Lou on Pie...

[Yestheydo]

Since when did anyone need a reason to want Jacque Jones traded? It's the default position.

 

Huh?

 

I remember the day the world came to an end. I saw all this violently bitter hatred directed at Jim Hendry and I'm like, "Whoa, he musta got caught raping a baby or something." But no, he just had the audacity to sign Jacque Jones. Some people are genuinely astonished when he plays well. It's hilarious.

 

Jacque Jones was exactly the type of player this team didn't need and exactly the type of player Jim Hendry would sign and try to pass off as a great addition.

 

This team was desperate for OF production, and had been for a while. They were also desperate for OBP help, and the Cubs went out and got an impatient unproductive OF bat. He's not a blackhole type hitter, and occasionally does well, but he's not what this team needed if they wanted to start contending for championships.

 

To top it off he started his Cubs career terribly, threw like somebody who picked up a baseball for the first time and got picked off the bases repeatedly, with no repercusion because of his veteran status. Frankly I don't understand why people don't understand the argument against Jacque.

 

If this was a 95 win team he'd be a wonderful space filler. Unfortunately the 2006 Cubs desperately needed some big time production, and just like he always has, Jim Hendry got the wrong man for the job.

Hey, I was in favor of trading Prior for Abreu too. But our brilliant fan base wouldn't have any of that, oh no

[Chocolate Milk]

They should send Pie down. I don't see what is gained by keeping a young player as a defensive/late inning replacement in an already crowded outfield. Let him get some work. He looks overmatched at the plate.

[cubfan1955]

Is it really hard to figure out why people want to trade Jones? Yes, some of it is bad contract hangover, but he overproduced expectations last season and contracts went sky-high this offseason, so his deal is actually pretty good in this market now. The real reason is because there's a logjam in the outfield, and Jones is the most movable piece available. You have Murton and Pie, who need more playing time, and Jones is playing on and off in both of their available positions. What else are you going to trade? Floyd? Ward? you won't get anything for them. Pie? Murton? that's defeating the purpose.

Well yes frankly it is a little hard to understand. He makes the Cubs better to have in CF then to not have him in CF. Who is going to out produce him? Pie is very questionable offensively and I don't see Soriano moving back there. Plus, I don't have a whole lot of faith in Hendry getting anything of value for him. So, for everyone that wants him traded, what do you think we could get? (reasonably)

 

Pie is only questionable cause Lou isn't find him enough at bats. Even at that, he's 9 for his last 30 and he's got the potential to be better than Jacque with the bat right now. Bottom line is, moving to Pie in center really isn't a downgrade when factoring in defense... and there's more upside there for Pie.

 

Meanwhile, Jacque is playing better than we can reasonably expect him to for the rest of the season, and we may be well served to see what we could get for him on the open market. Nobody here is suggesting that we just ship him off to whoever wont make us pay most of the contract... but if we can get a decent offer there is absolutely no reason not to trade him. He's redundant.

Well I wouldn't have a problem with that as long as Pie can produce offensively close to what Jones does. I just don't see Hendry getting much for him this early though. And I'm not convinced the Cubs wouldn't keep Jones and trade Murton.

[KaiserCesar]

They should send Pie down. I don't see what is gained by keeping a young player as a defensive/late inning replacement in an already crowded outfield. Let him get some work. He looks overmatched at the plate.

 

Agreed, I think the Chris Walker idea mentioned earlier in this thread seems like the best idea. On top of everything, Jacque has looked particularly strong in CF, so Pie's marginal value over Jones defensively isn't that great, either.

[Amazing_Grace]

Am I the only one suspicious that Pie's friendship with Soriano has something to do with him staying on the team? Maybe Lou thinks that having a buddy will make Soriano play better, or maybe Soriano even asked him if Pie could stay? One thing seems clear, Soriano hasn't exactly been chomping at the bit to go back to CF after his minor injury.

[biittner77]

The more Jones plays in CF the more he raises his value. As a corner OF he's maybe slightly above avg but as a CF he probably provides more power than most. If the Cubs could someohow trade him for a real SS that would over the long haul make the team better. So who needs an OF that has an extra SS lying around? The Angels?