Clem Fandango

Hedges would be nice. Isn't he a defensive specialist though? Wonder if a tandem of him and Schwarber when they're both ready could be good. Late inning defensive replacement and could spell Schwarber once or twice a week to keep him fresh? Or would doing that waste Hedges' defensive value? He doesn't look like he has much offensive upside.

No reason not to make it happen.

He'd be signing well under his market value if he accepted that. There's zero reason the Cubs couldn't top it, nor is there any reason they shouldn't.

That didn't seem very sarcastic. It seemed like he was giving polite and civil counterpoints. Which makes it the suspension even more confusing.

Cahill could make for an interesting Bosio reclamation project. I'd do that deal.

Guysguysguys... Nocode is Jon Lester

Nats saying Jordan Zimmerman is legitimately available now for the right package.

HE'S GONNA RUIN SOLER FIRE HIM NOW

That was great. And I knew it was back loaded but didnt realize how favorable it was for the Marlins. Stanton better hope they do something with it.

He also plays every fifth day. Even if he pitches in only day games all year its not like he's out there the night before giving 110% from the bench. He'll be well rested, day or night. Schedule should be insignificant. Unless he just really doesn't like waking up early. I bet he hates Mondays.

Even at the high end of 6/120 that is ridiculously easy to beat. 6/150 is very palatable with the payroll we have. Offer 6/130 and see if he takes it. If he really likes Chicago more, the extra money should be all that matters to get it done. If he needs more than 6/130, give it to him.

Have there been any reports on how Tyson Ross has found success? His minor league numbers weren't all that inspiring and he didnt reach the majors till later, but his numbers in the big leagues are awesome. Any articles on him or his stuff?

I have no idea, but I'd love to see if they negatively value Maybin on top of Grandal. Early reports are that they want power hitters so not sure how much of a match is there. maybe they could be fooled into taking Javy? I wanted to come back to this. What does a trade of Javy to San Diego look like? Grandal is an obvious target and they have SP they would consider moving too. Like mentioned above I really like Maybin as an extra OF/Alcantara insurance too, especially if they're ready to give up on him and do other things with that money. Grandal and Ross? Is that too much or too little? I still really like Javy and dont really want to move him but the majority on here think he's not going to fulfill his potential and he needs to be moved before he hurts his value even more. Personally I think he'll be fine but if the FO is interested in moving him then maybe Grandal and Ross is a good starting point?

They are probably just bro-ing out and high fiving about the latest episode of The Big Bang Theory or something.

http://i.imgur.com/EF8XSm2.gif

In regards to the talk of the D-Backs payroll this year:

The Marlins are going to have a higher payroll this year than the Cubs aren't they? Just this year, then next year after they don't make the playoffs they'll trade everyone and Stanton will be all like "Fool me once..." while he wipes his ass with hundreds. I suppose I should change the avatar now. http://i.imgur.com/8ByaI.gif

http://i.imgur.com/txqINOr.gif

http://i.imgur.com/VtRIt3t.gif

How's his defense? Does he profile as a guy who can move around the diamond at all? Seems more like a possible Valbuena replacement than a Baez/Castro replacement/fall back, but he's only ever played 2B.

So does this mean if he wants to sign with the Cubs he needs to wait until July?

http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/story/marlins-giancarlo-stanton-discussing-record-breaking-300-million-deal-111314 That would wreck that franchise from being able to do anything productive unless they just decide to open up the pocketbook and start being a $150 million payroll team. Stanton probably knows better, and has said as much. I believe he's been quoted as saying "3 months doesn't change 3 years" or something in regards to the progress they've made this season when someone asked if he was interested in signing an extension. He's witnessed first hand them opening up the bank only to shut it immediately. The Marlins are cheap, and if they're paying one man $30 million a year, that will likely be half their payroll. Ideally it should come down to whether or not he wants to be on a club that's built for success, because he knows he'll get a monster contract from someone eventually, but that's a [expletive] load of money to turn away. I hope he knows if he accepts it he might as well accept that he'll spend the majority of that contract not winning baseball games. They might have some success coming up with their young players and what not, but the Marlins won't be able to retain them because Stanton is going to be costing them so much money in the first place. It's just going to be a revolving door of talent that never stays consistent. Unless they decide "Hey we want to be a real team now" and open up the bank and leave it open. I'm sure that's what they're telling him to convince him to sign, and maybe they're honest this time, but history provides enough proof that that isn't true and his instinct is probably calling [expletive] on that.

Doesn't Heyward kind of have a stride in his swing that moves him toward the plate?

Kluber won the Cy Young over Felix. Didn't realize he had a higher WAR than Felix. On paper Felix numbers look much better, but Kluber outperformed him by 1.1 fWAR. Wonder if more voters are looking to WAR to help gauge their decisions now. Felix had the lowest ERA and WHIP for an AL pitcher since Pedro in 2000. And he had the stretch of 16 or 17 games or whatever where he went 7 innings and gave up 2 or fewer runs. He had maybe the best season of his career, but Kluber got him beat in the WAR department which is pretty damn impressive.

I'm the biggest fan of acquiring Stanton, but I'd be just as thrilled with Heyward. Question is what would it really take?