Getting more athletic? Some offseason needs and predictions

[davell]

Since it appears as if this will be the offseason theme, lets look at our needs and what is out there.

 

Needs include a SP, 2B and/or SS, possibly a veteran C and possibly a RFer(since Hendry may be hell-bent on getting Bradley out of town for all we know)

 

Starting Pitching- Do we keep Harden? I'd be OK with it, as long as we get him on a 2 year deal with options, or something like that. Very incentive laden with less guarantees. On the other hand, getting picks for him and letting him walk is attractive as well, especially if we wind up outside the top 15 and lose our 1st by signing a type A ourselves.

 

Lackey, Bedard, and possibly Hudson would seem to be the top 3 guys on the market, along with Harden. We'd really have to pay up for Lackey. Hudson could probably be had for a shorter term deal and Bedard is pretty much in the same boat as Harden. To me, a perfect world would be to let Harden walk, take his picks we get for him, and sign Bedard if we finish with a protected pick.

 

2B and or SS are definitely needs. I love the idea of trying to pry Reyes from the Mets, but obviously that's not going to be easy. Some other options include Hudson, who won't be signing a one year deal this time around, Felipe Lopez, Figgins, Polanco, DeRosa, Iwamura, Tejada, and Scutaro. Lopez is someone I like a little bit and would fit the "athletic" label. I really see value in Iwamura personally, but more as a super-sub type. We may already have found our guy like that in Baker as it is. That would kind of eliminate Polanco and Scutaro as well. I'd be fine with Figgins if it weren't for the fact I see him getting a larger contract than Pierre got from the Dodgers a few years ago. What about Tejada? He certainly won't get a longterm deal this go around, but 2-3 years? Would give us another middle of the order type and could allow us to move Milton to 2 fulltime, assuming we keep him. But, it doesn't get us the speedy leadoff hitter Jimbo is going to inevitably look for.

 

As far as our catching situation goes, I hope we go into next year with Soto as our starter. We can even keep Hill as far as I'm concerned and if the need arises, we can trade for a catcher during the year. But, I'm very afraid this is where Jim will waste money this offseason. Would Hendry go after Bengie Molina? I could see him doing that possibly. Not sure San Fran will be willing to let him leave anyway, but we have much more pressing needs. More likely, I see Hendry going out and signing a Barajas type.

 

Lastly, we have the OF issue with Milton. I hope we keep him personally, because I see no value in trading him. We'll have to pay money to get rid of him and we wouldn't get much in return either. Still, Hendry could go ahead and do something like this. Anyway, if we got rid of him, Carl Crawford would be my top choice. Seeing Tampa get rid of Kazmir though, makes me think they are now hell-bent on keeping Carl now. Still, he'd be the guy I go after hard, if Milton is shipped out and he obviously would give us the speed we supposedly want(Reyes would too obviously)

 

Not much speed on the free agency market but other options would be Vlad, Abreu(who seems to be a lock to return to the Angels) Mike Cameron, Marlon Byrd, Scott Podsednik(yuck and I could see Hendry going after him) Damon(who won't be leaving New York) and Holliday, who we won't have the money to go after most likely anyway. Some of these guys would make us put Fukudome back in RF obviously, which I don't have an issue with, othe than I like his production more from CF than on a corner OF spot.

 

My predictions: We let Harden walk, getting the picks. We entertain Lackey, but don't get him. We sign Bedard to replace him. We flirt with Reyes all offseason but can't get the Mets to pull the trigger. We lose out(luckily) on Figgins and sign Lopez. We sign Barajas or some other fringy starter catcher. And we trade Bradley for jack squat, eating about half his contract in the process. Then, to top that off, we sign Podsednik to be our leadoff hitter. Offseason over and Hendry is gone by 2011.

[BCVM22]

Vlad would not be a good option for an NL team. He's played all of two games in right field this season and that's not by accident. He is to the outfield what Ji

 

Jim Thome is to first base.

 

I also don't feel the Cubs need another catcher. They aren't going to give up on Geo after one lost season (nor should they) and Hill is more than adequate as a cheap, capable backup. Why pay a few million to a Barajas or a Molina or a Zaun?

 

And yes, I nominate Jose Reyes as the 2009-2010 offseason's Brian Roberts/Jake Peavy.

[Post Count Padder]

Vlad would not be a good option for an NL team. He's played all of two games in right field this season and that's not by accident. He is to the outfield what Ji

 

Jim Thome is to first base.

 

I also don't feel the Cubs need another catcher. They aren't going to give up on Geo after one lost season (nor should they) and Hill is more than adequate as a cheap, capable backup. Why pay a few million to a Barajas or a Molina or a Zaun?

 

And yes, I nominate Jose Reyes as the 2009-2010 offseason's Brian Roberts/Jake Peavy.

Nice reference to The Dugout. I miss that site.

 

Yeah, I think Hill has been passable enough this season to warrant being the backup next year too. No reason to waste money on another catcher.

[Moon Rock]

Nice reference to The Dugout. I miss that site.

I think they still post on AOL Fanhouse but it isn't the same.

[Roast]

Nice reference to The Dugout. I miss that site.

I think they still post on AOL Fanhouse but it isn't the same.

Yeah, they had to cut out most of the over-the-top inappropriate language.

[questionmarkgrace]

Signing O-dog would be the typical cubs thing to do. We could have/should have signed him this year. Now he is close to career numbers and next year he will get a multiyear deal from any team. I'm going to go out on a limb and say next year he will regress and or be often injured.

 

lets trade for a younger guy & get someone cheap and in their prime for once.

[RedFlash]

Well.............does Chone Figgins count? Cause he's IMO will be this offseason's "Milton Bradley's". If given the money, I think Hendry is going to focus all his energy into signing Figgins.

[davell]

Like I said, I don't WANT us to sign a C, but it's likely to be another misallocation of money by Hendry. Probably won't be more than a mill or two, but it adds up as we all have found out.

 

Figgins will get talked about ad nauseum this offseason and if Hendry can ake it work inside whatever budget he is given, I'm sure he'll try his damndest. Does anyone here want to see Figgins as a Cub at 4-56 or something like that? Because with the amount of teams that will have interest, that's my thinking on what he'll get. Way too much for my thinking anyway.

[toonsterwu]

Well.............does Chone Figgins count? Cause he's IMO will be this offseason's "Milton Bradley's". If given the money, I think Hendry is going to focus all his energy into signing Figgins.

 

I think you are probably right. If he has the flexibility, I think he'll go for Figgins at 2nd as leadoff, and move Baker to a supersub role, giving us two supersub righties (Baker/Fox). There are some that feel Figgins will age well, but I'd be wary of giving him more than 3 years. Heck, don't love the idea of Figgins getting 3 years either.

[Vanilla Ice]

I don't think we'll have the money to do much except sign a backup or two

[davell]

I don't think we'll have the money to do much except sign a backup or two

 

If that's the case, fire Rothschild and hire Duncan. Hell, do that anyway.

[Tarver]

Like I said, I don't WANT us to sign a C, but it's likely to be another misallocation of money by Hendry. Probably won't be more than a mill or two, but it adds up as we all have found out.

 

Figgins will get talked about ad nauseum this offseason and if Hendry can ake it work inside whatever budget he is given, I'm sure he'll try his damndest. Does anyone here want to see Figgins as a Cub at 4-56 or something like that? Because with the amount of teams that will have interest, that's my thinking on what he'll get. Way too much for my thinking anyway.

 

No way Figgins comes even close to getting that much.

[Backtobanks]

Like I said, I don't WANT us to sign a C, but it's likely to be another misallocation of money by Hendry. Probably won't be more than a mill or two, but it adds up as we all have found out.

 

Figgins will get talked about ad nauseum this offseason and if Hendry can ake it work inside whatever budget he is given, I'm sure he'll try his damndest. Does anyone here want to see Figgins as a Cub at 4-56 or something like that? Because with the amount of teams that will have interest, that's my thinking on what he'll get. Way too much for my thinking anyway.

 

No way Figgins comes even close to getting that much.

 

He may not get that much, but there will be a lot of teams bidding for him. Figgins is going to cost too much in $ and Reyes will cost too much in terms of players.

[muntjack]

Someone please convince me that Jose Reyes is worth all that it would take to acquire him. He has a leg injury, makes $9 million next year and has a .772 career OPS.

[Tarver]

As has been countlessy reiterated, Reyes Career line is dragged down by his rookie and sophomore seasons, when he was 20 years old.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Someone please convince me that Jose Reyes is worth all that it would take to acquire him. He has a leg injury, makes $9 million next year and has a .772 career OPS.

 

~.815 OPS for the 3 years prior to his injury plus 60 steals and good defense at the most important defensive position. He's 26 years old, and he'll be cheaper in player cost because of his injury, potential free agency, and unrest from his current team after their disastrous season. Even if he only puts up a .770 OPS(please stop quoting his career numbers that equally weight his struggles at age 20-22), he's still extremely valuable with his steals and defense.

[muntjack]

He had 681 AB in 2007 and he put up a .775 OPS.

 

He had a .750 OPS this year before going on the DL.

 

He has never put up an .850 OPS and he has a leg injury.

 

He is not a superstar, yet he is likely going to command the return that a superstar would.

[Ryno is God 23]

Reyes OPS by year....

 

03 - .767

04 - .644

05 - .687

06 - .841

07 - .775

08 - .833

[muntjack]

What kind of package would you be willing to give up?

[Transmogrified Tiger]

He had 681 AB in 2007 and he put up a .775 OPS.

 

He had a .750 OPS this year before going on the DL.

 

He has never put up an .850 OPS and he has a leg injury.

 

He is not a superstar, yet he is likely going to command the return that a superstar would.

 

He's a shortstop, when you OPS around .800 and steal SIXTY bases a year with good defense at SS, you're a superstar. And like I mentioned, there are reasons to believe he wouldn't have an enormous player cost.

[Tarver]

Like I said, I don't WANT us to sign a C, but it's likely to be another misallocation of money by Hendry. Probably won't be more than a mill or two, but it adds up as we all have found out.

 

Figgins will get talked about ad nauseum this offseason and if Hendry can ake it work inside whatever budget he is given, I'm sure he'll try his damndest. Does anyone here want to see Figgins as a Cub at 4-56 or something like that? Because with the amount of teams that will have interest, that's my thinking on what he'll get. Way too much for my thinking anyway.

 

No way Figgins comes even close to getting that much.

 

He may not get that much, but there will be a lot of teams bidding for him. Figgins is going to cost too much in $ and Reyes will cost too much in terms of players.

 

3/$27 is too much. $14 million a year is absurd. He wouldn't have received that much in the '06 offseason.

[muntjack]

He had 681 AB in 2007 and he put up a .775 OPS.

 

He had a .750 OPS this year before going on the DL.

 

He has never put up an .850 OPS and he has a leg injury.

 

He is not a superstar, yet he is likely going to command the return that a superstar would.

 

He's a shortstop, when you OPS around .800 and steal SIXTY bases a year with good defense at SS, you're a superstar. And like I mentioned, there are reasons to believe he wouldn't have an enormous player cost.

 

 

Do you think the leg injury will hamper him on the basepaths? What kind of package do you think it would take?

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Do you think the leg injury will hamper him on the basepaths? What kind of package do you think it would take?

 

That's obviously something they want to check out before hand with doctors and specialist and such, but since he had the surgery done I think he'll get back to 100%, especially considering his age.

 

As far as package goes, that depends on the Mets. I doubt that Minaya tries to sell him off for strictly non-major leaguers, so you could see guys like Lilly, Dempster, Bradley, or obviously Theriot involved, and prospects above A ball like Cashner, Jackson, and Castro could be included as well. Personally, I'd try to sell high with Lilly and see if he and Theriot could get us most of the way to Reyes.

[Backtobanks]

Do you think the leg injury will hamper him on the basepaths? What kind of package do you think it would take?

 

That's obviously something they want to check out before hand with doctors and specialist and such, but since he had the surgery done I think he'll get back to 100%, especially considering his age.

 

As far as package goes, that depends on the Mets. I doubt that Minaya tries to sell him off for strictly non-major leaguers, so you could see guys like Lilly, Dempster, Bradley, or obviously Theriot involved, and prospects above A ball like Cashner, Jackson, and Castro could be included as well. Personally, I'd try to sell high with Lilly and see if he and Theriot could get us most of the way to Reyes.

 

Great so we upgrade at SS, lose our most consistent pitcher, send some very good prospects, and still don't have a 2B. If we don't re-sign Harden and trade Lilly, there goes our rotation strength.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Do you think the leg injury will hamper him on the basepaths? What kind of package do you think it would take?

 

That's obviously something they want to check out before hand with doctors and specialist and such, but since he had the surgery done I think he'll get back to 100%, especially considering his age.

 

As far as package goes, that depends on the Mets. I doubt that Minaya tries to sell him off for strictly non-major leaguers, so you could see guys like Lilly, Dempster, Bradley, or obviously Theriot involved, and prospects above A ball like Cashner, Jackson, and Castro could be included as well. Personally, I'd try to sell high with Lilly and see if he and Theriot could get us most of the way to Reyes.

 

Great so we upgrade at SS, lose our most consistent pitcher, send some very good prospects, and still don't have a 2B. If we don't re-sign Harden and trade Lilly, there goes our rotation strength.

 

 

Moves aren't made in a vacuum. Something like a Reyes deal wouldn't go down until well after the arbitration deadline, when there's a much better idea of what Harden's future is with the Cubs. And I didn't say Lilly/Theriot/multiple top prospects for Reyes. I said to see if Lilly and Theriot gets us most of the way to Reyes, where you only need to add someone like Casey Coleman. And yes, to upgrade from Theriot to Reyes, I would gladly weaken the rotation by giving up Lilly and his potential free agency.