Cubs acquire Kevin Gregg for Jose Ceda

[UMFan83]

This is brutal. Jim Hendry sucks again.

 

He either sucks or he's awesome. There is no in-between with this man.

 

Getting rid of Kerry Wood places another tally in the "sucks" column.

 

 

If Wood gets hurt next season, and another team is paying him 10m per season for three seasons, this move will no longer suck. I been reading this board for years, and I just remember many of these same posters laughing at other teams for paying relievers 10m per season. Now since it Kerry Wood, everybody is upset and bashing Hendry.

 

You can't wait "if he gets hurt" it will be bad. If you are evaluating the move when its made, it's either good or bad, with injury risk as a factor.

 

If the Cubs trade Jason Marquis for Jake Peavy, and Marquis wins the Cy Young and Peavy slips on a banana peel and breaks his arm, then Hendry made a stupid move?

[jersey cubs fan]

plus $8 million is too much for a 1 inning guy IMO.

 

Okay, but plenty of guys get that now.

[Guest]

Hendry hands out multi-year contracts to relievers like they are candy and Gregg is coming off back to back closer seasons, which will inflate his price. Is there anyway he gets less than $5m this year? 3 years $12-18m is a very real possibility.

 

Oh Howry, he's going to do that rip up the contract sign him for 3 years thing isn't he. **** THIS

 

Yeah, no way the Cubs will get the picks they deserve. And Gregg will continue to get older and crappier.

[Electron Blue]

Wood at 3/24 would still be a better bet than Demp at 4/55. At least Wood has had more than one season of success in his career.

Hasn't Dempster been an All-Star twice?

 

Not that it matters, but yeah, he was the obligatory Marlin selection in 2000.

[nilodnayr]

Fine, I'll come out and say it...

 

I think Jose Ceda in 2009 in the majors would be as good as, if not better than Kevin Gregg.

 

Those are the wrong numbers to look at. The Cubs like to take closers and have them start for half a year or so to work on their control and get them innings. And guess what, it worked really really well for Ceda, as he moved up to AA and dominated once again. Here are his #s as a reliever last year:

 

IP=35

FIP=3.05

Average against: 230

BABIP: 347

BB/9: 3.6

K/9: 12.34

 

His MLE for his relief stats are as follows:

FIP=3.68

Average against: 261

BABIP: 346

BB/9: 3.67

K/9: 9.17

 

He did let up a lot of fly balls, but 32% of them were infield flies, meaning batters were not getting good wood on his pitches.

 

It was Goldstein that said he put on some soft weight, but regardless, this guy is a latin Bobby Jenks clone. If you don't like him, thats fine, but if selling high on him nets you Kevin Gregg, then you should give him a shot in the majors to see if you can really sell high on him. Worst case scenario is he flops and you've got nothing, best case scenario is you've got something that every single team creams themself for, a young, cheap closer type guy.

[UMFan83]

plus $8 million is too much for a 1 inning guy IMO.

 

Okay, but plenty of guys get that now.

 

Yeah, and I don't agree with any of them. I would dump Marmol if/when he is about to get $8 million a year.

[SouthSideRyan]

Any chance of Hendry planning on flipping Gregg to SD in a Peavy deal? They need a closer. Maybe Hendry is saying Wood is gone for some sort of leverage? (I don't know leverage on what, my friend just mentioned the idea)

 

People really need to stop suggesting this as a possiblility. The Padres don't want a 5M mediocrity as their closer.

[YearofDaCubs]

If Wood is leaving it really sucks, but at the same time it isn't shocking. Kerry couldn't really sign for less than 7-8 million per, and the Cubs have Marmol in waiting (though I'd rather he remain in his current role).

 

I love Kerry and it will be difficult to reconcile with the sight of him in another uniform, but signing him at near market value for 3-4 years given his injury history would be foolish at best.

 

Wood at 3/24 would still be a better bet than Demp at 4/55. At least Wood has had more than one season of success in his career.

 

I don't think Wood wants 3 years though, he wants 4 or 5, plus $8 million is too much for a 1 inning guy IMO.

If he got paid 8mil thiis because of his incentives I bet you he is asking for at least 10-12 million. Wood was awesome when healthy here in Chicago but we've seen this before. He's an injury risk waiting to happen, no way would i give him 4yr 10-12 mil a year.

[Guest]

Fine, I'll come out and say it...

 

I think Jose Ceda in 2009 in the majors would be as good as, if not better than Kevin Gregg.

 

Those are the wrong numbers to look at. The Cubs like to take closers and have them start for half a year or so to work on their control and get them innings. And guess what, it worked really really well for Ceda, as he moved up to AA and dominated once again. Here are his #s as a reliever last year:

 

IP=35

FIP=3.05

Average against: 230

BABIP: 347

BB/9: 3.6

K/9: 12.34

 

His MLE for his relief stats are as follows:

FIP=3.68

Average against: 261

BABIP: 346

BB/9: 3.67

K/9: 9.17

 

He did let up a lot of fly balls, but 32% of them were infield flies, meaning batters were not getting good wood on his pitches.

 

It was Goldstein that said he put on some soft weight, but regardless, this guy is a latin Bobby Jenks clone. If you don't like him, thats fine, but if selling high on him nets you Kevin Gregg, then you should give him a shot in the majors to see if you can really sell high on him. Worst case scenario is he flops and you've got nothing, best case scenario is you've got something that every single team creams themself for, a young, cheap closer type guy.

 

Yeah, I'm guessing Ceda could do what Gregg does next season itself.

 

Good post.

[Hall7810]

Any chance of Hendry planning on flipping Gregg to SD in a Peavy deal? They need a closer. Maybe Hendry is saying Wood is gone for some sort of leverage? (I don't know leverage on what, my friend just mentioned the idea)

 

People really need to stop suggesting this as a possiblility. The Padres don't want a 5M mediocrity as their closer.

 

Yeah they do...on Playstation.

[TheRaven]

So for those lamenting the potential loss of Wood and calling Hendry an idiot, are you saying that he should resign Wood at all costs? Give Wood a long contract? Because you wouldn't then be calling him an idiot for guaranteeing him big money over numerous years?

[erik316wttn]

Wood at 3/24 would still be a better bet than Demp at 4/55. At least Wood has had more than one season of success in his career.

Hasn't Dempster been an All-Star twice?

 

Yes, in his only two good years in his career.

[jersey cubs fan]

This is brutal. Jim Hendry sucks again.

 

He either sucks or he's awesome. There is no in-between with this man.

 

Getting rid of Kerry Wood places another tally in the "sucks" column.

 

You'd rather have him handcuff the payroll further by giving an oft-injured closer a 4 year $40 million deal?

 

And what's with the Dempster injury stuff? He had TJS 5 years ago and hasn't had any issues whatsoever since. I can see doubting he can reproduce his production from last year but the injury stuff is way off.

 

It's more a health question. 200 innings is a toll on anybody's arm. He did it 3 times in his 20's then got injured. Now he's got one 200 inning season under his belt after 4 seasons where he averaged 63.

[cubsfan26]

I hate, hate, hate trading for bullpen arms. The return of investment on doing so is rarely positive.

 

I agree, but we only traded a bullpen arm to get a major league bullpen arm. This trade could be horrible down the road, or it could end up being on Hendry list of good trades. It all depends on Ceda and Gregg, thats why I'm in a wait and see mode. I just don't think the league is as high on Ceda as we think. Hopefully replacing Wood with Gregg saves us money to allow us to improve the rotation or line-up.

Edited November 13, 2008 by cubsfan26

[17 Seconds]

So for those lamenting the potential loss of Wood and calling Hendry an idiot, are you saying that he should resign Wood at all costs? Give Wood a long contract? Because you wouldn't then be calling him an idiot for guaranteeing him big money over numerous years?

 

People are calling Hendry an idiot for trading Ceda for Kevin effing Gregg

[SouthSideRyan]

Fine, I'll come out and say it...

 

I think Jose Ceda in 2009 in the majors would be as good as, if not better than Kevin Gregg.

 

Yeah I suggested that on BTF, but didn't have the time to do the legwork behind it. Thanks (SAD FACE)

[Butterscup1679666578]

Any chance of Hendry planning on flipping Gregg to SD in a Peavy deal? They need a closer. Maybe Hendry is saying Wood is gone for some sort of leverage? (I don't know leverage on what, my friend just mentioned the idea)

 

People really need to stop suggesting this as a possiblility. The Padres don't want a 5M mediocrity as their closer.

 

So Hendry sees Gregg as a solid reliever for the price who has closed for two years but people around the league wouldnt? I have a really hard time believing that.

[XZero771679666304]

Wood at 3/24 would still be a better bet than Demp at 4/55. At least Wood has had more than one season of success in his career.

Hasn't Dempster been an All-Star twice?

 

Yes, in his only two good years in his career.

 

This isn't about Ryan Dempster. Letting Wood go when you have a cheap in house option and Kerry is going to get 3-4 year offers in the range of 10-12 million per is not a bad move.

 

It sucks for those of us who really love the guy, but unless Kerry would have signed for 60% of other offers and for half the years, this is the right move.

[mul21]

This is brutal. Jim Hendry sucks again.

 

He either sucks or he's awesome. There is no in-between with this man.

 

Getting rid of Kerry Wood places another tally in the "sucks" column.

 

You'd rather have him handcuff the payroll further by giving an oft-injured closer a 4 year $40 million deal?

 

And what's with the Dempster injury stuff? He had TJS 5 years ago and hasn't had any issues whatsoever since. I can see doubting he can reproduce his production from last year but the injury stuff is way off.

 

It's more a health question. 200 innings is a toll on anybody's arm. He did it 3 times in his 20's then got injured. Now he's got one 200 inning season under his belt after 4 seasons where he averaged 63.

 

Right, but how many of the huge number of guys that have had TJS have either had to have it done again (besides Chad Fox) or had major elbow issues again? His shoulder is fine and the TJS corrected the elbow issues. I have about 5 times as much faith in Dempster staying healthy through the next 2 years than I d in Kerry. I'd love to have him back, but not if he's looking to break the bank on 1 final contract and not give any kind of hometown discount in either years or money.

[jersey cubs fan]

So for those lamenting the potential loss of Wood and calling Hendry an idiot, are you saying that he should resign Wood at all costs? Give Wood a long contract? Because you wouldn't then be calling him an idiot for guaranteeing him big money over numerous years?

 

Nope.

 

Then again, I'm not calling Hendry an idiot, I just hate what he's doing here. I'm sick of him focusing on acquiring other people's middle aged relievers, whether it's via trade or free agency. It's not stupid to let Wood walk. It is odd to me to let Wood walk so you can resign Dempster.

[17 Seconds]

Any chance of Hendry planning on flipping Gregg to SD in a Peavy deal? They need a closer. Maybe Hendry is saying Wood is gone for some sort of leverage? (I don't know leverage on what, my friend just mentioned the idea)

 

People really need to stop suggesting this as a possiblility. The Padres don't want a 5M mediocrity as their closer.

 

So Hendry sees Gregg as a solid reliever for the price who has closed for two years but people around the league wouldnt? I have a really hard time believing that.

 

The Cubs are competing next year. The Padres are not.

 

Pretty simple.

[XZero771679666304]

So for those lamenting the potential loss of Wood and calling Hendry an idiot, are you saying that he should resign Wood at all costs? Give Wood a long contract? Because you wouldn't then be calling him an idiot for guaranteeing him big money over numerous years?

 

People are calling Hendry an idiot for trading Ceda for Kevin effing Gregg

 

There's some of both going on here.

[TheRaven]

So for those lamenting the potential loss of Wood and calling Hendry an idiot, are you saying that he should resign Wood at all costs? Give Wood a long contract? Because you wouldn't then be calling him an idiot for guaranteeing him big money over numerous years?

 

People are calling Hendry an idiot for trading Ceda for Kevin effing Gregg

 

From what I see, many are also tying it into losing Wood.

 

I am usually big on holding onto prospects, but I don't see the allure of a minor league reliever to get so damn upset at the GM to call him names and question whether he can do the job.

[YearofDaCubs]

Any chance of Hendry planning on flipping Gregg to SD in a Peavy deal? They need a closer. Maybe Hendry is saying Wood is gone for some sort of leverage? (I don't know leverage on what, my friend just mentioned the idea)

 

People really need to stop suggesting this as a possiblility. The Padres don't want a 5M mediocrity as their closer.

 

So Hendry sees Gregg as a solid reliever for the price who has closed for two years but people around the league wouldnt? I have a really hard time believing that.

Padres are cutting payroll. They are even offering up their ace to teams what does that tell you? They pulled the 4-6mil offer to Hoffman so why he heck would they want Gregg for slightly less that amount? Gregg will make at least 3 mil and maybe closer to 4mil next year.

[nilodnayr]

Minor league relief pitchers rarely have trade value. #4 Cubs prospect or not, I don't see him as being a deal breaker in any potential trade.

 

Exactly. If Ceda had potential to start then this is a bad trade, but I see this as the Cubs trading future Kevin Gregg type reliever for the present Kevin Gregg. The only thing that sucks is the cost, but that offset by him becoming a FA after next season. So I don't know why people are upset about Ceda/Gregg deal, it's a blah deal no doubt.

 

So you are OK with trading 6 years of controlable extremely low average cost Kevin Gregg for 1 year of somehwat costly Kevin Gregg?

 

If so, then if you give me 6 $20 bills, I'll give you a one crisp $20 bill.