Cubs sign DeRosa for 3 yrs/$13M

[Flames24Rulz]

Anyone upset with this signing and in favor of signing Soriano is a hypocrite. DeRosa is Soriano on a lesser scale.

 

I don't know how you can say that. DeRosa averages what, 10 homers and 50 RBI's a season? Soriano can triple his HR totals and he can double DeRosa's RBIs. Average and OBP wise, he matches up with Soriano, but that's about it.

 

You missed the point. DeRosa was crappy for two years then good for one, and now he's getting paid like a good player. Soriano was good for two years and great for one, and people are clamoring for him to get paid like a great player.

 

Soriano has had good numbers for 4 of his 6 full-time years in the big leagues. The only years that he struggled were his rookie year, where he only had an OBP of .304 and his final year with Texas where he had an OBP of .309. While those are pretty crappy years, the other 4 years have been pretty decent for Soriano. While last year was his highest in terms of OBP and HR's, he had three seasons with a higher average.

 

Soriano deserves to get paid...maybe not $16 million a year money, but he's going to get that nonetheless because teams are going to be desperate to add a guy that can not only hit for power, but be a threat on the basepaths.

 

DeRosa meanwhile has only had 1 good season in his career. I just think comparing Soriano and DeRosa is comparing apples to oranges.

 

I think you need to read the post again, I don't know how else to rephrase it than what I just said.

 

DeRosa was crappy for two years then good for one, and now he's getting paid like a good player. Soriano was good for two years and great for one, and people are clamoring for him to get paid like a great player.

 

I completely understand what is being said and if that's the only similar thing between Soriano and DeRosa, then sure, they're alike in a way.

[goonys evil twin]

Anyone upset with this signing and in favor of signing Soriano is a hypocrite. DeRosa is Soriano on a lesser scale.

 

I don't know how you can say that. DeRosa averages what, 10 homers and 50 RBI's a season? Soriano can triple his HR totals and he can double DeRosa's RBIs. Average and OBP wise, he matches up with Soriano, but that's about it.

 

You missed the point. DeRosa was crappy for two years then good for one, and now he's getting paid like a good player. Soriano was good for two years and great for one, and people are clamoring for him to get paid like a great player.

 

Soriano has had good numbers for 4 of his 6 full-time years in the big leagues. The only years that he struggled were his rookie year, where he only had an OBP of .304 and his final year with Texas where he had an OBP of .309. While those are pretty crappy years, the other 4 years have been pretty decent for Soriano. While last year was his highest in terms of OBP and HR's, he had three seasons with a higher average.

 

Soriano deserves to get paid...maybe not $16 million a year money, but he's going to get that nonetheless because teams are going to be desperate to add a guy that can not only hit for power, but be a threat on the basepaths.

 

DeRosa meanwhile has only had 1 good season in his career. I just think comparing Soriano and DeRosa is comparing apples to oranges.

 

I think you need to read the post again, I don't know how else to rephrase it than what I just said.

 

DeRosa was crappy for two years then good for one, and now he's getting paid like a good player. Soriano was good for two years and great for one, and people are clamoring for him to get paid like a great player.

 

And? The Soriano/DeRosa comp is absurd. Soriano was just as good in 2002 and 2003 as he was in 2006. DeRosa has been a part time player, and a bad one, and just had a career year. And he still wasn't an everyday guy.

[YearofDaCubs]

After the Cedeno disaster last year I'm surprised so many people are ready to hand hand the keys to Theriot, when Ronny's numbers in limited action in 05 were alot like Theriot's numbers in 06. I don't think Hendry wants to risk a similar situation in a lineup with so many questions, and DeRosa is a safer bet. I agree he paid too much, but its not a terrible move.

A safer bet would be Lugo, Durham, Giles not DeRosa.

These would also be much more expensive options. Considering how many more players we need, we couldn't afford to spend 7-10 million on a 2b, or trade significant talent for Giles. As for Theriot, I don't like handing 27 year olds with a career slugging percentage in the minors of .337 starting jobs, not to mention the fact that DeRosa hit more homeruns in July and August of last year than Theriot has in his entire career spanning over 600 games. Theriot gets on base at a decent rate, but he shouldn't be a starter simply because he put up an OBP over .350 IN THE MINORS. Not a great signing, but better than Neifi.

The difference between him and the other 2B options out there is prob 4mil per year. By trading izturis you would free up some cash and at the same time improve the offense. Signing DeRosa to a contract over 4mil for 3 years is super risky. There are risks involved letting Theriot play and the same hold true for DeRosa too. I'm really skeptical that he will be able to produce the same numbers as he did last year. I would rather see Hendry take an all or nothing approach. Sign the top tier FA's when possible and work your way down, not the other way around.

[USSoccer]

$4.3m. For a utility player.

 

That's wasteful.

Especially when you have a guy who can do as good or better for $500,000.

 

Theriot might do as well or better. Probably not, though.

 

Will he do $4m worse than DeRosa's career averages?

[WrigleyinEngland]

'I understand that he gave him to much money, but we still have around $40 Mil. to spend this offseason.'

 

Is this fact or fiction? Do we have a salary update with our new all conquering 2B included?

[Backtobanks]

It's not fair to compare Derosa to Soriano, but Derosa is one year older and got a 3 year contract while Soriano is looking for 6-7 years.

[E.J.]

Hendry at his best: overypaying for crappy players. Other GM's must laugh when they see these crappy players getting ridiculous contracts from Hendry.

[TruffleShuffle]

$4.3m. For a utility player.

 

That's wasteful.

Especially when you have a guy who can do as good or better for $500,000.

 

Theriot might do as well or better. Probably not, though.

 

Will he do $4m worse than DeRosa's career averages?

 

I'm not sure exactly what that means, but I think the answer is "probably not."

 

I think people need to take a look around MLB and understand what people are getting paid these days. I've seen comments in this thread saying that he'd be a good utility guy for under $1 million. Come on. A guy who can be about an average hitter and play solid defense at just about any position on the diamond is going to make more than $1 million. This isn't the greatest signing, but he was going to get at least $3 million from somebody.

[WrigleyinEngland]

I don't think we sign any tier 1 FA this off season. Anyone think that we just paid $4 to get Jerry Hairston jr back?.

[bhogg]

so do the fans boo DeRosa just for the hell of it???

 

Do the fans hate him just for the hell of it?

 

Maybe Mark and Jacque will become buddies.

[Vinestal]

I dont know how fair it is to compare Derosa's career averages to what Theriot may or may not do. Last year was his first season with over 400 AB. Maybe he's a late bloomer, maybe he needed more consistant playing time to get it figured out. Its worth noting that in his first opportunity with consistant playing time he made the most of it. I really think Derosa is going to post pretty solid numbers, I guess I might be the only one that thinks that.

[Tedward]

DeRosa is a Type B FA, so Texas just got themselves a supplemental first round draft choice (not bad for them) in the 2007 MLB draft. Luckily the FA compensation structure just changed with the new collective bargaining agreement, so the Cubs do not have to give up a pick of their own for signing him.

[TruffleShuffle]

Hendry at his best: overypaying for crappy players. Other GM's must laugh when they see these crappy players getting ridiculous contracts from Hendry.

 

Chan Ho Park's contract is ridiculous. This is about $1M too much for a utility guy. Not the end of the world.

[USSoccer]

so do the fans boo DeRosa just for the hell of it???

 

Do the fans hate him just for the hell of it?

 

Maybe Mark and Jacque will become buddies.

 

Come on, now. No one here is going to boo DeRosa because he got overpaid. I think people are concerned that they're going to see a recurrence of the Hendry pattern of outbidding himself for mediocre.

 

I hope DeRosa puts up a line similar to his 2006, but I'm still going to think critically about the decision to sign him. I think we could have done better for less, but it won't kill us, unless it helps prevent us from making the moves that matter.

[E.J.]

Hendry at his best: overypaying for crappy players. Other GM's must laugh when they see these crappy players getting ridiculous contracts from Hendry.

 

Chan Ho Park's contract is ridiculous. This is about $1M too much for a utility guy. Not the end of the world.

 

For 3 years though. That's what I have the biggest problem with.

[goonys evil twin]

It's not fair to compare Derosa to Soriano, but Derosa is one year older and got a 3 year contract while Soriano is looking for 6-7 years.

 

So? This is absolutely stupid. DeRosa is a bad utility player. Soriano is an impact regular.

 

This comparison is absurd.

[TruffleShuffle]

It's not fair to compare Derosa to Soriano, but Derosa is one year older and got a 3 year contract while Soriano is looking for 6-7 years.

 

So? This is absolutely stupid. DeRosa is a bad utility player. Soriano is an impact regular.

 

This comparison is absurd.

 

Mark DeRosa is not a bad player. He'll have a great 2008, wait and see.

[moorecg]

So I'm not overwhellmed with this...but, if he is the 2b against righties and takes Jaque out of the lineup by playing right against righties, I can't be too upset. I'd like hear Hendry has to say about him. Even if he is an every day player at either SS or 2b, he's better offensivly than what we had last year at either position.

[YearofDaCubs]

So much for the platoon theory. DeRosa was on the radio and one reason he chose the Cubs was because his role would be as a 2B.

[Vinestal]

It's not fair to compare Derosa to Soriano, but Derosa is one year older and got a 3 year contract while Soriano is looking for 6-7 years.

 

So? This is absolutely stupid. DeRosa is a bad utility player. Soriano is an impact regular.

 

This comparison is absurd.

 

40 doubles and 74 RBI with a .357 OBP are not numbers put up by a bad utility player. Why is it so hard to believe that the guy figured something out and is entering his prime later than most? I think he proved he's better than just a bad utility player last year. You cant just ignore what he did last year, those are really good numbers. At the worst hes a good utility player next year.

[Rob]

Well, the writing is certainly on the wall for Cedeno.

 

DeRosa, Izturis, and Theriot can all man short passably well. DeRosa and Theriot can swing the bat a little... whereas Izturis is probably our starting SS right now.

 

I don't see the Cubs carrying Cedeno on the roster over Theriot at this point, as his only real skill at this point is an ability to play SS... which Theriot and DeRosa now both have. So yeah, Cedeno's out.

 

As for how I feel about the signing itself...

 

It could be a great thing if used properly... It could just as easily explode in our faces.

 

Use DeRosa to platoon with Jacque, pinch hit, and fill in on the diamond when people really need a day off, that's fine. Even giving him a chance to win a role at 2B when a righty is on the mound would be fine...

 

But if they hand him the starting 2B job and don't give Theriot or EPatt a chance to win it in Spring Training... and if they refuse to get Jacque out of the lineup against lefties... this would be nothing more than a waste of money.

 

All in all, I want to know what the new skipper plans on using DeRosa for... but until I find out, I'm pissed.

[Pinktermite]

This is not a bad signing. Theriot can be a super-sub just about anywhere I would guess and it's already been mentioned that he can spell Jacque against the lefties. And I hope Hendry totally gets outbid for Soriano if we have to give him a six year contract. 13 million for three years is chicken feed these days.

[E.J.]

So much for the platoon theory. DeRosa was on the radio and one reason he chose the Cubs was because his role would be as a 2B.

 

:wall: :wall:

 

I don't get this, unless Hendry is thinking of Izturis as a bench player. If we have a middle infield of Izturis and DeRosa...well I don't even want to think about that.

[YearofDaCubs]

Well, the writing is certainly on the wall for Cedeno.

 

DeRosa, Izturis, and Theriot can all man short passably well. DeRosa and Theriot can swing the bat a little... whereas Izturis is probably our starting SS right now.

 

I don't see the Cubs carrying Cedeno on the roster over Theriot at this point, as his only real skill at this point is an ability to play SS... which Theriot and DeRosa now both have. So yeah, Cedeno's out.

 

As for how I feel about the signing itself...

 

It could be a great thing if used properly... It could just as easily explode in our faces.

 

Use DeRosa to platoon with Jacque, pinch hit, and fill in on the diamond when people really need a day off, that's fine. Even giving him a chance to win a role at 2B when a righty is on the mound would be fine...

 

But if they hand him the starting 2B job and don't give Theriot or EPatt a chance to win it in Spring Training... and if they refuse to get Jacque out of the lineup against lefties... this would be nothing more than a waste of money.

 

All in all, I want to know what the new skipper plans on using DeRosa for... but until I find out, I'm pissed.

Now that the deal is done, the best we could hope for is to trade Izturis and move Theriot to SS. I can't stand having Izturis on this team. DeRosa will be the starting 2B for us.

[b_wiggy_66]

Don't forget Derrek Lee never "brokeout" until he was 29 almost 30 years old. Some people figure stuff out later than others.