What would you do/have done?

[seanimal]

I just don't think two months (+ playoffs?) of Dunn is worth losing Pie, and I love Dunn. If he didn't have that clause that makes him a FA after this season if he's traded, I would consider it more. I'm a bit of a Pie homer though.

 

That's a fair assessment. However, I'm at the point where I'm willing to take a chance at mortgaging the future if it means a serious run at the World Series. I wouldn't want to give Pie up for a player that I'm not certain makes a lot of difference. On the other hand, Dunn likely makes up the difference and makes us a 91-92 win team which I think wins this division easily.

 

I also think it would greatly improve our offense as a Ramirez-Dunn-Lee middle would be imposing especially when surrounded by Soriano and nice role players like Theriot, Fontenot, DeRosa and others.

 

I can see where you're coming from in terms of mortgaging the future, but I think Dunn might be a bit of a gamble in the sense that I don't trust his production. I doubt his production in August and September will be that .6whatever OPS that he crapped out last year, but there's a decent chance he won't be putting up a .900 OPS. Now, that being said, even if he doesn't put that up, it is still an upgrade over what we are running out there.

 

In addition, he sort of lessens the problem of our lack of power hitting, but at the same time, he only compounds our issues against left-handed pitching. I think the really smart move here is to keep Pie and hope that someone who is really awesome at hitting LHP and generally does so for power but will also fit nicely into a platoon situation w/Floyd/DeRosa. Let's call this person S. Sosa. No, that's too obvious. How about Sammy S. He can be had for cheap, fills some meaningless (on the field) nostalgia value, and would address a couple of our issues (power and hitting vs LHP) while not having to mortgage the future.

[Butterscup1679666578]

I would've done/would do whatever it takes to get Griffey. He's under contract until the end of next season, so he isn't just a rental, and he fills the hole we have in RF. He's healthy and he's probably going to end up playing more games this season than he has since 2000, his first season with the Reds, when he played 145 (he's played 98 out of 106 games; the most he's played since 2000 is 128 in 05). He gives you a 3-4-5 of Lee, Ramirez, Griffey, which is probably one of the best, if not the best, in the National League. He's still very good out in the field (although I don't really know how his arm is, I'm sure it's respectable). The team we have right now could and should win the division, but how they do in the playoffs is up in the air. The team we have right now + Griffey probably wins the pennant, if not the World Series. If Hendry and co. have a "win now" mindset, which it seems that they do, then they need to make this deal. I'd be completely willing to give up Pie in a deal for Griffey, as I feel by the time Griffey is gone, Colvin would be ready to be an every day center fielder. Adding Griffey strengthens your bench, as it shifts Floyd out of an every day role, thus keeping him more healthy. You could ship Murton off then for a solid reliever or a mid-level prospect if you aren't including him in this deal, and then you'd have a team of:

 

OF: Soriano-Pagan/Jones-Griffey

IF: Lee-DeRosa/Fontenot/Theriot-Ramirez

C: Kendall/Hill (or Soto, dammit)

Rest of Bench: Ward, Floyd, Cedeno

 

SP: Z-Lilly-Marquis-Hill-Marshall

RP: Dempster-Howry-Wuertz-Wood-Ohman-Marmol-Eyre/Cherry/Gallagher/new guy

 

In my opinion, a lineup of:

Soriano

Theriot/Fontenot

Lee

Ramirez

Griffey

DeRosa

Jones/Pagan

Kendall/Hill

 

becomes one of the best in baseball. With Griffey, you are strengthening the bench, the outfield, and somewhat closing up the offensive black hole that is the catcher position. Griffey is the guy that Hendry needs to jump all over and get.

[jjgman21]

What would I have done? Traded for Abreu last year at the deadline. :evil:

 

and then we wouldn't have to worry about doing anything but dumping contracts right now since the Cubs wouldn't be close to where they are if they had made that move.

 

I don't care how hot he is right now, his April and May showing would have doomed this club, and his acquisition would have meant either no Aram, no Soriano, or no Lilly, all of who have been far more valuable than Abreu would have been.

[Guest]

What would I have done? Traded for Abreu last year at the deadline. :evil:

 

and then we wouldn't have to worry about doing anything but dumping contracts right now since the Cubs wouldn't be close to where they are if they had made that move.

 

I don't care how hot he is right now, his April and May showing would have doomed this club, and his acquisition would have meant either no Aram, no Soriano, or no Lilly, all of who have been far more valuable than Abreu would have been.

I'm not sure I can count how many assumptions you made in just one post.

[Omar]

I would do the same thing... Only bigger.

 

... But basically I would've tried my hardest to get Dye & Lofton. The pen IMO is fine and will get better once Wood returns. If there's struggles such as Eyre, Howry, or Ohman... I have no fear of DFAing anyone to bring up Petrick, Gallagher, or any other MiLer that is doing well on the mound.

[jjgman21]

What would I have done? Traded for Abreu last year at the deadline. :evil:

 

and then we wouldn't have to worry about doing anything but dumping contracts right now since the Cubs wouldn't be close to where they are if they had made that move.

 

I don't care how hot he is right now, his April and May showing would have doomed this club, and his acquisition would have meant either no Aram, no Soriano, or no Lilly, all of who have been far more valuable than Abreu would have been.

I'm not sure I can count how many assumptions you made in just one post.

 

in the name of countering the one big assumption you made, ie. that Bobby Abreu would have been good at baseball this year if he was in a Cubs uniform.

 

103 OPS+ @ 15M. woot. we should have been all over that. hell, if you're going to use hindsite, at least make it relevant and complain that we didn't sign Vlad five years ago.

[Guest]

What would I have done? Traded for Abreu last year at the deadline. :evil:

 

and then we wouldn't have to worry about doing anything but dumping contracts right now since the Cubs wouldn't be close to where they are if they had made that move.

 

I don't care how hot he is right now, his April and May showing would have doomed this club, and his acquisition would have meant either no Aram, no Soriano, or no Lilly, all of who have been far more valuable than Abreu would have been.

I'm not sure I can count how many assumptions you made in just one post.

 

in the name of countering the one big assumption you made, ie. that Bobby Abreu would have been good at baseball this year if he was in a Cubs uniform.

 

103 OPS+ @ 15M. woot. we should have been all over that. hell, if you're going to use hindsite, at least make it relevant and complain that we didn't sign Vlad five years ago.

I made no such assertion. I just said what I "would have done".

 

btw - Yes, we should have ditched Alou and gotten Vlad back in the day.

[David]

I'll chime in that I do remember Tim leading the charge, so to speak, hoping for the Cubs to acquire Abreu. He's not really using hindsight.

[Wheelimus]

I'd give up a bag of balls and get Sammy Sosa. Bat him against all lefties and any righties he might have had great success against.

 

Not earth shattering, but it would make for a feel good story and it might slightly improve the team.

 

Of course, I'd also first inquire for what the combined Sosa/Gagne tab would be. :D

[jjgman21]

What would I have done? Traded for Abreu last year at the deadline. :evil:

 

and then we wouldn't have to worry about doing anything but dumping contracts right now since the Cubs wouldn't be close to where they are if they had made that move.

 

I don't care how hot he is right now, his April and May showing would have doomed this club, and his acquisition would have meant either no Aram, no Soriano, or no Lilly, all of who have been far more valuable than Abreu would have been.

I'm not sure I can count how many assumptions you made in just one post.

 

in the name of countering the one big assumption you made, ie. that Bobby Abreu would have been good at baseball this year if he was in a Cubs uniform.

 

103 OPS+ @ 15M. woot. we should have been all over that. hell, if you're going to use hindsite, at least make it relevant and complain that we didn't sign Vlad five years ago.

I made no such assertion. I just said what I "would have done".

 

btw - Yes, we should have ditched Alou and gotten Vlad back in the day.

 

I'm under the perception, based on the context and the emoticon, that the comment is an assertion that we wouldn't be in need of an acquisition right now if we had signed Abreu last year.

 

if I am mistake about the intent of your statement, I apologize. if I am not, then you did assume that Abreu would have been good if he were a Cub. it is implied by your statement in that context. otherwise there is no reason to pine for his services to this point in 2007, especially considering the press it would have put on the payroll.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Well, there's several ways I could've gone.

 

I would consider going whole hog to get Teixeira.

 

I'd go after Church. If I got him, I'd see what type of impact RF I could manage from a package involving Pie.

 

I'd see what the asking prices were for Javier Vazquez, Andre Ethier, Joe Blanton, Michael Cuddyer, and Carlos Quentin.

 

Depending on what was needed to acquire any of the previous players listed, I'd try to do something to upgrade the OF, whether it's just trading for an RF, adding a SP and using Marshall to help get an OF, adding Church and using Pie to help get an OF, etc.

 

EDIT: And Soto would be starting every game at catcher until his legs fell off.

Edited July 31, 2007 by Transmogrified Tiger

[inari]

I fail to see how many here seem to think that acquiring Ryan Church would make Felix Pie expendable.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

I fail to see how many here seem to think that acquiring Ryan Church would make Felix Pie expendable.

 

Because he's a good offensive CF. Because you'd have him in hand, then you cash in Pie's potential for actual production in the form of a very good RF.