Hairyducked Idiot

This will help cleanse the soul: http://futurepocket.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/stanley-cup-finals-chicago-blackhawks-philadelphia-flyers-game-six.jpg Never gets old.

banhammer

I'm going to go find some Ranger fan misery porn.

I am neutral about the Cardinals... but I actually do hate certain members of their team. And lately I'm hating TLR more and more (never liked him but he's been extra douchey lately). That's where I am. I have a lot of friends and family who are Cardinals fans, and if the Cubs don't win it, I don't mind seeing them happy. But Ryan Theriot can take a flying [expletive] at a rolling donut.

by productive out i assume you mean "cut the cards' win probability in half" Apparently it didn't, because they tied the game.

All the credit for this second comeback goes to Theriot's productive out.

The crazy thing is, I think TT's Master Plan really could fit into the budget if you look at it really optimistically and do some frontloading. Just straight vanilla contracts for 2012, we have $58 million committed. Let's say Dempster walks away from his contract. I think it'd be optimistic to say you can get the non-Garza arbitration eligibles for a total of $8 million. Now we're at $66 million for 11 players. I doubt you can get Ramirez back for less than $12 million, and that's with the discount that comes with a longer-term deal. $78million for 12. You can reasonably hope to get Pujols and a top-flight starting pitcher for about than $35 million next year, thanks to the frontloading of the contract. What's a very optimistic number for Garza for 2012 with a long-term deal buying out his last two arbitration years. $9 million? $122 million for 14. Danks-level next starting pitcher? Gotta be at least $7 million. $129 million for 15. Castro gets a raise while we buy out his arb years. $3 million? $132 million for 16. Fill out the remaining 9 roster spots for $7 million, and you are within spitting distance of the payroll the last two years. And that's before you've saved a dime on Zambrano. Sure, some of these numbers are a smidge optimistic, but that's what this time of year is for.

I'd be very, very (pleasantly) surprised if the payroll went to $150 million.

Hopefully enough for one more year. Garza/Wilson/Zambrano/Wells/Cashner or whoever doesn't look all that great to me. And that's being optimistic enough that Zambrano will be back.

Everyone but the Yankees needs to be cost efficient. And even they do to some degree. But you also want to be roster-spot and playing-time efficient. You only get 8 lineup spots, and getting a ton of value out of 1/8th of those spots is also a form of efficiency.

Same as with the Cabrera thread: The Cubs have enough real holes to fill without using their finite resources to try to upgrade positions that aren't holes. Even if we assume that Jackson takes over CF, then this team needs a starting 3b, a starting 1b, and at least one, probably two starting pitchers. It will take all of our offseason resources to fill those spots well. We don't have the money or tradeable assets to be trying to marginally upgrade a settled position like 2b.

Merchandise revenues are shared by all 30 teams. For every Cubs Pujols jersey sold, the Cards will get as much $ as the Cubs. (AFAIK It's not 100% that simple, but basically that's the case.) I believe it really is that simple when it comes to merchandise. IIRC, teams get to keep the revenue on merchandise sold in their own stores, but general merchandising goes into the general fund.

It's stupid until you need one. But yeah, it's not completely linear.

Wilken didn't get an extension. Huh. That'd explain a lot.

You have to think Ricketts talked to him about his plans before signing him to an extension.

I don't have a problem with short-term upgrades. There are only so many long-term upgrades to be had, and you won't be able to spend your money on all of them.

Until you start talking prostitues. Which should probably be legal. But I wouldn't use them.

Definitely Soriano/Jackson/Byrd, imo.

I was thinking a corner spot. I know he doesn't have corner power, but it could develope. Byrd and Soriano. We have enough holes to fill without creating new ones and wasting resources on holes that aren't there.

I would be all kinds of on it if Buehrle only wanted 3/$30.

And was he really a good player?

How much of that came against the White Sox?

He was never going to shut down a potential avenue for a multi-year deal. The fact that he'd consider the Cubs isn't really news.

We have six arbitration eligible pre-FA players on the team. Matt Garza 5th-year player 2011 Salary: $5.95 million http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=3340&position=P Geovany Soto 5th-year player 2011 salary: $3 million http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=3707&position=C Jeff Baker 6th-year player 2011 salary: $1.175 million http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=2073&position=2B Randy Wells 4th-year player 2011 salary: $475,000 http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=4535&position=P Koyie Hill 6th-year player 2011 salary: $0.85 million http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=1829&position=C Blake DeWitt 4th-year player 2011 salary: $460,000 http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=7485&position=2B/3B My, uniformed, thoughts: I'd be surprised if Garza gets more than $7.5 million on a one-year deal, which is what he's signed the last two times he's been eligible for arbitration (he was a super-2). I haven't heard any rumors that he'd be interested in a longer-term one. Koyie Hill is an obvious non-tender candidate, but are there any other non-tender candidate on that list? Now might be a good time to lock in Randy Wells for a couple of years, lock in his arbitration years at a discount if you think he's going to be healthy going forward.

Who the hell is saying that? Whoever wants to see a bad team next is not a Cubs fan. Talk Cubs outside of a board like this, and you will run into tons of fans who think that the best course if action for 2012 is to place Vitters at 1b, LeMahieu at 3b and go with an outfield of Colvin/Jackson/Byrd (if you can't find a trading partner for Byrd). Because anything else is sacrificing the future for the present, or something blithering like that.