KingCubsFan

I don't think gooney was arguing that he'd be a gate attraction, just that you wouldn't have some mass exodus of fans if he were still on the team. Not saying there would be a mass exodus, but it's possible he could have given the team bad publicity, and it's not worth it anymore considering he's not that good and the Cubs were going to struggle to sell this team anyways considering how bad they were going to be.

yeah, that would have been horrible It certainly wouldn't have helped sell the product. Zambrano's a marginal player at this point, just like Reed Johnson. No sense in putting up with distractions if you don't have to. So you're saying they might struggle to sell tickets in a down year if Zambrano was on the team? That makes a lot of sense. Since when has Zambrano been a gate attraction? The fanbase turned on him years ago.

yeah, that would have been horrible It certainly wouldn't have helped sell the product. Zambrano's a marginal player at this point, just like Reed Johnson. No sense in putting up with distractions if you don't have to. Distractions from what? You don't think Z's outbursts in the past have been distractions for the players and management?

He could have been the designated Hispanic scapegoat and kept some of the heat off of Castro. That's Soriano's job.

yeah, that would have been horrible It certainly wouldn't have helped sell the product. Zambrano's a marginal player at this point, just like Reed Johnson. No sense in putting up with distractions if you don't have to.

I give a [expletive] because "good clubhouse guy" is absolute mythological nonsense for idiots, and he's the symbol of management not even trying this year. That's a bit much. Baseball is like any other sport...if the last couple guys are similar in talent and cost of course teams are going to go with the ones who they feel are a better fit for their clubhouse and organization. Looking back, would anyone really want Z on this team? Nothing good would come of that. He wouldn't be happy, fans wouldn't be happy and his teammates may not be happy. That's just a bunch of BS with no basis in reality. Who the EF cares about a harmonious losing clubhouse? Getting rid of Zambrano did jack freaking squat for this organization. It's a crap team because they have crap players performing crappily. If and when they ever get better it will be because they have better players performing well. I don't give a crap about a team getting along as they lose 2 out of every 3 games. No sane person should. Clubhouse guy is a worthless made up concept. It's not quantifiable as of yet. That doesn't mean it's made up. I don't think any of us can speak definitely on the subject unless we've worked in major league baseball. Theo and Jed have been successful and been around a lot of clubhouses, so getting rid of someone like Zambrano and keeping someone like Reed Johnson must mean they think it has some sort of value. They knew the team was going to be horrible and lose a lot of games, but they probably wanted to make sure Dale didn't lose the team early on or have high-profile players like Zambrano quit when the team started losing.

Might as well let Rizzo pitch. Would probably be one of the first times player made his debut as a pitcher and hitter on consecutive days.

Someone should send him the Matt Garza trade thread to make him feel better about himself.

If Jose Rosario becomes a bit more consistent, does he go into next season as our second best pitching prospect (besides Maples)?

It was just about this time a year ago that TT (and myself, and others) repeatedly made it abundantly clear that we didn't have to go through this year of suck. Epstein disagreed. What makes you so confident that this time will be different? He's had a full year to assess the roster and the organization as a whole. He likely has a better feel for certain players' capabilities, and he's probably identified players from other teams that could help the Cubs. They didn't have a lot of time to do any of that last offseason. Personally, I think they'll be much more active in the trade market this offseason, particularly trades like Rizzo for Cashner. In short, this year was unnecessary, but understandable. Going through this nonsense again would be a horrible display of ineptitude. I wouldn't say ineptitude, but certainly a lack of creativity.

It was just about this time a year ago that TT (and myself, and others) repeatedly made it abundantly clear that we didn't have to go through this year of suck. Epstein disagreed. What makes you so confident that this time will be different? He's had a full year to assess the roster and the organization as a whole. He likely has a better feel for certain players' capabilities, and he's probably identified players from other teams that could help the Cubs. They didn't have a lot of time to do any of that last offseason. Personally, I think they'll be much more active in the trade market this offseason, particularly trades like Rizzo for Cashner.

Thanks for linking. He has such a quick, easy swing. Still holding out hope that he can be a league-average offensive player at 3B in a year or two. That's a pretty low threshold these days. With his defense, he better be more than average offensively.

He hasn't been that impressive this year, but I can't imagine the Braves doing that. Maybe for Garza.

Depends. The Bulls apparently are very interested in Barnes. Say they end up with Biedrins, Wright and Barnes. They now have a replacement for Deng, a guy who can score off the bench in Wright, and Biedrins. After next offseason, you can probably take Biedrins' $10 million and trade it to a team for a good player with a longer-term contract,. I'm worried that they'd be considering Biedrins as an Omer replacement in the increasing possibility that another team makes a huge offer for him. He could certainly fill that role (not as good as Omer, of course). But all indications are that they'll match an offer for Omer, as it can't be for more than the MLE.

Depends. The Bulls apparently are very interested in Barnes. Say they end up with Biedrins, Wright and Barnes. They now have a replacement for Deng, a guy who can score off the bench in Wright, and Biedrins. After next offseason, you can probably take Biedrins' $10 million and trade it to a team for a good player with a longer-term contract,.

He's a free agent after this year. Wouldn't surprise me if Theo showed interest this offseason though.

I still go back to how Andy MacPhail referred to him specifically as not a leadoff man, but a middle of the order hitter (I think it was Andy who spoke to the media about him) and then a couple years later Don Baylor (not Dusty) demanding he be more slap happy. Baylor and Dusty both treated him like Willie Mays Hayes. I forget which of them popped off the Oddibe McDowell line, though. That was Don Baylor. Dusty brushed off Baylor's comments with an "I wasn't there" instead of actually standing up for his player. But the development train was well of the tracks by then. Dusty said he could be Lou Brock, or something to that effect. The mismanagement of Corey Patterson remains one of the biggest mistakes the organization made during the MacPhail/Hendry years, but it gets overlooked due to Prior/Wood. If he was handled right, I think he would still be our CFer, with a few 30/30 seasons, Gold Gloves and All-Star games on his resume.

Hmm, aside from Andrew McCutchen, the Pirates get minimal offensive production from their outfield. If the Cubs are willing to eat the bulk of the salary, the Pirates could be a very good fit for Soriano, although Quentin might be a better one. I'm pretty sure that the Pirates have a pretty deep farm system, so this might be our best bet at a solid return. What exactly is your idea of a "solid return?"

Guess they didn't even bother putting Rizzo on the roster knowing he'd have to be removed within a few days.

Do the Phillies have anything worthwhile? Not sure how I feel about Domonic Brown at this point.

I think his best use is to be packaged with Dempster in order to get a true impact prospect. Or maybe with another guy like Russell to get a good return.

RF presumably sees less action than LF and unlike at Wrigley, it's not harder to play than LF, so I'm good with putting the better fielders in left and center. I'm guessing it doesn't have anything to do with actual defensive ability. It's to get LaHair comfortable when Rizzo comes up.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=greink001don

Keep Garza and Shark, sign Liriano. You have a rotation of Garza/Shark/Liriano/Maholm/Wood. If Liriano gets too pricey, plug Edwin Jackson in instead. I would be shocked if Liriano got anything more than a one year deal, let alone more than Jackson. He hasn't been good in quite a while.

i think it's still below average. but i'd like to see him win the starting job out of spring training next year, that would be nice. I'd say it's less than 50/50 he's still in the Cubs organization by next spring. He just screams "extra thrown in to make other team feel better about giving up their best prospects." Yeah, he doesn't seem like the type of player Theo wants to keep around (bad defense, no patience). My guess is they keep him in AAA to keep his numbers up and try to trade him in the offseason. Unless his defense shows significant improvement.