TCR Friday Notes

watched this when you first linked to it, Rob.... Absolutely hilarious, love it

cco has a nice page with you tube videos of cubs minor leaguers including Castro, Castillo, Vitters, etc.

http://chicagocubsonline.com/archives/2009/11/cubs...

http://www.chicagobreakingsports.com/2009/11/angel...

A source close to the Cubs said today that general manager Jim Hendry is "absolutely'' interested in offering a prospect-heavy package of players if Dombrowski decides to trade the Illinois-Chicago product. Offers have not been exchanged and the source said any potential talks could extend through the winter meetings Dec. 7-10 in Indianapolis.

damn...eric gagne ready to come back as a SP for 2010 via Yahoo Sports, Tim Brown.

the M's just gave jack wilson a 2yr/10m contract.

why exactly did they feel the need to replace GMs if they're going to do crap like this?

Curtis Granderson is exactly the type of speed/power combo player Jim Hendry and Gary Hughes love. If he is available, I believe Hendry will go after him, even if it costs the Cubs Starlin Castro, Andrew Cashner or Jay Jackson, and a third pre-arb auto-renewal guy (like maybe U. of Michigan alum Jake Fox?).

Granderson is signed through 2012 with a 2013 club option, but he only gets $5.5M next season, which would probably be a million or two less than what Marlon Byrd or Mike Cameron would want per year. Then when Granderson's salary increases to $8.25M in 2011 and to $10M in 2012, the Cubs will have contracts coming off the books that would offset the Granderson salary increases at that time.

Also, with Mike Fontenot having been designated as an arbitration-eligible "Super Two" (thanks to the Twins optioning Glen Perkins to AAA on September 2nd), I think it's now fairly likely that Fontenot will get non-tendered on 12/12, and as a result, I believe it's also more likely now that Matt Camp (who is presently tied for 2nd in doubles and tied for 4th in SB in the Mexican Pacific League) will be added to the Cubs 40-man roster at the end of next week. Camp is primarily a 2B-CF, but he has the IF-OF versatility and pinch-running/base-stealing skills that Fontenot lacks, although Camp does not have Fontenot's occasional power.

And as I mentioned on a previous thread a couple of days ago, Milton Bradley to TB for Pat Burrell (with the Cubs & Rays splitting Bradley's 2011 $12M salary) and then Burrell to the Mets for Luis Castillo would be a three-way deal that would help all three teams jettison unwanted flotsam, while adding a player who would (at least marginally) help fill a perceived need and/or (in the case of the Mets) open up 2B for Orlando Hudson.

Submitted by Dr. aaron b on Fri, 11/13/2009 - 11:19pm.
Dr. Phil,

If you were running things, would you offer Castro in a Granderson swap?

Would you offer arbitration to Harden and Grabow?

Would you pick up comp draft picks if they happened to be easily available?

Thanks in advace

Aaron B

=================================

AARON B: I would offer Castro in a deal for Granderson, and I would offer arb to both Harden and Grabow.

The Cubs have other SS prospects besides Castro (although Castro is the best one), and I doubt VERY much that Harden would accept arbitration if it was offered, and offering arb to Harden would not keep another club from signing him.

With Grabow, offering him arb would probably keep other clubs from wanting to sign him (because signing him isn't worth losing a 1st or 2nd round pick), so he would probably accept the arbitration offer, and then (if necessary) I would gladly go to arbitration with Grabow, because a one-year deal (even slightly inflated) is better than a two or three year deal with easily attained performance incentives.

SABREMETRICS 101

Introduction to Sabremetrics by Michael Jong

http://fanhuddle.com/statistics/2009/10/01/intro-t...

From Mike Silva's blog, via Rotoworld:

Carl Crawford is reportedly "livid" the Rays picked up his $10 million option on his original four-year deal signed in 2005 and wants out of Tampa Bay.
The report is from Mike Silva's NY Baseball Digest, which is a fine New York baseball blog, but take it with a grain of salt. Says Silva's source: "He had a handshake agreement with management that they would renegotiate the contract instead of picking up the option and they went ahead and did it anyway. He’s pissed beyond belief." It's highly unlikely Crawford is moved during the offseason, but he'd be prime trade bait if the Rays fall out of the race early. We have trouble believing this report, because Crawford agreed to the option. Why include the option if there was an agreement to rip it up? Additionally, he didn't seem to have a problem with the 2009 option being picked up. Crawford is widely expected to command at last $15 million annually once he hits the open market.

I agree it sounds a little fishy, but hey Tampa, if there is trouble, we'd love to help....

Brewers didn't want Doumit or Capps for Hardy, asked for Maholm or Duke, says the Robothal.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/10357594

I'm all for Hendry making moves to better this team, but why get excited with the first girl to ask you to prom, when your trying to get lucky! If Hendry is willing to give up a boat load of really good prospect why not try to get the most value you can. Don't just settle for the ugly girl. This team needs so tweaking and I think Wilkins has done a good job in making the minor league system better than the previous regimes.