Hammel/Samardzija Traded to A's for Russell/McKinney/Straily

[XZero771679666304]

Catching up on Len's twitter feed, looks like even he's getting frustrated with fans' lack of understanding...

 

Len Kasper @LenKasper · 1h

I REPEAT: stockpiling SS's is a good thing. Sheffield/Cabrera/A-Rod/Yount/Matt Williams/Billy Hamilton all began as SS's. Long list.

 

Len Kasper @LenKasper · 1h

If the Cubs were stockpiling LF's, then yes, you could be concerned.

 

 

Yeah, that's what people are failing to understand: most SS are athletic/skilled enough to play a variety of positions, and moving them around isn't an issue.

 

That isn't to say one or more of these guys won't be traded, but they absolutely don't need to make room.

 

And I think what Theo was doing when he "cleared up" the positions for these guys was essentially saying just that.

[dawson1989]

A's Alcantara was probably mentioned so much yesterday because the A's wanted to ship him instead of Russell but Theo held firm and the A's gave in.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

 

Yeah, that's what people are failing to understand: most SS are athletic/skilled enough to play a variety of positions, and moving them around isn't an issue.

 

That isn't to say one or more of these guys won't be traded, but they absolutely don't need to make room.

 

And I think what Theo was doing when he "cleared up" the positions for these guys was essentially saying just that.

 

 

There are certain things a baseball fan can say that just immediately disqualify them from being listened to, and "why did they draft/trade for/develop/whatever so many shortstops, what about the other positions?" is one of them.

[ctcf]

 

THANKS OBAMA

[Guest]

A's Alcantara was probably mentioned so much yesterday because the A's wanted to ship him instead of Russell but Theo held firm and the A's gave in.

 

The Cubs were not doing this trade without Russell being included I can guarantee you.

[Guest]

A's Alcantara was probably mentioned so much yesterday because the A's wanted to ship him instead of Russell but Theo held firm and the A's gave in.

 

The Cubs were not doing this trade without Russell being included I can guarantee you.

Yeah, they dealt two really good ML pitchers. Including Russell was a prerequisite. I love this trade. Here we come 27 Yankees. No holes 1-8.

[A New Era]

About a year ago Theo's quote to a reporter was something like, give me 9 shortstops and I'll field you a team. It was maybe a response to positional depth with Castro already at SS. I guess he REALLY meant it.

[EhDubya]

I know this will probably get me booed off of the thread, but right now I would not want to trade for Stanton knowing how many chips it would take. I do want Stanton, I just would rather sign him as a FA when he's available.

 

Option A:

Trade Baez, Alcantara, Almora, CJ Edwards + more & pay Stanton 30 mil a year in a few years

 

Option B:

Play our prospects out the next few years & then pay Stanton 30 mil a year when he hits FA.

 

I don't know Theo at all, and I imagine he covets Stanton as much as the next guy, but there's also a part of me that thinks he thinks he may have a group of players coming up soon that could one day rival a grouping like Jeter, Rivera, Posada, Williams, and that'd be more satisfying to him than selling most of them off for 1 guy.

Edited July 5, 2014 by EhDubya

[bukie]

What is this I don't even...(spoilered for long)

 

 

 

[Guest]

About a year ago Theo's quote to a reporter was something like, give me 9 shortstops and I'll field you a team. It was maybe a response to positional depth with Castro already at SS. I guess he REALLY meant it.

9 shortstops that hit like 1st bas3men.

[EhDubya]

About a year ago Theo's quote to a reporter was something like, give me 9 shortstops and I'll field you a team. It was maybe a response to positional depth with Castro already at SS. I guess he REALLY meant it.

9 shortstops that hit like 1st bas3men.

 

It's like one of those loaded Little League All Star teams.... TOO MANY SHORTSTOPS!

[Guest]

I know this will probably get me booed off of the thread, but right now I would not want to trade for Stanton knowing how much chips it would take. I do want Stanton, I just would rather sign him as a FA when he's available.

 

Option A:

Trade Baez, Alcantara, Almora, CJ Edwards + more & pay Stanton 30 mil a year in a few years

 

Option B:

Play our prospects out the next few years & then pay Stanton 30 mil a year when he hits FA.

 

I don't know Theo at all, and I imagine he covets Stanton as much as the next guy, but there's also a part of me that thinks he thinks he may have a group of players coming up soon that could one day rival a grouping like Jeter, Rivera, Posada, Williams, and that'd be more satisfying to him than selling most of them off for 1 guy.

As I said before, I'd give them Baez and Russell. Maybe a guy like Maples or Black too.

[EhDubya]

I know this will probably get me booed off of the thread, but right now I would not want to trade for Stanton knowing how much chips it would take. I do want Stanton, I just would rather sign him as a FA when he's available.

 

Option A:

Trade Baez, Alcantara, Almora, CJ Edwards + more & pay Stanton 30 mil a year in a few years

 

Option B:

Play our prospects out the next few years & then pay Stanton 30 mil a year when he hits FA.

 

I don't know Theo at all, and I imagine he covets Stanton as much as the next guy, but there's also a part of me that thinks he thinks he may have a group of players coming up soon that could one day rival a grouping like Jeter, Rivera, Posada, Williams, and that'd be more satisfying to him than selling most of them off for 1 guy.

As I said before, I'd give them Baez and Russell. Maybe a guy like Maples or Black too.

 

And I'm sure that'd be a great trade for us, I'd just hate doing it knowing we are still going to have to pay Stanton his contract anyway, and even then there's no guarantee the Yankees wouldn't come in and sign him away with a 40mil contract or something huge.

[treebird]

FUN FACT if stanton actually becomes a real free agent we will never sign him in a million years

[Cubswin11]

There's no guarantee that option B ever happens, Miami (or more likely the team that trades for him) likely extends him in the next few years and locks him up for most (if not all) of his prime years. I'd do 2 of Baez, Russell, Almora, Alcantara for him all day with an additional piece or two like Hendricks, Pierce, Vogelbach, etc.

[EhDubya]

FUN FACT if stanton actually becomes a real free agent we will never sign him in a million years

 

Even if next year Bryant, Baez, Alcantara and maybe Soler come up and mash, get us into the playoff hunt and turn us into the hot young team a high priced FA could see fitting in and winning rings with for many years?

 

If we are offering similar money as all the other teams, I'd like our chances based off our projected future.

[treebird]

FUN FACT if stanton actually becomes a real free agent we will never sign him in a million years

 

Even if next year Bryant, Baez, Alcantara and maybe Soler come up and mash, get us into the playoff hunt and turn us into the hot young team a high priced FA could see fitting in and winning rings with for many years?

 

If we are offering similar money as all the other teams, I'd like our chances based off our projected future.

 

we're not going to have real money until 2020. we'll get horrifically outbid by half the league if he's really up for grabs.

[Guest]

FUN FACT if stanton actually becomes a real free agent we will never sign him in a million years

 

Even if next year Bryant, Baez, Alcantara and maybe Soler come up and mash, get us into the playoff hunt and turn us into the hot young team a high priced FA could see fitting in and winning rings with for many years?

 

If we are offering similar money as all the other teams, I'd like our chances based off our projected future.

 

we're not going to have real money until 2020. we'll get horrifically outbid by half the league if he's really up for grabs.

 

given how little we have tied up in the situation he's talking about, we have real money right now.

[Guest]

[Guest]

FUN FACT if stanton actually becomes a real free agent we will never sign him in a million years

 

Even if next year Bryant, Baez, Alcantara and maybe Soler come up and mash, get us into the playoff hunt and turn us into the hot young team a high priced FA could see fitting in and winning rings with for many years?

 

If we are offering similar money as all the other teams, I'd like our chances based off our projected future.

 

we're not going to have real money until 2020. we'll get horrifically outbid by half the league if he's really up for grabs.

 

given how little we have tied up in the situation he's talking about, we have real money right now.

 

not unless we're using the cheese in discarded pizza boxes as currency now.

[Neuby]

FUN FACT if stanton actually becomes a real free agent we will never sign him in a million years

 

Even if next year Bryant, Baez, Alcantara and maybe Soler come up and mash, get us into the playoff hunt and turn us into the hot young team a high priced FA could see fitting in and winning rings with for many years?

 

If we are offering similar money as all the other teams, I'd like our chances based off our projected future.

 

we're not going to have real money until 2020. we'll get horrifically outbid by half the league if he's really up for grabs.

 

given how little we have tied up in the situation he's talking about, we have real money right now.

 

not unless we're using the cheese in discarded pizza boxes as currency now.

 

The Cubs didn't spend the money that they had allotted for this offseason and Theo has said it will roll over. Sorianos contract and others fall off the books this year. I thought I read the Cubs had 55 million locked up for next season and that was including Shark. Dealing Shark and Hammel a month early also help the Cubs net another $5M in savings this season.

[Warpticon]

 

No hoverhands. I like it.

[Clem Fandango]

Forgive me if this sounds like rambling, I'm kinda typing from the heels here (and I know I'm gonna sound like a broken record, but I don't care). Here's the dilemma with Stanton, in my opinion (which I'll admit probably has some flaws in it I haven't considered). Obviously he's super valuable and demands a crazy package to acquire him. The thing that works in favor of teams like the Cubs is that Miami is damned if they do and damned if they don't.

 

Stanton is not going to extend with the Marlins, so the Marlins best bet is to trade him in the offseason. Stanton, right now is maybe the 2nd most valuable commodity behind Mike Trout, IMO. Whcih means it would take a ludicrous package to pry him away when you look at its face value. The problem is not many teams have what it takes in prospects to do that. The Cubs do, though. So the Marlins will have to move him this offseason to maximize his return. Otherwise he becomes a half season rental (and yields a weaker return) or a compensation pick.

 

Is Stanton worth both Baez and Russell? Probably. But I don't see them demanding two of the top prospects in baseball, along with a couple other Top 100's, because there's literally no other team that can offer that without severely hurting the organization in the process. But I don't think that's what it would take to get him because Miami is not in a position to demand the moon for him because a) he's gone in a year b) he's not coming back c) The Cubs hold the bargaining chips they would probably desire most and d) Miami is probably not gonna contend for the WS so they have to move him or else they are [expletive] themselves.

 

And unless a team offers a prime, cheap, controllable MLB player in a package to get Stanton (I can't think of many of those players to begin with that wouldn't be a lateral move), it's almost gonna have to be prospect heavy, and the Cubs are the only team with a system that can offer up the best prospects and not deplete their system for him. If they ask for a MLB player then he's probably gotta be top tier and in that situation, they'll get less back in prospects on top of him and it also means they'll need to compete sooner rather than later because the clock is ticking on that player. I don't see the Marlins wanting to make a lateral move, and if a team offers up an elite MLB'er, chances are he's already under a contract the Marlins don't want to pay for. It almost has to be a prospect heavy/only package to get Stanton.

 

I've said it before, but I honestly think Russell/Baez, Almora, and Soler can get Stanton back. Throw in one of Edwards or Johnson if you have to. That's one elite SS prospect, one high end center fielder, and one power hitting Cuban right fielder they can plug in nearly immediately to replace Stanton that they'll have controlled cheaply for several years, and can market to their fan base because of his heritage (since the Marlins are greedy, exploitative buttholes). And that package is more than fair for a guy like Stanton. In fact that's a damn good package. And after that trade it still leaves the Cubs with one of Baez/Russell, Bryant, Schwarber, Alcantara, and McKinney which is still an AMAZING crop of position prospects to have in your system.

 

And on top of all this the Cubs can offer an extension to Stanton and still afford a FA pitcher for 2015 if they wanted. What other teams can and would match anything the Cubs can offer? The Cubs have the most need for Stanton, and they have the best crop of players to offer for him. Unless they intend to stick with what they have and just get pitching (which I'm not against, I'd be very happy if they kept all the prospects they have right now), there's no reason the Cubs shouldn't and couldn't acquire Giancarlo Stanton this offseason. The only thing that could prevent it is if Miami decides they want to make a run for it and keep him, but I don't see that happening.

[EhDubya]

That's pretty good, but even a Baez/Russell + Soler + Almora + Johnson/Edwards package seems like more than any other team could offer. And then there's still the risk he doesn't extend and hits FA. That'd be devastatingly crippling to our rebuild.

[RynoRules]

Having had nearly 24 hours to digest this, I say we keep em' all and shove em' down everyone's throats until 2027 or 28.