pccubfan
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Everything posted by pccubfan
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Not an expert on the Rule 5, but after you have two players chosen aren't you allowed to pull back additional players?
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Is that a good thing? I'm not so sure that it is. What would lead you to believe that he would make a good pitching coach? He often had trouble throwing strikes. He had trouble keeping his arm healthy. He had trouble preventing blisters. I don't think thay any of that necessarily disqualifies him from being a pitching coach but I don't see a whole lot that makes me jump up and down about the idea either.
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I'm sure the vast majority of players dislike playing in Wrigley (especially as visitors) compared to other stadiums. I also don't think it's a major factor in whether they go to the Cubs or not. The vast majority of players have not spoken out about how much they hate Wrigley. I think it's safe to say Buehrle is outside the norm on this issue. I agree very few have. So when one of those very few decides Wrigley isn't so bad after all (Edmonds), then it makes it hard to view those kind of comments as anything more than smack from a rival.
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When did Sandberg SAY that? And the Cubs already said to him: "No thanks". He has no choice but to look at other opps. If MB or Pujols sign here, I will be the first to admit I was wrong. When did Sandberg say what? You're wrong whether they sign here or not. Answer the question I already asked you...do you really think that if the Cubs made the clear best offer to Buehrle (which they won't, because they aren't dumb enough to overpay for him...and with as much interest as there is in him, he will be overpaid), he would pass up the most money and being able to stay in Chicago just because he played for the White Sox and he once made fun of Wrigley Field (as a member of the White Sox)? The reason is not because he played for the White Sox. The reason is because he dislikes the Cubs and especially Wrigley. Assuming his comments can be taken at face value, which, admittedly, we can't know for sure. They could be just the typical rivalry bravado crap. Or he could legitimately feel that way. You seriously think he makes that statement if he were playing for anyone other than the White Sox, Brewers, Astros, Reds or Cards?
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Where did you read that? Too many times he has made snarky comments about our fans, stadium and team. Read between the lines and you know he is not coming here. Just like Jim Edmonds. He's like the exception to every rule.
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How much evaluation needs to go into the fact that the Cubs have no 1B options close in the minors and there are two very good options available via free agency in a year that sees the Cubs having a truckload of money coming off the books? I could understand not wanting to go out and sign a bunch of mid to high level free agent talent without evaluating the organization, but 1B seems to be a no-brainer to me.
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I think everyone agrees with these points, but it seems curious to classify Fielder as a star player and post-2006 vintage Soriano as non-star. Soriano's WARP numbers from 02-06 look an awful lot like Fielder's from 07-11: 5.1 5.7 1.7 5 6.4 2.1 3.4 2.3 5.5 5.3 22.1 20.4 Soriano represented a larger risk of age-related decline, but Fielder represents a larger risk of weight-related decline. If you don't like the Soriano contract, then it's pretty hard to justify offering the same deal to Fielder. And you probably can't even get Fielder @ Soriano's numbers. Fielder going into his prime is probably going to put up better numbers than all but Soriano's first season with the Cubs. If Fielder gets an eight year deal like Soriano got, I could see the last year or two looking pretty bad.
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That's why I strongly favor Wilson to Buerhle, and don't have much interest in Buerhle. Yeah, but I don't see the Cubs being a player for the best arm on the market. In order for me. (top 5 MLB arms) Wilson Jackson Maholm Bedard Vazquez If the Cubs had a stronger group of near ready major league starters I could be persuaded to take a risk on Bedard. If Cashner truly needs to work out of the pen next year, then McNutt is all you really have to fall back on and that is a little scary considering his issues last year. It seems like Lopez/Ortiz/Coleman Part II.
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If they want major league talent would they have interest in Byrd or Barney? It would obviously take more than just one of those guys but it could be a start. If I were Williams it would take Jackson and a little more.
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That would be best case scenario. Considering we'd have him for his ages 33-35 seasons, my point is he may well decline from the 3.4 or so WAR player he's been. Even if he declines some, he becomes not close to worth what he'd get. Even if he ages well, he probably will still decline to some degree. If we were getting a 29 or 30 year old Buerhle, I might change my mind. But a 33 year old Buerhle isn't very enticing. So you don't have the same concern about paying Wilson much more than Buehrle for those same 33-35 seasons and beyond? I understand he has more room to fall in order to be average. I also understand that he doesn't have as many pitches on that arm, but he could become a huge burden at the end of his contract. He is going to command a salary that you can't afford to have him fall back a whole lot.
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If his price is low and we give Z away, I'd have interest in Buerhle too. I tend to think he'll be fairly sought after and will probably get overpaid. The problem with Buerhle is that he's not been so good that he can decline and still be particularly valuable. He's a low-3 WAR guy at this point and if he gets worse, you're looking at high 1 WAR, low 2 WAR. If he's getting $10+ million, I'm not a big fan of that. I'd rather see them not go after someone who will get paid more for being durable rather than production. The Cubs are in a better position to go for a cheaper lightning in a bottle risk/reward than go for a safer more expensive option. Buerhle isn't a game changer for the Cubs, if they had a rotation similar to when they brought in Marquis, I could see that but it's not similar right now. I'm not a huge fan of Buehrle just thought he could be interesting. If you could sign him for three years for $10/$11 million per, and get his 3.5 WAR production each of those years then I'd be interested. He slips in nice as a three (hopefully a four with Cashner moving ahead in 2013), along with Garza and one of the many prospective FAs from the 2012 class. I wouldn't be interested if it took more than three years or more than $11 million per year.
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If his price is low and we give Z away, I'd have interest in Buerhle too. I tend to think he'll be fairly sought after and will probably get overpaid. The problem with Buerhle is that he's not been so good that he can decline and still be particularly valuable. He's a low-3 WAR guy at this point and if he gets worse, you're looking at high 1 WAR, low 2 WAR. If he's getting $10+ million, I'm not a big fan of that. He's going to give you roughly what Dempster gives you. You're probably correct about him being overpaid but a Ted Lilly type deal 3-30 to 3-33 would definitely cause me to consider.
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The lack of interest in Buerhle, at least on my part, is due to him being 33 when the season starts next year and likely declining rather than in his prime or improving. I'd go after Wilson, E Jackson, Maholm, and trade targets before I gave Buerhle a 3 year deal covering his ages 33,34,35 seasons. I can understand concern about his age but he has been pretty consistent over his last five years and he seems to be the type of pitcher that ages well. I wouldn't go all in on him, but if other teams were balking due to his age, I would probably kick the tires.
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Assuming Brett Jackson begins the year in CF, we have this: 1B: open 2B: Barney/LeMaheieu SS: Castro 3B: open LF: Soriano CF: BJax RF: Byrd C: Soto SP: Garza, Z, Demp, Wells, open RP: Marmol, Marshall, Shark, Russell, Wood, open, open B: Baker, Campana, Colvin, open© I count 6 open spots for next year, but three of those (2 pen, 1 bench or other way around if we go with 11 pitchers) should be filled from within. Without dumping Z, Soriano, or Byrd I'm seeing at most 3 spots to fill next year. Are you assuming DeWitt is waived?
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Not living near Chicago, I don't know the story on Buehrle. Is he not talked about because he hates the Cubs, because he played for the Sox, or are people just giving him to the Cards? He's getting up in years but he could be interesting on a three year deal.
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My guess is given those options, they could take it, or they could leave it.
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It seems that hiring Hoyer is a shot across the Red Sox bow. Ricketts is telling them we've got all the time in the world, as our GM will be hired and at work when the WS is over.
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That's just not at all accurate. Lucchino is his mentor and the one who actually brought him to Boston in the first place. John Henry gave him his first GM job for his hometown team. Not only that, but he's been given complete control over Boston's baseball operations. Also, I still fail to see how the Cubs going with an interim general manager makes any sense. Here's this from SOSH: That's what awaits if the Cubs don't play ball. It's like the part in Moneyball where Beane is trying to convince Omar Minaya to add Youkilis into the Cliff Floyd trade. He tells him something to the effect of: "I can see the Boston papers now: 'Larry Lucchino misses out on Cliff Floyd to keep fat third baseman in Double A'" The Cubs knew that Theo would come at a price, that he'd require a fair amount of compensation and now they're getting sticker shock. You can't just have one of the elite general managers in all of baseball when he's under contract. A price has to be paid. Holding out hope that the Red Sox will "blink first" is amateurish. Missing out on getting him would be a disaster. After the last couple weeks in Boston, I think the Cubs would at least be speaking the Red Sox's language.
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You seriously don't believe that there is any problems with Boston bringing Theo back? The Red Sox gave Theo permission to talk with the Cubs. He liked what he heard and what the Cubs offered and made a decision to accept their offer. The Cubs are going to pay him almost double his current salary and promote him but the Red Sox are going to hold that up because they want more than $3.1 million of compensation for Theo. In addition, the Red Sox owner calls Theo out for signing Carl Crawford, even though he wasn't in favor of the signing. And still more, word comes from the Cubs camp that the negotiating being done by Lucchino is vindictive and overly difficult for the sole purpose of sticking it to Theo. Yeah, I can see where there would be no hard feelings from Theo. I'm sure he can't wait to get back to work in Boston's front office. If I were Theo and getting it stuck to me like that, I'd do all in my power to stick them too. You don't think that Henry has thought of that angle? You really think that Henry is going to trust Theo's decision making going forward? Look at your other candidates and start making arrangements to hire one of them. And Ricketts needs to make it his mission in life to screw over the Red Sox any chance he can get.
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I don't think that the Yankees will get involved with both Wilson and Fielder and they have made it known that they intend to focus on their rotation in the offseason. Posada is coming off the books and perhaps Nick Swisher too. CC is probably going to cost them more next year and they are probably going to try and lock Cano up long-term to a very large contract. Add the fact that Montero will be ready to play 1B/DH/C and I just don't see them having interest in adding another $20 million to their payroll next year.
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That's actually a good point. Quit and if they make a stink about the contract money the Cubs will just pay it and he's home free. Call me crazy but that makes a lot of sense. Per his contract, unless both parties agree to break the contract, if he is going to work in baseball in 2012, it will be for the Boston Red Sox. He is well within his rights to retire and not work in baseball at all this year, but he would forfeit his pay.
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But clearly the owner can care less about making enemies. Hell, it never hurt the Yankees right? It's different with the Yankees they have resources that no other team can come close to matching. Other teams are envious of that position. The Red Sox are making this beef personal. It's not like Boston is poor? They don't have the same resources, but it's pretty damn close, no? According to Cots the Yanks and Red Sox have gotten closer the last two years in team payroll, but the Yanks still outspend by 20%. In 2008 and 2009, the Yanks spent more than $75 million per year more. So it's still a significant gap.
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http://www.csnchicago.com/baseball-chicago-cubs/news/Red-Sox-playing-hardball-with-Cubs?blockID=577760&feedID=661 I don't see this ending well for the Red Sox. They are coming off as complete asshats and I imagine other front offices are going to take a dim view of dealing with them. They are making enemies right now. I guess the Yankees weren't enough. But clearly the owner can care less about making enemies. Hell, it never hurt the Yankees right? It's different with the Yankees they have resources that no other team can come close to matching. Other teams are envious of that position. The Red Sox are making this beef personal.
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http://www.csnchicago.com/baseball-chicago-cubs/news/Red-Sox-playing-hardball-with-Cubs?blockID=577760&feedID=661 I don't see this ending well for the Red Sox. They are coming off as complete asshats and I imagine other front offices are going to take a dim view of dealing with them. They are making enemies right now. I guess the Yankees weren't enough.
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It is amazing when you think about it. Going in, I never would have guessed that the Cubs organization would come out of this situation looking this much better than the Red Sox organization.