cubbieinexile

Why? Why would you rather have a starting SS who only gets you 2 wins instead of a starting SS that gets you 8 wins?

Andre had a .303 batting average in 1988 I can see a lot of people actually thinking that Dawson was close to the same level as he was in 1988 despite the loss of home runs.

I know what you meant I was messy with you.

Nope not 6. Fergie won 20 or more 6 years in a row for the Cubs but he won 20 only 2 years in a row. I could answer all of the questions but why ruin it for others. I only responded to the Fergie part because the wording tickled my brain.

I'm not saying, I'm just saying. . . How many of you will still have your loving views of DLee if he starts off slowly next season? How many will gush about DLee if he puts up a .880 OPS, .285 avg, and 28 homers? Baseball has always been a what have you done for me lately type place.

Fergie won 20 games twice in a row for the Cubs. :wink:

Man they signed him to multi-year contract? For some reason I always thought he was a NRI.

I never liked these types of evaluations. It creates this weird sense that being overpaid is bad, it isn't. Once a player goes past average his salary skyrockets and wins above average are a premium for most players that have more then 4 years of experience. If you build a team that is efficient with their money, meaning they acquire players that play at a level that these stats deem is worth the money they are being paid you know what kind of team you would have? 90% of the time you would have a team that doesn't make the playoffs and probably has a losing record. I said it before in another thread but people get so wrapped up in the money that they lose sight of what is being added and what is the other options. Yes you can get a guy who gets paid 1 million dollars and is worth 2 wins or you could get a guy who is paid 8 million dollars and gives you 6 wins. It seems to me that a lot people would be pissed that their team got the second guy and think they got a deal on the first guy. Even though getting the accurately or even underpaid first guy is going to cost you 4 wins.

Yes George Altman was the first batter to hit 2 home runs in 1 game against Sandy Koufax. Did it in 1961.

I don't think Fornieles was a star was on the rise.

Big George looked like a star in the making in the early 60's. Sadly it was not to be. One day though George squared up against another rising star, a star that would continue to rise as George's waned, and managed to be the first player ever to do what?

And you think they won't be able to get that? Again this isn't the Twins.

So then what do you get? Accurately priced lower level players? What would you rather have a player that adds 2 wins to your team at 2 million dollars or a player that adds 4 wins to your team but at 8 million dollars? Because that is what is out there. you have Nomar and Furcal who are going to get the bigger money. Eckstein who is probably going to get decent money and then dreg. The Cubs are not the twins, they can afford to overspend to get the extra wins. This team doesn't have to be efficient with their money especially with so much of it coming off the books, and even more so if they play Murton on left and Cedeno in the infield.

If I buy something at $1 and then buy something else at $3 thats an increase of extraordinary percentage but when it is all said and done it is still just 2 extra dollars. On a 100 million dollar payroll spending 3 million dollars more for a $5 million dollar valued player isn't that big of a deal. Especially when the downside of not signing that overpriced players is to pick up somebody who is only worth 2 million or who is extremely risky. Yes the Cubs could go out and sign a player at 4 million and have that player be worth 4 million. Or they could sign a player at 8 million and have him be worth 5 million. Personally I'll take the overpriced 5 million dollar guy because he adds more wins to the team and the Cubs can afford to pay extra for those extra wins. Again we are not talking about Pittsburgh or Milwaukee we don't have to pinch every penny. We can waste money to maximize wins.

Doesn't Baker realize he is part of the problem? Baker is the one letting fair players get a job and he is the one stifling competition.

For me what is clear from those stats is that Albert Pujols does not belong in this discussion. Both Lee and Pujols are first basemen and Lee has put up better numbers then Pujols, the only thing Pujols beats him on is OBP. So to me Pujols as no real case for MVP other then what his team as a whole did. AS for Andruw I think you are forgetting about the other side of the game, which is the defensive part of the game. Andruw a CF'er and DLee a first basemen. Is it enough? I don't think so, what is odd or funny for me though is that if Griffey hadn't got himself injured at the end of the season he would probably look better then Jones. And he might even have had a valid shot at the MVP, though they never would have voted for him. Before his injury Griffey was getting red hot. He could have finished close to Lee in home run totals, had a better AVG, OBP, and SLG then Andruw Jones all while playing CF. If he had finished out the season I would be saying DLee vs Griffey not DLee vs. Andruw.

In an age of steroids Giles isn't that old. In an era without sterouds Giles is old. Giles could rapidly become an albatross depending on his contract length and handcuffing the Cubs much like the Sosa contract did this year. If they can pull a Alou like contract for 3 years with an option on the 4th, I could live with it. Though it would still scare me. Furcal is Ricky with speed and the overpriced part does not matter. The Cubs are a large market team they can overspend if they want. Overpriced matters to teams like the Brewers or A's. Teams that have to be really efficient with their spending. Teams like the Red Sox, Yankees, and Cubs can overspend to get what they want. As for Preston Wilson I think he is going to be had for cheap. 3 or 4 years and around 7 to 8 million. I don't think he is going to see anything close to the contract he used to have. Preston away from RFK and playing half his games at wrigley will be an above average CF'er and the Cubs can afford to overpay for an above average CF'er.

After 2003's fireworks 2004 didn't register, at least in the NL.

I'm thinking this is the year the Astros get past the first round. Clemens, Pettite, Oswalt. Lidge, Wheeler, Qualls. They got the pitching and they got some boppers and some speedy guys on offense. Astros/Cards Red Sox/White Sox is a tough one but I'll go with the Red Sox. I think the Yanks beat the Angels Red Sox/Yankees

If Nomar would sign another one or at most two year contract (though I would really perfer keeping him on a one year) then I would go with him instead of battling it out for Furcal. But I don't think he or any other team is going to let him get signed for a one year contract. There is too much new money out there for teams to spend. Heck I'm willing to bet little David Eckstein is going to fetch a fair amount of money. I'm against Lofton for much the same reason I am against Giles but even more so. Age. Ordinarily a Lofton type player could be had for a one year contract, but this offseason I am not so sure. If Lofton could be had for a one year contract I say go with it and have him back up Patterson. But then your fourth and fifth OF'er are pretty weak hitters. With Blanco and whoever is subbing in the infield that looks to be one of the worst benches I have seen in a while. The Cubs need a Branyan type player but unfortunately he wants to start so they would have to get lucky to land him as a sub. The Cubs can't really keep Patterson, Hairston, and Lofton together on a team, someone would have to go to make room for a Hollandsworth/Grieve type player. Somebody with a little sock in his bat and can get on somewhat decent in short spells. I also think that Preston Wilson can be signed pretty cheaply this year. If that happens you can then trade Patterson for almost anything. Of the two Hairston-Patterson I think it would have to be Patterson going, just because of the atmosphere and expectations. Wilson, Murton, Giles, Hairston, and take a flyer on a guy like Daryle Ward, Orlando Palmeiro, or even McCracken (with it being either McCracken or Hairston but not both). In the infield ARam, Nomar/Furcal and Cedeno (have one of them play second) Lee, and Barrett. With Russ Branyan as the corner infielder, Blanco as the back up catcher and some sort of Rich Aurilia/Easley type as the sub for the middle infield. Which then leaves one last spot for a youngster to tget some major league at bats and a 11 man pitching staff.

8 million dollars on a 100 million dollar team isn't much to worry about. Ricky made 3.4 million on a 67.5 million dollar team. 5% of the teams payroll compared to 8%, not all that much.

Generally went it comes to rookie, youngsters, and prospects I take the worst case possible scenario. Okay maybe the mildly bad scenario. I don't expect much out of Cedeno, Murton, and Pie if it comes to that. Nor do I think the Cubs should either. At least when it comes to that years production, they should be more concerned with evaluating the player then worryng about a pitcher/batter matchup in the 33rd game. Furcal to me is a speedier Rickey Gutierrez and I like Rickey. I think people should view Furcal not as a solution but as a player like Rickey just an average player, not as a star who is going to carry the team. Rickey did alright here because nothing was expected out of him. Rafael's value is his speed and defense, unfortunately those are two areas most effected by injury which to me is why it is so important next year to have a good bench, and players like Neifi and Macias would be killers. Anyway I don't expect much of anything from the youngsters and would be tickled pink if they finished slightly below average offensively but showed that they were capable of sticking.

Didn't watch the entire game. Flipped on the radio and it happened to be the final at bat of the season for the Cubs. Who is up but Macias, it would have been better if it was Neifi but he'll do. Pretty much sums up the Cub year. Anyway at first I was against getting Giles but if the Cubs can sign him for only 3 years it would probably be the best of a bad situation. If I was the GM I would put Murton in LF, Patterson* in center, Giles in right, and then have an infield of Furcal, Cedeno, ARam, DLee, and Barrett. Nothing revolutionary I know but I think it would be a good mix. With this team a good 4th OF is critical along with a good IF player or two. Macias and Perez will not do with this team. I know Patterson burned a lot of bridges but he there isn't much out there and I wouldn't want the Cubs to just get rid of him by trading him for some useless minor league reliever. If they can deal as part of a package that helps the Cubs then yeah sure do it. But don't just get rid of him. I look at this team and I see a core that can be good for the next 3 years. Which to me means they can give up some ground next year in order to develop some players and to lock themselves into a weak FA class. The Cubs in terms of age have some time to play with. TO that end if I could I would try to trade Maddux because I think his importance on next years team will be minimal. It would have been nice if some the Cubs prospects had gotten a signifcant look in the majors or if they hadn't got injured. Because of that I think they will keep Maddux around, well that and because the FA market is going to be expensive this year. Middle of the rotation starters salalries skyrocketed last year so the Cubs are going to definitely have to develop it. IT would be nice to get Millwood but not at the price he is going to be commanding.

The exemption does not give them the right to govern Baseball. If anything it means that certains laws of the land do not apply to baseball. So you are for not allowing human beings to take something that is perfectly illegal and force them to not use them on the off chance that it might have something in it "we" don't like? Hey your car might kill somebody or you might have the one defective car that explodes, sorry you can't use your car anymore. So what is your industry?

Writing a post in which you say you will not write a post, interesting.