Build the 2010 Cubs

[daske17]

Would it be worth it to sign DeRosa again?

[Derwood]

Would it be worth it to sign DeRosa again?

 

I wouldn't.

[mul21]

Would it be worth it to sign DeRosa again?

 

I wouldn't.

 

Agreed. Too much will be unknown after the surgery he's going to have to have after the season. Not to mention the fact that he hasn't been very good this year outside of the power numbers.

[Derwood]

Would it be worth it to sign DeRosa again?

 

I wouldn't.

 

Agreed. Too much will be unknown after the surgery he's going to have to have after the season. Not to mention the fact that he hasn't been very good this year outside of the power numbers.

 

not to mention he'll be, what, 36?

[A-Cal]

it would have been worth it for Derosa to play with the Cubs in 2009...since that opportunity never came to fruition I wouldn't entertain a re-sign.

[Soonernation]

Let Grabow walk.. hoping he's a type B so we can get away with offering arbitration. Offer arby to Harden and Gregg regardless.

 

Focus in on Stephen Drew and Orlando Hudson... I'd be willing to give up Theriot+ in a trade for Drew if Hudson was willing to sign a decent contract.

 

More thoughts as I get them.

 

 

We could have had Hudson this off-season instead of Miles; why would u think we would go after him next season?

[XZero771679666304]

it would have been worth it for Derosa to play with the Cubs in 2009...since that opportunity never came to fruition I wouldn't entertain a re-sign.

 

Someone is going to pay Mark more than he's worth. I would have loved to have him as a Cub in 2009, but it's just not going to be worth it going forward.

[Rob]

Let Grabow walk.. hoping he's a type B so we can get away with offering arbitration. Offer arby to Harden and Gregg regardless.

 

Focus in on Stephen Drew and Orlando Hudson... I'd be willing to give up Theriot+ in a trade for Drew if Hudson was willing to sign a decent contract.

 

More thoughts as I get them.

 

 

We could have had Hudson this off-season instead of Miles; why would u think we would go after him next season?

 

That is a gross oversimplification...

 

We weren't looking for a starting 2B this offseason. We were looking for a platoon partner / veteran backup for Fontenot... a player that the Cubs likely no longer feel capable of being an average starting 2B. Furthermore, at the time that we signed Miles, Hudson was still looking for a completely ridiculous multi-year contract. One can rest assured his contract demands will be more much reasonable this coming offseason after he was forced to take a hugely incentive-laden one year deal for very little.

 

And that's to say nothing of the fact that the basis of this thread is to create our 2010 Cubs... not take a guess at what Hendry will do.

[UMFan83]

Let Grabow walk.. hoping he's a type B so we can get away with offering arbitration. Offer arby to Harden and Gregg regardless.

 

Focus in on Stephen Drew and Orlando Hudson... I'd be willing to give up Theriot+ in a trade for Drew if Hudson was willing to sign a decent contract.

 

More thoughts as I get them.

 

 

We could have had Hudson this off-season instead of Miles; why would u think we would go after him next season?

 

That is a gross oversimplification...

 

We weren't looking for a starting 2B this offseason. We were looking for a platoon partner / veteran backup for Fontenot... a player that the Cubs likely no longer feel capable of being an average starting 2B. Furthermore, at the time that we signed Miles, Hudson was still looking for a completely ridiculous multi-year contract. One can rest assured his contract demands will be more much reasonable this coming offseason after he was forced to take a hugely incentive-laden one year deal for very little.

 

And that's to say nothing of the fact that the basis of this thread is to create our 2010 Cubs... not take a guess at what Hendry will do.

 

Agreed. I didn't have a huge problem letting Fontenot get a shot at the starting 2B job. It was giving MIles 2/5 instead of getting some AAA filler that could have given similar stats that pissed me off.

[bcl412]

I saw some people say that their no. 1 priority is to revamp the bullpen. That's fine and dandy, but to me that seems like it is a moderate crap shoot. You don't want to spend to much on relievers and even if you do that relievers never seem to be consistant from year to year. It just seems too risky to only focus on that.

 

I'd like to see what we can do with this offense. We have a lot of aging players who are declining. I'm not sure who we would sign, or if it even would be an option though.

[Little Slide Rooter]

-I know this is thinking ahead of ourselves, more for the 2011 season, but if next year, Jake Fox doesnt look like he'll be able to be a full time 1st baseman, correct me if Im wrong, but both Prince Fielder and Adam Dunn will be free agents in 2011.

 

-what are the chances that we can make a trade for Halladay in the offseason? It will cost a lot for a guy with 1 year left on his contract, but it would be worth it.

[17 Seconds]

i predict that jim hendry blows most of his spending money on jarrod washburn

[Little Slide Rooter]

I wonder if theres any chance that the Rangers would want to move Michael Young.

[17 Seconds]

I want no part of that contract. It's atrocious

[GTAG]

I like the idea of Orlando Hudson. A)He is a free agent so it will not cost us any talent. B)He is a switch hitter so he can bat lefty, which should make Lou and Jimbo happy. I am not sure how "scrappy" he is though... can anyone help me on that? :D) Any guesses what he would want in terms of a contract?

[shnsajax]

I like the idea of Orlando Hudson. A)He is a free agent so it will not cost us any talent. B)He is a switch hitter so he can bat lefty, which should make Lou and Jimbo happy. I am not sure how "scrappy" he is though... can anyone help me on that? :D) Any guesses what he would want in terms of a contract?

 

He should be offered arbitration so he will cost us draft picks. Still though I would sign him.

[cbbryan]

I like the Orlando Hudson ideas. I really thought the Cubs should have gone after him, but I know he wanted a big deal that never came.

 

One other thing I'd do:

 

Sign Mark Prior to a minor league deal w/ MLB incentives if he's in the top 5 Cy Young voting.

[chuckywang]

Get someone who can play SS and move Theriot to 2nd. Find some idiot to take Miles.

 

What if nobody takes Miles?

[chuckywang]

I want no part of that contract. It's atrocious

 

It's a huge contract but he's worth every penny.

[XZero771679666304]

I want no part of that contract. It's atrocious

 

It's a huge contract but he's worth every penny.

 

Not really. He is 32, and his splits are heavily weighted toward home. He's having a great year this year, but his numbers in 2007 and 2008 were decidedly poor for someone getting paid like he is. He also is particularly bad in day games.

[wvcbxl]

Get someone who can play SS and move Theriot to 2nd. Find some idiot to take Miles.

 

What if nobody takes Miles?

 

Send him to play for the French Cubs at Chartres (yes, there is such a team)

[toonsterwu]

Reality is, most of the roster is set in place.

 

SP - The only question is Harden. If I had to take a guess, right now, I'd guess he walks, and that the Cubs try Gorzelanny/Marshall/Caridad/cheap vets/and others for the 5th spot. Harden could be the most dominant pitcher on the Cubs, but his health and durability lessen his overall value through the course of a season, and with the payroll already stretched, while I'd love to keep Harden, I could see him gone.

 

Bullpen - Well, this one is a bit harder to figure. Letting Gregg go, who has done better than I expected (which isn't saying much) means finding another late inning arm. There's no way you can trust Carlos Marmol right now. Angel Guzman is nice, but you need more.

 

Now, one thing I hope we don't do is spend on middle relievers. Let guys like Blake Parker, John Gaub, Jeremy Papelbon, Alessandro Maestri (all 4 Rule 5 eligible), and others compete for spots. Focus on a late inning arm.

 

One thing I'm not against is the Papelbon/Chamberlain plan for some of our top arms (Jackson/Cashner/Carpenter). Keep in mind that Papelbon was expected to transition back to starter. It has to be done correctly, though, and the innings likely would need to be watched. I also wouldn't want them in the bigs to start the year.

 

Actually, one plan should be to shelve the Samardzija "work on all your pitches" plan and have him focus on one secondary pitch and to go out and zip the balls as a pen arm. Go out and make a gamble, say, a Billy Wagner or someone.

 

Lineup - C/1st/SS/3rd/RF/CF/LF are all pretty much set for starting spots as of now. I don't think anyone will want Bradley that badly, and Fukudome's been playing so well of late. 2nd base is open. Baker hasn't been bad, and Fontenot has shown signs of life, but here's the one place that the Cubs could try to pursue some sort of upgrade, particularly if the guy can hit at the top of the order. I can live with Baker/Fontenot (and I think I'd love to see Baker get a full-go of it at 2nd base), but it is a spot that could be upgrade.

 

Bench wise - I think Koyie has done enough to come back, putting the Cubs in a tough situation at catcher where they might end up having 4 on the 40 man (with Clevenger/Castillo). Will be an interesting decision. The beauty of having Baker is that it helps alleviate the massive numbers of MI's we tend to carry. I gotta imagine Jake Fox has earned a role for next year as an extra starter of sorts, playing 1st/3rd/RF/LF. I'd love to see a lefty power bat off the bench.

 

Short of it is ... I'm not expecting a huge offseason.

 

Oh ... that was my realistic build. Um ... the unrealistic one would be crazy.

[Little Slide Rooter]

In all seriousness, they need to make improvements this off season. If this is 2004, I realy dont want to sit through 2005 and 2006 all over again. I dont think I can take it. Say to hell with it and make a move for Roy Halladay.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Get someone who can play SS and move Theriot to 2nd. Find some idiot to take Miles.

 

What if nobody takes Miles?

Why wouldnt anyone take Miles? hes a switch hitter who can play multiple infield positions. Thats why Hendry had to jump on him early before the Yankees, Red Sox, and Mets started offering him 6 year deals.

[toonsterwu]

In regards to the MI situation, I think we're living with Theriot for the Piniella era, with the hopes of Castro being ready to take over in the near future.

 

In regards to a big splash, my question would be ... I think Hendry wants to, but does he have the money? I obviously have no clue, but it's tough to imagine the payroll getting bigger. If not, then it's going to take some creative movement to clear up money to make the big splash, but the problem is that there isn't an easily movable contract like there was with Mark DeRosa. Beyond which, the only place that big splash might happen is in the rotation, as I can't see where they open up a spot positionally that would allow for a big splash (we could certainly go after an Orlando Hudson, as some people are clamoring for, but I wouldn't consider that big splash).

 

If we have the money, I think we'd probably investigate Halladay depending on how the core of the team finishes.