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Elrhino

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Everything posted by Elrhino

  1. Elrhino
    I don't see how this can't be fixed by just giving Sandberg some meaningless, symbolic position on the next coaching staff, like first base coach. Sandberg gets his ego fed, the fans get to cheer for him as he walks the field, and I can't imagine it being a huge sticking point for some potential manager (assuming managers make much difference), unless it's some Piniella type of huge ego manager who takes himself too seriously.
  2. Elrhino
    Yeah, there is quite a bit of grumbling in Boston about the Red Sox, and that grumbling will turn into full fledged anger if they choke away a spot at the playoffs. I have family in the Boston area who are Red Sox diehards. Lots of resentment about the Crawford and Lackey contracts. I don't think they're going to fire him, but he certainly doesn't carry the same admiration in Boston as he used to. Like I've said, that's the one thing that separates the Cubs from other big market/big money organizations ... low expectations and an extremely tolerant fan base.
  3. Elrhino
    Keeping Fleita makes me think the Cubs are going to get some CEO financial overseer type of general manager and surround him with the existing baseball people (Fleita, Wilkin), and they're definitely targeting someone who wants the job bad enough that they won't take hardline 'my way or the highway' stances. I'm thinking Rick Hahn is probably the favorite.
  4. Elrhino
    Plus very low pressure/expectations by "historic sports franchise with faithful fanbase in a major metropolitan city" standards. You get a clean slate to build a franchise with an inordinate amount of tools/resources/money to work with a fanbase that isn't going to run you out of town if you're not contending for a World Series by Year 2.
  5. Elrhino
    Yeah, Dogfish should be the mass consumed beer at Cubs games. That and Rogue Dead Guy Ale. I shudder to think what stadium prices would be for that.
  6. Elrhino
    On first reaction, I was rather bleh about Cashman, but admittedly didn't know much detail about his background. I dug up this article from 2004 New York Magazine about him, and have a better opinion of him. Perhaps, at least for me, he might have been undervalued because he works for the Yankees and doesn't lend itself to feel good Cinderella rags-to-riches Hollywood narratives like Moneyball and The Extra 2%. http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/sports/features/9611/ Friedman is still my first choice. My only question is Ricketts has stated he wants someone proven in a winning front office, while someone who is also on the cutting edge of statistical and player development methods. If candidates start dropping out and that becomes a mutually exclusive choice, which is Ricketts going with ... the retread or the up and comer?
  7. Elrhino
    Please, there is probably a laundry list of issues behind the scenes a mile long that are well known in baseball circles, which was why no GM was touching Zambrano with a 50 foot pole at the trade deadline no matter how much Hendry indicated his willingness to eat remaining money. Hendry isn't destroying his value, and no one is going to rob him of Zambrano because they know he's desperate to sell. No.One.Wants.Him. He's long passed the point of critical mass where the nutjobbery and contract outweighs his effectiveness as a pitcher. He's gone off into Carl Everett/Albert Haynesworth territory. He's a lost cause and a sunken cost, at this point. Finding some way to get his money back is the best case scenario for the Cubs.
  8. Elrhino
    so traditionally everyone has just accepted that there are lower standards of conduct for him, but his problem now is that he's no longer playing well enough to get away with that, and he probably knows it, and maybe that's the source of the retirement threats. personally i was more annoyed by the marmol thing though. i don't mind dramatic outbursts as long as no one else is dragged into it. Aramis Ramirez is a racist and using latent latino stereotypes.
  9. Elrhino
    The Phillies/Gillick/Amaro won a World Series with a modest payroll. The payroll ballooned once they had to retain and keep all those players that won the World Series. Frankly, they deserved it. If any GM/front office is an automatic idiot based off of one bad contract, we'll have to include Beane in that group for the Chavez contract.
  10. Elrhino
    There was nothing wrong with the Howard contract they originally signed in 09, given his age and previous production at the time. It was the needless extension 1 year later with the outrageous payraise that made it bad. Phillies seem to have survived, though. FWIW, while Gillick was with the Phillies he was on a fairly tight leash from Philly ownership as far as spending money goes (to the point that he was nicknamed "Stand" Pat Gillick). Most of his moves were of the bargain basement variety (most notably signing Werth coming off of injury for $850k). It wasn't until they won the WS in 08 and started filling up the new stadium that they were allowed to spend money.
  11. Elrhino
    I imagine his role would be similar to that of Bill Parcells when he was with the Dolphins. Basically he hires the next GM and helps remodel the infrastructure from his experience in an "executive consultant" role. He may not necessarily make all the decisions such as hiring the head coach or pulling the trigger on major trades, but he's definitely involved and eventually signs off on it. Seems to be a popular gig among old guys who can't give up the sport, but don't have the stamina to put 70+ hour weeks into the job anymore. White would be an intriguing possibility. You would have to think he would be a candidate given his ties with Gillick and that he interviewed with the Mets last year .
  12. Elrhino
    I hardly see how trading 1.5 years of Marlon Byrd for a 25 year old major league ready (albeit unproven) player is tantamount to plunging the payroll down to <$50 million and resigning ourselves to decades of door mat baseball. It's simply a non contending team trading off an immediate asset for a potential long term asset. Yes, there is danger in becoming the Royals. There is also danger in becoming the Minaya Mets, spending payroll just to spend payroll and signing boatloads of bad contracts convincing yourself your bad and deeply flawed team is just one big spending binge away from contending, and hamstringing yourself for years in the process. In general, I would prefer the Cubs to take the longview.
  13. Elrhino
    And 10-12 other teams suck again in 2011 after they sucked the year before, including the Cubs. Just because something has been done before doesn't make it a likely scenario, nor should the Cubs front office make decisions under a polyanna-ish assumption that they're going to be the exception from the norm.
  14. Elrhino
    They've been playing Davis at leftfield looking for a spot to play him since he's just murdering AAA ball (OPSing around 1.200) , and he was on the verge of a call up before a groin strain grounded him. Personally, I think he's a good enough athlete to pull the conversion. I know the Rangers organization still has a lot of respect for Byrd, and they likely would not have let him leave if not for their ownership mess at the time. They also need/want a centerfielder since it looks like they've basically given up on Bourbon and they want to limit Hamilton's exposure to CF. I would be pretty open to a Byrd for Davis swap if Byrd can come back and look healthy before the deadline. Byrd is reasonably priced through next year, but no way the Cubs are contending in 2012 even with a Pujols or Fielder. Meanwhile, a path is cleared for a Brett Jackson September call up and a starting CF spot in 2012.
  15. Elrhino
    I can't imagine a manager quitting on his team in midseason because he's unhappy with his contract will sit well in front office circles. Not a great message for the manager to send to the players, considering at any time at least half the lockerroom is disgruntled about their contract. I don't think he'll ever get another manager job again after this stunt.
  16. Elrhino
    Zambrano's a mediocre starter only if his numbers right now are indicative of how he'll end up at the end of the season and going forward. Considering the 1.45 WHIP last year and the declining velocity that would be indicative of a 30 year old who's thrown a ton of innings over the years, that's hardly going out on a limb. According to fangraphs, his velocity has dropped from an average of 92 mph in 2009 to 89.8 mph this year. I don't anticipate any reason why that decline would change, and I don't anticipate Zambrano easily transforming into some Jamie Moyer crafty junkball type as the velocity continues to decline, considering he's always been a high BB/9 guy who's been prone to giving up the big inning when he gets batted around a little bit. As emotionally subjective as the hatred of Zambrano is by a segment of Cubs fandom , there's an equally emotional response of internet white knights who feel the need to ride to his rescue and battle them. It's two sides of the same irrational coin. Would a 1.45 WHIP be easily replaced? Maybe, maybe not. Could it be replaced cheaper than $18 million a season for the next two years, especially if the arm strength continues to decline? Yes. And to get prospects out of it would be icing on the cake.
  17. Elrhino
    I hope the front office is more concerned about getting $18 million a year for a mediocre starter with a ton of innings on his arm off the books than proving a point to hypothetical average Cubs fan. Pretty sure if Z were to hit the market this offseason, he's not approaching $18 million a year.
  18. Elrhino
    I imagine there are other considerations for Wood as as well, for instance what his Chicago native wife wants for their family, who was reportedly a big factor in his decision to come back to Chicago for below market value. I'm sure every player wants a ring, but I think there is probably a wide range of sentiment among players how meaningful a Championship means when you're nothing but a disposable, mercenary, rent-a-player for a few months.
  19. Elrhino
    ..and then suffered a groin injury.
  20. Elrhino
    Maybe he took steroids to cope with the loss of his mother. We all need seek strength in times of grief. Some take it farther than others.
  21. Elrhino
    You mean it's not natural for a 38 year old to be blasting 450 foot bombs to straight away center in a National League Divisional Series? Not that I'm bitter or anything.
  22. Elrhino
    Should've kept him in the bullpen *ducks*
  23. Elrhino
    I've been down in Arizona for the last week, and Chris Davis is just obliterating the baseball at the moment. What's more, he's been playing a pretty decent 3rd base to go along with a very stellar glove at 1st. I don't see how they can send him back to the minors, but they definitely have a log jam between Young, Davis, Mitch Moreland and Mike Napoli all vying for at bats at 1B and DH. Oh, and their pitching looks absolutely horrendous, and they could desperately use an end of the rotation innings eater. It would seem there should be some kind of swap that makes sense for both clubs, I just can't pinpoint what exactly it is.
  24. Elrhino
    Michael Young's hubris meter is off the charts if he thinks he can demand a trade and that teams are so falling over themselves to pick up his horrendous contract, his horrendous defense and his horrendous away splits that he can selectively choose when new team he wants to play for. The only way I do the trade is a straight up swap for Soriano.
  25. Elrhino
    Not to mention his "retire or not retire" theatrics every offseason for about 3 years running that Favre gets ripped for.
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