Real suggestions to solve the expected OF hole

[17 Seconds]

Sometimes the best move is not making a move. This is one of those times.

 

wait, what? you mean keep bradley, or go with an in house option for rf? because that sounds terrible.

 

I'd keep Bradley.

 

A week ago I completely agreed with that plan, but that ship has sailed. He absolutely has to be moved now.

 

No he does not. Having him being a Cub next year isn't going to hurt anything. If things go well for the Cubs and Bradley, his attitude will be fine. If things don't go well for the Cubs his attitude won't be fine, but that won't matter because the Cubs are already not doing well.

 

After the quotes from him saying he deosn't want to be here, the quotes from his teammates basically informing us that they don't like him, and now the suspension, I don't see how you can possibly think keeping him around is a good idea.

 

At this point I think Milton won't stop until he's out. I honestly can't see Milton playing another game with the Cubs. i just don't see him allowing that to happen. He's going to whine and make things uglier and uglier until he gets what he wants. Actually, I think this has been his plan for a while now. It's not a surprise that as the season got closer and closer to ending, he got more and more vocal.

 

Trying to keep him around for another season just sounds like another trainwreck waiting to happen. They have to move on at this point.

[davell]

I agree that it's almost impossible to keep him around at this point. It seems like NO ONE is coming to his defense, meaning everyone must think it's time to cut bait here. Which does suck, since we'll be putting ourselves in another hole money-wise, unless Ricketts surprises and increases payroll(which I don't see, if we are truly thinking of not even offering arb to Harden)

 

Anyway, I went on Cot's to look at contracts and see who all has horrible deals out there, that could be used to help move Bradley. Not all of these make sense for us on a one on one trade obviously, but all of these deals could be used in some way, multi-team deals, or whatever. At any rate, alot of these are ugly, but my guess is if we want to deal him and not just eat his contract, one of these will be coming back towards us somehow. These are actual contracts, not including buyouts or possibly some vesting options on some.

 

Gary Matthews Jr. 2-23

Vernon Wells 5-98.5

Eric Byrnes 1-11

Aaron Rowand 3-36

Edgar Renteria 1-9

Carlos Silva 2-23

Bill Hall 1-8.4

Oliver Perez 2-24

Luis Castillo 2-12

Kevin Millwood 1-12

Jose Guillen 1-12

Gil Meche 2-24

Magglio Ordonez 1-18

Jeremy Bonderman 1-12.5

Carlos Guillen 2-26

Dontrelle Willis 1-12

Nate Robertson 1-10

Alex Rios 5-58.7

JD Drew 2-28

Brad Lidge 2-23

Juan Pierre 2-18.5

Eric Chavez 1-12

 

 

There's the role call of champions. A couple aren't really all that bad, but the majority are awful, to put it mildly.

[Rob]

JD Drew's is a horrible deal? He's been worth over $18 mil each of the last two years in Boston. That deal is actually looking like a bargain.

[davell]

JD Drew's is a horrible deal? He's been worth over $18 mil each of the last two years in Boston. That deal is actually looking like a bargain.

 

Nah, I said some weren't all that bad. I only put him on there because he'd be the ideal replacement actually. Boston would have zero interest in Bradley(who almost definitely won't be headed to a major market) but Drew seems like someone who's not untouchable and at least his contract in the same rhealm as Bradley's is. He's by far the best fit of what I listed.

[Outshined_One]

If we're looking at low budget teams who are usually willing to deal top names before they become expensive, Jason Kubel might be an option. He's due to be paid $4.1m next season and has a club option for 2011 worth $5.25m. He'd cost an arm and a leg, but the Twins might be willing to sell high on him.

[loukycub]

this idea is unoriginal and uninspiring, but i would rather eat bradley's salary and start the season with someone already in the organization and see if we can grab someone off the scrap heap in spring training. it worked with reed, why not here.

 

i would be willing to write off the next few years to get a long term option.

[ELCABALLO45]

I could see the Cubs signing Cameron and moving Fuku back to right field.

[TruffleShuffle]

what about OMC's suggestion of seth smith. he'd need a platoon partner (and that would make two OF needing platoons), but in his minor league career he hit .318/.381/.532/.913 against RHP and is at .309/.391/.524/.914 against major league righties. seems to me the rockies wouldn't demand a whole lot in return, and he'd provide cheap production against RHP.

 

Why would he need a platoon partner? He's hitting .283/.377/.547 against lefties this year. Only 62 PA's, so small sample size, but I think he'd be fine against lefties.

 

he hit .276/.360/.385/.745 in his minor league career against lefties, which really isn't good since he played in hitter's parks (modesto, tulsa, c-springs) his entire minor league career. he's been fine this year, but i suspect he'd be a lot more productive if paired with someone who hits lefties well.

 

nonetheless, i've warmed to your homer ole miss idea. now sell jim hendry on it. :D

[Backtobanks]

I read something awhile ago about Jeremy Hermida might be DFA'd this winter. He might be a cheap possibility.

[hawkeyecub]

I'm just afraid we're going to have to eat almost all of his salary and won't have any money to replace him. In which case we either stay from within or find someone undervalued.

 

We most likely won't get great offensive production from available options. Best bet may be to move Fuku to RF, go with a really good defensive CF and try to just prevent some of the runs we'll lose on the other end.

[Little Slide Rooter]

I read something awhile ago about Jeremy Hermida might be DFA'd this winter. He might be a cheap possibility.

 

I might be interested in taking a flyer on Hermida to platoon with Jake Fox, as long as he came very cheap. Hes had his share of success at Wrigley.

 

Too be honest, if I felt confident that Soriano could come back full strenght and be able to manage as a #5 hitter, Id be interested in maybe a 3 man platoon of Fox, Colvin, and Hoffpauir in RF. I really dont think it could be any worse than some of the alternate options.

[muntjack]

No proposals for Dunn yet?

[Schwarber Fan]

No proposals for Dunn yet?

 

Rich Hill for Adam Dunn

[SouthSideRyan]

this idea is unoriginal and uninspiring, but i would rather eat bradley's salary and start the season with someone already in the organization and see if we can grab someone off the scrap heap in spring training. it worked with reed, why not here.

 

 

It worked with Reed Johnson because he's the short end of a platoon. Reed Johnson as an everyday player has been and will be terrible.

[Backtobanks]

Maybe Colvin will show he's ready.

[SouthSideRyan]

Colvin having a hot 2 weeks to end the season sounds like just about the worst thing that could happen to this team.

[davell]

Colvin having a hot 2 weeks to end the season sounds like just about the worst thing that could happen to this team.

 

Yep.

[jersey cubs fan]

Colvin having a hot 2 weeks to end the season sounds like just about the worst thing that could happen to this team.

 

Wasn't it 4 weeks?

 

I don't know, would a Colvin/Fox platoon be any worse than what they got this year, .262/.368/.406 in RF? Perhaps. I think Colvin could be really really bad. But I think he stands a chance of holding his own, especially if you let a guy like Fox attempt to mash the lefties.

 

Tyler's career line .277/.320/.465.

 

Oh wait, you were saying if he finishes this season with 2 hot weeks, not that he did finish his AA season with 2 hot weeks. Yeah, the Cubs are pretty dumb, but I don't think they will make a decision based on that alone. They are pretty much screwed in the OF regardless of what they do, especially if they eat a bunch of Bradley money.

Edited September 21, 2009 by jersey cubs fan

[Little Slide Rooter]

I can almost guarantee that if the Cubs were where they were supposed to be, Colvin would not be getting starts, and probably not called up. He has a good run in AA, so this is basically an audition to see what he can do. Non contenders do it all the time.

[jersey cubs fan]

I can almost guarantee that if the Cubs were where they were supposed to be, Colvin would not be getting starts, and probably not called up. He has a good run in AA, so this is basically an audition to see what he can do. Non contenders do it all the time.

 

Gee you think? Way to go out on a limb there.

[inari]

I can almost guarantee that if the Cubs were where they were supposed to be, Colvin would not be getting starts, and probably not called up. He has a good run in AA, so this is basically an audition to see what he can do. Non contenders do it all the time.

http://mlbinsights.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/tx_joemorgan_all.jpg

[SouthSideRyan]

Gooney,

 

I think you're overestimating the Cubs intelligence with regards to sample size and underestimating their ability to pat themselves on the back.

 

If their unheralded 1st rounder goes on to hit 400 in these last 2 weeks(BA being what's really important), you'll have the idiot fans clamoring for this young stud to play everyday, and you'll have the idiots in the front office talking about how nobody saw what they did in Colvin.

[CUBZ99]

Colvin having a hot 2 weeks to end the season sounds like just about the worst thing that could happen to this team.

 

Wasn't it 4 weeks?

 

I don't know, would a Colvin/Fox platoon be any worse than what they got this year, .262/.368/.406 in RF? Perhaps. I think Colvin could be really really bad. But I think he stands a chance of holding his own, especially if you let a guy like Fox attempt to mash the lefties.

 

Tyler's career line .277/.320/.465.

 

Oh wait, you were saying if he finishes this season with 2 hot weeks, not that he did finish his AA season with 2 hot weeks. Yeah, the Cubs are pretty dumb, but I don't think they will make a decision based on that alone. They are pretty much screwed in the OF regardless of what they do, especially if they eat a bunch of Bradley money.

 

Having a productive Colvin would go a long way to helping the Cubs deal with Salary issues. It is possible that he is finally healthy and that he is figuring things out. Also, to all of the people that are worried about trade value, Colvin's 900+ OPS this year in the second half along with a good showing the last two weeks, would definitely not hurt Colvin's trade value.

[jersey cubs fan]

Gooney,

 

I think you're overestimating the Cubs intelligence with regards to sample size and underestimating their ability to pat themselves on the back.

 

If their unheralded 1st rounder goes on to hit 400 in these last 2 weeks(BA being what's really important), you'll have the idiot fans clamoring for this young stud to play everyday, and you'll have the idiots in the front office talking about how nobody saw what they did in Colvin.

 

I think you're probably right, but I also think they kind of have to go with some combination of internal options in RF anyway if they deal Bradley. I think Colvin's second half put him in contention for a job next year, regardless of how he does in his call-up.

[Little Slide Rooter]

I can almost guarantee that if the Cubs were where they were supposed to be, Colvin would not be getting starts, and probably not called up. He has a good run in AA, so this is basically an audition to see what he can do. Non contenders do it all the time.

 

Gee you think? Way to go out on a limb there.

 

I was just saying that in response to those who dont like the idea of calling up Colvin. Its not like theres a better option, so why not give him a look.