Backtobanks

This same guy wrote this article previously... http://sports.yahoo.com/news/three-pitchers-chicago-cubs-acquire-david-price-isnt-162800724--mlb.html For those who don't feel like reading more from this guy, he lists Tanaka as the #1 priority for the pitching staff this offseason. He really goes out on a limb by suggesting that. LOL

None of these guys received a 2 yr deal with a players option for a third on a team that the FO thinks will compete. There is a difference between how the current regime sees these guys and how Hendry saw the long list of players he was suckered in by. All of this is ancient history and comparing apples to oranges. Hendry was told to buy players to try to produce a winning team and given a large budget to do it. Theo has decided to dumpster dive for a few years and hope that the accumulated prospects eventually build a winning team. Two completely different approaches affected by two different ownership groups.

Kapler is going to be an awesome coach one day. I'm disappointed he was never considered for the Cubs job. considering our current coach attends press conferences in a wheel chair or whatever, i'd say there's still a chance And that's before dealing with our roster. :lol:

I've never understood this line of thinking. Suzuki isn't even a natural born Japanese player, he's from Hawaii. Who knows if he even speaks the language. Put yourself in Tanaka's shoes. Does one Japanese team having a random guy with American background really factor in to whether or not you'd sign with that team? I figured he was talking about Ichiro...not that a lot of other things aren't still wrong with that. Makes more sense at least. Even so, I don't believe it's at all a factor. If having a Japanese speaking teammate is a big factor then Theo I'm available for one hell of a lot cheaper than you can land Ichiro. Hope Theo is reading this. http://www.rosettastone.com/lp/sbs/?rsi=redcmbgd&cid=se-bing-redcmbgd

I think the Cubs would have to do a lot more than that to show him that they're ready to compete, but it sure wouldn't hurt. He's no dummy. He and his agent know that the Cubs are well guided and on the rise. Who knows whether that will matter. I'm sure the Cubs will make him feel wanted. I hope they have the money and the willingness to spend it. At this point, no one here knows what the deciding factor will be. Nobody knows what the deciding factor will be, but $$$$$$$$ would be a good guess. I think the whole reason this conversation is being had is because of the reports that the Cubs won't be out-bid but still could have a hard time convincing him to come here. I'm not so sure the Cubs won't be outbid as long as two of the interested teams are the Yankees and Dodgers. It certainly would help our chances if they were worried about the luxury tax, but I don't think that's going to stop them.

I think the Cubs would have to do a lot more than that to show him that they're ready to compete, but it sure wouldn't hurt. He's no dummy. He and his agent know that the Cubs are well guided and on the rise. Who knows whether that will matter. I'm sure the Cubs will make him feel wanted. I hope they have the money and the willingness to spend it. At this point, no one here knows what the deciding factor will be. Nobody knows what the deciding factor will be, but $$$$$$$$ would be a good guess.

I remember the promise of building on "dual fronts".

laying in the weeds* Maybe SSR really did mean "lying".

Yeah, that "chasing big money guys and paying a premium for past performance" issue never came up when they won 2 WS with one of the highest payrolls in baseball.

Ding! Ding! We have a winner.

The bullpen is looking good now, but the question is how many of them will still be here after the trade deadline.

That's true. I've always been impressed with the guys that could sustain it over 15-20 years, but it's fun to watch a really dominant player during his peak years.

Honestly? I'd rather just keep Barney. There's got to be a limit to how many of these AAA fringey pitchers we can make adequate use of. Given the choice, Ramirez seems like he has a bit more upside. How about expanding the deal to get Gardner: Russell + Barney + ???? for Gardner + ????

Tanaka would be the guy to spend some money on this offseason, but those numbers sure make you wonder about Ricketts' credibility.

As others have said, we're in a perfect spot to let him play, get ABs, and see what he can do. It's not like we're going to be in the middle of a pennant run.

No, they don't. They've got Alberto Cabrera's little brother, but he's a 3rd piece and they've got Christian Bethancourt, a C with a fair amount of hype, but he's never hit. Excellent defensively, he'll have a ML career, but he's probably a .650 OPS type, if he's a starter. Without Sims, who's in A ball, they're just not any sort of fit. Not a great one EVEN with Sims, but you could piece together a deal. From MLBTR: O'Brien also runs down the Braves needs on the heels of a quiet Winter Meetings, noting that they're optimistic about re-signing Eric O'Flaherty. Atlanta is still pursuing a veteran bench bat -- O'Brien mentions Eric Chavez -- and are still interested in Jeff Samardzija. The Braves may be considered the favorites to land Samardzija at this point, says O'Brien, noting that payroll constraints will likely preclude them from pursuing David Price.

I don't think it is at all realistic to suggest somebody withhold their opinion about these rumors and just stick to discussing the "facts" of the rumors themselves. The fact is the Cubs are doing a horrible job fielding a competitive major league baseball team and have been doing so for many years. That fact will hang over any move they make, or any move they are rumored to be considering. Opinions about rumors and comments about other posts are basically what makes these discussions go on for so many pages. Some opinions seem to be valued more than other opinions.

From MLBTR: The Indians are said to be open to listening to offers on Justin Masterson, and the Yankees have emerged as a possible suitor, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Nightengale reports that the Yankees would be interested in acquiring Masterson in a deal involving Brett Gardner. A third team would likely be required, since the Indians don't have a need Gardner Maybe the Cubs could get involved.

Breaking News - The Cubs are the frontrunner for a former ML pitcher with a history of injuries. Stay tuned for future updates. LOL

As much as I would do that trade, the Yankees already have an all-glove, no-bat infielder in Brendan Ryan. I don't think they would take essentially the same player and a swingman for their second most valuable player last season. I saw some quote from a scout on MLBTR saying that he thought the best the Yankees could do was a BOR guy for Gardner. I like Gardner, but he's not the second coming of DiMaggio. He's a decent hitter, versatile, and cheap for the next year. As for "their second most valuable player last season", that's not saying a lot with the injuries, suspensions, etc. that happened to the Yankees.

Well they need a 3B assuming ARod isn't playing and they need pitching. A friend told me he saw someone floating a Gardner and prospects for Samardzija but I'm sure there's no truth to that and as much as I like Gardner, the Yankees' pitching prospects aren't interesting enough that I would do that trade. Villanueva + Valbuena for Gardner + pitching prospect? I really can't fathom why the Cubs would go after Gardner (and this is coming from somebody who really likes Gardner.) Grab him in free agency after this season. Don't give up prospects or valuable pieces like Valbuena for him when we aren't going to compete this year anyways. At some point you need to start filling holes with players that could be around for a few years. What if someone gets him before we do (in a trade plus extension)? As for the "we aren't going to compete this year anyways" argument, we might be using that more times than we want if we don't start filling holes. Better yet, certainly would rather give up Barney than Valbuena.

Well they need a 3B assuming ARod isn't playing and they need pitching. A friend told me he saw someone floating a Gardner and prospects for Samardzija but I'm sure there's no truth to that and as much as I like Gardner, the Yankees' pitching prospects aren't interesting enough that I would do that trade. Villanueva + Valbuena for Gardner + pitching prospect?

We can judge what they've done at the ML level "so far" and it's been embarrassing. I think a lot of posters (including me) are willing to wait for our prospects, assuming the timeline is reasonable. Unfortunately, the 2014 Cubs look like they will again be awful. Much of this discussion was based on the hypothetical situation of the Cubs "not turning the corner" by the end of Theo's contract. I stand by my statement that if the Cubs aren't a serious contender by the end of Theo's contract, then Theo and his plan failed. If that happens we shouldn't overlook 5 years of frustration because of a million excuses and his IQ. Hopefully all of this is moot and the prospects will be everything we hoped for so that we can win a WS in the near future.

If the Cubs don't make an on-field turnaround while Theo is here, why would you be upset that he leaves? If we're still floundering after 5 years, he failed and it's time to let someone else try to fix it. Please go away. Well it's true. If they have 5 years of not contending, that's not doing his job. If somehow that scenario were to play out, my belief that Theo is one of the smartest and most capable people at doing what he does would incline me to believe that whatever it was, it probably wasn't his fault. It's either the money continued to dry up further and the revenue increasing stuff was a colossal failure, horrific injury luck, or some other crazy thing. In other words, like Brandon said, basically my position is if Theo can't do it, who the hell can? Theo might not be as superior to the replacement level GM as he used to be, but I don't think you can do much better. So you're saying that just because Theo is smart, he can't fail. The idol worshipping of Theo by some of you borders on insanity. This is the first time Theo took a bad team (and system), tore it apart, and is trying to rebuild it from scratch. The Red Sox were a solid team (89 win average) when Theo took over and he made it an excellent team (93 win average). He is very smart and very capable, but he is human and humans are capable of failure.

If the Cubs don't make an on-field turnaround while Theo is here, why would you be upset that he leaves? If we're still floundering after 5 years, he failed and it's time to let someone else try to fix it.