The 2012 Offseason Thread

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Just out of curiosity, who did you have in mind for 3rd? The way the 3B markets shaping up, this could end up a steal.

 

I'd rather dig up Ron Santo's corpse, put a tape recorder around his neck playing Dave Kaplan shouting racial slurs at Starlin Castro playing on a loop, and plant his good foot in the ground five feet away from 3b, than give Ian Stewart $2 million guaranteed.

 

My only question is how different is this then what he'd have gotten before being non-tendered?

 

A little less.

[USSoccer]

Too bad we didn't have an incredibly productive, offensively gifted 3B that had been with the team for 8 years to resign for a fairly reasonable contract last offseason.

 

Oh wait, our meatballish, meatheaded dope of a color commentator and the racist dwarf of a sportscaster assigned to cover the team by our flagship radio station decided it would be better to completely poison the chances of the guy taking said fairly reasonable contract to finish his career here.

[jersey cubs fan]

I assume they are looking at Stewart as a potential coaching candidate down the road and this is just a way to keep on his good side so he'll consider them when his playing career ends.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

I think he might have had surgery on the original injury in 2005, but that's it iirc. Of course, the fact that it's a rehabbing from surgery wrist doesn't really make me feel any better about it.

 

No wait, he had wrist surgery in 2010.

[Elrhino]

Maybe the doctors put in a robotic cyborg wrist this time.

[mul21]

Again:

 

We all know about the surgery he had late in the season which, according to Stewart, finally addressed a lingering problem that other doctors had missed for years.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Again:

 

We all know about the surgery he had late in the season which, according to Stewart, finally addressed a lingering problem that other doctors had missed for years.

 

Well of course that's what they say now. When an oft-injured athlete finds some foolish team to give him yet another chance, they always find some reason to believe "This time, it will be different!"

[mul21]

Again:

 

We all know about the surgery he had late in the season which, according to Stewart, finally addressed a lingering problem that other doctors had missed for years.

 

Well of course that's what they say now. When an oft-injured athlete finds some foolish team to give him yet another chance, they always find some reason to believe "This time, it will be different!"

 

Considering he was under contract with the Cubs at the time of the surgery, I'm betting they have pretty good info on whether or not something different than had been repaired before was found.

 

Man, you seriously have the biggest doom boner in the history of ever. And you're usually wrong too.

[Guest]

Just out of curiosity, who did you have in mind for 3rd? The way the 3B markets shaping up, this could end up a steal.

 

I'd rather dig up Ron Santo's corpse, put a tape recorder around his neck playing Dave Kaplan shouting racial slurs at Starlin Castro playing on a loop, and plant his good foot in the ground five feet away from 3b, than give Ian Stewart $2 million guaranteed.

 

My only question is how different is this then what he'd have gotten before being non-tendered?

 

A little less.

 

Santo didn't have a good foot.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Considering he was under contract with the Cubs at the time of the surgery, I'm betting they have pretty good info on whether or not something different than had been repaired before was found.

 

Man, you seriously have the biggest doom boner in the history of ever. And you're usually wrong too.

 

Yeah, because when we had this *exact* argument last year, Ian Stewart went on to a 20 HR, 2.5 WAR season at 3b with a perfectly healthy wrist. I'm so wrong all the time.

 

 

I'm sure they did find something different this time. So where does that leave us? With a guy who hasn't hit in years rehabbing a wrist with recent nerve damage and surgery. That's a *great* bet.

 

And Wittenmeyer says the Cubs confirm he will be the starter going into the year. No competition. :banghead:

[Guest]

Again:

 

We all know about the surgery he had late in the season which, according to Stewart, finally addressed a lingering problem that other doctors had missed for years.

 

Well of course that's what they say now. When an oft-injured athlete finds some foolish team to give him yet another chance, they always find some reason to believe "This time, it will be different!"

 

Considering he was under contract with the Cubs at the time of the surgery, I'm betting they have pretty good info on whether or not something different than had been repaired before was found.

 

Man, you seriously have the biggest doom boner in the history of ever. And you're usually wrong too.

 

Not that big of a doom boner. He was projecting the team for 80-82 wins before this signing.

[Guest]

Considering he was under contract with the Cubs at the time of the surgery, I'm betting they have pretty good info on whether or not something different than had been repaired before was found.

 

Man, you seriously have the biggest doom boner in the history of ever. And you're usually wrong too.

 

Yeah, because when we had this *exact* argument last year, Ian Stewart went on to a 20 HR, 2.5 WAR season at 3b with a perfectly healthy wrist. I'm so wrong all the time.

 

 

I'm sure they did find something different this time. So where does that leave us? With a guy who hasn't hit in years rehabbing a wrist with recent nerve damage and surgery. That's a *great* bet.

 

And Wittenmeyer says the Cubs confirm he will be the starter going into the year. No competition. :banghead:

 

Can't wait til April when you're Feelin Ian again. This doom stuff is annoying.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Not that big of a doom boner. He was projecting the team for 80-82 wins before this signing.

 

Down to 79 now.

[mul21]

Considering he was under contract with the Cubs at the time of the surgery, I'm betting they have pretty good info on whether or not something different than had been repaired before was found.

 

Man, you seriously have the biggest doom boner in the history of ever. And you're usually wrong too.

 

Yeah, because when we had this *exact* argument last year, Ian Stewart went on to a 20 HR, 2.5 WAR season at 3b with a perfectly healthy wrist. I'm so wrong all the time.

 

 

I'm sure they did find something different this time. So where does that leave us? With a guy who hasn't hit in years rehabbing a wrist with recent nerve damage and surgery. That's a *great* bet.

 

And Wittenmeyer says the Cubs confirm he will be the starter going into the year. No competition. :banghead:

 

No, it leaves us with a guy who was roping line drives with a ridiculously low BABIP the first 2 months of the year before he re-aggravated the wrist. I'm not saying he's going to hit 25 HRs with an .850 OPS. I'm saying he's the best option out there with the potential for success. I sure as hell don't want to see Valbuena get run out there 150 times next year.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

No, it leaves us with a guy who was roping line drives with a ridiculously low BABIP the first 2 months of the year before he re-aggravated the wrist.

 

That stopped being true before the wrist injury, though I understand why many people checked out by then and don't remember it that way.

[Guest]

No, it leaves us with a guy who was roping line drives with a ridiculously low BABIP the first 2 months of the year before he re-aggravated the wrist.

 

That stopped being true before the wrist injury, though I understand why many people checked out by then and don't remember it that way.

 

 

So you're aware of when the wrist started bothering him?

 

 

Weren't you the one posting about his improved approach and his reduced K rate too?

[Guest]

Sullivan says the contract isn't guaranteed.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

So you're aware of when the wrist started bothering him?

 

That always seems to be a moving target that conveniently is set at whenever he stops hitting.

 

If we're going that route, I want to remind everyone that he reported his wrist wasn't bothering him until late July of 2011, but he was hitting awful for all of 2011, so there's still that fly in the ointment.

 

He's not bad because he's hurt. He's bad *and* hurt.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Sullivan says the contract isn't guaranteed.

 

Only if we cut him in camp, which we won't, especially considering Wittenmeyer said we don't plan on bringing in anything more than a RH backup.

[Guest]

So you're aware of when the wrist started bothering him?

 

That always seems to be a moving target that conveniently is set at whenever he stops hitting.

 

If we're going that route, I want to remind everyone that he reported his wrist wasn't bothering him until late July of 2011, but he was hitting awful for all of 2011, so there's still that fly in the ointment.

 

He's not bad because he's hurt. He's bad *and* hurt.

Why don't you just give it a rest? Everyone knows what you think by now. You really don't have to respond to every optimistic assessment.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Why don't you just give it a rest? Everyone knows what you think by now. You really don't have to respond to every optimistic assessment.

 

I've responded to two, I think. The rest are responses to responses. It's called a "conversation."

[Guest]

Again:

 

We all know about the surgery he had late in the season which, according to Stewart, finally addressed a lingering problem that other doctors had missed for years.

 

Well of course that's what they say now. When an oft-injured athlete finds some foolish team to give him yet another chance, they always find some reason to believe "This time, it will be different!"

 

I'm pretty sure that's the story we heard in June/July too: http://www.thecubreporter.com/2012/07/15/aha-moment

 

 

Of course, the problem here is that even successful wrist surgeries often sap guys of their power the year after, and with Stewart's horrific 2012 and impending free agency, there's not a whole lot of upside to bringing him back. They must be really sold on his defense and ability to hit for some AVG with walks in order for him to be a better option than Valbuena.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Just out of curiosity, who did you have in mind for 3rd? The way the 3B markets shaping up, this could end up a steal.

 

I'd rather dig up Ron Santo's corpse, put a tape recorder around his neck playing Dave Kaplan shouting racial slurs at Starlin Castro playing on a loop, and plant his good foot in the ground five feet away from 3b, than give Ian Stewart $2 million guaranteed.

 

 

But assuming that option isn't available, Stewart's a pretty good option at the price. Remember, if he's brutal, we'll have Vitters in AAA and Villanueva at AA.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

But assuming that option isn't available, Stewart's a pretty good option at the price. Remember, if he's brutal, we'll have Vitters in AAA and Villanueva at AA.

 

Valbuena had better peripherals last season, is better defensively, has two good wrists, is cheaper, and is under more team control.

[Little Slide Rooter]

But assuming that option isn't available, Stewart's a pretty good option at the price. Remember, if he's brutal, we'll have Vitters in AAA and Villanueva at AA.

 

Valbuena had better peripherals last season, is better defensively, has two good wrists, is cheaper, and is under more team control.

 

But Luis Valbuena's ceiling is Luis Valbuena. Ian Stewart's ceiling is that of a really good baseball player. True that the likelyhood of him hitting is dwindling, but it's there, and as long as we're likely to lose 82-85 games, may as well take the risk.