Jacque Jones Traded to Detroit for Omar Infante

[NYF]

If the Cubs non-tender Infante, they dumped Jones and get $5.5MM in salary relief, paying only Jones' deferred $1MM salary bonus. I'd say that's a shrewd move, considering the Cubs were prepared to pay millions to be rid of Jones this past July.

 

Unfortunately, I don't think Hendry is smart enough to dump Infante and capture the savings, given his long-standing fetish for worthless middle infielders. And that makes this a dumb move.

 

Smart GM--this deal, and then dumps Infante

Cubs GM--sign Infante to a long-term deal!!!!

 

Ugh.

 

see, this was my thought also.

 

BUT.

 

why did Hendry feel the need to trade Jones for a ML player? a prospect would have been fine. looks like a 25 man roster move to complete the trade was required. i agree i would outright Infante, but Hendry is not that smart.

 

imho this is payback for Neif!

Dombrowski wins this one.

 

this 'savings' basically amounts to a Wood deal in a 'tight' year.

 

sign Wood and bring on Fukudome, Jimmy...

[nilodnayr]

If the Cubs non-tender Infante, they dumped Jones and get $5.5MM in salary relief, paying only Jones' deferred $1MM salary bonus. I'd say that's a shrewd move, considering the Cubs were prepared to pay millions to be rid of Jones this past July.

 

Unfortunately, I don't think Hendry is smart enough to dump Infante and capture the savings, given his long-standing fetish for worthless middle infielders. And that makes this a dumb move.

 

Smart GM--this deal, and then dumps Infante

Cubs GM--sign Infante to a long-term deal!!!!

 

Ugh.

 

see, this was my thought also.

 

BUT.

 

why did Hendry feel the need to trade Jones for a ML player? a prospect would have been fine. looks like a 25 man roster move to complete the trade was required. i agree i would outright Infante, but Hendry is not that smart.

 

imho this is payback for Neif!

Dombrowski wins this one.

 

this 'savings' basically amounts to a Wood deal in a 'tight' year.

 

sign Wood and bring on Fukudome, Jimmy...

The tigers probably didn't want to trade prospects for him. Or at least any prospects that had a chance of making the bigs.

[ottawacubbie]

Check out these links in the career potential section.

 

http://www2.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/players/Ronny_Cedeno/

 

http://www2.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/players/Ryan_Theriot/

 

http://www2.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/players/Mark_Derosa/

 

http://www2.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/players/Omar_Infante/

 

No word yet on E. Patterson or Fontenot, but it looks like Hendery has heard something about steady utility men. Like Pokemon collect all five. Sigh.

[jaydee]

Check out these links in the career potential section.

 

http://www2.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/players/Ronny_Cedeno/

 

http://www2.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/players/Ryan_Theriot/

 

http://www2.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/players/Mark_Derosa/

 

http://www2.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/players/Omar_Infante/

 

No word yet on E. Patterson or Fontenot, but it looks like Hendery has heard something about steady utility men. Like Pokemon collect all five. Sigh.

derosa is a utlity man now????? dont let truth get in the way of hendry bashing

[A New Era]

Hopefully trading jones, who had a down year power wise. Means Hendry feels he's pretty much got Fukudome now.

 

Because personally unless Pie improves, Jones IS the better offensive CF'er. Now you've got Soriano, Pie, and hopefully, Fukudome.

[RynoRules]

I'm "meh" on the return (what did we expect to get for Jones?), but I like what it implies about possible future moves.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

What if it's just 1.5 mil? I'd rather have someone who has a shot at being good, Fontenot, over a full season, would be the worst hitter in the league.

 

What do you mean by full season? As a starter? I'd have no interest in either starting. However, given Fontenot's numbers vs RHP this year, .297/.358/.423, I would think he'd be able to at least come close, if not exceed, Infante's career .257/.301/.387 line, as a part-time player.

 

Fontenot v. RHP

 

June: .410/.449/.689

 

Every other month: .239/.318/.289

What site did you find those numbers at? I was trying to find that breakdown earlier, but couldn't. Thanks in advance.

 

MLB.com is the only site that lets you do double situational splits like that, at least to my knowledge.

[Guest]

I'm pretty meh on this trade. It's good that we got some salary relief but Infante doesn't really blow me away. Although I'm all for anything that pretty much gets rid of Fontenot. He's all but useless out there.

[snoodmonger]

I think a lot of people will end up eating their words about Infante. I can see him playing SS v. RHP and CF v. LHP. They sign Fukudome as extra insurance for CF(they like Theriot enough not to want/need extra SS insurance), and Murton is a failsafe against Fukudome falling on his face as an offensive RF.

 

Soriano

Fukudome

Lee

Ramirez

DeRosa

Pie/Soto

Soto/Theriot

Infante

 

Not awe inspiring, but probably better.

 

That lineup doesn't get us to the playoffs, especially considering the probable regression of our SP. Not much pop, and not a great OBP.

[mlarner]

 

Lastly, with Infante now on board, Cedeno becomes even more worthless than he was last year. I wouldn't be surprised if we see him included in a package somewhere. For Crawford maybe?

 

Cedeno could probably be had for a marginal prospect at this point.

 

Quite a collection of marginal middle infielders.

I apologize if this has already been mentioned, but I looked through most of the thread and didn't see it anywhere else. In the SI.com piece, towards the end it says:

With Jones gone, Hendry said the Cubs would probably turn to young players such as Felix Pie and Sam Fuld in center, adding that infielder Ronny Cedeno also has been working in the outfield.

I had never heard anything about Ronny in the outfiled until now. Is this just posturing, or are they really that crazy? I really hope there is something going on behind the scenes on this.

[DiamondMind]

 

That lineup doesn't get us to the playoffs, especially considering the probable regression of our SP. Not much pop, and not a great OBP.

 

But how about

 

Soriano

Fukodome

Lee

Ramirez

Tejada

Derosa

Soto

Pie

[CuseCubFan69]

If the Cubs non-tender Infante, they dumped Jones and get $5.5MM in salary relief, paying only Jones' deferred $1MM salary bonus. I'd say that's a shrewd move, considering the Cubs were prepared to pay millions to be rid of Jones this past July.

 

Unfortunately, I don't think Hendry is smart enough to dump Infante and capture the savings, given his long-standing fetish for worthless middle infielders. And that makes this a dumb move.

 

Smart GM--this deal, and then dumps Infante

Cubs GM--sign Infante to a long-term deal!!!!

 

Ugh.

 

see, this was my thought also.

 

BUT.

 

why did Hendry feel the need to trade Jones for a ML player? a prospect would have been fine. looks like a 25 man roster move to complete the trade was required. i agree i would outright Infante, but Hendry is not that smart.

 

imho this is payback for Neif!

Dombrowski wins this one.

 

this 'savings' basically amounts to a Wood deal in a 'tight' year.

 

sign Wood and bring on Fukudome, Jimmy...

The tigers probably didn't want to trade prospects for him. Or at least any prospects that had a chance of making the bigs.

 

Plus if the Tigers sent a minor league guy or 2 they would probably ask the Cubs to pay more than the 1 Million bonus.

[waffle]

Surely there are deals forthcoming? As Pie would be our only Lefty (if he starts, of course...)

[Lefty]

 

Lastly, with Infante now on board, Cedeno becomes even more worthless than he was last year. I wouldn't be surprised if we see him included in a package somewhere. For Crawford maybe?

 

Cedeno could probably be had for a marginal prospect at this point.

 

Quite a collection of marginal middle infielders.

I apologize if this has already been mentioned, but I looked through most of the thread and didn't see it anywhere else. In the SI.com piece, towards the end it says:

With Jones gone, Hendry said the Cubs would probably turn to young players such as Felix Pie and Sam Fuld in center, adding that infielder Ronny Cedeno also has been working in the outfield.

I had never heard anything about Ronny in the outfiled until now. Is this just posturing, or are they really that crazy? I really hope there is something going on behind the scenes on this.

 

I saw the interview. He said that Fuld and Pie would fight it out for CF because that position is a speed & defense position. He then expressly said that RF would be addressed through Free Agency or Trade. For better or worse, that means Murton will not be our everyday RF. I know most of us want Fukodome (from what's available) and figure we'll get Randy Winn. The silver lining is if Hendry is going speed and D in CF, he'll get a "bat" in RF. Let's see what Hendry considers a "bat."

[VanceJergins]

I think a lot of people will end up eating their words about Infante. I can see him playing SS v. RHP and CF v. LHP. They sign Fukudome as extra insurance for CF(they like Theriot enough not to want/need extra SS insurance), and Murton is a failsafe against Fukudome falling on his face as an offensive RF.

 

Soriano

Fukudome

Lee

Ramirez

DeRosa

Pie/Soto

Soto/Theriot

Infante

 

Not awe inspiring, but probably better.

 

That lineup doesn't get us to the playoffs, especially considering the probable regression of our SP. Not much pop, and not a great OBP.

 

I don't think we'll have much, if any, of a regression at SP. I'd imagine Zambrano will have a better year, Hill and Lilly probably about the same, hopefully close to the same from Marquis (or hopefully he's gone). So if one of Prior, Gallagher, Hart, Marshall, Marmol can provide a decent 5, I think we might actually improve.

[nilodnayr]

 

Lastly, with Infante now on board, Cedeno becomes even more worthless than he was last year. I wouldn't be surprised if we see him included in a package somewhere. For Crawford maybe?

 

Cedeno could probably be had for a marginal prospect at this point.

 

Quite a collection of marginal middle infielders.

I apologize if this has already been mentioned, but I looked through most of the thread and didn't see it anywhere else. In the SI.com piece, towards the end it says:

With Jones gone, Hendry said the Cubs would probably turn to young players such as Felix Pie and Sam Fuld in center, adding that infielder Ronny Cedeno also has been working in the outfield.

I had never heard anything about Ronny in the outfiled until now. Is this just posturing, or are they really that crazy? I really hope there is something going on behind the scenes on this.

 

I saw the interview. He said that Fuld and Pie would fight it out for CF because that position is a speed & defense position. He then expressly said that RF would be addressed through Free Agency or Trade. For better or worse, that means Murton will not be our everyday RF. I know most of us want Fukodome (from what's available) and figure we'll get Randy Winn. The silver lining is if Hendry is going speed and D in CF, he'll get a "bat" in RF. Let's see what Hendry considers a "bat."

 

Heres a crazy idea....IMPROVE AT SHORTSTOP.

 

Fukudome is not a $10-$15M improvement over Murton.

[wade]

Detroit Free Press says Cubs are sending 2 million in the deal.

[E.J.]

 

That lineup doesn't get us to the playoffs, especially considering the probable regression of our SP. Not much pop, and not a great OBP.

 

But how about

 

Soriano

Fukodome

Lee

Ramirez

Tejada

Derosa

Soto

Pie

 

I could definitely see Hendry trading for Tejada. I also see him signing Matsui, so we have another LH bat in the lineup. Here's what I think our starting lineup will look like next season:

 

Matsui 2b

Fukudome RF

Lee 1b

Ramirez 3b

Soriano LF

Tejada SS

Soto C

Pie CF

 

That lineup would definitely be better than what we put out last year.

[CuseCubFan69]

Detroit Free Press says Cubs are sending 2 million in the deal.

 

I'm sure in a couple of days we'll read the Cubs also "threw in" Veal too.

[jersey cubs fan]

Hendry's golf course interview on CSN looked to me like a guy ready to put all his eggs in the RF basket to improve this lineup. And the only way to improve it enough to withstand things like Theriot, Infante, Pie and Fuld playing a lot, will be a player like Miguel Cabrera. Anything less than that and we're looking at another mediocre lineup. If the pitching staff even takes the smallest step back, 85 wins might not even be possible with that roster.

[abuck1220]

sam fuld's going to play on this team? for real?

 

hendry better be bringing in 1963 hank aaron for rf.

[Soul]

Hendry's golf course interview on CSN looked to me like a guy ready to put all his eggs in the RF basket to improve this lineup. And the only way to improve it enough to withstand things like Theriot, Infante, Pie and Fuld playing a lot, will be a player like Miguel Cabrera. Anything less than that and we're looking at another mediocre lineup. If the pitching staff even takes the smallest step back, 85 wins might not even be possible with that roster.

 

He sounded more like a guy who isn't really trying to improve the team, and doesn't intend to start trying any time soon to me.

 

He's talking about leaving Pie & Fuld in CF and resigining the position to defense only, then he's talking about having Cedeno ready to play outfield which is moronic and would get us nowhere.

 

This is a man who probably has been told he can do nothing this offseason. Either that or he's got the juice for one big deal but nothing else. He's throwing players into positions they've never played and resiging Pie to "defensive player" status, something I thought the Cubs weren't resigned to yet.

 

This is ridiculous. In other words, par for the course.

[Keener98]

sam fuld's going to play on this team? for real?

 

hendry better be bringing in 1963 hank aaron for rf.

 

Fuld made a catch slamming into the wall, dude. Hes a gamer

[E.J.]

sam fuld's going to play on this team? for real?

 

hendry better be bringing in 1963 hank aaron for rf.

 

Fuld made a catch slamming into the wall, dude. Hes a gamer

 

Did you see his fall-league numbers? He's gonna be an all-star next season.

[jersey cubs fan]

Hendry's golf course interview on CSN looked to me like a guy ready to put all his eggs in the RF basket to improve this lineup. And the only way to improve it enough to withstand things like Theriot, Infante, Pie and Fuld playing a lot, will be a player like Miguel Cabrera. Anything less than that and we're looking at another mediocre lineup. If the pitching staff even takes the smallest step back, 85 wins might not even be possible with that roster.

 

He sounded more like a guy who isn't really trying to improve the team, and doesn't intend to start trying any time soon to me.

 

I think ultimately, that's what his efforst will lead to. But he seemed to really emphasize going with a "different type of player" in RF and settling for mediocrity in CF and SS. To me, that means the only way this team is going to improve is if they go big in RF, really big.

 

The only way RF will be significantly improved from last year is if they go get a true impact bat, like Cabrera, or maybe Burrell.