Lou: Gregg is no longer the closer

[C.C.]

I'm glad I went to bed last night and missed the 9th. I won't even watch the highlights.

[Pushfrog98]

I'm pretty surprised that he went through with this.

 

Too little, too late.

 

He hasn't actually gone through with anything yet. Lou declares lots of plans right after games, and probably less then half of them are carried through, and the rest probably last a game or two. I fully expect Gregg to pitch in normal closing save situations in the relatively near future.

I mostly agree with you, but he did finally take Soriano out of the lead-off spot. Granted it was about 2 seasons later than he should have been taken out.

 

It wasn't 2 seasons too late because Soriano was very good the last 2 seasons. He was moved because he wasn't producing this season, not because of some ancient belief in what a leadoff hitter should be.

I personally would have liked Soriano to have been a middle of the lineup guy from the get go, but at the same time, I can see arguments for him leading off when he was being productive.

[Prizefight]

I'm going to go on record as saying I want Marmol as the closer. If, and I know that's a big if, he can get the control of the previous years, he is potentially a top three closer in baseball for many years to come.

 

Guzman is solid/steady and would love to see him in the 8th.

[kujay]

I'm going to go on record as saying I want Marmol as the closer. If, and I know that's a big if, he can get the control of the previous years, he is potentially a top three closer in baseball for many years to come.

 

Guzman is solid/steady and would love to see him in the 8th.

 

Agreed. It's better to run Marmol out there to play out the string than burn through Guzman's confidence.

[Lefty]

frankly i'm ready to give up on this season so i'd leave gregg in that role, hope he piles up a bunch of pointless saves and then hope he signs with a team and gives us two early picks in next year's draft. i don't really expect the cubs to operate with that mindset though.

 

Are you kidding? We would have to offer him arbitration and he might take it. Not worth the risk. My concern is that Hendry goes out and gets a "proven" closer further hamstringing our budget.

[hardcorecubfan]

let's be honest..... it's a huge surprise that he even made it this long.

 

Complete agreement!! What is sad is that the Cubs never generated any excitement this year. I hope they can prove me wrong.

[Little Slide Rooter]

As for Gregg, Im not kidding when I say just put him through waivers. If hes not the closer, theres really no point on him being on the team, and Id just assume go Grabow/Marshall-Marmol-Guzman as the end game, and have someone like Berg, Gaub, or Stevens who could actually be a part of the teams future take Greggs pen spot.

 

The problem with waiving Gregg and losing him now is that we can offer him arbitration after the year and, perhaps, get a pick or two for him. Even if he ends up as a Type B, we'd get a sandwich pick for him. That's better than putting him on waivers.

 

And what if he accepts the arb and were stuck with him again?

[twothousandfive]

If Gregg is no longer "the closer" then that should mean Piniella has decided he isn't the second best pitcher in the bullpen. The thing about the closer just muddies everything, but the best relief pitcher should be available from anytime after the fifth inning in a key situation -- one that calls for the best pitcher available -- things like up by one run with one on and one out.

 

It just so happened that last night, the ninth was a tight situation, and Gregg made it even tighter. because he's the ninth inning guy, he ot the call, but the ninth inning guy is more often going to be asked to enter with a bigger lead than last night.

 

Building a good bullpen, especially cost-effectively, is one of the toughest things in baseball. largely it is because the bullpen guys are lesser talents than starters, and because small sample sizes and short stints tend to reduce the ability of good and bad performances to normalize. Michael Wuertz, Will Ohman, Scott Eyre help highlight that, and so do Marmol and Gregg.

 

The Cubs should give Guzman a chance to "close" only because it seems to be a small factor in potentially increasing a pitcher's trade value. Then they should plan to offer Gregg arb and if he accepts, they start next year with Marmol, Guzman and Gregg all in the bullpen. When a contender needs a reliever, make Gregg available. It'll probably cost them $5-$6 million o have him pitch 2/3 of the season next year, but then they get a prospect of sorts -- and he's still a better than replacement level pitcher.

[Outshined_One]

I'd rather have Guzman for high leverage situations than at closer. He's best used as a fireman.

 

Marshall at closer isn't a bad idea, though.

 

And what if he accepts the arb and were stuck with him again?

 

Offer him a one year deal with a team option for a second year and use him as a setup man. If he walks away from that, oh well.

[UK1679666180]

Guzman-Closer

Marmol-Set-up

Grabow- 7th inning/late situational lefty

Marshall-situational lefty

Heilman-who cares

Gregg-who cares

Caridad-long relief/garbage time.

[jersey cubs fan]

frankly i'm ready to give up on this season so i'd leave gregg in that role, hope he piles up a bunch of pointless saves and then hope he signs with a team and gives us two early picks in next year's draft. i don't really expect the cubs to operate with that mindset though.

 

Are you kidding? We would have to offer him arbitration and he might take it. Not worth the risk. My concern is that Hendry goes out and gets a "proven" closer further hamstringing our budget.

 

You can pretty much guarantee they are going to throw $4-8m at somebody to be the closer. They may have gone away from giving 3year deals to middle relievers, and they may have made the prudent decision not to give Wood a longterm deal, but they still couldn't break from the mentality of needing a proven closer. And those guys aren't cheap. I'd rather Gregg accept arbitration, than have the team sign somebody else's free agent, thus losing their own picks, or trading for another guy.

 

Although ideally he would sign elsewhere and they'd go with internal options.

[nick23]

Does it really matter who the closer is? The offense is pathetic. We've waited all season for it to come around and it's just not happening. If we can't score more than 1 run off whoever the hell that was pitching last night then we don't deserve to win.

[Little Slide Rooter]

I'd rather have Guzman for high leverage situations than at closer. He's best used as a fireman.

 

Marshall at closer isn't a bad idea, though.

 

And what if he accepts the arb and were stuck with him again?

 

Offer him a one year deal with a team option for a second year and use him as a setup man. If he walks away from that, oh well.

 

Problem is, even if we do that, Id rather Marmol/Guzman as setup and go out and get a closer. That should be our main focus this offseason. He wont walk, because hes not dumb enough to think that any team will give up 2 draft picks for him.

[Outshined_One]

Problem is, even if we do that, Id rather Marmol/Guzman as setup and go out and get a closer. That should be our main focus this offseason. He wont walk, because hes not dumb enough to think that any team will give up 2 draft picks for him.

 

That's not the way draft compensation works.

 

Link

 

Rated free agents who are offered arbitration by their former clubs yield compensation draft picks when they sign major league contracts with new teams. A club losing a Type A free agent (rated in the top 20 percent at his position, as determined by a statistical rating compiled by the Elias Sports Bureau) gets the signing team's first-round pick as well as a supplemental first-rounder. Choices in the top half of the first round are protected, so if the signing club picks that early, it loses its second-rounder instead. A team losing a Type B free agent (rated in the 21-40 percent bracket at his position) receives a supplemental first-round pick.

 

Teams only lose one draft pick. That's it.

[shnsajax]

Guzman-Closer

Marmol-Set-up

Grabow- 7th inning/late situational lefty

Marshall-situational lefty

Heilman-who cares

Gregg-who cares

Caridad-long relief/garbage time.

 

I still think Stevens should be up here somewhere unless they just want him to get more innings in at Iowa.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Guzman-Closer

Marmol-Set-up

Grabow- 7th inning/late situational lefty

Marshall-situational lefty

Heilman-who cares

Gregg-who cares

Caridad-long relief/garbage time.

 

I still think Stevens should be up here somewhere unless they just want him to get more innings in at Iowa.

 

For next year:

 

Closer-FA

set up-Marmol

7th inning-Guz

Pen-Grabow

Loogy-Gaub

pen-Stevens

pen-Parker/Berg/whoever

 

See what we can get in trade for Marshall. Its clear that he'll never be a starter on this team, and hes too good to be used the way he has been out of the pen.

[UK1679666180]

Guzman-Closer

Marmol-Set-up

Grabow- 7th inning/late situational lefty

Marshall-situational lefty

Heilman-who cares

Gregg-who cares

Caridad-long relief/garbage time.

 

I still think Stevens should be up here somewhere unless they just want him to get more innings in at Iowa.

 

At this point, I'd rather see Gaub and Stevens over Gregg and Heilman. I was just going based on the current 25 man roster.

[NewUserName]

1st of all gregg does suck

 

2nd...nothing exposes a bad bullpen like a poor offense

[haubrich91]

Finally. I am so tired of Gregg. Please don't re-sign him in the off-season. Just don't.

 

As for the closer now, I'd throw Marmol in there. He was supposed to be the closer of the future before he forgot how to throw strikes. I'd rather be able to use our best reliever (Guzman) in more than one inning. Him being a closer prevents that on a day to day basis.

 

It doesn't really matter though. Cardinals are printing playoff tickets already.

[UMFan83]

It doesn't really matter though. Cardinals are printing playoff tickets already.

 

There's more than one way into the playoffs.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

It doesn't really matter though. Cardinals are printing playoff tickets already.

 

There's more than one way into the playoffs.

 

The other way is probably harder at this point.

 

Depending on which BP playoff odds report you prefer, the Cubs have a 10-12 percent chance to win the division (better than I would have guessed) and a 3-7 percent chance of winning the Wild Card.

[Soul]

It doesn't really matter though. Cardinals are printing playoff tickets already.

 

There's more than one way into the playoffs.

 

The other way is probably harder at this point.

 

Depending on which BP playoff odds report you prefer, the Cubs have a 10-12 percent chance to win the division (better than I would have guessed) and a 3-7 percent chance of winning the Wild Card.

 

Not lookin' good.

[RedFlash]

 

For next year:

 

Closer-FA

set up-Marmol

7th inning-Guz

Pen-Grabow

Loogy-Gaub

pen-Stevens

pen-Parker/Berg/whoever

 

See what we can get in trade for Marshall. Its clear that he'll never be a starter on this team, and hes too good to be used the way he has been out of the pen.

 

There's not an attract FA option at closer, so my guess is the Cubs will prolly have to acquire a closer unless they think Guzman or Marmol can handle the job next yr. I'm hoping they will have Heath Bell on their short list of outside of the organization option at closer.

[DiamondMind]

Too little, too late.

[PrimeTime]

Just seen this on Fanball.com

 

According to the Twitter page of The Sports Network baseball writer Chris Ruddick, the Chicago Cubs are talking to the Mets about the pollibility of acquiring former closer Billy Wagner. Wagner is coming off Tommy John surgery, and he is expected to be activated by Friday.

 

Our View

With the recent struggles of closer Kevin Gregg and the inability of Carlos Marmol to throw strikes, Wagner would be a perfect fit in Chicago. He is a bit of an unknown at this point, but he is almost certainly a better option than Gregg. If Wagner would go to Chicago to close, he would instantly be a valuable fantasy piece and will fly off the free agent market.