SABR Gamer

Anthony Rizzo is going to be an all-star.

This seems like some 20 something chick just trying to make a buck. She probably did it willingly and then realized that she had an opportunity to cash in on it. This happens (Kobe, Ben, etc) and the athletes usually recover from whatever it did to their reputation once people realize it was a bunch of B.S. I wouldn't be too concerned unless more negative information comes out.

I really hope Rizzo is our 1B on opening day.

[expletive] that, we saw him first. The White Sox already have Ramirez and Viciedo which could very well attract him to them. But hey, you can't spell Cuba without Cub, right? Signing him and/or Solar sure would give me a lot more faith in the rebuild process. I really hope we sign Soler and Cespesdes, then trade for Rizzo + Prospects (with Garza somehow) and see what we can get for Marmol, Byrd, and Soto. We would have a nice core of young players in Cashner, Shark, Castro, Jackson, Cespedes, and Rizzo, with Stewart possibly ending up another above average young player if things work out well. Then guys like Soler, McNutt, and prospects from Garza, Marmol, Byrd, and Soto, plus others we have in house already like Szczur, Baez, Vitters, etc. would be a solid farm that would definitely have us looking good going forward. Forget Prince at this point. I have wanted him badly, but I think it's time to accept we aren't looking to win this year, and whether or not you think Prince is more than a win now move, the front office seems to not want to give out a big contract just yet.

He was using fWAR, not bWAR.

If the Cubs have a payroll of 100m I will plant C4 around Wrigley and blow it up. That is not okay, period. I would be irate.

I really wish the Fielder situation could pick up pace. edit: I realize the hold up is Darvish related. I guess I am just impatient.

How does DeJesus at a 2-year-deal fit into that dichotomy? He is cost efficient.

What is your love for Trumbo about? He really isn't very good.

Does this end our pursuit of Headley?

I am starting to think that Hollandsworth's mug is a robot.

Why you think Erlin is a touch overhyped? He hasn't been a top 100 prospect yet (although he could be this offseason when they come out with the new one) and haven't heard anyone saying that he's an ace caliber pitcher or even a great #2. I've seen the guy pitched and I wish he was in the Cubs minor leagues. Honestly I like him more than Martin Perez (Perez just reminds me of Marmol- his stuff is so good that it's hard to keep it in the zone if hitters aren't swinging) although Erlin doesn't have the stuff, but his control is off the chart. I think he got a very high floor and will be a productive pitcher for a long time. Anyway the reason I said Erlin/Wieland is that it would've been more pieces that Rangers could throw in on a deal. I agree that Diamondbacks got the legit centerpieces to do a deal for Garza. Profar is the only one from the Rangers that I would put on the same level as Skaggs/Parker. I want Cubs to offer like Garza/Marshall/Byrd for Justin Upton and see if they would bite. Heck you can replace B Jax with Byrd if that's what it takes. As for Feldman, seriously, why would Cubs ask for him in the deal? I would trade anything involving the Cubs not named Castro to get Upton. That would be a dream.

How many times are you going to post the same, "Marlins got blah blah, we got nothing. Would be so nice to be Miami," post? Plus I promise if we signed Bell, Reyes and Buehrle for the years/amounts they got, NSBB might be going crazy, but it surely wouldn't be happy. Same with the Angels, the Wilson deal is really good, but nobody would have been happy after about a week if we had signed Albert to 10/250.

Age at new contract: Soriano: 31 Werth: 32 Fielder: 28 That (3-4 years) is a significant difference. That's signing a guy entering his prime versus 2 players on the end/exiting their primes. Through age 27 (where Fielder is now), 5 best WAR seasons: Werth: 2.4, 1.5, 0.4, 0.1, NA Soriano: 5.7, 5.0, 0.2, -0.2, -0.5 Fielder: 6.4, 5.5, 5.1, 3.4, 1.7 Still think that Fielder is on the same level as those two? He just isn't, so I don't know why people try to compare them. You can decide some B.S. "5 years pre free agency" factor and ignore age to make your argument look right, but that's silly. I am purely arguing in favor of Fielder. Not making a comment on Pujols vs. Fielder, because Pujols is clearly better as long as the years aren't long, but that's not going to happen, so idk the point in debating it.

I wouldn't exactly call it short sighted. His inability to see that if we build the team the way he wants that we will absolutely suck isn't shortsighted? It's absurdly conservative, needlessly frugal, and no doubt, stubborn. But I don't see how putting all his focus on developing from within while punting the next several years is short sighted. I was using it as the inability to see the future, so being his inability to see that his plan (which is supposed to be about sacrificing now to go for the future) actually doesn't make us any better in the future unless we are extremely lucky, makes it short sighted. Anyway, we agree on the things that are relevant, so no point to have a grammatical debate over minor details.

I wouldn't exactly call it short sighted. His inability to see that if we build the team the way he wants that we will absolutely suck isn't shortsighted?

*Slow clap* Oh, but he'll say you can't read because he DOES want the Cubs to sign truly elite players to affordable deals when the time is just right. Y'know, those guys. I am already expecting him to stop reading my post after the first line, only respond to my sarcasm (barely), and ignore the rest of my post.

Why do you all keep arguing with Dave? It's clear he wants to have a 10 dollar payroll, keep all of our prospects and wait til we have our projected 2020 Baseball America lineup to compete. Nobody is worth trading for or signing. I have never seen a more stubborn, shortsighted person. Man, just give it up. You make points and then you don't explain them when people bring up valid flaws in your reasoning and then get mad at everyone saying they aren't reading you correctly. It's getting so old and boring. Say something productive please, and actually address points that people make without resorting to nonsensical argument manipulation.

Hanie.....dumbfounding.

5 and a half years here. Then what is a reliable way to evaluate defense? Scouting?

Sounds good. Yeah. That's intriguing and I'm certainly happy to hear it. Though I haven't paid much attention to how much Darvish will cost. Nothing can preclude getting Fielder or Pujols though. I really don't see how they can afford Darvis, Cespedes and still have room for both Pujielder and another SPer or three. 6-7 mil/y for Cespedes, 9-10 mil/y for Darvish. 25 mil/year for Pujols/Fielder. Thats 40-42 mil/year, I am not sure if that fits within our budget, but if the reports of the increased budget are true then it should fit. But I would do those 3, call it an off season (in terms of big moves), and then hope luck goes our way this year. That gives you some chance to compete this year and a good foundation for the future with Castro, Cespedes, Garza, Fielder/Pujols, Darvish as a solid core, with guys like Jackson and McNutt potentially adding to that core. Then you have Z/Demp off the books next year, opening up cash to add a #1 pitcher and another solid starter. C Soto/Castillo 1B Pujols/Fielder 2B Darwin Barney 3B SS Starlin Castro LF CF Brett Jackson RF Yeonnis Cespedes SP SP Matt Garza SP Yu Darvish SP SP Trey McNutt Cashner, Marmol, Marshall, Samardzija, Russell as the key members of the pen. Beginning next off season we would look like this with a lot of money to spend, and even more if someone will eat part of Soriano's contract.

It gets me wet. dripping, even Lol, ok.

On topic: I am fully on board with signing Yeonnis Cespedes. I would love to see him in the opening day lineup. Any time you can get a guy with potential to be a star and likely at least an average or better player for ~$6 million that's something you definitely should do.

grrrrr When did it become the trendy thing to talk about getting hard on NSBB? I am not a big fan of the movement. It's really just getting way overused and stupid at this point. It got old a long time ago.

(assuming he is actually a Cards fan in disguise)