Rosenthal: David Ross to Cubs (2yr/$5M)

[Guest]

Well, that's cool.

 

Anyway, I never said they don't talk to the press at all. I said they were tight lipped, and that is true.

 

The Rangers were never once mentioned as a possible destination for Ryan Dempster until the trade was done. I can't really remember the Garza rumors, but I don't think Garza to the Rangers was leaked until it was about done. Samardzija to the A's was never rumored until the trade was complete. There are some examples of leaks that may have come from our front office like the Anibal Sanchez and Edwin Jackson contract offers, but overall this has been a major strong point of the front office so far. You're allowed to disagree, and I'm sure I can count on you for that, but you're wrong and its kind of annoying.

 

Lots of this is wrong.

[Some Guy]

295 strikes is less than 2 per game.... Framing may narrow his suitors a bit or mitigate his value to an interested party, but it doesn't make him valueless.

 

We'll see. I hope you're right and he does bring back some value but I am very skeptical, especially with how front-and-center his receiving inadequacies have been made by his attention-getting banishment.

 

But regarding 295 strikes and the fact that one borderline call has (conservatively) around .300 OPS effect on the average batter's resulting damage...

 

If you figure on facing ~40 at bats per game, those 295 strikes equal about 7 and a half games in a season where Castillo turned the entire lineup into Giancarlo Stanton when Montero + Ross would've turned them into Darwin Barney. It might be conservative to estimate you go 1-6 vs the Stanton lineup and 6-1 vs the Barney lineup. (rough and unscientific I know, but illustrative)

 

Or if you want to keep it to the "2 per game" avg, that's twice *every game* that Barney gets DHed for by Stanton, if Castillo is catching instead of Montero or Ross. Again, easy to picture a 5 win or more difference on a season.

 

Looks like a big deal to me. I don't see how Castillo's throwing, blocking or mediocre hitting can make up for that, but hopefully you're right and there remains a market for him.

[Cubfanintheknow]

Garza to the Rangers was speculated for like 18 solid months.

 

It was widely known they were trying to trade Samardzija and Dempster.

 

Garza to the Rangers was talked about a lot because it made sense for both teams, not because it was something that was going to happen because the Cubs were talking about it beforehand (though admittedly it would make sense for the Cubs to leak something to perhaps draw in another team and drive up the price).

 

It was widely known the front office was trying to trade Samardzija and Dempster because it was the M.O. of the front office, not because there were any "leaks."

 

I'm not saying the Cub's front office is tight-lipped or anything, it's just that with all the speculation out there (emphasis on your word), it's tough at times to say what's been leaked and what's media chatter.