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champaignchris

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Everything posted by champaignchris

  1. champaignchris
    If people want to complain about the Cubs drafting, how about some actual questionable draft decisions... Brownlie over Matt Cain in 2002 Harvey over Nick Markakis in 2003 Pawalek over Ellsbury or Garza in 2005 Vitters over Heyward in 2007
  2. champaignchris
    It's not just that he got Karros and Grudzielanek. In the same deal, he got rid of Todd Hundley. Got rid of a cancer in exchange for two starters on a division champ team. Probably not his best trade, but it might be his most underrated. Not mentioned so far, I think... Bradley for Silva.
  3. champaignchris
    Nolasco, Piggy and Willis for Pierre, right? I forgot about that one. No. Mitre, Nolasco, and Pinto. Willis was sent with Cueto, Tavarez, and Jorgensen for Alfonseca and Clement. I'd defend that trade as one that was pretty good for both teams. But it was a Lynch transaction, so isn't part of the conversation.
  4. champaignchris
    I forgot about that one. Yes, that was probably Hendry's single worst trade as GM of the Cubs.
  5. champaignchris
    Hendry's worst sequence of transactions was the following from December 2008 to February 2009: 1. Signs Aaron Miles and Joey Gaithright as free agents. 2. Engages in a series of trades with the Orioles and Mariners which essentially net the Cubs Aaron Heilman (and a minor leaguer who is no longer in baseball) in exchange for Ronnie Cedeno and Felix Pie. 2. Trades Michael Wuertz to Oakland for two minor league players, one of which is out of baseball and the other of which is no longer in the Cubs' organization. So you get rid of relatively young and cheap players for older, more expensive, worse versions of those same players. I'm not saying the Cubs would have been world-beaters in 2009 if Hendry had just stood pat, but I just don't see why you pay over $4.6 million to Miles, Gaithright, and Heilman instead of paying about $2.3 million for Cedeno, Pie, and Wuertz.
  6. champaignchris
    Nah... The target audience won't actually watch the movie. They'll just look at the ticket sales and revenue stats to decide whether it's a good movie. \:D/
  7. champaignchris
    Even if you take out the replacement starters' 6.62 ERA in 29 starts, the quintet of Cashner, Garza, Zambrano, Dempster, and Wells have a combined ERA of 4.79, which would still be the worst starters' ERA in the league. While the replacement starters throwing batting practice in a quarter of the starts this season is certainly a major factor in the Cubs doing so poorly, it is only exacerbated by the fact that Dempster and Wells are both performing well below the level anyone would have reasonably expected, and Garza and Zambrano aren't having good enough years to make up for the underperformance of the others.
  8. champaignchris
    Compared to Derrick Lee last year, Pena is cheaper, better, doesn't have a no trade clause, and is left handed. I would not be surprised to see the Cubs get a marginally better deal for Pena than they did for Lee last year.
  9. champaignchris
    I think the impliciation is that it's wrong that he isn't healthy enough to fly with the team, but is healthy enough to take a much longer international flight. How dare he fly for something frivolous like the adoption of his son, while refusing to do so for something important like a baseball game!!! Zambrano is obviously a bad person!!! And what's this I hear about him actually trying during batting practice? The shame!!!
  10. champaignchris
    I think injuries go along way towards explaining why the team is a sub-.400 club instead of the .480-ish club most of us expected. They're the difference between the team being dreadful and merely below average.
  11. champaignchris
    Barney IS Ryan Theriot, six years younger.
  12. champaignchris
    How do you write an article on the Cubs' free agent targets next year and not even mention Albert Pujols? One sentence... "Albert Pujols is not an option for the Cubs because... ."
  13. champaignchris
    The Sox indeed are the tallest midget. Their one World Series win in the last 90 years is so much better than the Cubs' zero. There is the irrefutable proof the Sox fan has always been looking for. Wear your crown with pride, Sox fan!
  14. champaignchris
    Pena is younger, cheaper, and better than Derrek Lee was last year, and left-handed, too. The Cubs should be able to get a better package for Pena than they did for Lee. ETA - Pena also doesn't have a no-trade clause, meaning the Cubs don't have to negotiate any trade through him and more teams can be involved in the bidding.
  15. champaignchris
    I don't know about 3,000 hits. But, barring injury, he's a virtual lock for 500 hits before his 23rd birthday, which gives him a pretty good head start.
  16. champaignchris
    He hit 0.098 in May. What was his injury? He only has 3 xbh since May 1. Apparently he went to Camp Colvin too Is that the camp where they puncture your lung with a shard of wood.
  17. champaignchris
    Doesn't Ramirez have a buyout ($2M) if the mutual option isn't picked up by the Cubs? The Cubs will pay the $2M instead of bringing him back for $16M. The $16M option becomes guaranteed if he gets traded. So, the Cubs simply will not trade him unless they can negotiate a deal where they're only on the hook for less than the remainder of this season plus $2M or get significant player value back that justifies the additional expenditure. I don't see either scenario as being likely. I think Ramirez is on the Cubs for the remainder of the season and then becomes a free agent. EDIT - "unless" > "if" Big difference.
  18. champaignchris
    There's only one untouchable guy - Castro - but there are other guys that you'd only really trade if you were getting something that would immediately contribute to your team next year. You don't trade guys like Barney, Soto, Garza, Marmol, Marshall, Byrd, or Wells for salary relief or for prospects who are a long way from making it to the Bigs. If there's a baseball trade to be made - major league player for major league player, that improves the team, great. Your trade targets are guys who won't be back next year and can net you some future prospects - Pena, Fukudome, and Baker. Or you try to trade a bad contract for salary relief - Soriano. I'm assuming that Ramirez simply can't be moved and the Cubs will just let him walk after this season. Zambrano and Dempster both sort of straddle the fence. Their contracts are bad, but not horrible, and they can be productive members of the team in 2012. Both contracts come off the books after 2012. I think you only trade them if you get immediate help. For all the doom and gloom the media spreads about the Cubs' contract situation, Ramirez' 14.6M, Fukudome's 13.5M, Pena's ~5M, Grabow's 4.8M, and Samardjiza's 3M are all off the books after this season if the Cubs do nothing.
  19. champaignchris
    Right. If someone offers you someone who can be a starter for a few years at a position of need that would be harder to fill than the catcher spot, then you'd consider the deal. I can't off the top of my head think what that position would be or who you'd get, but it would have to be part of a major deal that would significantly alter the makeup of the team. Something like: Soto plus other MLB players plus prospects for all-star and another player.
  20. champaignchris
    At the end of last year, I was among the "move him to 2nd base" camp. But after watching him more this year, I take it back. He's got a great arm and is very athletic. I think he's at SS for a long, long time.
  21. champaignchris
    You can plow over the other players. Happens all the time to 2B/SS covering second, particularly when the runner is trying to bust up a potential double play. I'd guess far more middle infielders are hurt from collisions from runners than catchers, which makes sense given that they have far less protection. If runners aren't allowed to have contact with the fielder covering the base, you have to make it illegal for the fielder to block the runner's path to the base.
  22. champaignchris
    http://www.baseballprospectus.com/odds/ If the Indians do have a .460 winning percentage the rest of the way as predicted by BP, I'd feel comfortable labeling it as an "absolutely epic collapse."
  23. champaignchris
    Who's going to catch them? At this point, it would take an absolutely epic collapse for anyone other than the Tigers to catch them (and, no, the Royals don't count as "anyone" - Call me back in about a year and a half), and the Tigers would have to significantly pick up their play to catch the Indians playing .500 the rest of the year. It's not so much how well the Indians have been playing, as much as how horrible the two teams which were supposed to compete for the division title have been playing. If either were playing just a little worse than expected and were hovering 5 or 6 games behind the Indians, I wouldn't be saying the Indians had it in the bag. But, as it is, "the Indians have it in the bag."
  24. champaignchris
    Bizarre. More bizarre... The Cubs have now gone 2 for 11 with RISP in each of 3 straight games, May 16-17-18.
  25. champaignchris
    So what you're saying is that a center fielder, who for his career has given you slightly better than average production for a center fielder, probably shouldn't be your #3 hitter? This is quite the radical concept.
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