Some Trib CF targets

[CubFanPhilly]

If Olney thinks Soriano will go to center who are some of the RF bats that could be out there via FA or a trade?

 

Craig Wilson/J Jones platoon in right. Dump Jones at the deadline, call up Pie. Shift Soriano to RF in 2008.

 

All set.

[waffle]

My pop is a Red Sox fan and says that they are talking about a cubs/sox trade there, he thinks it is Coco Crisp for unknown. I suggested it was Jones and maybe an arm of some description. he told me he would listen and let me know if he hears anything new.

[Tedward]

My pop is a Red Sox fan and says that they are talking about a cubs/sox trade there, he thinks it is Coco Crisp for unknown. I suggested it was Jones and maybe an arm of some description. he told me he would listen and let me know if he hears anything new.

 

Great. He'll fit right in on our team. .317 OBP last season. :roll:

[Transmogrified Tiger]

My pop is a Red Sox fan and says that they are talking about a cubs/sox trade there, he thinks it is Coco Crisp for unknown. I suggested it was Jones and maybe an arm of some description. he told me he would listen and let me know if he hears anything new.

 

Great. He'll fit right in on our team. .317 OBP last season. :roll:

 

I like Crisp. He was a .345/.450 guy the previous two seasons, but he played with a broken finger last year. He's entering his prime too, and Boston needs to trade an OF in all likelihood. Because of that, I don't know why they'd want Jones. Eyre for Crisp would be stellar.

[cheapseats]

As I said in another thread, I'd just as soon sign Preston Wilson to platoon with Jacque. He should be cheap, (iirc) he kills lefties and is a natural CF. He'd also be a nice right handed bat off the bench with power.

 

And Murton would keep all his AB's that way. :D

 

Natural centerfielder or no, Wilson was far worse than Adam Dunn in left field last year according to Chris Dial's metric.

 

Chris Dial must have been drunk when he posted those numbers.

Seriously. Living in St. Louis, I saw Wilson play often. There's no way in hell that he was worse than Dunn last year. No way.

 

Wilson has a much lower score than Dunn in Probabilistic Model of Range, too, so it's not just Chris Dial's metric that rated him low:

 

http://www.baseballmusings.com/archives/018498.php

 

Davenport's fielding metric had Wilson six runs better than Dunn last year in LF, but still below average.

 

The Fielding Bible had Wilson as one of the worst defensive CF's in baseball from 2003-2005.

 

Without debating the relative defensive value of Wilson vs. Dunn, it's pretty safe to say that Wilson is a defensive liability in CF now.

[craig]

I'm not a scout, but I also think Crisp looks interesting.

 

Unlike most young players, he has a multi-year contract.

 

ttp://mlbcontracts.blogspot.com/2004/12/boston-red-sox.html

 

Boston apparently signed him to a multiyear extension early last season.

3 years/$15.5M (2007-09), plus $8M 2010 club option

signed extension 4/06

$1M signing bonus

07:$3.5M, 08:$4.75M, 09:$5.75M, 10:$8M club option ($0.5M buyout)

 

Is that a deal that Boston would lilke to get out from under? Or a deal they think is good value in the inflating market? Is that a deal Hendry would not like to absorb, too large for a guy he would hope to replace with Pie in the near future? Or in this market, would $5-6/year on a 4th outfielder who can switch hit and play all three OF positions and might do some pie-platoon at first be perfectly good value? And might also be very tradable if he has a decent year this year?

 

I guess I'm wondering whether the contract works against Hendry interest. And whether the contract makes Boston more eager to move him for little cost, or whether they think it's good value and have no contractual or other reason to wish to move him, unless they get real value in return.

[RynoRules]

My pop is a Red Sox fan and says that they are talking about a cubs/sox trade there, he thinks it is Coco Crisp for unknown. I suggested it was Jones and maybe an arm of some description. he told me he would listen and let me know if he hears anything new.

 

Great. He'll fit right in on our team. .317 OBP last season. :roll:

 

I like Crisp. He was a .345/.450 guy the previous two seasons, but he played with a broken finger last year. He's entering his prime too, and Boston needs to trade an OF in all likelihood. Because of that, I don't know why they'd want Jones. Eyre for Crisp would be stellar.

 

I'd do that trade in a millisecond.

[rocket]

As I said in another thread, I'd just as soon sign Preston Wilson to platoon with Jacque. He should be cheap, (iirc) he kills lefties and is a natural CF. He'd also be a nice right handed bat off the bench with power.

 

And Murton would keep all his AB's that way. :D

 

Natural centerfielder or no, Wilson was far worse than Adam Dunn in left field last year according to Chris Dial's metric.

 

Chris Dial must have been drunk when he posted those numbers.

Seriously. Living in St. Louis, I saw Wilson play often. There's no way in hell that he was worse than Dunn last year. No way.

 

Well, living in Cincinnati, I saw Dunn play often. And there's no way in hell that Dunn was worse than Preson Wilson last year.

[Rob]

They were both pretty atrocious.

[KingCubsFan]

Not sure if this has been posted anywhere else...

Now that the Cubs have lost free-agent center fielder Kenny Lofton to the Rangers, they could revisit trade talks for Nationals center fielder Ryan Church rather than pursue free agent Steve Finley. The Cubs want an inexpensive stopgap in center until top prospect Felix Pie is ready to assume the position full-time.

[rocket]

steve finley? god i hope not.

[Backtobanks]

I'm not a scout, but I also think Crisp looks interesting.

 

Unlike most young players, he has a multi-year contract.

 

ttp://mlbcontracts.blogspot.com/2004/12/boston-red-sox.html

 

Boston apparently signed him to a multiyear extension early last season.

3 years/$15.5M (2007-09), plus $8M 2010 club option

signed extension 4/06

$1M signing bonus

07:$3.5M, 08:$4.75M, 09:$5.75M, 10:$8M club option ($0.5M buyout)

 

Is that a deal that Boston would lilke to get out from under? Or a deal they think is good value in the inflating market? Is that a deal Hendry would not like to absorb, too large for a guy he would hope to replace with Pie in the near future? Or in this market, would $5-6/year on a 4th outfielder who can switch hit and play all three OF positions and might do some pie-platoon at first be perfectly good value? And might also be very tradable if he has a decent year this year?

 

I guess I'm wondering whether the contract works against Hendry interest. And whether the contract makes Boston more eager to move him for little cost, or whether they think it's good value and have no contractual or other reason to wish to move him, unless they get real value in return.

 

Crisp in CF until Pie is ready to take over completely and Crisp becomes the 4th OF. Sounds good to me.

[BigbadB]

Crisp, Baldelli, Church interest me. In a win now frame of mind, Wells and A. Jones are interesting.

 

Finley? ugh.

[Backtobanks]

steve finley? god i hope not.

 

Well, we wouldn't have to worry about a long-term contract.

[tkenm356]

Royals making Sanders, Brown available

Dec 12 - The Royals are trying to trade either Reggie Sanders or Emil Brown, The Kansas City Star reports.

 

If both players remain on the roster, the Royals will platoon Brown and Sanders in left field with Mark Teahen seeing regular action in right field.

 

Emil Brown? He's played CF before, and has put up decent numbers the past two years with a solid OBP. Could be a nice temp CF till Pie is ready and then be an outstanding bench player. I imagine he could be had for not too much, but not too little. Maybe one of Ohman/Wuertz and one of Mateo/Marmol/Guzman? Just throwing it out there.

[YearofDaCubs]

No old players please. Thanks. Church, Wilkerson, Rowand, and possibly clark are the options that are acceptable to me.

[tkenm356]

No old players please. Thanks. Church, Wilkerson, Rowand, and possibly clark are the options that are acceptable to me.

 

Emil Brown is like 5 months older than Jacque Jones. It's not like he'd be coming here with the intent on patrolling CF for the next 4 years. He'd be patrolling it for a minimum of 3 months or so, and a maximum of the full 2007 season. We don't need a long term investment. Plus, he'd be great off the bench

[RammyFanny]

Anyone think Huff could play right (if he hasn't already)? He's coming off a bad year, but at least in an off year he still put up a .344 OBP. If he were to come to Wrigley i'd wager he could be a .275 30-35 HR .350 OBP kind of guy. This obviously won't happen because we would have Pie blocked everywhere, but Huff could have a nice year and be a good lefty bat...(all of this assuming we could get something for Jones and a prospect).

[TruffleShuffle]

No old players please. Thanks. Church, Wilkerson, Rowand, and possibly clark are the options that are acceptable to me.

 

Emil Brown is like 5 months older than Jacque Jones. It's not like he'd be coming here with the intent on patrolling CF for the next 4 years. He'd be patrolling it for a minimum of 3 months or so, and a maximum of the full 2007 season. We don't need a long term investment. Plus, he'd be great off the bench

 

I was about to laugh at this, but then I looked at his stats and saw that he hasn't been that bad the last two years. I didn't realize that he was even in baseball after leaving the Pirates - although I guess some would argue that playing for the Royals isn't really "in baseball."

[tkenm356]

No old players please. Thanks. Church, Wilkerson, Rowand, and possibly clark are the options that are acceptable to me.

 

Emil Brown is like 5 months older than Jacque Jones. It's not like he'd be coming here with the intent on patrolling CF for the next 4 years. He'd be patrolling it for a minimum of 3 months or so, and a maximum of the full 2007 season. We don't need a long term investment. Plus, he'd be great off the bench

 

I was about to laugh at this, but then I looked at his stats and saw that he hasn't been that bad the last two years. I didn't realize that he was even in baseball after leaving the Pirates - although I guess some would argue that playing for the Royals isn't really "in baseball."

 

That's what I thought too. I saw that rumor and said "I know Reggie Sanders, but when did Brown start playing again?" then I looked at his stats. He's might not be that bad of an option for a stopgap CF till Pie is ready, and when he is, he'd make a good bench player. He could probably be had for cheap too...

 

Brown's last two year averages:

 

149G 536AB 76R 154H 36-2B 4-3B 16HR 84RBI 8SB 54BB 102K .287AVG .354OBP .456SLG .809OPS

 

That's not too shabby to have off the bench once Pie is good to go.

[ThePenguin11]

How about just keep the guy you have, Jacque, and sign Rowand to platoon? Which removes the need for Cliff Floyd and leaves Murton with 500 at bats.

 

Rowand isn't an FA.

Fine, trade for him then. He's on the block according to a lot of reports. Rowand's career numbers against LHers is .289/.351/.494/.845.

 

Its not a bad back-up idea to getting Church. I don't think it would impact the decision to get Floyd in that Rowand is a righty and Hendry feels he needs a lefty bat with power who can give the Cubs some added punch on days against those tough right-handed pitchers. Floyd would make a much better DH than either Ward or Rowand. So, if you got Rowand, Floyd would still be an almost necessary upgrade.

 

But acquiring Ryan Church kills all those birds with one stone.

 

I'd love to get Rowand, but he's going to cost you a lot in players.

 

i wouldn't give jacque jones for aaron rowand, talk about overrated. the guy runs into a fence to make a catch and all of the sudden he's the best thin since sliced bread.

 

I kinda like Rowand, but all I could think about throughout this thread is the gung-ho-bounce-off-the-walls-defense he plays and how it would eventually get him killed at Wrigley.

[questionmarkgrace]

Hendry was on with Kap and Waddle today and said some interesting things. He reiterated that he would not pursue a long term solution in center field. Said that Pie could be given the chance to start if they feel he is ready. Also said Pagan didn't really get a fair shake with his injury last year basically implying that he could be considered in center. When referencing Pie he mentioned that Piniella is a heck of hitting coach and that he does well with young guys. Pie is a great defender. Soriano will play a corner position as Lou sees it. No Jacque Jones talk. Hendry himself is feeling better.

 

Seems like they are leaning toward starting pie. I hope to god they can trade izturis and Jones for a shortstop, Renteria?

[Tracer Bullet]

Hendry was on with Kap and Waddle today and said some interesting things. He reiterated that he would not pursue a long term solution in center field. Said that Pie could be given the chance to start if they feel he is ready. Also said Pagan didn't really get a fair shake with his injury last year basically implying that he could be considered in center. When referencing Pie he mentioned that Piniella is a heck of hitting coach and that he does well with young guys. Pie is a great defender. Soriano will play a corner position as Lou sees it. No Jacque Jones talk. Hendry himself is feeling better.

 

Seems like they are leaning toward starting pie. I hope to god they can trade izturis and Jones for a shortstop, Renteria?

 

As Bruce said in another thread, JH likes his infield. It sounds like he got Izturis b/c he wanted him to be our SS. It may be lip service, but I don't get that sense in this case.

 

I hope Jones is traded (mostly b/c I don't think he'll repeat last season, so let's sell high for once), but I don't think it's going to be for a SS.

[cheapseats]

Also said Pagan didn't really get a fair shake with his injury last year basically implying that he could be considered in center.

 

Pagan shouldn't even be on the team next year, much less starting in center. That would be a horrible, horrible decision.

 

Cubs with a higher OPS than Pagan last year include Juan Pierre and Henry Blanco.

[waffle]

I liked Pagan. Seemed like an energy guy and a really timely hitter.

 

But that's just me, eh?