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Ramirez thought he could do better than 1 year and 16 million in free agency. He got 2/20 with an option for 3/32, so I guess he was right? the mutual option is for a 4th year. he got 3 for 32 with a mutual option for a 4th year that doesn't appear to be disclosed, but if it's declined by the team he gets an additional $4M It's probably incentive driven, like a certain number of games played in the last two years of the deal. It doesn't appear to be a vesting option. It's a mutual option. It's just that the amount of that option hasn't been disclosed (but it probably has to be at least 10 million and probably closer to 12).

To be fair, I'm not sure the Cubs wanted him to pick up his option. They could have easily just been capitalizing on the fact that they knew he wanted a multi-year deal. By making Aramis decline both his option and arbitration, they saved 2 million and picked up a draft pick.

Probably not, in part because our douchebag color commentator was allowed to launch on him constantly and no one from the front office bothered to call him out on it. and also in part because the first thing our new gm did was pass on his option and, at least to all outward appearances, make no effort whatsoever to even talk to him about coming back. it's certainly possible that we considered bringing aramis back and it never leaked and his agent was too lazy to mention it an effort to up his value, but it looks more like we weren't interested in aramis at any price. and at this price, i think that was a mistake. if hendry were here, we'd all be talking about how he was infatuated with stewart and stupidly wanted to trust his scouts and find a diamond in the rough instead of just spending a very reasonable sum of money on a player who has actually had good and great seasons. but i suppose such apocrypha are only to used to describe the inner workings of front offices we don't have cute nicknames for. The first thing the Cubs did was pick up his option. Aramis was the one who declined his half.

Holy [expletive]... I don't know how I've never thought about this more, but I haven't. Would a team with more lefty bats (assuming things being equal in terms of productivity) have a significant advantage in the long haul because of this? I'm not sure how many LH are in the average lineup and how many more you'd need for this to actually have a measurable effect, but I'm just shocked it had never occurred to me before. Teams usually put their best OF arm in right field though so while having a LH hitter up will help a runner go 1st to 3rd it could hurt him going 2nd to home. Without going through everyone's roster, I feel like team's have gone away from that methodology(as well they should have IMO) instead positioning their OF based on range. The average major league team LF recorded 312 putouts and had 10 assists. The average major league team RF recorded 323 putouts and had 11 assists. So they're close to the same, but I'm guessing it's even farther apart if you just look at assists at home plate. Of course there are other things to consider that might tip it closer to even (the runner might hesitate with a ball hit to the left side and less than 2 outs but not one to the right side).

Holy [expletive]... I don't know how I've never thought about this more, but I haven't. Would a team with more lefty bats (assuming things being equal in terms of productivity) have a significant advantage in the long haul because of this? I'm not sure how many LH are in the average lineup and how many more you'd need for this to actually have a measurable effect, but I'm just shocked it had never occurred to me before. Teams usually put their best OF arm in right field though so while having a LH hitter up will help a runner go 1st to 3rd it could hurt him going 2nd to home.

http://www.hoopsworld.com/indiana-pacers-trade-oj-mayo/ This deal died. Yup. The Pacers are continuing to chase Jamal Crawford. I don't think they necessarily need another shooting guard, but it doesn't sound like he'll cost that much if he comes either.

I had that thought, but it's not like they're cratering his value with bizarre outliers. BIS, Total Zone, UZR, DRS, the Fan's scouting report, and everything I've ever heard about Prince as a defender all agree, he's a poor defender in the neighborhood of -7 runs. Nobody's disagreeing that Fielder is a below average defender, it's the matter of quantifying that I still consider suspect. And what I'm saying is that not only do all the quantitative measures agree to an almost uncanny degree, but even without their presence our best estimate of his defensive value doesn't really move the needle on his value at all. The Fan's Scouting report rated him a 19 out of 100, when the vast majority of 1B rate between 30 and 60. I have a hard time believing he's any better than a -5 defender; there's just no evidence, objective or subjective, to suggest that WAR is overstating his defensive shortcomings. I'm saying I have a hard time quantifying any 1B on a runs or wins level when it comes to defense. It's such an unimportant defensive position, that I really have a hard time caring. What makes 1st base an unimportant defensive position? I would be wary of equating easy for most people to play adequately with unimportant.

Definitely. 1st baseman are easily the hardest for defensive metrics to do, and metrics aren't that great yet for any position. But does anyone through scouting think that Fielder is even an average 1st baseman defensively? We can quibble over how bad but he is definitely below average. And the baserunning stats were presented here and they jive with what his body type would indicate-Fielder is an awful baserunner.

Nobody here wants that, as best I can tell. It's a figment of your imagination that you keep perpetrating as fact. It's the reality of the situation that the Cubs are in right now. At some point they have to take the plunge and bolster the team through significant FA signings because their farm system ain't producing enough talent right now to either make their team or make enough impact trades to fix things. The problem is also that the forecast of significant offensive FA being available is pretty barren for a while once Fielder is signed. I agree completely with the first two sentences. Where we differ is, the fact that the forecast of significant offensive FA being available is pretty barren for a while doesn't convince me that signing Fielder to a contract I think will be a mistake, and will hurt the team in the long run, is a wise choice. That's the thing though. The Cubs are a large market team with a large payroll and some big contracts coming off the books. They can afford a less than ideal contract here and there without terribly hamstringing themselves like a lot of other teams would. That's why I'm okay with overpaying for him by a not outlandish margin. I think those are the big two questions. 1) Is 6/150 an outlandish margin? What would you need to expect in production to sign him to that deal? 120 million? 110 million? 100 million? 2) As you said, the Cubs can afford to overpay a player or two per year without really hurting the budget. Do the Cubs value Fielder enough to be one of those players? Both of those are on a continuum. It's hard to pin down Fielder's production level because it's bounced around so much and because of his body type as he ages. It's hard to know if the Cubs should commit to Fielder without knowing what the plan for the rest of the roster is. I think both sides mostly agree that contract is overpaying for Fielder. The question is how much is it worth it to overpay anybody and how much is worth it to overpay because of the Cubs particular situation. And that makes it a very close call.

The teams under the cap all put in secret bids. Whoever has the highest bid, that team gets the player and pays that portion of the player's contract. If no team bids, then that player becomes a free agent and is free to sign with anyone. So the only way that Billups can go to Orlando is if NJ and all the other teams under the cap aren't even willing to bid vet minimum. But Billups has already threatened all the teams under the cap that he'll make their life miserable if they try to put a bid on him.

That's pretty much on line with what Aramis is scheduled to be worth. The Cubs do get a pick out of the deal. It's a close call on whether the Cubs should have considered a deal like that or not. It makes Aramis look very uncertain about his future as well if he opted out of a 1/16 deal just to take 3/36. Either that or he misjudged his market.

Kind of looks like the coaches poll. Wisconsin 15, Michigan 18, Illinois 19, Indiana 20, Michigan State 23. The AP poll has Wisconsin 14, Indiana 18, Illinois 19, Michigan 20, Michigan State 21.

It doesn't sound like the Mayo trade is done yet. But if it gets done, that will make Indiana just a little bit deeper. Bird has wanted the best bench in the league and with Mayo he'll be pretty close to have gotten just that. That will work well with the compressed schedule during the regular season, but it's not a model that has worked all that well in the playoffs.

Vogelbach was signed and got 27 at-bats at rookie league this year.

The general flow of free agents is away from smaller teams and toward bigger teams, making the net effect bigger on smaller teams. Additionally, there aren't a lot of ways for a smaller market team to win. Bigger teams have all sorts of flexibility. Smaller teams, who actually try, would be more dependant on that flow back of comp picks. 2010 Supplemental picks Kaleb Cowart (Angels-1) - Pick from Mariners as compensation for Free Agent Chone Figgins Michael Foltynewicz (Astros-1) - Pick from Tigers as compensation for Free Agent Jose Valverde Kolbrin Vitek (Red Sox-1) - Pick from Braves as compensation for Free Agent Billy Wagner Cameron Bedrosian (Angels-1) - Pick from Red Sox as compensation for Free Agent John Lackey Michael Kvasnicka (Astros-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Jose Valverde Aaron Sanchez (Blue Jays-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Marco Scutaro Matt Lipka (Braves-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Mike Gonzalez Bryce Brentz (Red Sox-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Billy Wagner Taylor Lindsey (Angels-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Chone Figgins Anthony Ranaudo (Red Sox-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Jason Bay Ryan Bolden (Angels-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent John Lackey Asher Wojciechowski (Blue Jays-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Rod Barajas Drew Vettleson (Rays-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Gregg Zaun Taijuan Walker (Mariners-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Adrian Beltre Nick Castellanos (Tigers-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Brandon Lyon Luke Jackson (Rangers-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Ivan Rodriguez Seth Blair (Cardinals-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Mark DeRosa Peter Tago (Rockies-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Jason Marquis Chance Ruffin (Tigers-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Fernando Rodney Michael Olt (Rangers-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Marlon Byrd Tyrell Jenkins (Cardinals-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Joel Pineiro Todd Cunningham (Braves-2) - Pick from Orioles as compensation for Free Agent Mike Gonzalez Brandon Workman (Red Sox-2) - Pick from Mets as compensation for Free Agent Jason Bay Justin Nicolino (Blue Jays-2) - Pick from Red Sox as compensation for Free Agent Marco Scutaro 2009 A.J. Pollock (Diamondbacks-1) - Pick from Dodgers as compensation for Free Agent Orlando Hudson Randal Grichuk (Angels-1) - Pick from Mets as compensation for Free Agent Francisco Rodriguez Mike Trout (Angels-1) - Pick from Yankees as compensation for Free Agent Mark Teixeira Nick Franklin (Mariners-1) - Pick from Phillies as compensation for Free Agent Raul Ibanez Tim Wheeler (Rockies-1) - Pick from Angels as compensation for Free Agent Brian Fuentes Steven Baron (Mariners-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Raul Ibanez Rex Brothers (Rockies-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Brian Fuentes Matthew Davidson (Diamondbacks-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Orlando Hudson Aaron Miller (Dodgers-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Derek Lowe James Paxton (Blue Jays-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent A.J. Burnett Josh Phegley (White Sox-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Orlando Cabrera Kentrail Davis (Brewers-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent CC Sabathia Tyler Skaggs (Angels-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Mark Teixeira Chris Owings (Diamondbacks-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Juan Cruz Garrett Richards (Angels-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Francisco Rodriguez Bradley Boxberger (Reds-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Jeremy Affeldt Tanner Scheppers (Rangers-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Milton Bradley Michael Belfiore (Diamondbacks-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Brandon Lyon Matthew Bashore (Twins-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Dennys Reyes Kyle Heckathorn (Brewers-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Brian Shouse Tyler Kehrer (Angels-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Jon Garland Blake Smith (Dodgers-2) - Pick from Braves as compensation for Free Agent Derek Lowe Eric Smith (Diamondbacks-2) - Pick from Royals as compensation for Free Agent Juan Cruz Trayce Thompson (White Sox-2) - Pick from Athletics as compensation for Free Agent Orlando Cabrera Max Walla (Brewers-2) - Pick from NYA as compensation for Free Agent CC Sabathia Robbie Shields (Mets-3) - Pick from NYA as compensation for Free Agent A.J. Burnett Jake Marisnick (Blue Jays-3) - Pick from NYA as compensation for Free Agent A.J. Burnett 2008 Ike Davis (Mets-1) - Pick from Braves as compensation for Free Agent Tom Glavine Carlos Gutierrez (Twins-1) - Pick from Angels as compensation for Free Agent Torii Hunter Shooter Hunt (Twins-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Torii Hunter Jake Odorizzi (Brewers-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Francisco Cordero Zach Collier (Phillies-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Aaron Rowand Evan Frederickson (Brewers-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Scott Linebrink Conor Gillaspie (Giants-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Pedro Feliz Jordan Lyles (Astros-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Trever Miller Lance Lynn (Cardinals-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Troy Percival Brett DeVall (Braves-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Ron Mahay Ryan Flaherty (Cubs-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Jason Kendall Wade Miley (Diamondbacks-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Livan Hernandez Jeremy Bleich (Yankees-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Luis Vizcaino Bryan Price (Red Sox-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Eric Gagne Logan Forsythe (Padres-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Doug Brocail Anthony Gose (Phillies-2) - Pick from Giants as compensation for Free Agent Aaron Rowand 2007 Kevin Ahrens (Blue Jays-1) - Pick from Rangers as compensation for Free Agent Frank Catalanotto Blake Beavan (Rangers-1) - Pick from Astros as compensation for Free Agent Carlos Lee Chris Withrow (Dodgers-1) - Pick from Red Sox as compensation for Free Agent Julio Lugo Tim Alderson (Giants-1) - Pick from Dodgers as compensation for Free Agent Jason Schmidt Michael Main (Rangers-1) - Pick from Angels as compensation for Free Agent Gary Matthews Wendell Fairley (Giants-1) - Pick from Mets as compensation for Free Agent Moises Alou Josh Smoker (Nationals-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Alfonso Soriano Nick Noonan (Giants-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Moises Alou Jon Gilmore (Braves-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Danys Baez Todd Frazier (Reds-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Rich Aurilia Julio Borbon (Rangers-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Carlos Lee Clayton Mortensen (Cardinals-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Jeff Suppan Travis d'Arnaud (Phillies-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent David Dellucci Brett Cecil (Blue Jays-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Justin Speier James Adkins (Dodgers-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Julio Lugo Kellen Kulbacki (Padres-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Woody Williams Sean Doolittle (Athletics-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Barry Zito Eddie Kunz (Mets-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Roberto Hernandez Jackson Williams (Giants-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Jason Schmidt Neil Ramirez (Rangers-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Gary Matthews Justin Jackson (Blue Jays-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Frank Catalanotto Drew Cumberland (Padres-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Dave Roberts Nathan Vineyard (Mets-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Chad Bradford Josh Donaldson (Cubs-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Juan Pierre Michael Burgess (Nationals-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Jose Guillen Wes Roemer (Diamondbacks-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Craig Counsell Charlie Culberson (Giants-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Mike Stanton Matt Mangini (Mariners-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Gil Meche Kyle Lotzkar (Reds-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Scott Schoeneweis Tommy Hunter (Rangers-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Mark DeRosa Nick Hagadone (Red Sox-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Alex Gonzalez Trystan Magnuson (Blue Jays-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Ted Lilly Mitch Canham (Padres-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Chan Ho Park Jon Bachanov (Angels-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Adam Kennedy Corey Brown (Athletics-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Frank Thomas Brandon Hamilton (Tigers-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Jamie Walker Ed Easley (Diamondbacks-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Miguel Batista Ryan Dent (Red Sox-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Keith Foulke Cory Luebke (Padres-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Alan Embree Danny Payne (Padres-1s) - Supplemental Pick for loss of Free Agent Ryan Klesko Jordan Zimmermann (Nationals-2) - Pick from Cubs as compensation for Free Agent Alfonso Soriano Josh Fields (Braves-2) - Pick from Orioles as compensation for Free Agent Danys Baez David Kopp (Cardinals-2) - Pick from Brewers as compensation for Free Agent Jeff Suppan Grant Desme (Athletics-2) - Pick from Giants as compensation for Free Agent Barry Zito Scott Moviel (Mets-2) - Pick from Indians as compensation for Free Agent Roberto Hernandez Eric Sogard (Padres-2) - Pick from Astros as compensation for Free Agent Woody Williams Eric Eiland (Blue Jays-2) - Pick from Angels as compensation for Free Agent Justin Speier Eric Niesen (Mets-3) - Pick from Orioles as compensation for Free Agent Chad Bradford Scott Carroll (Reds-3) - Pick from Giants as compensation for Free Agent Rich Aurilia Brandon Workman (Phillies-3) - Pick from Indians as compensation for Free Agent David Dellucci I have nothing but crazed laughter at the fact that the Cubs two entries on the list are for Pierre and Kendall. I mean, I don't even know if that's a good or bad thing. At least we didn't resign them? Pierre and Kendall were gimmes as well. They were both already signed to contracts by the arbitration deadline so there was no risk in offering them arbitration.

Unfortunately, he might be the best option. It's really either him or Watford. Hulls is best as a decoy that the other team can't leave, Zeller needs to be on the floor and involved with the play but not someone you just want to give the ball to, and Jones isn't consistent enough to give the ball to in that situation. Oladipo can drive and either get fouled or pass it off to Zeller or Watford inside. That will be a problem for IU this year-their offense is so balanced, but they don't have a guy who can create mismatches down the stretch.

They stormed after beating us last year when we were like 24th in the country. Yeah, props to IU beating #1 but when is the last time Kansas, Duke, UNC, Duke, etc stormed the court? I'd be interested to see the examples they didn't after beating their rival at home who was #1 on a last second three. That perfect scenario of events doesn't happen very often. Strangely, it's the second time it's happened to IU in 11 years.

Yeah, like I said earlier on the page Zeller doesn't have that great of a post game yet. He makes good moves, but his 10 foot turnaround shot out of the post hasn't gone in very much at all so far this year. But he's one of the 3 best scorers for Indiana, he's one of their 3 best passers, he's one of their 3 best rebounders, and he's averaging 2.5 steals a game. He does a little bit of everything for this squad and is way ahead of where I expected him to be as a freshman. Watford hitting 3's is huge for Indiana because he can get that shot almost anytime and he's pretty streaky with them. The shots for Hulls have been so open for the most part that a shooter like him is going to make those almost all the time.

I'd have a hard time putting anyone as better (certainly no one is more important to Indiana). But it's a pretty close competition between Zeller, Hulls, and Watford with Oladipo and Sheehey right behind them.

Honestly the way IU has played we should be down by 20 but somehow it is a game. lol. Definitely some ugly out there. Both teams have been pretty out of control so far. There were some rumors that Elston was hurt this morning. It was supposedly debunked, but he wasn't seen in the 1st half. Hopefully he's ok because that would be a big loss with how he's been playing so far this year. BTW, Zeller hasn't shown a great post game so far this year. He needs to be a focal point of the offense, but if IU just fed it into him in the post like the announcers are advocating they might be in some trouble.

And on the roundtable college basketball article this week on ESPN, 3 different people picked IU over Kentucky as their upset. I have been surprised with how close everybody thinks it's going to be. I guess it must be because Kentucky hasn't had a true road game yet and people think the crowd will really shake them. I'm not very up on Kentucky, but isn't the key to beating them forcing them to shoot from outside and making your own outside shots? Indiana's more of a drive and score type of team and I don't know if that will work against Kentucky's shotblockers, and on defense Indiana doesn't have the big men to really guard Kentucky or much experience playing zone. Indiana will force a decent amount of turnovers though as they get lots of deflections.

I disagree, I think Barney makes a fantastic backup SS. Yeah, I'm thrilled with the arrangement of having Barney being the backup SS. With only 5 bench spots and no real way to get around having a backup C, any way to increase the flexibility of who you can carry on a bench is good with me. With Barney starting at 2B and Baker and Dewitt as backups off the bench, that means the Cubs just have to carry 1 player who can cover CF and then they have options with their last bench player.

Numbers: http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/profile.asp?P=Jeff-Bianchi A LeMahieu by any other name. Looks like 2011 was his return from TJS, so apparently the Cubs are taking a flier to see if he can return to his pre TJS numbers. On first glance, can't see his future as much more than a backup middle infielder though.

110-120 million would be my guess. The Cubs will still sign some pitching, and of course how big the contract is for whoever plays 1B will help dictate that. But I do think the Cubs hope that they find a way to get one of those two.

Signing stud free agents doesn't hurt the long-term. There's an over the top obsession with being financially flexible 7 years from now that makes no sense. I think the current management would disagree with you. If the reports about the Pujols offer were true, they were clearly willing to spend money. They just weren't willing to lose that flexibility when Pujols declines.