The 2006 Thread, Current topic: Center Field

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

Roast, Murton is a renewable contract, so I think you can pencil him in at 350K.

[Roast]

Roast, Murton is a renewable contract, so I think you can pencil him in at 350K.

OK, sweet, thanks.

[JeffH]

• 1B: Derrek Lee - 8 Mil
  C: Michael Barrett - 3 Mil
  SP: Mark Prior - 2 Mil
  SP: Kerry Wood - 11 Mil

 

One-third of Lee's $2 signing bonus will be paid this year. Also, it was reported that his 2006 salary will be bumped by $0.75 as a result of his third place finish in the MVP voting. The total 2006 layout to Lee is $9.417.

 

The breakdown of Barrett's $12/3 deal was never reported (that I could find), but I believe his 2006 salary will be more along the lines of $4.

 

Prior will make $2.75 next season. $2 is his base and his salary was escalated by $0.5 and $0.25 as a result of his place in the 2003 Cy Young voting and his selection to the 2003 All-Star game.

 

One-third of Wood's $3 signing bonus will be paid this year. The total 2006 layout to Wood is $12.

[jmajew]

Going back to my original plans for this offseason,

 

1. Resign Nomar

2. Sign Giles

3. Sign Lofton

 

Between Lofton, Patterson, Hairston, Greenberg and Pie, someone should be able to provide decent production until Pie is completely ready.

 

If it's:

 

1. Sign Furcal

2. Sign Giles

3. Can still be sign Lofton

 

Lofton it is. He can probably be picked up for 1 year/2m

 

The Cubs have to make a choice, either sign Giles or sign Furcal. If we sign both that would leave us no money to spend on the rest of the team. The two of them would cost about 20 mil a year. When you add them to Lee and Ramirez we will have 4 guys making 40 mil. Then when you take into account all the other players were already have signed (Rusch, Nefi, Dempster, Wood, Zambrano, Maddux, Prior, Walker, Barrett, Williamson) the total for 14 players will be just under 90 mil. We still would have a lot of holes to fill and our budget will probably be 100 mil.

 

Every acquisition in baseball has to do with who is more valuable to this Cubs for the money they are asking for compared to teh player we already have on the team. Basically where can you get the biggest upgrade for your money. The answer, IMO, is Giles, seeing as we have no RF and we already have two in house options to play short and bat eighth in Nefi and Cedeno. A middle infield of Walker and Cedeno sounds pretty darn good to me.

 

A good plan for this offseason would be to:

 

1) Sign Giles

2) Sign Lofton

3) Sign Dotel to set up Dempster

4) Sign or trade for a bat for the Bench. ie: Mark Sweeney or Chad Tracy

 

A bullpen with Dempster, Williamson, and Dotel as your three horses is pretty good. Then all we got to do is fill in the rest of the pen with the guys we already have. Ohman, Wuertz, Novoa, Hill, Williams.

 

The Bench is pretty simple also. Perez, Blanco, Hairston, Greenberg, Sweeney or Tracy, and Macias (only if he is the last option to come off the bench though. I think someone who can play almost any position on the field is important to have on the bench)

Edited November 17, 2005 by jmajew

[AAApittsburgh]

Going back to my original plans for this offseason,

 

1. Resign Nomar

2. Sign Giles

3. Sign Lofton

 

Between Lofton, Patterson, Hairston, Greenberg and Pie, someone should be able to provide decent production until Pie is completely ready.

 

If it's:

 

1. Sign Furcal

2. Sign Giles

3. Can still be sign Lofton

 

Lofton it is. He can probably be picked up for 1 year/2m

 

The Cubs have to make a choice, either sign Giles or sign Furcal. If we sign both that would leave us no money to spend on the rest of the team. The two of them would cost about 20 mil a year. When you add them to Lee and Ramirez we will have 4 guys making 40 mil. Then when you take into account all the other players were already have signed (Rusch, Nefi, Dempster, Wood, Zambrano, Maddux, Prior, Walker, Barrett, Williamson) the total for 14 players will be just under 90 mil. We still would have a lot of holes to fill and our budget will probably be 100 mil.

 

Everything acquisition in baseball has to do with who is more valuable to this Cubs team with the money they'd be asking for. The answer, IMO, is Giles, seeing as we have no RF and we already have two in house options to play short and bat eighth in Nefi and Cedeno. A middle infield of Walker and Cedeno sounds pretty darn good to me.

 

A good plan for this offseason would be to:

 

1) Sign Giles

2) Sign Lofton

3) Sign Dotel to set up Dempster

4) Sign or trade for a bat for the Bench. ie: Mark Sweeney or Chad Tracy

 

A bullpen with Dempster, Williamson, and Dotel as your three horses is pretty good. Then all we got to do is fill in the rest of the pen with the guys we already have. Ohman, Wuertz, Novoa, Hill, Williams.

 

The Bench is pretty simple also. Perez, Blanco, Hairston, Greenberg, Sweeney or Tracy, and Macias (only if he is the last option in to come off the bench though)

 

If Tracy is on the team, he better be starting. Not on the bench.

[BigbadB]

There is no room on the bench for Macias. You have 7 guys listed. If you have 8 in the field and 7 on the bench, you only have room for 5 starters and 5 bullpen guys.

 

Macias' batting average as a PH last year was .184. His OBP was just as bad. The Macias experiment has failed 2 years in a row. I don't believe in 3rd time is a charm. Let's be done with him already. Get a real 3b back up in case Aramis misses any significant time next year, like Wes Helms or sumsing (in my best Napolean Dynomite voice).

 

Want to see a coincidence? The Cubs made the playoffs in 2003. Then they added Jose Macias and they haven't been back since. :wink:

[jmajew]

There is no room on the bench for Macias. You have 7 guys listed. If you have 8 in the field and 7 on the bench, you only have room for 5 starters and 5 bullpen guys.

 

Macias' batting average as a PH last year was .184. His OBP was just as bad. The Macias experiment has failed 2 years in a row. I don't believe in 3rd time is a charm. Let's be done with him already. Get a real 3b back up in case Aramis misses any significant time next year, like Wes Helms or sumsing (in my best Napolean Dynomite voice).

 

Want to see a coincidence? The Cubs made the playoffs in 2003. Then they added Jose Macias and they haven't been back since. :wink:

 

I only have 6 listed because it was either Tracy or Sweeney. If we can get Wes Helms that'd be great. But Dusty loves Macias. So my bet is he is back.

[BigbadB]

There is no room on the bench for Macias. You have 7 guys listed. If you have 8 in the field and 7 on the bench, you only have room for 5 starters and 5 bullpen guys.

 

Macias' batting average as a PH last year was .184. His OBP was just as bad. The Macias experiment has failed 2 years in a row. I don't believe in 3rd time is a charm. Let's be done with him already. Get a real 3b back up in case Aramis misses any significant time next year, like Wes Helms or sumsing (in my best Napolean Dynomite voice).

 

Want to see a coincidence? The Cubs made the playoffs in 2003. Then they added Jose Macias and they haven't been back since. :wink:

 

I only have 6 listed because it was either Tracy or Sweeney. If we can get Wes Helms that'd be great. But Dusty loves Macias. So my bet is he is back.

 

He can love Macias all he wants. Open up the spare bedroom at his mansion and let Macias sleep over every night. Give Macias a little office next to Dusty's and Macias can have the title "equipment manager".

 

Just because Dusty "loves" him doesn't necessarily mean he should have a roster spot on a major league team. If that's the case, might as well give Darren Baker a glove and a contract.

[mg420]

Just like to remind everyone to go vote! also, This info is always located in the first page of this thread, but i figured i'd go ahead and throw it up here too, jsut so newcomers to this thread know where we stand.

 

 

Our Team so far

 

Mgr: Dusty Baker

 

1B: Derrek Lee - 8 Mil

2B: Todd Walker - 2.5 Mil

SS: Nomar Garciaparra - 8 Mil (5 base 3 incentive)

3B: Aramis Ramirez - 10.5 Mil

LF: Matt Murton - TBD

CF:

RF: Brian Giles - 15 Mil

C: Michael Barrett - 3 Mil

 

SP: Mark Prior - 2 Mil

SP: Kerry Wood - 11 Mil

SP: Greg Maddux - 9 Mil

SP:

SP:

 

Pen

 

 

 

Bench

C:Henry Blanco - 1.5 Mil

 

Salary So Far: $70.5 Million

Left To Spend: $34.5 Million

 

where did Z go?

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Just like to remind everyone to go vote! also, This info is always located in the first page of this thread, but i figured i'd go ahead and throw it up here too, jsut so newcomers to this thread know where we stand.

 

 

Our Team so far

 

Mgr: Dusty Baker

 

1B: Derrek Lee - 8 Mil

2B: Todd Walker - 2.5 Mil

SS: Nomar Garciaparra - 8 Mil (5 base 3 incentive)

3B: Aramis Ramirez - 10.5 Mil

LF: Matt Murton - TBD

CF:

RF: Brian Giles - 15 Mil

C: Michael Barrett - 3 Mil

 

SP: Mark Prior - 2 Mil

SP: Kerry Wood - 11 Mil

SP: Greg Maddux - 9 Mil

SP:

SP:

 

Pen

 

 

 

Bench

C:Henry Blanco - 1.5 Mil

 

Salary So Far: $70.5 Million

Left To Spend: $34.5 Million

 

where did Z go?

 

He's arbitration eligible, so since his contract for this year isn't set at a value yet, that's why he's not up there I imagine.

[mul21]

Did everybody see the consistent power from Wilkerson from 02-04? I think you could easily expect 20-25 HR's from him if he's not playing in Washington. He looks to me like the poor man's version of Adam Dunn with a better glove. That said, if you get Furcal and another guy like Wilkerson (with less K's) for CF or RF, I think the offense will be fine no matter who plays 2B.

[goonys evil twin]

where did Z go?

 

He's arbitration eligible, so since his contract for this year isn't set at a value yet, that's why he's not up there I imagine.

 

Not that it matters, but it's a little silly to add in all these ficticious contracts with other non-signed players, but not include Z with an estimated contract value.

[Roast]

where did Z go?

 

He's arbitration eligible, so since his contract for this year isn't set at a value yet, that's why he's not up there I imagine.

 

Not that it matters, but it's a little silly to add in all these ficticious contracts with other non-signed players, but not include Z with an estimated contract value.

 

Well, we will. But we have to get there first. SP's will be coming up after Center Field.

[Roast]

Here we go, all updated

 

Our Team so far

 

Mgr: Dusty Baker

 

1B: Derrek Lee - 9.417 Mil

2B: Todd Walker - 2.5 Mil

SS: Nomar Garciaparra - 8 Mil (5 base 3 incentive)

3B: Aramis Ramirez - 10.5 Mil

LF: Matt Murton - 350K

CF:

RF: Brian Giles - 15 Mil

C: Michael Barrett - 4 Mil

 

SP: Mark Prior - 2.75 Mil

SP: Kerry Wood - 12 Mil

SP: Greg Maddux - 9 Mil

SP:

SP:

 

Pen

 

 

 

Bench

C:Henry Blanco - 1.5 Mil

 

Salary So Far: $75.017 Million

Left To Spend: 29.983 Million

[JeffH]

If we haven't gotten to starting pitching yet, you should take Prior and Wood out of there.

 

After all, we might want to trade Prior for Adam Dunn or Matt Karchner.

[UK1679666180]

Bradley and Pierre have a combined 15 votes, Michaels has 5? Disappointing :)

[Roast]

If we haven't gotten to starting pitching yet, you should take Prior and Wood out of there.

 

After all, we might want to trade Prior for Adam Dunn or Matt Karchner.

 

I dont know exactly how to take that...

 

But i'll take it as a serious question/suggestion. The reason prior wood and maddux are there is because they were already under contract for 2006. When this thread started, anybody under contract for 06 was placed on the "current team" list because they were our current team. If we want to trade them, all I have to do is erase their name. However, Z does not have a dollar ammount assigned to him yet, which is what we will do when we get around to the SP disscusions.

[Roast]

Just reminding everyone to go vote vote vote.

[Roast]

Allrighty, tally's are in and (due to a tie) we have FOUR finalists:

 

Wilkerson

Pierre

Bradley

Michaels

 

So, Which of these four do you think would be the best fit? Discuss.

[UK1679666180]

Michaels:

 

Highest OBP

Best defensively

Lowest salary

Likely 2nd easiest to acquire as far as players given up.

[JeffH]

Bradley, if he weren't a nut. Realistically, Pierre.

[jmajew]

I'd say either Bradley or Michaels. In my ideal world, and realistic, we could get both of them. Having both of them in the outfield woudl really help out the defense and we all know Hendry likes guys who can catch the ball. Assuming we sign Furcal we'd also have a nice little lineup.

 

Furcal

Michaels

Lee

Ramirez

Bradley

Barret

Murton

Cedeno/Perez

 

Do you think it would be possible to get both Abreu and Michaels in the same deal? It is probably just a pipe dream.

[MPrior]

I actually voted for Michaels the first time, and I think I will the second time, but I am concerned that no one seems to think he's worth more than platoon/4th OF status (no one in the Philly organization, that is). Why is that? Does anyone have a convincing reason why he shouldn't be given a starting CF job? As in, doubts about his durability over an entire season, or really really bad R/L splits? Otherwise, I think he's a great fit for this team, especially since (in our little ideal world which we've created) we still don't have a leadoff hitter (for those of you who weren't around or don't remember, this thread, which was started quite a while ago, is about what WE would do at each position - and we opted to keep Nomar, with Cedeno backing him up, I think).

[UK1679666180]

http://www.j-mike.com/jasonhome.html

 

I did not create the site. :)

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/splits?statsId=6696&type=batting&year=2005

[Roast]

Well, Here are our four cantidates and their career & 2005 Stats:

 

Wilkerson:

2005: .248/.351/.405 11HR (greatly down from 04's numbers)

Career: .256/.365/.452

 

Michaels:

2005: .304/.399/.415 4HR (HR's down from 04)

Career: .291/.380/.442

 

Bradley:

2005: .290/.350/.484 13HR

Career: .269/.350/.426

 

Pierre:

2005: .276/.326/.354 2 HR (also greatly down from 04)

Career: .305/355/.375

 

Based on that, Michaels seems like the best overall cantidate. Howeer, if you want a little pop out of the position for basically the same OBP capabilities you can try wilkerson, and just take a hit in the AVG department.