Rob

You think he survives waivers? Not now that I realize he has to pass through them. For some reason I kept thinking "oh yeah, he's still got options."

What does that have to do with this thread? I like the fact that Feldman has some bullpen potential if he doesn't cut it as a starter or we find five better ones at some point in the season. I think he'd play very well in a setup role. It says right there that they assured him that he'll be a permanent member of the rotation. Obviously, they can go back on that promise, but it just seems like an odd reply. I really think pushing Wood to the bullpen must or should be the plan. I assumed Feldman must have been assure a rotation slot, since I can't fathom why a guy taking a one year deal would compromise his future value by accepting the possibility of a bullpen role. And I feel like the FO is looking add one more SP, this time from the more talented pool. I'd rather see Wood at AAA getting in reps than garbage time as the long man in the pen.

Solid pickup. After watching the disaster that was 2012's pitching staff, I really want to see the Cubs go 7-8 deep on a rotation. Letting Casey Coleman out there is a recipe for disaster.

Hahaha yea it'd be a bit late to start now Perhaps PR was the wrong word. Loria has one remaining marketable asset. And who better than Cubs fans to recognize what a superstar hitting towering home runs can do for attendance and merchandise sales? There may also be some slight need to placate Bud Selig by not making a complete and utter mockery of his franchise (if he hasn't already).

Absolutely agree. If now is the time, act. I just sincerely doubt now is the time. The Marlins asking price has to be insane with their PR situation. And the teams with the pieces to do something (Texas) are generally the well-run types that would rather wait one season than overpay.

It's been discussed before, but I'm about as negative as you can get about Stanton. There are a lot of minor indications that he may not age gracefully. His size is a part of what allows him to generate such incredible power, but it also puts a tremendous amount of strain on his joints. I'm concerned not only with his ability to stay on the field, but also what effect his size may eventually have on his defense and baserunning - I'd even go so far as to say we've probably already seen him at his peak in both those respects. The BABIP is likely to be unsustainable at last year's .344 mark given his flyball tendencies. Sure, you can say he hits the hell out of the ball, but Adam Dunn (.288) and Jose Bautista (.270) don't exactly have sterling BABIPs. I'd also have hoped not to see his plate discipline regress this past season. He's also about to start getting expensive. That said, he's still an easy 4-5 win player and if he stays healthier than I expect or somehow manages to cut down on the strikeouts, he could be in MVP consideration more often than not. Given the PR hit they're currently taking, the Marlins would have to be absolutely overwhelmed to move Stanton now. This is not a great time to attempt to acquire him. The Cubs gain little hope of competing in 2013 even with Stanton, so they'd be smart to wait until next offseason to make their move. He should be cheaper then anyway, with one less year of team control and his salary beginning to escalate. It's not like extending him will be an option for the Marlins at any point. I appreciate the sentiment behind the posts that say things like "blank check" - I'd love to see the Cubs putting a more competitive team out there. But I anticipate most teams will attempt to wait out the Marlins. I'd like to see the Cubs get the best deal possible.

It might be cheaper than you think. Given his reaction to the recent fire sale, everybody knows that the Marlins have no real ability to extend Stanton. Sure, they can keep him around a couple season to extract some merchandise sales, but it's just a matter of time until they're forced to trade him. All you have to do is outbid the competitors for the right to pay him as he begins to get expensive.

Basically. Hopefully "badass minor league training staff" is a new market inefficiency.

TT's gonna need a change of pants.

Was the #6 or 7 pick in the draft a couple years back. Failed his physical and was declared a FA when the Diamondbacks decided not to try to rework a deal. Signed with the Rangers for $300k or so. Great talent, questionable health.

I'm shocked Coleman survived this round of cuts.

Bruce Miles says Gutierrez was outrighted, not DFA'd.

Well that's certainly interesting.

Calm down Guy. There's no need for that kind of Poison.

And yes, I realize that I have entirely lost my teeth since Theo and Jed came to town. During the Hendry years I'd have raised holy hell about this kind of stuff. I guess there are more gray areas than I was willing to concede at that time.

The difference is about 1.5 mil if Navarro gets his incentives. I'm not the biggest believer in paying for intangible stuff. But if there's one spot where it can make a real difference, it'd be backup catcher. They have so many opportunities to work with the pitching staff, and Navarro will get to help shape Castillo's defense going forward (an area where he certainly needs refinement). That kind of work can easily be worth 1.5 mil. I'll defer to the front office's judgment on this, since they get to see a lot more of that intangible stuff than we do. TB did keep him around for a while though. There seems to be some degree of forward-thinking smoke around him for whatever reason.

Those were the "other options" only if you insisted on wasting a roster spot on a proven veteran backup catcher. How is it wasting a spot if the internal options are terrible? Precisely. If Navarro and Clevenger somehow find themselves at the major league level with Castillo forced down to AAA, this is an awful move. If it's only blocking Clevenger though, there's probably a couple million in excess value that Navarro provides over Clevenger. Better hitting, possibly better defense, the rapport with Garza, etc... I'm going to throw out one other option. Every time I've heard Castillo talk, he had some degree of difficulty with his English (full disclosure, it's been a few years). Navarro may have been chosen as the veteran mentor in part because he'd have an easier time communicating with Castillo in his native Spanish. Just a thought.

I still like Junior Lake as a prospect. I'm all about the guy with the crazier raw tools.

Personally, I'd probably be willing to do a Castro deal. But the front office never would with the price certainty we've got on him. On a purely theoretical basis, I'd have no problem moving Almora or Soler. But we can't trade Almora and the Marlins probably wouldn't want a prospect with a $30 mil price tag. Same with Shark, who's about to get expensive. The two pieces we have that real deals could realistically be structured around would be Rizzo and Baez. I'd be willing to give up either individually. I wouldn't want to include anything else of particular value though (not that we have much). Something like one of those Rizzo/Baez, Brett Jackson, and a guy in the 15-30 range for Stanton and an interesting low level pitching prospect.

Which is why I keep saying nice things about him. It's not a huge insult to say I see the guy more as perennial All-Star than MVP.

He's a hell of a hitter. I wont deny it. A .300+ ISO in this offensive environment is crazy, and he takes a good number of walks. But there needs to be some concern with his BABIP. A .340 mark in all likelihood isn't sustainable. Flyball hitters tend to have significantly lower BABIPs than the norm. He needs to improve on the K's just to sustain the offensive level he's had to this point. He's young, so maybe he does so. But it's worrisome. And there's still the health. He's had some issues already, and guys his size tend not to stay all that healthy. Yeah, 7.2 fWAR over 162 games projects nicely. But I don't think you can really count on him for 162. And I'm inclined to believe that going forward he wont be worth the 11+ runs his defense/baserunning would be credited with for this year. (using that 162 game projection). The Rizzo argument is a bit convoluted on my end. It requires accepting my estimate of Stanton more in the 5 win range. And it requires projecting Rizzo back out in the 4 win range. Given the service time there, and the easier availability of cheap, decent, FA OF (DeJesus) than 1B (LaRoche?). I can see either side of it. But I sure as hell wouldn't want to be giving up a bunch extra. I do think you're assigning Baez's ceiling a bit too low, but the more I've thought on that topic today the more I've come around on the concept of trading him. Entirely moot argument due to the fact he's not being moved. But an interesting topic nonetheless. It just bugs me when I hear people clamoring to give up "whatever they want." There has to be a limit, and I like having an idea where it is.

Let me preface this by saying I love Giancarlo Stanton. But how much should we really be willing to give up for him? He's got a huge K rate that seems unlikely to drastically improve (the only real comp I can come up with for a really young player who K's like he does is BJ Upton, and his issues haven't really improved much. Dunn's issues didn't do much better either, but he got a later start). He's had some injury issues. And with his size I'm a bit concerned about his ability to stay a plus defender long term. Going forward, I kinda see him as a .260-.270 hitter with 40+ HR and plenty of walks, but I don't see him staying all that healthy or adding all that much value with his legs or glove. More All Star than MVP. We wouldn't give up Castro. We can't give up Almora because he was drafted too recently, and Soler's contract is too much for the current Marlins. So of tradeable assets who could centerpiece a deal, we have Rizzo and Baez (I don't buy that Shark would do it for them). Given the service time, Rizzo for Stanton is more of a lateral move. I don't see it making sense to the Cubs unless they got LoMo on the cheap to plug in at 1B (and erase his huge defensive problems in the OF). Would you be willing to give up Baez for Stanton? I can see it, but I'd have trouble pulling the trigger there. Then again, I'm stupidly high on Baez because of his ridiculous ceiling.

Normally I love what AA is doing. But I'm not thrilled with his side of this one. He could have had Reyes/Buehrle last year if he liked those contract figures. But they're backloaded deals and they're a year older now. Escobar, Hechavarria, Alvarez, Nicolino, DeSclafani, Marsinik, and Mathis for Bonifacio, Johnson, and Buck is less attractive. I realize that with the Blue Jays on the win curve where they are, Reyes and Buehrle might have more value now than they did a year ago, but for this to be a good deal I really think they need to be getting money back. Of course, that doesn't mean the Marlins aren't a freaking joke.

Nifty little move. With as many holes in the rotation as the Cubs have, I don't see how anybody could be upset about this one.

Interesting. Maybe Theo wanted them to throw in cash and when they didn't he called the bluff thinking he can sign him and keep Marmol? What can Harden demand on the open market. 2/16? 3/27? If Harden can get that at this point, Haren should be in the 5/90 range.