Assess Cubs 07' FA Class at Mid-Point

[TruffleShuffle]

I've seen Meche pitch in person three times now at the K this year, and he has been absolutely terrific. He never gets ruffled on the mound, always composed, and has very good stuff.

 

Frankly, the surprise is not that he's been doing so well in KC, the surprise is why he couldn't do the same in Seattle. A very talented pitcher.

 

Meche's BB/9 rate has dropped pretty sharply from the last two years, but his ERA+ should still be worse than it is.

[Radar3454]

Soriano - I still think we paid too much for him and wish he could hit in the middle of the order but you have to overpay for big bats.

 

Derosa - better than I expected and I was high on him - better defender than expected - he has been so good everywhere else so I wouldn't mind seeing him get some more time at SS. I don't know where we would be without him this year.

 

Lilly - I liked it at the time and still do - solid #3 starter

 

Marquis - lot of $$ for a pitcher which his ##'s but he has certainly been better than expected so far

 

Floyd - hard to give Hendry credit for signing a player who wanted to play here and could have gotten more from another team. I just hope his option does not vest - how close is he to being on pace for 550 plate appearances?

 

Ward - great signing - we needed a solid lh bat off the bench and got him for a reasonable price

 

Aramis - well done

 

Blanco - not so much

[CubColtPacer]

 

Floyd - hard to give Hendry credit for signing a player who wanted to play here and could have gotten more from another team. I just hope his option does not vest - how close is he to being on pace for 550 plate appearances?

 

Floyd's first option vests at 425 plate appearances. Through 82 games, he is at 177. I can't see him getting the 248 he needs left in the last 80 games-he is still going to lose most to all the at-bats against left-handers to DeRosa or Pagan, and he comes out of games early and sometimes misses a plate appearance in a game because of that as well.

 

The first option would also vest if he starts 100 games. This one is a little bit closer. He has started 40 games so far, so he needs to start 60 out of the last 80. Again, I don't see him getting there-the Cubs have faced 19 left-handers in the first 82 games, and they will already be off to a fast start against left-handers with 3 in the next 5 games. Plus, that assumes that Floyd is healthy enough to play against all right-handers, which may not be the case (and I doubt he'll play both games of any doubleheader the Cubs play). Floyd will get close to that 100 figure, but I think he'll fall a few games short. If he stays perfectly healthy, plays against all right-handers, and the Cubs continue not to face many left-handers (they've faced the lowest number in the majors so far), or if he plays against a few left-handers then Floyd could probably sneak in 4-5 games over 100, but I don't think it's very likely that all those things happen.

 

The other two options-don't even worry about them. Floyd will never even get close to them (500 and 550 plate appearances).

[Mizzou]

I must be going crazy. I know for a fact that I posted a comment in this thread complementing CCP on a great post, yet it's no longer here. Am I still drunk?

[dew1679666265]

I must be going crazy. I know for a fact that I posted a comment in this thread complementing CCP on a great post, yet it's no longer here. Am I still drunk?

 

Yeah, I remember reading the post and now it's gone. Odd...

[soapy]

Nice list, CCP.

 

I was definitely all over Hendry for a few of his moves. I hated the Lilly and Marquis signings. They have been far better than expected, so far. I hesitate to get too excited as we're only half way through season one of a 3-year deal for Marquis and 4-year deal for Lilly. I hope they can continue what they've done to date.

 

I wasn't a big fan of the DeRosa deal becuase I believed the Cubs could get similar production in-house and it was a waste of money. I will say though that DeRosa has exceeded my expectations. I think a big part of that is Lou's willingness to move him around. I didn't like the idea of DeRosa being locked into the everyday 2B job, as was reported when he signed. Much of his value stems from his versatility. Particularly being able to play 3B and RF as those two positions seem to be filled with guys with injury concerns.

 

As I said, I've been pleased with these guys to date, but it's early in their contracts. Of the options available last off season, Hendry seems to have targeted the right guys overall.