All I Want For Christmas Is A Right Fielder
versus their replacements as of the close of 2005:Pos Player Age OPSC Girardi 37 566
1B McGriff 38 858
3B Mueller 31 757
CF Patterson 22 676
Granted Pierre isn't much of an upgrade over Patterson, but if he returns to his 03-04 form he gives the Cubs an OPS in center of 757. Much has been made of Pierre's soft toss arm as allowing more runners to advance and I'll grant that, but his range factor in center is the same as Patterson's (league-adjusted per 9 innings) and Andruw Jones's for 2005. I have to see him as a net gain over 2004. At the other end of the spectrum, the Cubs replaced Jose Macias with John Mabry. While Mabry's 702 OPS is not going to make him a starting 1B, 3B or corner outfielder at age 34, he is certainly an improvement over the chronically anemic Macias, who in 190 plate apperances at age 33 last year staggered to a nearly sub-Mendozan 590 OPS. Mabry gives the Cubs both a solid left-handed bat for pinch hitting and a competent back-up for Ramirez, Lee, and Murton so that all of them can get rest this season. Tending to his own, Hendry re-signed Todd Walker (very good) and Neifi Perez (good, if Neifi only plays backup and defensive replacement), while letting go of Jeromy Burnitz's contract (good business decision). My thinking had been that the Cubs would try to re-sign Burnitz to a 2-year deal at a better price, but Hendry was determined to get a better right fielder. One other thing about tending to your own: kudos for recognizing that Matt Murton should be the starting left fielder and that Ronnie Cedeno gets to be at shortstop. Both kids played smart and hard during their 2005 call ups and earned the opportunity to start. On the pitching front, Hendry continues to add veteran middle relievers. Neither Bobby Howry nor Scott Eyre were overused in 2005 --Howry threw 73.0 innings in 79 appearances; Eyre 68 1/3 over 86 games-- and both had remarkable control in '05: Eyre averaged barely more than one baserunner per inning while Howry allowed .89 walks plus hits per inning. This is an improvement over the strikeouts uber alles philosophy that led them to signing high-K/poor-control guys the past couple of years. Again, Hendry was smart in keeping his own guys under contract. I was surprised at how easy the re-signing of Ryan Dempster was, but I'm guessing he gave the Cubs a discount for them being willing to sign him when he was in the midst of his arm problems. Picking up the option on Scott Williamson seems odd to me, given that Roberto Novoa seems to fit the same role, but maybe Novoa is slated for more time at AAA this year to refine his control. The real surprise among the pitcher re-signs, though, was Glendon Rusch's 2-year deal. Rusch had made it clear that he was interested in an opportunity to be a regular starter in 2006. Given that as of 10/31 when he signed the Cubs had a starting rotation of Mark Prior, Carlos Zambrano, Greg Maddux and Kerry Wood (depending on his shoulder surgery), along with minor leaguers Jon Koronka, Rich Hill, Angel Guzman, and Sergio Mitre (again, at the time), I was not understanding where Rusch was going to find his innings. Did he and Hendry think Wood wouldn't be ready for 2006 or that Kerry was slated for bullpen duty? Then new Phillies GM Pat Gillick announced that right fielder Bobby Abreu could be had and many things come to make sense. While Abreu is 31 years old, he has a solid track record of providing power and on base production --his career OPS is 923 with a slight dip in 2005 to 879-- and is a very healthy player, appearing in over 151 games in each of his past 8 seasons. A Cub lineup with him in the middle would be formidable indeed. The question is: can the two teams find a trade that both makes sense and doesn't get either GM lynched? Clearly, the Phillies want a top of the rotation starter. Just as clearly, the Cubs don't want to part with either Prior or Zambrano. Or do they? I'm of the opinion that all things being equal, an everyday position player for a starting pitcher is an uneven trade in favor of the team getting the position player. Clearly, the Cubs lose on age --both Prior and Zambrano are under 25-- but the question remains: who would I rather let go of in such a swap, Prior or Zambrano? Zambrano has been the healthier of the two, but that means his arm has been piling up innings. Prior's health has not been pitching-related, but he's yet to put together a full, uninjured season since 2003 and even then he sat out a few starts. Bothersome, but it does mean his arm hasn't been put under as much strain. Either way, if the Phillies want to do Abreu for either Prior or Zambrano straight up, I'd pull the trigger. I'd just do it a little quicker if I was giving up Zambrano rather than Prior. Ideally, the Cubs could do a several-for-one trade. I would be happy to package Kerry Wood, Corey Patterson, and either Angel Guzman or Rich Hill for Abreu. Now, would Gillick take that trade? Dunno, but likely not (although I have a hunch that something like that has been proposed). Current rumors are swirling around the Cubs signing Jacque Jones of the Twins to which I say, "Look! It's the younger version of Jeromy Burnitz." I'd be unwilling to do more than a 2-year deal as I don't want him in the way of Felix Pie. All in all, a very nice holiday hot stove season for the Cubs. I'm looking forward to 2006 already.Pos Player Age OPSC Barrett 28 824
1B D. Lee 29 1080
3B Ramirez 27 926
CF Pierre 27 680
Recent comments
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crunch 15 hours 29 min ago (view)
kolten wong rumors heating up for the cubs, too. i could live with that. giving nico hoerner 600 ab's a year sounds absolutely terrible after what little he did last year.
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Cubster 17 hours 45 min ago (view)
WSCR online reporting that the Cubs are going to watch lefty Carlos Rondon pitch. They desperately need another lefty that breaks down with the regularity of my Comcast service.
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crunch 17 hours 58 min ago (view)
imagine being so toxic that you go from a no-doubt 1st or 2nd year HOF'r to having to try for it in your 10th year...and then imagine doubling down on the toxicity every chance you get a chance to redeem yourself.
every time he's called out, even for minor stuff, he piles on more and then complains that people that have an issue with him are "cancelling" him for no good reason.
he deleted a slew of "those people that stormed the capital are great people" posts pre-election so he has some kind of self-awareness in that skull of his somewhere.
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Cubster 18 hours 34 min ago (view)
I'm all for removing him from the ballot. His bloody sock already made it. That was enuf.
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Dolorous Jon Lester 20 hours 5 min ago (view)
Ranting about how the elections (both his and the other clown's) were stolen.
I hope he ends up one vote short next year, just to really rub it in.
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crunch 21 hours 5 min ago (view)
currently he's throwing a tantrum and demanding to be removed from the HOF ballot for 2022.
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Hagsag 23 hours 6 min ago (view)
Will Schilling storm the HOF with a mob?
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crunch 1 day 10 hours ago (view)
schilling denied (71.1%, 16 votes short).
some people did nazi that coming.
no one inducted this year...aram got 1% of the vote so he found more than 1 vote out there (4 votes). latroy hawkins got 2 votes for being a solid dude to other people (very friendly with the press and pretty much everyone)...sosa got 17% of the vote...
schilling/bonds/clemens are going in their last eligible class in 2022...could be a hell of a "controversial" class...but bonds/clemens need to find 50+ votes.
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Sonicwind75 1 day 16 hours ago (view)
Arizona is allowing fans in the stands for indoor NHL hockey games but it's too dangerous to let players following protocals; at least more so than hockey fans, to practice outside in a controlled environment. Wonder how much of that is coming from MLB ownership trying to get a late start and pro-rating player salaries. Stall and save some money until more fans are allowed to attend later in the year.
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crunch 1 day 16 hours ago (view)
few hours away from HOF announcements (6pm EST, unless leaked early).
schilling seems to be the only guy with a legit shot this year and i wouldn't be surprised to see no one get elected...
big up aramis rarmirez getting at least 1 known vote on publically shared ballots.
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crunch 2 days 14 hours ago (view)
"MLB will hold its first-ever pre-draft combine from June 20-28 in Cary, North Carolina.
The combine will take place at the USA Baseball National Training Complex, with top draft-eligible college and high school players invited. As part of the combine, the top-88 prep players will take part in a tournament through June 26th consisting of eight games."
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crunch 2 days 15 hours ago (view)
cactus league officials are requesting MLB delay spring training because of elevated COVID cases + deaths.
their summer peak was 70-80 deaths a week and they're currently at 140-160 deaths a week.
things should be trending down now that most of people that wanted to kill relatives in order to have turkey dinners in NOV/DEC seems to have peaked.
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Hagsag 3 days 12 hours ago (view)
$$$$ for trump's defense fund.
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Dolorous Jon Lester 3 days 12 hours ago (view)
But they got $600 a few months back. Each! That was an unexpected windfall.
Can't wait to see us acquire a 17 year old, 16 year old, 11 year old (all in the 15-30 range of Blue Jays prospects) and one of the shitty Jays surplus OFs. Randal Grichuk jerseys will be the new hot item among Cubs fans.
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crunch 3 days 13 hours ago (view)
things are a little tight, we have to be patient with the ricketts family finances.
when TD Ameritrade was fully/completely sold in october they expected to get 26 billion dollars of value on the transaction, but it only got 22 billion dollars. the massive slew of millions that didn't fully come to realization on the ricketts side of that sale stings.
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Dolorous Jon Lester 3 days 13 hours ago (view)
Trade Hendricks? Cant be true. We're "going to be competitive this year."
Sell the team, Ricketts family.
Comments
Is it wrong to want a Jewish
"Either way, if the Phillies
All in all your comments
Just make sure when you open
and hope the sender didn't
Sucks to have to spend this
No way, having J.Jones,
It's been mentioned before,
yeah. someone with IN could
How about Wood for Green? I
I'll be the first to admit
Well, Abreu's numbers are
hmm. I take back some of my
RF Jacque Jones, Twins Dec.
Who else thinks it is
If you guys dont like Hendry
Brian I would rather have
I like Jones if he came here
The Royals have offered 3
"Padilla and Eaton are
ChiFan: WORD! Bring me
Chifan3887, I am with you
Oops... nevermind, just read
Please don't pay much for a
My thoughts are you don't
You guys have to be kidding
Call me crazy *pauses*...but
Wade Miller is only 29. He
"Hendry should focus on
Miller fits the Hendry
A couple of items that have
Nice article, but one minor
"He's a replacement level
Jacos and Borowski4life, I
Jacques Jones, no. Career
What happened to Huff? His
I actually wanted Jaque
I'm with you, Matt. Huff
Yeah...sounds good doesn't
I agree that Huff will be
huff's a pretty cruddy
Ugh, Uncle Charlie. I get
Prior's injuries have been
Oh, like Dan Haren and Kiko
Kiko Calero 58 games, 55.2
"Prior's injuries have been
"If we structure the deal
The Cubs do not need a five
X, Last year Boston was
Preston Wilson, are you
I'm just shocked and amazed
"I am not going to back any
well Ruz you got
Hey Jacqeszes Jones can be
Jacque Jones is a great role
Rosenthal reports the
Sometimes I really really
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/
Fire Hendry. We're screwed.
"Haren was actually better
Unless Hendry got Huff it
Well, unless Jacque gets a
"Well, unless Jacque gets a
I think the Jones signing
Tom - I just don't know if
how bout that tejada trade