Cheap Lefty OFs

[nilodnayr]

Well with the latest Rosenthal buzz lastnight, he mentioned the Cubs going cheap in RF. We all know they CRAVE a lefty, so lets think of some cheap lefties (or switch hitters) we could sign or have been rumored to be on the block/could be traded for to play RF.

 

Internally we could go with Hoff or move DeRosa to RF and put Font at 2b.

 

Heres a list I came up with:

 

Good players via trade:

Hawpe

McLouth

DeJesus

Luke Scott

Jeremy Hermida

Nick Swisher

Ryan Sweeney

Jody Gerut

Ryan Church

Rick Ankiel (extremely implausible for the Cards to trade him to us)

 

Fairly decent to not entirely terrible players via trade:

Fred Lewis

Mark Teahen

Seth Smith

Randy Winn

Coco Crisp

Adam Lind

Gabe Gross

Chris Duncan

Geoff Jenkins

Endy Chavez

Dave Roberts

Nate Schierholtz

 

Fairly decent to not entirely terrible players via FA:

Edmonds

Hinske

Mark Kotsay

Luis Gonzalez

Brad Wilkerson

Kenny Lofton

 

Probably too expensive (not that I'd want the top 3 anyway):

Juan Pierre

Griffey

Garrett Anderson

Brian Giles

Raul Ibanez

 

 

Not all those guys are good options, infact many of them are not (maybe "not entirely terrible" is being generous to some), but I tried to be fairly exhaustive while working within reality. A lot of the guys at the top we just won't have the necessary players to send back in trades. Frankly, resigning Edmonds would actually be one of the better options out there. Another interesting option would be trading the A's for Ryan Sweeney. Hes superb defensively and has actually started to hit pretty well. I imagine he wouldn't cost as much as the other guys in the top list and could outproduce most of them. BP's transalted batting stats have his 2008 season at 303/374/425 with a 281 EQA. Ohh yeah, and hes 23.

[RedFlash]

nilodnayr, I narrow the names to players who would actually be productive to the Cubs next yr in order of preference:

 

Hawpe

Jeremy Hermida

Luke Scott

Seth Smith

McLouth

DeJesus:

Ryan Sweeney

Randy Winn

Adam Lind

Gabe Gross

Raul Ibanez

[Backtobanks]

The next question is how cheap is a young productive RF if he is going to cost us 3-4 prospects.

[nilodnayr]

The next question is how cheap is a young productive RF if he is going to cost us 3-4 prospects.

 

Well I tried to list everyone who would be cheap in terms of money and possible in terms of tradeability (ie no Holliday, Crawford, Upton, etc). Obviously, guys are going to vary in costs to acquire from nothing (ie Edmonds) to a lot (ie Hawpe/McLouth). We'd have to find the right balance between salary, players to give in return and expected production (and how long we'd have them under contract).

[BigbadB]

Is Bradley considered expensive?

[Post Count Padder]

Well with the latest Rosenthal buzz lastnight, he mentioned the Cubs going cheap in RF. We all know they CRAVE a lefty, so lets think of some cheap lefties (or switch hitters) we could sign or have been rumored to be on the block/could be traded for to play RF.

 

Internally we could go with Hoff or move DeRosa to RF and put Font at 2b.

 

Heres a list I came up with:

 

Good players via trade:

Hawpe

McLouth

DeJesus

Luke Scott

Jeremy Hermida

Nick Swisher

Ryan Sweeney

Jody Gerut

Ryan Church

Rick Ankiel (extremely implausible for the Cards to trade him to us)

 

Fairly decent to not entirely terrible players via trade:

Fred Lewis

Mark Teahen

Seth Smith

Randy Winn

Coco Crisp

Adam Lind

Gabe Gross

Chris Duncan

Geoff Jenkins

Endy Chavez

Dave Roberts

Nate Schierholtz

 

Fairly decent to not entirely terrible players via FA:

Edmonds

Hinske

Mark Kotsay

Luis Gonzalez

Brad Wilkerson

Kenny Lofton

 

Probably too expensive (not that I'd want the top 3 anyway):

Juan Pierre

Griffey

Garrett Anderson

Brian Giles

Raul Ibanez

 

 

Not all those guys are good options, infact many of them are not (maybe "not entirely terrible" is being generous to some), but I tried to be fairly exhaustive while working within reality. A lot of the guys at the top we just won't have the necessary players to send back in trades. Frankly, resigning Edmonds would actually be one of the better options out there. Another interesting option would be trading the A's for Ryan Sweeney. Hes superb defensively and has actually started to hit pretty well. I imagine he wouldn't cost as much as the other guys in the top list and could outproduce most of them. BP's transalted batting stats have his 2008 season at 303/374/425 with a 281 EQA. Ohh yeah, and hes 23.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Why would Oakland trade Sweeney?

[pitchcs]

Just say no to Teahen.

[nilodnayr]

Why would Oakland trade Sweeney?

 

 

They have a glut of OFs. I'm not saying they have to trade him, but its a position of depth for the A's. Carlos Gonzalez is their CF and Travis Buck is their RF.

[Ryno12]

I might be willing to give Swisher a chance if we could get him without giving up much. He was bad last year, but there could be a chance he could bounce back. Just a thought, though Hermida is who I really want.

[nilodnayr]

Is Bradley considered expensive?

 

As in Milton? Yeah. By "Cubs will have to go cheap in RF", I think that means something way south of what Bradley will get, like less than half.

[davearm2]

FWIW, one of the advanced defensive measures (can't recall which it was) had Brad Hawpe as the worst defensive RF in all of baseball last year.

 

IIRC, the next-worst was Bobby Abreu.

 

And then you've got the idea of taking an awful LF like Dunn or Ibanez and making him an even bigger liability by playing him in RF.

 

For as disappointing as Fukudome was offensively, his defense was every bit as good as advertised -- better even.

[sneakypower]

yes Hawpe's the polar opposite of Jacque Jones in the field

 

little range and rifle of an arm

[The Other 15]

Range is not a high priority at Wrigley. Understanding where you are in relation to those brick walls and a strong arm makes you very adequate at Wrigley in both LF and RF.

[italianocubsfan7]

Brad Wilkerson would be a nice signing for a one year deal.

[nilodnayr]

Brad Wilkerson would be a nice signing for a one year deal.

 

about 4 years ago

[Jehrico]

nilodnayr, I narrow the names to players who would actually be productive to the Cubs next yr in order of preference:

 

Hawpe

Jeremy Hermida

Luke Scott

Seth Smith

McLouth

DeJesus:

Ryan Sweeney

Randy Winn

Adam Lind

Gabe Gross

Raul Ibanez

I'd put Ibanez at about the center of that list, with McClouth 2nd behind Hawpe. Other than that, I'm on board.