Cubs Sign BJ Ryan (P. 3); Cubs Release Ryan (P. 6)

[davearm2]

Let's see... go get a BJ Ryan type, or play Sean Marshall in LF...

[Pushfrog98]

LOL... Lou would use him as a loogy

 

RHB against in his career: .236/.327/.343/.670

 

LHB against in his career: .179/.285/.273/.558

 

What's wrong with using him as a loogy?

 

I was mostly taking a jab at Lou's use of Marshall; obviously, I didn't bother to look at Ryan's splits. And the difference in Ryan's numbers don't scream "use only vs. lefties"; not enough of a differential, IMO.--

 

Carlos Marmol career according to http://www.sportingnews.com/mlb/player_splits?player_id=7789:

vs righties: .172/.293/.273/.566

vs lefties: .204/.332/.407/.739

 

I'd say there's just as much of an argument that Marmol should only face righties as saying that Ryan should be a a loogy....and I don't see many people saying that.

At this point, I cringe when I see Marmol facing anybody. Hopefully he gets that release point figured out over the break.

[Abe Frohman]

 

Any chance BJ played second base at any point in his college, high school or little league career?

 

I played against BJ in HS and in college, and believe me when I say this - he can drop BOMBS. He played some 1st base in college and put on displays in batting practice. I talking about hitting balls over the scoreboard/lights, etc.

[Little Slide Rooter]

I suppose at league min, theres no reason not to give him a shot in Iowa. If he looks decent, bring him up, if not, no biggy.

[RynoRules]

I am fine with this. Let's see if he can still pitch. That said, Marshall looked awfully good last night.

[Springfield_CUBBY]

What are the chances that he actually is available to the Cubs??? I assume many other teams would be interested, including several that are ahead of us in line, right?

[SouthSideRyan]

What are the chances that he actually is available to the Cubs??? I assume many other teams would be interested, including several that are ahead of us in line, right?

 

Nobody's going to claim him. Teams will wait til he's a free agent so they don't have to pay his contract.

[Little Slide Rooter]

What are the chances that he actually is available to the Cubs??? I assume many other teams would be interested, including several that are ahead of us in line, right?

 

Nobody's going to claim him. Teams will wait til he's a free agent so they don't have to pay his contract.

 

Hes already cleared waivers and a free agent as of today, so it doesnt go through each team worst-best record. At this point, its just like any other free agent and he can negotiate with whoever he wants, or whoever wants him anyway.

[Springfield_CUBBY]

What are the chances that he actually is available to the Cubs??? I assume many other teams would be interested, including several that are ahead of us in line, right?

 

Nobody's going to claim him. Teams will wait til he's a free agent so they don't have to pay his contract.

 

Hes already cleared waivers and a free agent as of today, so it doesnt go through each team worst-best record. At this point, its just like any other free agent and he can negotiate with whoever he wants, or whoever wants him anyway.

Thanks for the clarification. I guess I don't get what happens now, since his salary is paid, and we would only have to pay league minimum - so what is it that he is negotiating?

[Little Slide Rooter]

What are the chances that he actually is available to the Cubs??? I assume many other teams would be interested, including several that are ahead of us in line, right?

 

Nobody's going to claim him. Teams will wait til he's a free agent so they don't have to pay his contract.

 

Hes already cleared waivers and a free agent as of today, so it doesnt go through each team worst-best record. At this point, its just like any other free agent and he can negotiate with whoever he wants, or whoever wants him anyway.

Thanks for the clarification. I guess I don't get what happens now, since his salary is paid, and we would only have to pay league minimum - so what is it that he is negotiating?

 

I think its more of a personal preference at this time. He'll probably have to go with a minor league deal with an opt out clause after a certain number of weeks/months.

[UMFan83]

I think severl teams are after Ryan because of his low risk high reward. I'm willing to bet that if he doesn't want to go to the minors he will be able to find a team willing to offer him a major leave contract.

 

I'm all for offering Ryan a minor league contract but I'm not sure about a contract with the promise that he starts out on the big league club. Any time a club is willing to eat $10 million or what ever it was to get rid of a player with his ceiling, there has gotta be something very wrong with said player. No team wants to give up on a player they are paying that much money to prematurely IMO.

[Keener98]

Sign Ryan, DL Harden, move Marshall back to the rotation.

[dew1679666265]

Sign Ryan, DL Harden, move Marshall back to the rotation.

 

Yeah, probably the best thing about adding Ryan is if he pitched well for us, it'd make Marshall available for the rotation again.

[Banedon]

Sign Ryan, DL Harden, move Marshall back to the rotation.

 

I'm guessing Hart would go back down rather than Harden being DL'd.

[Keener98]

Sign Ryan, DL Harden, move Marshall back to the rotation.

 

I'm guessing Hart would go back down rather than Harden being DL'd.

 

Hart is already down

[Banedon]

Sign Ryan, DL Harden, move Marshall back to the rotation.

 

I'm guessing Hart would go back down rather than Harden being DL'd.

 

Hart is already down

 

Ah...yeah...forgot about that.

[bukie]

Sign Ryan, DL Harden, move Marshall back to the rotation.

 

I'm guessing Hart would go back down rather than Harden being DL'd.

 

Hart is already down

 

Ah...yeah...forgot about that.

You'd still need a 5th starter. Hart is already down because of the lack of need for a starter between his start and the ASB. Either Harden or Hart would have to be the 5th starter in this scenario.

[dew1679666265]

Sign Ryan, DL Harden, move Marshall back to the rotation.

 

I'm guessing Hart would go back down rather than Harden being DL'd.

 

Hart is already down

 

Ah...yeah...forgot about that.

You'd still need a 5th starter. Hart is already down because of the lack of need for a starter between his start and the ASB. Either Harden or Hart would have to be the 5th starter in this scenario.

 

If Ryan signed a major league deal, Marshall could transition back to the rotation.

[bukie]

You'd still need a 5th starter. Hart is already down because of the lack of need for a starter between his start and the ASB. Either Harden or Hart would have to be the 5th starter in this scenario.

 

If Ryan signed a major league deal, Marshall could transition back to the rotation.

 

Sure, but with Dempster out, the rotation is currently Zambrano, Lilly, Wells, pray for rain. Even if Marshall transitions back to the rotation, either Harden or Hart would still need to start regularly.

[dew1679666265]

You'd still need a 5th starter. Hart is already down because of the lack of need for a starter between his start and the ASB. Either Harden or Hart would have to be the 5th starter in this scenario.

 

If Ryan signed a major league deal, Marshall could transition back to the rotation.

 

Sure, but with Dempster out, the rotation is currently Zambrano, Lilly, Wells, pray for rain. Even if Marshall transitions back to the rotation, either Harden or Hart would still need to start regularly.

 

Good point.

[Keener98]

Ive read a couple places now saying the Cubs are the leading candidate for Ryan. I wonder how fast something would get done? I would think since he cleared waivers Monday, that he would be signed pretty quickly, and sent to Iowa for a week or 2 so we can have him the majority of the 2nd half. Be a big plus if he can get even anywhere near where he has been before.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Ive read a couple places now saying the Cubs are the leading candidate for Ryan. I wonder how fast something would get done? I would think since he cleared waivers Monday, that he would be signed pretty quickly, and sent to Iowa for a week or 2 so we can have him the majority of the 2nd half. Be a big plus if he can get even anywhere near where he has been before.

 

Big plus if he can get anywhere near where Neal Cotts was before. I have little to no expectations, but all the same, Id be all about the low risk move, and if he can help the team, more power to him. If not, just throw him in the pile with Scott Williamson, Wade Miller, Chad Fox, and Shingo Takatsu.

 

I remember after we had some success with Dempster in 2004, it seems every year since Hendry has picked up an injured once good pitcher in hopes of salvaging them, but it hasnt worked out. Maybe this will be the one.

[Cubbie Swagger]

I really hope this happens.

[dew1679666265]

I remember after we had some success with Dempster in 2004, it seems every year since Hendry has picked up an injured once good pitcher in hopes of salvaging them, but it hasnt worked out. Maybe this will be the one.

 

This is really a worthwhile strategy if you can pick up guys who were once legitimately good for cheap.

[Little Slide Rooter]

I remember after we had some success with Dempster in 2004, it seems every year since Hendry has picked up an injured once good pitcher in hopes of salvaging them, but it hasnt worked out. Maybe this will be the one.

 

This is really a worthwhile strategy if you can pick up guys who were once legitimately good for cheap.

 

I agree. The good thing about Ryan is hes on a 2 year deal, so even if we were to pick him up and completely shut him down for the season, wed still get 2010 for league minumum, and since we dont know what the financial situation of the team will be by then, thats the kind of risk Hendry should be willing to take. Theres a very, very good chance we wont be able to sign the big money free agents, at least for the next few years, so Hendry needs to learn to bargain shop.