It's a great park for a pitcher.

_________________
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GO BEARS!!!

I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up with the best statistics this year out of Lester, Scherzer and himself. NL West ballparks combined with their poo-poo offenses will make him look better than he is.

Unless he gets injured (unlikely) his stats over the next 4 years will be better.

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GO BEARS!!!

Lester has been better most of their careers. That would be a big turnaround.

How can he look better than he is? Are you actually advocating for the old fashioned stat W/L record?

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

His ERA will probably decrease.

I have no idea about wins. He has no control over that.

No one considered Lester to be better until a year and a half ago. You know why? Because he was.

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I'm sure his ERA will decrease.

And I know that you're just fucking with me. But your original post shows that you have an inherent understanding that the popular numbers used to evaluate pitchers are reflective of other things besides the player's actual efforts. I think most fans share that same inherent understanding, yet they have been brainwashed by so much gobbledy freebie spewed by self-styled "experts" in an authoritative fashion that nonsense like "RBI are meaningless" becomes accepted "fact".

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

You keep saying that but it's not true and never has been. It's been detailed by several posters. Not sure why you keep saying it.


Do you have any sources on ANYONE thinking Shields is better?

In 2008 Lester passed by Shields and never really looked back (there was one year where Shields was better)

Lester has been a better pitcher his entire career. His ERA+ is ten points better and he strikes out an extra batter every two games. At this point they're not even really close. The money each guy was able to get is a reflection of that. I'm not sure what your beef with Lester is.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

I just got an email from my source telling me Shields is better and will be better.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

Just say you have a feeling that Shields will age better. That's fine.

I can't see how anyone could think that. Shields' K/9 drop-off over the past couple seasons is alarming. Again, that's why he didn't break the bank on his deal. I'm sure he'll get a nice boost pitching half his games in Petco though.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

Well, Lester is a cancer survivor. Chemo does crazy shit to you, so who knows. Also strikeout pitchers seem to get injured more.


But I agrree with you

But Lester really isn't a power pitcher in the way that Shields is/was. He's a crafty lefty who just happens to have more stuff than most crafty lefties. But when that stuff diminishes, the craftiness will remain. I think Epstein understands that and that's why he was willing to go where he did with him. The guy is a winner. You don't put up that kind of percentage without understanding how to pitch a ballgame. I don't care how overpowering you are or what kind of teams you play on.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don