jersey cubs fan

I really don't think many people think he's an upgrade over Barrett, certainly not offensively. And I don't think anybody thinks of him as a savior. Hopefully he and Bowen fill the spot for a few years until Donaldson develops. I can live with slightly below NL average offense out of catcher out of a couple of $350,000 players who are good defensively, as long as the Cubs fix the SS and RF problems. The 8th ranked NL catching team is at .272/.299/.401 The 9th ranked NL catching team is at .254/.301/.392 A Bowen/Soto combo should be able to threaten those levels.

You realize he's a catcher right? If somebody is thinking he'll match his 2007 AAA numbers, they will be sorely mistaken. But that's not the only time he's put up decent minor league numbers. Again, he's a catcher. The major leagues are littered with catchers who can't even sniff Soto's minor league numbers. I don't think anybody is thinking he's a lock for 10 year starter or a good bet for a future all star game. He's a cheap alternative to what they have who actually provides some upside that nobody else on the roster provides. Even if he fails to match his pre 2007 averages, he stands a good chance of providing offense that half the league isn't getting from catcher. 8 teams are getting sub 700 OPS production from the catcher spot. Thanks to the 600 OPS by Koyie Hill and 384 OPS by Henry Blanco, the Cubs are in that group, with a line of just .236/.288/.382. I would say it would actually be very difficult for Soto not to be an improvement over that.

Not being great starters does not mean they have no business being in the majors. That's an incredibly stupid post. Soto had a good 2004 in AA, a good 2006 in AAA and is having a very good 2007 in AAA. Catchers generally take a little longer to develop. It's conceivable Soto could put up numbers between his pre 2007 minor league average .262/.344/.371 and his current numbers .324/.397/.555. If he managed to put up even his pre 2007 minor league average, he'd be doing better than what 11 NL teams are getting from their catcher spot.

Bingo! You're the best caller of the show. End of story, no deal. Not so fast. It really depends on what salaries the Reds are willing to take back, and what the teams decide on the deferred money issue. For example, if Hendry could trade a subset of players, whose 2008 contracts offset Griffey's 2008 salary, I don't think the Trib would stand in his way. but who would we be talking about, then? seems like it would have to be several... His 2008 salary is $12.5m right? $6.5m of that is deferred. So the team that gets him owes him $6m in 2008. Jacque eats up most of that himself. That deferred money, over time, will be next to nothing for them to worry about.

If I needed a 5th OF with a little pop and could convince the Cubs to pay all but the minimum for him, I'd be interested.

I think he's trying harder because he wants to be traded and knows nobody wants him. He's screwed either way. If he gets traded, it's likely going to mean somebody wanted a part time player. If he stays, he gets to hear it from the Chicago fans for 1.5 more seasons, and he probably will still end up a part time player. Let this be a lesson to players of MLB. If you can't take criticism and jeering when you underperform your pay, don't bother asking the Cubs for a contract. Just because the GM is an idiot and thinks you're worth 6M a year doesn't mean the fans will agree. I honestly don't see an ounce of effort out of him. He goes up there looking to make the quickest out possible.

Who wants to bet this is Texas' evil plan to get Lou to keep putting Jacque in the lineup so they can "get a look", only they just want the easy out?

I think that booth will be awful. Greenberg can't do play by play and Golic's analysis is extremely "duh" type stuff.

It's beyond absurd. It's ......... I don't know, what's a word for beyond absurd? I was seriously disgusted with that lineup, so completely impotent. I had to laugh when Len and Randy and Paul talked about the team's willingness to sacrifice offense since they think they have enough. My lord, this is pathetic. A $100 million franchise with holes everywhere and absolutely nothing in the minors that can make it better for another 2-3 years, at least. I don't understand how Len and Paul can justify glorifiying the "amazing" play of the cajun connection. Fontenot has been good, but Theriot has played like the 25th man that he is. I did get the feeling that Len and Bob felt like shredding Jacque when the camera would focus on him after his pathetic at bats, but I guess they decided to be restrained.

I don't normally say stuff like this, but I'm pretty sure Jacque Jones has completely stopped trying.

I would agree. Floyd is not a big-time run producer right now, but he's not a black hole either. Also, trading for a RF means that Murton cannot come back up and contribute later in the season, and I think he can team up with Floyd again to stabilize RF after the break. SS needs to be upgraded-I'm just not sure how many options there are around the league to be able to do that. Those things go hand in hand. SS is the bigger problem, with bottom of the barrell production. But RF is way down the list as well. Floyd is no guarantee to be a full-time producer, and while Floyd/Murton might stabilize the position, the Cubs need more than stabilization. They need production, ASAP. Floyd and Murton are both LFers. And it may be hard to find a real SS. So barring the sudden collapse of the Yankees and ARod trade, or about face by the Orioles and Tejada trade, the Cubs may have to get themselves RF help. During the offseason Meph showed that a marginal upgrade from Izturis to Lugo (obv not Lugos #s so far for this season), would be a bigger upgrade than Soriano provided us. While I agree it will be hard to find a really good SS, it will be harder to find a RF who would provid us a greater marginal value than upgrading at SS. I fear Hendry will go after Griffey. Like I said, SS is the preference. I'm not sure they can find one though and RF would be next in-line (both short-term and long-term).

The Mets/Yankees/Red Sox threesome has a lot of the same elements.

I would agree. Floyd is not a big-time run producer right now, but he's not a black hole either. Also, trading for a RF means that Murton cannot come back up and contribute later in the season, and I think he can team up with Floyd again to stabilize RF after the break. SS needs to be upgraded-I'm just not sure how many options there are around the league to be able to do that. Those things go hand in hand. SS is the bigger problem, with bottom of the barrell production. But RF is way down the list as well. Floyd is no guarantee to be a full-time producer, and while Floyd/Murton might stabilize the position, the Cubs need more than stabilization. They need production, ASAP. Floyd and Murton are both LFers. And it may be hard to find a real SS. So barring the sudden collapse of the Yankees and ARod trade, or about face by the Orioles and Tejada trade, the Cubs may have to get themselves RF help.

B/c this is baseball. There are things you dont talk about in public or go on record for- just like in the Army. This is one of those no-no subjects. Upper management in baseball is very much an old school closed society. Additionally, the Union will probably file a grievance over this. So there will have to be a lot of legal maneuvering and other shenanigans going on that Baseball would not have had to deal with. I bet that after a short lived mini controversy, nothing much comes of it at all.

RF has been a huge problem. Full-time Floyd might improve it, but it has not yet been proven. Floyd is not lock to produce, not with his injury history and lack of production last year. Plus, he's not even playing full-time, as Jones is still getting a look now and again. And they need him to not play full-time, because if he does, they will be paying him far too much money than they should.

I don't see why the league, or Selig, would care about this. The union, Juan Gone and his agent, different story. But I don't see Bud doing anything.

I'll try.

I think I'm leaning a little toward the positive on this trade, but the timing of it is a bit of a bummer. With Ramirez hobbled, Lee about to serve suspension and the Cubs in a stretch leading up to the Milwaukee series where I really want them to make a run, I don't like giving up the offense. And like him or hate him, Barrett was hitting in June.

Speaking of... Where did you hear this as he hasn't pitched in the minors yet? I've heard this speculated from a few people. He was a P/OF and many teams were split on whether he'd be on the mound or hitting, though I think more teams liked his hitting. I have no clue what the Cubs brass think about him pitching vs. hitting but he easily could convert to the mound. I think it's funny that what's his name is ridiculing people for posting conjecture, then he decides it's a foregone conclusion this guy is going to pitch. Pretty much every statement about the kid is about what he has done in the minors. That's not conjecture.

The only argument I can see for this is money. If the ownership issue has frozen the budget at its current value (more or less), then freeing up Barret's money might be one of the only ways to add salary in a trade for an upgrade. There was no money freed up by getting rod of Barret. The Cubs paid for most of his remaining salary. It sounds like they saved about $800,000.

When Vance gets the tickets, we don't go second class. Hell.... we were sitting in the second deck, weren't we ??? looked like last row too.

I wouldn't say it hinges. I would think there's a better chance Hendry realizes they need offensive help now that Barrett has been replaced for defensive purposes. And hopefully he realizes that SS and RF are the two biggest need spots for that improvement.

Shouldn't be a problem. It's not like they have a conga line in front of him. Blanco will hopefully be Rusched out of the league.

I highly doubt he's gone at the end of the year no matter how he progresses the rest of 2007.

I wouldn't say worthless. You need one, obviously. The backup catcher starts more games than the backup at any other position. I'd rather have this guy backing up than Henry Blanco. But I do think the Cubs will give him a lot more playing time that he likely deserves, at least for the next few months.