WrigleyField 22

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.

Both could be done at the same time. Multitasking!

Also traded for Nomar. Although we don't still have him, he qualifies under this category. Even Lofton to an extent, even though he was clearly just a rental player.

Well without looking at the stats of hits to runs, I can tell you it has nothing to do with bad luck. Our pitching staff just walks too many guys.

I don't know about 2008, but I say Barck Obama in 2012. 2008 will be my first chance to vote in a presidential election. I'm looking forward to it at this point, but am still very undecided on many important issues.

http://www.liquorsnob.com/archives/pictures/Super-Troopers-thumb.jpg

I thought he was solid at catcher defensively? He certainly doesn't have the bat for 1B even if he couldn't handle catcher defensively. Any speculation or explanation on this move? Rick was solid defensively as catcher, but Jake Muyco, for instance, was much better than solid defensively, so there may not be room for him in the system any longer as a catcher. However, with Craig and Norwood at first, that move seems equally questionable, so not exactly sure what's up with this. Rick has guys like Soto, Reyes, Richie and Fox are ahead of him with guys like Robinson, Muyco, Reed, Canepa and Mercedes behind him. Apparently he is going to be the odd man out in the catcher situation. In terms of his bat, he had a red hot second half and was batting fifth a lot for Daytona in August. Was there any reported change in his swing that would lead to believe he has turned the corner, or are we hoping he just "got it"and will continue to hit well?

If you trade for Ichiro there is the possibility that he is a one year rental. We could have to give up some good prospects for him. Is that worth it? Maybe he'd work out an extension, but do we want to give an extension to a 33 year old OF who will demand big bucks?

That's actually not a good thing. Right. Except i meant to say .020 Stupid decimal places. I always mess up some mundane detail like that. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v313/snetsrak43/bolton.jpg

I thought he was solid at catcher defensively? He certainly doesn't have the bat for 1B even if he couldn't handle catcher defensively. Any speculation or explanation on this move?

I'm more afraid of the number of picks the Cubs will lose. Again. Well I guess that depends how they approach this offseason. If we try to make a bunch of FA signings in a weak attempt to win next year, we could lose some. I'd really be in favor of trying a quick "rebuild" where we accept some mediocracy next year in hopes of making a stronger effort in 2008. Also even if we did go after some FAs that cost us picks it could turn out like: Gain bottom 15 first rounder and supp. for Pierre Lose a 2nd and 3rd rounder for OF and P We have the same number of picks, just make the first three within the first 40ish picks ,instead of top 70-80.

I was about to celebrate because I thought out meant cut... I agree, hope this isn't too serious.

I hope its around and we get some picks for Pierre.

I wonder if Fox could be a utility type player in the future? Spend some time at catcher backing up the starter while bouncing around OF,3B,1B other times. An good comparison is Craig Wilson who played 21 games at catcher in 2003 while also playin games at 1B and OF. Lookng at Wilson's career numbers, they aren't out of the possibility for Fox, though he would likely have to have a higher BA to sustain the OBP. Best case scenario is that he works on his weaknesses and becomes a full time catcher, but if he still doesnt have it down in a few years, then you could test him out elsewhere.

You want to count on Roinson being catcher over Fox because of 12 hot games for Daytona?