Nate Silver's NL Central Offseason (laughable)

[Schwarber Fan]

His take on the NL Central's offseason

 

Listen to this ridiculousness:

 

The Cubs have enough outfielders in-house, such as Cliff Floyd, that they won't have to go the free-agent route.

 

Right... because Floyd's coming back :roll:

 

The Cubs do not have to do much to field an 85-win team again next season, and that -- coupled with the uncertain disposition of the sale of the club -- will likely keep them pretty hands-off this winter.

 

haha...

 

Key Ready-Now Youngsters

C-R Geovany Soto

CF-L Felix Pie

OF-R Matt Murton

2B-L Eric Patterson

LHP Sean Marshall

RHP Sean Gallagher

 

Pie, and Patterson are definitely NOT ready...

 

some combination of Jacque Jones, Felix Pie, Matt Murton and possibly Cliff Floyd will be perfectly adequate to cover center and right.

 

Once again, haha...

 

There were a few things he's right about:

 

At catcher the decision is obvious: go with Geovany Soto and part ways with Jason Kendall.

 

Finally, it means not sticking with Ryan Theriot at shortstop, who is a second-division starter, and thus really more of a liability for a playoff team. This is a case where you have to improve, and even someone at a league average level of performance would go a long way. If the Cubs can't find a shortstop on the trade market then Alex Rodriguez becomes intriguing.

 

Also... how scary is this thought??..

 

Re: Brewers:

 

Recognizing that Ryan Braun is an intolerable defensive liability at third and moving him to left, and then signing someone like Mike Lowell to take his place is the right idea.

 

:shock:

[Ding Dong Johnson]

1. Why do you say Pie is not ready?

2. What's so shocking about the idea of moving Braun from 3B? He's flat-out terrible there.

[sweetpeteman]

1. Why do you say Pie is not ready?

2. What's so shocking about the idea of moving Braun from 3B? He's flat-out terrible there.

 

Yeah. The only reason he hasn't been moved already was because they don't have anyone else to play 3rd and they didn't know where they would play him. With Jenkins gone, it opens up LF.

[NewUserName]

I am not sure what the Cubs other OF options could be. The Free Agent market is very questionable. I think letting Jones/Murton platoon in Right and Pie in CF is probably the smart move. Paying Rowand, Jones or Hunter big money would surely be a major gamble in my opinion. I think the Cubs need to have a little faith in their system and let Pie play center. If it doesnt work, maybe a better/cheaper option will come open at the trade deadline.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

sign ARod, play Pie

[Tracer Bullet]

His take on the NL Central's offseason

 

Listen to this ridiculousness:

 

The Cubs have enough outfielders in-house, such as Cliff Floyd, that they won't have to go the free-agent route.

 

 

Actually, that quote is the caption to the picture - probably not written by Silver. He mentions later in the article that Floyd could possibly come back.

 

And, I agree with him that we have enough OFs. If we can significantly improve at SS (Tejada, ARod, ?), I'm ok with Soto, Pie, and Murton at C, CF, and RF. If a big improvement is available, adding an OF would be good, but I'd be more concerned if we replaced Murton and ran Theriot back out there for 150 games than vice versa.

[Tracer Bullet]

sign ARod, play Pie

 

And Murton and Soto.

 

Jones can be 4th OF or traded - no need to platoon in RF and limit Murton's playing time that much.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

sign ARod, play Pie

 

And Murton and Soto.

 

Jones can be 4th OF or traded - no need to platoon in RF and limit Murton's playing time that much.

 

agreed

 

OF of Soriano, Pie, Murton

IF of Ramirez, Rodriguez, DeRosa, Lee, Soto

[Mephistopheles]

How many years does Pie have to stay in AAA before he's ready? How well does he have to perform there until he's ready? Come on...

 

He is right. Jones, Pie, Murton and Floyd ARE competent in the OF. We don't need to work there. We have the guys.

[Abe Frohman]

I'll tell you guys something - I used to be very against Murton in RF, but after seeing the way he threw the ball and somewhat adjusted - I'm a believer. I have no problem with a Pie, Jones, Murton rotation in CF/RF if the Cubs can't land a stud and unload Jones.

 

Murton hits LHP, and the Cubs need a lot of that.

[minnesotacubsfan]

agreed

 

OF of Soriano, Pie, Murton

IF of Ramirez, Rodriguez, DeRosa, Lee, Soto

 

I agree. I think Murton is capable of 20-30 hr range power. with Arod/Tejada would give us infield power, we wouldnt need that in Murton.

 

of course no Arod/Tejada means OF needs to produce more.

[UMFan83]

I love how he lists Murton as a "ready now youngster" even though this will be his 4th major league season. I know he's never been a full time starter, but still

[jersey cubs fan]

I love how he lists Murton as a "ready now youngster" even though this will be his 4th major league season. I know he's never been a full time starter, but still

 

Not 4th full season. Any 26 year old who is coming off a season where his team kept him in AAA for a while and didn't give him much of a chance to play for most of the season can still be qualified as a "ready now youngster". It's not like he's coming off 3 straight years of 140+ games played. He's got less than a season and a half's worth of plate appearences.

 

 

Back to the top, I'm not sure what's so laughable about some of that stuff. The Cubs do have plenty of OFers, and somebody like Pie is clearly ready for a shot, while Patterson is arguably deserving of a similar opportunity. He'll turn 25 next year, and has 1700 professional PA over 3 seasons with an OPS of 825. He's not a "must-play now" guy, but he's probably ready to start seeing some time. I'd rather he fight for a bench spot than some $1 million vet who is probably not going to play any better.

[E.J.]

I think it would be great if Lou/Hendry went into the season saying that Pie, Murton, and Soto were the starters. I would love to see what these 3 could do without having to worry about looking over their shoulder at some crappy veteran who might take their spot if they don't produce right away.

 

I do agree that we need an offensive upgrade at at least 1 position, and I would like to see that come at SS. I don't think Arod is an option because of his cost, but I think Tejada will be a target for Hendry this offseason.

 

Another name I've seen talked about is Jhonny Peralta from the Indians. He'd be a solid upgrade over Theriot. I would expect an upgrade at another position as well if Peralta was brought in because I don't think he's enough of an upgrade alone to make this offense good enough to compete for a World Series.

 

I'd probably be willing to trade Murton out of the 3 "rookies" if that meant an upgrade in RF as well. I just don't think Murton is in the Cubs plans, so I think he's the most likely to be traded.

[David]

I think Silver was pretty spot on. The biggest offensive hole is at SS. If you can upgrade that significantly, you can certainly live with an outfield of Soriano, Pie/Jones, Murton.

 

And Pie is ready. He has nothing left to prove or learn at AAA. He needs to get consistent ML at bats now.

 

EDIT - I didn't mean a Pie/Jones platoon. Just meant either/or. If Pie has success, we can hopefully dump off Jacque on somebody.

Edited November 2, 2007 by David

[Tracer Bullet]

I think it would be great if Lou/Hendry went into the season saying that Pie, Murton, and Soto were the starters. I would love to see what these 3 could do without having to worry about looking over their shoulder at some crappy veteran who might take their spot if they don't produce right away.

 

I do agree that we need an offensive upgrade at at least 1 position, and I would like to see that come at SS. I don't think Arod is an option because of his cost, but I think Tejada will be a target for Hendry this offseason.

 

Another name I've seen talked about is Jhonny Peralta from the Indians. He'd be a solid upgrade over Theriot. I would expect an upgrade at another position as well if Peralta was brought in because I don't think he's enough of an upgrade alone to make this offense good enough to compete for a World Series.

 

I'd probably be willing to trade Murton out of the 3 "rookies" if that meant an upgrade in RF as well. I just don't think Murton is in the Cubs plans, so I think he's the most likely to be traded.

 

As much as I like him, I don't mind trading Murton to improve the offense. But if trading Murton to improve RF means keeping Theriot at SS, it better be a huge upgrade in RF.

[VVMattVV]

His take on the NL Central's offseason

 

Listen to this ridiculousness:

 

The Cubs have enough outfielders in-house, such as Cliff Floyd, that they won't have to go the free-agent route.

 

Right... because Floyd's coming back :roll:

 

The Cubs do not have to do much to field an 85-win team again next season, and that -- coupled with the uncertain disposition of the sale of the club -- will likely keep them pretty hands-off this winter.

 

haha...

 

Key Ready-Now Youngsters

C-R Geovany Soto

CF-L Felix Pie

OF-R Matt Murton

2B-L Eric Patterson

LHP Sean Marshall

RHP Sean Gallagher

 

Pie, and Patterson are definitely NOT ready...

 

some combination of Jacque Jones, Felix Pie, Matt Murton and possibly Cliff Floyd will be perfectly adequate to cover center and right.

 

Once again, haha...

 

None of what you quoted was ridiculous or laughable at all. Except for the first quote, which wasn't actually written by Silver.

[David]

None of what you quoted was ridiculous or laughable at all. Except for the first quote, which wasn't actually written by Silver.

 

 

I especially love how the second quote somehow warrants a, "haha."

[jersey cubs fan]

None of what you quoted was ridiculous or laughable at all. Except for the first quote, which wasn't actually written by Silver.

 

 

I especially love how the second quote somehow warrants a, "haha."

 

Yeah, I'm not sure if the haha was at the "they will still look like an 85 win team", or if it was about the offseason being quiet.

[Guest]

His take on the NL Central's offseason

 

Listen to this ridiculousness:

 

The Cubs have enough outfielders in-house, such as Cliff Floyd, that they won't have to go the free-agent route.

 

Right... because Floyd's coming back :roll:

 

The Cubs do not have to do much to field an 85-win team again next season, and that -- coupled with the uncertain disposition of the sale of the club -- will likely keep them pretty hands-off this winter.

 

haha...

 

Key Ready-Now Youngsters

C-R Geovany Soto

CF-L Felix Pie

OF-R Matt Murton

2B-L Eric Patterson

LHP Sean Marshall

RHP Sean Gallagher

 

Pie, and Patterson are definitely NOT ready...

 

some combination of Jacque Jones, Felix Pie, Matt Murton and possibly Cliff Floyd will be perfectly adequate to cover center and right.

 

Once again, haha...

 

There were a few things he's right about:

 

At catcher the decision is obvious: go with Geovany Soto and part ways with Jason Kendall.

 

Finally, it means not sticking with Ryan Theriot at shortstop, who is a second-division starter, and thus really more of a liability for a playoff team. This is a case where you have to improve, and even someone at a league average level of performance would go a long way. If the Cubs can't find a shortstop on the trade market then Alex Rodriguez becomes intriguing.

 

Also... how scary is this thought??..

 

Re: Brewers:

 

Recognizing that Ryan Braun is an intolerable defensive liability at third and moving him to left, and then signing someone like Mike Lowell to take his place is the right idea.

 

:shock:

 

So when will Pie be ready? When he's hitting .450 at Iowa?

 

I don't think EPatt at 2B is happening but I don't think that's why you're laughing. His bat is ML ready.

 

How is Sean Gallagher ready now when he's had less success at AAA than Pie or EPatt? Heck, Pie has had more success in the bigs than Gallagher.

Edited November 2, 2007 by CaliforniaRaisin

[nilodnayr]

The only thing that is laughable is the first post in this thread.

[Schwarber Fan]

Ok, I'll respond to a few things:

 

2. What's so shocking about the idea of moving Braun from 3B? He's flat-out terrible there.

 

I never said it was shocking, I remarked about how scary the thought of lowell in that lineup would be...

 

How many years does Pie have to stay in AAA before he's ready? How well does he have to perform there until he's ready? Come on...

 

I phrased that badly... I meant to say he hasn't looked like he's ready

 

Yeah, I'm not sure if the haha was at the "they will still look like an 85 win team", or if it was about the offseason being quiet.

 

You honestly think we'd make the playoffs again with the exact same team?

[jersey cubs fan]

Yeah' date=' I'm not sure if the haha was at the "they will still look like an 85 win team", or if it was about the offseason being quiet.[/quote']

 

You honestly think we'd make the playoffs again with the exact same team?

 

Did you read the comment you quoted? He said they would still look like an 85 win team without doing anything. If the rest of the NL stays weak, then perhaps that would be good enough for the playoffs again, it's been enough for the past 2 years.

[David]

 

Yeah, I'm not sure if the haha was at the "they will still look like an 85 win team", or if it was about the offseason being quiet.

 

You honestly think we'd make the playoffs again with the exact same team?

 

Is that what he (Silver) said? He said they'd be an 85 win team.

 

Whether 85 wins in this division = playoffs or not next year is debatable.

[hardcorecubfan]

Is Felix Pie considered a "FIVE TOOL" type of player. if so we need to trade him now!!! We all remember what happend the last time someone had that moniker attatched to them. If he is only four then we can keep him