The 2006 Thread, Current topic: Center Field

[YearofDaCubs]

Don't ever count out the Cardinals. Some people were ?ing their moves this past off-season but it worked out for them. We need to a few thigns to become contenders, although I personally feel that Hendry will fail us.

[RynoRules]

Don't ever count out the Cardinals. Some people were ?ing their moves this past off-season but it worked out for them. We need to a few thigns to become contenders, although I personally feel that Hendry will fail us.

 

Exactly. Getting Giles isn't going to change them as much as getting him might change us (Cubs). They already are winning 100 games every year. So what if they win 5 more.

 

Point is: I think that our focus should be on making us better and not keeping guys away for the Cards.

[Exile on Waveland]

Don't ever count out the Cardinals. Some people were ?ing their moves this past off-season but it worked out for them. We need to a few thigns to become contenders, although I personally feel that Hendry will fail us.

 

Exactly. Getting Giles isn't going to change them as much as getting him might change us (Cubs). They already are winning 100 games every year. So what if they win 5 more.

 

Point is: I think that our focus should be on making us better and not keeping guys away for the Cards.

 

Yes, the Cubs focus should be on improving themselves. However, this is one case were the two (improving your own team and blocking another) are concurrent. That's why Giles MAY be doubly important.

[BigbadB]

I think the Cardinals will only be lukewarm in interest for Giles. If they get into the bidding, it will be to see if they can get him on the cheap or to help boost his bidding price. With what they currently have, I don't see a need for them to spend big money on a Brian Giles when they seem much better at picking up an unnoticed or forgotten player that they can get + production for the dollar. Walker was never an impact bat for the Cardinals. Simply a role player. That's really all they need to stay competitive and ahead of the competition, especially if Rolen comes back healthy next year.

 

By throwing the blanket "we are interested in Giles" out there, they have already boosted his asking price. They can sit back and giggle while the teams desperate for Gileslike production try to outbid each other.

 

Or, St. Louis could honestly be interested and not be bluffing. Either way, they have postured themselves. The Cubs have not.

[CubsWin]

I think the Cardinals will only be lukewarm in interest for Giles. If they get into the bidding, it will be to see if they can get him on the cheap or to help boost his bidding price. With what they currently have, I don't see a need for them to spend big money on a Brian Giles when they seem much better at picking up an unnoticed or forgotten player that they can get + production for the dollar. Walker was never an impact bat for the Cardinals. Simply a role player. That's really all they need to stay competitive and ahead of the competition, especially if Rolen comes back healthy next year.

 

By throwing the blanket "we are interested in Giles" out there, they have already boosted his asking price. They can sit back and giggle while the teams desperate for Gileslike production try to outbid each other.

 

Or, St. Louis could honestly be interested and not be bluffing. Either way, they have postured themselves. The Cubs have not.

While it is true that the Cubs have made no public statements about their interest in signing Giles, I don't know if that means anything. In the past, Hendry has liked to work outside of the press. He has made many of his big trades and some of the signings without much build up in the press prior to it actually going down, but they still got done.

 

The person he needs to be telling his intentions to is Giles' agent, not a reporter. I've never been more clear or come out more in favor of signing a guy and spending big money on him than I am with Brian Giles. If the Cubs get him and he sucks, I'm gonna look like an absolute idiot. But I'll happily take that chance. Come on, JH, get 'er done.

[CubinNY]

GMs partially operate through the media. It is no secret that Hendry is interested in Furcal. Why is that? Becuase he or someone in the organization let it be known to the media.

[Magnetic Curses]

His family's in SD though and the Cubs are coming off a subpar season. They'll have to do some major wooing, and most likely overpay, which makes signing Giles quite a longshot.

 

Many FA's have families that live in the cities in which they play, yet players continue to change teams and cities.

[USSoccer]

His family's in SD though and the Cubs are coming off a subpar season. They'll have to do some major wooing, and most likely overpay, which makes signing Giles quite a longshot.

 

Many FA's have families that live in the cities in which they play, yet players continue to change teams and cities.

 

I completely agree. I'd venture a guess that 90% of the FA's follow the money in the end.

[CubsWin]

GMs partially operate through the media. It is no secret that Hendry is interested in Furcal. Why is that? Becuase he or someone in the organization let it be known to the media.

True, good point, and I don't have an answer for you.

 

All I'm saying is that it is probably meaningless to judge a team's interest in a particular free agent based solely upon the number of articles written about that.

 

For instance, did Hendry purposefully leak that the Cubs have interest in Furcal to give him more leverage in negotiations with Nomar or does he have legitimate interest in making a big push for Furcal? Both are perfectly valid reasons for such an article being written, but which one is the real reason? Who knows?

[CubsWin]

His family's in SD though and the Cubs are coming off a subpar season. They'll have to do some major wooing, and most likely overpay, which makes signing Giles quite a longshot.

 

Many FA's have families that live in the cities in which they play, yet players continue to change teams and cities.

 

I completely agree. I'd venture a guess that 90% of the FA's follow the money in the end.

Dead on.

 

The Cubs have the money and the need for Giles. If Giles has a desire for money, its a good match.

[CubsWin]

Just putting out a reminder to vote on 3 years or 4 years as the desired length of contract to offer Giles.

 

At last check, 4 years was leading 17-5. First one to 20 wins. Its pretty clear which one is going to get there first, but lets make it official so we can move on.

[mg420]

with all this talk about signing giles, maybe cliff floyd would be an even better option. he has more power than giles and is younger and seems to be over his injuries. i dont know how they compare defensively or arm wise and i believe only has 2 more years on his contract (06 & 07?). other than trading for abreu (who would cost ALOT talent wise), i think floyd might be the next best option if he is available.

[BigbadB]

I don't agree that Floyd has more power. That being said, I was trying to get Floyd last year. I'd rather have Giles, but I would settle for Floyd as a consolation prize.

 

Players do follow their roots on occasion. However, teams don't always treat their local boys well. Giles came to San Diego, but he wanted Jason Kendall there too. The Padres balked on Kendall. The Padres lured local boy David Wells for a hometown discount. The next year, Boston got Wells for peanuts, San Diego wouldn't go that high. Instead, they paid MORE for Woody Williams, who was much worse than David Wells.

 

Rumor has it if San Diego loses Brian Giles, they will turn to Jacque Jones, another local boy.

[mg420]

I don't agree that Floyd has more power. That being said, I was trying to get Floyd last year. I'd rather have Giles, but I would settle for Floyd as a consolation prize.

 

Players do follow their roots on occasion. However, teams don't always treat their local boys well. Giles came to San Diego, but he wanted Jason Kendall there too. The Padres balked on Kendall. The Padres lured local boy David Wells for a hometown discount. The next year, Boston got Wells for peanuts, San Diego wouldn't go that high. Instead, they paid MORE for Woody Williams, who was much worse than David Wells.

 

Rumor has it if San Diego loses Brian Giles, they will turn to Jacque Jones, another local boy.

 

giles had more power earlier in his career but after hitting 38 hr in 2002 he has hit 20/492 ab in 03, 23/609 ab in 04 & 15/545 ab in 05. floyd on the other hand has these totals 28/520 ab 02, 18/365 ab 03, 18/396 ab 04 & 34/550 ab 05. while their home parks are also a factor, #'s alone seem to indicate that giles is in decline power wise while floyd is hitting with more power.

[BigbadB]

Have you seen Giles? If he lost power, where did he lose it? He's probably one of the strongest guys in all of baseball. He moved from one of the friendliest hitting divisions to the absolute worst, even with Colorado in that division. My guess is that Giles has made adjustments because King Kong can't hit 38 HR's playing in Petco all year long.

 

Klesko was averaging close to 30 HR's a year in Qualcomm Stadium. He's averaging about 13 in Petco.

 

I challenge you to find someone who has a dramatic increase in productivity since moving into Petco Park.

 

If the Cubs get Giles and had the pleasure of facing Reds pitching, playing in the friendly parks that are just about every team in the NL Central, I'd bet Giles could easily get back to 38 HR's a year.

 

Giles has proven to be a much healthier risk than Floyd, as well.

[YearofDaCubs]

Have you seen Giles? If he lost power, where did he lose it? He's probably one of the strongest guys in all of baseball. He moved from one of the friendliest hitting divisions to the absolute worst, even with Colorado in that division. My guess is that Giles has made adjustments because King Kong can't hit 38 HR's playing in Petco all year long.

 

Klesko was averaging close to 30 HR's a year in Qualcomm Stadium. He's averaging about 13 in Petco.

 

I challenge you to find someone who has a dramatic increase in productivity since moving into Petco Park.

 

If the Cubs get Giles and had the pleasure of facing Reds pitching, playing in the friendly parks that are just about every team in the NL Central, I'd bet Giles could easily get back to 38 HR's a year.

 

Giles has proven to be a much healthier risk than Floyd, as well.

Giles would be a great pickup, but two things come to mind..Does Hendry even want Giles? How much would it take to get him here?

[BigbadB]

Don't know if Hendry wants him here, and he'd cost a lot.

[BigbadB]

Should Hendry want Giles here? Yes. Should they pay the ridiculous amount it may take to get him here? Yes.

 

Here are Giles lifetime stats in the NL Central:

 

At Wrigley: .317/.470/.1.173

At PNC (Pitt): .325/.440/1.046

At GAP (Cin): .302/.436/.971

At Busch: .337/.464/1.169

At MMP (Hou): .284/.407/.915

At Miller: .284/.451/1.000

 

Not once does he have an OBP less than .407. Only two of these have less than 1.000 in OPS. By the way, his sample size in GAP is extremely small since he moved out of the division before Cincy moved in there.

 

Need I go on?

[mg420]

Should Hendry want Giles here? Yes. Should they pay the ridiculous amount it may take to get him here? Yes.

 

Here are Giles lifetime stats in the NL Central:

 

At Wrigley: .317/.470/.1.173

At PNC (Pitt): .325/.440/1.046

At GAP (Cin): .302/.436/.971

At Busch: .337/.464/1.169

At MMP (Hou): .284/.407/.915

At Miller: .284/.451/1.000

 

Not once does he have an OBP less than .407. Only two of these have less than 1.000 in OPS. By the way, his sample size in GAP is extremely small since he moved out of the division before Cincy moved in there.

 

Need I go on?

what worries me most about giles is his age & how many years he might want a contract for. 4 years is a long time for a 35+ year old guy imo. his power #'s fell off quite a bit while he was with the pirates too btw so his declining production cannot be blamed totally on pecto.

[MPrior]

Should Hendry want Giles here? Yes. Should they pay the ridiculous amount it may take to get him here? Yes.

 

Here are Giles lifetime stats in the NL Central:

 

At Wrigley: .317/.470/.1.173

At PNC (Pitt): .325/.440/1.046

At GAP (Cin): .302/.436/.971

At Busch: .337/.464/1.169

At MMP (Hou): .284/.407/.915

At Miller: .284/.451/1.000

 

Not once does he have an OBP less than .407. Only two of these have less than 1.000 in OPS. By the way, his sample size in GAP is extremely small since he moved out of the division before Cincy moved in there.

 

Need I go on?

what worries me most about giles is his age & how many years he might want a contract for. 4 years is a long time for a 35+ year old guy imo. his power #'s fell off quite a bit while he was with the pirates too btw so his declining production cannot be blamed totally on pecto.

 

I agree that his age is a concern, and I agree that we can't expect his power to be what it was when he was hitting it his hardest. At the same time, his power would almost certainly go up some due to the difference in parks, and secondly, a lack of power is not this team's problem. It's a lack of OBP, which shouldn't decline much with age.

[BigbadB]

Should Hendry want Giles here? Yes. Should they pay the ridiculous amount it may take to get him here? Yes.

 

Here are Giles lifetime stats in the NL Central:

 

At Wrigley: .317/.470/.1.173

At PNC (Pitt): .325/.440/1.046

At GAP (Cin): .302/.436/.971

At Busch: .337/.464/1.169

At MMP (Hou): .284/.407/.915

At Miller: .284/.451/1.000

 

Not once does he have an OBP less than .407. Only two of these have less than 1.000 in OPS. By the way, his sample size in GAP is extremely small since he moved out of the division before Cincy moved in there.

 

Need I go on?

what worries me most about giles is his age & how many years he might want a contract for. 4 years is a long time for a 35+ year old guy imo. his power #'s fell off quite a bit while he was with the pirates too btw so his declining production cannot be blamed totally on pecto.

 

What year are you referring to? The one year he was hurt? 2003? That was the year he started the season injured, and Aramis was basically the only offensive threat they had in the line up. When Giles came back from injury, it wasn't much longer after that, that Aramis became a Cub, along with Lofton and Randall Simon and then he too was shipped off to San Diego, where his numbers REALLY start to drop dramatically.

 

Giles missed 30 games that year and still managed 88 RBI's, and over 60 XBH's. I live in San Diego and watch him play nearly everyday. I'd take him on my team in a heartbeat, and I'm not the slightest bit worried about a 4 year deal. The guy is one of the most physically fit and one of the most physically strong players playing this game today. He could decline and it's probably even likely. However, his decline will still be better than most players ceilings. I'll take it.

[Roast]

Well its decided, FOur years is the way to go. So how much will we pay giles over the four years.

[BigbadB]

Well its decided, FOur years is the way to go. So how much will we pay giles over the four years.

 

We? Okay, I'll help if that's what it takes.

[Roast]

Well its decided, FOur years is the way to go. So how much will we pay giles over the four years.

 

We? Okay, I'll help if that's what it takes.

 

I'll give every cent in my pocket right now...

 

 

 

Do you guys think $0.25 will do the job?

[BigbadB]

Well its decided, FOur years is the way to go. So how much will we pay giles over the four years.

 

We? Okay, I'll help if that's what it takes.

 

I'll give every cent in my pocket right now...

 

 

 

Do you guys think $0.25 will do the job?

 

I'll run down the street and ask him....