The 2006 Thread, Current topic: Center Field

[CubsWin]

CubsWin,

 

I personally feel that we should pick up Walker's option and deal him for some bullpen/bench help. I don't disagree with you, though, when you question Theriot's readiness to be a bench player. I think it's a fair question, but the best answer I could give is that if you are looking at backup middle IF's, you could have Theriot or Fontenot as your 25th man and they would likely give you the same net production as Macias would as your 25th man, for a fraction of the cost.

Of the in-house options, I think Fontenot would be more likely to produce the OBP we are looking for than Theriot.

 

I'm not certain that trading Walker is a good idea at this point. Cedeno has very little time in at 2B and Nomar has less. If Cedeno shows that he can play a good 2B and produce next year while filling in at 2B (and SS) during the first 3 months of the '06 season, and Cubs still have bullpen needs, then we can revisit trading Walker in July. But penciling in Cedeno as your full-time 2B now is taking an unnecessary risk. The presence of Hairston on our roster mitigates that risk a bit, but unless CF is filled by someone else, Hairston's availability might be limited.

[don_kessinger_was_good]

For goodness sakes, you should really get over the Nomar love. He is an absolute BUTCHER in the field, I mean, I don't know when I've seen a worse defensive player. Add in his fragility, and why do you even want to go down that path?

 

Put me down for Furcal and Cedeno.

[MPrior]

Nomah! This is a low-risk (since he won't cost TOO much or have to stay too long, and we have a ML-ready backup waiting in the wings), high-reward signing. Any time you have a low-risk, high-reward situation, it seems like you ought to do it, unless there's something that is obviously way better. Paying Furcal something on the order of $30-32 million for 3-4 years is NOT way better. In fact, it's way worse. Add in the slight possibility (and I know we're only talking SS, but it is related) that Nomar might be convinced to move to LF, if necessary, and it's a no-brainer. Edited September 28, 2005 by MPrior

[Geech]

For goodness sakes, you should really get over the Nomar love. He is an absolute BUTCHER in the field, I mean, I don't know when I've seen a worse defensive player. Add in his fragility, and why do you even want to go down that path?

 

Put me down for Furcal and Cedeno.

 

I think it's pretty much unanimous, then. Everyone wants to resign Nomar.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

I'd take Nomar over the overrated Furcal without a doubt.

[seattlecub]

nomar. don't black cedeno, and don't move him to second.

 

sc

[don_kessinger_was_good]

For goodness sakes, you should really get over the Nomar love. He is an absolute BUTCHER in the field, I mean, I don't know when I've seen a worse defensive player. Add in his fragility, and why do you even want to go down that path?

 

Put me down for Furcal and Cedeno.

 

I think it's pretty much unanimous, then. Everyone wants to resign Nomar.

 

Lemmings are not fung, mang.

[Larry Horse]

For goodness sakes, you should really get over the Nomar love. He is an absolute BUTCHER in the field, I mean, I don't know when I've seen a worse defensive player. Add in his fragility, and why do you even want to go down that path?

 

Put me down for Furcal and Cedeno.

 

I think it's pretty much unanimous, then. Everyone wants to resign Nomar.

 

Not me, unless he's comes CHEAP !! Then if that happens, put him at SS, wait for the inevitable DL trip, and stick Cedeno in there for the rest of the year.

[Geech]

Lemmings are not fung, mang.

 

Far out, man.

 

http://server5.uploadit.org/files/derkleineknust-big_lebowski.jpg

[Roast]

It seems pretty clear already who will win tha majority vote here. I'll go set up the poll.

 

Like the walker poll, first to 20 wins.

 

Also, could I ask a mod to lock my previous two polls, just so folks dont get all confused.

[LoneStarCubFan]

I'd be all for resigning Nomar and using the money that could conceivably go to Furcal to sign Giles except for two problems:

 

1. Still no true leadoff hitter.

 

2. If Nomar goes down we won't see Cedeno replace him. We'll see another broken down "proven veteran" who the Cubs signed off the scrap heap because he played for Dusty in SF getting the starts instead.

[Roast]

 

2. If Nomar goes down we won't see Cedeno replace him. We'll see another broken down "proven veteran" who the Cubs signed off the scrap heap because he played for Dusty in SF getting the starts instead.

 

Please, do not be bounded by what dusty would or would not do, we are going to discuss later in this thread if dusty even gets to keep his job.

 

 

Also, why did my poll get locked? I asked for the first two to be locked, not the new furcal vs nomar one.

 

ALSO, one little bit of clarification since rocket brought it up. The reason i did not put a price on furcal is because we have yet to discuss that. If furcal were to win that poll, then we would discuss contract.

[Diffusion]

Outside of Walker, Nomar, Cedeno and Neifi!, what are some outside options for 2B? Are there any intriguing possibilities?

 

It has been suggested that the Braves might trade Marcus Giles and apply those savings to resigning Rafael Furcal.

 

Sure that has been suggested, but suggested by a moron. Id put no credence into that claim.

Who? I'm just looking for a source, that's all.

Bah, i give up. Could have possibly not been a link but some one something heard some idiot say on the radio.

Thanks for checking.

 

viewtopic.php?p=690919&highlight=tracy+marcus+giles#690919

 

and

 

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/sports_columnists/article/0,1299,DRMN_83_4067125,00.html

 

Tracy Ringolsby is the name you're looking for.

 

And, yes, he's an unreliable source. Not worth paying any attention to.

[Roast]

Awesome. Well since my thread got locked, and it was pretty much a blowout (11-1 in favor of nomar) I will assume that is the decision we have made. Our next topic of Discussion is the one we've all been waiting on:

LEFT FIELD.

 

 

This one is wide open. What are some of our options?

[Tim]

Murton. He's earned it.

[Roast]

Murton. He's earned it.

 

I, personally, have to agree with that. Plus, he'd be dirt cheap so we could put more money towards another player.

[mlarner]

I really like watching the kid play. He is patient, looks like he isn't afraid to take a strike or two, and just seems like he belongs on the field in the major leagues. I am excited to see him hitting some home runs lately, although I have to say I hope that doesn't get drilled into his head over the winter. Far be it for the Cubs to be satisfied with a good, patient hitter that actually gets on base at a good clip!

 

OT: You don't get better than Aramis, but every time the Red Sox are on I wish we still had Billy Miller around-I just like the way he plays the game.

[otis89]

Murton. Definitely. He hasn't hit below .320 at any level this year. He's showing some nice power. He would also be dirt cheap.

[USSoccer]

Murton. Hands down.

 

BTW, when can we officially bag the whole "He can't hit for power" stuff? Here's his line this season:

 

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI TB BB SO SB CS OBP SLG AVG

48 129 17 42 3 2 7 13 70 16 21 2 1 397 .543 .326

 

I think that's good power for a rookie OF who jumped from AA in only 129 AB's.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

I think LF is a no brainer. Murton will provide an inexpensive and effective bat.

[Roast]

Wow, this is going smother then I thought. I'll throw up a poll.

[MeatampPotatoesMan]

We need a backup plan in LF if we're going to give Murton the nodout of ST. I couldn't stand seeing Macias every day in LF if Murton gets injured/tanks.

 

I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I miss having Hollandsworth (on the bench, lol).

[USSoccer]

We need a backup plan in LF if we're going to give Murton the nodout of ST. I couldn't stand seeing Macias every day in LF if Murton gets injured/tanks.

 

I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I miss having Hollandsworth (on the bench, lol).

 

The danger there is that Dusty might platoon a lefty with Murton a la Holla/Dubois. I think Murton has done enough with his 145 AB's to calm fears that he'll be a bust. It's not like Dubois who had a cup of coffee last year. Murton has had success over enough of a sample size that we don't have to really have a backup plan on the 25 man. Keep Grieve in AAA if necessary, but DON"T gove Dusty a veteran crutch to keep one of our brightest prospects on the bench.

[Roast]

We need a backup plan in LF if we're going to give Murton the nodout of ST. I couldn't stand seeing Macias every day in LF if Murton gets injured/tanks.

 

I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I miss having Hollandsworth (on the bench, lol).

 

The danger there is that Dusty might platoon a lefty with Murton a la Holla/Dubois. I think Murton has done enough with his 145 AB's to calm fears that he'll be a bust. It's not like Dubois who had a cup of coffee last year. Murton has had success over enough of a sample size that we don't have to really have a backup plan on the 25 man. Keep Grieve in AAA if necessary, but DON"T give Dusty a veteran crutch to keep one of our brightest prospects on the bench.

 

Again, let me ask everyone to keep fears of dusty out of this thread. Because we are going to address his management position later. And unless I'm totally off. I doubt he'll keep his job. This entire thread is about what we believe is best for this team. So dusty's deficiencies are irrelevant. thanks.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

As much as I appreciate Roast's effort in streamlining this thread, I think there's a problem with the approach that we're going about this thread. Determing what we do about different positions is impossible in a vacuum. Take LF for instance. I have zero problem with Murton playing LF all next year if he's in an OF with Bradley and Giles, while Nomar and Walker are in the middle infield(Cedeno backing them up). However, if Burnitz's option is picked up and Corey or Hairston is in CF, I'm not as comfortable. What we do at each position depends on each other, for monetary reasons as well as performance(like the situation above).