Cubswin11

How big of an issue is Wrigley being a "historical landmark" going to affect things when it comes to renovating the place? That could be one of many stupid things that get in the way of making the process drag out.

I wonder where they are going to spend their money if the Colts decide to keep Manning and Flynn is franchised. I don't see that happening, wouldn't he make like $18-20m this year if he was franchised? I am guessing Finley would be the guy they franchise, if they franchise anyone.

Is it even possible to configure a baseball field within Solder Field?

Go to page 3, it's talked about on there.

http://gifsoup.com/view7/2989723/awesome-o.gif

It's going to take about 4 years of minor league ball to accumulate that amount of ab's. Not that, that quote is the absolute rule or truth on Soler, but to expect him in the big leagues as earlier as 2013 or 14 is probably an unrealistic expectation to have of the guy. Just so you know... Brett Jackson has played basically 2 1/2 seasons in the minors (53/128/115 games) and he has 1,133 ABs so far (211/491/431). Anthony Rizzo in his first 2 full seasons in the minors (2009/2010), he had 976 ABs (445/531) and then 356 ABs this past season (119/136/93 games). It won't take 4 years to get to 800-1,000 ABs. It'll take him 2 years to get there most likely (assuming he doesn't get hurt and he plays everyday). I think start of 2013 is unrealistic, but call up in Sept 2013 is somewhat possible (50/50 or less) and he could end up being a full time starter sometime in 2014 (whether that's at the start of the season or later). He'll be 21 and a few months by the start of 2014 season. If you go by what I said, he'll get like 400-500 ABs this year (start at A ball and end up at AA) then 400-500 ABs again in 2013 (starting at AA and a brief stint, lets say 100 ABs or so, in AAA)... By that time, a call up that Sept could happen. In 2014, he could start right away or he could be down in AAA for a little while to get more development/ABs (like B Jax/Rizzo are doing this year). I stand corrected. When I saw the 800-1000 ab thing I went to baseball-reference and the first prospect that came to mind for me was Vitters so I typed his name in a saw he has just over 1500 ab's in 5 seasons. So I figured 4 would put Soler in the 1000 range, guess I forgot to take into account Vitters has missed a little time with injuries and overlooked he got drafted in 2007 so he didn't get a full season of minor league ab's that year (even though it counts as 1 of his 5 seasons) so his 1500 ab's basically came in 4 years.

There's always Milwaukee as another option if Reinsdorf/White Sox try to make it overly difficult or costly. It's only about 1-1/12 hours away and they've shown a willingness to let teams use their stadium before (Cubs/Astros and Indians). They'd probably welcome the extra revenue being a small market and I could see Bud even pushing for us to move there for a season to help give some extra financial stimulus to his old team/city. And yes, count me in on some big time renovations for Wrigley. Giving up a season playing there while it's being renovated and having to play someplace else is a small price to pay.

According to Wikipedia, Soler was born 11/19/92, which means he just turned 19 a few months ago. I agree that it is a tad optimistic to expect anything from him at the major league level prior to 2014 at the absolute earliest. Ok, thanks. As I said in my post, even expecting him to be a mainstay in the majors prior to 2015 or 16 could be a tad optimistic or unrealistic. Since he won't get above A ball this year and it's generally viewed he will need 800-1000 ab's in the minors before being ready.

On Baez, I know his bat will be a factor in determining where he moves to, but out of 2B, 3B, LF/RF what is the most likely position he gets tried out at first when he moves off of SS? Since the consensus seems to be it's a matter of when, not if he moves off of SS.

I think that's pretty aggressive, even if he is really talented. He's only 19 and will start the year in A ball. I wouldn't expect him to permanently be in the majors until 2015 or 2016 at the earliest (maybe a Aug/Sept cup off coffee in 2014), that still only puts him at age 22-24 (depending on his birthday). Rotoworld had this to say about him the other day; It's going to take about 4 years of minor league ball to accumulate that amount of ab's. Not that, that quote is the absolute rule or truth on Soler, but to expect him in the big leagues as earlier as 2013 or 14 is probably an unrealistic expectation to have of the guy.

They should be close, especially with the #6 pick in this years draft (plus 2 more in the top 70 or so) and assuming some of the lower level guys continue to grow/break out.

I'm not so sure it's rehashed. The article posted tonight claims word out of the Dominican is the Cubs have signed Soler for about $27.M over 3 or 4 years. The Suntimes also posted a rare evening Cubs article citing Miami sources with a similar dollar value. Can that be right? Why would they sign a guy who is an A ball player right now to a contract that, at best, when it ends he will be just about big league ready?

So am I. I think he's been brought up on here before, recently, about a guy to target who seems to be in Theo's niche of finding former top prospects who might have fallen a bit for whatever reason. Any idea what it would take to get him? Or if we even have the right pieces to get him?

I don't understand Jackson being so far ahead of Rizzo at all. @Kevin_Goldstein 1B prospect rule; not a Szczur fan. RT @SteveJB54: @Kevin_Goldstein Why so low on Rizzo? How far off the list would Szczur be? Also: @Kevin_Goldstein Again, not at all. RT @NickKappel: @Kevin_Goldstein Was Matt Szczur close to making top 101? @Kevin_Goldstein Not ready yet. RT @keithsmw: @Kevin_Goldstein If you're the Cubs do you let Jackson spend a full season in Iowa or bring him up now? @Kevin_Goldstein Baez not a SS in majors. RT @cubsncards: @Kevin_Goldstein If Baez starts at SS for the Cubs does that put Starlin at 2b or on another team? The scouts seem really down on Baez's ability to handle short. What's the 1B prospect rule? Just that he doesn't value 1B prospects as much as other position prospects because there are usually an abundance of them available on the FA market that can be slightly above replacement level? And I agree on the Baez at SS thing. I haven't seen anyone, anywhere, even say that he might stay there it's always he's def moving off that position. I know his bat will be a factor in determining where he moves to, but out of 2B, 3B, LF/RF what is the most likely position he gets tried out at first when he moves off of SS? I also think it's worth noting he has Rizzo as his #2 rated 1B, only 2 spots behind Singleton of the Astros and Baez is only rated one spot behind HJ Lee.

The 4 years are the huge part. He get's to become a FA at his age 30 season, I am sure Theo/Jed wanted him to sign for 6 or 7, since it seems he will need at least part of a season in the minors (if Cuban league ball is really about the equivalent of A Ball +/- He might not even be all that ready to play this year) so you might only have him on your ML roster for 3 years. Personally I am happy we didn't sign him, never wanted him. He's a 26 year old whose had success in a A ball equivalent league who probably wouldn't be in his prime or even on the team when we are really ready to contend annually (if he only wanted a 3-4 year deal). Just do whatever it takes now to get Soler and I'll be pretty happy with our offseason.

YES \:D/, really wanted to get Soler this offseason

Who the eff is Derrel Lee? You mean Derrek Lee? I think McNutt takes the biggest leap if he can avoid those weird injuries (blisters, etc.), then I think it's Vitters, followed by Lake. I think Vitters will have a big year and jump back up into our top 3-5 prospects in the system this time next year, when our system should be stronger and more highly regarded than it is now.

I think they just suck so much that they figured an extra week of practice over the league wouldn't hurt.

Because adding someone just for the sake of adding someone is the blueprint to building a successful team. :roll:

Is 300 more pages than the total amount of GT pages from the 2011 season? I think we might be closing in.

Fangraphs did a piece on that when Miami was rumored to make a huge offer to Pujols. The conclusion was that it was a marginal difference at best for a monster contract like Pujols, so for a contract that may not be 25% of the total value, I have to figure it's a non-entity. Don't professional athletes get their game checks taxed based on what city they are "working in" that day? So a Marlins player only gets the income tax advantage of living in FL for half of his games, and then gets taxed accordingly based on whatever state they are in when playing on the road, right?

Wow, Volstad is a big dude. I think both him and Wood are going to have decent years for us as 3/4 starters.

Why on earth would the Pirates reject a deal in which they's acquire an established starter, who could potentially be a front end guy for them if the price is Garrett Jones and the Yankees paying a big chunk of A.J.s salary? I'd take that deal for Bryan LaHair without thinking twice, and that's basically what Jones is. The Pirates are a dark horse for the division, but they could still contend and adding a veteran starter, who'd be going from the AL East to the NL Central could really help their cause. That really makes no sense why they would turn that deal down if all it was, was Jones straight up for Burnett with the Yankees eating a big portion of Burnett's salary. Does Jones even factor to start at an OF position or 1B for them this year? He basically has been a bench bat and has gotten 2-4 starts a week for them the last few years, iirc.

Fair? Yes. But that's barely more AAV than Garza was asking for just for this season, so my guess is he'll want more. Agreed, if we sign him long term I am guessing it's closer to 5/75-80 or 6/90

Larry Suarez is still in the system? I did not know that, wasn't he considered a pretty big deal back in the day?