Re: Cubs Top 10 FA signings

[Tim]

One of our writers over at 312 wrote an article on the Cubs top 10 free agent signings of all time. Reading through the list, I can't help but think how awful the Cubs have been in free agency.

 

Spoiler alert!

 

(Bradley didn't make the list)

[wvcbxl]

(Bradley didn't make the list)

 

Nice way to draw the controversy in to the thread. 8-)

 

Btw, this is excluding international FA's, right?

[David]

I had completely forgotten Henry Rodriguez existed.

 

He was awesome in 99.

[fromthestretch]

I had completely forgotten Henry Rodriguez existed.

 

He was awesome in 99.

 

Wasn't he initially acquired via trade? I thought the Cubs dealt Miguel Batista for him.

[Guest]

(Bradley didn't make the list)

 

Nice way to draw the controversy in to the thread. 8-)

 

Btw, this is excluding international FA's, right?

I have no idea what his criteria were other than what was laid out in the article. I'd put Fukudome on the list near the bottom, but I can see him being left out.

 

Unless you're talking about prospect signings, then yeah, it's leaving them out.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

I had completely forgotten Henry Rodriguez existed.

 

He was awesome in 99.

 

Wasn't he initially acquired via trade? I thought the Cubs dealt Miguel Batista for him.

Nope, he signed as a free agent. He was traded by the Cubs to the Marlins in the big Ross Gload deal.

[jersey cubs fan]

I had completely forgotten Henry Rodriguez existed.

 

He was awesome in 99.

 

Wasn't he initially acquired via trade? I thought the Cubs dealt Miguel Batista for him.

Nope, he signed as a free agent. He was traded by the Cubs to the Marlins in the big Ross Gload deal.

 

No, the Cubs traded for him, he played a year then tested free agency and resigned with the Cubs. And then he was traded the next year I think.

[Guest]

Yeah, Tab made a mistake. From Baseball-Reference:

 

July 14, 1985: Signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers as an amateur free agent.

 

May 23, 1995: Traded by the Los Angeles Dodgers with Jeff Treadway to the Montreal Expos for Joey Eischen and Roberto Kelly.

 

December 12, 1997: Traded by the Montreal Expos to the Chicago Cubs for Miguel Batista.

 

October 23, 1998: Granted Free Agency.

 

December 2, 1998: Signed as a Free Agent with the Chicago Cubs.

 

July 31, 2000: Traded by the Chicago Cubs to the Florida Marlins for Dave Noyce (minors) and Ross Gload.

 

November 1, 2000: Granted Free Agency.

 

February 15, 2001: Signed as a Free Agent with the New York Yankees.

 

June 19, 2001: Released by the New York Yankees.

 

March 28, 2002: Signed as a Free Agent with the Montreal Expos.

 

May 16, 2002: Released by the Montreal Expos.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

so what you're saying is your list is crap

[Guest]

so what you're saying is your list is crap

lol - never said it was my list. Thought it was an interesting how crappy the Cubs FA signings over the years have been. Taking Henry out only makes it worse.

[David]

I had completely forgotten Henry Rodriguez existed.

 

He was awesome in 99.

 

Wasn't he initially acquired via trade? I thought the Cubs dealt Miguel Batista for him.

 

Yup.

[David]

Ah and there are like 10 other people answering before me.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

at least they've been developing terrific young bats for decades

[Guest]

To be fair, it's really hard to sign a free agent that is actually worth the money.

 

Let's define the "consensus value" of a player in free agency as being what at least half of the GM's in baseball would pay to have a given player's services. On the other hand, to actually sign a player, a GM has to outbid each and every other GM in baseball. So the market value of a player is (almost) always higher than the consensus value. So to get a player like Fukudome in free agency, you will probably have to pay him more than the consensus amongst GM's says he will be worth. He's questionable to be on the list because while he's been a decent player in Chicago, he's probably not been worth the salary he's being paid.

 

Sometimes you can get "lucky" in free agency with a player like Dempster, who had a lot of upside but a lot of question marks when he was signed (health, previous performance). But overall, free agency is a tough way to build a team.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Well, the key to getting value lies in two areas:

 

First, the supply is a bell curve, with way more decent players than good one. So you should be using free agency to fill your holes where don't even have a decent player, and you should be able to do that very cheaply.

 

Second, not all marginal wins are worth the same to each team, and money doesn't have the same value to all teams. If you have a crapload of cash (like the Yankees) or are a team that is competitive but not dominant (like the Cardinals this offseason), the amount you are reasonably willing to pay for extra wins can go through the roof.

[wvcbxl]

Unless you're talking about prospect signings, then yeah, it's leaving them out.

 

I was thinking about Carlos Zambrano in particular.

[Guest]

Well, the key to getting value lies in two areas:

 

First, the supply is a bell curve, with way more decent players than good one. So you should be using free agency to fill your holes where don't even have a decent player, and you should be able to do that very cheaply.

 

Second, not all marginal wins are worth the same to each team, and money doesn't have the same value to all teams. If you have a crapload of cash (like the Yankees) or are a team that is competitive but not dominant (like the Cardinals this offseason), the amount you are reasonably willing to pay for extra wins can go through the roof.

The first point is a decent one. DeRosa is a good example of a signing that ended up being very good for the money. Byrd could end up being another example.

 

The second one doesn't really have anything to do with whether an individual player is worth the money he's being paid (the point of the article). It does make sense in the larger context of whether a particular signing is worth it to put a team over the top.

[Guest]

Unless you're talking about prospect signings, then yeah, it's leaving them out.

 

I was thinking about Carlos Zambrano in particular.

I figured that out after I had written the Fukudome part. :)

[Schwarber Fan]

where is Aaron Miles?!

 

edit: thats what I get for not even clicking the link, haha

[NCCubFan]

Spoiler alert!

 

(Bradley didn't make the list)

No Mel Rojas or Todd Hundley either.

[otis89]

Spoiler alert!

 

(Bradley didn't make the list)

No Mel Rojas or Todd Hundley either.

 

Enrique Wilson should be on here.

[jersey cubs fan]

Spoiler alert!

 

(Bradley didn't make the list)

No Mel Rojas or Todd Hundley either.

 

Enrique Wilson should be on here.

 

Ridiculous, he should be no higher than 12.

[NewUserName]

I think the George Bell signing was probably the best FA signing in Cub history.

[Geech]

I don't get it. Why describe hitters with batting average, home runs and RBI?

[NCCubFan]

I think the George Bell signing was probably the best FA signing in Cub history.

For trade value alone he should be way up there.