Trib: Cubs Considering Joining Matsuzaka Bidding, + more

[CuseCubFan69]

Why do I hear Hendry and Hughes laughing hysterically if they read this thread?

 

"We have problems and this is the solution? Hahahahhahaha.

Now Jim, Estes might be interested in coming back."

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Sweet, I'm one level closer to Prior via another cousin of his. Went to high school with the guy.

 

I haven't called him to get his take, but maybe I should

 

Did you go to St. Ignatius? :D

 

Dang, everyone knows a cousin of Prior's. I wish I was cool like that. :(

[1908]

I'm highly skeptical that the posting fee for Matsuzaka will be as high as 20 mil.

Seattle paid a $13M posting fee for Ichiro 7 years ago, and it appears that more teams will be involved in the bidding for Matsunaka -- most importantly, the Yankees are very likely to be one of them.

[1908]

I'm highly skeptical that the posting fee for Matsuzaka will be as high as 20 mil.

I think the posting fee will be high, but I have no idea why people think he could negotiate a $10M/year contract after that. He'll be in a position of zero negotiating leverage.

Agreed. His only leverage would be to refuse to sign with the winning bidder and play another season in Japan to earn his free agency rights. Seems like a viable solution to me, but it would represent a slap in the face to his current team after they'd finally agreed to honest his request to be posted. I can't see him not signing.

[FergieJ31]

Take it for what it's worth but I have a friend of mine that knows Prior's cousin really well. She told my friend that if Dusty is gone next year Prior will be healthy. She told him that while Prior was feeling discomfort in his shoulder he could have pitched through it. According to her, Prior and his father made the decision that he wasn't going to be abused by Dusty any longer. I absolutely got this info 3rd hand but my friend is a huge cub fan and I believe him.

 

No disrespect intended to anyone but I find this extremely implausible, on multiple levels.

 

None taken. But it's true.

 

So is the assertion then that (1) Prior could have pitched through shoulder tendonitis but chose not to and (2) told his cousin it's because he didn't want to be "abused by Dusty any longer"? I'll certainly buy (1) because of the horrible numbers he put up: 1-7 with a 1.61 WHIP trying to pitch through discomfort before he was shut down. But not (2). Even assuming he felt that way about Dusty, why on earth would he actually say that to his cousin?

 

[ Edit: btw I'm not questioning nick's integrity ... in my opinion he represented his info properly ("3rd hand, take it for what it's worth", etc.) I'm only questioning whether the story is actually true as relayed here. ]

 

Fact of the matter is, Dusty did not abuse Prior this year. The lesser of the evils in Prior's mind could very well have been "I'm not pitching until I'm 100%". He was risking millions in the future FA market if he continued to suck and become labeled a flash in the pan has-been rather than a tough luck, injury-prone stud.

 

But in those 9 starts you can hardly say Dusty abused him ... his pitch counts: 88 91 101 109 76 103 106 103 58

 

Even if you throw out that last 58 when he got shelled by the Brewers, he still averaged under 100 pitches per start and was never asked to pitch more than 6 innings (albeit usually b/c he was getting shelled). That is not abuse.

 

And by the way, about 2003, he did ask Prior and Wood to throw a lot of pitches down the stretch - no doubt. But in Dusty's defense, what manager wouldn't have ridden them hard given the hot division races plus the relatively shaky Cub pen? I think Dusty was a terrible baseball strategist and has deserved much of the criticism he's gotten, but I feel he's unfairly blamed for Wood & Prior's health the past three years.

Edited October 3, 2006 by FergieJ31

[CaliforniaRaisin]

And by the way, about 2003, he did ask Prior and Wood to throw a lot of pitches down the stretch - no doubt. But in Dusty's defense, what manager wouldn't have ridden them hard given the hot division races plus the relatively shaky Cub pen? I think Dusty was a terrible baseball strategist and has deserved much of the criticism he's gotten, but I feel he's unfairly blamed for Wood & Prior's health the past three years.

 

Ron Gardenhire would have, judging the way the Twins treated Liriano this season.

[SouthSideRyan]

Sweet, I'm one level closer to Prior via another cousin of his. Went to high school with the guy.

 

I haven't called him to get his take, but maybe I should

 

Did you go to St. Ignatius? :D

 

Not if he has a soul.

[soccer10k]

There are supposedly 20+ teams that have shown interest in Daisuke, so stating the Cubs are one of them isn't that big a deal. I still think he'll be a Yank or a Mariner.

 

You think the M's will pony up the money for Daisuke and Schmidt?

 

Honestly, no. But given all the things in their favor in terms of the Japanese players signing with them (and the fact that Schmidt isn't a slam dunk Mariner signing), I think they have to be in the top 2 or 3 (add Baltimore, I guess).

 

That wasn't really a fair question on my part either. I was trying to point out that many people are viewing Daisuke and Schmidt as non-Cubs because of rumors of them going to Seattle, but it's highly unlikely both end up there.

 

I've written off Schmidt as a Cub because I think he'll go to Seattle and I've done the same for Daisuke but I think he'll be in New York next year.

[soccer10k]

Could [ARod] be reunited with Lou Piniella at Wrigley Field? . . . An intriguing package would be Piniella with a two- or three-year contract and a manager-in-training (Japanese import Trey Hillman, for example) as his bench coach and future replacement.

 

I'm surprised that nobody commented on this part. I guess I'll be the first.

 

Just say no to Lou Piniella. Two or three years in Chicago? I hope not.

 

We could do a lot worse than Lou and A-Rod . . . like just Lou, for example :)

 

I know. I was referring specifically Lou coming to Chicago. If getting ARod meant Lou Piniella as the manager, well, I'm not sure how I would feel about that.

[KingCubsFan]

Sweet, I'm one level closer to Prior via another cousin of his. Went to high school with the guy.

 

I haven't called him to get his take, but maybe I should

 

Did you go to St. Ignatius? :D

 

Not if he has a soul.

Co-sign. St. Ignatius=factory for bad football players disguised as educational institution

[KingCubsFan]

And by the way, about 2003, he did ask Prior and Wood to throw a lot of pitches down the stretch - no doubt. But in Dusty's defense, what manager wouldn't have ridden them hard given the hot division races plus the relatively shaky Cub pen? I think Dusty was a terrible baseball strategist and has deserved much of the criticism he's gotten, but I feel he's unfairly blamed for Wood & Prior's health the past three years.

It's not just that he rode them down the stretch, it's that he had them throwing 110-130 pitches per start in April and May. I agree you can't blame him for trying to get us into the playoffs, but abusing them the whole year was unnecessary.

[soccer10k]

And by the way, about 2003, he did ask Prior and Wood to throw a lot of pitches down the stretch - no doubt. But in Dusty's defense, what manager wouldn't have ridden them hard given the hot division races plus the relatively shaky Cub pen? I think Dusty was a terrible baseball strategist and has deserved much of the criticism he's gotten, but I feel he's unfairly blamed for Wood & Prior's health the past three years.

It's not just that he rode them down the stretch, it's that he had them throwing 110-130 pitches per start in April and May. I agree you can't blame him for trying to get us into the playoffs, but abusing them the whole year was unnecessary.

 

Not to mention the fact that Dusty tried to kill Z this year. 128 pitches in Z's last start of the year. Brilliant.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Prior had more pitches/starts in 2003 (his first full season in the bigs) than Z has ever had. That's scary.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

There are supposedly 20+ teams that have shown interest in Daisuke, so stating the Cubs are one of them isn't that big a deal. I still think he'll be a Yank or a Mariner.

 

You think the M's will pony up the money for Daisuke and Schmidt?

 

Honestly, no. But given all the things in their favor in terms of the Japanese players signing with them (and the fact that Schmidt isn't a slam dunk Mariner signing), I think they have to be in the top 2 or 3 (add Baltimore, I guess).

 

That wasn't really a fair question on my part either. I was trying to point out that many people are viewing Daisuke and Schmidt as non-Cubs because of rumors of them going to Seattle, but it's highly unlikely both end up there.

 

I don't know that Schmidt is a non-Cub, but Daisuke definitely is (imo, of course).

[Andy]

Sweet, I'm one level closer to Prior via another cousin of his. Went to high school with the guy.

 

I haven't called him to get his take, but maybe I should

 

Did you go to St. Ignatius? :D

 

Not if he has a soul.

My high school (Penn) has lost two games in two years to St. Ignatius.

 

Bleh.

[don_kessinger_was_good]

With Pedro down, I think the deep-pocket Mets make Schmidt their top offseason target. It's no secret the Yankees love Zito. I think if we're to make a starting pitcher splash, it almost HAS to be Matsuzaka, by default. And I'd be for that, it's a big gamble, but the potential payoff is huge. He's younger than Rich Hill, for crying out loud.