Tigers sign Prince - 9/214 - Heyman

[Bull]

sullivan - PWSullivan Paul Sullivan

Sveum sez Cubs have had no conversations with Prince.

Retweeted by Buster_ESPN

[Butterscup1679666578]

sez? really?

[Little Slide Rooter]

sullivan - PWSullivan Paul Sullivan

Sveum sez Cubs have had no conversations with Prince.

Retweeted by Buster_ESPN

 

I don't know how these things work, but is it normal for the manager to have much dialogue before a players signed, or at least until serious negotiations begin? Sounds like it could be Sveums way of pleading the 5th.

[dew1679666265]

Am I alone in being underwhelmed by Justin Smoak? His walk rate has always been good/great, but I don't see a whole lot else to be excited about. A .283/.401/.458 line over 477 PCL PAs doesn't seem particularly noteworthy (again, with the exception of IsoD). Educate me, people who know more about MiLB.

 

He's just 25 years old, has a very good approach at the plate (15.7% BB rate), and has shown the ability to hit for power in the minors (.497 SLG in AAA, though a grain of salt because it was PCL). And the line you posted is his career minor league line, not his PCL line. In 3 PCL seasons (477 PAs), he's posted a .253/.379/.414 line. Not too encouraging, but consider this:

 

1st 237 AAA PAs: .244/.363/.360

Next 225 AAA PAs: .279/.404/.497

 

He's shown pretty clear improvement in a similar number of PAs.

Edited December 16, 2011 by dew

[Hairyducked Idiot]

sullivan - PWSullivan Paul Sullivan

Sveum sez Cubs have had no conversations with Prince.

Retweeted by Buster_ESPN

 

I don't know how these things work, but is it normal for the manager to have much dialogue before a players signed, or at least until serious negotiations begin? Sounds like it could be Sveums way of pleading the 5th.

 

It says "Cubs have had no conversations with Prince" not "Sveum has had no conversations with Prince."

 

I really doubt the Cubs would be talking with him without including Sveum in the loop, but there's still some outs there:

 

1) He's lying

2) They've had conversations with Boras but not Fielder

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Am I alone in being underwhelmed by Justin Smoak? His walk rate has always been good/great, but I don't see a whole lot else to be excited about. A .283/.401/.458 line over 477 PCL PAs doesn't seem particularly noteworthy (again, with the exception of IsoD). Educate me, people who know more about MiLB.

 

He's just 25 years old, has a very good approach at the plate (15.7% BB rate), and has shown the ability to hit for power in the minors (.497 SLG in AAA, though a grain of salt because it was PCL). And the line you posted is his career minor league line, not his PCL line. In 1 PCL season (477 PAs), he's posted a .253/.379/.414 line. Not too encouraging, but consider this:

 

1st 237 AAA PAs: .244/.363/.360

Next 225 AAA PAs: .279/.404/.497

 

He's shown pretty clear improvement in a similar number of PAs.

 

279/404/497 in the PCL from a 1b still doesn't excite me either.

[mul21]

Am I alone in being underwhelmed by Justin Smoak? His walk rate has always been good/great, but I don't see a whole lot else to be excited about. A .283/.401/.458 line over 477 PCL PAs doesn't seem particularly noteworthy (again, with the exception of IsoD). Educate me, people who know more about MiLB.

 

He's just 25 years old, has a very good approach at the plate (15.7% BB rate), and has shown the ability to hit for power in the minors (.497 SLG in AAA, though a grain of salt because it was PCL). And the line you posted is his career minor league line, not his PCL line. In 1 PCL season (477 PAs), he's posted a .253/.379/.414 line. Not too encouraging, but consider this:

 

1st 237 AAA PAs: .244/.363/.360

Next 225 AAA PAs: .279/.404/.497

 

He's shown pretty clear improvement in a similar number of PAs.

 

279/404/497 in the PCL from a 1b still doesn't excite me either.

 

A .901 OPS doesn't excite you? I understand the PCL inflation, but that's pretty damn good and if you can get him without giving up too much, him putting up and .850 OPS at Wrigley isn't a pipe dream by any means.

[Banedon]

I bet the Cubs have had conversations with Boras though.

[Little Slide Rooter]

sullivan - PWSullivan Paul Sullivan

Sveum sez Cubs have had no conversations with Prince.

Retweeted by Buster_ESPN

 

I don't know how these things work, but is it normal for the manager to have much dialogue before a players signed, or at least until serious negotiations begin? Sounds like it could be Sveums way of pleading the 5th.

 

It says "Cubs have had no conversations with Prince" not "Sveum has had no conversations with Prince."

 

I really doubt the Cubs would be talking with him without including Sveum in the loop, but there's still some outs there:

 

1) He's lying

2) They've had conversations with Boras but not Fielder

 

Here's the actual quote

 

Sveum says the Cubs "haven't initiated any contact at all," according to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times (on Twitter).

 

I'm probably just grasping at straws here but who's to say that Boras didn't call them and they've been talking ever since? Remember, Epstein did go to law school and like most lawyers, he's likely a master when it comes to not divulging any information that he doesn't have to.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

A .901 OPS doesn't excite you? I understand the PCL inflation, but that's pretty damn good and if you can get him without giving up too much, him putting up and .850 OPS at Wrigley isn't a pipe dream by any means.

 

The standard adjustment is to downgrade by 18% when moving from AAA to MLB. Throw in the PCL's hitter-friendly environment, and suddenly that .901 looks pretty pedestrian for a poor defensive 1b (which I think Smoak is, I could be remembering wrong).

[dew1679666265]

279/404/497 in the PCL from a 1b still doesn't excite me either.

 

Just checked the minor league equivalence and it's not as good as I thought. However, he was 23 when he posted that line, has a very good approach at the plate, and was BA's #23 prospect in 2009 and #13 in 2010. I wouldn't give the farm for him, but I'd be willing to pay for the potential. If we miss on Prince, that is.

[Old Style]

I'd be very disppointed if we haven't even discussed the possiblity of signing Fielder with him and/or Boras.

[dew1679666265]

Here's the actual quote

 

Sveum says the Cubs "haven't initiated any contact at all," according to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times (on Twitter).

 

I'm probably just grasping at straws here but who's to say that Boras didn't call them and they've been talking ever since? Remember, Epstein did go to law school and like most lawyers, he's likely a master when it comes to not divulging any information that he doesn't have to.

 

"Initiated" is the key word there, I think. That's a pretty easy way for Sveum to downplay potential Cubs' interest in Prince without lying.

[Game time is 120]

First time poster. First off, just wanted to say hello to all my fellow Cubs fans. Secondly, I do think Epstein and Hoyer will sign Prince. He is certainly a player you can build around and while Boras might want ten years, look for a six to seven year deal to be more than enough.

 

When you can sport an OPS of .929 for your career, you are in rarefied air.

[javy knows my name]

Here's the actual quote

 

Sveum says the Cubs "haven't initiated any contact at all," according to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times (on Twitter).

 

I'm probably just grasping at straws here but who's to say that Boras didn't call them and they've been talking ever since? Remember, Epstein did go to law school and like most lawyers, he's likely a master when it comes to not divulging any information that he doesn't have to.

 

"Initiated" is the key word there, I think. That's a pretty easy way for Sveum to downplay potential Cubs' interest in Prince without lying.

 

Or he could just lie

[Hairyducked Idiot]

First time poster. First off, just wanted to say hello to all my fellow Cubs fans. Secondly, I do think Epstein and Hoyer will sign Prince. He is certainly a player you can build around and while Boras might want ten years, look for a six to seven year deal to be more than enough.

 

When you can sport an OPS of .929 for your career, you are in rarefied air.

 

Welcome to the board.

[jersey cubs fan]

Here's the actual quote

 

Sveum says the Cubs "haven't initiated any contact at all," according to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times (on Twitter).

 

I'm probably just grasping at straws here but who's to say that Boras didn't call them and they've been talking ever since? Remember, Epstein did go to law school and like most lawyers, he's likely a master when it comes to not divulging any information that he doesn't have to.

 

"Initiated" is the key word there, I think. That's a pretty easy way for Sveum to downplay potential Cubs' interest in Prince without lying.

 

Playing hard to get. Theo is a player with a desperate girl who has daddy issues just dying to get with him.

[Clem Fandango]

I love/hate the way this front office handles info leaks. Love it because we never show our hand, which Hendry was always terrible at doing. But I hate it because I hate not knowing for sure what my favorite team is up to

[Little Slide Rooter]

Kind of reminds us of the days before the internet when I never really even knew of any rumors and didn't know about any pending trades or signings until the day they happened, only instead of a lack of reports there's an abundance of conflicting reports.

[Abe Frohman]

I still remember before Hendry signed Soriano and said, "we won't be overbid."

 

Great technique.

[Clem Fandango]

Jonah Keri, just going off his own formula, pegs the Cubs as the 13th best destination for Prince Fielder...

 

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7359082/who-sign-prince-fielder

 

I thought it'd be interesting to rank all 30 clubs based solely on how much benefit they would derive from Fielder given their current rosters, and how that ranking would compare to the actual likelihood of that team actually signing Fielder. For the purpose of this exercise, we'll avoid making too many assumptions about the off-field value of big-ticket free agents

 

13. Chicago Cubs: Let's start with this: According to Ken Rosenthal, the Cubs are now considered the front-runners to actually land Fielder. Is this the most logical destination for him, though? Not now it isn't, certainly. This is a future play, because no matter how hard Cubs fans wish, they're not winning anything this year, Fielder or not. But there's hope for the not too distant future, much of it financial. Carlos Zambrano, Ryan Dempster, and Marlon Byrd are off the books after this season, freeing up $39.5 million. Carlos Marmol makes nearly $10 million in 2013, then he's fair game. Alfonso Soriano's still owed $57 million, but at least November 2014 isn't forever. Jed Hoyer and Theo Epstein could sign Fielder and fill their huge hole at first with a player who reached free agency at a young age (27). They'd just need to hope their new acquisition, already bereft of any value beyond his bat, retains his peak value for the next few years, while expiring contracts create opportunities to build a strong supporting cast. Heavy sluggers don't have a great track record of longevity, or sustained production; the Cubs will hope that Fielder bucks those negative trends.

 

 

He says the Rays are the #1 best fit for Fielder

[Hairyducked Idiot]

He says the Rays are the #1 best fit for Fielder

 

He's not even trying anymore, is he?

[bukie]

He seems to be more concerned with who will benefit the most from the entirety of Fielder's deal as of this very moment, and not so much on how easily the franchise can absorb the contract or how much a team can build around him.

 

So, in that sense, since the Rays are a borderline playoff team with an absence at first base, Fielder makes perfect sense for them both short term and long term. Same with any team that's potentially one piece away from a playoff spot like the Giants, Brewers, Marlins, Cardinals and Indians.

[UMFan83]

Prince Fielder video of the day:

 

 

I dont remember seeing this when it originally happened. "I wanna handle my [expletive] business"

[Game time is 120]

I always find it amusing when people/columnists say the Cubs have no chance to contend next year as if it's set in stone. These are the same dopes who said that after 2002 the Cubs would not contend for years to come. The very next season we are on the brink of the world series.

 

Yes, there is much work to be done but to predict the Cubs 2012 season when we are still in 2011 is pretty funny.