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A PTBNL cannot be anyone currently on a 40-man roster, so it's not Mench.
-- MWE
I agree with all of this. The Cubs would be stupid to give Giles 3/$45M if that's what other teams are offering. But that they're not even going to bother to pursue him tells me they don't realize that he is exactly what they need in the lineup - an outfielder with some pop who is likely to give them an OBP in the .400 range. Stick him 2nd in the lineup ahead of Lee and see how much better the offense is next year.
I don't know what they're planning for the outfield, but unless Hendry's brewing up something special behind the scenes I'm about ready to write off 2006 at this point. An influx of older relievers, more low OBP guys at the top of the lineup, another 600 PAs from Neifi - I watched that movie last year. And it didn't get two thumbs up.
I get the feeling that the only thing that could possibly save them is a return to form from Wood and Prior, who each throw 220 injury free innings of 130+ ERA+ baseball out of the rotation.
Personally, I suspect he's lost his way. When things go badly, it's easy to lose confidence in basic decision-making principles, even when those principles are based on sound reasoning and adherence to them had nothing to do with the bad outcome. While in his tenure as GM Hendry has mostly ignored the drumbeat for team speed (probably to a fault in some previous years), he is over-reacting now, and apparently missing the point as to what was really wrong at the top of the order last season (.299 OBA in the leadoff spot, .314 in the number two spot, with the one guy who was responsible for #2 being as good as it was likely to be traded or moved deep in the order).
Actually, that's not quite true; the PTBNL must change leagues, so an AL team like Texas could, in theory, trade Mench for Leicester. Usually, though, it's a minor leaguer involved.
-- MWE
DROP FROM 40-MAN:
Richard Lewis
Russ Rohlicek
Ryan Theriot
ADD TO 40-MAN:
Bobby Brownlie
Carlos Marmol
Sean Marshall
Ricky Nolasco
Felix Pie
Jae-kuk Ryu
These look pretty reasonable to me. I do wonder about the utility of trading guys like Leicester and Wellemeyer for minor-league fodder as opposed to including them in a larger deal as just a touch of sweetener. I'd expect that if Mitre gets traded, he'd bring an actual return. His GB/FB ratio would make him a great fit for the Reds, perhaps as part of a deal for Kearns.
He doesn't have to be added to the 40 man roster yet, does he?
and the Devil Rays pick up a legitimate (not outstanding) SP . . .
I predict the Devil Rays will finish with a better record than the Cubs.
and the Devil Rays pick up a legitimate (not outstanding) SP . . .
I predict the Devil Rays will finish with a better record than the Cubs.
As much as I like the DRays, I'd take that bet. Why do you keep bringing up Encarnacion? Are the Marlines trying to trade us their whole OF?
Much depends on the second half of that condition (the D-Rays getting a SP), of course.
Talk about going out on a limb.
I predict... that the Yankees will have a higher payroll than the Royals.
He doesn't have to be added to the 40 man roster yet, does he?
According to The Baseball Cube, Marmol was signed in 1999 at 16 or 17, and this would be the fourth draft since he started his pro career in 2003, so yes, he would be Rule 5 eligible.
Ugh. I guess until we know the money it's hard to say, but coming off the year he had I'm guessing this isn't cheap. He probably got at least Rusch money - $3M per. Call it maybe 2 years/$6M, with a $4M player option for 2008.
Unless they got him at a bargain basement price, it's a stupid signing. They've got a million arms at AAA and in Chicago last year who could do Eyre's job in the bullpen, and it also means that once again they've been focusing on bailing water out of the rowboat while the Titanic is sinking around them.
Is no one on the Cubs concerned that the starting outfield, at this point, would be Murton-Patterson-Hairston? Stop signing relievers and useless utility infielders to multimillion dollar contracts and start going after the things the team needs.
Eyre had a good year, but (a) it's the best season of his career and (b) even then, it doesn't stack up to Remlinger's track record at that time of his deal.
This is just stupid, especially when you realize that the Cubs will very soon (if not already) say they won't spend the money that Giles is seeking.
Best guess as to Cubs' Opening Day bullpen:
Dempster (R) - the Closer
Williamson (R) - great peripherals, crappy ERA in small sample last year
Wuertz (R) -- solid last year
Novoa (R) -- showed flashes, but inconsistent
Rusch (L) / Williams (R) -- whoever loses the rotation roulette
Ohman (L) -- very effective LOOGY last year
Eyre (L) -- wealthy
Total salary of roughly $13-15 million in 2006 (varies with Rusch/Williams). That actually doesn't seem terrible for a large-market team. Of course, this group could suck, and in any event, their performance could probably be replicated for about half the cost.
Odd men out:
Hill (L) -- projects as a starter; may be more valuable as trade bait
Mitre (R) -- ditto
Van Buren (R) -- could be a real loss; definitely deserves a shot
Koronka (L) -- pitched well in AFL but hasn't shown much in bigs
Wellemeyer (R) -- had his chance; likely to waived or traded a la Leicester
Hendry still has other areas to address. He said the Cubs may add another reliever, most likely right-handed, and it could be through a trade.
"We'd like to have enough inventory of quality people on the pitching staff that we have excess," Hendry said.
The Cubs are still talking to representatives for free agent shortstop Rafael Furcal and Hendry said the team also is interested in adding a starting pitcher.
"We're also looking into other possibilities to help our ballclub, maybe closer to the Winter Meetings as far as possible trades go," Hendry said. "We would not be opposed to adding another starter in the right situation."
"Bullpen . . . starting pitching . . . infield . . . . now what part of the team am I forgetting?" Hendry did not add. "Well, if I can't think of it, it must not be that important. Now, where did I put Macias's number?"
You don't need a good bullpen when your lineup can't score more than 2 runs a game. Bullpens are wasted on teams that aren't ever in the lead.
And a starter? As far as I can tell, the Cubs already have Prior, Zambrano, Maddux, Williams, Wood (if healthy), and Rusch - that's 6. Plus guys like Hill and Mitre to fill in if needed. If they add a cheap starter, he's likely going to be no better than those last 4-5 choices. And if they add an expensive starter, that's just more money that can't go toward fixing all the offensive problems.
They're going to end up pricing themselves right out of the Furcal market, and then we will be looking at the Neifi/Walker infield again (with Cedeno probably platooning with Walker vs LHP).
It's almost like he's setting the 2006 Cubs up to fail. Maybe that's the master plan - put together a team that can't win more than 70 games, hem and haw about the managerial extension, and then can him at the end of the year when the team finishes 69-93 and in 5th place in the NL Central.
Glendon Rusch and Scott Eyre ain't it, however, so when an already offense-lacking team threatens to take the bats to newfound lows, it's sad indeed.
Oh, absolutely. If Hendry wants to focus on pitching because he's going to bring in a #1 guy for the rotation, then I'm all for it. But more likely than not, it'll be some back of the rotation guy to act either as the #5 or as insurance if Wood isn't healthy and/or Williams doesn't pan out.
Retail Hendry strikes again!
I actually like Eyre as a pitcher who gives up too many walks but seems pretty good at preventing HR for a flyball pitcher, which hopefully will continue as he faces righties in Wrigley. Overall he's a nice addition. But a three year commitment?
Except you just know Dusty will bat him 5th so as to protect Lee and Ramirez.
Obviously. He's too old and slow to hit at the top of the order, just like Walker was.
The top of the order has to be either Pierre or Patterson, and either Neifi or Furcal. They have speed, and that's all that matters. Giles would just walk a lot and clog up the bases ahead of Lee.
Of course, Giles stole more bases than Perez did last year and is a better baserunner, but we all know such facts aren't going to get in the way of the opposite perception.
Neifi = banjo-hitting shortstop = fast.
Giles = power-hitting corner OF = slow.
What's amazing to me is that the 79 win team from last year boasted probably one player who will be helped by regression to the mean. That player would be Patterson - and he won't be on this team next year. Lee, Ramirez, Dempster, Murton, Barrett, and Neifi will all probably perform worse than last season. Significantly worse in some cases. Scott Eyre isn't helping the trend either.
What could improve from '05 to '06? More production from Wood? I wouldn't bet on it. A better season from Prior? Seems likely but that's only worth a couple of wins. Perhaps the outfield will be better but I don't see how a Jacque Jones would be preferable to Burnitz, I don't see Juan Pierre as adding that much, and a full season of Murton in left will help but I doubt he'll beat those rate stats from last year.
There is a good chance that the Cubs will not equal last season's win total, IMO.
That may be a tad high depending on how the rest of the offseason goes.
No Brandon Sing comes as a surprise. He doesn't fit into the Cubs' plans, but he's too good of a prospect to lose for nothing. Also missing are injured right-handers Billy Petrick and Chadd Blasko, as well as 2002 first-round pick Bobby Brownlie. Nov. 18 - 5:57 pm et
I won't be shocked if Petrick, Blasko and Sing get taked in the rule 5.
DROPPED:
Fontenot (outrighted to Iowa)
Lewis (same)
Rohlicek (same)
Greenberg (DFA'd)
ADDED:
Pie
Nolasco
Ryu
Marmol
Marshall
Reyes (AA catcher; a little surprising)
Dopirak (probably not necessary, but understandable)
Moore (ditto; closer to majors than Dopirak)
ROSTER:
Aardsma
Dempster
Eyre
Guzman
Hill
Koronka
Maddux
Marmol
Marshall
Mitre
Nolasco
Novoa
Ohman
Pinto
Prior
Rusch
Ryu
Van Buren
Wellemeyer
Williams
Williamson
Wood
Wuertz
Zambrano
Barrett
Blanco
Soto
Reyes
Cedeno
Dopirak
Hairston
Lee
Macias
Moore
Perez
Ramirez
Theriot
Walker
Murton
Patterson
Pie
***
Hm. That's 41. Who shouldn't be there? Wellemeyer? Theriot? Macias? The Cubs have to be the only team with as few as three OFers on their 40-man roster.
Anyway, I'm a little surprised that Fontenot and Greenberg weren't protected, since they are two of the Cubs' best OBP guys in the minors. Nevermind, I'm not surprised. Wouldn't be too surprised to see a team like Oakland pick one of them as bench fodder.
I believe Macias is a FA.
Fontenot had a decent year, hitting .272/.377/.430 for Iowa, and he's just 25 years old. He wouldn't have been a bad use of a waiver claim. Lewis, on the other hand, looked like a better prospect than Fontenot a year ago, but had a disastrous 2005, hitting .222/.299/.312. The Cubs don't have plans for either. Nov. 18 - 6:45 pm et
Cubs designated outfielder Adam Greenberg for assignment.
Greenberg had his 2005 season ended by the first pitch he saw as a major leaguer, getting beaned by Valerio De Los Santos. He was hitting .269/.386/.407 in Double-A before being called up, and he's just 24. One of the teams that values OBP could grab him. Nov. 18 - 6:50 pm et
greenberg? why?
Why they would choose to protect Theriot, Soto and Koronka is anybody's guess.
Also, does anyone think a team would've claimed Dopirak? The guy had an awful year, and he's nowhere near ready to be in the majors...
I stand by my comments on the other two.
He couldn't beat Paul Bako in a home run contest and he can't play center field. He's no loss.
I believe Sing has been eligible for Rule 5 for a few years now.
Yeah, he's up there in years. He'll be 25 next year. I don't understand why the Cubs wouldn't even let him up to Iowa last season. Was it really more important to give the ABs to David Kelton?
I would have dropped Theriot in favor of Fontenot, but Theriot has the nominal advantage of having played SS and (maybe?) CF. Plus, he's The Riot.
Koronka's a mystery to me, except that he caters to Hendry's fetish for lefties. I saw him pitch at Dodger Stadium this year and can attest that, at least on that night, he wasn't fooling many people. I would certainly have protected Sing over him (and over Dopirak, and probably over Moore).
Can teams trade unprotected players between now and the Rule V draft? I assume so, but I know shockingly little about the mechanics involved here.
Also, MLB.com's free agent tracker doesn't include Macias, although I thought he was an FA as well.
Serenity . . . now. No more from me on this for a while.
I threadjacked the latest Eyre thread to add my thoughts, but I'll summarize --
1. I have no idea why they added a 4th catcher to the 40-man. There is nothing spectacular about Reyes, to my knowledge, and to think that keeping him (and others) may be leaving off Sing or Brownlie is bizarre.
2. To my knowledge, Macias is not a FA -- he doesn't have the service time. He is arb-eligible, however, and the thought that the Cubs haven't released him to make room for these kids kills me in several ways -- one of which being the fact that it may signal that the Cubs will renew his deal/offer arbitration.
3. I agree with Pops that Theriot and Koronka should go, but I'd rather they kept Soto. Still, my greater point is that they only need three catchers and certainly don't need Soto *and* Reyes.
4. As Christina Kahrl pointed out in today's BPro, this is even more reason to question the Neifi deal -- not only was it bad in and of itself, but the timing is even worse. Did they really need to resign Neifi last week, *before* the 40-man crunch? Couldn't they have held off a few weeks? It can't be that they were worried about Neifi's phone ringing off the hook.
Right or wrong, I'm guessing the toolsier Kelton was perceived as being a better bet for breakout or trade than Sing. I think the perception is that Sing is a AAA bat with no defensive value whatsoever, and I'm not sure that perception is wrong. I don't remember what the rules are for AAA Rule 5 -- maybe he would go in that -- but I don't think he's going anywhere in the major league Rule 5. It's one thing to pick a SS or C up like Sing and stick him on your major league roster all year, but a 1B/DH type with a bad defensive rep?
To my knowledge, Macias is not a FA -- he doesn't have the service time. He is arb-eligible, however, and the thought that the Cubs haven't released him to make room for these kids kills me in several ways -- one of which being the fact that it may signal that the Cubs will renew his deal/offer arbitration.
Yep, I think you're right. Anyway, the only one that really kills me is Fontenot, a first round draft choice who could well have turned the corner.
Fact is though, Hendry wants a guy like Macias on the roster because of his flexibility.
It can't be that they were worried about Neifi's phone ringing off the hook.
Oh, I think they were worried about exactly that.
I suppose that's one possibility, but my guess is that Hendry wants to hold onto Cedeno. If he does, of course, the DAD pattern will go into effect. Hopefully, Hendry does trade Cedeno now while he has some value, rather than exposing him to Dusty's spurned stepchild treatment and then making a late season salvage trade.
Walker for Mench? Patterson for Pierre? The latest Rothensal thread says the Cubs would be interested in Abreu and are also interested in Vasquez.
I need to go start drinking already, I am feeling some weird right now. I think it's optimism (and it's completely unfounded).
Yeah, it would be a real shame if the Cubs gave Jose Macias his walking papers.
And I really do think Macias is gone after his inability to "catch the ball" in CF and the fact that there are suspicously 41 guys on the 40 man roster.
Isn't Kerry Wood on the 60-day DL? Or does that only apply in season?
It was dumb not to wait. The risk of not signing someone like Neifi now -- and we're talking about signing a guy who was released a little over a year ago to a two year deal at a significant price -- is possibly losing rights to Jose Macias. BFD. They signed Neifi to the kind of contract you make when you're backed into a corner, and the Cubs weren't backed into a corner, and were and are in fact intensely pursuing Rafael Furcal. They should have waited to see how the Furcal thing turned out, and if Neifi were still available and they thought they needed him, fine, no loss in losing the rights to Macias. Signing him now means someone else (Fontenot, most relevantly) is potentially shown the door, and if the Cubs do land Furcal, they're possibly going to let Walker go for Neifi's sake.
Signing Neifi in the first place is more than welcome to criticism, but as I keep saying, the timing of his signing is completely irrelevant.
Fontenot is shown the door because Neifi(along with 39 others) was valued more, not because Neifi was signed before December 9th.
You're right that the primary problem is that signing Neifi at all was a bad idea. However, there is a timing issue that might be subtle but it's real.. I disagree with the basic premise that there was a certainty that the Cubs would sign Neifi for two years, or at all if they were to acquire Furcal. You're right that the main problem isn't that they lose a space on the 40 and cause exposure to Rule 5 (although they could probably get around that on the sly), because they have to give Neifi someone's spot sometime, but that's not the whole story.
Option 1: Sign Neifi before 40-man rosters are established. Therefore, Neifi gets a roster spot at someone else's expense. That player is exposed to Rule 5, or released. No FA market is tested for Neifi so the Cubs pay a premium price to lock him up, probably close to what he asked for.
Option 2: Wait until after rosters are established and the Cubs get a bead on 1) the Furcal situation and 2) market interest in Neifi. This allows them to protect another player from Rule 5, and yes, this is temporary since if they do decide to sign Neifi, they have to drop someone. But by waiting, Hendry gives himself a bit more flexibility in dealing with an unstable situation, and I see NO advantage to signing Neifi early.
I'm sick of this "The Cubs were forced to do X, because of contingency Y" thinking that dominates their roster planning. Hendry is always backing himself into corners by doing a poor job of prioritizing his off-season moves, and this is yet another example. He never takes the "get the best player, then work out the other details" tactic -- it's always the other way around. It's not just thinking that signing Neifi is a good idea, it's thinking that the first piece he had to get into place was Neifi. Neifi is a "just good enough" option, and yes, you are right that Hendry (apparently) thinking he's more than that is a root of the problem. But surely, Hendry had no reason to think he had to rush into signing him.
That future waiver candidate -- call him Player X -- was kept on the 40-man roster either because the Cubs were stupid (in the case of Macias) or because they didn't want to expose him to the Rule 5 draft (or both).
If that's the case, and considering that the Cubs saw the need for roster flexibility right now, why not work a "gentlemens agreement" as Kahrl suggests, that would allow them to protect an additional guy?
What the Cubs are doing is allowing a guy like Sing to be claimed in Rule 5 and hoping to expose Player X to waivers at a later date. Why not hold off on signing Neifi, add Sing to the 40-man, and then move Sing and Player X off when the FA market picks up and other teams will be similarly shuttling players on/off their rosters?
Aramis Ramírez no descarta jugar con Licey (19/11/05)
Por Dionisio Soldevila
SANTO DOMINGO (Nov 19)El antesalista dominicano Aramis Ramírez está en el proceso de rehabilitación de una lesión en una de sus piernas que lo sacó de juego cerca de un mes antes de finalizar la temporada de las Grandes Ligas. Pero eso no impide que el talentoso peloteros mantenga su intención de ver acción en la pelota dominicana, con su equipo los Tigres del Licey.
“Tú sabes que tengo una lesión en la pierna, pero ya estoy trabajando y si estoy listo, voy a jugar este invierno con los Tigres”, dijo Ramírez a redactores de Hoy durante su visita junto a Neifi Pérez y Félix Martínez a las oficinas del Fiscal del Distrito José Manuel Hernández Peguero apoyando una marcha por la paz programada para este domingo.
Ramírez explicó que si le da el tiempo para estar sano va a uniformarse con los Tigres.
“Yo quiero jugar en el Clásico Mundial de Béisbol y todo el que tiene la intención de hacerlo debe jugar en el invierno”, manifestó Ramírez.
El Clásico Mundial de Béisbol se jugará en el mes de marzo del 2006 y la República Dominicana es desde ya uno de los favoritos para ganar el evento en su primera edición.
Sin embargo, y al igual que ha sucedido con varios estelares de Grandes Ligas, nadie de la gerencia dominicana se ha puesto en contacto con el antesalista.
“Nadie me ha llamado de aquí todavía. Solamente he hablado con la gente de la oficina de la MLB y también con la gente del sindicato, pero estamos disponibles, si la salud nos lo permite”, manifestó el caballeroso jugador
Translated by Google:
The Dominican antesalista Aramis Ramirez is in the process of rehabilitation of an injury in one of its legs that removed it from game near a month before finalizing the season of the Great Leagues. But that does not prevent that talented the peloteros maintain their intention to see action in the Dominican ball, with its equipment the Tigers of the Licey. "You know that I have an injury in the leg, but already I am working and if I am ready, I am going to play this winter with the Tigers", said to Ramirez to editors of Today during its visit next to Neifi Perez and Felix Martinez the offices of the Public prosecutor of the District Jose Manuel Hernandez Peguero supporting a march by La Paz programmed for this Sunday. Ramirez explained that if gives the time him to be healthy it is going to uniform itself with the Tigers. "I want to play in Classic the World-wide one of Baseball and all the one that has the intention to do it must play in the winter", showed Ramirez. Classic the World-wide one of Baseball will gamble in the month of March of the 2006 and the Dominican Republic is from already one of the favorites to gain the event in his first edition. Nevertheless, and like it has happened to several stellar ones of Great Leagues, nobody of the Dominican management has been put in contact with the antesalista. "Nobody has called to me of here still. I have only spoken with the people of the office of the MLB and also with the people of the union, but we are available, if the health us allows it ", showed the noble player.
So compound the dumb move of exposing a player to waivers for no reason by exposing 2 players to waivers?
I'm assuming there's some trades coming as the way to rid some people off the 40 man. Hendry is truly gone if he thinks it makes sense to not risk a guy getting taken and sticking on a 25 man roster all year(Rule 5), yet thinks the risk of a guy stickign on a 40 man roster all year is no problem.(Waiving)
You're missing this key point (from djf's post):
Every team will be doing that during FA. Is it a coincidence that this happenned to Hendry last year too but doesn't seem to be an issue with other teams?
Link
I've asked Mike Emeigh to put up a thread in Notes in a Minor Key.
Cedeno would play SS
Walker would play 2B
Murton would play LF.
Stone is almost as delusional as Hendry.
They will? I don't think waiving guys mid-offseason is very common at all. Other than clearing guys off towards the end of ST for a NRI, I can't think of a single example of this.
12/13: Traded Lee for Podsednik and Vizcaino, released Dan Wright
12/14: DFA Ryan Meaux
12/16: Resigned Uribe
12/17: DFA Eduardo Villacis, claimed Jenks off waivers, resigned Perez
1/6: Signed Pierzynski, DFA Jamie Burke
1/14: Outrighted Burke, resigned Rowand
1/27: Signed Iguchi
1/28: DFA Jason Grilli
There is another important thing to consider as well -- the non-tender date. I'd like to harbor some hope, for instance, that the Cubs might decide to non-tender Macias (heck, I wouldn't be shocked if they non-tendered Patterson too). At that point, the roster would be reduced by a spot or two, which would free up space had they worked out a standstill/gentlemens agreement with Neifi.
It just doesn't make sense to me that if a team was interested enough to stash a guy on their 25 man roster all year, why they wouldn't find a way to squeeze them on to their 40 man when they're DFAd.
For guys already on the 40 man, (For example a Theriot or Koronka for the Cubs) there's no harm in waiting to see who you sign first to see if you have to DFA them as they're already on the roster. But to add a guy only to DFA him a month later makes no sense.
Looking back over that, I'm not sure I'm communicating my point very well. I'll have to try this again later.
I don't know if it does -- other orgs may not be the same way. For instance, it should be noted in the White Sox transactions that they snagged Bobby Jenks when the Angels tried to pass him through waivers last December.
I guess what makes me wonder about all this is that the Cubs cannot be the only team with these issues. Somehow, other teams manage to both protect the guys they want/need to and also pare the roster down enough for them to do so -- both to the point of allowing them to pursue FAs as well as to even make Rule 5 selections from other teams. The Cubs cannot be the only team feeling a crunch.
One thing I overlooked until about 30 mins ago was the non-tender issue -- I suppose it will also be possible for the Cubs to free up space that way as well. (For instance, they could have postponed Neifi, protected Sing, then non-tendered Macias next month and resigned Neifi at that point.) I don't know why they wouldn't simply release Macias now (rather than holding a spot for him now only to be non-tendered in a few weeks), but who knows.
I've e-mailed Carrie Muskat about this. I'll post any response.
Hm. To drive up his trade value? (Kidding, of course, but who knows--after all, the Cubs got him by trade in the first place...)
So did I and I will also post any response.
For the Cubs? How, that doesn't make any sense? Is Hendry gonna trade Wuertz and Ohman for Pierre? WTF?
If they sign him, it will mean the Cubs, to sign relievers (Rusch, Howry, Eyre, and Dempster) and Neifi, spent about $18M of their $30M this year in payroll flexibility "fixing" the bullpen and locking up Captain Useless.
They're just about to price themselves right out of the Furcal market, and we STILL HAVE ONLY TWO #### OUTFIELDERS ON THE #### #### ROSTER, one of whom sucked so badly last year that he had to be sent to AAA. Murton/Patterson/Hairston... wow. Just wow.
I predict the next signing after this one will be... Billy Wagner. 3/$30M, so Dempster can be the setup guy. It'll be the shiniest, veteraniest, bestest bullpen ever. The Cubs won't ever have a lead, so the bullpen will be pretty much useless. But man can Dusty crow about how much better it is not to be stuck using those kids again.
Then we can trade Wuertz, Ohman, Hill, Mitre, Brownlie, Leicester, Wellemeyer, Guzman, Nolasco, and Gallagher to Arizona for Shawn Green. Boo youth! Yay old!
It's from a NY paper, and it's just an aside. I want to see I'll believe it when I see it, but...
There are 50 ways to drop Macias. He's eligible for arbitration, but the price is not going to be far off from what he got this year. They could release him when they add Eyre, or they could not offer him arbitration, or they could come to terms with him after offering arb, and then trade him. We give Hendry a hard time about Macias but I think a lot of teams would take him as a minor throw-in in a trade, so I wouldn't get too upset about it if he were offered arbitration. Of course, it would be ridiculous if Macias were on the major league club next season, but I'm not going to be upset if that happens either -- that isn't going to lower my opinion of Hendry.
You're missing the big picture. The 2006 Cubs will be ALL BULLPEN ALL THE TIME!!!1111
Remember the no-hitter Houston put on the Yankees? Imagine having a collaborative no-hitter every game of the season. The roster will feature 19 pitchers because Macias and Neifi are so versatile they can handle two at once. Plus, the 7 person batting order will get Derrek Lee at least one extra PA a game.
The only reason I could say that having Macias on the roster wouldn't lower my opinion of Hendry would have to be that my opinion of Hendry was already at rock bottom in the first place.
Macias was a needless addition to the 2004 team. He had no business on the 2005 team and his very presence on the roster robbed the Cubs from a look at a more worthy minor leaguer (Cedeno, Fontenot, pre-injured Greenberg, whomever) not to mention the wasted salary.
If the Cubs tender him a contract while losing a guy like Sing or Brownlie to Rule 5 -- heck, if he's tendered a contract at all -- it only reaffirms the stance I took when they reupped Neifi and confirms my disdain for Cubs management.
When I read that, this was my first thought as well. If the Cubs had no one else to be a utility infielder, then maybe you keep him around at the end of the bench. But the Cubs are full of utility IFs - Cedeno, Neifi, Hairston. Macias would literally be the 25th man - either the 7th or 8th IF, the 5th or 6th OF, and the worst bat on the team.
There are probably half a dozen players at AAA right now who could do better, not to mention at least 50 minor league free agents they could bring in. You don't give Macias $1M to fill a role that someone else can fill for $300K. Of course, I'd have said the same thing about Scott Eyre and Glendon Rusch (and Bob Howry, if that comes to light) and Neifi Perez. So it's not like the Cubs haven't already committed about $15M for next year to pay veterans to fill roles that could have gone to youngsters. If that's really an organizational strategy, then I expect to see Macias back.
Well, that was exactly what I meant.
If the Cubs had no one else to be a utility infielder, then maybe you keep him around at the end of the bench.
If the Cubs had no one else to be a utility infielder and they weren't carrying 12 pitchers all the time. Anyway, I can imagine Macias being a valid spare part on a roster, but not this one.
*ahem*
Do you know the way to can Jose?
He's been around so long. You may go wrong and keep Jose
Do you know the way to can Jose?
I’m going to have to find some peace of mind. Please can Jose.
Jose is a worthless ass, though
He hit triples in San Diego
For a week, maybe two, they thought him a star
Weeks turned into months. how quck they pass
And the little star that never was
Was back to being just an ass.
Do you know the way to can Jose?
The U.S. has a lot of space. there’ll be a place where he can stay
You were born and raised to can Jose
I’m going to have to find some peace of mind. Please can Jose.
Fame and fortune is a magnet.
It has pulled him far away from home
With a dream in his heart he's never alone.
Dreams turn into dust and blow away
And there he is without a friend.
"Just pack your car and ride away!"
I’ve got lots of friends who'd can Jose
Do you know the way to can Jose?
Can’t wait to get you to can Jose.
Carrie e-mailed me -- she said that a Cubs official told her "not to do the math" because another move was pending and the delay is because MLB closes its offices over the weekend.
there was still some paperwork/moves that had to be processed with MLB, which closes its offices over the weekend.
ESPN Radio 1000 is reporting that the Cubs have inked right-handed reliever Bob Howry to a three year, $12MM contract. He will have his physical on Monday.
Poo-tee-weet
Yikes.
Ugh.
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