Lilly and Cubs agree to 4-year, $40-million deal

[mikegp]

If the jays can't sign Meche now, there is no way they make the playoffs. Lilly in wrigley . I'm not sure if I could back this up with stats, but from watching Lilly for a few seasons he seems to be a flyball pitcher. Watch out for the balls flying over the fence in wrigley.

[Zito is God]

This is arguably the worst signing (except for Padilla of course) in the entire offseason.

HA! coming from a guy who thinks "zito is god." id bet u anything lilly posts better numbers then zito this year.. some scouts believe hes the steal of this years market, and that he has better stuff then zito. On top of that, hes gonna be roughly half the price!

As a cubs fan, im very glad we signed him over Meche. He pitched well in the AL East which means he should thrive in the NL central. He strikes guys out and should have an era under 4. With our lineup, I'd say thats all we can really ask for.

When I win the bet will that be cash or check mate?

Yeah, after reading this post I realize you likely have no actual info on Ted Lilly, had never seen him pitch, have no stats to back up your "hunches", and basically show signs of being just another ignorant (but hopeful) Cub fan.

The only "scout" that would ever say Lilly has better stuff then Zito is you. Find me a link where anyone with any sort of credibility states that.

He pitched "well" against the AL Est? He had an ERA over 4 at home last year.

ERA under 4? Lilly has had one year where he landed an ERA under 4 (not by much) in his entire career. That year was 2002, he only made 16 starts as well. His career ERA is 4.60 and while he Ks guys at at moderately well rate (I'll give him around 6-7/9IP), he also gives up HRs at that rate as well. Being the die hard Cubs fan that you are, you should know how Wrigley works for non-groundball pitchers. You seem rather fanatic in your "bold" statements with no basis and no stats to back them up, a little research before making your post would have helped. Lilly has never thrown 200 innings in his life and that will surely be asked of him in a Cub uniform. To say that "some scout" said he was the bargain of the year is simply put, ridiculous. Ted Lilly screams mediocrity.

Now onto your Zito comparison, I'll make it simple:

Wins:
Lilly: 59
Zito: 102

ERA:
Lilly: 4.60
Zito: 3.55

Ks:
Lilly: 799
Zito: 1096

HRs:
Lilly: 144
Zito: 148 (keeping in mind that Zito consistently pitches 200 innings while Lilly...does not.)

Average IP per season:
Lilly: 151.1 (excluding Lilly's rookie year and non-starting year)
Zito: 204

Cy Youngs:
Lilly: 0
Zito: 1

Yeah, you sure look correct in this arguement. Listen buddy, assuming Zito does not go to Texas, I guarantee (barring injury of course) that he will have better stats across the board then Lilly. If he goes to Texas he will likely have a comparable ERA and slightly worse HRs given up ratio, but will still mow Lilly over in terms of fantasy prodctivity as well as the productivity for his own team.

Now theres an arguement for ya'!

[greenandgold]

This is arguably the worst signing (except for Padilla of course) in the entire offseason.

HA! coming from a guy who thinks "zito is god." id bet u anything lilly posts better numbers then zito this year.. some scouts believe hes the steal of this years market, and that he has better stuff then zito. On top of that, hes gonna be roughly half the price!

Now theres an arguement for ya'!

You forgot one part - Zito isn't going to make $20M a year. My only question is how Lilly will match up in a fist fight with Pinella.

[The Miner Part 2]

This is arguably the worst signing (except for Padilla of course) in the entire offseason.

HA! coming from a guy who thinks "zito is god." id bet u anything lilly posts better numbers then zito this year.. some scouts believe hes the steal of this years market, and that he has better stuff then zito. On top of that, hes gonna be roughly half the price!

Now theres an arguement for ya'!

You forgot one part - Zito isn't going to make $20M a year. My only question is how Lilly will match up in a fist fight with Pinella.

nope. ted lilly is only going to make 10 a year. which is a total steal for the cubs.

[mrkrab2003]

another steal for the cubs! Keep up the good work Jim.

[chadlincoln]

Really bad year for the Cubs to suddenly decide to open their wallets. They still don't look like a playoff team, but they sure did spend like one.

That's what I was thinking, but at least they're spending the money.

[Yoda]

anybody else who is still under 30 here want to quit their job and pool our $$ to hire a pitching coach to get us to the big show at least as a marginal MR?

I am lefty and can throw 75 MPH... I can probably pitch until I am 65...

[mweir145]

The Jays are looking smart, signing AJ burnette last year. Who would gave Lilly 10 million a year , he cant even be trusted as a 4rd starter/

Well, 5/55 would have been good, were it not for the opt-out after '08. So if he has a good season this year, he opts out and either they have to re-up, or he goes elsewhere. If he has a bad season, then he sticks with the contract.

The opt out isn't after this season, it's the one after next. And even if he did leave it wouldn't be a terrible outcome. It would probably mean that we got a good AJ Burnett for 3 years at 31M, an incredible bargain.

I would hate to count 10M for his 2006 an incredible bargin...

He pitched well over 135 innings, and in this market, that's well worth 10M it seems (see Gil Meche's 11M+year for pitching significantly worse at only 50 more innings).

[mweir145]

If the jays can't sign Meche now, there is no way they make the playoffs. Lilly in wrigley . I'm not sure if I could back this up with stats, but from watching Lilly for a few seasons he seems to be a flyball pitcher. Watch out for the balls flying over the fence in wrigley.

I don't understand how anybody can say this. If they don't make the playoffs, it's certainly not going to be because they didn't sign Gil Meche. Meche is a league average pitcher (I can't stress this enough)...we could likely get production near what he would bring from one of our younger guys, or even Josh Towers (and by that I mean a 5 ERA over 180 or so innings).

[decoy562]

anybody else who is still under 30 here want to quit their job and pool our $$ to hire a pitching coach to get us to the big show at least as a marginal MR?

I am lefty and can throw 75 MPH... I can probably pitch until I am 65...

Ohhh, me too!