Pujols signs with Angels pg 151

[Formerly Snayke]

For the Cubs' sake, they should probably go after Fielder. I love Pujols, but he's either not healthy or lost his mojo between last September and this April.

 

You see how your own fans treat you Albert??? There's St. Louis loyalty for you!!!

 

I'm just not a big fan of James Loney.

[Northside Blues]

Alright guys, Pujols at 3B and Prince at 1B. Any objections?

 

 

(We found the bottom of the rainbow.)

[haubrich91]

Alright guys, Pujols at 3B and Prince at 1B. Any objections?

 

 

(We found the bottom of the rainbow.)

 

Only if we move Soriano back to second and keep Castro at short. That'd be fun to watch every day.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Quick question: can this mess of a team be fixed with one move? It may very well take an expensive offseason overhaul ala '06/'07. It would be great to have Pujols or Fielder, but keep in mind, for many years we had one of the most prolific sluggers of the era in Sammy Sosa, and couldn't build a consistent winner around him. Granted, they didn't really try, but it's going to take more than one guy. More than one big guy plus a few OK guys. I'm not even convinced that Fielder along would be able to do anything more than move us from a 5th or 6th place team to a 3rd or 4th place team.

[TruffleShuffle]

everyone is hurt, of course the team is a mess.

 

plus saying "oh we don't want to add a really good hitter on an 8/10 year contract because the team might only finish 3rd next year" is completely short-sighted stupidity.

[Little Slide Rooter]

everyone is hurt, of course the team is a mess.

 

plus saying "oh we don't want to add a really good hitter on an 8/10 year contract because the team might only finish 3rd next year" is completely short-sighted stupidity.

If your referring to me, I absolutely want to add a good hitter, even if it is at a high price. Im just saying that they cant stop there. We can't surround Fielder or Pujols and Castro with a bunch of mediocre players and expect it to pay off. We can't just assume that guys like Jackson, Colvin, and Vitters will immediately step up as major league ready building blocks. Keep in mind that throughout a good chunk of their careers, both Pujols and Fielder have been surounded by superior teams to what we would be able to build around them at this point, and between the 2, they have 1 WS win and a handful of unmemorable playoff appearences to show for it.

[SouthSideRyan]

Yep, that's the plan. Sign Pujols and go with Reed Johnson in CF, Brad Snyder in RF, and Bobby Scales at 3B.

[dew1679666265]

If your referring to me, I absolutely want to add a good hitter, even if it is at a high price. Im just saying that they cant stop there. We can't surround Fielder or Pujols and Castro with a bunch of mediocre players and expect it to pay off. We can't just assume that guys like Jackson, Colvin, and Vitters will immediately step up as major league ready building blocks. Keep in mind that throughout a good chunk of their careers, both Pujols and Fielder have been surounded by superior teams to what we would be able to build around them at this point, and between the 2, they have 1 WS win and a handful of unmemorable playoff appearences to show for it.

 

The Cardinals haven't had many, if any, legitimately good teams around Pujols for a long time. They've largely had Pujols, Carpenter, Wainwright and a bunch of grit for most of Pujols' tenure. The Brewers have had some nice players in Fielder's tenure - Braun, Hart, Gallardo - but their rotations have been mostly awful and they've dealt with injuries to key guys like Gallardo.

 

The Cubs could easily field a better team than most of the squads Milwaukee and St Louis put out there if we sign Pujols (and he OPS' 1.000) or Fielder.

[Little Slide Rooter]

If your referring to me, I absolutely want to add a good hitter, even if it is at a high price. Im just saying that they cant stop there. We can't surround Fielder or Pujols and Castro with a bunch of mediocre players and expect it to pay off. We can't just assume that guys like Jackson, Colvin, and Vitters will immediately step up as major league ready building blocks. Keep in mind that throughout a good chunk of their careers, both Pujols and Fielder have been surounded by superior teams to what we would be able to build around them at this point, and between the 2, they have 1 WS win and a handful of unmemorable playoff appearences to show for it.

 

The Cardinals haven't had many, if any, legitimately good teams around Pujols for a long time. They've largely had Pujols, Carpenter, Wainwright and a bunch of grit for most of Pujols' tenure. The Brewers have had some nice players in Fielder's tenure - Braun, Hart, Gallardo - but their rotations have been mostly awful and they've dealt with injuries to key guys like Gallardo.

 

The Cubs could easily field a better team than most of the squads Milwaukee and St Louis put out there if we sign Pujols (and he OPS' 1.000) or Fielder.

 

They could, but it might not be in 1 offseason. I cant see them being able to sign Pujols or Fielder and make any other necessary upgrades in 1 offseason. Id love to see it, but I dont know how realitic it is. 3rd base will be our other major hole. Unless they do go all out and trade for David Wright on top of it, the best option might be to pick up Aramis' option, if they can afford it. The 3rd base market isnt pretty, and between Vitters, LaMahieu, Baker, DeWitt, Flaherty, and Marquez Smith, I dont think we have a single guy capable of giving us the production we need at the positon, especially considering we have no idea what kind of production to expect from any of our other positions, including Castro. The both oft injured Grady Sizemore and Carlos Beltran, who somebody is going to over pay for top the outfield market, also featuring a trio of 50 somethings is Bobby Abreu, JD Drew, and and Raul Ibanez. If they still plan on an outfield of Soriano, Jackson, and Colvin next year, that a hell of a crapshoot.

 

We could also use a legit ace pitcher, and those are not easy to come by. Maybe throw up a prayer with an incentive laden deal to Ben Sheets, because other than that, the starting pitching market is highlighted by Chris Carpenter, Joel Pineiro, Edwin Jackson. and Mark "Cardinals or Bust" Buerhle.

Edited June 1, 2011 by Little Slide Rooter

[SouthSideRyan]

Why would the Cubs pick up Aramis's option rather than declining it and re-signing him for about 10M less?

[Little Slide Rooter]

Why would the Cubs pick up Aramis's option rather than declining it and re-signing him for about 10M less?

 

Because if you look at the 3B market, unless he completely falls off a cliff, he'll likely get a 2-3 year deal for someone, especially if the power comes back. The next best options are 38 year old Casey Blake and 36 year old Mark DeRosa who cant stay healthy anymore. If he wants to give us a home town discount, that would be swell, but if your thinking he'll come back for 6 mil, thats not going to happen.

[SouthSideRyan]

If the power doesn't come back, Ramirez won't get 1Y/6M. He's looking at 2 consecutive seasons of below average offensive production with below average defense.

[dew1679666265]

They could, but it might not be in 1 offseason. I cant see them being able to sign Pujols or Fielder and make any other necessary upgrades in 1 offseason. Id love to see it, but I dont know how realitic it is. 3rd base will be our other major hole. Unless they do go all out and trade for David Wright on top of it, the best option might be to pick up Aramis' option, if they can afford it. The 3rd base market isnt pretty, and between Vitters, LaMahieu, Baker, DeWitt, Flaherty, and Marquez Smith, I dont think we have a single guy capable of giving us the production we need at the positon, especially considering we have no idea what kind of production to expect from any of our other positions, including Castro. The both oft injured Grady Sizemore and Carlos Beltran, who somebody is going to over pay for top the outfield market, also featuring a trio of 50 somethings is Bobby Abreu, JD Drew, and and Raul Ibanez. If they still plan on an outfield of Soriano, Jackson, and Colvin next year, that a hell of a crapshoot.

 

We could also use a legit ace pitcher, and those are not easy to come by. Maybe throw up a prayer with an incentive laden deal to Ben Sheets, because other than that, the starting pitching market is highlighted by Chris Carpenter, Joel Pineiro, Edwin Jackson. and Mark "Cardinals or Bust" Buerhle.

 

They may not match the best Cardinals and Brewers teams of the past decade in one offseason, but they don't have to do it in one offseason. Ideally they do, but not having a great team next year (and only next year) shouldn't impact signing Pujols or Fielder one way or the other. Both will be very good to great hitters for us for at least 3-4 years (unless Pujols really is broken) and perhaps more, meaning they're long term and not short term signings.

 

I could easily see this team without the overabundance of injuries all at once and with Pujols contending for the playoffs next year. After that, even more money comes off the books and we can start looking at another FA splash with a guy like Matt Kemp or an ace pitcher if one is available. All our holes don't have to be fixed in one offseason just because we sign Pujols or Fielder. In fact, adding one of those two players will hide some of the holes we do have.

[Northside Blues]

Alright guys, Pujols at 3B and Prince at 1B. Any objections?

 

 

(We found the bottom of the rainbow.)

 

Only if we move Soriano back to second and keep Castro at short. That'd be fun to watch every day.

 

We could bring in Berkman for center.

[Bote McBoteface]

Vlad in right

[Little Slide Rooter]

Jim Thome in left.

[erik316wttn]

Chipper at third.

[Northside Blues]

Jim Thome in left.

 

Thome has never played LF son. We could have him play third, I guess.

[Guest]

Jim Thome in left.

 

Thome has never played LF son.

 

Fine, Thome at SS.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Jim Thome in left.

 

Thome has never played LF son. We could have him play third, I guess.

 

Hey, Soriano learned, didnt he? Kind of?

[shnsajax]

Jim Thome in left.

 

Thome has never played LF son.

 

Fine, Thome at SS.

 

Didn't Thome catch one game once in his life?

[davearm2]

Jim Thome in left.

 

Thome has never played LF son.

 

Fine, Thome at SS.

 

Didn't Thome catch one game once in his life?

Someone ought to log onto the internet and find out.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Jim Thome in left.

 

Thome has never played LF son.

 

Fine, Thome at SS.

 

Didn't Thome catch one game once in his life?

Someone ought to log onto the internet and find out.

 

Not as a professional. According to BBR, he played his first 40 minor league games at SS, which I had no idea. Im assuming he was in much better shape at the time, but I cant even imagine him oafing around the middle infield without laughing out laud.

[shnsajax]

Jim Thome in left.

 

Thome has never played LF son.

 

Fine, Thome at SS.

 

Didn't Thome catch one game once in his life?

Someone ought to log onto the internet and find out.

 

Not as a professional. According to BBR, he played his first 40 minor league games at SS, which I had no idea. Im assuming he was in much better shape at the time, but I cant even imagine him oafing around the middle infield without laughing out laud.

 

Might actually make watching the Cubs worth it this season.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Yep, that's the plan. Sign Pujols and go with Reed Johnson in CF, Brad Snyder in RF, and Bobby Scales at 3B.

 

I wouldn't put it past them.