WrigleyField 22

I just recieved the assignment for my next English paper: Defend Hilary Clinton as 2008 Presidential Candiate...

And Les Walrond. Well played. Ryu kidding? I Juan Jim to Rusch Glendon out the door, and Mabry I'll buy tickets again. Howry we gonna compete? That's Rich. Ohman. cut it out guys your killing me!!! :lol: I guess we'll just have to grin and Barrett when Hendry goes Dempster diving for low-priced free agents this offseason. Maybe you all can help out here: http://www.progressiveboink.com/dugout/archive/dugout8-6-06.html (make sure to sctoll down)

If Hendry could sign Hunter for only one year, he would be a fine stopgap tp Pie as long as he hit lower in the order 6 or 7. He provides great defense and pretty good slugging for a CF. His OBP is avg. He has put up a .800 OPS three of the last 5 seasons, a 4th season he was within .12 pts. All that being said, I can't imagine him signing a one year deal so there really isn't any circumstance in which I would want Hunter on this team.

I definately agree Pujols deserves it more. I could understand the Beltran arguement some, but they lost me on the Cabrera agrument a bit. Cabrera is more valuable to the Marlins because if they lost him they would suck, whereas the Phillies would be fine without Howard? Maybe a better way to look at it would be this: Who would improve the Marlins more, Howard or Cabrera? Now if you still ultimately came to the decison that Cabrera was more valuable because of defensive position etc. fine, but don't hand it over to Cabrera over Howard because his team is 22 pts shy in OPS.

:roll: Even if we can sign a big FA pitcher and hitter, we probably still have 2 weak spots in the lineup, and without a healthy effectve Prior we have 3 rookie/young pitchers, who have potential, but are no guarantee to contribute enough towards a competative team. We can not count on is health, but we sure better hope for it.

I'd rather get him some at bats at AAA. If he responds well you can pull him up, show off his talents at the big league level and sell high.

They're only bad names because your so used to similar players becoming Dusty's favorites and starting over better players. Most of these players have some value if they are utilized corectly.

Jason Marquis is a goo fit for an already contender looking for a back of the rotation guy. I don't think he has much to offer for the Cubs.

Which wouldn't be too far off Eckstein's career OBP/SLG of .351/.362. Hmm... I didn't realize his career slugging was that low. I was thinking he was a consistent .360 .400 guy. Scrap that. All three are similar.

If Aramis leaves the team needs to be blown up. Barrett and Lee could net plenty of good prospects. Zambrano could as well, but you could decide to hold onto him as he is still young. Jones and Izturis, if you eat a little salary could each net a high risk pitcher who has stuff, but not the numbers. Actually I'm bored and think I will do a "what if Ramirez leaves-blow up scenarion soon".

Adam Kennedy- A number 8 hitter and 2B. He is on the wrong side of 30. He can probably find a place to compete for the 2B job with someone else similar. Has been used primarily against righties this year with decent numbers so a platoon role somewhere is a possibility. He probably would become a fan favorite because of the casual fans view that he is "scrappy" Gary Matthews Jr.- He has had a big year and some team will overpay for him because of it. In reality he is probably more of a 4th OF. Trot Nixon- Another guy who could be solid in a platoon role vs righties. Will probably see a paycut from his 7.5M. May want a starting role and could get it. Mark Redman- AN ALL STAR PITCHER! ok ok it was with the Royals. He is nota good pitcher, but some team will value a lefty to stick in the back of the rotation enough to give him a chance and a couple million bucks. Preston Wilson- His only good numbers have really only come from the benefit of playing in Colorado. If theres a team who is trying to break in a young OF and needs a backup plan who can fill any OF spot, hes the guy.

I think the Eckstein comparison has been used a lot. I don't think thats right. The comparison I do see, and I don't think it has been mentioned, is Adam Kennedy. He has a career line of .280 .332 .398 .730. I think Theriot can do a little better with OBP but with a drop in SLG, something like .345 .375.

Well the past two seasons he has had 201 and 207 IP. He's sitting at 187 now. If he doesn't get it, it will be darn close. Yes, his ERA sucks this year, but the past two years were 4.13 and 3.71 His SO:BB ratio isn't drastically worse than last year. His HR #s are up a little. Maybe "solid" was the wrong word choice. It is a gamble, and isn't a certainty, but theres a decent enough chance he can get that ERA back around 4, that he can get a decent deal. Remember he just turned 28 this August, so as far as FAs go, he is young.

Jeff Supan- Some team looking for some stability at the back end of the rotation will sign him. That team could be the Cards who decide to keep him Jason Marquis- A solid bet to pitch 200 innings with a ERA around 4. Because of a down year he could come cheap to the Cards, or whatever teams wants him. Torii Hunter- His value is mostly in his defense. Should provide a OBP of around .330 and good SLG for a CF. Combined with solid D that should get him a few years. He is getting older and playing less games so that might knock down the price. Mark Bellhorn- If he could get his BA up around .250 he would be a great asset to any bench. Based on the past two years, he wont do that. I think he'll get plenty of teams willing to give him a look in Spring Training, but nothing gauranteed. Sean Casey- His OBP is pretty BA dependent, but he has never had a problem keeping that BA up so his OBP is always respectable. His power numbers are pretty bad for a 1B, he's seen only 2 years of solid SLG this milenium, one back in 2000. Still some team who values BA and needs a cheap option for 1B should give him a decent deal. For the sake of the Cubs we'll hope Lee doesn't have to retire or that team could be us. Also Hendry would like him since he doesn't strike out. David Dellucci - Coming off two good seasons and third pretty good one. A very good option as 4th OF. Will find his share of starts and get into a lot of games as PH. If a team gets desperate he might find a place with a good shot to start.

This is a thread for the FAs not named Soriano/Zito/Schmidt/etc. These are the guys who teams will look to fill bench/platoon/starter roles who are on a tight budget. These guys will sign deals worth a couple million. These guys might not cause a lot of interest among Cubs fans but if we do sign some big FAs, these are guys who we could look to for bench roles if we dont blow the whole budget on big name FAs Craig Wilson- Perfect Platoon partner vs. lefties (cough-Jones-cough) Could earn around 3-4M. Russell Braynan- Padres have a team option. If he hits FA can probably be had for 1MIL or under. A nice power bat off the bench who plays 3B(Another Cub need) Wes Helms- A solid player who plays mostly the corner IF, but can play some OF. His numbers say great bench guy, but after a particulary strong year, some team in a squeeze may sign him as a starter. 1-2MIL Jeff Weaver- Had a terrible year. Some team will take the opportunity to pick him up on the cheap in hopes he can be a bottom of the rotation innings eater. Francisco Cordero- Struggled in the beginning of the year. Has been great in small sample size in NL with the Brewers. Has past success and somewhat young (31). Some team in need of a setup man will give him a Howry/Eyre type deal. Shea Hillenbrand- Can play 3B/1B and had a little pop in his bat. OBP is very BA dependent. Some team will give him a starting gig and Jones type deal. Thats it for now. Feel free to add, I'll add some more later.

For reference sake, let take a look at some of the teams competing for the wildcard in the NL and their lineups(for simplicity we'll base on most PAs at the lineup spot... that gets tricky with trades ie-Philly, but it gives an idea) San Diego Roberts .365 .401 Cameron .354 .482 Giles .380 .400 Piazza .338 .503 Gonzalez .352 .499 Greene .320 .430 Castilla .254 .321/Jeoff Blum .298 .387 Barfield .322 .428 Philedelphia Rollins .334 .462 Utley .369 .513 Abreu .427 .434 Burrell .377 .484 Howard .414 .671 Rowand .321 .425 Bell .345 .398 Nunez .287 .270 San Francisco Winn .319 .390 Vizquel .369 .400 Finley .323 .398 Bonds .457 .532 Durham .362 .537 Hillenbrand .282 .428/Alou .344 .524 Feliz .293 .447 Alfonzo .301 .460/ Matheny .276 .338 ---This was real tricky because with a lot of guys with only partial season numbers I had to split up a lot and slightly modify the lineup Numbers for guys who spent the year on multiple teams have just that teams numbers shown. Now after seeing that, lets explore some possible lineups we might put together and some guesses at numbers ______________ Murton .360 .450 Lee .400 .550 Ramirez .350 .550 _____________ Barrett .340 .475 Jones .320 .450 Izturis .300 .340 Now out of those three wildcard teams they all have their weakspots at OBP, nearly all have a lot of power. We need to fill 2B and CF and a leadoff/#2 hitter and a middle of the order guy. While Sorianos OBP might drop he's a good bet for high SLG, so he is the middle of the order guy and can potentially fill either 2B or CF. Now if we can agree that Theriot would have an OBP of at least .335-.340 he could hit at the top of the order, but his SLG is one we would expect out of a #8 hitter. Overall he probably doesn't have a place. If Hendry is a little more creative he might be able to pass at the #7 spot because his OBP is respectable. The first idea that pops into my mind is to find a platoon partner for Jones. If you are opting to choose another player for Theriot, your funds are limited, but a couple million could get a nice stop gap(Loretta?). Now that only looks at half the game, obviously we need to solidify the pitching, but that should be doable as well. I know that the premis of this post was to "compete for the wild card" which doesnt sound as exciting as going for it all, but with the way the NL is mediocre teams can make the wild card. And once your in the playoffs, its just a matter of getting hot at the right time. That leaves a lot up to chance, but if you make moves that don't hinder the future, even if you miss next year, you should have a strong base of players to add on to that could take the whole NL in 2008.

We had much more hard evidence to show that Neifi did indeed suck though. If you want to contend next year Theriot should only be considered in a bench role, but if you want the aim for being midly competitve in an effort to make a big run in 2008, knowing with the way the NL is even a midly competative team has a chance with a little luck, then Theriot should at least be given an opportunity to take the 2B job.

I think he has shown enough to at least get a shot to compete with some other young 2B on a team that likely isn't going anywhere next season anyway.

It is posible that we wont see a very drastic change from his BA and OBP numbers. He may very well be able to be a .290 .360 guy. The main statistic thats inflated right now is the SLG. His SLG right now is .526. He has never had a SLG above .400 in his minor league career although he was close in 2005 and wasn't too far off this year in Iowa. So I would say he could have .400 SLG if everything went right. He'll probably end up with a OPS of around .700 Nice bench player or #8 hitter in a very good lineup.

Well the classy thing I suppose would be to honor at least some of his contract regardless. Certainly there would be no obligtion to, but I think many pro teams would give a little.

Not neccessarily for just 2006, just in general How to Sell High and Buy Low Jim Hendry Pacifism: Searching For Non-Violent Ways to Settle Disputes Michael Barrett Recovery: How to Become Healthy in Three Easy Years Kerry Wood Statistics 101: Jim Hendry and Dusty Baker

I think the drop in power numbers is due to the fact that nobody can slug .700+ every year. He's still slugging .534 this year. That's a great percentage. He's also lost around 100 points on his slugging this year simply due to the drop in his batting average. If he were still hitting .350, his slugging would be around .650. Even .650 would be a sizeable drop from his previous 3-4 healthy season, so its obviously not all tied to BA.

Do you guys think the drop in power numbers is due to his age, lack of steriods, or both?

With the help of DH I say he could do it for two more solid years. Anything after that he would probably see a steady enough decline to not be worth it as a DH.

I'm saying Bears 21 Vikings 13. No real reason and analysis, just a shot in the dark.