Little Slide Rooter

Running a top 3 baseball market team with a top 5 payroll in a division full of small market teams? I can't imagine how there'd be interest in a position like that. Particularly after a press conference where the owner states flat-out that it's the GM's job to sign players and make baseball decisions and that the new GM will have carte blanche to hire whomever he wants. Did Ricketts really say that in regards to players or just personel, because if that extends to players, it makes me very happy, and if neither Prince Fielder nor Albert Pujols are in a Cubs uniform come next spring, our future GM will waste no time finding his way onto the [expletive] list.

Of course, we should hold our celebrations until we learn who the replacement is and what's in store. My only question is why now?

Wherever Jeff H is, he can officially die a happy man.

While I'm all for Fielder or Pujols at any cost, I understand the concern. Looking at some of the massive contracts handed out in recent years, they just don't seem to end well. Soriano gave the Cubs 2 great years before a dreadful 2009 before becoming more productive, but nowhere worth the money in '10 and '11. Big Z was never the ace we paid for. As for other teams, the ink was barely dry on Alex Rios and Vernon Wells contracts before the Blue Jays wanted out. Barry Zito and Aaron Rowand were huge mistakes for the Giants, Jason Schmidt, Juan Pierre, Andruw Jones, and Rafeal FurcalX2 were all awful for the Dodgers. Jason Werth and Adam Dunn have both been beyong awful for their teams in the early goings of their contracts. Matt Holliday has been very good for the Cards so far, but he's only in year 2 in what I believe is a 7 year deal. Looking at all of these contracts, it's easy to see why any team would be hesitant to hand out a 5-7 year contract to any player, unlessit's like the Braun, Tulo, or Longoria ones in which the team is essentially buying out the players primes at a team friendlly price. OR LIKE FIELDER AND PUJOLS? Christ. No, Braun, Tulo, Longoria were all in their early-mid 20's when they signed their deals. I actually thought that Fielder was closer to 29, but he's only 27, which does make a difference, so he'd be more likely to give us a good 5-7 years. Again, I'm all for one of these guys, but I'm just saying that I understand teams being hesitant.

While I'm all for Fielder or Pujols at any cost, I understand the concern. Looking at some of the massive contracts handed out in recent years, they just don't seem to end well. Soriano gave the Cubs 2 great years before a dreadful 2009 before becoming more productive, but nowhere worth the money in '10 and '11. Big Z was never the ace we paid for. As for other teams, the ink was barely dry on Alex Rios and Vernon Wells contracts before the Blue Jays wanted out. Barry Zito and Aaron Rowand were huge mistakes for the Giants, Jason Schmidt, Juan Pierre, Andruw Jones, and Rafeal FurcalX2 were all awful for the Dodgers. Jason Werth and Adam Dunn have both been beyong awful for their teams in the early goings of their contracts. Matt Holliday has been very good for the Cards so far, but he's only in year 2 in what I believe is a 7 year deal. Looking at all of these contracts, it's easy to see why any team would be hesitant to hand out a 5-7 year contract to any player, unlessit's like the Braun, Tulo, or Longoria ones in which the team is essentially buying out the players primes at a team friendlly price. It seems that anytime you give a player in their early 30's a 5-7 year contract, your essentially paying for 3 prime years and hope for the best the rest of the way. This being said, if your want to land an elite player, that's what you have to do, and for Fielder or Pujols, I'm willing to take the risk.

If they do decide against shelling out for 1 of the big 2, I'd prefer Michael Cuddyer as a plan C over Pena. Younger, better hitter, and can also play outfield if needed. 2007 Carlos Pena isn't coming back, and I doubt that '08-'09 are either.

Szczur with a night off after being pinch hit for yesterday. Anyone know if there's an injury or just a night off, or perhaps he's taken it upon himself to hunt down Keith Law.

What does $12 million in draft spending have to do with Pujols or Fielder? Unless Ricketts' ultimate goal is to win the PCL, the ML club must be invested in as well. Just because the Cubs are starting to invest in their MiL system on a level similar to smaller market franchises like KC, Pittsburgh and Tampa doesn't mean they have to operate their ML team like the Royals. The BoSox spent upwards of $10 million on this draft as well. Does that mean that Theo Epstein is going to slash ML payroll? What it sound like he's suggesting is that Ricketts will prefer to build a team from within rather than going after pricey free agents and build that way. It's not that one affect the other, just that he might prefer not even go after the big name players. The problem is, the only teams in recent memory I can think of that have had any real success building their teams that way are the Rays and the Twins, and I don't think we have anywhere near the kind of talent that those farm systems had. I understand what he's getting at. I just don't think it makes any sense. A team like the Cubs needn't build from within at the expense of acquiring available talent via free agency. It is possible (optimal) to do both. Teams that draw talent almost exclusively from their farm system (TB, KC Pittsburgh, Oakland) do so because of budgetary constraints. The Cubs do not face such constraints. For them to behave as though they do would be counterproductive and stupid, and I don't think Ricketts is that dumb. Maybe I'm too optimistic... I definitely agree with you there. I wasted too many years of my life watching the Cubs try to build from within. At least back then, they had Sammy to build around, not that it made the results any better.

According to BBR, he's arb eligible in 2012 and not a free agent until 2016. I really like what I've seen from him this year when he can find the strike zone.

What does $12 million in draft spending have to do with Pujols or Fielder? Unless Ricketts' ultimate goal is to win the PCL, the ML club must be invested in as well. Just because the Cubs are starting to invest in their MiL system on a level similar to smaller market franchises like KC, Pittsburgh and Tampa doesn't mean they have to operate their ML team like the Royals. The BoSox spent upwards of $10 million on this draft as well. Does that mean that Theo Epstein is going to slash ML payroll? What it sound like he's suggesting is that Ricketts will prefer to build a team from within rather than going after pricey free agents and build that way. It's not that one affect the other, just that he might prefer not even go after the big name players. The problem is, the only teams in recent memory I can think of that have had any real success building their teams that way are the Rays and the Twins, and I don't think we have anywhere near the kind of talent that those farm systems had.

Man, Keith Law REALLY doesn't like Szczur. We can say whatever we want, but only Matt can prove him wrong.

I understand that, I'm just maybe reading a bit much into the end of the article I really feel that if the Cubs are going to be competitive in the next year or 2, this is the type of move they need to make. The Brewers and Cards will both be getting worse in the near future, but not bad enough for the Cubs in their curent state to be able to compete with them, and who knows what's in store for the Reds and Pirates. I guess my painful memories of those 1990's Cubs teams are still a bit too fresh for me to be able to go back to those kinds of teams.

I know, it's Phil Rodgers, but worth discussing. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-0818-rogers-cubs-draft-chicago20110818,0,428597.column?track=rss Ugh, while I love the idea of putting money into the farm system, the fact is, all of these 17-19 year olds likely won't even be sniffing the majors for another 3-5 years, and considering the Cubs market and division, there's really no excuse for them not to be spending money on the current team and competing between now and then. The Cubs have the money, and there's no reason for us to have to sit through another 3-5 years of 1990's-esque teams. As for the draft class, there's no guarantee that any of these guys will be anything, and it's too much of a gamble to turn The Cubs into The Royals or Pirates between now and when they're ready.

I definitely like this one. This one 2, considering Donaldson(along with Murton whose in Japan and Gallagher and E Patt, both of whom I've completely lost track of) netted us Rich Harden, although harden didn't quite work out as well as we would have liked. Gallagher's with the Pirates AAA club. He's been a big disappointment. I was huge on him, but he just never developed. I know some A's fans thought they ruined his arm (can't remember the specific incident) so maybe that has something to do with it. E.Patt's with the Padres AAA squad. At this stage, he is what he is, a useful depth guy in AAA who will occasionally get a look in the bigs. Following in his brothers footsepts, huh?

Vick has done a lot to improve his personal image since the whole thing went down and has regained a lot of fans, but there are still quite a few people who despise him and will not root for any team he plays on. Ugh. Vick served his time and paid his debt. Also, the Cutler hate is pretty ridiculous, too. People are pretty crazy when it comes to who they hate and why. MSN recently had a poll for most hated people in America, which was highlighted by Casey Anthony, OJ Simpson, Paris Hilton, and Spencer from The Hills, and I forrget who else. Hilton and Spencer might be some annoying personalities, but they really shouldn't be lumped in with a pair of murderers.

Kind of a weird question. It's the league suspending him, not the team, so I don't know why he wouldn't have to wait the full 50 games.

Are you refering to the people who don't want to see the team stuck paying 18 mil while he pitches for someone else and we get nothing in return as the enablers?

Too bad. I remember when he came up with The Mets, the future was looking pretty bright for him back when the future was looking pretty bright for the Mets.

The fact is, if this team is going to compete next year, wholesale upgrades are necessary. 1B is one of the best places to do so with the best available options, unless we want to spend similar money on a perenially injured Jose Reyes or a bit less on a 35 year old Carlos Beltran. Sabathia would also be an intriguing option, but a very expensive one, but The Tigers have shown us how valuable it is to have one shutdown ace no matter how meh the rest of your pitching staff is, of course we don't have the Tigers offense. I know, Penas a great clubhouse guy, but 10 mil is a steep price for a youth mentor.

I definitely like this one. This one 2, considering Donaldson(along with Murton whose in Japan and Gallagher and E Patt, both of whom I've completely lost track of) netted us Rich Harden, although harden didn't quite work out as well as we would have liked.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/page/rumblings110816/jim-thome-truly-real-caring-person As I've said before, Carlos Pena has 0 business being on the 2012 Cubs. If they plan to compete, they'll need an upgrade. If they don't plan to compete, and plan a youth movement, there's no reason to pay Carlos Pena another 10 mil or so.

I was more curious as to why Szczur was pinch hit for, but yeah, I'd kind of forgotten that Abeu existed for a while there.

sweet, we lost to the Astros again.

The Cubs have the full attention of their numerous beat reporters and TV partners whenever they want/need it. A few hours is all it takes to schedule a presser. Yeah, but this is about the FUTURE OF THE ORGANIZATION. You have to let that marinate and stew and fester. It's all about showmanship. It's all about ZAZZ!!!! So basically, it will be a web of PR mumbo jumbo.

Why would we be lucky to do that? Replacing a lazy latin player with a gritty white one. duh.