Cubs Avoid Arbitration with Kevin Gregg

[abuck1220]

so gathright and gregg vs. derosa. i think i'd take derosa.

pujols vs. marquis and hampton. i think i'd take pujols.

 

right, because the cubs got rid of pujols while signing marquis and hampton. good comparison.

[dew1679666265]

Fontenot was going to get his ABs no matter what. It's Miles/Gathright/Hoff/Reed who will now get a whole lot of ABs when Bradley is hurt. Those ABs previously would have gone to DeRosa.

 

Fontenot would get 240 or so AB's again, even if DeRosa had to play RF alot. Remember the only reason why Fontenot got so many AB's last year was because Soriano was out with a freak HBP injury. DeRosa had to have 184 AB's as an outfielder last year, because Soriano only played in 109 games. So even with Bradley around he was unlikely to get that many more AB's in the outfield. When you factor in what Hoffpauir hit in 73 AB's last year and how Reed Johnson crushes LH pitching. I really don't think losing DeRosa for the outfield is gonna hurt all that much. I think the bigger concern should be what if Fukudome is actually the second half 08 hitter all of the season next year? Then we gotta play Gathright or Reed everyday. But a combo of Johnson/Hoffpauir/Gathright can cover 50-60 games that Bradley misses just fine IMO. Thats if he misses that many games.

 

He's almost a shoe-in to miss 70+ games. That would be 70+ games that DeRosa would play RF and Fontenot 2B. Now, Hoff/Reed/Gath will play those 70+ games and be decent to crappy in the process.

 

Plus, we'll see more ABs than we'd like of Aaron Miles.

[UK1679666180]

Neither Fontenot or DeRosa will duplicate last year's numbers.

cool tell me more. who's going to win the world series?

 

Tampa Bay.

[abuck1220]

you act like fontenot is a lock to put up those numbers...he's never played a full season in his career. and when you factor in the number of ab's he (or derosa) would get vs. the relatively small number of innings gregg (or guzman/gaudin/whoever) would get...well, the difference between derosa and fontenot is much bigger if fontenot doesn't put up those numbers.

who's more likely to improve, the 34 year old derosa or the 28 year old fontenot? i like derosa a whole lot too, but your post is pretty silly.

 

who is more likely to improve the 30 year old gregg or the 25 year old gaudin?

 

maybe baseball message board posting isn't for you.

[dew1679666265]

so gathright and gregg vs. derosa. i think i'd take derosa.

pujols vs. marquis and hampton. i think i'd take pujols.

 

right, because the cubs got rid of pujols while signing marquis and hampton. good comparison.

 

We did get rid of Josh Hamilton, though.

[dew1679666265]

Neither Fontenot or DeRosa will duplicate last year's numbers.

cool tell me more. who's going to win the world series?

 

Tampa Bay.

 

They'll sweep the Cubs?

 

Or will the Cubs get swept in the first round again?

[UK1679666180]

Neither Fontenot or DeRosa will duplicate last year's numbers.

cool tell me more. who's going to win the world series?

 

Tampa Bay.

 

They'll sweep the Cubs?

 

Or will the Cubs get swept in the first round again?

 

Who said the Cubs will make the playoffs? :)

[dew1679666265]

Neither Fontenot or DeRosa will duplicate last year's numbers.

cool tell me more. who's going to win the world series?

 

Tampa Bay.

 

They'll sweep the Cubs?

 

Or will the Cubs get swept in the first round again?

 

Who said the Cubs will make the playoffs? :)

 

If they don't, I don't want you as official NSBB prognosticator. :wink:

[cubsfan26]

It does bring up an interesting question. Is Cruz/Ceda better than Gregg/draft pick?

 

The problem with Cruz is the years, not the salary per season. He probably wants a 3 year deal at 5m per season at least. We all seen with Howry that a reliever can do a very good job for a few years and suck the last season, and make that contract seem pretty crappy. Plus the fact that he already kinda failed in Chicago, some don't believe he can handle the pressure.

 

 

you act like fontenot is a lock to put up those numbers...he's never played a full season in his career. and when you factor in the number of ab's he (or derosa) would get vs. the relatively small number of innings gregg (or guzman/gaudin/whoever) would get...well, the difference between derosa and fontenot is much bigger if fontenot doesn't put up those numbers.

 

Thats if Fontenot doesn't put up quality numbers. Personally if Fontenot was playing everyday I think he might be a 740s-750s OPS guy. But playing mostly against RH pitching I think he will be a 820 plus type OPS hitter next year. The fact that Fontenot has hit very well in the minors, and at the big league level gives me confidence he will be just fine. People seriously need to stop with this DeRosa man crush stuff. Two years ago, you were probably the same people bashing Hendry for signing him and saying he had a 06 season. Let Hendry do his job and see how it works out.

[cubbinalltheway]

you act like fontenot is a lock to put up those numbers...he's never played a full season in his career. and when you factor in the number of ab's he (or derosa) would get vs. the relatively small number of innings gregg (or guzman/gaudin/whoever) would get...well, the difference between derosa and fontenot is much bigger if fontenot doesn't put up those numbers.

who's more likely to improve, the 34 year old derosa or the 28 year old fontenot? i like derosa a whole lot too, but your post is pretty silly.

 

who is more likely to improve the 30 year old gregg or the 25 year old gaudin?

 

maybe baseball message board posting isn't for you.

it's not a choice of gregg vs. gaudin though. they can both be in the pen. unless youre talking about a specific role. in which case they will battle it out in ST for that role.

 

message board posting is for me, thanks. need something to pass the time between 8 and 5.

[cubsfan26]

He's almost a shoe-in to miss 70+ games.

 

 

Nobody is ever a shoe-in to miss 70+ games when they don't have a current injury. You don't know how Bradley new work out plan will effect him. Also not playing CF and playing in a smaller ballpark could help him as well. Yes he missed that many games from 05-07, but doesn't mean he will this year. Plus I already pointed out to you that Hoffpauir=good last year, Johnson=as good or better then DeRosa against LH pitching. Were not going to lose nearly the production you might think in the outfield even if Bradley is hurt for 70+. Plus who knows if Hendry is done adding a bench players, he could sign a Eric Hinske type to battle Hoffpauir in spring training for all we no. It's only Jaunary 19th, and people are talking like tomorrows hoping day.

Edited January 19, 2009 by cubsfan26

[cubsfan26]

it's not a choice of gregg vs. gaudin though. they can both be in the pen

 

Plus the Cubs might need Gaudin to start or be a swing guy next year.

[Fred Hornkohl]

Neither Fontenot or DeRosa will duplicate last year's numbers.

cool tell me more. who's going to win the world series?

 

Tampa Bay.

 

This is your completely unbiased opinion, eh? :wink:

[UK1679666180]

Neither Fontenot or DeRosa will duplicate last year's numbers.

cool tell me more. who's going to win the world series?

 

Tampa Bay.

 

This is your completely unbiased opinion, eh? :wink:

 

Would you rather have me say STL?

[dew1679666265]

He's almost a shoe-in to miss 70+ games.

 

 

Nobody is ever a shoe-in to miss 70+ games when they don't have a current injury. You don't know how Bradley changed work out plan this offseason will effect him or not. Also not playing CF and playing in a smaller ballpark could help him as well. Yes he missed that many games from 05-07, doesn't mean he will this year. Plus I already pointed out to you that Hoffpauir=good last year, Johnson=as good or better then DeRosa against LH pitching. Were not going to lose nearly the production you might think in the outfield even if Bradley is hurt for 70+. Plus who knows if Hendry is done adding a bench players, he could sign a Eric Hinske type to battle Hoffpauir in spring training for all we no.

 

Harden is a shoe-in to miss time before we found out he was injured, same with Prior and Wood when they were starting for us. A fragile player is a fragile player. I'll be shocked if Bradley plays more than 100 games for us.

 

We'll see if Hoff/Gath/Johnson are successful this season, though I doubt it. It bothers me that we're hoping against hope that we're maybe as good as last year. That's the perfect example of a downgrade during the offseason - when your best case scenario is maybe close to as good as last year.

[dew1679666265]

It does bring up an interesting question. Is Cruz/Ceda better than Gregg/draft pick?

 

The problem with Cruz is the years, not the salary per season. He probably wants a 3 year deal at 5m per season at least. We all seen with Howry that a reliever can do a very good job for a few years and suck the last season, and make that contract seem pretty crappy. Plus the fact that he already kinda failed in Chicago, some don't believe he can handle the pressure.

 

Howry was three years older than Cruz when he signed the three-year deal with us. If we gave Juan three years this offseason, he'd be 32 when the contract is up - as opposed to Howry being 34 (going on 35).

 

 

Thats if Fontenot doesn't put up quality numbers. Personally if Fontenot was playing everyday I think he might be a 740s-750s OPS guy. But playing mostly against RH pitching I think he will be a 820 plus type OPS hitter next year. The fact that Fontenot has hit very well in the minors, and at the big league level gives me confidence he will be just fine. People seriously need to stop with this DeRosa man crush stuff. Two years ago, you were probably the same people bashing Hendry for signing him and saying he had a 06 season. Let Hendry do his job and see how it works out.

 

I actually was not one who hated the DeRo deal when we signed him. I was apprehensive at first, but after looking into him I thought he had a chance to become good. And it's not a mancrush on DeRo, it's acknowledging that his expected regression this year (down to .810-20 OPS) is likely the best we could possibly hope for from the Miles/Fontenot platoon.

 

Basically, DeRo's worst is the Miles/Fontenot platoon's best. That's not exciting.

[cubbinalltheway]

Basically, DeRo's worst is the Miles/Fontenot platoon's best. That's not exciting.

nor is that sentence realistic.

[Fred Hornkohl]

Neither Fontenot or DeRosa will duplicate last year's numbers.

cool tell me more. who's going to win the world series?

 

Tampa Bay.

 

This is your completely unbiased opinion, eh? :wink:

 

Would you rather have me say STL?

 

That kind of talk could be hazardous to your health !! ;)

[cubsfan26]

Basically, DeRo's worst is the Miles/Fontenot platoon's best. That's not exciting.

 

So what 2b isn't the only postion on the team. There is room for improvement offensivly on the roster. Soriano only playing 109 games last year is one major thing. Bradley over Edmonds(he only had 250 AB's), and hopefully Lee can have a rebound year. IMO the key guy that could make our line-up very good or just good is Fukudome. If Fukudome can hit 280/400/800, and hit second in our line-up it could make a huge impact. But even If he's simliar to last year or isn't good our line-up will still be one of the better line-ups in the NL. Plus when you win 97 games, it's hard to get better the next season. What a GM tries to do is stay as good, and tries to put his team in a better postion to win in the postseason. Hendry feels having more good LH bats in the line-up will help things in the postseason. Next year if we win 91 games but make it to the NLCS or World Series, whats the better season 09 or 08?

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Expected 2009 Fontenot/Miles = Expected 2009 DeRosa

 

Expected 2009 Gregg > Expected 2009 Ascanio/Guzman/Stevens/Olson/whoever would've gotten that extra spot

 

I might've kept DeRosa and foregone Miles and Gregg for Cedeno and someone from the above(especially with Bradley in RF), but the other side to that is then you have a bullpen of Marmol, Cotts, and a bunch of guys who have little to no experience in the pen(well, there's Gaudin and Vizcaino, but they won't be used in setup positions). Not that Gregg is guaranteed stability, but there's something to be said for throwing his name in there amongst the unknowns(especially if Samardzija doesn't start the year in the big league pen), he helps hedge against a 2006 rotation type situation.

[ConstableRabbit]

Expected 2009 Fontenot/Miles = Expected 2009 DeRosa

 

Expected 2009 Gregg > Expected 2009 Ascanio/Guzman/Stevens/Olson/whoever would've gotten that extra spot

 

I might've kept DeRosa and foregone Miles and Gregg for Cedeno and someone from the above(especially with Bradley in RF), but the other side to that is then you have a bullpen of Marmol, Cotts, and a bunch of guys who have little to no experience in the pen(well, there's Gaudin and Vizcaino, but they won't be used in setup positions). Not that Gregg is guaranteed stability, but there's something to be said for throwing his name in there amongst the unknowns(especially if Samardzija doesn't start the year in the big league pen), he helps hedge against a 2006 rotation type situation.

This.

[cubsfan26]

Howry was three years older than Cruz when he signed the three-year deal with us. If we gave Juan three years this offseason, he'd be 32 when the contract is up - as opposed to Howry being 34 (going on 35).

 

 

It's still not a good idea to give a reliever a three year deal. Especially one who hasn't really been very steady over his career, and also has some control issues.

[Wrigley Rat]

Looking at available free agents, which one of the following would you be interested in signing to a one-year contract to be our "7th inning guy"? (In order of my preference)

 

- Dennys Reyes

- Joe Beimel

- Tyler Johnson

- Ambriorix Burgos

- Odalis Perez (he might consider relief pitching for a year?)

- Aquilino Lopez

 

I think any of these guys would be better than what we have in-house to slide in behind Marmol and Gregg, but ahead of Samardzija, Wuertz, Marshall, Gaudin, Cotts, Vizcaino, and the minor leaguers.

[abuck1220]

Expected 2009 Fontenot/Miles = Expected 2009 DeRosa

 

Expected 2009 Gregg > Expected 2009 Ascanio/Guzman/Stevens/Olson/whoever would've gotten that extra spot

 

 

well, i guess i just disagree with this. and i'm not a huge derosa fan by any means. hope i'm wrong.