not only does that explain why Neal Cotts still has a job, it doesn't bode well for the immediate future of the Cubs. I have backed this man since day one, but I can no longer.
Hendry ain't gonna fire him, no way. But I don't believe Lou has an answer for 2009, and in the meantime, we are wasting some decent-to-good starting pitching. Man, I still think getting Jake Peavy would send a message, but Adrian Gonzalez would look a HELL of a lot better in pinstripes. Too bad he ain't available...
Game Recap: Cubs 0, Cardinals 3 -- Fuggetaboudit!

Well that was fun, huh?
Ted Lilly put up a pretty decent line last night. Usually, 3 runs in 7 innings will do it. But the offense had trouble scoring one run, let alone 3 or 4, against the Dominating Force of Joel Piniero!!!
Piniero had 14 strikeouts in his last 45.1 innings pitched this season, but somehow managed to get five Ks last night. I guess he was just on or something. Maybe on something?
Despite the loss, there were a couple of notable performances from a pair of Cubs that had been in a bit of a rut lately.
Kevin Gregg handled the top of the Cardinals order with relative ease in the top of the eighth, allowing just one hit (a double to Pujols). 12 of his 17 pitches were strikes.
Also, Mike Fontenot's hitless streak is over. He had a two-out double in the top of the fifth inning.
Unfortunately, it was one of only three Cub hits. That's alright, they were just savin' 'em up for tonight's game against Carp. Let's even this one up, huh?
Go Cubs!
Your 2009 Cubs nicknames
Note from Kurt: I'm strapping on my red scarf and hijacking this post. Hope Rob doesn't mind. I'm a huge nickname enthusiest and will be adding my own spin to Rob's post ... but I want to make clear in advance that I know my nicknames suck
Nicknames have always been kind of a "thing" with me. For those of you who have seen "I Love You Man", you were able to see firsthand the squirminess and discomfort that ensues when good, proper nicknames are not established and then used. (For reference, Paul Rudd keeps saying squirmy, uncomfortable things to Jason Siegel, like when he leaves, instead of saying "Peace, Homey", he says things like "slashyalates, Jer-blum").
Nicknames are never self-imposed, unless of course yer like 7 foot 2, weigh 500 pounds, can rip down a skyscraper with a dunk and have the IQ of raisin toast. Some nicknames are truly inspired, catch fire quickly, and are immediately accessible to all, like, say, The Riot. Other men cannot be pinned down by simply one name, like Kosuke Fukudome. Good lord, nearly ANYTHING can be used and be found acceptable. Although his teammates prefer Fukie, as most roving bands of professional athletes might - shorten the last name and add the "-ie" suffix. There is no need to achieve convergence when it comes to the Fooker.
Some of the other ones, like for instance Alfonso Soriano and Mike Fontenot (see the ShoutBox) need to be standardized on this site, and like all good standards should follow industry guidelines. I think we can consider Baseball Reference as the receptacle for Baseball's Best Practices when it comes to nicknames, and if they use one, it should be considered gospel.
A brief consultation with BR uncovers the following:
Geovany Soto - OPEN
Kurt sez: Geo works fine. Sometimes simple is just the best.
Derrek Lee - D-Lee (I prefer DP-Lee, but rules are rules)
Ryan Theriot - OPEN, but The Riot is absolutely sancrosant.
Kurt sez: I always called him the Quiet Theriot, but that requires you to intentionally mispronounce his last name
Aramis Ramirez - OPEN
Kurt sez: A-Ram? The Musketeer? The Sluggin' Cock Fighter?
Alfonso Soriano - OPEN
Kurt sez: Sori, The Fonz. Hey, having "Milton Bradley in RF," maybe it makes sense to have "Sorri" in left...
...well, on second thought, maybe BR sucks, after all. It's easier for me just to list the Cubs who DO have nicknames listed:
Carlos Zambrano - "Big Z" or "El Toro". El Toro???
Kurt sez: I am and always have been a fan of "The Big Moose." I realize that after four years, I'm still the only one who calls him that but it'll catch on someday, dammit!
Lou Piniella - "Sweet Lou"
Milton Bradley - "Trouble"
April Fools on the MB one. Anyway, since BR is of little help to us, I guess we are all going to have to work together to establish a glossary of standard Cubs nicknames.
So please take a minute to add your $0.02 in the comments to this post. Give us your view of a standard-used nickname (ie. "Demps" for Dempster) or your best suggestion (ie. "VagFace" for Reed). Then I'll compile them, ask us to vote on any particular conflicts, and publish the results here in an easily accessible reference link.
If you can point us to a link where a teammate refers to another one by their nickname (for example, Reed Johnson's blog or The Riot's turn with Ask Paul) that would be really constructive, and will probably take precedence to whatever clever witticism we come up with here. BTW: I think the above two links pretty much clinch the fact that Mike Fontenot is simply "Font".
UPDATE: How could I forget?? Reed Johnson is "White Slice"! And Baseball Almanac lists Aramis Ramirez's nickname as "Rami". Damn, that's weak.
Quick factoids for 3/16/2009
Major league leader in Spring Training total bases: Mike Fontenot: 32
Major league leader in Spring Training RBI (tie): Micah Hoffpauir: 13
Cubs leaders in batting average (tie): Carlos Zambrano&Ryan Dempster: 1.000
In regards to Kyle's review of Alf Soriano - c'mon, kids. We can all agree that Hoppy is being PAID to be a 40/40 guy, and we can all HOPE he will be a 40/40 guy, and we can see that he APPEARS to be in decent shape, perhaps the best he has been as a Cub. But that doesn't mean he WILL be a 40/40 guy. I mean, I can squint my eyes reeeeeal tightly closed and cross my fingers and hope and pray and chant incantations, and I can pray not only that Soriano will go 40/40 but also for Lee to regain his 2005 form, and for Fukudome to be the guy we paid for coming out of Japan, and for Zambrano to win 20 with 2 no-hitters.
Don't mean it's gonna happen, and in fact, you could go to Vegas and get pretty long odds on ALL of those.



