Harden wants to stay and other stuff (Grabow, Starlin, etc.)

[jersey cubs fan]

Um.... where did I ever say Hendry had to throw him under the bus? Admitting a mistake can be something other than saying "This guy sucks, I don't want him on my team anymore."

As I already stated, Hendry could be entirely diplomatic in an apology and make statements only about his own judgment and job, and it will still be interpreted by many players as an insult or attack on the player in question. People will read between the lines and read further than the intent.

 

It's simply bad business.

 

It's bad business to cut unproductive players because it might hurt their feelings? That's dumb. Teams do it all the time. You don't hold onto a guy because you are afraid of insulting him.

[Derwood]

Mariners interested in Harden (per Rotworld)

[Cubswin11]

Mariners interested in Harden (per Rotworld)

I would think most teams will at least be "interested" in Harden, with rumors that we aren't offering arbitration (no draft picks given up). Plus the fact he probably isn't going to demand much more than 2 years and not much more than $8-10 per. Also knowing the fact that he is presumably healthy now and when he is on there isn't a better pitcher in the game.

[davearm2]

Mariners interested in Harden (per Rotworld)

I would think most teams will at least be "interested" in Harden, with rumors that we aren't offering arbitration (no draft picks given up). Plus the fact he probably isn't going to demand much more than 2 years and not much more than $8-10 per. Also knowing the fact that he is presumably healthy now and when he is on there isn't a better pitcher in the game.

It's an interesting situation.

 

3 years ago, indeed there would have been a long line of teams interested in a guy like Harden for 2 years at $8-10 per, especially given his recent health.

 

But here in 2009, all we hear about is teams pinching pennies, looking to trade controlled guys like Hardy and Granderson, and declining arbitration on guys due to make "only" a few million. The climate has changed, rather dramatically. It should be interesting to see how that impacts Harden.

[davell]

I'll be surprised if Harden gets more than one guaranteed year this offseason from anyone.

[Backtobanks]

I still don't understand why the Cubs aren't offering arbitration, especially with the Lilly situation. Go in offering him $7-8 million and he'll probably ask $9-10 million. Even if he wins, you've stabalized the starting rotation and you can trade him at the deadline if other pitchers step up.

[Tarver]

When was the last time Hendry sold at the deadline, besides junk that was likely to be DFAed? If Harden comes back, he'll be here all year.

[SouthSideRyan]

When was the last time Hendry sold at the deadline, besides junk that was likely to be DFAed? If Harden comes back, he'll be here all year.

 

The last time we weren't in contention for a playoff spot. 2006.

[Backtobanks]

When was the last time Hendry sold at the deadline, besides junk that was likely to be DFAed? If Harden comes back, he'll be here all year.

 

I don't have a problem with Harden being here all year. I'm sure we can find 22-27 starts for Harden when Lilly is starting the season injured, Zambrano always manages to miss a few starts, and wondering if Wells can duplicate what he did last year.

[davell]

I want to see Harden back with us next year, I think he's our best pitcher if he's healthy. Would I offer arbitration to him? Yeah, I would. But, I'm going to play devil's advocate here and try to get inside the Cubs heads on this one.(which ain't easy obviously)

 

I doubt the Cubs see anyone offering him more than a one year, incentive laden deal in this depressed market. If he gets somewhere around 9-10 mill in arbitration and yet, he's not going to get an offer for much more than 5 mill or so guaranteed with a bunch of incentives to push it up to the 10 range or possibly even higher, why do you give it to him straight up without the incentives? Technically, you're overpaying when you don't have to and with our high payroll as it is, we don't have that luxury anymore anyway. My guess is the Cubs will talk with Tellem and Harden and offer what they think other teams will, as far as guaranteed money, assuming Hendry talks to Ricketts and gets the OK from him. My gut tells me there will be lots of true bargains out there this offseason and even though we aren't expected to up the payroll by much, I could see instances where Hendry goes and presents Ricketts with some stuff that he sees as true value buys and maybe Ricketts decides to go with it, because of what you get dollar-wise.

[TheDude]

Um.... where did I ever say Hendry had to throw him under the bus? Admitting a mistake can be something other than saying "This guy sucks, I don't want him on my team anymore."

As I already stated, Hendry could be entirely diplomatic in an apology and make statements only about his own judgment and job, and it will still be interpreted by many players as an insult or attack on the player in question. People will read between the lines and read further than the intent.

 

It's simply bad business.

 

It's bad business to cut unproductive players because it might hurt their feelings? That's dumb. Teams do it all the time. You don't hold onto a guy because you are afraid of insulting him.

Not sure if you misread the conversation or what, but cutting Miles has nothing to do with my posts. Fwiw, I agree with what you said. Just confused as to why it was said as a response to me.