Pujols signs with Angels pg 151

[Guest]

I'd rather the Cubs give a higher AAV for less years to Fielder than a long term contract to Pujols. I'd love them to give 6 year deal with a player option on the last year. I don't know/don't think it would get it done though.

 

The Cubs are in the best possible position to go after either one as they are the biggest fish in the pond with NYY and Boston out. An opportunity like this happens rarely. They have to make a play.

[wade]

Another thing I found interesting thing about that Rosenthal piece- he says Epstein and Hoyer have already shifted their plans due to the new CBA that may curtail spending on the draft.

[Guest]

Another thing I found interesting thing about that Rosenthal piece- he says Epstein and Hoyer have already shifted their plans due to the new CBA that may curtail spending on the draft.

 

I think that's more speculative than anything. I refuse to believe that the CBA changes were the difference between pursuing the best players available and not.

[Tyrant]

Rosenthal reporting Cubs are talking to both Pujols and Fielder

 

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/Albert-Pujols-Prince-Fielder-Chicago-Cubs-pursuing-star-free-agents-112811

 

[expletive] about to start getting really real.

 

 

 

Pujols, 31, is nearly 3½ years older than Fielder, but sources say the Cubs are more willing to go long-term with Pujols, who is the better defender according to advanced metrics. Some teams, concerned by Fielder’s body would prefer him on a shorter, high-dollar deal.

 

By signing one of the two, the Cubs would ensure that they are set with a premier slugger as they try to return to prominence in the NL Central.

 

Pujols is 4 1/2 years older than Prince. C'mon Rosenthal.

[Guest]

We should probably get a thread title change now that there's an actual report from a somewhat real source of us pursuing both.

[Guest]

It's a bit frustrating that the people who had no idea what Theo was saying all along are now going to be able to say that the reason we're pursuing these guys is the new CBA.

 

i.e.

 

dan_bernstein Dan Bernstein

News that #Cubs may pursue Fielder/Pujols is sobering evidence that the new CBA badly damaged Epstein's plan.

17 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

[Flames24Rulz]

It's a bit frustrating that the people who had no idea what Theo was saying all along are now going to be able to say that the reason we're pursuing these guys is the new CBA.

 

i.e.

 

dan_bernstein Dan Bernstein

News that #Cubs may pursue Fielder/Pujols is sobering evidence that the new CBA badly damaged Epstein's plan.

17 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

 

Bernstein seems to forget that Theo did sign high-priced free agents in Boston too.

[Theo]

What a complete tool like overreaction from Bernstein. We don't even know the exact cap number.

[Guest]

Yeah, if Pujols/Fielder were targets, they were targets all along, and the CBA changes will enable them to add another player to complement them, like Cespedes.

[Guest]

It's a bit frustrating that the people who had no idea what Theo was saying all along are now going to be able to say that the reason we're pursuing these guys is the new CBA.

 

i.e.

 

dan_bernstein Dan Bernstein

News that #Cubs may pursue Fielder/Pujols is sobering evidence that the new CBA badly damaged Epstein's plan.

17 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

 

Bernstein seems to forget that Theo did sign high-priced free agents in Boston too.

 

Seems he's another of those guys that thinks Hendry was always signing the best free agents on the market.

 

Or that Soriano and Pujols are comparable players, somehow.

 

Or that signing free agents to the major league team was somehow going to keep them from building a productive farm system.

 

He just wants to preemptively tell everybody why he wasn't wrong now. I guarantee he'll bring it up today and mockingly talk about listeners emailing or texting "See Bernstein, they ARE going after Pujols and Fielder...You were WRONG..."

[Guest]

Yeah, if Pujols/Fielder were targets, they were targets all along, and the CBA changes will enable them to add another player to complement them, like Cespedes.

 

Which doesn't even go against the plan to spend on IFAs/draft.

 

 

 

It's insane to think that suddenly they're trying to make a $200+M commitment to a player simply because of the changes to the CBA. That money is relative peanuts.

[Little Slide Rooter]

It's a bit frustrating that the people who had no idea what Theo was saying all along are now going to be able to say that the reason we're pursuing these guys is the new CBA.

 

i.e.

 

dan_bernstein Dan Bernstein

News that #Cubs may pursue Fielder/Pujols is sobering evidence that the new CBA badly damaged Epstein's plan.

17 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

 

Bernstein seems to forget that Theo did sign high-priced free agents in Boston too.

 

Seems he's another of those guys that thinks Hendry was always signing the best free agents on the market.

 

Or that Soriano and Pujols are comparable players, somehow.

 

Or that signing free agents to the major league team was somehow going to keep them from building a productive farm system.

 

He just wants to preemptively tell everybody why he wasn't wrong now. I guarantee he'll bring it up today and mockingly talk about listeners emailing or texting "See Bernstein, they ARE going after Pujols and Fielder...You were WRONG..."

 

Bernstein seems to think that The Cubs rebuild should be comparable to that of small market teams. I like him, but he just doesn't seem to get that teams like the Cubs, Red Sox, and Yankees are going to operate differently from the Royals, Rays, and Astros. If the persuit is serious, I'm very confident that we'll end up landing one of them. However, The Nationals seem to be becoming a force to be reckoned with and they are reportedly very interested in Fielder as well.

[Guest]

If the Cubs were really going to abandon such a plan in favor of blowing a bunch of money on free agents, which they then, presumably, wouldn't have thought was a prudent way to act, couldn't they just pay the penalties for going over slot instead of committing hundreds of millions to players they didn't originally want?

[Sammy Sofa]

If the Cubs were really going to abandon such a plan in favor of blowing a bunch of money on free agents, which they then, presumably, wouldn't have thought was a prudent way to act, couldn't they just pay the penalties for going over slot instead of committing hundreds of millions to players they didn't originally want?

 

It's gettin' so a businessman can't expect no return from a fixed fight. Now if you can't trust a fix, what can you trust? For a good return you gotta go bettin' on chance, and then you're back with anarchy. Right back inna jungle. On account of the breakdown of ethics. That's why ethics is important. It's the grease makes us get along, what separates us from the animals, beasts a burden, beasts a prey. Ethics.

[treebird]

If the Cubs were really going to abandon such a plan in favor of blowing a bunch of money on free agents, which they then, presumably, wouldn't have thought was a prudent way to act, couldn't they just pay the penalties for going over slot instead of committing hundreds of millions to players they didn't originally want?

 

It's gettin' so a businessman can't expect no return from a fixed fight. Now if you can't trust a fix, what can you trust? For a good return you gotta go bettin' on chance, and then you're back with anarchy. Right back inna jungle. On account of the breakdown of ethics. That's why ethics is important. It's the grease makes us get along, what separates us from the animals, beasts a burden, beasts a prey. Ethics.

 

awesome

[ctcf]

If the Cubs were really going to abandon such a plan in favor of blowing a bunch of money on free agents, which they then, presumably, wouldn't have thought was a prudent way to act, couldn't they just pay the penalties for going over slot instead of committing hundreds of millions to players they didn't originally want?

 

It's gettin' so a businessman can't expect no return from a fixed fight. Now if you can't trust a fix, what can you trust? For a good return you gotta go bettin' on chance, and then you're back with anarchy. Right back inna jungle. On account of the breakdown of ethics. That's why ethics is important. It's the grease makes us get along, what separates us from the animals, beasts a burden, beasts a prey. Ethics.

 

Yessssss

[Have a seat, Neifi]

If the Cubs were really going to abandon such a plan in favor of blowing a bunch of money on free agents, which they then, presumably, wouldn't have thought was a prudent way to act, couldn't they just pay the penalties for going over slot instead of committing hundreds of millions to players they didn't originally want?

I believe that paying over slot in multiple drafts doesn't just result in luxury tax penalties, but can also result in the loss of future draft picks.

[Guest]

If the Cubs were really going to abandon such a plan in favor of blowing a bunch of money on free agents, which they then, presumably, wouldn't have thought was a prudent way to act, couldn't they just pay the penalties for going over slot instead of committing hundreds of millions to players they didn't originally want?

I believe that paying over slot in multiple drafts doesn't just result in luxury tax penalties, but can also result in the loss of future draft picks.

 

Not to get too far off the subject...

 

How many can you lose? If you can still get a bunch of overslots, is it worth taking the hit? How many can you replenish through free agent compensation?

[Guest]

Great movie btw.

[Guest]

If the Cubs were really going to abandon such a plan in favor of blowing a bunch of money on free agents, which they then, presumably, wouldn't have thought was a prudent way to act, couldn't they just pay the penalties for going over slot instead of committing hundreds of millions to players they didn't originally want?

I believe that paying over slot in multiple drafts doesn't just result in luxury tax penalties, but can also result in the loss of future draft picks.

 

Not to get too far off the subject...

 

How many can you lose? If you can still get a bunch of overslots, is it worth taking the hit? How many can you replenish through free agent compensation?

 

I think you'd lose as many picks as you go into the penalty to sign(for the second time, of course). Considering FA compensation is scaled back to Type A non-relievers who decline a 12 million dollar offer, I don't think it's going to be worthwhile to just spend your way through the penalties.

[Backtobanks]

While I would be happy to overpay for Pujols/Fielder, I would rather find a way to get Alonzo from the Reds. Maybe a deal centered around Marmol for Alonzo?

 

If we want Alonzo its going be be Garza or bust.

 

I sure hope you don't mean straight up. If the Reds want Garza it had better pull 2 significant pieces on top of that. I would think Marmol would be plenty, especially if you kicked in 5M on an already relatively cheap deal.

 

I'm not sayint that I would want to do it, I'm saying that if we want Alonzo, we're going to have to give up Garza. The only way they'd give him up for a package built around Marmol is if we added in 2 of our top prospects. If they wanted to give us Alonzo and Leake for Marmol, that would be great but I don't see that happening.If we were to do a Garza for Alonzo and something else, the best we could hope for is likely Homer Bailey.

 

While I'm the one who wanted Alonzo, I do think you're over-valueing him. If the Marmol + $$$ isn't enough, then go for a trade centered around Garza for Alonzo + Leake + ?. The Reds need an ace badly and having a butcher (Alonzo) in LF certainly isn't going to help the pitching staff.

 

From MLBTR:

 

•Rival GMs consider Yonder Alonso a one-dimensional player, not someone who could be a centerpiece in a trade for a starting pitcher like James Shields or Gio Gonzalez.

[PrimeTime]

Just popped up on Roto

 

ESPN's Jayson Stark reports that the Cubs have "made contact" with Albert Pujols' agent, Dan Lozano.

 

http://espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/story/_/id/7294424/source-chicago-cubs-call-albert-pujols-reps-express-interest

Edited November 29, 2011 by PrimeTime

[treebird]

Just popped up on Roto

 

ESPN's Jayson Stark reports that the Cubs have "made contact" with Albert Pujols' agent, Dan Lozano.

 

hopefully the contact was umfan's neighbor and the pictures get leaked to deadspin soon

[Guest]

Just popped up on Roto

 

ESPN's Jayson Stark reports that the Cubs have "made contact" with Albert Pujols' agent, Dan Lozano.

 

hopefully the contact was umfan's neighbor and the pictures get leaked to deadspin soon

hahahahahahahaha

[Guest]

Rogers's silly take on it... before the ESPN report, FWIW

 

Talk about a sexy storyline: Albert Pujols’ No. 5 in Cubbie blue? Too bad it has no legs.

 

The Cubs' supposed interest in Pujols has been a hit with talk-show callers for almost a year now, and still isn’t viable, despite a report Tuesday morning from FoxSports.com.

 

The possibility of the Cubs strongly pursuing Prince Fielder, another element of the FoxSports report, is only a little more likely. The Cubs are being used by someone who is looking for teams to throw into the dormant “sweepstakes’’ for baseball’s two biggest name free agents -- the 32-year-old Pujols and the oversized Fielder, neither of whom have generated the interest many suspected they would.

 

With the winter meetings approaching, it’s natural to look for teams who have pursued them with stealth. But the Cubs are very, very unlikely to be one of those teams.

 

 

 

In case you’ve forgotten, their priorities are to build for the future by acquiring young players and to add players who can help contend in the short term, but always with the understanding that Priority No. 1 trumps Priority No. 2.

 

Pujols and Fielder are very expensive win-now options, and it’s not clear how long it will take the Cubs to assemble a pitching staff to support them. Signing either of them probably would take away from the flexibility to be aggressive with the pursuit of a player like Cuban center fielder Yoenis Cespedes, who may be older than his listed age of 25 but is nevertheless a physical specimen.

 

Pujols or Fielder to the Cubs? I’m not buying.