2011 managerial speculation

[Sammy Sofa]

Use the bridge next time, jersey.

[davell]

While we definitely overpaid quite a bit to get Soriano, he's a useful player for us, at least for another 2 years or so probably..... One of the negatives I always remembered hearing about him was that he never hits GOOD pitching, beating up on bad team's pitching staffs or good teams 4 and 5 guys, then when the postseason comes, since those teams typically have good staffs, he'd struggle usually. I never looked it up and honestly wouldn't even know WHAT to look up here, but I kind of always wondered if this was true or not anyway......

 

On the other hand, it also kind of seems like he has two bigtime hot streaks over the course of the season and it just doesn't matter who's pitching when he's in one of them, he crushes everything for a short period of time......

[dew1679666265]

While we definitely overpaid quite a bit to get Soriano, he's a useful player for us, at least for another 2 years or so probably..... One of the negatives I always remembered hearing about him was that he never hits GOOD pitching, beating up on bad team's pitching staffs or good teams 4 and 5 guys, then when the postseason comes, since those teams typically have good staffs, he'd struggle usually. I never looked it up and honestly wouldn't even know WHAT to look up here, but I kind of always wondered if this was true or not anyway......

 

On the other hand, it also kind of seems like he has two bigtime hot streaks over the course of the season and it just doesn't matter who's pitching when he's in one of them, he crushes everything for a short period of time......

 

You can find almost anything on Baseball-Reference. Here's a sampling of pitchers:

 

(I took his career numbers over a minimum of 25 PAs, since his highest number of PAs against a pitcher was 72. Random number, but works for me)

 

v Sabathia: 1.247 OPS (best OPS against any pitcher)

v Glavine: 1.208 OPS (second highest)

v Carpenter: .878 OPS

v Wakefield: 1.060 OPS

v Mulder: 1.169 OPS (this would be against A's good Mulder)

There are a lot of bad/mediocre pitchers in there, but that's not a bad group for his top 25.

 

Going by 10 PAs:

 

v Kevin Brown: 1.758 OPS

v Al Leiter: 1.750 OPS

v Pettite: 1.750 OPS

v Ted Lilly: 1.300 OPS

[jersey cubs fan]

I'm not really worried about Soriano's numbers vs retired pitchers, I'm more concerned with his crappy 2009, his terrible 2nd half 2010 and overall disappointing numbers, most specifically that pitiful OBP.

[Sammy Sofa]

So when it's clear he's no longer any good just bench him. Seems simple enough.

[jersey cubs fan]

So when it's clear he's no longer any good just bench him. Seems simple enough.

 

I'm not so sure how simple it is, since 3 month stretches of really bad production are the norm it's going to be tough to stop hoping for a hot streak.

[Sammy Sofa]

So they suck it up one more year and look to replace him in in LF in 2012 if he stinks again in 2011. Or they look to shore up RF and/or CF to offset his decline. It's not like the money he's getting paid is going to be a surprise to the organization; they don't have to wait him out. An organization that makes as much money as the Cubs shouldn't have a problem absorbing Soriano's contract in its final years, though so long as Ricketts holds onto Hendry then it's likely to be a problem.

 

What's the OF FA class looking like after 2011?

[dew1679666265]

What's the OF FA class looking like after 2011?

 

2011 offseason FA OFs:

 

Bobby Abreu LAA *

Jose Bautista TOR

Carlos Beltran NYM

Milton Bradley SEA

Mike Cameron BOS

Ronny Cedeno PIT

Ryan Church PIT

Jack Cust OAK

Matt Diaz ATL

J.D. Drew BOS

Jeff Francoeur TEX

Jonny Gomes CIN

Gabe Gross OAK

Carlos Guillen DET

Corey Hart MIL

Raul Ibanez PHI

Conor Jackson ARZ

Ryan Ludwick SD

Nate McLouth ATL *

Juan Pierre CWS

Juan Rivera LAA

Cody Ross SF

Grady Sizemore CLE *

Nick Swisher NYY *

Josh Willingham WAS

 

* - player whose current contract includes 2012 option

[ConstableRabbit]

Bradley 3/21 pls.

[Sammy Sofa]

Barf.

[dew1679666265]

I wonder how much it would take to get Sizemore from the Indians? It'd be hard to fit him into the current OF, but he could be a nice buy-low option and we could follow that up by dealing Byrd or something.

[Sammy Sofa]

So you've got Fukudome gone after next year, which means that RF needs to be taken care of. Yeah, I know Colvin is a lot of people's favorite of the moment, but if the Cubs are trying to offset a declining Soriano in terms of OF production they'll have to aim higher, unless Colvin shows some significant growth in his time as a 4th OF in 2011.

 

I have no idea what to expect out of Byrd his last two years here. His first half was a lot of fun to watch, but his second half has been pretty pedestrian at best with long stretches of crappiness. Does Austin Jackson still project as a CF in the bigs? How likely is it we could/should see him up with the Cubs? Could he be ready by 2012?

[SouthSideRyan]

Brett Jackson.

[Sammy Sofa]

Crap, now my insane and inexplicable plan to kidnap Austin Jackson and force him to play for the Cubs has been revealed.

[Outshined_One]

Does Austin Jackson still project as a CF in the bigs? How likely is it we could/should see him up with the Cubs? Could he be ready by 2012?

 

Brett Jackson still projects to be a CF in the bigs, although he was getting some time in corner OF spots in AA. Assuming health and his production doesn't go flying off a cliff, he'll probably be in the majors at some point in 2011; my gut is mid-summer. He should be ready by 2012 if he develops as expected.

[chuckywang]

Is Jose Bautista going anywhere?

[dew1679666265]

Is Jose Bautista going anywhere?

 

They were talking extension not too long ago.

[Old Style]

When did Ronny Cedeno move to the OF?

[Iceblink]

When did Ronny Cedeno move to the OF?

 

Even the Pirates know you've got to get that bat in the lineup somehow.

[Illini Iceman]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-1004-cubs-bits--20101003,0,7699796.story

 

"I don't think it's a secret that everyone in the clubhouse, speaking on behalf of the rest of the team, we'd really like to see Quade get the job," catcher Koyie Hill said. "He's been through it all, like we have. He related to everybody. I've never seen a manager or a coach get everything out of every single player, he brought it out of everybody. … It'll play out, but we're pulling for him."

 

If all there was to get out of Koyie Hill in September / Oct was a .195 BA / .250 OBP / .293 SLG then hopefully the Cubs are smart enough that Koyie won't be around in Mesa next spring to greet whoever gets the permanent job.

[hardcorecubfan]

Brett Jackson.

 

Exactly!!!

 

Sign an FA outfield bat for a year then bring Jackson up mid-way through then hope Sori takes a trade

[davell]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-1004-cubs-bits--20101003,0,7699796.story

 

"I don't think it's a secret that everyone in the clubhouse, speaking on behalf of the rest of the team, we'd really like to see Quade get the job," catcher Koyie Hill said. "He's been through it all, like we have. He related to everybody. I've never seen a manager or a coach get everything out of every single player, he brought it out of everybody. … It'll play out, but we're pulling for him."

 

If all there was to get out of Koyie Hill in September / Oct was a .195 BA / .250 OBP / .293 SLG then hopefully the Cubs are smart enough that Koyie won't be around in Mesa next spring to greet whoever gets the permanent job.

 

I'm truly hoping Koyie spoke out of turn by using the term "we" right there. No matter who the damn manager is next season, Hill should be on a roster(AAA most likely) far away from Chicago.

[Sammy Sofa]

Brett Jackson.

 

Exactly!!!

 

Sign an FA outfield bat for a year then bring Jackson up mid-way through then hope Sori takes a trade

 

Yeah, because the biggest problem with trading Soriano is getting him to accept it.

[TheVolCub08]

Bob Melvin looks like a front-runner right now.

[ctcf]

Bob Melvin looks like a front-runner right now.

 

Gross!