SCCubbieFAN

He has only 50 ABs this year but appears to have been killing the ball during those few ABs (.380 .456 .620). DeJesus, Teahen, and Gathright are all playing well too. Any chance the Royals would listen to offers for any of them?

Good questions. He's having a down yr. and last yr wasn't all that great either. Hill & Pie are too much.

The article does appear to be contradictory, and some of the examples aren't very good. However, in regard to the point about selling low, I feel the author is saying that the time to deal these players is when their value or perceived value is high because of a high ceiling, as in Patterson's case, or when a player is producing above expectations, as in the case of Jones. Don't wait till they tank horribly and then try to sell when their value has plummeted.

I think ya'll wil be pleasantly surprised by the 17th pick, Arik Hempy, from South Carolina. :D

I forget his name but it wasn't Kenny Holtzman

Random question...is that Paris Hilton in your avatar? If it is, she makes me sad. Hah yes it is. Booooooooooooooooooooooo. That's kind of funny, I was going to ask the same thing earlier, and have the same exact response. She's... yuck. I got rid of Paris and put up one of my wife. :) Tommy Flanagin I presume? 8-)

He wasn't bad. The D let him down big time today... I should have looked more closely at the box. 3 runs but none earned.

I take it from looking at the box score Prior wasn't all that effective today?

Doesn't Greene have a nagging finger injury from last year?

The amount in that article has been changed from what it stated when it was originally posted.

article on cubs.com is reporting 3/$20mil.

I don't know that's completely true, as it probably doesn't make financial sense for Matsuzaka to lock himself into the Red Sox for 5-6 years at "just" $7-$8 mililon per. (Putting aside the bird in the hand argument about potential injuries, of course.) If he takes the deal he'll make $35-$40 million over the next several years. If he decides to go back to Japan he won't make nearly as much over the next two years -- probably only $5-6 million or so -- but after that he becomes an unrestricted free agent. All he has to do is sign a Schmidt-like contract at that point for 3/$45 and he'd make $10-15 million more than if he'd taken the Red Sox current offer. (And, assuming he stays healthy, the odds are pretty high that he'd get a contract offer significantly higher than the one Schmidt got this year.) If Matsuzaka is looking to maximize his payday and he thinks he can stay healthy/effective for at least the next two years, it makes perfect sense for him to turn down the Red Sox if all they are offering is $7-$8 million over a lengthy contract. If they bump that rate up to $10 million or so, or are willing to grant him FA status after 3-4 years the offer starts to become far more compelling. I agree with what you are saying BK. My comment was based entirely on the situation as it stands now. 2 yrs from now if Mats stays healthy and continues to perform like he has, he will most likely get a much better deal than the $7-8 mil offer Boston is offering.

Mats is where he is b/c his team, Seibu, posted him. Had the team not done that, he would be pitching for Seibu at least one more year (if Seibu posts him next year) and possibly 2 more yrs at a salary around $2-3mil/yr before he is eligible to sign with a ML team as a FA. So in a sense Mats owes Seibu the favor of signing so Seibu gets the posting fee. As Vance stated, he is not a FA, he/his agent are not bidding against other teams, and Boston did pay an exorbitant amount for the right to negotiate for his services exclusively. He has never pitched a single ML inning, and if he does not sign and goes back to Japan for another yr or 2 and gets a severe or career ending injury or his skills decline, he may never throw a ML pitch. And, Boras will lose the commission. Lastly, not signing means Boston is off the hook for the posting fee. In this negotiation, Boston is clearly in the driver's seat.

What does this mean? :oops: Quoted for truth. Roundabout way of saying "I agree completely." thanks Warp

QFT What does this mean? :oops:

How about Murton in LF, Drew in RF, and Jones in CF. I just don't think Hendry will trade Jones unless he demands a trade or is wowed by an offer.

I still say move Jones to CF, Murton to RF, Lee/Soriano for LF or trade for another power bat for LF and soriano for 2b.

I'm still hoping the Cubs consider moving Jones to CF, getting soriano for 2b, & moving Murton to right. Then Burrell would be a good acq for left.

If Lou is hired and constructs a line up that leads off with a high OBP player instead of just a speedy player (Murton), bats another high OBP player second, moves Jones to center, and benches players who commit stupid fundamental mistakes and the Cubs succeed, what will your opinion be then?

1. Aramis would only have to be signed if he uses the clause to opt out of his current contract. Until he does so, he still belongs to the Cubs. 2. If he opts out, he becomes a free agent. There are rules governing whether or not you can trade a newly signed free agent so it's not "not cool", it would not be allowed by the league. ARam's deal/contract can be re-worked so he doesn't actually become a FA but even if he does, he can consent to a trade. If the Cubs were actually considering a deal involving ARam before or after he opts out or not, I'm fairly certain it would be w/ARam's knowledge and blessing.

My take on Rogers' statement/opinion regarding when a decision should have been made on Baker is that management decisions should be made well before the season begins so those issues do not cloud or disrupt the decisions that need to be made during the season. Not knowing if or when Baker would stay or go ended up being a soap opera among other soap operas that played out this season.

Why would a new manager have "low expectations"? I think a new manager, whoever he might be, will be expected to carry and hold the team to a much higher level than the current manager.

God it's funny being billionare's isn't it? Ok this 3 million will just shove into last year. OK! There we go. Now we have more money this year. I don't know if the Trib is going to think like that. Remember trib gives hendry his money. . I wanna say Hendry answered a question to that effect at a Cubs Convention a while ago. So if Hendry said our payroll was X amount of dollars going into a year hes already counting the potential buyouts. If they aren't used the Trib keeps the money, and I know they like that! Can anyone confirm hearing/remembering this? Maybe my memory is just bad. I can confirm that. It's not a matter of just shifting money around, it has to do with the way they're accounting for their expenses. If the Cubs pick up KW option, they pay that option/salary during the following year. If they don't pick up the option and buy him out, the buy out is paid this year.

I don't know if this has ever been suggested in this or any other thread but does anyone think Murton can handle center? He has decent speed and reminds me a bit of a young Jim Edmunds.

The difference in that OBP is ~20 extra times on base over the course of the year. Off hand I don't know the probability of a player scoring(this would of course vary with how many XBH make up the 20 extra times on base), but if half those times the player scores it's basically equivalent to a full win. I'd consider that pretty significant. EDIT: And a .333 OBP is 3.33 times out of 10 on base(not 3), and a .365 is 3.65 times out of 10(not 3.5) my bad (math) :oops: