Jacque Jones Traded to Detroit for Omar Infante

[SCCubbieFAN]

Jones is still under contract for 08 whereas Monroe is not. Jones is due something like $5.5 mil in 08 PLUS the remainder of his signing bonus. Monroe is only arbi eligible and MAY get as much as Jones. No reason for the Cubs to send any money in the Monroe deal since he currently isn't OWED anything.

[wastra]

When Hendry acquired Jones as a FA he was mocked for doing so. Jones has been panned on a pretty regular basis for the last two seasons (other than the occassional "he hasn't been as bad as I thought" backhanded compliment).

 

Now Hendry finds a way to get rid of him and save salary. In doing so he publicly states that this will open up the opportunity to give Pie a shot at the full time job, which many people around here have been clamoring for and lamenting the fact that the Cubs don't give the young players a chance to prove themselves.

 

And still somehow it spins around to Hendry screwing up.

 

Interesting.

 

If I was confident that Hendry had the ability to land a decent RF, I might not be making nearly as much noise. I'm glad Jones is gone, but at the same time I wouldn't have minded him as a 4th outfielder if Murton could have been packaged in a deal to improve elsewhere, and as protection for Pie if Pie poops the bed. If I'm the GM, Jones is my insurance policy if I can't get Crawford or Fukudome. Once I have an upgrade in RF locked up, THEN I consider trading him, and only when I feel like I'm getting value in return.

 

Only a day after Jones was traded, Minnesota traded us a PTBNL for Craig Monroe, the right handed version of Jacque Jones. Monroe is set to make nearly as much as Jones in 2008, and the Cubs aren't giving Minnesota any salary relief. Granted, Jones came from Minnesota, and they may not want him back. But, if you are a major league team in need of a cheap outfielder, you really aren't throwing yourself under the bus to trade for Jacque Jones.

 

There will be many teams this offseason trying to position themselves for cheap outfield help like Corey Patterson, Geoff Jenkins, Shawn Green and Luis Gonzalez. Those teams that aren't willing to pay the price or the years to grab what's left of the lousy free agent class towards the end of this offseason might have been willing to cough up a half way decent prospect for Jones.

 

To trade him for the likes of Omar Infante is assinine. With the addition of Infante, the Cubs have now had every crappy utility middle infielder in baseball in the last 10 years. The list is actually quite scary. If that's the best he could get for Jones, then he was better off just keeping him. I'm certainly not convinced that the 2.5-3m savings of not having Jones will be spent wisely.

 

If Prior and Wood are both back and Fukudome is in RF, I'll give Hendry a flyer.

But, it will never change the fact Hendry gave Jones away for next to nothing.

 

I would bet that if Wood and Prior were both back and Fukudome is in RF, Hendry would get ripped by the bashers for bringing back two unhealthy pitchers (for too much money) and spending way too much for an unproven RF.

 

It's okay, and I think most people here would agree, to take fliers on guys like Wood and Prior if (big "if", and the one Hendry never grasped until this year) you don't put ALL your eggs in their basket. So long as there are viable options should their history of injury continue, it's fine to let oft-injured, supremely talented guys TRY to get healthy and compete for innings.

 

The problem was a couple years ago when they not only didn't have a plan B, they didn't have a C or D either. It was them or nothing, and it backfired in his face. Last year, there was some hope for Wood/Prior, but Hendry had at least stockpiled enough guys who were mildly competent enough to fill innigns should one or neither of those two be able to handle it. Hendry was generally not blamed for last year's halding of the roster surrounding those guys.

 

The Fukodome situation is interesting. There aren't a lot of better options in the US, so you've gotta try something. At the least, an outfield of Pie and Fukudome will cover a ton of ground on defense.

[SouthSideRyan]

 

I would bet that if Wood and Prior were both back and Fukudome is in RF, Hendry would get ripped by the bashers for bringing back two unhealthy pitchers (for too much money) and spending way too much for an unproven RF.

 

Those bashers re: Prior/Wood certainly don't exist here. Few things get flogged more than the ridiculous notion in the past couple years that we should release Prior/Wood so we can move on.

[A New Era]

 

I would bet that if Wood and Prior were both back and Fukudome is in RF, Hendry would get ripped by the bashers for bringing back two unhealthy pitchers (for too much money) and spending way too much for an unproven RF.

 

Those bashers re: Prior/Wood certainly don't exist here. Few things get flogged more than the ridiculous notion in the past couple years that we should release Prior/Wood so we can move on.

 

There are floggers for everything Hendry does. Including releasing and not releasing prior.