Should the Cubs take a gamble this offseason?

[Wheelimus]

Gambles don't always work out. For every Kenny Rogers 2/16 contract, there's a pitcher getting a big contract and turning to trash.

 

But sometimes they pay off, and I'd think a 115 million dollar payroll team could fit a gamble into the budget, hedged in case of failure.

 

Kerry Wood is the most obvious for us. How much to find out if he can do a Smoltz?

 

What if Nomar Garciaparra fell into bargain basement pricerange with this very public postseason injury? Are we nuts enough to let him try to play up the middle again if it doesn't cost much to watch him self implode? And what if this is it, that last magical run we just know he'll have if it's not with us...

 

How cheaply do Barry Bonds or, gulp, Moises Alou have to come to make you interested?

 

If Soriano is out of your reach, could you swallow your pride and give Jim Edmonds a call? Maybe he'll want revenge on the franchise that's likely to cast him aside.

 

Cliff Floyd. Are we dumb enough?

 

Aubrey Huff. Any use?

 

Trot Nixon?

 

Gulp...Sheffield?

 

Personally, Wood is my main bet. And if any of them come into gambling range, I'd give it a shot. Can you imagine Barry Bonds, fourth outfielder? Eating lefties for breakfast for Jacque (surely Matt can handle a little right field) and taking a few righties for Matt that might give him trouble but he'll eat for breakfast. Why not? Who better to lead the Cubs straight to the gates of hell to break this curse than Barry. :lol:

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

If I could get Bonds for 10 million or less, I take that gamble.

[Mephistopheles]

Gamble on Matsuzaka.

 

Or JD Drew's health

[Electron Blue]

Gamble on Matsuzaka.

 

Or JD Drew's health

 

In my opinion, matsuzaka would be a good gamble to take - esp. for the cubs who could use a 1 or 2 spot starter. He'll be very expensive though

[baseball7897]

If I could get Bonds for 10 million or less, I take that gamble.

 

That would be a dumb gamble. Dont the Cubs have enough injury prone players already? Bonds may hit the HR when he is healthy, but he is a liability in the field. I rather have Murton than Bonds at this point.

[Neuby]

I would take a gamble on a guy like Huff if we lose Aram in a deal for AROD.

[Soriano12]

Gamble on Daisuke.

 

At the very least he would generate some $$$ in adverstising revenue, jerseys, etc...

[Wilson A2000]

After 98 years of losing, gambling, or overpaying, sure won't hurt (post number 1,000 for me!).

[Wilson A2000]

I would take a gamble on a guy like Huff if we lose Aram in a deal for AROD.

 

NO NO NO NO NO. There is gambling, and just dumb moves.

[Wilson A2000]

If I could get Bonds for 10 million or less, I take that gamble.

 

Serious? He is Sosa all over again.

[FergieJ31]

If I could get Bonds for 10 million or less, I take that gamble.

 

I'd find it extremely hard to root for the Cubs if Bonds were patrolling LF. Purely emotional. I have no doubt he'll put up decent numbers again next year, but he's such a jerk.

 

I agree the Cubs should take a gamble and Daisuke is the guy I'd gamble on. Absolutely filthy stuff - if he's in the NL he might utterly dominate the league. If that happens and the Cubs upgrade their offense, they should contend for the division.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

If I could get Bonds for 10 million or less, I take that gamble.

 

That would be a dumb gamble. Dont the Cubs have enough injury prone players already? Bonds may hit the HR when he is healthy, but he is a liability in the field. I rather have Murton than Bonds at this point.

 

Actually, it would be a nice gamble. With Murton cheap and in the fold, the Cubs would have the perfect player to use when Bonds needed to miss time.

 

Bonds while only playing 130 games, still managed to post a 270/454/545 line. Do you wanna guess how many Cubs had an OBP over 400? Let me help you. It's not a long list.

 

Would you like to know how long it's been since Bonds had an OBP below 400? You have to go all the way back to 1999 before you find that.

 

Bonds may not be likeable, but he's still a great hitter. He's not the hitter he was two or three or even four years ago, but he's still productive.

 

There's not too many players available that can provide a 900-1000 OPS. Bonds is one of those. His defense isn't great, but neither was Moises Alou's and we lived with him for a few seasons.

 

I wouldn't break the bank for Bonds, but if I could get him for under 10 mil, he'd be a great gamble. Probably the best on the market.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

If I could get Bonds for 10 million or less, I take that gamble.

 

Serious? He is Sosa all over again.

 

Really? In Sosa's last year, the decline was huge. Bonds has declined but even with his decline he still has an OBP over 400 and an OPS over 900.

[Soriano12]

I'll help form a blockade on the Kennedy if it keeps Bonds out of Chicago.

 

http://www.brianbehrend.com/archives/images/bonds-cheater.jpg

 

[/img]

[NCCubFan]

I'd find it extremely hard to root for the Cubs if Bonds were patrolling LF. Purely emotional. I have no doubt he'll put up decent numbers again next year, but he's such a jerk.

He may be a jerk (OK, he is, no maybe about it). However, if he can help the Cubs win, so be it. The Cubs tried the good character thing in 2005, and it didn't work.

[Fred Hornkohl]

If I could get Bonds for 10 million or less, I take that gamble.

 

That would be a dumb gamble. Dont the Cubs have enough injury prone players already? Bonds may hit the HR when he is healthy, but he is a liability in the field. I rather have Murton than Bonds at this point.

 

Actually, it would be a nice gamble. With Murton cheap and in the fold, the Cubs would have the perfect player to use when Bonds needed to miss time.

 

Bonds while only playing 130 games, still managed to post a 270/454/545 line. Do you wanna guess how many Cubs had an OBP over 400? Let me help you. It's not a long list.

 

Would you like to know how long it's been since Bonds had an OBP below 400? You have to go all the way back to 1999 before you find that.

 

Bonds may not be likeable, but he's still a great hitter. He's not the hitter he was two or three or even four years ago, but he's still productive.

 

There's not too many players available that can provide a 900-1000 OPS. Bonds is one of those. His defense isn't great, but neither was Moises Alou's and we lived with him for a few seasons.

 

I wouldn't break the bank for Bonds, but if I could get him for under 10 mil, he'd be a great gamble. Probably the best on the market.

 

That would be really classic; Barry Bonds ending his career with the CUBS. Just like his old man, eh?

[NCCubFan]

That would be really classic; Barry Bonds ending his career with the CUBS. Just like his old man, eh?

Hopefully the son's days with the Cubs would be better than the father's. :D

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

Before everyone gets his/her panties in a wad, don't worry about Bonds. Bruce already said the Cubs won't have any interest in him.

 

But even if he has a slight decline from this year, he should put up a 260/415/500 line.

 

If we signed Bonds for 10 million, we'd be adding better production than we could get for Soriano without having to guarantee the years. If I signed Bonds, I'd keep Murton and platoon him with Jones. Between the AL games that Bonds would DH, the games Bonds would need to take off, and the games Jones sits against lefties, Murton should still get starts in around 100 games.

 

A middle of the order of Lee, Bonds, and Ramirez would be lethal.

[NorthsideAvenger]

On Bonds: Can we talk about trying to get Dunn, instead?

 

Look Bonds BARELY plays the field anymore. He doesn't play night games after day games, nor does he play in more then 3 or 4 games in row. At best, you MIGHT get 110-120 games out of Bonds. And simply put, Bonds isn't going to be worth the contract the gets. At this stage, Bonds is strictly a DH, no questions asked. I rather gamble on Soriano being able to play CF, over knowing Bonds CAN'T play LF anymore. Bonds is not a worthy gamble candidate. Let Anaheim, Oakland, or perhaps even Texas worry about landing Bonds.

[soccer10k]

If I could get Bonds for 10 million or less, I take that gamble.

 

I'd find it extremely hard to root for the Cubs if Bonds were patrolling LF. Purely emotional. I have no doubt he'll put up decent numbers again next year, but he's such a jerk.

 

I agree the Cubs should take a gamble and Daisuke is the guy I'd gamble on. Absolutely filthy stuff - if he's in the NL he might utterly dominate the league. If that happens and the Cubs upgrade their offense, they should contend for the division.

 

I would still pull for the Cubs just as much as I always have but I wouldn't pull for Bonds. If he helped the team, I would be happy that the team won and did well but that's it.

[Wheelimus]

100 games of having Barry Bonds in the lineup is 100 games we have a real good chance of winning. And when you figure the other 62 games will go to Murton, plus all of Jacques lefties, doesn't really hurt him at all. Plus you know there will be blowout games where Barry might want to sit down early.

 

What if that cost you $6 million with incentives? For a 1.000 OPS.

 

Sorry guys, we're the Cubs, I think old Cap ruined any chance of having a "we don't hire slimballs", before all of us were even born. So lets go for the cheap guy with the four hundred plus OBP if he's cheap...

 

Look at the bright side, if he's a Cub he'll power us to an insurmountable lead in the division, one homer from trying the record, and then HAVE A VERY LARGE SATELLITE DROP ON HIM IN A GAME. The cleanup is going to suck, but then Matt gets more at bats. :lol:

[Backtobanks]

Obviously, the Cubs have to gamble this offseason because of their dismal performance during the season. My point is signing players like Soriano, CLee, Scmidt, etc. to $50-75 million contracts is a big gamble too. Giving up young players for Dunn, Tejada, or ARod is a giagantic gamble too. Personally I would take my chances with players in their prime rather than short-term contracts with players past their prime.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

On Bonds: Can we talk about trying to get Dunn, instead?

 

Look Bonds BARELY plays the field anymore. He doesn't play night games after day games, nor does he play in more then 3 or 4 games in row. At best, you MIGHT get 110-120 games out of Bonds. And simply put, Bonds isn't going to be worth the contract the gets. At this stage, Bonds is strictly a DH, no questions asked. I rather gamble on Soriano being able to play CF, over knowing Bonds CAN'T play LF anymore. Bonds is not a worthy gamble candidate. Let Anaheim, Oakland, or perhaps even Texas worry about landing Bonds.

That's just not true. He played in 130 games last year.

[rawaction]

The Cubs should take a SMART gamble. Any of the guys mentioned would be gambles, but they better not be the type of gamble that hinges the entire season. By smart gamble, I mean like a couple years ago overpaying Beltran. Hendry should have gambled that he could trade Sosa somewhere. He should have gambled that in Beltran he could have had one of the best players in baseball. He should have gambled with a big contract when he still had cheap production out of Prior, Zambrano, Patterson, Walker and others.

 

All that playing safe got the Cubs was 2 years of Burnitz/Jones in RF. Trading 3 ML ready pitchers for a mediocre slap hitter. And now the challenge of adding to a team who has given increases to Prior, Zambrano, Lee, Ramirez, and others.

 

The Cubs are now at the point where if they want to win anytime soon, they have to make a huge gamble. If they want to go the route of paying a big-name free-agent, they are gonna have to overpay with the Angels, Dodgers, Sox, and Yanks in the running ofr the same players. If they want to go the route of bringing in a few solid players (Loretta, Roberts, Padilla, Lilly), they have to gamble that they can win w/i 2 years, because none of those guys will get long term deals, and will become free agents around the same time as the core of the team. If they want to go the trade route, they are gonna have to gamble by giving up a prospect they may not want to move, in order to greatly improve.

[DCNashville]

That's just not true. He played in 130 games last year.

 

If I'm looking at the numbers correctly, he started only 118 games and pinch hit in the other 12. That said, I'd still take a chance on Bonds.