Do players know more than us?

[entbird79]

Disclaimer...I have nothing to back up the rumors in this post other than hearing it from my cousin. I'm not stating this as fact.

 

Do players know who their team is going to sign in the off season anymore than we do?

 

The reason I ask is my cousin was out in a club in Denver the other night and ran into Ryan Dempster. He didn't know it was him, but when he asked why all of his buddies were speaking French, he said it was because he was Canadian. He said I'm Ryan Dempster. He got his autograph and what not, and Ryan told him that we were going to sign Furcal and AJ Burnett.

 

Now I have nothing to back this up as I was not there myself, but I just thought I would ask all of you what you thought. If players have any more idea about who we are going to sign than we do, or do you think he was just throwing it out there.

 

Obviously he doesn't know that we are going to sign them, since only the FA's themselves would know that, but would he have a good idea about what direction the team wants to go in? Especially since he has already had negotiations for his own contract?

 

Just thought it would be some interesting conversation.

[Andy]

I have a hard time believing that a) Dempster would be in a club in Denver and that b) if he was, that he would be leaking information about who the Cubs would be chasing in the off-season to someone he doesn't know.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

I think some players do and some don't. I think, however, the Cubs interest in Furcal has been transparent. If I had to place a bet on which of the big name FA's the Cubs would sign, I'd put that money on Furcal.

 

Also, Dempster has been lobbying for the Cubs to get Burnett. They were team mates in Florida and I think are pretty close.

 

That being said, I wouldn't put a whole lot of stock in it. Without having the context, Dempster could have been stating this based on speculation or based on something he's heard.

[stitchface]

Why wouldn't he be in a club in Denver? I kind of doubt his friends would be speaking french unless he was out with the Avs or something. Anyway, Dempster seems like the type that would just make something up for fun.

[entbird79]

I have a hard time believing that a) Dempster would be in a club in Denver and that b) if he was, that he would be leaking information about who the Cubs would be chasing in the off-season to someone he doesn't know.

 

Well...I did see the autograph as he got it for my uncle. So he was there. Other than that I don't have a link or anything to back up what he told me. My cousin isn't a big baseball fan so he didn't even hardly know who the guys were that he was talking about.

[nilodnayr]

Ive told this story before, but for what its worth I was in the bleachers when the marlins were in town and Burnett played with the fans in the bleachers a ton during warmups and eventually through the innerworkings of wrigley made his way up to us in the CF bleachers and took pictures and signed autographs with fans for about 20 minutes, then as he came out from the doors in the wall and was running back to his dugout he pointed at his chest and then pointed down at the ground, assumedly stating that he wanted to be here. Frankly I dont want him, but it really seemed like he showed a desire to come here. Of course its not altogether up to him.

[CubfaninCA]

Yes, they know quite a bit more than mere fans. Probably more than most writers.

[Andy]

Ive told this story before, but for what its worth I was in the bleachers when the marlins were in town and Burnett played with the fans in the bleachers a ton during warmups and eventually through the innerworkings of wrigley made his way up to us in the CF bleachers and took pictures and signed autographs with fans for about 20 minutes, then as he came out from the doors in the wall and was running back to his dugout he pointed at his chest and then pointed down at the ground, assumedly stating that he wanted to be here. Frankly I dont want him, but it really seemed like he showed a desire to come here. Of course its not altogether up to him.

That's very interesting. I never knew that Burnett would like to be a Cub. Obviously, most players would at least entertain the idea of being a Cub but I definitely did not think Burnett more so than anyone else liked the idea. Unfortunately for AJ, the starting pitching is the one area that is least likely to be messed with for the Cubs this off season.

[imb]

probably not, most coaches are morons, and most coaches were former players.

[BigbadB]

I think a lot of players can be influential in who a club goes after.

 

I sure wish you didn't interrupt Dempster when he was trying to tell you that the Cubs were going to sign Furcal, Burnett and Giles.

[David]

Ya gotta admit.. IF healthy (BIG "if," I know), that would make one hell of a starting rotation... Better than 2003 even...

 

Prior, Zambrano, Burnett, Wood, Maddux (in no particular order, except Maddux at #5)...

 

And in the playoffs, that would be... WOW.. just wow..

[Andy]

Ya gotta admit.. IF healthy (BIG "if," I know), that would make one hell of a starting rotation... Better than 2003 even...

 

Prior, Zambrano, Burnett, Wood, Maddux (in no particular order, except Maddux at #5)...

 

And in the playoffs, that would be... WOW.. just wow..

I don't even want to think about it, because I'll convince myself that we need to throw money at Burnett.

 

As for the healthy thing, I was reading SI.com's Truth and Rumors and supposedly Wood was on track to be ready to start right away in 2006.

[cjbucks]

I'm no professional baseball player but I know I've never been in a club and made up a bit of a tall tale..............all truth all the time for me - Miller Lite be damned!!

[Gunned]

Fun to think about.

 

I'm been sort of wishy-washy on Burnett, but I'm sure that his pricetag has dipped after his end-of-season troubles. What looked like a lock for at least 4 years/$40 million could be knocked down a fair amount.

 

So what's a healthy AJ Burnett worth? And what is it worth to take the risk that he will be healthy?

[MPrior]

Fun to think about.

 

I'm been sort of wishy-washy on Burnett, but I'm sure that his pricetag has dipped after his end-of-season troubles. What looked like a lock for at least 4 years/$40 million could be knocked down a fair amount.

 

So what's a healthy AJ Burnett worth? And what is it worth to take the risk that he will be healthy?

 

Interesting point. If the Cubs do sign Burnett, I sure as hell don't want it to be 4/40. Secondly, if the Cubs were a generally healthy team, I'd be all about taking a risk on Burnett, especially if it were relatively cheap. But with all the injury risks already on this team, it seems a bit dangerous to get Burnett. If Burnett and Wood go down (not at all unlikely), our rotation is Prior and Z. And if Prior goes down (not nearly as likely, but it's happened each of the past two seasons), then it gets really ugly.

[Backtobanks]

If you watch the TV analysts and read the newspaper writers, you see that they don't know much more than most of us. To tell the truth, I think many of them look at NSBB and other sites to "report" what might be happening. I think they look at a team that has a need and an available player and build a deal from that (i.e. the Yanks need a CF and have money, so Damon might sign with the Yanks).

[Balsa]

Why wouldn't he be in a club in Denver? I kind of doubt his friends would be speaking french unless he was out with the Avs or something. Anyway, Dempster seems like the type that would just make something up for fun.

 

That's my guess. He knows how the hot-stove can be. Probably laughing his butt off right now.

[TheDude]

I don't know whether or not players have more knowledge. They certainly have more rumormill intel though.

 

But in this case, it's already been widely reported that Furcal is an off-season target for Hendry. It's also fairly widely known that Hendry could be looking for another starter.

 

So it really doesn't seem a stretch for someone like Dempster to throw those names out there.

[Magnetic Curses]

the thing that sets dempster apart from other cubs is that he just signed a lucrative extension this year. who knows, maybe hendry told him who he was going to pursue during negotiations?

[YearofDaCubs]

Who knows we can all speculate. Giles, Furcal and Burnett would be nice :)

[Jehrico]

Why wouldn't he be in a club in Denver? I kind of doubt his friends would be speaking french unless he was out with the Avs or something. Anyway, Dempster seems like the type that would just make something up for fun.

 

That's my guess. He knows how the hot-stove can be. Probably laughing his butt off right now.

 

Sometimes, one of my buddies or I will start a rumor, just to see how long it takes to get back to us, and how much it has changed from the original rumor. The results can be pretty interesting sometimes. From what I know about Dempster, he's the type that would do that too.

[David]

Who knows we can all speculate. Giles, Furcal and Burnett would be nice :)

 

With a little Milton Bradley sprinkled in... =P~

 

Furcal, Murton, Lee, Giles, Aramis, Bradley, Walker, Barrett

 

Prior, Zambrano, Burnett, Wood, Maddux

 

=P~ =P~

[Cubfanintheknow]

Back in '85, I had the opportunity to do some construction work for Rick Sutcliffe. We began the work while the CUbs were 12 games into a horrendous 13 game losing streak. Bob Dernier and Jody Davis were in the hospital and the rotation was in shambles. The Cubs had an off-day, so in the morning Sutcliffe said he had some errands to run, but promised to bring us some "refreshments" at quitting time.

 

Well, Sutcliffe delivered as promised, and Me, Sut and three other workers sat outside drinking beer and listening to Sutcliffe's Cub troubles. I won't go into details about what exactly he said, because he was not kind in his comments about a couple of teammates, but it would have made any reporter drool. Naturally, I hung on every word the man said.

And a lot of what he told us that day about the future eventually came true later in the season.

 

It's only one example, but I truly believe the players know more--a lot more--than they lead on. And they'd rather tell it to someone in a bar than someone holding a microphone in front of their face.

[Backtobanks]

Back in '85, I had the opportunity to do some construction work for Rick Sutcliffe. We began the work while the CUbs were 12 games into a horrendous 13 game losing streak. Bob Dernier and Jody Davis were in the hospital and the rotation was in shambles. The Cubs had an off-day, so in the morning Sutcliffe said he had some errands to run, but promised to bring us some "refreshments" at quitting time.

 

Well, Sutcliffe delivered as promised, and Me, Sut and three other workers sat outside drinking beer and listening to Sutcliffe's Cub troubles. I won't go into details about what exactly he said, because he was not kind in his comments about a couple of teammates, but it would have made any reporter drool. Naturally, I hung on every word the man said.

And a lot of what he told us that day about the future eventually came true later in the season.

 

It's only one example, but I truly believe the players know more--a lot more--than they lead on. And they'd rather tell it to someone in a bar than someone holding a microphone in front of their face.

 

I think players certainly know more about what goes on in the clubhouse (which might lead to a trade), but not at the executive level.

[entbird79]

Back in '85, I had the opportunity to do some construction work for Rick Sutcliffe. We began the work while the CUbs were 12 games into a horrendous 13 game losing streak. Bob Dernier and Jody Davis were in the hospital and the rotation was in shambles. The Cubs had an off-day, so in the morning Sutcliffe said he had some errands to run, but promised to bring us some "refreshments" at quitting time.

 

Well, Sutcliffe delivered as promised, and Me, Sut and three other workers sat outside drinking beer and listening to Sutcliffe's Cub troubles. I won't go into details about what exactly he said, because he was not kind in his comments about a couple of teammates, but it would have made any reporter drool. Naturally, I hung on every word the man said.

And a lot of what he told us that day about the future eventually came true later in the season.

 

It's only one example, but I truly believe the players know more--a lot more--than they lead on. And they'd rather tell it to someone in a bar than someone holding a microphone in front of their face.

 

That's a cool story.

 

I saw my cousin last night and he showed me the picture that he took of himself and Ryan on his cell phone. My cousin said that Ryan and his friends were running up a huge bar bill, and he asked his boss who it was. So he introduced them.

Here's where it gets a little fishy for me, not that I don't think my cousin is telling the truth, but Ryan said that we had those two players ready to go, with contracts, they were just waiting to announce it. I don't know if Ryan was just pulling his leg or what. :oops: I wish I would have been there I would have been firing off a lot more questions about Hendry, Baker, FA's etc. My cousin is a cubs fan, but not to the level that most of us here are. :)