Cubs agree to terms with Carlos Villaneuva..

[neely crenshaw]

It's not like Wood turned into Cy Young last year. Someone might be throwing some prospects for a lefty that showed some re-newed promise last year or He very well could be battling these guys for a spot in the rotation this spring. You'd have to say that if they play out that Baker, Feldman, Villanueva would/could be better than Wood.

Although we could use his bat...

Edited December 20, 2012 by neely crenshaw

[Guest]

I honestly wouldn't mind putting Wood in the pen, ala Marshall.

[Bull]

I honestly wouldn't mind putting Wood in the pen, ala Marshall.

On one hand: Doesn't he lose a ton of value if you do that?

 

ON the other hand: I guess the question is who do you want to potentially trade. If Wood is part of you long term plan, let these Maholm type lottery tickets start until the trade deadline. 1. they all fail, you move them to the pen and put Wood and viscaino in the rotation. 2. If they marginally succeed or one succeeds but the team fails, you trade the Maholm of the group and move Wood and/or Viscaino to the rotation. 3. If two or more succeed, the Cubs are buyers at the deadline, IMO.

 

If wood isn't part of the long term plan, you start him and trade him at the deadline.

 

Although the Cubs can be competitive this year, (parallel fronts?) I still think these moves are about creating value out of nothing.

 

I think this type of signing (no compensation) is one of the few ways left to exploit the system.

[bukie]

Who gets dropped from the roster to make room for Villanueva?

[Tryptamine]

Who gets dropped from the roster to make room for Villanueva?

 

7 starters to me means there has to be a trade of some sort happening. I really can't imagine Villanueva and Wood being stuffed in the pen.

[Cubswin11]

Who gets dropped from the roster to make room for Villanueva?

Rusin or Raley wouldn't be missed. Clevenger, go with Castillo/Navarro into the season always can find someone of Clevenger's abilities on the FA wire during the year if one of those guys get hurt/sucks.

[Guest]

I honestly wouldn't mind putting Wood in the pen, ala Marshall.

On one hand: Doesn't he lose a ton of value if you do that?

 

ON the other hand: I guess the question is who do you want to potentially trade. If Wood is part of you long term plan, let these Maholm type lottery tickets start until the trade deadline. 1. they all fail, you move them to the pen and put Wood and viscaino in the rotation. 2. If they marginally succeed or one succeeds but the team fails, you trade the Maholm of the group and move Wood and/or Viscaino to the rotation. 3. If two or more succeed, the Cubs are buyers at the deadline, IMO.

 

If wood isn't part of the long term plan, you start him and trade him at the deadline.

 

Although the Cubs can be competitive this year, (parallel fronts?) I still think these moves are about creating value out of nothing.

 

I think this type of signing (no compensation) is one of the few ways left to exploit the system.

 

How much value does he really have to lose?

 

If he becomes a very effective relief pitcher, he's probably got as much value as he does as a nondescript borderline back of the rotation pitcher, no? And he'd definitely contribute more to this team winning in that role (than being allowed to start in AAA or something, because he's not likely to be starting here).

[davell]

We haven't even added Schierholtz yet. If we DO get Jackson as well, it'd put us at 43. Rosario seems like a guy we're likely just trying to sneak thru waivers, ala Gutierrez and Putnam, so he's one guess. Most teams have their 3B issue solved now, we could risk(if you call it a risk) taking Stewart off, with his contract not being guaranteed. 3rd one is very iffy: Clevenger, Raley, Concepcion, Lendy Castillo, and Campana are the possibilities(Rusin's ineligible). There's reasons to keep each of those guys, so maybe we actually have a trade coming up.

[Guest]

Raley, Rusin, Rosario, Castillo, and Concepcion could all be de-rostered without much a thought on the pitcher side.

 

Campana is the easy DFA on the hitter side, although he has more value than any of those pitchers. I think you'll see one or more of Vitters, Jackson, Lake, and Szczur traded by the end of the offseason

[Guest]

I'm still shocked we wouldn't trade Lake for Yunel.

[jersey cubs fan]

Who gets dropped from the roster to make room for Villanueva?

 

7 starters to me means there has to be a trade of some sort happening. I really can't imagine Villanueva and Wood being stuffed in the pen.

 

7 starters is hardly too many to start spring training with. And with half of them being injury risks and/or actually swingmen/bullpen guys, then I don't see why it has to be a trade.

[Tryptamine]

I'm still shocked we wouldn't trade Lake for Yunel.

 

I suspect this was more that they didn't want to put up with Yunel's [expletive] unless the Marlins took something of almost no value rather than that they value Lake more than Yunel.

[Guest]

I'm still shocked we wouldn't trade Lake for Yunel.

 

I suspect this was more that they didn't want to put up with Yunel's [expletive] unless the Marlins took something of almost no value rather than that they value Lake more than Yunel.

 

I understand, but I'd still trade Lake for him, [expletive] and all.

 

He could very well be a 3 WAR player at 3B. Just what the doctor ordered for this roster.

[Lefty]

I realize how little I follow MLB. I don't even know who Carlos Villaneuva is. Off to baseball-reference.

[Clem Fandango]

I'm still shocked we wouldn't trade Lake for Yunel.

 

I suspect this was more that they didn't want to put up with Yunel's [expletive] unless the Marlins took something of almost no value rather than that they value Lake more than Yunel.

 

I understand, but I'd still trade Lake for him, [expletive] and all.

 

He could very well be a 3 WAR player at 3B. Just what the doctor ordered for this roster.

 

Was there a Lake for Escobar deal in place that the Cubs rejected? I don't recall that rumor.

[davell]

ABTY said thats who the Marlins wanted from us. Supposedly he had let it be known he wouldn't be happy moving off SS.

[KingCubsFan]

I'm still shocked we wouldn't trade Lake for Yunel.

 

I suspect this was more that they didn't want to put up with Yunel's [expletive] unless the Marlins took something of almost no value rather than that they value Lake more than Yunel.

 

I understand, but I'd still trade Lake for him, [expletive] and all.

 

He could very well be a 3 WAR player at 3B. Just what the doctor ordered for this roster.

Lake seems primed for a breakout with the hitting environment in the PCL. Not trading him for Yunel Escobar (when Ian Stewart and/or Luis Valbuena could probably put up a .700 OPS with good defense at 3B too) was a smart move. Even if Lake flops, you really haven't lost much by holding onto him for another year.

[Tryptamine]

Lake is playing really well in the winter league. He's continuing to increase his walk rate from 7.95% in the regular season to 8.48% in winter league both following a 2011 where his walk rate was 4.09%. The concern is that his K rate is still really high.

 

.311/.379/.849 in the winter league so far.

[Cubswin11]

Lake is playing really well in the winter league. He's continuing to increase his walk rate from 7.95% in the regular season to 8.48% in winter league both following a 2011 where his walk rate was 4.09%. The concern is that his K rate is still really high.

 

.311/.379/.849 in the winter league so far.

Plus he's playing OF. He could be a "super sub" type guy for us very soon. We need a RH bat at 3B/CF/RF for platoon and matchups as well, he should get an opportunity to prove he's the guy for that role sometime this year.

[SABR Gamer]

Lake is playing really well in the winter league. He's continuing to increase his walk rate from 7.95% in the regular season to 8.48% in winter league both following a 2011 where his walk rate was 4.09%. The concern is that his K rate is still really high.

 

.311/.379/.849 in the winter league so far.

Plus he's playing OF. He could be a "super sub" type guy for us very soon. We need a RH bat at 3B/CF/RF for platoon and matchups as well, he should get an opportunity to prove he's the guy for that role sometime this year.

 

Stats I am looking at actually have him @ .322/.390/.486

 

.877 OPS, I wonder if he will see any time starting at 3rd this year if Stewart pulls a Stewart.

[jiml60]

Adding Villaneuva and still pursuing Edwin Jackson makes me real concerned that the Rumors about Garza's arm that ABTY was talking about are real.

 

What rumors? That he is not going to be able to make a comeback?

[javy knows my name]

Adding Villaneuva and still pursuing Edwin Jackson makes me real concerned that the Rumors about Garza's arm that ABTY was talking about are real.

 

What rumors? That he is not going to be able to make a comeback?

 

There was speculation that our pitcher-hoarding behavior indicated real concern with Garza's health by the front office.

[RynoRules]

Adding Villaneuva and still pursuing Edwin Jackson makes me real concerned that the Rumors about Garza's arm that ABTY was talking about are real.

 

What rumors? That he is not going to be able to make a comeback?

 

There was speculation that our pitcher-hoarding behavior indicated real concern with Garza's health by the front office.

 

Could be. Just as likely as that we are acquiring an abundance of affordable ML assets that are tradeable for position players.

[Guest]

i think it's more like "we know we have a lot of risks in the rotation, so we're going to cover our asses now and then deal one of them in spring training if we're lucky enough to have things go that well"

[Guest]

Interesting note: Villanueva has a bonus for innings pitched AND for games finished... covering all bases in case he goes to the pen...

 

abty