Cubs can make a deal of some sort

[Little Slide Rooter]

Cubs Can Add Pieces At Deadline

By Ben Nicholson-Smith [July 22 at 10:04am CST]

They're not involved in the chase for Roy Halladay, but the Cubs could still add players before next week's trade deadline, according to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times. The Cubs apparently have enough payroll flexibility to add a "mid-level" player and Wittenmyer suggests the team could pursue relievers such as George Sherrill and Chad Qualls. GM Jim Hendry said the Cubs can make moves "if something comes up," but didn't discuss specific needs.

 

The Cubs, who nearly acquired Chris Coste earlier in the month, could also pursue catching help if Geovany Soto's injury lingers longer than expected.

I guess were not completely pennyless.

 

Hows about we leave the bullpen be and focus on what we really need. Does Freddy Sanchez count as a "mid level" player?

[GlassCow]

Cubs Can Add Pieces At Deadline

By Ben Nicholson-Smith [July 22 at 10:04am CST]

They're not involved in the chase for Roy Halladay, but the Cubs could still add players before next week's trade deadline, according to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times. The Cubs apparently have enough payroll flexibility to add a "mid-level" player and Wittenmyer suggests the team could pursue relievers such as George Sherrill and Chad Qualls. GM Jim Hendry said the Cubs can make moves "if something comes up," but didn't discuss specific needs.

 

The Cubs, who nearly acquired Chris Coste earlier in the month, could also pursue catching help if Geovany Soto's injury lingers longer than expected.

I guess were not completely pennyless.

 

Hows about we leave the bullpen be and focus on what we really need. Does Freddy Sanchez count as a "mid level" player?

 

More bullpen help to hold our deficits certainly sounds intriguing to me. If Hendry still thinks the bullpen is the problem at this point, he clearly hasn't been watching the team for a couple of months.

[inari]

Any chance the Phillies might want to part with this Chase Utley guy for a package built around Sean Marshall and Wellington Castillo? I think we'd be giving up a bit much, but I like what I see from Utley.

[JonJayCutler]

Getting Sanchez would be awesome, but he bats RH so you know thats not going to happen.

[javy knows my name]

Well, since Gordon Wittenmeyer says so, this is an absolute certainty.

[CUBZ99]

Getting Sanchez would be awesome, but he bats RH so you know thats not going to happen.

 

You are likely right, and getting a RH 2b would prevent one of the LH bats on the team (fontenot) from playing everyday.

 

For no logical reason, I'm going to give Hendry a pass and assume that he is working to get Sanchez.

 

Is there any indication out of Pittsburgh as to what they are looking for in return? The Cubs have a decent AA 2b (Thomas) and some younger pitching Marshall, Hart, Stevens, Gaub, Parker etc. But I certainly wouldn't give up a Vitters, Castro, J. Jackson type prospect.

 

btw the Cubs could even throw in A. Miles so the Pirates would have a 2b with major league experience to finish out the year.

[Old Style]

The bullpen sure has looked shaky the last two games. Much moreso than our extremely talented, balanced offense.

[Prizefight]

For no logical reason, I'm going to give Hendry a pass and assume that he is working to get Sanchez.

 

That's just being a Cubs fan. Logic and reason don't apply to us #-o

 

Is there any indication out of Pittsburgh as to what they are looking for in return? The Cubs have a decent AA 2b (Thomas) and some younger pitching Marshall, Hart, Stevens, Gaub, Parker etc. But I certainly wouldn't give up a Vitters, Castro, J. Jackson type prospect.

 

btw the Cubs could even throw in A. Miles so the Pirates would have a 2b with major league experience to finish out the year.

 

Maybe I personally value Marshall to high, but him and Vitters would definitely be off limits in a Sanchez deal for me. I'm fine with Miles/Hart/even a Hoffpauir/Fox type. Seems that Marshall has become the DeRosa of our pitching staff and I hope we don't make that mistake twice.

[SouthSideRyan]

I don't think we'd have to give up too much for Sanchez. My gut feeling is Pittsburgh just wants to dump that 8M for 2010. I don't know if we can afford to committ that much to next season though.

[Abe Frohman]

I think the Cubs have the pieces to be a better team, they just don't use them because of salaries/contracts. Jake Fox and Micah Hoffpauier should be playing every day on this team. More Reed Johnson wouldn't hurt either.

 

Stick Soriano on 2B. Maximize the offense. Can he hurt us more at 2B than in LF? Possibly, but whatever.

[inari]

The bullpen sure has looked shaky the last two games. Much moreso than our extremely talented, balanced offense.

 

Writing in green is one thing, but that is simply unreadable.

[dew1679666265]

I think the Cubs have the pieces to be a better team, they just don't use them because of salaries/contracts. Jake Fox and Micah Hoffpauier should be playing every day on this team. More Reed Johnson wouldn't hurt either.

 

Stick Soriano on 2B. Maximize the offense. Can he hurt us more at 2B than in LF? Possibly, but whatever.

 

Hoff is in the right role now. His OBP isn't good enough to warrant playing him everyday, but he's good as a power hitter off the bench. Reed Johnson has never been able to hit right handed pitchers and Fukudome has been much better recently. Reed's fine playing against lefties.

 

I wouldn't be against more Jake Fox, though.

[Clem Fandango]

I think the Cubs have the pieces to be a better team, they just don't use them because of salaries/contracts. Jake Fox and Micah Hoffpauier should be playing every day on this team. More Reed Johnson wouldn't hurt either.

 

Stick Soriano on 2B. Maximize the offense. Can he hurt us more at 2B than in LF? Possibly, but whatever.

 

Hoffpauir has no business in the lineup every day with his .286 OBP. Unless regular AB's will make him play like he did last year, I don't see a reason to play him every day. Fox, yes. Hoffpauir, no. We need Fox in there daily.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Pople seem to think that we dont have what it takes to get Sanchez, but when dealing with a team like the Pirates, they're going to value lowerlevel prospects, so I bet if we were willing to part with something like Tony Thomas/Wellington Castillo and one of our A or AA pitching prospects and then maybe kick them some kind of major league ready spare part like Sam Fuld, Kevin Hart or even Fontenot as a throw in, that could get the deal done.

[Clem Fandango]

Pople seem to think that we dont have what it takes to get Sanchez, but when dealing with a team like the Pirates, they're going to value lowerlevel prospects, so I bet if we were willing to part with something like Tony Thomas/Wellington Castillo and one of our A or AA pitching prospects and then maybe kick them some kind of major league ready spare part like Sam Fuld, Kevin Hart or even Fontenot as a throw in, that could get the deal done.

 

Littlefield doesn't work for the Pirates anymore... he works for us

[dew1679666265]

Pople seem to think that we dont have what it takes to get Sanchez, but when dealing with a team like the Pirates, they're going to value lowerlevel prospects, so I bet if we were willing to part with something like Tony Thomas/Wellington Castillo and one of our A or AA pitching prospects and then maybe kick them some kind of major league ready spare part like Sam Fuld, Kevin Hart or even Fontenot as a throw in, that could get the deal done.

 

There's no question we have more than enough prospects to get Sanchez. The questions are whether they Pirates will ask for too much and whether or not we have the money to bring in Sanchez.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Pople seem to think that we dont have what it takes to get Sanchez, but when dealing with a team like the Pirates, they're going to value lowerlevel prospects, so I bet if we were willing to part with something like Tony Thomas/Wellington Castillo and one of our A or AA pitching prospects and then maybe kick them some kind of major league ready spare part like Sam Fuld, Kevin Hart or even Fontenot as a throw in, that could get the deal done.

 

There's no question we have more than enough prospects to get Sanchez. The questions are whether they Pirates will ask for too much and whether or not we have the money to bring in Sanchez.

 

Jusging by the Pirates recent deals over the past few years, when they move a player, theyre not looking to piledge the other teams farm system, they're looking to dump some salary or move a guy whose not in their futur plans and get what they feel is a fair return.

[Cubbie Swagger]

I think I would rather see Fox play every day than trade for a bat. I'd play Fonz at second because he can't possibly cost us more runs there than in left. And if he was really that bad there, we can always move him back. I would probably start trying it like, nowish. That way we have time before the deadline to see how it works and decide if we need another bat or not.

 

Fuku - CF

Theriot - SS

Lee - 1B

Ramirez - 3B

Fox - LF

Soriano - 2B

Bradley - RF

Soto - C

 

On paper, that's pretty unstoppable. No real holes to speak of.

[dew1679666265]

Pople seem to think that we dont have what it takes to get Sanchez, but when dealing with a team like the Pirates, they're going to value lowerlevel prospects, so I bet if we were willing to part with something like Tony Thomas/Wellington Castillo and one of our A or AA pitching prospects and then maybe kick them some kind of major league ready spare part like Sam Fuld, Kevin Hart or even Fontenot as a throw in, that could get the deal done.

 

There's no question we have more than enough prospects to get Sanchez. The questions are whether they Pirates will ask for too much and whether or not we have the money to bring in Sanchez.

 

Jusging by the Pirates recent deals over the past few years, when they move a player, theyre not looking to piledge the other teams farm system, they're looking to dump some salary or move a guy whose not in their futur plans and get what they feel is a fair return.

 

The biggest question I have about a potential Sanchez deal is what their plans are for Sanchez. They seem to want to keep him around, which would lead me to believe they'll look for more than just salary-dump type prospects. But if he isn't in their future plans (which would make more sense), then he should come cheaper prospect-wise.

 

That doesn't do anything for whether we can afford him monetarily, though.

[Little Slide Rooter]

I think I would rather see Fox play every day than trade for a bat. I'd play Fonz at second because he can't possibly cost us more runs there than in left. And if he was really that bad there, we can always move him back. I would probably start trying it like, nowish. That way we have time before the deadline to see how it works and decide if we need another bat or not.

 

Fuku - CF

Theriot - SS

Lee - 1B

Ramirez - 3B

Fox - LF

Soriano - 2B

Bradley - RF

Soto - C

 

On paper, that's pretty unstoppable. No real holes to speak of.

 

As long as defense doesnt count as a hole. As bad as Soriano is in the outfield, hed be 10X worse at 2nd. If it was going to happen, it would have hapened a while ago.

[dew1679666265]

I think I would rather see Fox play every day than trade for a bat. I'd play Fonz at second because he can't possibly cost us more runs there than in left. And if he was really that bad there, we can always move him back. I would probably start trying it like, nowish. That way we have time before the deadline to see how it works and decide if we need another bat or not.

 

Fuku - CF

Theriot - SS

Lee - 1B

Ramirez - 3B

Fox - LF

Soriano - 2B

Bradley - RF

Soto - C

 

On paper, that's pretty unstoppable. No real holes to speak of.

 

I know there are some who question UZR, but here's what it has to say about Soriano in LF and at 2B.

 

career UZR/150 at 2B: -10.2

career UZR/150 in LF: 6.7

 

Also consider that he hasn't played second base significantly since 2005.

[TruffleShuffle]

yeah soriano blew defensively at 2b, and that was when he was young and before the injury problems. he'd be awful there right now, probably a -25 or something.

[Cubbie Swagger]

As long as defense doesnt count as a hole. As bad as Soriano is in the outfield, hed be 10X worse at 2nd. If it was going to happen, it would have hapened a while ago.

I know there are some who question UZR, but here's what it has to say about Soriano in LF and at 2B.

 

career UZR/150 at 2B: -10.2

career UZR/150 in LF: 6.7

 

Also consider that he hasn't played second base significantly since 2005.

yeah soriano blew defensively at 2b, and that was when he was young and before the injury problems. he'd be awful there right now, probably a -25 or something.

I know that it's not going to happen, and I know that Soriano is a horrible second baseman. I guess what I'm saying is that we need offense so bad, I would almost entirely disregard defense.

[dew1679666265]

As long as defense doesnt count as a hole. As bad as Soriano is in the outfield, hed be 10X worse at 2nd. If it was going to happen, it would have hapened a while ago.

I know there are some who question UZR, but here's what it has to say about Soriano in LF and at 2B.

 

career UZR/150 at 2B: -10.2

career UZR/150 in LF: 6.7

 

Also consider that he hasn't played second base significantly since 2005.

yeah soriano blew defensively at 2b, and that was when he was young and before the injury problems. he'd be awful there right now, probably a -25 or something.

I know that it's not going to happen, and I know that Soriano is a horrible second baseman. I guess what I'm saying is that we need offense so bad, I would almost entirely disregard defense.

 

It's possible that the offensive gain would be watered down by the defensive miscues.

[Cubbie Swagger]

It's possible that the offensive gain would be watered down by the defensive miscues.

Possible, but not certain. I'm just saying I would try it, if anything, just to eliminate it as a possibility. It's not like it would cause us to lose games that we would have otherwise won. The team we're sending out there right now isn't gonna be doing any winning anytime soon.