Little Slide Rooter

the matt morris trade was possibly the dumbest trade i've ever seen an mlb organization pull off.

 

Until this past offseason.

And even then, I'm not so sure.

Just out of curiosity, what trade are you speaking of?

the matt morris trade was possibly the dumbest trade i've ever seen an mlb organization pull off.

I remember being baffled as to why a team that had not intention of competing anytime soon wanted Matt Morris.

Soriano is getting paid a lot of money are there aren't any viable replacements anyway. Quade is a tool, but people need to get over the Soriano thing. Barring a miracle, he's our starting LF for the next few years.

The arguement with Soriano is pretty much that you need to ignore the money hes making. I suspect for the next few years, he'll hit between .255-.265 and OPS in the low, maybe mid .800s with 20some home runs. While those arent 18 mil/year numbers, thats production wont be cheap to replace, so as long as you have to pay him ayway, it should be for us. Of course, if we could find a sucker, Id pawn him in a heartbeat, so long as were not stuck picking up an equally bad contract attached to a worse player.

Who are we replacing Soriano with now?

Probably someone equally overpaid but less productive. Aaron Rowand sounds like a good fit.

This season has morphed directly into watching the minors closely and pulling for some serious overslots with the draft picks. Literally, the ONLY thing worth paying attention to on the major league level IS Castro.

 

That and the trade deadline.

Thank you Southside Ryan, I couldn't have said it better myself. I am going to laugh all the way to the bank with Easterling. He is coming faster than I thought he would,

 

That probably doesn't even bother you does it?

 

Hah. Gay joke

Not a bad one at that.

Andrew Cashner was a reliever for only one season in college. Prior to transferring to TCU for his junior season, he was a starting pitcher.

If/when Cashner comes back this season, it needs to be as a starter be it in Chicago or Iowa to keep him in a routine. Just keep him on a pitch count. We have plenty of guys who project to be solid relievers. We need starters.

Is Hendry still in Iowa? I'd imagine the media would love to ask him about Quade's recent silliness.

He'll probably get another vote of confidence.

I know its not a trade but

Tigers Designate Brandon Inge For Assignment

By Ben Nicholson-Smith [July 20 at 9:36pm CST]

The longest tenured Tiger may soon be suiting up for the Toledo Mud Hens. The Tigers designated Brandon Inge for assignment, according to MLB.com's Jason Beck (on Twitter). The veteran will accept an assignment to Triple-A, assuming he clears waivers, according to Beck.

 

Inge, 34, hit .177/.242/.242 in 239 plate appearances this year after signing a two-year, $11.5MM deal with Detroit last offseason. In need of more offense at the hot corner, the Tigers acquired Wilson Betemit earlier today. Shortly before picking up ten and five rights, Inge told me he would like to spend his entire career in Detroit.

Inge has a bit of power, but after looking at his career stats, I didnt realise how truely awful he was.

 

 

I don't think what he said is that out of line. They're young players and learning. Certainly nobody here thinks Castro should just be left alone do they?

 

.

 

 

Castro's wasn't a mental error. It wasn't an error due to a lack of focus and not keeping his mind in the game. He lost the ball in the sun. It's really the ultimate 'oh well' kind of error. To call him out is not fair to Castro and makes Quade and the Cubs organization look small time.

 

Not only calling him out on a missplay (one that every player has committed at one time or another) but the issuing some vague threat about having 60 days to prove he deserves a job. This is how people like Neifi Perez get jobs over more deserving young players.

Luckily, Quade wont be around to make that decision. Hopefully.

Easterling and DJ are about the only ones who did anything tonight. A pretty depressing night for the farm.

Golden later chipped in with a 2-4 with a 2B and 3B, but yeah, overall dismal day on the farm. make that the organization.

wheels are coming off the Quade Wagon.

 

I think that one has been grinding on the undercarriage for a while. Now it's on fire.

I think it drove off a cliff sometime in early May.

I am going to laugh all the way to the bank with Easterling.

Did you bet big bucks on him having a hot start to his minor league career?

Braves May Be Nearing Deal For Bat

By Ben Nicholson-Smith [July 20 at 3:36pm CST]

The Braves may be nearing a deal for a right-handed hitter, according to David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (on Twitter). Though it's not clear which hitter may be headed to Atlanta, Josh Willingham, Ryan Ludwick, Hunter Pence, Jeff Francoeur, Reed Johnson, Jeff Baker, Ryan Spilborghs and Michael Cuddyer are among the potentially available players who hit from the right side

Just thought Id post this as apparently, Reed and Baker are possibilities to be headed to Atlanta, although theyve already said they wont trade Baker,

Raisin got in a question in Callis' chat today:

 

Navin (Pasadena, CA): How good a chance do the Cubs have of signing either Maples or Dunston?

 

 

Jim Callis: I'm hearing they'll get Dunston done. Maples will be the tougher sign.

Good to hear about Dunston. Also, he doesnt say no about Maples, just that hed be tougher.

Flashback to Novemember, 2006

Jim Hendry: So um, Fonzie, would you like me to throw in a no trade clause as well, just for the hell of it?

Fonzie(swiming in his new money pool ALA Scrooge McDuck): yeah, sure whatever

Hendry: done and done!

Barney's playing at a 2-3 win pace this year, is under team control for 5 more years, and plays good defense at both middle infield positions, making him an option at either. It's not a bad thing to value him. He's not Ryan Theriot. Ryan Theriot couldn't throw the ball the length of the kitchen table and ran into lots of outs on the bases. Just because they play middle infield and have a similar offensive profile doesn't make them worthy of the same disdain.

 

Why do people keep pretending there is all this disdain out there for Barney?

 

I'm not saying even the casual fan hates him, but there's been plenty of references to Theriot when discussing Barney, and they aren't positive ones.

Nobody had any problem with Theriot when he first came on the scene. He was pretty popular until the powers that be decided to make him something that he wasnt and then he started running his mouth.

An August trade appears possible for Ramirez, based on his agent's comments yesterday to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Paul Kinzer said that when his client's children return to the Dominican Republic in August for the start of school, "that could possibly loosen up" Ramirez's stance. Ramirez's $16MM option for 2012 technically becomes guaranteed upon a trade, but Kinzer said his client would want the option dropped. The agent does not feel the request would pose a problem for most teams.

 

There's also left fielder Alfonso Soriano, whose contract pays $18MM a year through 2014 and makes him virtually immovable. Talking to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times, Soriano wasn't even aware he has a no-trade clause. But he did say he'd waive it to go to a contender.

They later added this part. I got a kick out of the bolded. So was Hendry just sneaking those things in back then?

Hendry is apparently friends with everyone in baseball.

Hes apparently the Screech of baseball. Complete [expletive] up, but the "cool kids" hang out with him for some reason.

Nothing earth shattering, but...

Hendry Explains Deadline Approach

By Tim Dierkes [July 20 at 10:29am CST]

Cubs GM Jim Hendry aims to limit his trades to players he knows won't be returning next season, he told Rick Brown of the Des Moines Register. Hendry explained:

 

"Why would we trade anybody who we think is going to help us next year or the years after? I would say if we move anyone it would be somebody we clearly knew wouldn't be back. We're not going to move people that we think are going to help us. Why would I trade Sean Marshall? Why would I trade Darwin Barney? Those calls kind of stop quickly. It makes no sense."

 

The next logical question is which Cubs players clearly won't be back. Aramis Ramirez won't be accepting a trade, and Ryan Dempster has full no-trade rights as well. Kerry Wood probably has a say in whether he's dealt. That probably leaves Kosuke Fukudome, Carlos Pena, John Grabow, and Reed Johnson as the Cubs' main trade candidates. However, I'm guessing the Cubs haven't ruled out re-signing Pena, so he's not a lock to be dealt.

 

I think itsn officialt, Darwin Barney is the new Ryan Theriot, although the organization probably sees him as more of a Derek Jeter.

When you have the chance to get an A-Ball first baseman that isn't even OPSing .800, how can you pass that up?

 

In fairness, BA ranked Singleton the 39th best prospect in baseball before 2011 and he's OPSd .835 and .872 the previous two years. He's also only 19.

If the Cubs plan on competing next year, Id rather hold on to Marshall. However, if not, Id gladly trade him for this guy. Marshall could get expensive when the time comes, and we could have a solid future pen with guys like Carpenter, Dolis, Belivieu, and Rhoderick to name a few in addition to Marmol.

For as much as the Cubs thought they were set in the 7th/8th/9th with Marshall, Wood, and Marmol, those guys have sucked about as much as everyone else on the team this year. Marshall has obviously been the best, but that was a part of the team that no one was really concerned with before the year and hasn't necessarily been a strength. Disappointing.

 

They haven't sucked as bad as everyone else, but it was always a mistake to pencil in at least Wood as a dominant back of the bullpen guy. He was a fun acquisition for nostalgic reasons but not all that effective. It was also pretty dumb to lock-up Marmol longterm.

Still, looking at the contracts given to relievers this past offseason, Wood was still a steal.