You are the new GM of the Cubs

[erik316wttn]

I'm not sure if this is the right area for this topic, but it's speculative or wishful transactions.

 

Let's say that Ricketts fires Hendry day 1 on the job and hires you as the GM. You are given a budget of $145 million. What are your ***REALISTIC*** plans for this offseason.

 

Before I even sign a single player, I hire the best scouts and talent development people on the market. I give them a timetable of five years to turn our system into one of the best at developing both pitching and hitting.

 

I shop Bradley around, but hold on to him if there's no offer that helps the team. I insist Lou bat Fukudome/Bradley 1-2 to start the season if Bradley isn't traded

 

I go after a middle INF via trade, as the FA market is kind of weak there. The only viable option would be Tejada, but I wouldn't go more than 2 years on him, and then I'd move Theriot to 2nd.

 

I WOULD OFFER HARDEN ARBITRATION!!!! This team needs an ace, and Harden is the best we can do right now. Yes, I know about his injury history, but when he's on and healthy, he's among the top 10 starting pitchers in all of baseball. If you let Harden walk, then you HAVE to sign another impact pitcher on the market. Maybe go after Cliff Lee, or take a flier on Ben Sheets.

 

I would also do my best to improve the bench.

[erik316wttn]

Okay IE, you've eaten long and short versions of this post. Stupid work computer. Short version redux:

 

-Offer Harden arbitration, try to bring him back for 2-3 years

 

-Tell Heilman to get lost. Tell Miles he's a participant in the Most Dangerous Game

 

-Don't offer Gregg or Grabow arbitration, but consider Grabow if market for him heats up

 

Trade targets:

 

Alex Gordon

BJ Upton

Carl Crawford

Jose Reyes

Hermida(secondary to the above, also non-tender candidate)

RELIEVERS - focus on those coming off down years, good stuff, low HR rates, arby eligible/too expensive for current team (e.g. Crain, Balfour, Capps, Rafael Perez, Juan Cruz

 

Think about trading away: Lilly, Theriot, MARMOL, Lee(least likely)

 

Free Agents that could be undervalued: Scutaro (Type A scare people away?), N. Johnson, Zaun, Baldelli, Cameron, Crisp, M. Gonzalez, R. Soriano, C.E. Valverde

 

 

Add as much talent as you can, priority to the trade targets. Those are the best bet for large jumps in performance that will take the team from wildcard/division contender, to 90+ win HFA contender.

 

I don't know if I'd trade away Lilly if Harden isn't back. i'd give Marmol one more season before I think about moving him. After what he did in 2008, I can't just give up on him that quickly. Lee I'd trade as an impact 1B bat wouldn't be that hard to find or acquire.

 

Also with your OF trade targets, I assume you move Bradley or Fukudome to make room for one of them?

[fromthestretch]

Okay IE, you've eaten long and short versions of this post. Stupid work computer. Short version redux:

 

-Offer Harden arbitration, try to bring him back for 2-3 years

 

-Tell Heilman to get lost. Tell Miles he's a participant in the Most Dangerous Game

 

-Don't offer Gregg or Grabow arbitration, but consider Grabow if market for him heats up

 

Trade targets:

 

Alex Gordon

BJ Upton

Carl Crawford

Jose Reyes

Hermida(secondary to the above, also non-tender candidate)

RELIEVERS - focus on those coming off down years, good stuff, low HR rates, arby eligible/too expensive for current team (e.g. Crain, Balfour, Capps, Rafael Perez, Juan Cruz

 

Think about trading away: Lilly, Theriot, MARMOL, Lee(least likely)

 

Free Agents that could be undervalued: Scutaro (Type A scare people away?), N. Johnson, Zaun, Baldelli, Cameron, Crisp, M. Gonzalez, R. Soriano, C.E. Valverde

 

 

Add as much talent as you can, priority to the trade targets. Those are the best bet for large jumps in performance that will take the team from wildcard/division contender, to 90+ win HFA contender.

 

I don't know if I'd trade away Lilly if Harden isn't back. i'd give Marmol one more season before I think about moving him. After what he did in 2008, I can't just give up on him that quickly. Lee I'd trade as an impact 1B bat wouldn't be that hard to find or acquire.

 

Also with your OF trade targets, I assume you move Bradley or Fukudome to make room for one of them?

 

I'd be curious how you're going to convince Lee to waive a no-trade clause that he's pretty much said he won't waive.

[jersey cubs fan]

I don't know if I'd trade away Lilly if Harden isn't back. i'd give Marmol one more season before I think about moving him. After what he did in 2008, I can't just give up on him that quickly. Lee I'd trade as an impact 1B bat wouldn't be that hard to find or acquire.

 

 

Trading a guy isn't really giving up on a guy. If you wait until you are ready to give up on somebody to trade them, you won't get crap in return.

[javy knows my name]

Trading Marmol or Theriot would be one of those awesome, smart things that this organization would never do.

[biittner77]

Trading Marmol or Theriot would be one of those awesome, smart things that this organization would never do.

 

Perhaps these types of moves don't happen because other teams won't give up enough to make them worthwhile. I'd love to see the Cubs sell high on Theriot but I doubt many teams are beating down Hendry's door. On the other hand, he'd make a great return player to balance out a trade to a small market team that has a SS they won't be able to afford much longer. By himself he wouldn't bring much though.

[MRJ3]

First post here.

 

First and foremost, I would trade Bradley for Rowand.

 

Trade Marshall, Gorzelanny, Jay Jackson for Hawpe+Corpas(low risk, high reward)

 

Sign Figgins to 4 year, 10 mm

 

Sign Dotel

 

Offer Harden arb.

 

Sign Smoltz

 

1. Figgins

2. Rowand/Fukudome

3.Lee

4.Ramirez

5.Hawpe

6. Soriano

7.Soto

8.Theriot

 

1.Zambrano

2.Dempster

3.Lilly

4.Smoltz

5.Cashner

 

Closer-Marmol

Setup-Dotel, Guzman

[rocket]

First post here.

 

First and foremost, I would trade Bradley for Rowand.

 

Trade Marshall, Gorzelanny, Jay Jackson for Hawpe+Corpas(low risk, high reward)

 

Sign Figgins to 4 year, 10 mm

 

Sign Dotel

 

Offer Harden arb.

 

Sign Smoltz

 

1. Figgins

2. Rowand/Fukudome

3.Lee

4.Ramirez

5.Hawpe

6. Soriano

7.Soto

8.Theriot

 

1.Zambrano

2.Dempster

3.Lilly

4.Smoltz

5.Cashner

 

Closer-Marmol

Setup-Dotel, Guzman

 

my plan would be to not do any of those

[MRJ3]

First post here.

 

First and foremost, I would trade Bradley for Rowand.

 

Trade Marshall, Gorzelanny, Jay Jackson for Hawpe+Corpas(low risk, high reward)

 

Sign Figgins to 4 year, 10 mm

 

Sign Dotel

 

Offer Harden arb.

 

Sign Smoltz

 

1. Figgins

2. Rowand/Fukudome

3.Lee

4.Ramirez

5.Hawpe

6. Soriano

7.Soto

8.Theriot

 

1.Zambrano

2.Dempster

3.Lilly

4.Smoltz

5.Cashner

 

Closer-Marmol

Setup-Dotel, Guzman

 

my plan would be to not do any of those

 

Why? You get your leadoff man, your LH power hitter, someone to platoon with Fukudome in center, and you shore up the bullpen.

[dew1679666265]

my plan would be to not do any of those

 

I'd actually be fine with Figgins at $2.5 million a year, but I really doubt he'll come that cheaply. If he meant $10 mil a year, though, I agree with you.

[fromthestretch]

First post here.

 

First and foremost, I would trade Bradley for Rowand.

 

Trade Marshall, Gorzelanny, Jay Jackson for Hawpe+Corpas(low risk, high reward)

 

Sign Figgins to 4 year, 10 mm

 

Sign Dotel

 

Offer Harden arb.

 

Sign Smoltz

 

1. Figgins

2. Rowand/Fukudome

3.Lee

4.Ramirez

5.Hawpe

6. Soriano

7.Soto

8.Theriot

 

1.Zambrano

2.Dempster

3.Lilly

4.Smoltz

5.Cashner

 

Closer-Marmol

Setup-Dotel, Guzman

 

my plan would be to not do any of those

 

Why? You get your leadoff man, your LH power hitter, someone to platoon with Fukudome in center, and you shore up the bullpen.

 

You're also taking on a crapload of salary. Rowand isn't that good, is owed more than Bradley, and you want to acquire him as a platoon player? Hawpe is due $7.5 million next season. Why spend money on Dotel?

 

Giving Figgins four years OR $10 mil/yr are bad ideas. Offering him both is horrible.

[sweetpeteman]

First post here.

 

First and foremost, I would trade Bradley for Rowand.

 

Trade Marshall, Gorzelanny, Jay Jackson for Hawpe+Corpas(low risk, high reward)

 

Sign Figgins to 4 year, 10 mm

 

Sign Dotel

 

Offer Harden arb.

 

Sign Smoltz

 

1. Figgins

2. Rowand/Fukudome

3.Lee

4.Ramirez

5.Hawpe

6. Soriano

7.Soto

8.Theriot

 

1.Zambrano

2.Dempster

3.Lilly

4.Smoltz

5.Cashner

 

Closer-Marmol

Setup-Dotel, Guzman

 

my plan would be to not do any of those

 

Why? You get your leadoff man, your LH power hitter, someone to platoon with Fukudome in center, and you shore up the bullpen.

 

You're also taking on a crapload of salary. Rowand isn't that good, is owed more than Bradley, and you want to acquire him as a platoon player? Hawpe is due $7.5 million next season. Why spend money on Dotel?

 

Giving Figgins four years OR $10 mil/yr are bad ideas. Offering him both is horrible.

 

 

That and Smoltz is done, Cashner is nowhere near ready, and Corpas has come crashing back to earth and has his salary going up the next two years. Dotel is probably going to be looking for $5-6mil/year again and is 37.

[fromthestretch]

First post here.

 

First and foremost, I would trade Bradley for Rowand.

 

Trade Marshall, Gorzelanny, Jay Jackson for Hawpe+Corpas(low risk, high reward)

 

Sign Figgins to 4 year, 10 mm

 

Sign Dotel

 

Offer Harden arb.

 

Sign Smoltz

 

1. Figgins

2. Rowand/Fukudome

3.Lee

4.Ramirez

5.Hawpe

6. Soriano

7.Soto

8.Theriot

 

1.Zambrano

2.Dempster

3.Lilly

4.Smoltz

5.Cashner

 

Closer-Marmol

Setup-Dotel, Guzman

 

my plan would be to not do any of those

 

Why? You get your leadoff man, your LH power hitter, someone to platoon with Fukudome in center, and you shore up the bullpen.

 

You're also taking on a crapload of salary. Rowand isn't that good, is owed more than Bradley, and you want to acquire him as a platoon player? Hawpe is due $7.5 million next season. Why spend money on Dotel?

 

Giving Figgins four years OR $10 mil/yr are bad ideas. Offering him both is horrible.

 

 

That and Smoltz is done, Cashner is nowhere near ready, and Corpas has come crashing back to earth and has his salary going up the next two years. Dotel is probably going to be looking for $5-6mil/year again and is 37.

 

I didn't even see that he had Cashner in the rotation. And Corpas doesn't seem to offer any kind of improvement over what the Cubs already have in the bullpen.

 

Furthermore, where is Wells in all of this? There's no mention of dealing him, yet he doesn't have him penciled into the rotation.

[rocket]

First post here.

 

First and foremost, I would trade Bradley for Rowand.

 

Trade Marshall, Gorzelanny, Jay Jackson for Hawpe+Corpas(low risk, high reward)

 

Sign Figgins to 4 year, 10 mm

 

Sign Dotel

 

Offer Harden arb.

 

Sign Smoltz

 

1. Figgins

2. Rowand/Fukudome

3.Lee

4.Ramirez

5.Hawpe

6. Soriano

7.Soto

8.Theriot

 

1.Zambrano

2.Dempster

3.Lilly

4.Smoltz

5.Cashner

 

Closer-Marmol

Setup-Dotel, Guzman

 

my plan would be to not do any of those

 

Why? You get your leadoff man, your LH power hitter, someone to platoon with Fukudome in center, and you shore up the bullpen.

 

fukudome is fine as a leadoff hitter. hawpe is a horrible defender. rowand sucks and is really expensive. dotel is old, injury prone, and gives up a lot of baserunners and giving big contracts to middle relievers almost never works out. figgins would be an ok signing for maybe 1 or 2 years at 10 million, not 4. smoltz is about as done as it gets.

 

i do agree with you that we should offer harden arbitration, so there's that.

[Outshined_One]

Regarding Fukudome, his patience at the plate is quite welcome, but some things give me pause. He's very good defensively in RF and below average in CF. His power leaves something to be desired. His splits against lefties are troublesome.

 

Perhaps he could use a platoon partner, but the Cubs could definitely stand to upgrade.

[jersey cubs fan]

I'd love to see the Cubs sell high on Theriot but I doubt many teams are beating down Hendry's door.

 

Since it is no longer 2008 that is not possible.

[javy knows my name]

Trading Marmol or Theriot would be one of those awesome, smart things that this organization would never do.

 

Perhaps these types of moves don't happen because other teams won't give up enough to make them worthwhile. I'd love to see the Cubs sell high on Theriot but I doubt many teams are beating down Hendry's door. On the other hand, he'd make a great return player to balance out a trade to a small market team that has a SS they won't be able to afford much longer. By himself he wouldn't bring much though.

You're probably right, but Marmol would fetch a lot considering how easy he may be to replace within our organization. My point was more (my supposition) that the Cubs wouldn't even be fielding offers/testing the waters with these guys, just because it's non-traditional/disloyal/hurt feelings/whatever else

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Okay IE, you've eaten long and short versions of this post. Stupid work computer. Short version redux:

 

-Offer Harden arbitration, try to bring him back for 2-3 years

 

-Tell Heilman to get lost. Tell Miles he's a participant in the Most Dangerous Game

 

-Don't offer Gregg or Grabow arbitration, but consider Grabow if market for him heats up

 

Trade targets:

 

Alex Gordon

BJ Upton

Carl Crawford

Jose Reyes

Hermida(secondary to the above, also non-tender candidate)

RELIEVERS - focus on those coming off down years, good stuff, low HR rates, arby eligible/too expensive for current team (e.g. Crain, Balfour, Capps, Rafael Perez, Juan Cruz

 

Think about trading away: Lilly, Theriot, MARMOL, Lee(least likely)

 

Free Agents that could be undervalued: Scutaro (Type A scare people away?), N. Johnson, Zaun, Baldelli, Cameron, Crisp, M. Gonzalez, R. Soriano, C.E. Valverde

 

 

Add as much talent as you can, priority to the trade targets. Those are the best bet for large jumps in performance that will take the team from wildcard/division contender, to 90+ win HFA contender.

 

I don't know if I'd trade away Lilly if Harden isn't back. i'd give Marmol one more season before I think about moving him. After what he did in 2008, I can't just give up on him that quickly. Lee I'd trade as an impact 1B bat wouldn't be that hard to find or acquire.

 

Also with your OF trade targets, I assume you move Bradley or Fukudome to make room for one of them?

 

Lilly would obviously be contingent on other moves, like Harden. Marmol I want to trade because his elbow is going to explode, not because of poor performance.

 

The OFs could be to replace Bradley, but not necessarily. If Baldelli or Crisp aren't commanding anything, then they're useful bench options(although Fuld and Crisp are pretty similar).

 

To put some actual numbers on things, bring back Harden for 2/25 - 9/13/15(Option w/ 3M buyout). And let's go crazy, Bradley, Wells, Baker for Gordon and Cruz and then Theriot, Marmol, Cashner for Reyes. Fox for Jesse Crain.

 

Z/Lilly/Harden/Dempster/Marshelanny - Cruz/Crain/Guzman/Gaub/Marshelanny, with Stevens/Caridad/Parker/Hart fighting for the other 2 spots

 

Fukudome (Reyes when healthy)

Fuld/Johnson (8th with Reyes healthy)

Lee

Ramirez

Gordon

Soriano

Soto

Blanco

 

Hill, Fontenot, Fuld/Johnson, Baldelli/Kearns/Hoffpauir/Colvin, Blanco/Barney

 

More top heavy, but I think it positions them better to transition from the Lee/Ramirez/Soriano offensive core.

[A-Cal]

in this fantasy land, i am thinking maybe i get nothing for bradley...i ask him to stay...he spits in my face...i curse...and then i pawn him off on the padres for

 

blah blah blah

 

i think the cubs should look at hermida, i am not as high on him as i was before but he is a cheap option, lefty, OBP machine, and possibly an ideal change of scenery/lightning in a bottle type

 

other than that, i don't want to play because...well...you just can't without actually being in that drivers seat

[Rob]

I really wish people would stop suggesting Brad Hawpe. His defense is so bad that if there were a Hall of Fame for terrible defenders, he'd be an inner-circle first ballot king of the freaking Hall.

 

I would legitimately rather run Fuld out there every single day.

[erik316wttn]

Regarding Fukudome, his patience at the plate is quite welcome, but some things give me pause. He's very good defensively in RF and below average in CF. His power leaves something to be desired. His splits against lefties are troublesome.

 

Perhaps he could use a platoon partner, but the Cubs could definitely stand to upgrade.

 

Unfortunately, we have big contracts regarding our 3 starting outfielders that will be quite difficult to move.

 

The only place I can see us upgrading offensively is either 2B or SS.

 

Sign DeRosa, see if you can sign Tejada, and if you CAN trade Bradley, put Fox in RF to start the season.

 

But for the brief time Lou batted Fukudome and Bradley 1-2, I was very pleased with the results.

 

I would LOVE to see

 

Fukudome RFCF

Bradley CF/RF

Lee 1B

Ramirez 3B

Tejada SS

Soriano LF

Soto C

DeRosa 2B

Pitcher

 

Now that's a lineup that, when healthy, can score a boatload of runs.

 

If you trade Bradley, then it should be

 

Fukudome

DeRosa

Lee

Ramirez

Tejada

Soriano

Fox

Soto

[Guest]

Please don't sign DeRosa, whichever one of you becomes the new GM.

[Sammy Sofa]

Why in God's name would anyone still want to sign DeRosa?

 

It's maddening. I swear people would still want to sign him if his wrist just snapped completely.

[jersey cubs fan]

Why in God's name would anyone still want to sign DeRosa?

 

It's maddening. I swear people would still want to sign him if his wrist just snapped completely.

 

I think the word is obliviousness, although I'm not sure if that's a word.

[erik316wttn]

Why in God's name would anyone still want to sign DeRosa?

 

It's maddening. I swear people would still want to sign him if his wrist just snapped completely.

 

Um, because he's one full season removed from a career year, and wrist injuries heal?

 

Yes, he'll be 35 next year, but he's better than Fontenot, and the middle infield FA market isn't that deep.

 

He's not the cure-all, but he falls under the category of "better than what we have now, and affordable."