Hoyer, McLeod officially join Cubs

[CubColtPacer]

Platoons usually have a way of not working out in our favor. I also happen to think the fact that we're a major market team should mean we should strive for better than "close-ish"

 

True, but large market teams shouldn't sign long-term deals to aging, declining players just because they don't know how they're going to fill their spot either. Ramirez has been an amazing player for the Cubs (unselfish too with taking less money last time) and still has some gas left in the tank. But the chances are not good that he's going to be worth anywhere close to the type of deal he's going to get on the market. Ramirez knows this is likely his best chance to get one last decent deal which is why he declined his side of the option, and the Cubs are just not willing to be the ones to make the mistake of signing him to that deal.

[CUBZ99]

Yeah, it definitely sounded like Quade's out. On the other hand, I think there's a strong possibility that Zambrano stays.

 

He's either got a good chance of staying, or Epstein is doing a very good job bluffing it in order to keep his trade value reasonable.

 

Either way, I like it.

That's exactly what it is. I'd be absolutely stunned if Zambrano played another game in a Cubs uniform.

 

I would not be so sure, and I don't know why anybody would be stunned. He's under contract to pitch for the Cubs. He's capable of pitching well. The Cubs are in desperate need of starting pitching. There's a fairly simple scenario for seeing him pitch for the Cubs.

 

He didn't molest a Ricketts kid or anything.

 

If the Cubs get offered anything of value for Zambrano, I'm sure they will deal him in an instant. He has not been a very productive pitcher over the last several years, and his numbers continue to decline.

 

If however, it comes down to basically releasing him to get rid of him, my guess is that Theo will wait to see how he does when he comes to spring training and wait until the rotation is filled out prior to just disposing of him.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Platoons usually have a way of not working out in our favor. I also happen to think the fact that we're a major market team should mean we should strive for better than "close-ish"

 

Even major market teams have to use their resources efficiently.

 

Spending an extra $13 million to hopefully get an extra 1.5 WAR out of 3b is just plain inefficient. We can get a lot more bang for our buck at other positions.

[jersey cubs fan]

He has not been a very productive pitcher over the last several years, and

 

I don't know how the hell you define productive or several, but that's nonsense.

[USSoccer]

Platoons usually have a way of not working out in our favor. I also happen to think the fact that we're a major market team should mean we should strive for better than "close-ish"

 

Do you think it would've been smart for us to give Aramis something like, just ballparking here, 4/52-56?

 

Not necessarily, but I think we could get creative enough with a contract and find a solution that didn't rely on the pile of crap we have in the minors to possibly recreate his production via some platoon that likely will suck.

[Omar]

Is the full video of the press conference up anywhere?

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Not necessarily, but I think we could get creative enough with a contract and find a solution that didn't rely on the pile of crap we have in the minors to possibly recreate his production via some platoon that likely will suck.

 

We should go with the sure thing and not risk getting some terrible line out of our 3b like 241/294/452.

[Guest]

Not necessarily, but I think we could get creative enough with a contract and find a solution that didn't rely on the pile of crap we have in the minors to possibly recreate his production via some platoon that likely will suck.

 

We should go with the sure thing and not risk getting some terrible line out of our 3b like 241/294/452.

 

 

Holy crap... with his rebound offensively in 2011, I had somehow totally forgotten how awful he was in 2010.

[PrimeTime]

Hoyer will be on Kaplans show at 5:30

[Guest]

Hoyer will be on Kaplans show at 5:30

 

 

I hate that to get these in studio things with CTL I have to put up with that dbag. Show was much more tolerable before CSN brought him aboard.

 

Thanks for the heads up though. I'll be watching.

[PrimeTime]

Hoyer will be on Kaplans show at 5:30

 

 

I hate that to get these in studio things with CTL I have to put up with that dbag. Show was much more tolerable before CSN brought him aboard.

 

Thanks for the heads up though. I'll be watching.

 

I just found out while browsing around. Unfortunately, I'll miss it with being at work. It's always interesting to hear what the guest has to say though while Kaplan complains,calls everyone lazy and being a huge dbag. If you can, post a recap of anything interesting that happens on the show. Thanks

Edited November 1, 2011 by PrimeTime

[toonsterwu]

Considering their propensity to focus on getting good athletes, along with Hoyer's comments about looking at free agents that age well, I do wonder how much interest they are going to have in Fielder considering the general concerns many folks have had about Fielder's body, whether it is fair or not.

[Guest]

Considering their propensity to focus on getting good athletes, along with Hoyer's comments about looking at free agents that age well, I do wonder how much interest they are going to have in Fielder considering the general concerns many folks have had about Fielder's body, whether it is fair or not.

 

 

They're not going to stick to some silly idealized model of a player to the point that they pass up great talents.

[cubsclapp]

Yeah, it definitely sounded like Quade's out. On the other hand, I think there's a strong possibility that Zambrano stays.

 

He's either got a good chance of staying, or Epstein is doing a very good job bluffing it in order to keep his trade value reasonable.

 

Either way, I like it.

That's exactly what it is. I'd be absolutely stunned if Zambrano played another game in a Cubs uniform.

 

I would not be so sure, and I don't know why anybody would be stunned. He's under contract to pitch for the Cubs. He's capable of pitching well. The Cubs are in desperate need of starting pitching. There's a fairly simple scenario for seeing him pitch for the Cubs.

 

He didn't molest a Ricketts kid or anything.

After Ricketts said in front of the world on Sunday Night Baseball that he has a hard time imagining Zambrano ever pitching again for the Cubs, I just can't see it happening. I'd be totally fine with it, since I expect a very small return in a trade and we'd be on the hook for much of the salary, but I don't see Ricketts allowing it. And I know everybody will say, "Well he's not getting in the way of baseball decisions", blah blah blah. For this, I think he will, and already has.

[Hollandsworths mug]

Ok, first off, Sullivan has no neck and looked very troll like in studio. Secondly, and I found this very telling, is that Jed mentioned being able to steal bases and manufacture runs in Wrigley. Says the team needs to get more athletic.

 

Ryno, your 2012 Cubs are waiting.

[A New Era]

on kap@ctl

 

My God thank God this guy isn't our GM. If he was our GM he'd just cut Z and Sori and flush that $$ down the toilet. You know what, I'd rather them just play and give us whatever value they can rather than just bad mouth and dump them the way that moron does. WTF is wrong with him. Does he just not like black and brown people?

[jersey cubs fan]

After Ricketts said in front of the world on Sunday Night Baseball that he has a hard time imagining Zambrano ever pitching again for the Cubs, I just can't see it happening. I'd be totally fine with it, since I expect a very small return in a trade and we'd be on the hook for much of the salary, but I don't see Ricketts allowing it. And I know everybody will say, "Well he's not getting in the way of baseball decisions", blah blah blah. For this, I think he will, and already has.

 

I'm not sure what the blah blah blah is about, but Ricketts doesn't strike me as the "get that guy out of here" type of owner. He couldn't envision it, but I think he also said he wouldn't hire a baseball guy to watch over his baseball guy and he didn't envision getting Theo and Hoyer before the offseason.

[Hollandsworths mug]

Kaplan with his idiotic question:

 

"Jed, many good baseball men come here and never realize until after they get here what they have gotten themselves into. Do you realize what you have gotten yourself into here?"

 

Jed:

 

"I have heard that but all things come to an end so will this and I want to be part of putting this (103 years) to an end."

 

\:D/

[Brian]

TEAM THEO or is it TEAM TOMMY

 

http://d.yimg.com/a/p/sp/ap/e9/fullj.f9b8fff4758bc39aa042cf4821322e42/ap-201111011546567879145.jpg

[Mark Priors Calves]

Kap's a baseball neanderthal. He's so focused on getting rid of the players he doesn't like on the Cubs (Soriano, Zambrano, and Ramirez) and "changing the culture" that he spends his valuable access time with new front office personnel dwelling on the drivel. His nearsightedness is embarrassing for someone who is charged with interview this men. The new front office is going to completely overhaul the entire organization, and in doing so, will charge the culture by draft, signing, and trading for much better players than they've had.

[Brian]

Lol, just finished the press conference and Kap after show madness off the DVR... Holly makes a point that when you ignore salary Soriano is actually a pretty good 6-7 hitter

 

Kap - BUT HE'S A TERRIBLE DEFENDER THATS WHAT DRIVES EVERYONE CRAZY

[USSoccer]

Not necessarily, but I think we could get creative enough with a contract and find a solution that didn't rely on the pile of crap we have in the minors to possibly recreate his production via some platoon that likely will suck.

 

We should go with the sure thing and not risk getting some terrible line out of our 3b like 241/294/452.

 

Yes, lets focus on the outlier

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Yes, lets focus on the outlier

 

I went over it here and in the Transactions thread, but it's hard to come up with a reasonable projection for Ramirez that is more than 3 WAR. It's annoying that the meatheads obsess over it, but it really is true that Ramirez gives back a ton of his offensive value on defense and baserunning.

 

This team has too many other gaping holes, especially the rotation and 1b, to justify spending $15 million or whatever Ramirez is going to get. And that's even before we get into the risks of a multi-year deal for a guy entering his age 34 season.

[USSoccer]

Yes, lets focus on the outlier

 

I went over it here and in the Transactions thread, but it's hard to come up with a reasonable projection for Ramirez that is more than 3 WAR. It's annoying that the meatheads obsess over it, but it really is true that Ramirez gives back a ton of his offensive value on defense and baserunning.

 

This team has too many other gaping holes, especially the rotation and 1b, to justify spending $15 million or whatever Ramirez is going to get. And that's even before we get into the risks of a multi-year deal for a guy entering his age 34 season.

 

"Hey Albert/Prince, come to Chicago! We'll have a platoon of Blake DeWitt and Jeff Baker protecting you in the lineup! Hello? Hello?"

 

That's another affect of this. I know that I'm being less than logical about this because I think he's awesome and such, but I absolutely do not buy the effectiveness of a platoon or some internal solution, let alone some reclamation project we pick up to not only match his offensive production, but I heavily question defensive metrics and think that not having your best offensive player return hinders our ability to attract other good players to come here.

[Guest]

Yes, lets focus on the outlier

 

I went over it here and in the Transactions thread, but it's hard to come up with a reasonable projection for Ramirez that is more than 3 WAR. It's annoying that the meatheads obsess over it, but it really is true that Ramirez gives back a ton of his offensive value on defense and baserunning.

 

This team has too many other gaping holes, especially the rotation and 1b, to justify spending $15 million or whatever Ramirez is going to get. And that's even before we get into the risks of a multi-year deal for a guy entering his age 34 season.

 

"Hey Albert/Prince, come to Chicago! We'll have a platoon of Blake DeWitt and Jeff Baker protecting you in the lineup! Hello? Hello?"

 

That's another affect of this. I know that I'm being less than logical about this because I think he's awesome and such, but I absolutely do not buy the effectiveness of a platoon or some internal solution, let alone some reclamation project we pick up to not only match his offensive production, but I heavily question defensive metrics and think that not having your best offensive player return hinders our ability to attract other good players to come here.

It's not just the platoon that needs to match Aramis' production, though. It's the platoon + whatever they can do with an extra $15M.