Ofman reports Cubs could have had Furcal

[Blueheart05]

And that's why the Cubs have always been and will likely always be losers.

 

That's a ridiculous statement. A team does not need a high payroll or a 13MM player to win a championship. :roll: :roll: :roll:

[WrigleyinEngland]

Hey at least when neifi sucks he cost me $2.5, when furcal slumps or reinjures his shoulder next year lets see what la thinks of that $13.

[SpanishFortCub]

If it's true that the Cubs could get him by adding $3 M over five years and they didn't, they're stupid. If it was just $5 M over five years, they should have done it.

[Gunned]

The point is that the Cubs offered Furcal $9.5 million. He asked for $10 million, and the Cubs wouldn't give it to him. A measly $500,000 a year.

 

No matter what you think of Furcal, that should bother every Cub fan.

[Gunned]

Hey at least when neifi sucks he cost me $2.5, when furcal slumps or reinjures his shoulder next year lets see what la thinks of that $13.

 

This makes no sense.

[daske17]

This all may go beyond the amount of money being offered. If Furcal was as close to signing with the Cubs as media reports say, what does it say to his character that he was willing to sign with LA? And I'm not talking about chemistry. I'm talking about someone who wants to play for your team. We see where his priorities lie.

[Hosak8]

Honestly... so what? Vince Coleman never had an OPS over .747 But I'd give him 5/50 in 2005 if he were a free agent and we needed a leadoff hitter. OPS isn't everything... especially for a leadoff hitter.

 

So what? I'll answer that. Leadoff wasn't that big of a problem. Yes, the players they chose to put there last year didn't do well, but that could be solved better with somebody other than a 5/50 Furcal. RF has been the biggest hole. SS could be filled adequately with Cedeno. RF has absolutely nobody, and if you spend $10m on Furcal you leave much less money available to improve the actual need positions. I don't like Pierre, but he's much more economical leading off at $4-6m than Furcal.

 

My point was not Furcal vs Pierre. It was that OPS is not a significant stat for a leadoff hitter. OBP, yes. OPS, not so much. OPS favors power hitters over OBP guys, as 30 doubles and 20 homers equates to around 140 walks.

[WrigleyinEngland]

There is absolutely no evidence other than offman that furcal invited the cubs to bid again. By all accounts the braves and cubs were done after furcals dinner date on the friday.

[treebird]

yeah, this sounds like a big lie.

[CubinNY]

The point is that the Cubs offered Furcal $9.5 million. He asked for $10 million, and the Cubs wouldn't give it to him. A measly $500,000 a year.

 

No matter what you think of Furcal, that should bother every Cub fan.

 

It doesn't bother me one bit.

 

I fail to see how making a ridiculous contract even more ridiculus is a good thing.

[jmajew]

The point is that the Cubs offered Furcal $9.5 million. He asked for $10 million, and the Cubs wouldn't give it to him. A measly $500,000 a year.

 

No matter what you think of Furcal, that should bother every Cub fan.

 

It doesn't bother me one bit.

 

I fail to see how making a ridiculous contract even more ridiculus is a good thing.

 

My sentiments exactly. I'm happy someone had enough common sense to say enough is enough.

[WrigleyinEngland]

I would also be alot more worried about the state of the cubs if furcal said we weren't comitted to winning etc but he didn't did he because he was all about the $$$$

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Upping the offer by $2.5 million is just $500k a year. That's pathetic cheapness, and it's going to bite us when our middle infield is Cedeno and Neifi next year.

 

Offering $10m per year for Rafael Freaking Furcal is pathetic fiscal irresponsibility, we're lucky somebody stepped in and prevented this mistake.

 

Enjoy Neifi.

 

Cmon, it's not like Furcal was/is the only middle infielder out there. Lugo's still on the block, there are several decent options for 2B that could become available(Kennedy, Grudz, Matsui, etc.), and as of now Cedeno and Walker are both still on the team. It's not Furcal or bust.

[Blueheart05]

The point is that the Cubs offered Furcal $9.5 million. He asked for $10 million, and the Cubs wouldn't give it to him. A measly $500,000 a year.

 

No matter what you think of Furcal, that should bother every Cub fan.

 

The contract was incentive laden. He could have made 57.5 MM over 6 years. Part of the story doesn't make sense. Did he take the Dodger deal because he wanted to hit another big payday in 3 years (as a FA) or would he have taken the Cubs 5 year offer for a little more cash? George's sources might be garbage. The Braves GM said Kinzer never called him back to allow him to increase his bid. The same could be true here regardless of what Ofman says.

[Andy]

I thought LA came in with the 3/40 and said "Take it or leave it, right now, no going back to other teams"? Wasn't that why John Schuerholz got pissed off at LA?

 

This is probably Ofman hearing a rumor and trying to make a story out of it.

[abuck1220]

does something that was more than likely made up really deserve this much attention?

[frostwyrm]

I'm not sure if I believe Ofman, but if he is telling the truth it makes the bloated Eyre and Howry contracts look pretty foolish.

[CuseCubFan69]

I'm not sure if I believe Ofman, but if he is telling the truth it makes the bloated Eyre and Howry contracts look pretty foolish.

 

Gammons said that Detroit offered Howry more money than the Cubs did.

[goonys evil twin]

however, he was priority # 1 for the cubs and all it would have taken to get him was another 500k-1M per season to do it. that's just flat out cheap. come out the pocket, already.

 

How is that flat-out cheap? 5/50 was way too much. 5/47 was too much. What if they were thinking 4/32 to start? They already went to 5 years, which is a lot, and they went from 8 to almost $10m. What if they already had that "it's only $500k-1m more" moment a couple of times. And by the way, it's that much more per year, which adds up. Furcal is not a difference maker. You don't go balls out for a non difference maker. If Vlad Guerrero wants an extra $500k, you budge. If Johan Santana wants $1m more, you do it. If Zambrano, Ramirez, Prior or Lee are trying to squeeze out another several hundred thousand dollars a year, you pretty much have to do it. But Furcal is not in that class, nor is he anywhere near that class.

[Blueheart05]

I thought LA came in with the 3/40 and said "Take it or leave it, right now, no going back to other teams"? Wasn't that why John Schuerholz got pissed off at LA?

 

This is probably Ofman hearing a rumor and trying to make a story out of it.

 

Exactly, they gave an ultimatum and he took it.

[WrigleyinEngland]

bloated howry and eyre contracts?? check out what the tigers paid today for a 37 and 41 yr old pitcher

[CubfaninCA]

So upper management does have a major say afterall.

 

Will file this one away for another day when the anti-Hendry accusations start a flyin. :)

[treebird]

So upper management does have a major say afterall.

 

Will file this one away for another day when the anti-Hendry accusations start a flyin. :)

 

good call on automatically believing things that help your bizarre cause

[CubfaninCA]

I'm not sure if I believe Ofman, but if he is telling the truth it makes the bloated Eyre and Howry contracts look pretty foolish.

 

Gammons said that Detroit offered Howry more money than the Cubs did.

 

Well, at least he bidded against another team for once. ;)

[goonys evil twin]

Honestly... so what? Vince Coleman never had an OPS over .747 But I'd give him 5/50 in 2005 if he were a free agent and we needed a leadoff hitter. OPS isn't everything... especially for a leadoff hitter.

 

So what? I'll answer that. Leadoff wasn't that big of a problem. Yes, the players they chose to put there last year didn't do well, but that could be solved better with somebody other than a 5/50 Furcal. RF has been the biggest hole. SS could be filled adequately with Cedeno. RF has absolutely nobody, and if you spend $10m on Furcal you leave much less money available to improve the actual need positions. I don't like Pierre, but he's much more economical leading off at $4-6m than Furcal.

 

My point was not Furcal vs Pierre. It was that OPS is not a significant stat for a leadoff hitter. OBP, yes. OPS, not so much. OPS favors power hitters over OBP guys, as 30 doubles and 20 homers equates to around 140 walks.

 

Whatever your point is, if you think not spending more on Furcal was such a bad move, I think you're wrong. OPS is significant. The SLG isn't just HR, it's 2B and 3B. And that matters a lot. OPS matters everywhere, just like OBP. The Cubs overemphasized the leadoff spot this year and overpaid because of it. Instead of finding 8 good hitters, they tried to find an ideal guy for one spot, and that cost them. But it cost them a whole lot less because somebody woke up and realized just how insane the contracts were that Furcal was looking for.