Backtobanks

The trade worked out really great for us, but I'm sure that the Padres thought it was a decent deal at the time. They had a decent prospect (Alonso) at 1B, they played in a huge ballpark that hurts power hitters (Rizzo) and rewards pitchers (Cashner), and obviously had no way of knowing that Cashner would be injury prone.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-wrigley-field-pavers-disposed-met-20150519-story.html I'm glad they're going to replace my paver, but I'm upset that it will be moved to a different location. Originally it was right next to Ernie's statue.

Why would anyone trade a 25 year old #1 starter making $512,000 with 3 arbitration years left? It doesn't matter whether you're contending or rebuilding when you have an asset that valuable, you don't trade him unless you're trying to make a deal for someone like Trout. Why? Because such a player would net a huge return and he is still just a young pitcher that could fall apart tomorrow. If you aren't good and you don't have the resources to get better in a hurry, it is at least worth considering. Yeah, there's no doubt they'd consider trading Gray, but it would probably take a lot more than the Cubs are willing to give up. If they could get 3-4 good, cheap, young players for their 1 good, cheap, young player...they do it 100 times out of 100 because they aren't going anywhere. You're going to have to change the word "good" in describing Gray and the players needed to acquire him.

Why would anyone trade a 25 year old #1 starter making $512,000 with 3 arbitration years left? It doesn't matter whether you're contending or rebuilding when you have an asset that valuable, you don't trade him unless you're trying to make a deal for someone like Trout.

You're talking Billy Beane here, not Amaro. This is kind of ironic given Beane's weird ass trades recently and the heist we pulled on him last year compared to Amaro's allegedly huge Hamels demands. So basically I wasn't sure if your post meant that was too much or too little. I think Gray is pretty close to untouchable especially since the A's will be trying to rebuild.

You're talking Billy Beane here, not Amaro.

Here's a better option (from MLBTR): Right-hander David Aardsma has a May 1 opt-out on his Minor League pact with the Dodgers, Jacob Unruh of NewsOK.com reported yesterday. Aardsma can opt out on Friday if another club wants him on its Major League roster, and he has a complete opt-out from the Dodgers on June 15, per Unruh. The 33-year-old veteran didn’t make the club’s bullpen out of Spring Training despite strong numbers, but he’s continued to pitch effectively, yielding one run on five hits with six strikeouts and no walks in seven Triple-A innings. Aardsma hasn’t logged significant big league action since 2013, but he pitched quite well for the Cardinals’ Triple-A affiliate last year (1.48 ERA, 38-to-18 K/BB ratio in 37 innings) before a groin injury sidelined him for the season’s second half. The Dodgers’ bullpen has been surprisingly dominant despite incurring significant injuries, and with Kenley Jansen nearing a return, things will get even more crowded, further blocking Aardsma’s path to L.A. It wouldn’t be a shock for one of the many teams around the league in need of ‘pen help to look at the former Mariners closer as a potential upgrade.

Unless by players, they mean big leaguers, that can't be possible. Can it? 3 way trade? *flashes the Bank2Banks symbol* The only way to get involved in this deal is if we're getting Hamilton for less than $7 million.

The arguments involving Hendry always forget that he was told to do whatever necessary (spend money, trade prospects, etc) to build a winning team at the ML level. When the Cubs failed in 2010-2011, the minor league assets had been used to stock the ML roster. Theo & CO. took over and traded the ML assets that Hendry left to restock the minors. Obviously 2010-2014 has proven that building "dual fronts" is a hard concept regardless of who is in the FO. Hopefully we will see a contending team at the ML level and a solid ml system for the next 5+ years. That just means he was bad at his job, which was to build a winning team. He may have been told everything you say he was, but he also had a responsibility to not completely ignore the minors and player development. He did ignore it and it resulted in complete crap once veterans got old and there was no one to fill the void. He did build some winning teams, but at the expense of the minor league system. The players he left on the ML roster have netted us Rizzo, Hendricks, Grimm, Ramirez, Edwards, Wood, Torreyes, etc. in trades in addition to Castro, Baez, and Alcantara that he drafted. As I said building "dual fronts" is tough (i.e. Epstein/Hoyer completely ignored the ML roster for 3 years to rebuild the farm system).

The arguments involving Hendry always forget that he was told to do whatever necessary (spend money, trade prospects, etc) to build a winning team at the ML level. When the Cubs failed in 2010-2011, the minor league assets had been used to stock the ML roster. Theo & CO. took over and traded the ML assets that Hendry left to restock the minors. Obviously 2010-2014 has proven that building "dual fronts" is a hard concept regardless of who is in the FO. Hopefully we will see a contending team at the ML level and a solid ml system for the next 5+ years.

A lot of you probably live in the city,north side, different state or wherever so most of you can't see for yourself how they are or think " No, way it ain't that bad" and think it's all overblown. Unless you live on the south side, then you really can't grasp it. I live in the southwest suburbs and let me tell you, the hatred & caring more about the Cubs is true. I can't count the many times out at bars around the area where a Cubs game is on and Sox fans paying very close attention to it & when the opposing team scores they erupt in cheers and clap loudly. Couple times wearing my Cubs jersey or shirt minding my own business and hear snarky comments like " This is the Southide!" or some other idiotic comment, or questioned why I'm wearing that out here.This is also isn't just friendly heckling. Been told from a couple Sox fans they are born and raised growing up to "HATE the Cubs". Lots of Sox fans wearing Anti-Cubs shirts and even Sox fan license plates that read "IH8Cubs" or something of the sort. So yes, the rage & hatred they have for the Cubs and their fans is true..It's not an overblown perception whatsoever. They have their inferiority complex and basically live to bash anything Cubs related and you hear it more than talk about their own team. I was born and raised on the South Side and lived in the south and southwest suburbs all of my adult life. The hatred for the Cubs is true, but I don't think it's any worse than the hatred for the Sox on the north side and in the north suburbs. You are right about the inferiority complex, but I think that has to do with the media coverage in the city. Chicago sports attention historically has focused on the Bears first followed by the Cubs, with the other teams (Black Hawks, Bulls, White Sox) following in order according to which team is the hottest. Also, Chicago is passionate about their professional teams, but shows very little interest in college sports.

Well, yeah, our teams share the same city. It's going to be even more heated. I just don't get the perception that it's so lopsided; during my years in Chicago I constantly heard Cubs fans giving that [expletive] as good as they got. The Sox fans aren't any different than any other team's fans. Being a lifelong Cub fan, it's a really great day when the Cubs win and the Sox lose.

The Braves got two very young prospects, a draft pick, and removed about $70 million over the next 3 years. They weren't going anywhere this year anyhow.

From MLBTR: 5:15pm: The Braves will acquire Maybin and Quentin, Rosenthal tweets. The Braves will also acquire pitcher Matt Wisler, as FOX Sports’ Jon Morosi tweets. McDaniel tweets that the Braves will also receive outfield prospect Jordan Paroubeck. Rosenthal tweets that the Braves will also receive the 41st pick in this June’s draft. 5:11pm: The Padres have acquired Craig Kimbrel and Melvin Upton Jr. (formerly known as B.J. Upton) from the Braves, Kiley McDaniel of Fangraphs tweets. 5:09pm: The Padres have completed a trade, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets. It’s not yet clear which players are involved. Bleacher Report’s Scott Miller tweets, however, that the trade could involve Cameron Maybin or fellow outfielder Carlos Quentin, which would make sense given the Padres’ roster construction.

Step right up and mug the Mets! Let's hope PTR hasn't seen the cost cutting report.

Exactly why we shouldn't trade him.

Doing it on the field is different than projections. These players have done it on the field. Not on a ML field.

Doing it on the field is different than projections.

Not only should we wait to see what we have in Baez, but it might be a good idea to make sure Russell is as good as advertised in the ML. He certainly looks like a future ML star, but other top prospects have failed at the ML level.

As great a ballplayer and person as he was, you do have to think he was the perfect person to be taken advantage of in his later life. He was friendly, trusting, not very well-educated, famous, and elderly.

Unfortunately it looks like all of the people in his personal life never understood the goodwill that Ernie espoused all of his life.

This is for "bold" predictions, not tame predictions. :lol:

Yeah the Amaro factor really puts a halt on things. Cameron put a decent article up on Fangraphs today basically saying that the Phillies should be using the money committed to Lee as a way of 'buying' young talent. There's nothing in Amaro's history to show he would be willing to think outside the box like that, or make reasonable valuations on what everything is worth, but if he was willing to pick up a good chunk of that contract for the purpose of acquiring talent, it could be worth a discussion. From MLBTR: Cameron thinks the Phillies should bite the bullet and swallow the entire $25MM owed to Lee this season, leaving an acquiring club to cover the $12.5MM buyout or $27.5MM club option for next season. If the Phillies eat enough money, they should receive at least one notable prospect in exchange for the ace.

That sounds like a great plan. Any three of them are totally replaceable. DO YOU SEE THE INHERENT PROBLEM YOUR STATEMENT CREATES I sure don't see any problem that my statement creates. Re-signing Fowler covers CF for probably 4 years to eliminate Almora and McKinney. We already have an Castro, Baez, Russell, and La Stella to handle SS eliminating Torres. La Stella and Watkins should be able to handle the utility role that Alcantara is expected to fill. Vogelbach is probably destined to be a DH. 4 years of Hamels certainly eases the pain of losing Johnson. Add to that the fact that all of them are prospects which means they might not reach their potential. Meanwhile, adding Hamels gives us one of the top rotations in the ML for the next 3-4 years. The problem is that three easily replaceable players are easily replaceable for a reason, and won't net you Cole Hamels. And Logan Watkins is terrible and can't handle anything. Not to mention he's already out until 2016. Vance is the one who suggested the trade, not me. My comment was that it was a great idea if the Phillies would accept because we weren't giving up anybody that wasn't replaceable. Also, I never said that I thought the Phillies would accept any version of that deal. As for Watkins, it certainly wouldn't be hard to replace his name with any other mediocre utility IF.

That sounds like a great plan. Any three of them are totally replaceable. DO YOU SEE THE INHERENT PROBLEM YOUR STATEMENT CREATES I sure don't see any problem that my statement creates. Re-signing Fowler covers CF for probably 4 years to eliminate Almora and McKinney. We already have an Castro, Baez, Russell, and La Stella to handle SS eliminating Torres. La Stella and Watkins should be able to handle the utility role that Alcantara is expected to fill. Vogelbach is probably destined to be a DH. 4 years of Hamels certainly eases the pain of losing Johnson. Add to that the fact that all of them are prospects which means they might not reach their potential. Meanwhile, adding Hamels gives us one of the top rotations in the ML for the next 3-4 years.