Howry signs with Cubs (yes, it's official)

[Southpaw191679666239]

The specifics of the contract may not be ideal in your eyes, but answer me this: when was the last contract that a Cubs player signed that you thought WAS ideal?

 

Walker's pair of 1-yr deals. ;)

[goonys evil twin]

Spirit police? LOL. No, it's just that no matter what Hendry does (or doesn't do) he gets slammed for it, and frankly it gets old. Signing Howry will make our team better. The specifics of the contract may not be ideal in your eyes, but answer me this: when was the last contract that a Cubs player signed that you thought WAS ideal?

 

Ideal, or good? I really liked the Lee and Ramirez contracts.

 

What gets old is the Cubs making the same old mistakes and ending up with the same old results. Money matters. The contract details matter. Contracts signed today will be used as excuses for contracts not offered in the future, that's just a fact. And for the record, I don't believe I've said one word about Howry's supposed contract in this thread.

[abuck1220]

Wow, up to 18 pages of people complaining about a possible move that will no doubt make our team better? The negativity on this board has kicked into over drive this offseason.

 

Wow, that was a ridiculous thing to say. This has hardly been 18 pages of complaining. I've seen a lot of the space used for questions, clarifications and praise.

 

 

But it's good to see the spirit police spring into action to try and haul in those evil people who have the audacity to question a move made by the impeccable Cubs management team.

 

I've read the thread, the majority of it has been complaining.

 

Spirit police? LOL. No, it's just that no matter what Hendry does (or doesn't do) he gets slammed for it, and frankly it gets old. Signing Howry will make our team better. The specifics of the contract may not be ideal in your eyes, but answer me this: when was the last contract that a Cubs player signed that you thought WAS ideal?

 

well, the team has sucked the last two years w/ a very sizeable payroll, so i don't think it's crazy to say they've made more than their share of bad decisions. i don't understand why gm's get the benefit of the doubt just because 'it's their job'. people suck at their jobs sometimes.

 

and you're not talking to me, but i'm pretty happy w/ the lee & ramirez deals.

[goonys evil twin]

The specifics of the contract may not be ideal in your eyes, but answer me this: when was the last contract that a Cubs player signed that you thought WAS ideal?

 

Walker's pair of 1-yr deals. ;)

 

Oh yeah, I forgot about that one. I was suprised they signed him for what he originally cost, and shocked he came back at his current deal. When 2B was talked about after 2003, many had Walker at about a 3/12-15 year contract.

[Mizzou]

Spirit police? LOL. No, it's just that no matter what Hendry does (or doesn't do) he gets slammed for it, and frankly it gets old. Signing Howry will make our team better. The specifics of the contract may not be ideal in your eyes, but answer me this: when was the last contract that a Cubs player signed that you thought WAS ideal?

 

Ideal, or good? I really liked the Lee and Ramirez contracts.

 

What gets old is the Cubs making the same old mistakes and ending up with the same old results. Money matters. The contract details matter. Contracts signed today will be used as excuses for contracts not offered in the future, that's just a fact. And for the record, I don't believe I've said one word about Howry's supposed contract in this thread.

 

I thought you were outspoken against the Ramirez contract? Perhaps not, but that's really neither here nor there.

 

I know money matters and I know years matter, but you often times have to "overpay" to get what you want. No one is saying that Howry and Eyre aren't good pitchers, or at least haven't been recently. And if these guys wind up not living up to their contracts, who's to say Hendry wont trade them like he did Hawkins?

 

Howry (if signed) and Eyre might do well, they might not. But I think I'll wait and see before I blast Hendry all over the place for upgrading our bullpen.

[Mizzou]

Wow, up to 18 pages of people complaining about a possible move that will no doubt make our team better? The negativity on this board has kicked into over drive this offseason.

 

Wow, that was a ridiculous thing to say. This has hardly been 18 pages of complaining. I've seen a lot of the space used for questions, clarifications and praise.

 

 

But it's good to see the spirit police spring into action to try and haul in those evil people who have the audacity to question a move made by the impeccable Cubs management team.

 

I've read the thread, the majority of it has been complaining.

 

Spirit police? LOL. No, it's just that no matter what Hendry does (or doesn't do) he gets slammed for it, and frankly it gets old. Signing Howry will make our team better. The specifics of the contract may not be ideal in your eyes, but answer me this: when was the last contract that a Cubs player signed that you thought WAS ideal?

 

well, the team has sucked the last two years w/ a very sizeable payroll, so i don't think it's crazy to say they've made more than their share of bad decisions. i don't understand why gm's get the benefit of the doubt just because 'it's their job'. people suck at their jobs sometimes.

 

and you're not talking to me, but i'm pretty happy w/ the lee & ramirez deals.

 

I'm not giving him the benefit of the doubt - I'm praising him for signing two quality relievers. And yes, I know GM's sometimes suck - trust me, I'm not Hendry's biggest fan by any means. He's sucked in getting a leadoff man for two years, he sucked at handling the Sosa situation, he's sucked at resigning mediocre (at best) veterans, etc. Hendry has a plan to improve the bullpen. So far I think he's doing a pretty good job of it.

[YearofDaCubs]

With Dusty we are going to need a good amount of bullpen help because let's face it he ruins arms and needs a plethora of options of available. At the same time though I haven't seen one thing done to the offense that is an improvement. The offseason is young but I am concerned there are really no options available to Hendry for RF. Sure, you might say Giles but it sounds like Hendry isn't interested. We still have a lot of holes. Wood can't be counted on, our offense right now isn't good enough, and our bench last year was abysmal. We need to start directing our energy towards offense if we want to have a shot at the playoffs.

[WrigleyinEngland]

has anyone looked up eyres numbers with RISP and howrys in the late innings?? gave me the squits!!!!

[YearofDaCubs]

has anyone looked up eyres numbers with RISP and howrys in the late innings?? gave me the squits!!!!

Good or bad?

[UMFan83]

Wow, up to 18 pages of people complaining about a possible move that will no doubt make our team better? The negativity on this board has kicked into over drive this offseason.

 

Get Premium and its only 15 pages ;)

[WrigleyinEngland]

not good, not good at all......However it looked as though if Eyre started a late inning and didn't come on with RISP he was money

[MeatampPotatoesMan]

I can live with Howry and Eyre. It looks like I'm going to have to. :wink:

 

These moves wouldn't look so bad if they weren't preceeded by Neifi and Rusch getting far more than they're worth. Overpaying for two of the better FA relief pitchers on the FA market isn't a horrible idea, but I would have preferred to go in a different direction (like throwing that money at the offense and starting pitching). Call it complaining if you want to. It's my opinion and I'll say whatever I want, thank you very much.

 

Hopefully we are going to have a stud bullpen next year. It's an expensive pen, but hey, as long as they get it done I won't be complaining midseason. We're going to need them if Prior continues his nibbling and Wood's shoulder acts up.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Wow, up to 18 pages of people complaining about a possible move that will no doubt make our team better? The negativity on this board has kicked into over drive this offseason.

 

Wow, that was a ridiculous thing to say. This has hardly been 18 pages of complaining. I've seen a lot of the space used for questions, clarifications and praise.

 

 

But it's good to see the spirit police spring into action to try and haul in those evil people who have the audacity to question a move made by the impeccable Cubs management team.

 

I've read the thread, the majority of it has been complaining.

 

Spirit police? LOL. No, it's just that no matter what Hendry does (or doesn't do) he gets slammed for it, and frankly it gets old. Signing Howry will make our team better. The specifics of the contract may not be ideal in your eyes, but answer me this: when was the last contract that a Cubs player signed that you thought WAS ideal?

 

well, the team has sucked the last two years w/ a very sizeable payroll, so i don't think it's crazy to say they've made more than their share of bad decisions. i don't understand why gm's get the benefit of the doubt just because 'it's their job'. people suck at their jobs sometimes.

 

and you're not talking to me, but i'm pretty happy w/ the lee & ramirez deals.

 

I'm not giving him the benefit of the doubt - I'm praising him for signing two quality relievers. And yes, I know GM's sometimes suck - trust me, I'm not Hendry's biggest fan by any means. He's sucked in getting a leadoff man for two years, he sucked at handling the Sosa situation, he's sucked at resigning mediocre (at best) veterans, etc. Hendry has a plan to improve the bullpen. So far I think he's doing a pretty good job of it.

 

Relievers are the most unpredictable of all players or pitchers performance wise. Giving two middle relievers, one of whom hasn't had more than one good season, THREE YEAR DEALS for 8 figures is terrible. Sure they probably make your pen better for next season(Eyre may or may not), but these deals are so long Zambrano and Prior will be FA's by the time they are done. You can't make a long term commitment on such an unpredictable commodity, especially Eyre and Howry, who aren't dominant. Was Mike Remlinger so long ago? Remember Remlinger, that has a nice ring to it.

[WrigleyinEngland]

They are totally un-predictable but what is a given is that Dusty will probably ruin at least one next year. In light of this the signing of a guy like howry might just keep Weurtz's arm intact!!

[YearofDaCubs]

The problem is we signed both type A free agents who are average. Add that money up, Rusch, and Perez and you could easily get BJ Ryan. But as far as I'm concerned we have more holes to fill than the bullpen right now.

[WrigleyinEngland]

What is the limit on signing type A FA's?

[CubfaninCA]

Wow, up to 18 pages of people complaining about a possible move that will no doubt make our team better? The negativity on this board has kicked into over drive this offseason.

 

Wow, that was a ridiculous thing to say. This has hardly been 18 pages of complaining. I've seen a lot of the space used for questions, clarifications and praise.

 

 

But it's good to see the spirit police spring into action to try and haul in those evil people who have the audacity to question a move made by the impeccable Cubs management team.

 

Spirit Police.. Hmmm I give that label a 3 out of 10. You can do better.

[sethuel1]

What is the limit on signing type A FA's?

4. It's back a few pages

[JeffH]

Whatever the limit is, it's for both Type As and Type Bs combined.

[RynoRules]

Howry had an unbelieveably lucky season. However, we have a GM and staff that has no idea what the acronym "BABIP" stands for or why it is important.

 

In 2004, Cleveland had one of the worst pens in the majors - for much of the year it was ranked as one of the worst ever. In 2005, they had one of the strongest pen in the majors.

 

It was mainly the same guys.

 

Spending big money on the pen doesn't make sense unless you spend REALLY big money on the pen. And even that doesn't work very well. Most successful pens are built from home-grown guys, astute waiver-wire pickups and cheap FA's. Big money bullpens have a distinct tendency to be mediocre.

 

Great, you sit around and wait for Todd Wellemeyer and Roberto Novoa and Cliff Bartosh to figure it out and have a "high BABIP" year. Me, I won't be holding my breath. I like my odds better on going with guys that have at least shown they can have ML success, than guys who have never had any.

 

Or, we could use that money to sign someone like Ryan who's been lights out for a while, or trade for someone who's capable and we don't have to make a 3 year commitment to.

 

Not unless Dempster wants to set-up. Ryan says he wants to close, which is why the Yanks are not getting him.

 

Then let Ryan close.

 

Sure, its that simple to just walk in and tell Dempster he isn't closing anymore even though that's what he was signed to do and he did it well last season.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

They are totally un-predictable but what is a given is that Dusty will probably ruin at least one next year. In light of this the signing of a guy like howry might just keep Weurtz's arm intact!!

 

Also, Dusty loves to have guys with specific roles and giving him a player like Eyre can fit that (better than Remlinger did, with his reverse splits). But rather than Howry, I'd prefer Romero or Betancourt via trade since the years and money given to Eyre was so high - I wouldn't want to go down that road with two players.

[abuck1220]

 

Sure, its that simple to just walk in and tell Dempster he isn't closing anymore even though that's what he was signed to do and he did it well last season.

 

isn't he supposed to be the clubhouse/chemistry/attitude superking? if so, he should take it in stride since it would be the best thing for the team.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Or, we could use that money to sign someone like Ryan who's been lights out for a while, or trade for someone who's capable and we don't have to make a 3 year commitment to.

 

Not unless Dempster wants to set-up. Ryan says he wants to close, which is why the Yanks are not getting him.

 

Then let Ryan close.

 

Sure, its that simple to just walk in and tell Dempster he isn't closing anymore even though that's what he was signed to do and he did it well last season.

 

Then trade Dempster if he has a huge problem with it, his value will likely never be higher anyway. Use him in a deal for Abreu, Philly needs a closer.

Edited November 22, 2005 by Transmogrified Tiger

[CuseCubFan69]

Is this deal official yet or is it still a rumor?

[RynoRules]

 

Sure, its that simple to just walk in and tell Dempster he isn't closing anymore even though that's what he was signed to do and he did it well last season.

 

isn't he supposed to be the clubhouse/chemistry/attitude superking? if so, he should take it in stride since it would be the best thing for the team.

 

Sure. That seems to be the response anytime this question or one like it comes up. Its a very helpful and productive solution.

 

A better argument - and one I could understand - would be that we should not have resigned Dempster until we took a run at Ryan. That's a reasonable argument.