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Thursday, December 20, 2012
The Chicago Cubs and pitcher Edwin Jackson agreed to terms on a four-year, $52 million deal, a source told ESPN’s Jim Bowden on Thursday.
The Cubs added another right-handed pitcher in Carlos Villanueva, who has agreed to a two-year contract, a major league source told ESPNChicago.com’s Bruce Levine. The deal is pending a physical.
Ladies and gentlemen, introducing the worst Chicago Cubs team of all time. Your 2013 Chicago Cubs!
McCoy
Posted: December 20, 2012 at 06:42 PM | 97 comment(s)
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1. Hello Rusty Kuntz, Goodbye Rusty Cars Posted: December 20, 2012 at 07:09 PM (#4329666)Obviously cause Shields is an ace and EJax ain't.
IIRC, Edwin turned down 3/30 from the Pirates last year. Not that the Cubs are all that more appealing, but he's already shown he's not going to take the highest offer just because.
Anyway, I will believe this when Edwin actually signs on the dotted line. There have been too many guns that have been jumped concerning the Cubs this offseason.
He turned down a lowball offer from the Pirates. He just signed with adores team than KC because they overpaid.
How is 3/30 lowball when he eventually signed for 1/11? Sure, the Pirates offered a lower AAV but the guaranteed money was much higher. Or do you mean the Pirates offered much less?
also stewart resigned 1 year 2mil, with 500k in incentives
Boy, GMs really must hate knuckleballers.
Seriously. What are the odds that Jackson puts up more WAR from 2013-2016 than Dickey puts up over 2014-2015?
The Cubs have some genuine depth on the pitching staff. Now they need to do something about that outfield.
No and yes. The Royals would have been more likely to contend in 2013 than the Cubs if they still had Myers and Odorizzi plus Jackson. As a city in which to live, I think I am less impressed with Chicago than just about anyone I know. Clearly the Nats had a better chance to win than the Pirates, although the Pirates hung in there pretty well for a while.
Doesn't he have to prove he's healthy first?
I have a Jerry Dipoto on line 2 about a Vernon Wells.
And he was more interested in maxing out his AAV. Correctly, as the new contract demonstrates.
I'm not sure why so many of my fellow Pirates fans have trouble understanding this. If he thinks he's worth more than $10M per, then the extra years are a negative for him, not a positive.
I'd rather live in Pittsburgh, as you can tell from the fact that I live there. It's actually a pretty nice town, the cost of living is very low, and unlike DC, there's a good chance you won't be murdered.
so, i'd call that a wash.
I'm not sure why so many of my fellow Pirates fans have trouble understanding this. If he thinks he's worth more than $10M per, then the extra years are a negative for him, not a positive.
Only if he thinks he has no chance of getting hurt or just pitching poorly, or he is risk-loving rather than risk-averse.
Mayonnaise is the correct condiment for french fries.
It's called a "pillow offer", a standard strategy (ESP. W/Boras) whereby FAs unhappy with long term offers take a one year gambling that they will get better offers in a year. And it worked like a charm here.
The Pirates were bad enough that they needed to offer a premium last year and didn't. If they had offered $40m/3 they likely would have Jackson pitching for them.
KC likely could have gotten Jackson for a similar deal as Cubs, considering how much closer hey were to competing, and not gutted their farm system. But they chose to "go for it" next year in the dumbest and most expensive manner possible,
Alfonso Soriano is available.
So the Mayans were right after all.
Actually, although I'm not exactly thrilled about it, the Jackson signing brings this year's staff up to the level of last year's staff and they do have more depth. But they managed to lose a ton with last year's staff too.
He's been a league average starter with "above average stuff" for 10 years. Last year he was exactly what he is for his career. So, he'll be paid for his stuff rather than his performance.
4 years is probably one too many but this is what "league average starters" (he's a bit better than that) get paid. Past durability is no guarantee of future durability but 200 innings a year of 100 ERA+ is a godsend. This is half Greinke's price (compare the stats), a smidgen less than Dempster's AAV, less than Sanchez, less than Buehrle, the same as Wandy, a smidgen more than Haren's AAV, a little more AAV than Arroyo, the same as ESantana this year. It's probably what Garza would have gotten this year if he hadn't gotten hurt (as is, he'll cost $10 M at least).
Anyway, it's at least a small shift in Theo's strategy. I'm not sure it's a good one at this point -- I advocated something closer to this approach last offseason but, after last year's sell-off of what few assets we had, I'm not sure the best strategy isn't to stick with the "suck until we're good again" approach.
But any move which makes it less likely Coleman ever starts a single game in a Cub uniform again can't be all bad.
EDIT: and it's not mayonnaise, that's gross. It's "garlic aioli" which is mayo with some garlic in it. Sour cream with some spices or sour cream with salsa are also acceptable. Then ketchup. For whatever reason, gravy is right out. Gravy always works with potatoes you think, but not with fries. 'Tis a mystery.
Villanueva: one of the few remaining true swingmen with (ignoring 2010) with 135 appearances, 35 starts and 328 IP for 2009-12
Camp: 217 appearances 2010-112, 4th most IP of any "pure" reliever 2010-12
plus some combo of Feldman, Baker, Wood (barring a Garza trade)
Garza, Jackson, BPJ could total 600+ IP
Maybe the Cubs are planning on a 10-man staff. :-)
A Garza trade seems a hard thing to pull off, even without the injury. There were a lot of Garza types on the market this offseason (we just signed one) and Shields (and Buehrle and Johnson who are a cut above) were traded. Anybody who wanted Garza has had plenty of chances to strike. I won't rule it out -- somebody like Pittsburgh makes some sense if they really do have a hard time getting FAs to sign. A mid-season trade makes all sorts of sense -- prove he's healthy and some contender will need a Garza type pitcher by then.
As others said, the knuckleball is a very untrusted pitch.
Mayonnaise is not the correct condiment for anything. Mayonnaise would make a bowl of your own vomit taste worse.
This seems like the right place to ask.
And David Price will make less than Jackson next year, so giant 27-year-old great-pitching lefties are also untrusted.....
But they don't have the definitive Vernon Wells! All others are just imitations.
And I'm pretty sure the reluctance of some teams has a lot more to do with his age than the knuckleball. And the age immunity of knuckleballers is greatly exaggerated.
Candiotti -- never better than average from 36 on, 3.5 WAR 39-40
Wakefield -- solid but unspectacular, 3.7 WAR from 39-40
J Niekro -- 3.2 WAR from 39-40
P Niekro -- 16.6 WAR from 39-40!! (675 IP which Dickey might total over 3 seasons)
Hough -- 6.3 WAR from 39-40
None of them were particularly good after 40. Hough and Phil were certainly still at least useful and Phil had a couple very nice seasons mixed in with mediocrity. And Hough and Phil are the best of these pitchers and so closer to Dickey. But it's just far from certain that you'll get much better production from Dickey in 2014-15 than from Jackson.
And at ages 39-40, Dickey will be making more in raw dollars (not sure about constant) than Maddux, Glavine, Smoltz and Mussina (a bit less than Shilling, a lot less than Johnson and Clemens). Edwin Jackson will make $3.5 more than Javier Vazquez at the same ages and $16 M less than Anibal Sanchez. It's really a very different set of salary comps, yeah?
Quoted for truth.
Yes, exactly. How many MLB players believe that they're going to suck and/or get hurt? Without a bigger-than-average ego, none of these guys would have been able to make it to the majors in the first place.
Wha? I have literally never heard of anybody in Pittsburgh doing this.
Mayonnaise or aioli with fries is a French style. They go perfectly well together. If you were served mayo with fries, I assume it was somewhere French. I don't know of any American city with a tradition of serving fries with French style condiments, but there are a whole lot of French bistros and Belgian pubs across the country who will serve your fries that way.
Mayo is the perfect condiment to keep sandwich bread from getting soggy. But when I add it I'm adding as little as possible so I don't taste it. If I go to, say, Wendy's I ask for no mayo because I don't trust them not to put more mayo than meat on it.
The thought of using fries as a mayo delivery vehicle for my mouth is making me gag right now.
I'm also a "salad with no dressing" kind of guy, but not because I don't like the flavor of dressing. Rather, I like the flavor of salad.
I have one for you guys (zachtoma and Baldrick).
My office is directly across from the kitchenette (fridge, Keurig machine, microwave) area. A guy I used to work with, who was as big an eater as I've ever seen, would occassionally go on the Atkins diet to reduce his ~340 lbs. He usually always had a fair-sized plate of meat at 10 o'clock break, but this one day he grabbed a 2-lb toupie ham out of the fridge, cut it up into chunks and microwaved it, then dumped about 1/2 a cup of mayonnaise on it and took it back to his desk to eat. Might I mention he was our receptionist.
Somehow I still like mayonnaise after witnessing that.
This just makes me happy I don't eat meat! Gross. Also, even when I still ate meat, I'd never put mayo on ham. Mayo is for chicken and turkey, mustard for ham and beef. I need to develop a curriculum about these simple facts to educate kids in the 2nd or 3rd grade. It really is more important than reading or math for a civilized society. IHMO, of course.
Wait for it...
See, that's your problem, right there.
Oh, and on Edwin Jackson, it's not clear to me why Sanchez got 5/80 and Jackson 4/50. Sanchez is slightly better now - only slightly - but Jackson has better stuff and a better scouting pedigree. I'd definitely prefer Jackson. The fourth year is basically the tax on being a 60-win club, but the Cubs are super rich and that money won't affect them meaningfully in 2016.
Anibal - 20.1 IP, 1.77 ERA
Edwin - 28 IP, 5.46 ERA
Post-season numbers for each guy. Both are career which in Anibal's case is the most recent season. It's not logical but Sanchez became the "it" pitcher this off-season on the strength of his post-season.
I wouldn't want to do it with french fries. Fries are at their best with gravy.
I've got a weight problem in large part because I eat like crap (though I'm down 20 as of this morning, woo!). This sounds horrific though.
Bullpen Jesus
Concur about ham, no mayo, ever. But, it works on a BLT, and a roast beef sandwich (lettuce and tomato), and will sliced roast beef, if you add horseradish.
Not eating meat, now there's something insane ;-)
Sing it brother! Often a bit of dressing is alright, but love the salad not the bad for you crap all over it. And Mayo is nasty on fries or anything else. Occassionally I forget and end up with mayo and eat it, but not good.
Mustard is the correct condiment for fries. Catsup (of Ketchup if you prefer) is ok in a pinch.
You'd prefer "SPP" (starting pitcher pirate)? :p
In all fairness, it's not so much that he looks like Jesus (frankly, he never really did), but more because of the "Touchdown Jesus" mural at Notre Dame Stadium. (EDIT: retro-shiite got it first) Now that you say it, he does look a lot like a skinny pirate, though.
The Cubs got four pitchers - Edwin Jackson, Scott Baker, Scott Feldman, and Carlos Villanueva, and will pay them $29.5 mill (plus $1.5 mill in incentives if Baker is healthy). The Royals got four pitchers - James Shields, Ervin Santana, Jeremy Guthrie, and Wade Davis, and will pay them $30.8 mill, plus they had to give up Wil Myers, Jake Odorizzi, Mike Montgomery, Patrick Leonard and Brandon Sisk.
Who are we to disagree with the Belgians about anything food related? They know what they're doing.
Who are we to disagree with the Belgians about anything food related? They know what they're doing.
How about a compromise? Russian dressing on fries is quite good.
...and cheese curds.
But really good french fries are best with nothing. Condiments, to me, are only there to make up for sub-par fries.
I remember Kent Tekulve, and I have to say I don't see the resemblence at all.
DCW3, please report to the Edwin Jackson thread.
The Belgians know what they're doing?
True.
But really good french fries are best with nothing. Condiments, to me, are only there to make up for sub-par fries.
Also true.
Tomatoes and mayo are my wife's two most-hated foods. You've just described her worst nightmare (sounds good to me, though, although it needs bacon and lettuce - and my son and I will sometimes add avocado to make it a BLAT sandwich).
Mayo is great and warm mayo is the greatest.
Saying you don't like mayo is like saying you don't like butter and who doesn't like butter?
Whoa! That takes me back. I haven't done that in years and years and years. Crissakes, not I'm going to have to get fries for lunch. Thanks jerks!
Why is the cut/shape of a fry automatically linked to the flavor in this one occasion? They make sweet-potato fries the same shape as regular ones.
Good, but not as good as they were when they first came out, before they changed the spice recipe.
Occupy Frialator?
Haven't had Arby's in quite some time but they did have good curley fries. There is a chain of Mexican restaurants in northern Jersey that has excellent fries. I think they are covered in flour and then fried. I guess it holds even more grease.
But he talks like a gentleman.
I think fries need some salt, at the very least.
I am not a big fan of mayo but will eat it if it comes on my sandwich. My wife puts mayo on cheeseburgers, which I think is disgusting but I have learned to deal with it, just so she doesn't put it on mine.
The best sauce for a BLT is brown steak sauce such as A1. I know it sounds weird but it actually is very good; Russian dressing makes a good second choice if brown sauce is not available.
My 8 year old nephew. Seriously, he won't eat them.
Could they really be worse than the the '62 Cubs, who not only lost club-record 103 games, but did it in the same league as the legendary 1962 Mets? Who they were 9-9 against...?! (Funnily enough, I actually interviewed one of their [three!] managers, Charlie Metro. His book, "Safe By A Mile", is pretty good.)
My sandwich condiment of choice is oyster sauce. Goes magnifciently well with cheddar cheese for some reason.
I read this response after only reading the first question in the italicized portion it was a response to.
Mayo is gross but that's partly a result of my mother overusing it when I was a kid. I can never eat a turkey sandwich with mayo again. Also, anything from Wendy's is gross.
Bacon and damn near anything makes for a nice sandwich, except mayo :-)
Just go sour cream and salsa and cut the Russians out of it.
Mayo, ketchup, and diced raw onion is great with fries.
Again, sour cream and salsa.
I think fries need some salt, at the very least.
And here I depart. No salt. No crappy seasoning. Just black pepper.
For those looking for taste adventure, travel to New Zealand. You can get chicken salt on your fries (well, chips). Or lemon pepper. You can get potato chips (well, crisps) in chicken flavor (well, flavour) ... or lamb and mint or ham and something.
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