When are the Cubs going to get a third baseman?

[Little Slide Rooter]

I think Id take Betemit over Atkins and Aurilla.

 

Aurilia yes, Atkins, no. Granted hes been on the steady decline since his breakout 2006, but hes was very good in '07 and solid in '08. I cant see him continuing to be this bad this year. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that they spent the offseason trying to dump him and give his job to someone else. Wed probably end up splitting the remainder of his 7 million dollar salary, but surely we could afford that rather than giving up more valuable prospects for a rent a player.

[Keener98]

I think Id take Betemit over Atkins and Aurilla.

 

Aurilia yes, Atkins, no. Granted hes been on the steady decline since his breakout 2006, but hes was very good in '07 and solid in '08. I cant see him continuing to be this bad this year. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that they spent the offseason trying to dump him and give his job to someone else. Wed probably end up splitting the remainder of his 7 million dollar salary, but surely we could afford that rather than giving up more valuable prospects for a rent a player.

 

The problem with Atkins is when Aram comes back he has nowhere to play. A guy like Betemit when Aram comes back can play SS and 2nd base, meaning goodbye Miles and or Freel. Atkins plays 3rd and 1st thats it, and makes alot of money for a guy we would be hoping to do something. Betemit comes cheap, and has OPS'd over .800 against RH pitching for the last 3 years combined. Betemit just makes too much sense.

[Backtobanks]

If we really want someone right now, the most aquireble would probably be Garrett Atkins. Not only has he been brutal for the Rockies this season, but they want to give Ian Stewart the job. As bad as hes been and as bad as they want to move him and his .188/.264/.273 line, Id offer up something like Kevin Hart and 1 or 2 performance based PTBNL. If Jason Marquis can look like an ace there, maybe Hart or Heilman can too. With the Rockies position player log jam and the fact that theyre an NL tea, theyd have little use for Jake Fox so we could focus on then trying to move him for a reliever.

 

Atkins may not be the ideal choice, but a change of scenery could do him well.

 

Something like Hart alone seems about right to me. Atkins has been pitiful and is being paid a lot of money. Now if they're going to pick up a big chunk of his conract, maybe they should get a second player.

[gflore34]

Is something like the following possible? Cubs offer to pick up Atkins and his contract thereby, taking the money off Colorado' books, and a PTBNL. The Rockies get the PTBNL if Aktins performs otherwise, it just the money off the books.

[Little Slide Rooter]

I think Id take Betemit over Atkins and Aurilla.

 

Aurilia yes, Atkins, no. Granted hes been on the steady decline since his breakout 2006, but hes was very good in '07 and solid in '08. I cant see him continuing to be this bad this year. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that they spent the offseason trying to dump him and give his job to someone else. Wed probably end up splitting the remainder of his 7 million dollar salary, but surely we could afford that rather than giving up more valuable prospects for a rent a player.

 

The problem with Atkins is when Aram comes back he has nowhere to play. A guy like Betemit when Aram comes back can play SS and 2nd base, meaning goodbye Miles and or Freel. Atkins plays 3rd and 1st thats it, and makes alot of money for a guy we would be hoping to do something. Betemit comes cheap, and has OPS'd over .800 against RH pitching for the last 3 years combined. Betemit just makes too much sense.

 

THe thing about Betemit is yes, he could go back to being decent, but he could just as easily be another Miles/Freel/Scales/Blanco, and at this point, we really need something better. I still say Jim should at least inquire about Branyan if he hasnt already.

[dew1679666265]

I think Id take Betemit over Atkins and Aurilla.

 

Aurilia yes, Atkins, no. Granted hes been on the steady decline since his breakout 2006, but hes was very good in '07 and solid in '08. I cant see him continuing to be this bad this year. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that they spent the offseason trying to dump him and give his job to someone else. Wed probably end up splitting the remainder of his 7 million dollar salary, but surely we could afford that rather than giving up more valuable prospects for a rent a player.

 

The problem with Atkins is when Aram comes back he has nowhere to play. A guy like Betemit when Aram comes back can play SS and 2nd base, meaning goodbye Miles and or Freel. Atkins plays 3rd and 1st thats it, and makes alot of money for a guy we would be hoping to do something. Betemit comes cheap, and has OPS'd over .800 against RH pitching for the last 3 years combined. Betemit just makes too much sense.

 

THe thing about Betemit is yes, he could go back to being decent, but he could just as easily be another Miles/Freel/Scales/Blanco, and at this point, we really need something better. I still say Jim should at least inquire about Branyan if he hasnt already.

 

That's the same case with Atkins, but at least Betemit can play SS and second base, thus lessening the impact of Aaron Miles.

 

Branyan is still a far better option, though.

[Little Slide Rooter]

I think Id take Betemit over Atkins and Aurilla.

 

Aurilia yes, Atkins, no. Granted hes been on the steady decline since his breakout 2006, but hes was very good in '07 and solid in '08. I cant see him continuing to be this bad this year. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that they spent the offseason trying to dump him and give his job to someone else. Wed probably end up splitting the remainder of his 7 million dollar salary, but surely we could afford that rather than giving up more valuable prospects for a rent a player.

 

The problem with Atkins is when Aram comes back he has nowhere to play. A guy like Betemit when Aram comes back can play SS and 2nd base, meaning goodbye Miles and or Freel. Atkins plays 3rd and 1st thats it, and makes alot of money for a guy we would be hoping to do something. Betemit comes cheap, and has OPS'd over .800 against RH pitching for the last 3 years combined. Betemit just makes too much sense.

 

THe thing about Betemit is yes, he could go back to being decent, but he could just as easily be another Miles/Freel/Scales/Blanco, and at this point, we really need something better. I still say Jim should at least inquire about Branyan if he hasnt already.

 

That's the same case with Atkins, but at least Betemit can play SS and second base, thus lessening the impact of Aaron Miles.

 

Branyan is still a far better option, though.

 

Betemit is more of a question mark. His last good season was 2006 and Atkins has been good as recently as last year.

 

Either way, Miles is making a rehab start soon, so I doubt Hendry does anything any time soon. Yay.

[dew1679666265]

Betemit is more of a question mark. His last good season was 2006 and Atkins has been good as recently as last year.

 

True, but neither have been good this year and that's part of why people are clamoring for a trade (guys who have had success recently not having success now - Fontenot, Bradley, etc).

[Little Slide Rooter]

Betemit is more of a question mark. His last good season was 2006 and Atkins has been good as recently as last year.

 

True, but neither have been good this year and that's part of why people are clamoring for a trade (guys who have had success recently not having success now - Fontenot, Bradley, etc).

 

I guess while Atkins has a much higher upside, Betemit has no risk. Worst case scenerio we try him for a bit, and if it doesnt work out, send him on his merry way.

[dew1679666265]

Betemit is more of a question mark. His last good season was 2006 and Atkins has been good as recently as last year.

 

True, but neither have been good this year and that's part of why people are clamoring for a trade (guys who have had success recently not having success now - Fontenot, Bradley, etc).

 

I guess while Atkins has a much higher upside, Betemit has no risk. Worst case scenerio we try him for a bit, and if it doesnt work out, send him on his merry way.

 

Both have the upside of an .800+ OPS. I'd say Atkins might be a bit more likely to reach that, though again, both have struggled a lot this year.

 

Betemit plays positions we need more depth at, though - SS and 2B.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Betemit is more of a question mark. His last good season was 2006 and Atkins has been good as recently as last year.

 

True, but neither have been good this year and that's part of why people are clamoring for a trade (guys who have had success recently not having success now - Fontenot, Bradley, etc).

 

I guess while Atkins has a much higher upside, Betemit has no risk. Worst case scenerio we try him for a bit, and if it doesnt work out, send him on his merry way.

 

Both have the upside of an .800+ OPS. I'd say Atkins might be a bit more likely to reach that, though again, both have struggled a lot this year.

 

Betemit plays positions we need more depth at, though - SS and 2B.

 

When the alternative is Bobby Scales, I cant imagine not taking the risk on Betemit, at least in the short term. Granted he wont place Aramis, but might be an upgrade over what we have.

[dew1679666265]

Betemit is more of a question mark. His last good season was 2006 and Atkins has been good as recently as last year.

 

True, but neither have been good this year and that's part of why people are clamoring for a trade (guys who have had success recently not having success now - Fontenot, Bradley, etc).

 

I guess while Atkins has a much higher upside, Betemit has no risk. Worst case scenerio we try him for a bit, and if it doesnt work out, send him on his merry way.

 

Both have the upside of an .800+ OPS. I'd say Atkins might be a bit more likely to reach that, though again, both have struggled a lot this year.

 

Betemit plays positions we need more depth at, though - SS and 2B.

 

When the alternative is Bobby Scales, I cant imagine not taking the risk on Betemit, at least in the short term. Granted he wont place Aramis, but might be an upgrade over what we have.

 

I'm not completely advocating Betemit - I'd only be interested if he came super cheap. I still want Branyan if we make a move.

[SouthSideRyan]

Wilson Betemit is absolutely a worse baseball player than Bobby Scales.

[dew1679666265]

Wilson Betemit is absolutely a worse baseball player than Bobby Scales.

 

If Betemit gave us his 2007 numbers (.333 OBP and .454 SLG), he'd probably be better. But that's unlikely and it's why I'd only have an interest if he was very cheap.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Betemit plays positions we need more depth at, though - SS and 2B.

 

Well, he tries to. He's much like Aaron Miles in that sense.

[dew1679666265]

Betemit plays positions we need more depth at, though - SS and 2B.

 

Well, he tries to. He's much like Aaron Miles in that sense.

 

True, he's not much worse than Miles at it, though. Plus he'll likely hit better than Miles.

[SouthSideRyan]

Betemit plays positions we need more depth at, though - SS and 2B.

 

Well, he tries to. He's much like Aaron Miles in that sense.

 

True, he's not much worse than Miles at it, though. Plus he'll likely hit better than Miles.

 

Aaron Miles is a bad SS. Being worse than him at it, means you're not even faking it. Scales is probably a better defender than Betemit at this point at any position.

[17 Seconds]

i cant believe we have this gigantic payroll and a FO that is admittedly in "all out win mode" and we're being forced to start blanco at 2b and fontenot at 3b every day. absolutely unnacceptable.

[Little Slide Rooter]

i cant believe we have this gigantic payroll and a FO that is admittedly in "all out win mode" and we're being forced to start blanco at 2b and fontenot at 3b every day. absolutely unnacceptable.

 

Meanwhile were looking at a washed up Rich Aurilia, a journeyman Russ Branyan or a bust Wilson Betemit to help save us.

[SouthSideRyan]

i cant believe we have this gigantic payroll and a FO that is admittedly in "all out win mode" and we're being forced to start blanco at 2b and fontenot at 3b every day. absolutely unnacceptable.

 

Meanwhile were looking at a washed up Rich Aurilia, a journeyman Russ Branyan or a bust Wilson Betemit to help save us.

 

I think you're the only one looking at Aurilia and Betemit. Journeyman or not, Russ Branyan would be a solid pickup. When you have a hole for a month-month and a half you don't go out and acquire a starter.

[Little Slide Rooter]

i cant believe we have this gigantic payroll and a FO that is admittedly in "all out win mode" and we're being forced to start blanco at 2b and fontenot at 3b every day. absolutely unnacceptable.

 

Meanwhile were looking at a washed up Rich Aurilia, a journeyman Russ Branyan or a bust Wilson Betemit to help save us.

 

I think you're the only one looking at Aurilia and Betemit. Journeyman or not, Russ Branyan would be a solid pickup. When you have a hole for a month-month and a half you don't go out and acquire a starter.

 

At this point, yes, Branyan would be a great pick up, but the point is, when you have the talent and pay roll that we do, you shouldnt be relying on someone like him to bail out our offense. I understant the magnitute of losing a player like Ramirez, but thats no excuse to struggle as much offensively as we have. Getting rid of DeRosa was a very bad decision. No matter what Bradleys upsode is, it wasnt smart to sign him when it was expected that wed be lucky to get 100 games out of him when Adam Dunn is consistantly healthy and thrives at Wrigley.

[17 Seconds]

i cant believe we have this gigantic payroll and a FO that is admittedly in "all out win mode" and we're being forced to start blanco at 2b and fontenot at 3b every day. absolutely unnacceptable.

 

Meanwhile were looking at a washed up Rich Aurilia, a journeyman Russ Branyan or a bust Wilson Betemit to help save us.

 

but even branyan would be better than what we have. i don't understand how we can keep trotting andres effing blanco out there every day when you consider this organizations situation. i mean, really. one injury and we're forced to play complete trash every day? and it's not like ramirez being out for a while is something you couldn't have predicted. i mean obviously nobody oculd have predicted he'd suffer a severe injury that owuld sideline him for months, but he often has trouble with his legs and has to go on the dl at some point almost every season. how can we not have a backup 3b. miles? freel? blanco? scales? those are the guys we had to fill in foro ur best player? c'mon.

 

remember how deep our team was last year? last year we were looking for a way to get a .900 OPS bat (fontenot) in the lineup. now we're looking for a guy who can ops over .700

[Little Slide Rooter]

i cant believe we have this gigantic payroll and a FO that is admittedly in "all out win mode" and we're being forced to start blanco at 2b and fontenot at 3b every day. absolutely unnacceptable.

 

Meanwhile were looking at a washed up Rich Aurilia, a journeyman Russ Branyan or a bust Wilson Betemit to help save us.

 

but even branyan would be better than what we have. i don't understand how we can keep trotting andres effing blanco out there every day when you consider this organizations situation. i mean, really. one injury and we're forced to play complete trash every day? and it's not like ramirez being out for a while is something you couldn't have predicted. i mean obviously nobody oculd have predicted he'd suffer a severe injury that owuld sideline him for months, but he often has trouble with his legs and has to go on the dl at some point almost every season. how can we not have a backup 3b. miles? freel? blanco? scales? those are the guys we had to fill in foro ur best player? c'mon.

 

remember how deep our team was last year? last year we were looking for a way to get a .900 OPS bat (fontenot) in the lineup. now we're looking for a guy who can ops over .700

 

I woudlnt have predicted that Ramirez would miss such a large chunk of the season. Yeah, things like that happen, but it not an assumption. The fact is, we all knew wed miss DeRosa, but not that it would come to the point where we needed him this bad.

 

Soriano

Theriot

Fukudome

Bradley

Lee

DeRosa

Fontenot

Soto

 

Would still be one of the better lineups in the NL.

[17 Seconds]

i cant believe we have this gigantic payroll and a FO that is admittedly in "all out win mode" and we're being forced to start blanco at 2b and fontenot at 3b every day. absolutely unnacceptable.

 

Meanwhile were looking at a washed up Rich Aurilia, a journeyman Russ Branyan or a bust Wilson Betemit to help save us.

 

but even branyan would be better than what we have. i don't understand how we can keep trotting andres effing blanco out there every day when you consider this organizations situation. i mean, really. one injury and we're forced to play complete trash every day? and it's not like ramirez being out for a while is something you couldn't have predicted. i mean obviously nobody oculd have predicted he'd suffer a severe injury that owuld sideline him for months, but he often has trouble with his legs and has to go on the dl at some point almost every season. how can we not have a backup 3b. miles? freel? blanco? scales? those are the guys we had to fill in foro ur best player? c'mon.

 

remember how deep our team was last year? last year we were looking for a way to get a .900 OPS bat (fontenot) in the lineup. now we're looking for a guy who can ops over .700

 

I woudlnt have predicted that Ramirez would miss such a large chunk of the season. Yeah, things like that happen, but it not an assumption.

 

did you even read the sentence right after that?

[Little Slide Rooter]

i cant believe we have this gigantic payroll and a FO that is admittedly in "all out win mode" and we're being forced to start blanco at 2b and fontenot at 3b every day. absolutely unnacceptable.

 

Meanwhile were looking at a washed up Rich Aurilia, a journeyman Russ Branyan or a bust Wilson Betemit to help save us.

 

but even branyan would be better than what we have. i don't understand how we can keep trotting andres effing blanco out there every day when you consider this organizations situation. i mean, really. one injury and we're forced to play complete trash every day? and it's not like ramirez being out for a while is something you couldn't have predicted. i mean obviously nobody oculd have predicted he'd suffer a severe injury that owuld sideline him for months, but he often has trouble with his legs and has to go on the dl at some point almost every season. how can we not have a backup 3b. miles? freel? blanco? scales? those are the guys we had to fill in foro ur best player? c'mon.

 

remember how deep our team was last year? last year we were looking for a way to get a .900 OPS bat (fontenot) in the lineup. now we're looking for a guy who can ops over .700

 

I woudlnt have predicted that Ramirez would miss such a large chunk of the season. Yeah, things like that happen, but it not an assumption.

 

did you even read the sentence right after that?

 

Im not dissagreeing with you, Im stating that DeRosa was far too valuable of an asset to just give up for a handfull of pitching prospects.