Guancous

As of now they are last year's team, minus Harden and Bradley, plus Byrd and Silva. I don't see how that is even remotely an improvement. And last year's team was not an improvement from the 2008 team. (minus Wood, DeRosa and Edmonds, plus Gregg, Bradley and Miles). They need to replace Harden just to stay even with last year's rotation. I don't see why a $140m payroll team has to go into a season hoping a bunch of stuff will work out so they can have a chance. This team should be in a position where a bunch of things would have to go wrong to think they don't have a chance, and that's not the case. The only way a team goes into a season "where a bunch of things would have to go wrong to think they don't have a chance" is when the team is the Yankees or Red Sox with their luxury-tax budgets. Most teams don't have All Stars at every position. Most contenders don't have Carlos Silva at that contract. Think about the 2009-2011 production of Bradley/Silva compared to if they signed Ernie Banks out of retirement. I fully expect Silva to give up any positive gains Bradley had last year. I'm expecting a 2009 Heilman level of performance.

If it weren't for the disciplinary problems last year, I wouldn't be shocked if Jay Jackson got the #5 spot out of spring training. I'm not saying it's a good idea but I could see Lou doing it if he compares Jackson's stuff to Wells.

He just wanted to be like one of the best Cubs ever. This just means he'll play worse during day games.

I don't think Theriot is overpaid compared to the average shortstop. Now, it would be foolish for the Cubs to keep him around with Castro and Hak-Ju Lee up and coming. Yuniesky Betancourt is due $4 million next year and $3.1 million this year.

considering that all but about 3 posts on this page are on my ignore list, i'm going to assume this was a completely worthless discussion. Semantic nitpicking+circular logic+sexual tension=This thread

The Tigers are under some dire straits. At least their bad contracts end in October. Did you know that Dontrelle Willis is still getting over $10 million a year! I did a double take when I looked up his contract: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3163167

The only bright side to this situation is the resurrection of the farm system. Hopefully we'll be getting cheap production from Vitters, Castro, Cashner and the Jackson twins for years to come.

That works as long as you sign impactful players. The article shows that Soriano has been exactly as productive as Cody Ross over the last three years. Let's hope that 2009 is an outlier but can you imagine paying Cody Ross $90 million over the next 5 years?

I don't have access to the article but the Cubs payroll obligations for their already signed players is around 100 million in 2011 (that includes Ramirez coming back on the player option). I'm not sure where they are getting the almost 125 million unless they are doing something really strange with signing bonuses. That's still poor but a huge difference when talking about a payroll of 140 million overall. The $125 million was for 2010. Here are some direct quotes from the article:

The Yankees were in gruesome shape as recently as two years ago. The point stands that we have almost $125 million tied up for 9 players in 2011. They're not for elite players. It can be argued that all of them are past their peak. The author really factored in the no-trade clauses. The article's focus was looking forward instead of investigating the current hole. Regardless of circumstance, picking up Carlos Silva at his discounted contract would be like FOX signing Jay Leno for a daily 9 PM show.

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=9936 Baseball Prospectus had an article today called, "Hot Stove University:The Cubs' Contractual Cul-de-Sac". It asked if the Cubs had the worst long-term contract situation ever. The results aren't pretty. (The article is behind the pay wall. I recommend subscribing if you don't already.)

I can live with Gaub, Archer, Stevens and Berg. Save that money for a bench player.

Perez is supposed to have elite defensive skills and he comes cheap. Maybe the Cubs need a poet in the clubhouse: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/foundation/release_090309.html

Fangraphs has Lowe worth $12 million in how down 2009 and worth almost twice that in 2008. I'm guessing he'd be worth $10 million+ in 2010. What scares me is 2011 and especially 2012.

Absolutely. Lee is more desirable than, say, a late career Fred McGriff. He can push any AL 1B to the DH slot as an offensive and defensive upgrade. This isn't even factoring injuries to other players. Of course, there's the matter of that pesky NTC.

I don't know if that is the case as it is Capps felt he could build up his value as a closer with the Nats then he would as a set up with the Cubs. Capps can be a God in Washington. They had a scoreboard video for Joe Beimel!

This morning on Mike and Mike, Olney was on and said that the Braves were trying hard for a while now to dump Derek Lowe's contract. Nobody would bite, though, so they shipped out Vazquez instead. i would have taken derek lowe for milton bradley in a heartbeat. That would make too much sense for both teams. I'm guessing the Braves were the ones who hung up on that one.

Sports Illustrated has a list of the ten worst MLB contracts. The Cubs have two of the top (bottom?) four. The Giants are the only other team on the list twice. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/sky_andrecheck/12/22/bad.contracts/index.html 2. Soriano 4. Silva 10. Bradley

Does this mean that Jordan Schafer or Nate McLouth is available for trade? I'd prefer Schafer because he's cheaper, younger and a better defender. What would it take to get him in a trade?

That makes no sense. Vitters hasn't touched the majors while Theriot has. If Vitters had some major league experience than you can compare him to Theriot's early major league career. As for Pie, Pie has had more time in the Majors than Fuld. Pie has been in the majors for about 2 1/2 years and his numbers dont scream potential. He had one good month but what about the rest of his time in the majors. I guess batting .333 with a OBP of .394 with 5 Hr and 13 RBIs scream potential. But then what do you have to say about his september numbers? it makes perfect sense if you understand the meaning of upside as it relates to a baseball player No it doesn't make sense in when it relates to Pie. If Pie had just last year of service time and posted those numbers, than i would definitely say he has way more upside but the fact that Pie has had a decent amount of playing time but yet hasn't made a huge jump statistically, doesn't scream upside. If last year was his first year and you saw the supposed speed, fielding ability, etc. Then you would say, yes Pie has huge upside, look at his intangibles. But the fact that he hasn't done well on the basepaths and only had about maybe two good months in about a 30 month career, doesn't scream upside to me. I mean how old til people stop labeling PIe a high upside type of player? 26

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/8347 Here's a list of the 12 guys that started for the Nats last year: 1 SP John Lannan 2 SP Craig Stammen 3 SP Jordan Zimmermann 4 SP Garrett Mock 5 SP Shairon Martis 6 SP J.D. Martin 7 Ross Detwiler 8 Scott Olsen 9 Livan Hernandez 10 Daniel Cabrera 11 Collin Balester 12 Marco Estrada

This signing makes more sense than the Nationals than anyone else. They have a young rotation and they use their bullpen a ton. Their bullpen isn't good to begin with and worthless when burnt out. That's why it makes sense for the Nats to sign Capps too. Marquis might be their Opening Day starter. Their #2 pitcher for most of the year was Shairon Martis. The Nats could do something in 2011. A healthy rotation of Strasburg, Jordan Zimmermann, John Lannan, Jason Marquis and Ross Detwiler/Shairon Martis could get 85+ wins with a strong offense.

No, I don't really think you're correctly stating what it is that people want. Ok then where'd I jump the tracks: Chorus: "Hendry wastes too much money so we need a new GM." Davearm: "Hendry doesn't spend differently or less effectively than other big-market teams." Tim: "All big-market teams waste money." Davearm: "So the big-market thing is the problem, not the GM." Tim: "Wrong." Davearm: :confused: step 1. I'd say step 3. Signing Johnny Damon for 3/$30 is inefficient. Signing Carlos Silva to 2/$24 is a fireable offense.

The fact we're even having this discussion is a great omen for Starlin's career.

This signing would make more sense if our upper minors weren't so stocked with bullpen arms. The Nationals need anyone who can break 80 mph. Their front office would be foolish to not sign Capps. That said, I live in DC and the Nationals front office isn't renowned for their sensemaking.