I wouldn't be surprised to see Williamson moved

[seanhopper]

After the additions of Eyre and Howry to a relief corp of Dempster, Ohman, Novoa, Wuertz and possibly Wood for the first few months, I can see Williamson being a decent bargaining chip for Hendry this spring.

He's still on a comeback from TJ, but his velocity is getting there and he was once a fine closer for the Reds. A team like the Braves could use him in a depleted bullpen. Hendry would likely have to settle for a few prospects, but with Williamson reasonably low salary, he could be attractive to some teams this spring.

[nolanwood]

I'd rather keep Williamson and trade Novoa.

[Diffusion]

I don't see what's to be gained from moving Williamson. Healthy, he's the best reliever in our bullpen, and Tommy John recovery rates are good.

[CubfaninCA]

By adding lots of pitching depth (Rusch, Miller, Eyre, Howry..), the Cubs should have some good trading chips.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

I see Williamson like I view Walker. Unless the team is improved, you don't move him...certainly not for prospects.

[seanhopper]

I see Williamson like I view Walker. Unless the team is improved, you don't move him...certainly not for prospects.

 

Agreed, but in Williamson's case, Hendry has a pretty good bargaining chip come spring. I would rather not see someone like him go--especially if he can get his control back--but since I haven't heard his name come up in conversations related to the team and areas of improvement, I was merely speculating.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

Hendry put a lot of effort into improving the pen, so I don't expect to see a quality reliever sold for pennies on the dollar.

 

On the other hand, Wellemeyer is out of options. If he performs well enough to get a spot, that could force things.

 

My guess is that Todd is the one traded, but I think we'll still have to wait and see.

[stitchface]

i think they signed him for this year. perhaps they'd move him come july if his value goes up and the cubs aren't contending.

[NorthsideAvenger]

After the additions of Eyre and Howry to a relief corp of Dempster, Ohman, Novoa, Wuertz and possibly Wood for the first few months, I can see Williamson being a decent bargaining chip for Hendry this spring.

He's still on a comeback from TJ, but his velocity is getting there and he was once a fine closer for the Reds. A team like the Braves could use him in a depleted bullpen. Hendry would likely have to settle for a few prospects, but with Williamson reasonably low salary, he could be attractive to some teams this spring.

 

I HIGHLY doubt you see Williamson traded, unless the Cubs got a deal they couldn't refuse.

[ThePenguin11]

Williamson is going to be a key player in the Cubs pen, based on the way he finished 2005. His k/9 and bb/k were pretty outstanding. With that said, I have zero confidence in Novoa or Wuertz out of the pen. One of them is going down to AAA when Wood or Miller comes of the DL. I'd rather outright release one of those two than trade Williamson for a nothing prospect at this point.

[katway]

No one will give us much for Williamson until they see him healthy for at least half a season. If he really produces for half a season, Hendry will hold onto him unless someone is willing to substantially overpay and provide the Cubs with something they need.

[Magnetic Curses]

Williamson is going to be a key player in the Cubs pen, based on the way he finished 2005. His k/9 and bb/k were pretty outstanding. With that said, I have zero confidence in Novoa or Wuertz out of the pen. One of them is going down to AAA when Wood or Miller comes of the DL. I'd rather outright release one of those two than trade Williamson for a nothing prospect at this point.

 

i agree. wuertz and novoa are the weak links, and one or both will not be with the big club for most of this season.

 

z

prior

wood

maddux

williams

 

ohman

williamson

rusch

howry

eyre

dempster

 

we have way too many pitchers. when miller comes back, it'll be a log jam. look for someone to get moved, probably williams.

 

we could probably package williams, novoa and wuertz for something of value.

[Houston_Cub_Fan]

I seem to rmember someone posting Williamsons stats over his last 9 innings or so last year. It was pretty impressive. Something like 13ks and 1 earned run. If that's indicative of his health level/arm strength, it would be foolish to trade him, unles he was part of deal that could help us immediately.

 

EDIT: Sorry Penguin. I didn't see that you posted the same thing.

[Fred Hornkohl]

I seem to rmember someone posting Williamsons stats over his last 9 innings or so last year. It was pretty impressive. Something like 13ks and 1 earned run. If that's indicative of his health level/arm strength, it would be foolish to trade him, unles he was part of deal that could help us immediately.

 

EDIT: Sorry Penguin. I didn't see that you posted the same thing.

 

I think this should illustrate your point....

 

Williamson           IP    H    R   ER   BB    K   HR    PC  BB/9   K/9  HR/9  WHIP   ERA
08/22 - 10/02       8.3    7    1    1    2   13    1   127  2.16 14.04  1.08  1.08  1.08
04/04 - 08/21       6.0    8    8    8    4   10    2   121  6.00 15.00  3.00  2.00 12.00

04/04 - 10/02      14.3   15    9    9    6   23    3   248  3.77 14.44  1.88  1.47  5.65

[goonys evil twin]

I wouldn't be surprised to see bullpen arms moved, but I'd be surprised if it was Williamson, at least until well after the season is underway. The guy is the least known quantity in the bullpen. His past success suggest the possibility that he could be a good reliever again, but his arm troubles and unimpressive return last season create enormous doubt. Nobody is going to give up much of anything for him now. And the Cubs have no business trading him away for prospects anyway. This is a team that has to win now. Unless somebody inexplicably offers up an absolute stud prospect, there's no way you consider trading decent major leaguers that can help the team right now.

 

I would think it's far more likely that some of the younger relievers would be moved.

 

But it'd be absurd to release Wuertz, and I wouldn't see the point in doing the same with Novoa, even though I have next to no confidence in him.

[goonys evil twin]

I seem to rmember someone posting Williamsons stats over his last 9 innings or so last year. It was pretty impressive. Something like 13ks and 1 earned run. If that's indicative of his health level/arm strength, it would be foolish to trade him, unles he was part of deal that could help us immediately.

 

EDIT: Sorry Penguin. I didn't see that you posted the same thing.

 

I think this should illustrate your point....

 

Williamson           IP    H    R   ER   BB    K   HR    PC  BB/9   K/9  HR/9  WHIP   ERA
08/22 - 10/02       8.3    7    1    1    2   13    1   127  2.16 14.04  1.08  1.08  1.08
04/04 - 08/21       6.0    8    8    8    4   10    2   121  6.00 15.00  3.00  2.00 12.00

04/04 - 10/02      14.3   15    9    9    6   23    3   248  3.77 14.44  1.88  1.47  5.65

 

Seriously, let's relax a bit on the "he's back" talk. 9 innings doesn't mean much of anything. I would be willing to bet that Wuertz has had comparable 9 inning stretches, and Novoa may have even shown similar dominance over such a small stretch. And Williamson had the benefit of stready amounts of rest between outings. We have no idea how he'll pitch on greater stress due to more frequent outings and over a longer time frame.

[CuseCubFan69]

I wouldn't be surprised to see bullpen arms moved, but I'd be surprised if it was Williamson, at least until well after the season is underway. The guy is the least known quantity in the bullpen. His past success suggest the possibility that he could be a good reliever again, but his arm troubles and unimpressive return last season create enormous doubt. Nobody is going to give up much of anything for him now. And the Cubs have no business trading him away for prospects anyway. This is a team that has to win now. Unless somebody inexplicably offers up an absolute stud prospect, there's no way you consider trading decent major leaguers that can help the team right now.

 

I would think it's far more likely that some of the younger relievers would be moved.

 

But it'd be absurd to release Wuertz, and I wouldn't see the point in doing the same with Novoa, even though I have next to no confidence in him.

 

Maybe it's me but when I watch Novoa it just seems his pitches have little or no movement. He has nice velocity but the lack of movement IMO means he has to hit the right spots or is going to get lit up. I like Wuertz more and I agree the Cubs would be crazy to just let either guy go unless something really bizzare happens.

[Houston_Cub_Fan]

I agree that it is a small sample size, but 13 Ks in 8.3 innings is impressive none the less. I'm not saying he's back. But I'm optimistic that he can be a strong contributor to this bullpen.

[goonys evil twin]

I agree that it is a small sample size, but 13 Ks in 8.3 innings is impressive none the less. I'm not saying he's back. But I'm optimistic that he can be a strong contributor to this bullpen.

 

I'm hoping he will be as well. A career average Williamson could make this bullpen great, and a "peak" Williamson could make it unstoppable. This team has put all it's hopes on the pitching side of things, ignoring the biggest offensive problems. So they need top to bottom great pitching to thrive.

[CuseCubFan69]

I agree that it is a small sample size, but 13 Ks in 8.3 innings is impressive none the less. I'm not saying he's back. But I'm optimistic that he can be a strong contributor to this bullpen.

 

I'm hoping he will be as well. A career average Williamson could make this bullpen great, and a "peak" Williamson could make it unstoppable. This team has put all it's hopes on the pitching side of things, ignoring the biggest offensive problems. So they need top to bottom great pitching to thrive.

 

Yep....and stay healthy to stop the Enrique Wilsons from being on the team and hitting in the top 2 spots.

[goonys evil twin]

I agree that it is a small sample size, but 13 Ks in 8.3 innings is impressive none the less. I'm not saying he's back. But I'm optimistic that he can be a strong contributor to this bullpen.

 

I'm hoping he will be as well. A career average Williamson could make this bullpen great, and a "peak" Williamson could make it unstoppable. This team has put all it's hopes on the pitching side of things, ignoring the biggest offensive problems. So they need top to bottom great pitching to thrive.

 

Yep....and stay healthy to stop the Enrique Wilsons from being on the team and hitting in the top 2 spots.

 

They wouldn't play in Yankee Stadium until the World Series, so there won't be any need for his stadium knowledge. They do play at Minnesota, but thankfully Jones and Blanco will be there to guide the team around the field. The question is which ex-Indian will be brought into show the rest of the team the ropes in Cleveland. Being a pitcher, Howry won't be able to help the position guys. This is where the value of Grissom comes into play.

[CuseCubFan69]

I agree that it is a small sample size, but 13 Ks in 8.3 innings is impressive none the less. I'm not saying he's back. But I'm optimistic that he can be a strong contributor to this bullpen.

 

I'm hoping he will be as well. A career average Williamson could make this bullpen great, and a "peak" Williamson could make it unstoppable. This team has put all it's hopes on the pitching side of things, ignoring the biggest offensive problems. So they need top to bottom great pitching to thrive.

 

Yep....and stay healthy to stop the Enrique Wilsons from being on the team and hitting in the top 2 spots.

 

They wouldn't play in Yankee Stadium until the World Series, so there won't be any need for his stadium knowledge. They do play at Minnesota, but thankfully Jones and Blanco will be there to guide the team around the field. The question is which ex-Indian will be brought into show the rest of the team the ropes in Cleveland. Being a pitcher, Howry won't be able to help the position guys. This is where the value of Grissom comes into play.

 

:D Bet on the vet...you both win, how lucky can you get. (Old commercial)

 

I really would like to see the Spring Training games and how Baker is going to use these players. I wouldn't be surprised to see Grissom have a better Spring than Malbry and I'm curious on who Baker is going to have play 3rd when ARam sits in the Spring. I hope we have enough posters from here go to give some reports on usage and how the players actually looked.

[Jehrico]

Williamson is going to be a key player in the Cubs pen, based on the way he finished 2005. His k/9 and bb/k were pretty outstanding. With that said, I have zero confidence in Novoa or Wuertz out of the pen. One of them is going down to AAA when Wood or Miller comes of the DL. I'd rather outright release one of those two than trade Williamson for a nothing prospect at this point.

 

i agree. wuertz and novoa are the weak links, and one or both will not be with the big club for most of this season.

 

z

prior

wood

maddux

williams

 

ohman

williamson

rusch

howry

eyre

dempster

 

we have way too many pitchers. when miller comes back, it'll be a log jam. look for someone to get moved, probably williams.

 

we could probably package williams, novoa and wuertz for something of value.

 

I don't understand why either of you are down on Wuertz. This is only his second year working out of the pen, and he logged 75 appearances, and managed a 3.81 ERA. He actually got better in the second half, where he put up a .192 BAA and a .319 over 32 appearances (where he had a .243 BAA and a 4.38 ERA over 43 appearances in the first half, suggesting maybe he was a little overused early on). His walk rate was improved in the second half (16 BBs over 36.2 innings, vs 24 in 39 innings before the break). He had a great second half and ended the year strong (.109 BAA in Sep and Oct). I thought he made alot of strides last year. I'm looking for him to have a monster year out of the pen this year. It seemed obvious to me that last year he finally adjusted to the role (remember, he was a starter in the minors until '04) and was gaining alot of confidence in his stuff.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

I don't understand why either of you are down on Wuertz. This is only his second year working out of the pen, and he logged 75 appearances, and managed a 3.81 ERA. He actually got better in the second half, where he put up a .192 BAA and a .319 over 32 appearances (where he had a .243 BAA and a 4.38 ERA over 43 appearances in the first half, suggesting maybe he was a little overused early on). His walk rate was improved in the second half (16 BBs over 36.2 innings, vs 24 in 39 innings before the break). He had a great second half and ended the year strong (.109 BAA in Sep and Oct). I thought he made alot of strides last year. I'm looking for him to have a monster year out of the pen this year. It seemed obvious to me that last year he finally adjusted to the role (remember, he was a starter in the minors until '04) and was gaining alot of confidence in his stuff.

 

I think it's more that a healthy Williamson > Wuertz. I don't think anyone's really "down" on Wuertz. We have a surplus in the pen right now, and Wuertz is right on the fringe. It's a good thing.

[Jehrico]

I don't understand why either of you are down on Wuertz. This is only his second year working out of the pen, and he logged 75 appearances, and managed a 3.81 ERA. He actually got better in the second half, where he put up a .192 BAA and a .319 over 32 appearances (where he had a .243 BAA and a 4.38 ERA over 43 appearances in the first half, suggesting maybe he was a little overused early on). His walk rate was improved in the second half (16 BBs over 36.2 innings, vs 24 in 39 innings before the break). He had a great second half and ended the year strong (.109 BAA in Sep and Oct). I thought he made alot of strides last year. I'm looking for him to have a monster year out of the pen this year. It seemed obvious to me that last year he finally adjusted to the role (remember, he was a starter in the minors until '04) and was gaining alot of confidence in his stuff.

 

I think it's more that a healthy Williamson > Wuertz. I don't think anyone's really "down" on Wuertz. We have a surplus in the pen right now, and Wuertz is right on the fringe. It's a good thing.

 

The two posters I replied to said "I have zero confidence in Novoa or Wuertz," and the other "i agree. wuertz and novoa are the weak links." If that's not down on Wuertz, I don't know what is. I agree though, that a healthy Williamson is tough to beat. If both of those two guys have the type of years I think they're capable of behind Howry, Eyre, and Dempster, then we could have the best pen we've ever had.