Reports earlier today indicated the Cubs have about $2-3 million dollars to play with until tomorrow's deadline. They are mostly interested in the lefty reliever, John Grabow, from Pittsburgh. Acquiring him would also leave some room for an outfielder the Cubs are looking for to platoon with Bradley. The two players on the Cubs' radar are Florida's Jeremy Hermida and Kansas City's Mark Teahen. Both players could be under team control through 2011.
I think these acquisitions would definitely make us a better team, but have a look at the money we are paying people not even on the team anymore:
$3,187,432 (Luis Vizcaino) (plus $0.5M 2010 buyout)
$4,000,000 (est.) (Ryan Freel)
$2,000,000 (Chad Gaudin)
$ 875,000 (Jason Marquis)
$ 800,000 (Joey Gathright)
$ 178,279 (Paul Bako)
That's $11,040,711 that the Cubs could have played around with at the deadline. Not to mention that they are paying Aaron Miles $4.9 million. By the way, if you were wondering what happened to Aaron Miles, he is currently doing a rehab assignment in Iowa. He has over 50 ABs. Pretty long rehab stint isn't it? Teahen, Hermida, and/or Grabow would definitely make us a better team, but think of the possibilities with $11-15 million more. Would have been nice to have some of this money don't you think?
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
Big Z vs. Doc
Sometimes I feel like the media does not give Carlos Zambrano the credit he deserves. It seems like all they do is focus on the negative parts of Carlos' game and completely ignore his abilities. One semi-recent example of this is when Steve Stone went off on a tirade after Zambrano lost his cool in a Cubs/Sox game earlier this season. Stone said in a derogatory tone something along the lines of, "and this is why Carlos Zambrano has never won more than 16 games". At first I completely agreed with him, because I was sick of seeing the antics as well. I then just forgot about it...until recently. With all the trade talk of Roy Halladay recently I couldn't help but dream of having a "true ace" on our team like Halladay. Knowing that this will and cannot happen I decided to look at the numbers between Halladay and Zambrano and was astonished.
Besides the walks and complete games, their numbers are very close. Keep in mind Zambrano is only 28 years old and Halladay is 32. I'm by no means saying that I would rather have Zambrano over Halladay because that would make me sound like an asinine "homer". However, after looking at the stats I will definitely be a lot more defensive the next time someone takes a shot at the Cubs' true ace.
Besides the walks and complete games, their numbers are very close. Keep in mind Zambrano is only 28 years old and Halladay is 32. I'm by no means saying that I would rather have Zambrano over Halladay because that would make me sound like an asinine "homer". However, after looking at the stats I will definitely be a lot more defensive the next time someone takes a shot at the Cubs' true ace.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Trade Talk Is Heating Up
The Brewers have gone out and picked up one of the second baseman I have been keeping my eye on for the Cubs to grab. The Brewers gave up some minor leaguers for the Diamondbacks' Felipe Lopez. This could be a good thing for us Cub fans though. Last year, the C.C. Sabathia trade forced Jim Hendry to acquire Rich Harden as fast as he could. I'm predicting the Cubs go after Freddy Sanchez.
Sanchez gave a firm "no" to the offer the Pirates just offered him so now it looks like him and Wilson are headed to the trading block. Since Sanchez has a steep option for next year, expect the Pirates to be trading him at a very low cost. A lot might consider the $8 million option Sanchez is practically guaranteed for next year a hurdle for Jim Hendry to get by but the Pirates may be willing to send over some cash with the deal. Be prepared to hear the Giants as a team interested in Sanchez as they are also a team looking to strengthen their lineup.
Sanchez gave a firm "no" to the offer the Pirates just offered him so now it looks like him and Wilson are headed to the trading block. Since Sanchez has a steep option for next year, expect the Pirates to be trading him at a very low cost. A lot might consider the $8 million option Sanchez is practically guaranteed for next year a hurdle for Jim Hendry to get by but the Pirates may be willing to send over some cash with the deal. Be prepared to hear the Giants as a team interested in Sanchez as they are also a team looking to strengthen their lineup.
Friday, July 10, 2009
SELL, SELL, SELL!!!
I have officially seen enough. Jim Hendry has destroyed this team beyond repair. The only thing we can do now is hope that some other teams are willing to clean up some of our mistakes. There is no way this team is going to win the Central. The Cardinals showed that today. Albert Pujols is THE greatest baseball player in today's game and maybe ever, and unlike Soriano, can carry a team for an entire season. I don't even get upset when I see Pujols demolish the Cubs game after game because I know I am watching someone on a completely different level than everyone else. Enough of the of Pujols "love fest", let's talk about something depressing...the Cubs.
First thing's first; fire Jim Hendry. I hear some people like Hendry because he gets the guys he wants. To these people I say, of course he gets them. He gives them contracts that no other GM in the league would give them. I wonder if he is in a secret society with sports agents. Maybe some day Dan Brown will write a book about it. Lets take a look at 3 guys we can thank him for.
Aaron Miles (.203/.240/.260): $2.2 million in 2009 and $2.7 million in 2010. I'm really glad we gave him the money instead of keeping Mark Derosa for the $.6 million extra.
Milton Bradley (.236/.365/.374): Jim Hendry was the first GM to give this guy a multi year deal. Bradley has played on 6 different teams in his career. Hendry wanted to make the team more left handed so he went out and got a right handed switch hitter who can't hit from the left side.
Alfonso Soriano (.230/.292/.414): He will go down as THE worst signing in Cubs history. The absolute definition of a non team player. He refuses to move guys over, his defense is horrible, and he is all or nothing. Try not to vomit when you read this next part. This season, he is making $16 million. From 2010 to 2014, he is making $18 million each year.
There is no way in hell that anyone is going to take any of these guys off our hands, so it is now time to get rid of people.
First one we need to let go is Derrek Lee. He is having a terrific year and is one of the few bright spots this season. We need to get rid of him if we can while his stock is high. He is getting up there in age (33) and from his track record, we can't expect him to keep this sort of production up.
Next one that needs to go is Rich Harden. He is making $7 million dollars this year and is a free agent in 2010. He is having a roller coaster of a year but still has the tag line "one of the best pitchers in the game when healthy" attached to him. Plenty of teams are going to be looking for that starter for the playoffs this year just like we were last year. Well here he is. Take him. He is your problem now.
If we could package some other guys with these two, even better.
And we thought Andy MacPhail was bad.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Who's At Second?
With the trade deadline approaching I was wondering to myself what the Cubs should do. We have an abundance of outfielders, our starting rotation is great, and the bullpen has been very solid. The only place where I feel like we could use an upgrade is 2nd base. Let's face it, Fontenot has not been the "little Babe Ruth" as one announcer likes to call him.
Fontenot's line so far: .236/.314/.369 with 6 HR's 28 RBI's 27 BB's and 55 SO's.
So what are our options? The best one to me is to move Soriano to second base, live with his horrible defense at 2nd instead of in left, and allow Fox and Hoffpauir to share time in left field. This would not require any finagling on Hendry's part and we would have a much better bat in the lineup. As likely as this would probably work, it's equally likely that Lou Piniella would never even consider it.
That brings us to our next, more difficult option. Trade for a 2nd baseman. However, this brings up the problem with the Cubs expanding payroll with the ownership in Limbo. Fontenot is only making $430,000 and is only signed for this year. Aaron Miles is making $2.2 million this year and $2.7 million next year. Good luck moving that contract.
Let's just say for argument's sake that we were able to trade Aaron Miles away for some prospects and we could free up $4.9 million. Who could we go after?
Earlier in the year I read a rumor that Dan Uggla was possibly available. He has had a slightly under-performing first half and even though the Marlins are playing well, I have to believe they are thinking about getting rid of him because there is no way he is signing with them this off season. He is only making $5.35 million this year and had to scratch and claw through arbitration to get that.
We have done deals with them before and they have worked out pretty good so I can't rule out a possible trade for Freddy Sanchez with the Pirates. This would bring up a financial problem. Sanchez is making $6.1 million this year with an $8 million club option in 2010.
A more likely candidate to land in a trade would be Felipe Lopez (.305/.363/.408) from the Diamondbacks. Lopez is putting up better numbers than Fontenot and is just signed for this year making $3.5 million. Did I mention he is a switch hitter?
The only other player I can think of is...Mark Derosa? Sorry, I had to.
Fontenot's line so far: .236/.314/.369 with 6 HR's 28 RBI's 27 BB's and 55 SO's.
So what are our options? The best one to me is to move Soriano to second base, live with his horrible defense at 2nd instead of in left, and allow Fox and Hoffpauir to share time in left field. This would not require any finagling on Hendry's part and we would have a much better bat in the lineup. As likely as this would probably work, it's equally likely that Lou Piniella would never even consider it.
That brings us to our next, more difficult option. Trade for a 2nd baseman. However, this brings up the problem with the Cubs expanding payroll with the ownership in Limbo. Fontenot is only making $430,000 and is only signed for this year. Aaron Miles is making $2.2 million this year and $2.7 million next year. Good luck moving that contract.
Let's just say for argument's sake that we were able to trade Aaron Miles away for some prospects and we could free up $4.9 million. Who could we go after?
Earlier in the year I read a rumor that Dan Uggla was possibly available. He has had a slightly under-performing first half and even though the Marlins are playing well, I have to believe they are thinking about getting rid of him because there is no way he is signing with them this off season. He is only making $5.35 million this year and had to scratch and claw through arbitration to get that.
We have done deals with them before and they have worked out pretty good so I can't rule out a possible trade for Freddy Sanchez with the Pirates. This would bring up a financial problem. Sanchez is making $6.1 million this year with an $8 million club option in 2010.
A more likely candidate to land in a trade would be Felipe Lopez (.305/.363/.408) from the Diamondbacks. Lopez is putting up better numbers than Fontenot and is just signed for this year making $3.5 million. Did I mention he is a switch hitter?
The only other player I can think of is...Mark Derosa? Sorry, I had to.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
A Tale of Two Closers
It's about halfway through the season and I thought it would be fun to compare Kevin Gregg with the closer that we could have had (again), Kerry Wood. It wouldn't be fair to either one of these guys if we didn't just compare the last two years. So here is why I am happy with having Kevin Gregg.
Kevin Gregg's numbers over the past two years:
Kerry Wood's numbers over the past two years:
Except for a few things, these guys are almost completely identical. You can say Kerry Wood had better number in 2008 (barely) because he was on a better team and you could say the same for Kevin Gregg this year.
Ok, not much room for argument right? Wrong. Let's take a look at the contracts.
Kevin Gregg got a contract for 1 year with the Cubs worth 4.2 million.
Kerry Wood got a contract for 2 years with the Indians worth 20.5 million with a guaranteed option worth 11 million if Wood has 55 GF in 2009 (26 up to this point).
Now you tell me, who got the raw deal?
Kevin Gregg's numbers over the past two years:
| Year | W | L | ERA | G | SV | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | SO | BAA | WHIP |
| 2008 | 7 | 8 | 3.41 | 72 | 29 | 68.2 | 51 | 30 | 26 | 3 | 37 | 58 | 0.203 | 1.282 |
| 2009 | 3 | 2 | 3.62 | 38 | 14 | 37.1 | 32 | 15 | 15 | 6 | 16 | 37 | 0.222 | 1.286 |
Kerry Wood's numbers over the past two years:
| Year | W | L | ERA | G | SV | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | SO | BAA | WHIP |
| 2008 | 5 | 4 | 3.26 | 65 | 34 | 66.1 | 54 | 24 | 24 | 3 | 18 | 84 | 0.219 | 1.085 |
| 2009 | 2 | 3 | 5.27 | 31 | 9 | 27.1 | 25 | 16 | 16 | 5 | 16 | 30 | 0.248 | 1.500 |
Except for a few things, these guys are almost completely identical. You can say Kerry Wood had better number in 2008 (barely) because he was on a better team and you could say the same for Kevin Gregg this year.
Ok, not much room for argument right? Wrong. Let's take a look at the contracts.
Kevin Gregg got a contract for 1 year with the Cubs worth 4.2 million.
Kerry Wood got a contract for 2 years with the Indians worth 20.5 million with a guaranteed option worth 11 million if Wood has 55 GF in 2009 (26 up to this point).
Now you tell me, who got the raw deal?
Thursday, July 2, 2009
A Complete Joke
Soriano's line for the season so far: .230/.296/.423 with 26 BB and 77 SO in 305 AB'sBeltran's line for the season so far: .336/.425/.527 with 37 BB and 34 SO in 241 AB's
Now I know that the integrity of the All-Star game was lost a long time ago, but the Cubs' organization is not helping things. In last night's game Len Kasper made the argument, while Bob Brenly just held his tongue, that no matter what, you have to vote for the players on your team whether they deserve it or not. Please, someone tell me that the organization made Len say that and it wasn't just him actually trying to justify this atrocity.
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