ESPN 1000 - Cubs are going after Schmidt next

[BigbadB]

Schmidt hasn't been listed on many of my wish lists this offseason because I didn't think he was realistic. But, hey! If Hendry gets Schmidt, I'll freak!

[David]

Schmidt hasn't been listed on many of my wish lists this offseason because I didn't think he was realistic. But, hey! If Hendry gets Schmidt, I'll freak!

 

 

Soriano, Lugo, Lee, Ramirez, Barrett, Murton, Crisp/Jones/Pie, DeRosa

 

Zambrano, Schmidt, Westbrook, Hill, Prior/Miller

 

Wood

 

...If Schmidt gets done, the rest of that isn't all that unrealistic.

 

I would like a better bat in the 5th spot, but at least we have that type of power in the leadoff spot.

[Laura]

The most recent ESPN1000 update said that the Cubs were targeting Schmidt next. No further details.

 

Schmidt hasn't been listed on many of my wish lists this offseason because I didn't think he was realistic. But, hey! If Hendry gets Schmidt, I'll freak!

 

Oh YEEAH!

[CaliforniaRaisin]

I haven't heard any report that they've made an offer. I think whoever originally passed that rumor on to that site was either making it up or misheard what was said.

 

The only thing I heard Levine report yesterday was that Schmidt may be their next target and that they're looking to "make inroads" with him on a 3 year deal.

 

Damn. :(

[Warpticon]

My preference at this point would be to sign Schmidt and win the bid for Igawa. I'd rather pay Igawa 5 or 6 mil a year plus a 6-10 million posting fee than to give up talent (even if it's just Jones) for Westbrook--and I think Igawa can easily be cheaper and better than Westbrook before long. I suppose it's a lot more likely that Wesbrook comes on board, though, and I could deal with that.

[RyCubsFan]

My preference at this point would be to sign Schmidt and win the bid for Igawa. I'd rather pay Igawa 5 or 6 mil a year plus a 6-10 million posting fee than to give up talent (even if it's just Jones) for Westbrook--and I think Igawa can easily be cheaper and better than Westbrook before long. I suppose it's a lot more likely that Wesbrook comes on board, though, and I could deal with that.

 

 

I hear what you're saying, but I don't agree. I think Westbrook, with his sinker, could be an excellent pitcher in the NL and in Wrigley in particular. I have more confidence in him as a 3rd starter than I do in Igawa, who's more of a control pitcher. I don't think Jones would necessarily have to be given up in a deal for Westbrook. The deal I've heard tossed around is something like: Marshall + Ohman/Eyre + Cedeno/Izturis.

 

That said, I'd be happy with either of them.

[hawkeyecub]

I heard a little bit of Salisbury and Rosenbloom and they made reference to Schmidt possibly recieving a $15M/year offer. They were talking about Zito and what he might get and how that might set the market and then said "maybe Schmidt will decide to just take the $15 million and sign".

 

This doesn't mean much, but apparently the people at ESPN1000 are thinking that he recieved that offer.

[CP_414]

I heard a little bit of Salisbury and Rosenbloom and they made reference to Schmidt possibly recieving a $15M/year offer. They were talking about Zito and what he might get and how that might set the market and then said "maybe Schmidt will decide to just take the $15 million and sign".

 

This doesn't mean much, but apparently the people at ESPN1000 are thinking that he recieved that offer.

 

I heard the update guy say Levine is reporting the Cubs are focusing on Schmidt. I dunno about the 3/45 report, but Levine seems to think Hendry is after Schmidt. The score cited the Roesenthal report in their update that Lugo may be next.

[killthegoat06]

I heard a little bit of Salisbury and Rosenbloom and they made reference to Schmidt possibly recieving a $15M/year offer. They were talking about Zito and what he might get and how that might set the market and then said "maybe Schmidt will decide to just take the $15 million and sign".

 

This doesn't mean much, but apparently the people at ESPN1000 are thinking that he recieved that offer.

 

Please Please Hendry getter done. Make us all even more happy as we say our THanksgiving prayers!

[Jehrico]

I hear Schmidt wants to play in Seattle, it's beyond me why anyone would desire to live in that heroin sesspool dump known as Seattle, Washington.

 

Seattle is great city. I can easily see why someone from that area would want to go back.

 

Just because the Cubs have made an offer doesn't mean Schmidt accepts it. Unlike Soriano, who was obviously going to the high bidder no matter the team, Schmidt has stated a strong preference for heading to the West Coast. Seems hard to believe a West Coast team wouldn't match a 3/45 offer in this market for Jason Schmidt.

 

But, we can hope...

 

Hey man, I love DC and wouldn't want to go anywhere else. But if the choice between two jobs, one in my preferred location and another in Chicago, for a 3 year gig...I think I can delay my preferred city for 3 years if it meant an extra 6 million dollars in my account.

 

West coast gets played up too much. Schmidt isn't Clemens, he's ten years younger, and he's not on the cusp of retirement. For a 3 year gig, location probably doesn't mean that much to a guy not yet in his twilight years.

 

I strongly agree with all that The Dude is saying here, and it's not just because I saw part of the Big Lebowski again last night. A few extra million would make the distance from your preferred locale pretty easy to deal with. It's not like he'd be spending every day at home either, they are travelling most of the time.

 

I'd disagree. If I was generally happy where I was at, I was married and had kids in school, I wouldn't move for 45 million over three instead of, say, $39 mil over three. It's not like you can't get by quite nicely for $13 mil a year, I wouldn't yank my kids out of the school system and uproot my family because I was greedy for another two per.

 

But then again, I don't know if he has kids or anything like that either.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

I hear Schmidt wants to play in Seattle, it's beyond me why anyone would desire to live in that heroin sesspool dump known as Seattle, Washington.

 

Seattle is great city. I can easily see why someone from that area would want to go back.

 

Just because the Cubs have made an offer doesn't mean Schmidt accepts it. Unlike Soriano, who was obviously going to the high bidder no matter the team, Schmidt has stated a strong preference for heading to the West Coast. Seems hard to believe a West Coast team wouldn't match a 3/45 offer in this market for Jason Schmidt.

 

But, we can hope...

 

Hey man, I love DC and wouldn't want to go anywhere else. But if the choice between two jobs, one in my preferred location and another in Chicago, for a 3 year gig...I think I can delay my preferred city for 3 years if it meant an extra 6 million dollars in my account.

 

West coast gets played up too much. Schmidt isn't Clemens, he's ten years younger, and he's not on the cusp of retirement. For a 3 year gig, location probably doesn't mean that much to a guy not yet in his twilight years.

 

I strongly agree with all that The Dude is saying here, and it's not just because I saw part of the Big Lebowski again last night. A few extra million would make the distance from your preferred locale pretty easy to deal with. It's not like he'd be spending every day at home either, they are travelling most of the time.

 

I'd disagree. If I was generally happy where I was at, I was married and had kids in school, I wouldn't move for 45 million over three instead of, say, $39 mil over three. It's not like you can't get by quite nicely for $13 mil a year, I wouldn't yank my kids out of the school system and uproot my family because I was greedy for another two per.

 

But then again, I don't know if he has kids or anything like that either.

 

Only problem is that he's not already in his "ideal" spot, he needs to uproot to get to Seattle.

 

FWIW, he's married with a 5 year old and a 2 year old.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

FWIW, he's married with a 5 year old and a 2 year old.

 

Stalker.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

FWIW, he's married with a 5 year old and a 2 year old.

 

Stalker.

 

I've heard worse.

 

Link

[Jehrico]

I hear Schmidt wants to play in Seattle, it's beyond me why anyone would desire to live in that heroin sesspool dump known as Seattle, Washington.

 

Seattle is great city. I can easily see why someone from that area would want to go back.

 

Just because the Cubs have made an offer doesn't mean Schmidt accepts it. Unlike Soriano, who was obviously going to the high bidder no matter the team, Schmidt has stated a strong preference for heading to the West Coast. Seems hard to believe a West Coast team wouldn't match a 3/45 offer in this market for Jason Schmidt.

 

But, we can hope...

 

Hey man, I love DC and wouldn't want to go anywhere else. But if the choice between two jobs, one in my preferred location and another in Chicago, for a 3 year gig...I think I can delay my preferred city for 3 years if it meant an extra 6 million dollars in my account.

 

West coast gets played up too much. Schmidt isn't Clemens, he's ten years younger, and he's not on the cusp of retirement. For a 3 year gig, location probably doesn't mean that much to a guy not yet in his twilight years. Either way, I'm not convinced 15 per year instead of 13 year is enough additional money to floor him enough to where he just can't say no.

 

I strongly agree with all that The Dude is saying here, and it's not just because I saw part of the Big Lebowski again last night. A few extra million would make the distance from your preferred locale pretty easy to deal with. It's not like he'd be spending every day at home either, they are travelling most of the time.

 

I'd disagree. If I was generally happy where I was at, I was married and had kids in school, I wouldn't move for 45 million over three instead of, say, $39 mil over three. It's not like you can't get by quite nicely for $13 mil a year, I wouldn't yank my kids out of the school system and uproot my family because I was greedy for another two per.

 

But then again, I don't know if he has kids or anything like that either.

 

Only problem is that he's not already in his "ideal" spot, he needs to uproot to get to Seattle.

 

FWIW, he's married with a 5 year old and a 2 year old.

 

So I guess the question is, how happy is he in San Fran? If Seattle is his "ideal" spot, then maybe there's hope, because Seattle is going to stink next year. I would think he's be more tempted to go to Seattle for his final hurrah if they can get it turned around in a couple of years. He may be content on staying in SF until the ideal opportunity to head north arises, or maybe not.

Edited November 21, 2006 by Jehrico

[BWcubs21]

I hear Schmidt wants to play in Seattle, it's beyond me why anyone would desire to live in that heroin sesspool dump known as Seattle, Washington.

 

Seattle is great city. I can easily see why someone from that area would want to go back.

 

Agreed.

 

Obviously you have never been to Seattle. My wife is a travel nurse, so we travel around the country staying in one area for 3 months or so and Seattle (really the whole pacific NW) is IMO the best area in the country. So I could see why he would want to go back. However, the Mariners cant offer the kind of money we do or more than likely the chance to win right now like we can (with all of our additions).

[3Dog]

It's all posturing, pure and simple.

[goonys evil twin]

I'd disagree. If I was generally happy where I was at, I was married and had kids in school, I wouldn't move for 45 million over three instead of, say, $39 mil over three. It's not like you can't get by quite nicely for $13 mil a year, I wouldn't yank my kids out of the school system and uproot my family because I was greedy for another two per.

 

But then again, I don't know if he has kids or anything like that either.

 

A) I don't think you can honestly say you wouldn't do that, because you've probably never been in the position where you've decided on job offers that involved tens of millions of dollars (just a guess). The number of already rich players who end up accepting more millions over moving home is staggering, such that my guess is most people are going to take the money.

 

B) He's not a 9-5er who is going to wake up every morning in the same bed and kiss his wife and kids goodbye as she gets them ready for school.

 

He will be in whatever city he plays for for a grand total of maybe 3 months next year. The majority of the time, he will be in another city, on his way to another city, on his way back from another city, or preparing to go to another city. Playing at home doesn't mean you see your kids all the time. If he leaves SF, presumably, he's "yanking his kids out of school" regardless of whether he ends up in Seattle, Chicago or New York.

[Guest]

I hear Schmidt wants to play in Seattle, it's beyond me why anyone would desire to live in that heroin sesspool dump known as Seattle, Washington.

 

Seattle is great city. I can easily see why someone from that area would want to go back.

 

Just because the Cubs have made an offer doesn't mean Schmidt accepts it. Unlike Soriano, who was obviously going to the high bidder no matter the team, Schmidt has stated a strong preference for heading to the West Coast. Seems hard to believe a West Coast team wouldn't match a 3/45 offer in this market for Jason Schmidt.

 

But, we can hope...

 

Hey man, I love DC and wouldn't want to go anywhere else. But if the choice between two jobs, one in my preferred location and another in Chicago, for a 3 year gig...I think I can delay my preferred city for 3 years if it meant an extra 6 million dollars in my account.

 

West coast gets played up too much. Schmidt isn't Clemens, he's ten years younger, and he's not on the cusp of retirement. For a 3 year gig, location probably doesn't mean that much to a guy not yet in his twilight years.

 

I strongly agree with all that The Dude is saying here, and it's not just because I saw part of the Big Lebowski again last night. A few extra million would make the distance from your preferred locale pretty easy to deal with. It's not like he'd be spending every day at home either, they are travelling most of the time.

 

I'd disagree. If I was generally happy where I was at, I was married and had kids in school, I wouldn't move for 45 million over three instead of, say, $39 mil over three. It's not like you can't get by quite nicely for $13 mil a year, I wouldn't yank my kids out of the school system and uproot my family because I was greedy for another two per.

 

But then again, I don't know if he has kids or anything like that either.

Would you still have the family live in Seattle and make your residence there, but acknowledge the fact that you have a $15M/year job that kept you on the road for 6 months at a time? Have the fam with you in a condo in Chicago during the summer months so you're really only on the road away from them for four months during the year. You can afford to fly everyone in to Chicago for every homestand, too.

[garsky]

Let us not forget that his agent is going to be pushing pretty hard for the extra $2 million, since that's $200,000 he won't see (assuming he gets a 10% commission).

 

And the player's association is going to scream, too, if he doesn't keep the market as high as possible.

[Jehrico]

I'd disagree. If I was generally happy where I was at, I was married and had kids in school, I wouldn't move for 45 million over three instead of, say, $39 mil over three. It's not like you can't get by quite nicely for $13 mil a year, I wouldn't yank my kids out of the school system and uproot my family because I was greedy for another two per.

 

But then again, I don't know if he has kids or anything like that either.

 

A) I don't think you can honestly say you wouldn't do that, because you've probably never been in the position where you've decided on job offers that involved tens of millions of dollars (just a guess). The number of already rich players who end up accepting more millions over moving home is staggering, such that my guess is most people are going to take the money.

 

B) He's not a 9-5er who is going to wake up every morning in the same bed and kiss his wife and kids goodbye as she gets them ready for school.

 

He will be in whatever city he plays for for a grand total of maybe 3 months next year. The majority of the time, he will be in another city, on his way to another city, on his way back from another city, or preparing to go to another city. Playing at home doesn't mean you see your kids all the time. If he leaves SF, presumably, he's "yanking his kids out of school" regardless of whether he ends up in Seattle, Chicago or New York.

 

I honestly can say I wouldn't do that. After what I've been through since 2001, I can say definitively that providing some stability for my family is worth more to me than getting a 13-15% pay raise, provided that I'm more than sufficient to provide for my family without that extra 13-15%, of course.

 

As for the second point, the key word is IF. IF he leaves San Fran, we've got as good of a shot as any. If he's not really set on going elsewhere, then I'm not convinced a couple of million will be the sole determining factor. I think you're underestimating how many guys like stability. Haven't you ever heard of anyone giving a hometown discount?

[Jehrico]

I hear Schmidt wants to play in Seattle, it's beyond me why anyone would desire to live in that heroin sesspool dump known as Seattle, Washington.

 

Seattle is great city. I can easily see why someone from that area would want to go back.

 

Just because the Cubs have made an offer doesn't mean Schmidt accepts it. Unlike Soriano, who was obviously going to the high bidder no matter the team, Schmidt has stated a strong preference for heading to the West Coast. Seems hard to believe a West Coast team wouldn't match a 3/45 offer in this market for Jason Schmidt.

 

But, we can hope...

 

Hey man, I love DC and wouldn't want to go anywhere else. But if the choice between two jobs, one in my preferred location and another in Chicago, for a 3 year gig...I think I can delay my preferred city for 3 years if it meant an extra 6 million dollars in my account.

 

West coast gets played up too much. Schmidt isn't Clemens, he's ten years younger, and he's not on the cusp of retirement. For a 3 year gig, location probably doesn't mean that much to a guy not yet in his twilight years.

 

I strongly agree with all that The Dude is saying here, and it's not just because I saw part of the Big Lebowski again last night. A few extra million would make the distance from your preferred locale pretty easy to deal with. It's not like he'd be spending every day at home either, they are travelling most of the time.

 

I'd disagree. If I was generally happy where I was at, I was married and had kids in school, I wouldn't move for 45 million over three instead of, say, $39 mil over three. It's not like you can't get by quite nicely for $13 mil a year, I wouldn't yank my kids out of the school system and uproot my family because I was greedy for another two per.

 

But then again, I don't know if he has kids or anything like that either.

Would you still have the family live in Seattle and make your residence there, but acknowledge the fact that you have a $15M/year job that kept you on the road for 6 months at a time? Have the fam with you in a condo in Chicago during the summer months so you're really only on the road away from them for four months during the year. You can afford to fly everyone in to Chicago for every homestand, too.

Would you expect your family to drop everything (school, sports, social activities) every homestand and fly halfway across the country? Yeah, he can afford it, but that'd get to be a drain after awhile.

 

I'm not saying he wouldn't do it. What I am saying is that just because we offer him a couple more million a year than anyone else doesn't guarantee it will be enough to convince him to sign. Everyone's priorities are different. I don't know Schmidt from a hill of beans, so I couldn't tell you where his are. All I'm saying is don't be surprised if he decides not to sign with us even if we are the highest bidder, as that won't guarantee anything.

[goonys evil twin]

As for the second point, the key word is IF. IF he leaves San Fran, we've got as good of a shot as any. If he's not really set on going elsewhere, then I'm not convinced a couple of million will be the sole determining factor. I think you're underestimating how many guys like stability. Haven't you ever heard of anyone giving a hometown discount?

 

Typically those guys don't go this far into the free agency process.

 

Bottom line is this:

 

It's baseball, the safest bet is to assume the player will follow the money/years. If the Cubs offer more years, that's more stability than he might get staying on the west coast.

[Jehrico]

As for the second point, the key word is IF. IF he leaves San Fran, we've got as good of a shot as any. If he's not really set on going elsewhere, then I'm not convinced a couple of million will be the sole determining factor. I think you're underestimating how many guys like stability. Haven't you ever heard of anyone giving a hometown discount?

 

Typically those guys don't go this far into the free agency process.

 

Bottom line is this:

 

It's baseball, the safest bet is to assume the player will follow the money/years. If the Cubs offer more years, that's more stability than he might get staying on the west coast.

 

I would have to agree with that. My original point got a little convoluted. Basically, I'm not convinced that Schmidt will make his decision based 100% on money (and definitely not because of pressure from his agent, like previously suggested). If someone close to home is in the ball park of our bid, I wouldn't be surprised if he spurned us. If we're looking to go longer than anyone else though, I think that would give us more of an advantage than being a little higher per year than others. Either way, I hope Hendry can find a way to get it done!

[ConstableRabbit]

He also might get the crazy idea that the Cubs have a better shot at winning the World Series than Seattle does.

 

Money, family, AND potential to win will play a part. How much he values each, we do not know.

[Wheelimus]

And in all geographic fairness, 4/60 beats 3/45. :D