Cubs sign Nate Schierholtz (1 yr/2.25 mil)

[Cubswin11]

ABTY mentioned early this morning a possible Schierholtz/Franceour platoon. And he just said we have been in contact with KC a couple of times today. And I'm fully expecting Mark Reynolds at 3rd base now. Ugh.

Jesus [expletive] Christ, NO. Just NO, NO, NO to Franceour

Edited December 6, 2012 by Cubswin11

[hawkeyecub]

In my mind I know I should be expecting moves like this but I still get kind of sad when they happen.

[Guest]

I like the move. It really does nothing to prevent the team from acquiring another OF or making room for Jackson/Szczur if they fix their games. Nate could easily be slid back into a 4/5 OF role and be solid depth.

[treebird]

i am generally very wary of mediocre guys who appear to have strong splits in small numbers of plate appearances.

 

much more likely this is a whatever 4th or 5th outfielder than a guy on the tough half of a starting platoon.

[Sammy Sofa]

i am generally very wary of mediocre guys who appear to have strong splits in small numbers of plate appearances.

 

much more likely this is a whatever 4th or 5th outfielder than a guy on the tough half of a starting platoon.

 

Your ideas are intriguing to me, and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter!

[Guest]

ABTY mentioned early this morning a possible Schierholtz/Franceour platoon. And he just said we have been in contact with KC a couple of times today. And I'm fully expecting Mark Reynolds at 3rd base now. Ugh.

Jesus [expletive] Christ, NO. Just NO, NO, NO to Franceour

 

Last year aside, when he was bad against everyone, Franceour hasn't been bad at all against lefties.

 

.289/.341/.479 career

 

.273/.342/.466 last 3 years (429 AB)

[Hairyducked Idiot]

For some reason, I trust guys who can hit just righties more than guys who can hit just lefties. Probably because they get more regular at-bats.

[Guest]

Schierholtz's career power numbers are also considerably better on the road than at home (the vast majority of which was at SF). Not sure if I can get his vs. RHP away numbers anywhere, but overall...

 

.276/.320/.424 on the road (713 PA)

 

plus wrigley plays really well for lefty hitters

[davell]

As much as I'm in favor of the rebuild, I fully acknowledge the loss of expectations. I'm sitting here hoping this move doesn't keep us from getting Grilli.

[mookie]

It's better than spending millions of dollars on Shane Victorino.

[Vanilla Ice]

One of those moves that I wait to see future moves.

 

If Schierholtz is the 4th or 5th outfielder, I really really like the move.

 

If he is our opening day and main RF, I will be disappointed.

 

Add another SP, RP, and either OF or 3B, I will love this offseason. Keep us in the variance range and not hamstring us. If any of the individual players on short-term deals perform well, great! Trade them for a Vizcaino or Villanueva. If we get enough positive variance, contend for a playoff spot!

 

No matter which way our variance goes, we continue to build our system without hamstringing us in the future. Keep trading veterans + good years from our prospects, maybe a top 5 system. Contend for a playoff spot + keep financial flexiblility + add the #2 pick, maybe we sneak into the playoffs and have a top 10-15 system?

 

I like the way this is going. I just hope we continue to add more pieces.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Now that I think about it, DeJesus really needs a RH platoon partner, too, and Sappelt can't be the partner for both guys. We still probably need one more outfielder or guy who can play the outfield occasionally.

[davell]

Now that I think about it, DeJesus really needs a RH platoon partner, too, and Sappelt can't be the partner for both guys. We still probably need one more outfielder or guy who can play the outfield occasionally.

Unless we plan on Campana being on the roster, we definitely need another OFer. Without looking them up, Brett mentioned Schierholtz' splits against lefties aren't that bad. Not sure if this was mentioned, but Heyman said he turned down 2/5 from someone. He also has an extra year of control, if we decide to offer him arb after 2013.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

I'd turn down 2/5 if I were him, too. He'd stand a decent chance of making more over the two years with this deal, especially since it includes some performance bonuses.

[Rob]

Schierholtz makes a lot of sense given the FO's current plan. He's cheap and could pretty easily combine with a decent platoon partner to give us 2-3 WAR in RF. He'll be easy to flip or push to the bench later. Very little downside here, and decent upside.

 

That said, the point of trying to find all these bargains is that you free up money to spend elsewhere. I'm a patient man, but there have been players at reasonable contracts that would make sense for this org. I'm beginning to get frustrated.

[BCVM22]

Guy's got an arm on him. (Yes, yes, two of them, even. Next...)

 

[Guest]

Schierholtz makes a lot of sense given the FO's current plan. He's cheap and could pretty easily combine with a decent platoon partner to give us 2-3 WAR in RF. He'll be easy to flip or push to the bench later. Very little downside here, and decent upside.

 

That said, the point of trying to find all these bargains is that you free up money to spend elsewhere. I'm a patient man, but there have been players at reasonable contracts that would make sense for this org. I'm beginning to get frustrated.

 

this is how i feel too. i'm on board with the plan and stuff, but now it's starting to feel like we're just being cheap. i understand not wanting to give out the big contracts now, but i thought we'd at least be willing to give out some 20-50 million dollar deals.

 

the baker/feldman signings are fine on their own, but we should be able to add better tradeable assets that still aren't risky long-term. my expectations were low, and i still expected us to go after at least 2 guys in the mccarthy/jackson/villanueva teir. this is just disappointing. i hate to say it, but it really does feel like they're trying to tank.

[davell]

I figure we'll add one more SP, likely from Marcum/McCarthy/Liriano. At least one more decent reliever, either Grilli, Howell, or Uehara. Plus one of the Cuban defectors, with the rest of the team being filled out by league minimum guys or very low salaries. My guess is payroll winds up right around 100 mill, if this is the route we take.

[Little Slide Rooter]

While Shierholtz does have strong minor league numbers across the board, he's never had a chance to play full time. If given such an opportunity, could he be a less versatile and much less handsome Mark DeRosa?

[WrigleyField 22]

Schierholtz makes a lot of sense given the FO's current plan. He's cheap and could pretty easily combine with a decent platoon partner to give us 2-3 WAR in RF. He'll be easy to flip or push to the bench later. Very little downside here, and decent upside.

 

That said, the point of trying to find all these bargains is that you free up money to spend elsewhere. I'm a patient man, but there have been players at reasonable contracts that would make sense for this org. I'm beginning to get frustrated.

There's still time. Quite a few pitchers left on the market who will cost some, and there's been definite talks of the Cubs still wanting to add to the rotation and bullpen. There's also the two recent Cuban defectors who both won't go against the IFA budget.

 

Then theres always possible trades that could open up other roster spots that we'd need to spend money to cover.

 

Still time.

 

 

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[jersey cubs fan]

Schierholtz makes a lot of sense given the FO's current plan. He's cheap and could pretty easily combine with a decent platoon partner to give us 2-3 WAR in RF. He'll be easy to flip or push to the bench later. Very little downside here, and decent upside.

 

I wouldn't assume he could "easily" platoon with a partner to be that productive. And there's next to no upside. He's just a blah player expected to give blah production on a blah team. Exactly what we expected but still disappointing to anybody that actually wants to see the Cubs win more than they lose.

[Guest]

Does anyone know if one of the sites would be able to get his away vs. rhp splits?

[jersey cubs fan]

Now that I think about it, DeJesus really needs a RH platoon partner, too, and Sappelt can't be the partner for both guys. We still probably need one more outfielder or guy who can play the outfield occasionally.

Unless we plan on Campana being on the roster, we definitely need another OFer. Without looking them up, Brett mentioned Schierholtz' splits against lefties aren't that bad. Not sure if this was mentioned, but Heyman said he turned down 2/5 from someone. He also has an extra year of control, if we decide to offer him arb after 2013.

 

Not sure what you mean by "not that bad", but he's hit .284/.317/.391 against LHP in his career which is only a tick higher than what the Cubs got out of RF last year, good for 2nd to last in the league. It's more like his splits vs RHP aren't that impressive for platoon purposes, as that would only place him in 13th place among last year's NL RF. Bottom line is the other half of this platoon is going to have to be a hell of a lot better against LHP for RF to be anything but below average.

[KingCubsFan]

Schierholtz makes a lot of sense given the FO's current plan. He's cheap and could pretty easily combine with a decent platoon partner to give us 2-3 WAR in RF. He'll be easy to flip or push to the bench later. Very little downside here, and decent upside.

 

I wouldn't assume he could "easily" platoon with a partner to be that productive. And there's next to no upside. He's just a blah player expected to give blah production on a blah team. Exactly what we expected but still disappointing to anybody that actually wants to see the Cubs win more than they lose.

I see some upside with Schierholtz. He showed a really good hit tool all throughout the minors, so maybe consistent playing time in the majors for the first time brings that out a bit more. Best case scenario, you get a BABIP-infused .300 avg/good OPS season out of him.

[Soul]

Schierholtz makes a lot of sense given the FO's current plan. He's cheap and could pretty easily combine with a decent platoon partner to give us 2-3 WAR in RF. He'll be easy to flip or push to the bench later. Very little downside here, and decent upside.

 

I wouldn't assume he could "easily" platoon with a partner to be that productive. And there's next to no upside. He's just a blah player expected to give blah production on a blah team. Exactly what we expected but still disappointing to anybody that actually wants to see the Cubs win more than they lose.

I see some upside with Schierholtz. He showed a really good hit tool all throughout the minors, so maybe consistent playing time in the majors for the first time brings that out a bit more. Best case scenario, you get a BABIP-infused .300 avg/good OPS season out of him.

 

Maybe. He did have one of his better hitting seasons in 2011, when he had the most PA's of his career. I'm not counting on it though.