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vance_the_cubs_fan

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Everything posted by vance_the_cubs_fan

  1. vance_the_cubs_fan
    There's two extreme possibilities here. Once could be that Loria is a pain in the ass to work for. The other is that Girardi is a control-freak on the level of Buck Showalter.
  2. vance_the_cubs_fan
    I'm picking other, and I'm not sure who that other will be. But when looking at that field, I don't think any one stands out. I think that in the next six-eight months a candidate that is more likely to be elected will emerge.
  3. vance_the_cubs_fan
    Couldn't he just buy some from that shop on Clark?
  4. vance_the_cubs_fan
    Miller doesn't fool anyone sitting at 85-88.
  5. vance_the_cubs_fan
    So, what's Miller's velocity?
  6. vance_the_cubs_fan
    I just hope that Prior's talent doesn't go the way of Juan Guzman.
  7. vance_the_cubs_fan
    I thought this thread was going to be about someone killing Ray Durham.
  8. vance_the_cubs_fan
    It's my understanding that Kent's contract is up. There may be an option that I'm not aware of. He's going to be old, and his slugging has declined, and his defense never was his calling card, but if power is needed in the line-up, Kent could bring a little pop.
  9. vance_the_cubs_fan
    There's no reason to go into 2007 with Ronny or Theriot as the starting 2b. There should be a number of options on the FA market that would be markedly better. Some will be more expensive than others, but here are some impending FA 2b with 2006 stats and age. 1. Luis Castillo age 31. 291/347/368. Castillo could answer the lead-off question if Pierre leaves. He doesn't steal as well as he used to and his success rate isn't great either. He's not a great option, but he is better than Cedeno. 2. Mark Loretta age 35. 293/353/366. He, like Castillo doesn't have much power and he won't steal a lot of bases, but he brings a nice OBP. Could fill the lead-off or number two spot in the line-up. 3. Ray Durham age 34. 298/367/541. His SLG% is way out of line of anything he's done previously, so I wouldn't pay too much expecting that kind of slugging. He'll bring above average OBP and could also fill the need of a lead-off hitter. One of course could add Soriano to this list. And other players of mention include Adam Kennedy, Craig Biggio (though I doubt he goes anywhere), Mark DeRosa, the much maligned Todd Walker, Mark Grudzielanek, and Ronnie Beliard. That's 9-10 FA second basemen on the market that all would provide varying degrees of productivity, but all would be better options that what the Cubs have in-house. Also assuming that Marcus Giles could be placed on the trade block, and there's no good reason to go into spring training with Theriot or Cedeno as anything more than a utility player on this team. Edit: I also neglected one of my favorite options in Jeff Kent. With that many secondbasemen looking for employment, it may be the one area with the exception of Soriano, that bargains are easily found.
  10. vance_the_cubs_fan
    Some of this gets old, really fast. Hendry and Baker get enough bashing in threads that deal with their moves and ideas. Bringing this crap into every [expletive] thread really isn't necessary or productive. [/rant]
  11. vance_the_cubs_fan
    Murton could fit on this team, if a number of other moves are made. One scenario would be to trade for Andruw Jones to play CF and signing someone like Durham for secondbase. 2b Durham LF Murton 1b Lee CF Jones 3b Ramirez RF Jones C Barrett SS Isturis It's not a great line-up, but it should be productive enough. If the Cubs keep Pierre around, it creates more problems. In that situation, the Cubs would need to sign Soriano for second to make up for the loss of power in the OF or trade Jones to create an opening for a player with more power. That line-up could be: CF Pierre LF Murton 1b Lee 3b Ramirez 2b Soriano RF Jones C Barrett SS Izturis That line-up isn't as strong as the above, but it might work ok. Another alternative to Soriano is Jeff Kent. However, penciling in Kent in the place of Soriano makes the line-up better than it currently stands, but not strong enough in my opinion. What if the Cubs went after Kent for 2b, re-signed Pierre, and then pulled off a trade for Tejada. That could shore up things. That line-up would look like this: CF Pierre LF Murton 1b Lee 3b Ramirez SS Tejada 2b Kent RF Jones C Barrett That's a damn potent line-up! How realistic it is, I don't know. Keeping Pierre and getting Kent wouldn't be the hard part, but it would rest fully on getting Tejada. Taking out Tejada and replacing him with Izturis takes it from a good line-up to a mediocre one at best. I don't think that Murton is the weak link in the OF. He's already more productive than Jones. The Cubs will have to fill CF and 2b in the offseason. With either trades or FA signings, the Cubs could work to fix the line-up without having to trade or bench Murton. If I were Hendry, I'd already be making contacts with Atlanta on Giles and Jones and with Baltimore on Tejada and with Texas on Michael Young. Any of those players would help set the course for the FA signings that would follow.
  12. vance_the_cubs_fan
    I see Murton posting numbers comparable to Rusty Greer. Greer's career line: 305/387/475. That's not bad and I think that is attainable for Murton. At 27-28, Greer posted SLG of 530 and 531 respectively. Murton may be able to do that in his best years as well. Greer's lowest BA was 271 in a year he still posted a 355 OBP. His lowest OBP was 342 in a year in which he struggled with injuries. A few times, Greer exceeded a 400 OBP. I think Murton could follow a similar track, and hopefully without the injuries that hampered Greer.
  13. vance_the_cubs_fan
    If the Dodgers are in a hurry to get out from under Drew's contract, then maybe they take Jones for Drew straight up? Jones @ 2/9 maybe looks better to them than Drew @ 3/33. Obviously the talent/production isn't balanced, but we've all seen crazier salary dumps than that. $24M saved is nothing to sneeze at, especially these days, when GMs are swapping contracts as much as they are players. But, does the extra $23M and 1 season you have to give Drew result in real offensive impact? Is it worth the 50 extra points in OBP and 20 less in SLG? That's a big assumption that there will be that much a drop in SLG. This year, Jones holds a 20 point edge in SLG, but in 2005, Drew had a SLG of 90 points higher as well as an OBP of nearly that amount. In 2004, Drew had a SLG on 140 points higher. I think that it's just as likely that Jones and Drew will SLG at identical clips over the next two years, and also likely that Drew could outslug him. Taken along with the fact that Drew is going to get on base at 50-100 points higher than Jones, yes it is worth the extra.
  14. vance_the_cubs_fan
    If the Dodgers are in a hurry to get out from under Drew's contract, then maybe they take Jones for Drew straight up? Jones @ 2/9 maybe looks better to them than Drew @ 3/33. Obviously the talent/production isn't balanced, but we've all seen crazier salary dumps than that. $24M saved is nothing to sneeze at, especially these days, when GMs are swapping contracts as much as they are players. If I could turn Jacque into Drew, I'd be ecstatic. Hell, I'd let them have Izturis back in the deal as well. :)
  15. vance_the_cubs_fan
    It's only Wednesday and I'm already excited about LSU-Auburn. Hopefully the Bayou Bengals can come away with a win. A one-sided win would be even better!
  16. vance_the_cubs_fan
    Dayn Perry! Perry probably knows about as much about prospects in the Cubs system as my 10-year-old nephew.
  17. vance_the_cubs_fan
    I'd take a look at Nomar for third if Ramirez leaves. Other than that, I don't think he fits our needs. I'd be all about getting Drew if the Dodgers made him available. He has a 380 OBP for this season. If we could move Jones and trade for Drew, that would be great. I don't see Hendry moving Jones however. Rather than think about Nomar, the Cubs might want to look at Kent for secondbase.
  18. vance_the_cubs_fan
    Ramirez will ask for a deal that equals Lee in lenght and value.
  19. vance_the_cubs_fan
    Before keeping Pierre, the Cubs should make many inquiries into the availability of Andruw Jones.
  20. vance_the_cubs_fan
    Since I seem to have started this maelstorm with an off the cuff comment last night, I'm going to offer a little clarification. I think Dusty is not above showing favortism. I don't think that favortism is always based on the same ideas. Sometimes it could be based on tenure in the majors, sometimes it might be based on whether he likes you, sometimes other things which I may or may not have alluded to in this thread. I don't think he does it with bad intentions. But I find it hard to argue that he does have "favorites". I think for whatever reason, Bynum has become a player Dusty likes. Dusty will seek to protect those he likes. Others, he may be willing to throw under the bus if it will make him look better. I doubt he will do that to Bynum. My guess is that Bynum will see another start this week inspite of the errors. Had it been Theriot, my guess is we might only see one or two more starts for the year.
  21. vance_the_cubs_fan
    An alternative to putting Jacque in CF would be to work to acquire Andruw Jones from the Braves. Having Andruw's power in CF would make up for some of the power we lack on the corners. But I doubt we have the bullets to pry both Jones and Giles away from the Braves, so in that scenario a new 2b would be needed other than Giles. If the team feels uncomfortable with Murton leading off, then Durham could be the answer. Another interesting idea would be Jeff Kent. He's old, but still relatively productive and will be a FA. The Cubs probably could get him on a one year deal as well.
  22. vance_the_cubs_fan
    On the bright side, even if we end up with the third pick, maybe the BPA will sign with Boras and easily slide to the Cubs due to signability.
  23. vance_the_cubs_fan
    That was very funny baserunning.
  24. vance_the_cubs_fan
    I Heart Matt Murton.
  25. vance_the_cubs_fan
    Regardless of where Hill is slotted, barring a trade, the Cubs have Zambrano, Hill, Marshall, Marmol, Mateo, Guzman, Ryu, and Prior to compete for rotation spots. Zambrano is guaranteed a spot. Prior will be there, but we don't know what he has. He could be a great number two or a dissapointment at a #5. We just don't know. Hill likely would be a good number three, but he's uncertain. Could two of the other five be good enough to fill out the rotation? I don't know, and I'd rather not take that gamble. If I knew that Prior would be the Prior of 2003, then I'd say we have enough depth to roll the dice and go with Zambrano, Prior and three of the above six and hope for the best. If you sign a pitcher of Schmidt's caliber, though, Zambrano and Schmidt give the team two legitimate aces. If Prior is the Prior of old, then that 1-3 would be as good as any in baseball. If not, the team still has two aces. With Schmidt in the fold, the Cubs could use Hill as the number four and then trade one or more of the remaining five while keeping three of them for dept and competion for the last spot in the rotation. If you sign a FA less than the caliber of Schmidt or Zito, then you might have to keep more of the kids around to give you a larger net in the case of failures.
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