Can we redirect Furcal money towards Millwood?

[Backtobanks]

I know that, in general, this board hates the idea of acquiring anyone who isn't a superstar, but here goes.

 

Several weeks ago, after the Eyre signing, but before the Howry signing, Bruce Levine came on the radio and said that the Cubs were looking for a righthanded setup man and mentioned the name "Scott Elarton".

 

I remember this vividly because the report struck me as odd, considering Elarton hasn't relieved much in his career - not at all as of late.

 

He's a homerun machine, but he was decent last season.

 

Would anyone have interest in offering him a $7/2 contract? Too much? Too little? If Williams is traded, someone is going to have to be in the rotation until Wood is ready.

 

With a contract like that, one would think he'd be very tradeable and quite attractive at the deadline.

 

At $3.5-ish, he'd fit just perfect, budget-wise, with Huff-Bradley-Lugo-Bench Guy TBD.

 

Speaking of Scott Elarton, why don't we talk to the Indians about Coco Crisp and we can send them Williams and Welly to replace Elarton.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

My desire to get Coco Crisp went out the window with the Pierre trade.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

Millwood would be nice, but at 4/44 or higher, I'll pass. I'd take a look at Washburn and Weaver and see what the price for poker would be. I might try to get Weaver on a one-year make good deal. I'd also inquire into what it will take to get Vasquez from the Diamondbacks.

 

Ideally, I'd like to use that extra payroll room to see if taking Milton would grease the wheels to bring Dunn here.

[wolf stansson]

The A's want a big bat for Zito if they are going to trade him.

That's exactly why Marquis for Zito makes such perfect sense.

[don_kessinger_was_good]

If I'm Jim Hendry and I'm dead-set on acquiring another starter because I have no confidence Kerry Wood can pitch (yet again), I might see if I could snag Jarrod Washburn on a modest 2/12 type deal. In this market, he'll probably get 3 years, and 3/18 or 3/21 similar to Paul Byrd money. But 2/12 would be fair. He's had stretches of low ERA efforts, and he is a lefty for what that's worth. And he's better (though not by a huge margin) than Rusch.

[USSoccer]

If you want a pitcher who's going to be productive and not demand a bloated contract, why not go after Jeff Weaver? He's durable, has a big upside still, and will likely sign a reasonable 1-2 year deal under $8m per.

[CuseCubFan69]

If you want a pitcher who's going to be productive and not demand a bloated contract, why not go after Jeff Weaver? He's durable, has a big upside still, and will likely sign a reasonable 1-2 year deal under $8m per.

 

I always thought that Weaver would make a very good closer.

[USSoccer]

If you want a pitcher who's going to be productive and not demand a bloated contract, why not go after Jeff Weaver? He's durable, has a big upside still, and will likely sign a reasonable 1-2 year deal under $8m per.

 

I always thought that Weaver would make a very good closer.

 

I think he'd be a very reliable 4th starter for us.

[CuseCubFan69]

If you want a pitcher who's going to be productive and not demand a bloated contract, why not go after Jeff Weaver? He's durable, has a big upside still, and will likely sign a reasonable 1-2 year deal under $8m per.

 

I always thought that Weaver would make a very good closer.

 

I think he'd be a very reliable 4th starter for us.

 

I agree. The way this crazy market has been going who knows how much he could get.

[USSoccer]

If you want a pitcher who's going to be productive and not demand a bloated contract, why not go after Jeff Weaver? He's durable, has a big upside still, and will likely sign a reasonable 1-2 year deal under $8m per.

 

I always thought that Weaver would make a very good closer.

 

I think he'd be a very reliable 4th starter for us.

 

I agree. The way this crazy market has been going who knows how much he could get.

 

I think that since the general consensus on him was that he was overrated, you could get him on the cheap, and he's probably better than Millwood is.

[CuseCubFan69]

If you want a pitcher who's going to be productive and not demand a bloated contract, why not go after Jeff Weaver? He's durable, has a big upside still, and will likely sign a reasonable 1-2 year deal under $8m per.

 

I always thought that Weaver would make a very good closer.

 

I think he'd be a very reliable 4th starter for us.

 

I agree. The way this crazy market has been going who knows how much he could get.

 

I think that since the general consensus on him was that he was overrated, you could get him on the cheap, and he's probably better than Millwood is.

 

Give Mr. Hendry a call then!

[USSoccer]

If you want a pitcher who's going to be productive and not demand a bloated contract, why not go after Jeff Weaver? He's durable, has a big upside still, and will likely sign a reasonable 1-2 year deal under $8m per.

 

I always thought that Weaver would make a very good closer.

 

I think he'd be a very reliable 4th starter for us.

 

I agree. The way this crazy market has been going who knows how much he could get.

 

I think that since the general consensus on him was that he was overrated, you could get him on the cheap, and he's probably better than Millwood is.

 

Give Mr. Hendry a call then!

 

If only I could!

[JeffH]

If you want a pitcher who's going to be productive and not demand a bloated contract, why not go after Jeff Weaver? He's durable, has a big upside still, and will likely sign a reasonable 1-2 year deal under $8m per.

 

What makes you think Jeff Weaver will sign a contract like that?

 

Did Scott Boras just get hit by a bus?

[USSoccer]

If you want a pitcher who's going to be productive and not demand a bloated contract, why not go after Jeff Weaver? He's durable, has a big upside still, and will likely sign a reasonable 1-2 year deal under $8m per.

 

What makes you think Jeff Weaver will sign a contract like that?

 

Did Scott Boras just get hit by a bus?

 

Relative to the other FA pitchers, he's a bargain. He's already gotten his "big" contract, played it out, and never really put the bust label behind him. Everything that's been reported on him this offseason has him below market value.

[rawaction]

If you want a pitcher who's going to be productive and not demand a bloated contract, why not go after Jeff Weaver? He's durable, has a big upside still, and will likely sign a reasonable 1-2 year deal under $8m per.

 

What makes you think Jeff Weaver will sign a contract like that?

 

Did Scott Boras just get hit by a bus?

 

He signed a contract like that for Millwood last offseason.

[CardsFanInChiTown]

If you want a pitcher who's going to be productive and not demand a bloated contract, why not go after Jeff Weaver? He's durable, has a big upside still, and will likely sign a reasonable 1-2 year deal under $8m per.

 

What makes you think Jeff Weaver will sign a contract like that?

 

Did Scott Boras just get hit by a bus?

 

Relative to the other FA pitchers, he's a bargain. He's already gotten his "big" contract, played it out, and never really put the bust label behind him. Everything that's been reported on him this offseason has him below market value.

 

Huh? When has Boras had a guy sign "below market value"? I say he gets atleast 3/27.

[USSoccer]

If you want a pitcher who's going to be productive and not demand a bloated contract, why not go after Jeff Weaver? He's durable, has a big upside still, and will likely sign a reasonable 1-2 year deal under $8m per.

 

What makes you think Jeff Weaver will sign a contract like that?

 

Did Scott Boras just get hit by a bus?

 

He signed a contract like that for Millwood last offseason.

 

Because Millwood needed to reestablish his value. Exactly the same case with Weaver this year.

[USSoccer]

Weaver:

 

G IP H R HR BB SO W L Sv P/GS WHIP BAA ERA

34 224.0 220 111 35 43 157 14 11 0 99.1 1.17 .256 4.22

 

Millwood:

 

G IP H R HR BB SO W L Sv P/GS WHIP BAA ERA

30 192.0 182 72 20 52 146 9 11 0 98.8 1.22 .248 2.86

 

The big difference in these 2 guys is that Weaver gave up 15 more HR's last season. Otherwise, he led Millwood in WHIP, K's and BB allowed. He also threw 32 more innings.

 

The ERA plus his reputation mean he's going to need to reestablish his market value over the next 2 seasons. Weaver is 29, so he's just entering the prime pitching age. A one year "Show Me" deal is probably what Boras is looking for. If Weaver can then put up a sub 4 era on a winning team, he'd likely get a very lucrative offer next offseason.

[JeffH]

If you want a pitcher who's going to be productive and not demand a bloated contract, why not go after Jeff Weaver? He's durable, has a big upside still, and will likely sign a reasonable 1-2 year deal under $8m per.

 

What makes you think Jeff Weaver will sign a contract like that?

 

Did Scott Boras just get hit by a bus?

 

He signed a contract like that for Millwood last offseason.

 

Because Millwood needed to reestablish his value. Exactly the same case with Weaver this year.

 

Completely different situations. The word on Millwood last offseason was that he was damaged goods. Weaver is a workhorse.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Weaver was offered arbitration, so if he wants a one year deal, he can get one from LA, who is relatively competitive and a friendly pitchers park, at no less than 20% off his 9.25 salary of '05. Please, hold the applause on my sentence structure.

[rawaction]

Weaver:

 

G IP H R HR BB SO W L Sv P/GS WHIP BAA ERA

34 224.0 220 111 35 43 157 14 11 0 99.1 1.17 .256 4.22

 

Millwood:

 

G IP H R HR BB SO W L Sv P/GS WHIP BAA ERA

30 192.0 182 72 20 52 146 9 11 0 98.8 1.22 .248 2.86

 

The big difference in these 2 guys is that Weaver gave up 15 more HR's last season. Otherwise, he led Millwood in WHIP, K's and BB allowed. He also threw 32 more innings.

 

The ERA plus his reputation mean he's going to need to reestablish his market value over the next 2 seasons. Weaver is 29, so he's just entering the prime pitching age. A one year "Show Me" deal is probably what Boras is looking for. If Weaver can then put up a sub 4 era on a winning team, he'd likely get a very lucrative offer next offseason.

 

Yep. Teams will hesistate to give him a big money long-term deal, because he already got paid big money and didn't live up to it. Similar to Millwood. Millwood signed for 1/$7M with Cleveland. I expect Weaver to do the same around mid-January.

[USSoccer]

If you want a pitcher who's going to be productive and not demand a bloated contract, why not go after Jeff Weaver? He's durable, has a big upside still, and will likely sign a reasonable 1-2 year deal under $8m per.

 

What makes you think Jeff Weaver will sign a contract like that?

 

Did Scott Boras just get hit by a bus?

 

He signed a contract like that for Millwood last offseason.

 

Because Millwood needed to reestablish his value. Exactly the same case with Weaver this year.

 

Completely different situations. The word on Millwood last offseason was that he was damaged goods. Weaver is a workhorse.

 

Weaver also has a very bad reputation in baseball circles. He's known for being a high priced underachiever.

[JeffH]

Weaver was offered arbitration, so if he wants a one year deal, he can get one from LA, who is relatively competitive and a friendly pitchers park, at no less than 20% off his 9.25 salary of '05. Please, hold the applause on my sentence structure.

 

The 20% rule doesn't apply.

[rawaction]

Weaver was offered arbitration, so if he wants a one year deal, he can get one from LA, who is relatively competitive and a friendly pitchers park, at no less than 20% off his 9.25 salary of '05. Please, hold the applause on my sentence structure.

 

Good point. I didn't see if they offered him arby or not.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Weaver was offered arbitration, so if he wants a one year deal, he can get one from LA, who is relatively competitive and a friendly pitchers park, at no less than 20% off his 9.25 salary of '05. Please, hold the applause on my sentence structure.

 

The 20% rule doesn't apply.

 

Okay. Either way though, he has a decent guaranteed one year deal waiting in LA if he wants it, which is also close to home for him.