Gary Matthews Jr. gets 5/50 from Angels

[nilodnayr]

Time for a title change.

 

Signs for very slightly less insane contract

[Andy]

5/50 for Matthews has erased any lingering doubt in my mind that the Cubs should have gone into retooling mode in 2007.

 

I still don't understand why you feel that way. If they ink Schmidt and manage to deal for a corner OFer of value, will your opinion change?

 

No. MLB is currently giving birth to a flock of albatrosses. This pattern of giving so-so players superstar contracts based on one great year is going to come to an ugly end. There's no way this level of stupidity can remain unacknowledged for long.

 

As long as the Cubs don't give so-so players superstar contracts, it's not an issue for them.

 

With $115m available this year, blowing up and starting fresh was a bad idea.

 

So you think Soriano will justify his salary in RF for 8 years? I don't.

Is anyone going to justify the salaries they've gotten in FA in recent years for the length of the contract?

 

At least the Cubs' signings have a CHANCE to justify it. There is no way on this earth that Matthews or Pierre will ever be worth what they're now making.

[frostwyrm]

5/50 for Matthews has erased any lingering doubt in my mind that the Cubs should have gone into retooling mode in 2007.

 

I still don't understand why you feel that way. If they ink Schmidt and manage to deal for a corner OFer of value, will your opinion change?

 

No. MLB is currently giving birth to a flock of albatrosses. This pattern of giving so-so players superstar contracts based on one great year is going to come to an ugly end. There's no way this level of stupidity can remain unacknowledged for long.

 

As long as the Cubs don't give so-so players superstar contracts, it's not an issue for them.

 

With $115m available this year, blowing up and starting fresh was a bad idea.

 

So you think Soriano will justify his salary in RF for 8 years? I don't.

Is anyone going to justify the salaries they've gotten in FA in recent years for the length of the contract?

 

At least the Cubs' signings have a CHANCE to justify it. There is no way on this earth that Matthews or Pierre will ever be worth what they're now making.

 

I agree, of the 3 contracts, if I had to choose between Matthews, Pierre, and Soriano, I'd take Soriano.

 

But I'd prefer to have none of them.

[goonys evil twin]

5/50 for Matthews has erased any lingering doubt in my mind that the Cubs should have gone into retooling mode in 2007.

 

I still don't understand why you feel that way. If they ink Schmidt and manage to deal for a corner OFer of value, will your opinion change?

 

No. MLB is currently giving birth to a flock of albatrosses. This pattern of giving so-so players superstar contracts based on one great year is going to come to an ugly end. There's no way this level of stupidity can remain unacknowledged for long.

 

As long as the Cubs don't give so-so players superstar contracts, it's not an issue for them.

 

With $115m available this year, blowing up and starting fresh was a bad idea.

 

So you think Soriano will justify his salary in RF for 8 years? I don't.

 

No I don't. But that doesn't justify not getting involved in the market. Every WS winner has players who don't justify their contracts. Jeter hasn't come close to justifying his contract, but the Yankees aren't suffering. If you refuse to sign any player that might not live up to his contract, you will not have a team. That's not how a big market team plays ball. The Mets wouldn't have contended for the NLCS if they didn't had out contracts that won't be "lived up to".

 

Blowing it up and starting over was an option back in the late 90's and early 00's, when the Cubs farm was stacked and the major league roster was barren. That was not an option this year, not with a barren farm and major league roster with as much talent as its ever had.

 

Starting over would just delay the Cubs chances of ever actually winning for at least an additional 5 years over what they already are.

[UBlink]

At least the Cubs' signings have a CHANCE to justify it. There is no way on this earth that Matthews or Pierre will ever be worth what they're now making.

 

I can agree on Pierre, but all Matthews has to do is repeat or come close to the performance he had last year to be worth his contract. Is it a slam dunk? Heck no, but is it impossible? Certainly not.

 

Put it another way. Based on his performance prior to last year would you have said there is any way he would have put up the numbers he did last year? I would have said probably not, but he did. Having done it once makes it possible (even if not likely) that he will do it again.

[RynoRules]

Understood and agreed - but why does that mean we should not spend and try to improve now? If you are worried about cash, the Cubs likely have been sitting on tens of millions in profit for years. They must have enormous operating income between tickets, concessions, merchandising, etc. I still do not understand why you feel this way.

 

The sitting on profits arguement doesn't mean much. They don't have a treasure chest of cash they've been holding onto that they'll use for a rainy day. They still have to run this business on an operational basis, spending less than they take in. As long as they can maintain the payroll level, there's no reason why they shouldn't up it this year. If they were planning to slash in 2008, then we're in trouble.

 

That wasn't my point. Rather, I was saying that I don't forsee the team overspending this year and then pleading poverty in a few years. The org generates enough revenue to support this type of payroll, IMO, and probably has for years. The difference now is that there is a change in spending philosophy at the top of the org., and accordingly we are witnessing an approach not seen at any other time in team history.

[neely crenshaw]

listen we had a chance tp be somewhat economical and still win but WE BLEW IT...

now we need to seriuosly spend money...

i could care less if we win once or 5 straight..

i could care less if we suck the year after we win it...we have been sucking for 100 years...can we stop talking about being smart, having a better market next year(isn't it always) or spending more wisely and can we just win one please.

[Chocolate Milk]

So you think Soriano will justify his salary in RF for 8 years? I don't.

 

Who cares? It's don't matter if he "justifies" it or not as long as it doesn't hamstring the Cubs.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

5/50 from the Angels

 

My apologies if it's already been posted.

[ToupeeOnFire]

Mark DeRosa = bargain...who knew?

[Banedon]

I went ahead and updated the topic to avoid confusion.

[Brian]

remember when this was us signing the lesser talents because we missed out on the top FAs?

[goonys evil twin]

remember when this was us signing the lesser talents because we missed out on the top FAs?

 

Well, you could say we got stuck signing Soriano because of missing out on better players like Vlad, Beltran, etc.

[Brian]

remember when this was us signing the lesser talents because we missed out on the top FAs?

 

Well, you could say we got stuck signing Soriano because of missing out on better players like Vlad, Beltran, etc.

 

sure rain on my parade :(

[YearofDaCubs]

Hey, I'm just glad that we didn't end up with this guy.

[goonys evil twin]

remember when this was us signing the lesser talents because we missed out on the top FAs?

 

Well, you could say we got stuck signing Soriano because of missing out on better players like Vlad, Beltran, etc.

 

sure rain on my parade :(

 

sorry, it just started raining here

[UMFan83]

What was GMJ's BABIP last year compared to his previous years?

 

Has this been discussed here?

 

I bet you he is bad next year.

[Drew Doughty]

What was GMJ's BABIP last year compared to his previous years?

 

Has this been discussed here?

 

I bet you he is bad next year.

 

It was 349, which was a 60 point increase over his previous year

[Outshined_One]

This isn't quite as bad as Pierre's contract, but still...yeesh!

[sunnydoo]

Criminally insane.

 

 

I am a big fan of Arturo Moreno and the work his crew has done in putting the Angels back on the map in South Cali. But this is whacko.

 

It looks as though desperation set in and Stoneman/Forsch went the easy crazy way. No way GM Jr deserves Pierre+ type money. Just totally crazy.

[Drew Doughty]

Criminally insane.

 

 

I am a big fan of Arturo Moreno and the work his crew has done in putting the Angels back on the map in South Cali. But this is whacko.

 

It looks as though desperation set in and Stoneman/Forsch went the easy crazy way. No way GM Jr deserves Pierre+ type money. Just totally crazy.

 

Then again, Pierre doesn't deserve Pierre money.

[Outshined_One]

So, what kind of money would GMJr have gotten if he hadn't made that phenomenal catch which was replayed roughly eight billion times on ESPN alone?

 

I'll go with 3/18.

[soccer10k]

Living in Ranger country I had the opportunity to watch him all last year and he was amazingly consistent. Even if you take the OPS of his worst month (.792), for a top tier defensive CF the contract might be 1 or 2M over market. With his athleticism he should make it through the 5 years without losing too much.

 

Can you say Chan Ho Park?

 

The problem is you are talking about one year.

 

I know I'm only talking about one year, that's why I looked for consistency within the year. I don't think it's unreasonable to expect future performance at least as good as his worst month in that one year.

 

I'll take consistency over a career instead of over a year. He may have been consistent this year but his career stats, and the fact that he's 32, tell a better story.

[NorthsideAvenger]

remember when this was us signing the lesser talents because we missed out on the top FAs?

 

Well, you could say we got stuck signing Soriano because of missing out on better players like Vlad, Beltran, etc.

 

And if Soriano continues to build of a great 2006 into the near future, then "missing out of Vlad/Beltran, etc" would be less embarrassing. And we know that Soriano has the same kind athlethicism and talent those two have, but what he doesn't have---right yet---is the consistancy. If Soriano has a big yr in 2007---which I believe he will---then this signing becomes even better.

[NoDak]

wow. all that money and years for a guy whose had only one good whole season, and it was when he was 32.

And that is the reason why there was a lot of criticism about the DeRosa signing. Of course 4mil per compared to 10mil is a big difference.

 

Also, the difference between 3 years and 5 years is a big deal too!