Sever82

Maybe a prospect? The difference between Escobar and Theriot is that the former is quite good. There's no "maybe" involved with the prospect, and it better be a good one. ummmmm yeah. Dont know why i put the maybe but yeah a prospect. I wouldn't devalue Theriot though, his numbers are pretty solid, Escobar did have a pretty damn good season last year but he's not an elite player. I would imagine it wouldn't take Theriot and Vitters but it would probably take a pretty decent prospect but not one of our top prospects. Like i said in the previous post though, it also depends on the relationship the braves have with him. Which if i remember at one point was a little iffy.

That makes no sense. Vitters hasn't touched the majors while Theriot has. If Vitters had some major league experience than you can compare him to Theriot's early major league career. As for Pie, Pie has had more time in the Majors than Fuld. Pie has been in the majors for about 2 1/2 years and his numbers dont scream potential. He had one good month but what about the rest of his time in the majors. I guess batting .333 with a OBP of .394 with 5 Hr and 13 RBIs scream potential. But then what do you have to say about his september numbers? it makes perfect sense if you understand the meaning of upside as it relates to a baseball player No it doesn't make sense in when it relates to Pie. If Pie had just last year of service time and posted those numbers, than i would definitely say he has way more upside but the fact that Pie has had a decent amount of playing time but yet hasn't made a huge jump statistically, doesn't scream upside. If last year was his first year and you saw the supposed speed, fielding ability, etc. Then you would say, yes Pie has huge upside, look at his intangibles. But the fact that he hasn't done well on the basepaths and only had about maybe two good months in about a 30 month career, doesn't scream upside to me. I mean how old til people stop labeling PIe a high upside type of player? 26 Fair enough. Just saying cause i've been a Pie fan for the longest but after seeing fail over and over again with the Cubs, kind of funny to me that people still hold hope that he'll realize his supposed potential.

That makes no sense. Vitters hasn't touched the majors while Theriot has. If Vitters had some major league experience than you can compare him to Theriot's early major league career. As for Pie, Pie has had more time in the Majors than Fuld. Pie has been in the majors for about 2 1/2 years and his numbers dont scream potential. He had one good month but what about the rest of his time in the majors. I guess batting .333 with a OBP of .394 with 5 Hr and 13 RBIs scream potential. But then what do you have to say about his september numbers? it makes perfect sense if you understand the meaning of upside as it relates to a baseball player No it doesn't make sense in when it relates to Pie. If Pie had just last year of service time and posted those numbers, than i would definitely say he has way more upside but the fact that Pie has had a decent amount of playing time but yet hasn't made a huge jump statistically, doesn't scream upside. If last year was his first year and you saw the supposed speed, fielding ability, etc. Then you would say, yes Pie has huge upside, look at his intangibles. But the fact that he hasn't done well on the basepaths and only had about maybe two good months in about a 30 month career, doesn't scream upside to me. I mean how old til people stop labeling PIe a high upside type of player?

That makes no sense. Vitters hasn't touched the majors while Theriot has. If Vitters had some major league experience than you can compare him to Theriot's early major league career. Vitters does have more potential based on the skills he possess that scouts have observed. But then again Vitters and Theriot are two different types of players. Fuld and PIe are a fair comparison cause both have below average power, both are CFs and both are slap hitting players. As for Pie, Pie has had more time in the Majors than Fuld. I agree Pie has more potential than fuld mostly because of his age and you dont know what the future holds. But to say Pie has way more upside is kind of dumb because how many years do you have to wait for PIe to realize his potential. Pie has been in the majors for about 2 1/2 years and his numbers dont scream potential. He had one good month but what about the rest of his time in the majors. I guess batting .333 with a OBP of .394 with 5 Hr and 13 RBIs scream potential. But then what do you have to say about his september numbers?

I know i said that, i wouldn't say he has way more though. Pie hasn't exactly showed great potential to this point. Depends on what he does next year. Check out Pie's second half stats from last year. I did, so because he had one pretty good month, we call him a high upside player? Take that august away and what do you have. Sorry, not about to overhype Pie because he got hot one month. Are you going to say the same about Ronny cedeno's april month.

Surely you can't be oblivious to the fact that in a weak division Hendry's teams have averaged less than 84 wins per year, more or less in line with the Florida Marlins and well below the pace of many similarly financed teams (including those with less resources). He's had more than enough time and has done a poor job, there's no argument to the contrary. Wait..are people still arguing that hendry has done an "Ok" for the cubs? Not sure how you can argue that he's done the cubs more good than bad.

I know i said that, i wouldn't say he has way more though. Pie hasn't exactly showed great potential to this point. Depends on what he does next year.

Actually nevermind i forgot about Fuld for some reason. I think Pie has more potential but if you have fuld already no reason to pay for another similar player with slightly more upside. After Levine's chat and what has been said in articles, its starting to feel more like the cubs aren't going to sign byrd or pods or ankiel but are instead going to go the trade route. Other than Nate McClouth and maybe Cabrera still, i can't think of a CF option that can be traded for and is worth it.

Actually nevermind i forgot about Fuld for some reason. I think Pie has more potential but if you have fuld already no reason to pay for another similar player with slightly more upside. After Levine's chat and what has been said in articles, its starting to feel more like the cubs aren't going to sign byrd or pods or ankiel but are instead going to go the trade route. Other than Nate McClouth and maybe Cabrera still, i can't think of a CF option that can be traded for and is worth it.

I know its Phill Rogers but this is an interesting read. http://www.chicagobreakingsports.com/2009/12/cabrera-trade-could-impact-cubs.html Especially this Part: There are not many attractive center fielders on the market, and it's unclear if Hendry would reacquire Felix Pie, who is being shopped by Baltimore. The free-agent options under consideration are Marlon Byrd, Rick Ankiel and Scott Podsednik, along with re-signing Reed Johnson. I honestly wouldn't mind having Pie back, as long as it doesn't cost the cubs much of anything. Maybe a Fontenot for Pie swap.

According to Phil Rogers, the cubs are definitely one of the teams interested. We know that the marlin offered a contract of 5yrs along with the Red sox i believe. Bruce Levine had an interested message in his chat where he mentioned that most GMs expect the bidding to end up at 4yrs 35 Million. I dont think it will get that high, thats kind of BS to me. But lets say the cubs lose out on Capps and were planing to offer him a multi year 4 mil deal. Should the cubs invest that money instead on Chapman because of their supposed emphasis on the farm?

Speaking of Theriot, what about exploring a trade with the braves that send Theriot and maybe a prospect for Yunel Escobar? Didn't the braves organization and Escobar have a rocky relationship last year?

I think they'll make moves but not a big splash. I wouldn't predict a splash either. Although if they did it wouldn't surprise me. They've had mostly negative PR this offseason and still need to sell tickets in February in a down economy. I'm just thinking they add some names that they can figure out a way to sell. Somebody like Mark DeRosa isn't a big splash, but he's a name that could be sold. I can definitely see the Derosa signing. And if they lose out on Capps, i can see the cubs making a trade with Cleveland for wood if the indians ate up some of that salary. Bringing Wood back would bring a huge buzz back for the fans.

I think they'll make moves but not a big splash. There is no big spash players out there unless they sign holliday and bay. Its true though, as much as i want them to make moves like acquiring Cabrera from the Tigers. Ultimately i think they'll let their vets play out their contracts unless the cubs really suck before the deadline or are way out of it. Hendry is not smart enough to trade players are their peak. To be honest the only reason Derosa was traded at his peak was because (I'm speculating) Hendry thought he had a Peavy trade in the works and was going to flip those prospects. As much as he wants to play the money card, i think Hendry honestly though he was going to get peavy.

You probably can't move Z and i'm with that because maybe he stays as your Ace for the future or maybe he plays some more of those years on his contract and increases his value so that you can trade him later. But in the case of Ramirez, i think you can trade him to the Angels right now and get a pretty good package out of it since they've been wanted Ramirez for the longest and dont have much faith in Wood. As for DLee, if the Cubs are clear to him that they wont resign him and they're trying to rebuild, as loyal and professional as DLee is, he'll probably waive his NTC for the right situation. Which could be to a team like the Red Sox or a West Coast team. My Ideal situation with Lee would be to move him to Detroit with a player or two for Miguel Cabrera. I think the Tigers would definitely do a trade like that because it would give them a very productive vet with only year left on his contract and also allow them to free themselves from the long term committment they have Cabrera. But ultimately Lee wont wave his NTC for Detroit, unless he considers it close enought to Chicago and his home, that he would cave in.

According to Bruce Levine, he will be invited to spring training. Levine put at 50/50 he makes the team. I think its more like 10/90 because i think the cubs still want to give him more time in the minors.

Totally agree, the thing that sucks though is that Hendry's such an idiot and gave NTC to Zambrano, Soriano and DLee. I mean eventhough you can't move soriano because of his contract, you would still have the option to trade him by eating up salary. Zambrano is still young, so in the case of Zambrano, best case would be to hope he has a all star season and his value increases dramatically or just keep him as your ace for years to come. I'm not to in line with trading Z but i do feel you have to deal Theriot, Ramirez, DLee, Soriano. As a cubs fan i wouldn't be dissapointed if the cubs started to rebuild because i would be excited about seeing some youth here and seeing that youth grow up. Kind like what the Blackhawks have done. There are ways of convincing your players to waive their NTC's... like say, telling them you can't afford them anymore and have no choice but to ship them off (What's up San Diego?). Or tell them you were given orders to go into a rebuilding process and that they don't fit into the teams future plans. Or if you want to be a dick about it, you can tell them they're not wanted anymore and bench them until they waive it...... That last one is a joke, though it would probably work if it came down to it :-)) Ricketts supposedly Loves Dlee so moving him might not be an option but moving Ramirez might be.

Totally agree, the thing that sucks though is that Hendry's such an idiot and gave NTC to Zambrano, Soriano and DLee. I mean eventhough you can't move soriano because of his contract, you would still have the option to trade him by eating up salary. Zambrano is still young, so in the case of Zambrano, best case would be to hope he has a all star season and his value increases dramatically or just keep him as your ace for years to come. I'm not to in line with trading Z but i do feel you have to deal Theriot, Ramirez, DLee, Soriano. As a cubs fan i wouldn't be dissapointed if the cubs started to rebuild because i would be excited about seeing some youth here and seeing that youth grow up. Kind like what the Blackhawks have done.

To be honest, i think the cubs should not extend DLee and should try desperately to trade him and try to convince him to waive his no trade. I honestly feel they should trade ramirez and Dlee and somehow acquire Miguel Cabrera through the prospects they would get. Eventhough Cabrera is paid big money, he's very young, one of the best and could be your first baseman for many years. A lot of people dont want to trade Ramirez but if you're honest with yourself, he's injury prone, does still have a lot of value and he can opt out next year so why not trade him. I expect the cubs to contend for the division but they're not going to be good enough to win it all. They need to sell high in my opinion.

Definitely not going to happen, he's the cubs version of kirk hinrich. Management likes him too much and wont deal him. Even if Starlin bats .500 in spring training and makes the big league club, the cubs would then shift theriot to 2nd. I dont like theriot either and i think his range and noodle arm costs us on defense but i dont see the cubs trading him away.

Not sure why they would spin him off to the cubs, dont know if there is anything the cubs have that the braves need. To me, the braves received a really crappy package for Vazquez. Vazquez was pretty much one of the top pitchers in the NL last year and in the Majors. I mean come on, cabrera, Dunn and a prospect for Vazquez and Logan? The Braves i would imagine could've done better than that. Looking at it and not considering the money, the yankees got much better while the braves got worse.

Your excuse making is mindboggling. It's as if you really enjoy mediocre baseball teams. Since Hendry took the job, the Cubs have averaged 83.8 wins. Philly has averaged 88.4, Atlanta, who went through some payroll trimming turmoil has averaged 86.8. By the way, Florida has averaged 82.8. The Cubs have been 1 win per year better than the Marlins, but 4.6 wins per year worse than Philly. The White Sox are 85.4, same as the Dodgers. The White Sox have been relatively better than the Cubs at a greater rate than the Marlins have been relatively worse than the Cubs. The Tigers had the historically bad 2003 team and were nowhere near a top payroll team until a couple years ago. There's no argument for support of Hendry. He's done a poor job constructing mediocre baseabll teams with very high budgets. He's been given more than enough time, more than enough resources and more than enough excuses. He's used the injury excuse on multiple occasions even though he consistently builds teams without regard for players with extensive injury histories. He's used the ownership change excuse even though his payroll went up during that time while others teams dealt with ownership turmoil as well as cost cutting. He's had 2 high profile high paid managers, several high cost free agents, and a decided advantage over the most important competition, the divisional opponents, but has not done nearly enough to justify supporting his performance. If it wasn't for one friend signing him an to an extension the day before he walked out the door, and another guy handing him further extension to "maintain stability" while the team was being sold and he was free to do as he pleased, he would have been booted long ago. Totally agree, i can't stand hearing the Chicago Media support this guy or continue to back him by saying "Well hendry is the first cubs GM to have back to back playoff teams" I mean who wouldn't be with that payroll and those resources. He's also the first GM to have a cubs team that is top three in payroll . Hendry just doesn't know how to spend money. We have the third highest payroll but yet we're not talked about in the same regard as the Phils, Yanks, red Sox, etc. Except for Piniella, i feel the cubs are in the same situation as the bears in which ownership isn't putting much blame in the GM and instead looking at the coach more. If the cubs suck again, i dont see any reason to keep hendry. I think Hendry should be fired now but i doubt that happens.

Not sure why this topic has turned into Mauer 2010 but quick question. Was wondering if this would be too much but lets say the yanks really did want Z. Would a trade of Z+Guzman for Hughes, Cabrera and Cano be too much? I would think this would be an even trade. Guzman to me has just as good of stuff as hughes except that guzman has been injury prone in the past and is older. I think if the cubs trade Z to the yanks without any cash going there way, they would definitely only be getting one really good player back (Cano or Hughes). The Yanks taking back Z's salary is pretty much as if the cubs are getting a huge asset in return.

As much as i like Mauer, i have to agree, i would be afraid to give Mauer a long term deal for big money. Mauer will product when he's out there but i think he might have some nagging injuries throughout his career.

Good article. Thats understandble, i would be down for just getting hughes and salary relief. I still prefer Cano over hughes because Cano is a proven player, i still have my doubts on hughes. If the cubs are able to trade Z to the yanks for someone like hughes, i would use the money to sign Chapman for the future and then also sign some Vets like Hudson, Cabrera or byrd to one year deals so that there's no commitment. 1) you're probably not going to get Cano 2) you'd have a huge hole in the rotation 3) Chapman is really overrated - how can you still have doubts about Hughes, but then want to pay the $20M or so to sign Chapman? 4) only Cabrera is likely to sign a one year deal out of those guys (though I could be wrong on Hudson) and I'd have no interest in Cabrera I dont think Chapman is overrated and the only contract that been thrown out there is the marlins 5yr 12 million deal which is about 2.5 million for a young Lefty who has potential. Its not a steep price to pay. I have doubt about hughes because yeah he's been decent in the bullpen but he's struggled as a starter. As for vets signing a one year deal, i dont know about that. I think you have to wait for what the market demands. I mean abreau signed a one yr deal last year and no one expected that. I think the cubs should just offer a multi year deal only if they see someone offering it. They shouldn't bid against themselves like they did last year with Bradley.