More Cubs speculation
Since I feel like I can post whatever I want on here about the Cubs and I may or may not be attributed with starting a rumor, I thought I would modify what I think the Cubs should do this offseason.
First, all of this is assuming we re-sign Aramis, which, rumor has it the Cubs are planning to by Saturday or before. Of course, this is entirely a rumor, as it was mentioned on WGN radio yesterday and nothing I've read has heard it directly from WGN radio; someone ust said they heard it. This is a great move. Obviously I won't get into why, and I'm still skeptical of any truth behind this rumor, but we'll assume to avoid redudancy that this is going to happen.
So, now we get onto where we have problems. We have no cf, at least one other of our outfield spots needs upgraded (I'm looking at you Jacque Jones), and we probably need a solid middle infielder. In addition, we need starting pitching. Badly.
First, I say we go after Gary Matthews Jr. in free agency. He probably wouldn't be too expensive, I'm pretty sure he left on good terms with the Cubs, who I'm pretty sure were extremely reluctant to cut him, but we had to make room for a cf who struck out a lot. But, also he's an upgrade over Juan Pierre both offensively and defensively. And the most he would command through free agency is (guessing) no more than $6-8 million.
However, as a second option, or possibly a first option, I think we explore all trade possibilities for Vernon Wells. Wells had a terriffic year in cf for the Blue Jays. I won't bore you with numers, but he hit .303 and had 32 HR's (.357 OBP). I will bore you with numbers a little bit, he also had 17 steals. So, very solid offensively. He also only made 4 errors all season in the field. We would probably have to give up pitching, and maybe a Murton or Pie, but he's basically what we hope Pie would become, so I think we may consider that. Maybe we can jam Jacque Jones into that trade. But, also, we extend his contract as soon as he gets here (or we trade him at the deadline if we suck). So we win either way.
Now, onto the middle infield. I would be all for bringing A-Rod in to play short, but I don't see it happening. I don't really see anything happening if we trade for Wells, but assuming we don't, either we should put together an offer for Soriano (to play whatever he wants) or consider trading for Tejada. Apparently it will get to take a lot to get Tejada though. So, maybe we'd consider a reunion of Julio Lugo with Lou Piniella. Lugo loved Piniella as a coach and credits him for his improvements, so that may be a possibility. And, Lugo is going to OBP above .299, so he's obviously an improvement over Izturis.
Pitching. Oh boy, we need help. I think we need to sign Barry Zito. We continously lose out on good pitching free agents when they drive their price too high. Well, what with the Japanese pitchers commanding a lot of money just for contract negotiations, that could leave Zito as a second option, and if teams miss out on their first option of a Japanese pitcher, they may be willing to overspend for Zito. That being said, I wouldn't mind picking up a Ted Lilly, or possibly trading someone out of the bullpen for a young arm. We need at least two pitchers though, and I'd say we could use an extra arm just for insurance.
As for right field, we're rumored to be in negotiations for Gary Sheffield, but I don't see him getting along with too many people anywhere. I was hoping we could include Jacque Jones in any deal we make, but now that there are rumors his throwing arm was hurt all season and he was trying to treat it without surgery, his value has gone down. I still think, should we not get Sheffield (whom I don't really want anyways), we should try to include Jones in any deal we can. Should we not be able to deal him for anyone big, I say we try to deal him straight up for a young, slightly unproven outfielder who may have a big upside and is going to be cheap. I may hate myself for saying this, but I wouldn't mind having Adam Dunn. Sure he only hits about .230's, but he still gets on base nearly 37% of the time. Jones gets on nearly 34% of the time. Call me crazy, I like guys who can take a walk even if they suck at hitting for average.
So this is somewhere along the lines of what we should do. What we will do is hopefully re-sign Ramirez, possibly trade for Sheff, and then overpay for two underachieving starters and rely on Mark Prior to come back healthy. Again.
First, all of this is assuming we re-sign Aramis, which, rumor has it the Cubs are planning to by Saturday or before. Of course, this is entirely a rumor, as it was mentioned on WGN radio yesterday and nothing I've read has heard it directly from WGN radio; someone ust said they heard it. This is a great move. Obviously I won't get into why, and I'm still skeptical of any truth behind this rumor, but we'll assume to avoid redudancy that this is going to happen.
So, now we get onto where we have problems. We have no cf, at least one other of our outfield spots needs upgraded (I'm looking at you Jacque Jones), and we probably need a solid middle infielder. In addition, we need starting pitching. Badly.
First, I say we go after Gary Matthews Jr. in free agency. He probably wouldn't be too expensive, I'm pretty sure he left on good terms with the Cubs, who I'm pretty sure were extremely reluctant to cut him, but we had to make room for a cf who struck out a lot. But, also he's an upgrade over Juan Pierre both offensively and defensively. And the most he would command through free agency is (guessing) no more than $6-8 million.
However, as a second option, or possibly a first option, I think we explore all trade possibilities for Vernon Wells. Wells had a terriffic year in cf for the Blue Jays. I won't bore you with numers, but he hit .303 and had 32 HR's (.357 OBP). I will bore you with numbers a little bit, he also had 17 steals. So, very solid offensively. He also only made 4 errors all season in the field. We would probably have to give up pitching, and maybe a Murton or Pie, but he's basically what we hope Pie would become, so I think we may consider that. Maybe we can jam Jacque Jones into that trade. But, also, we extend his contract as soon as he gets here (or we trade him at the deadline if we suck). So we win either way.
Now, onto the middle infield. I would be all for bringing A-Rod in to play short, but I don't see it happening. I don't really see anything happening if we trade for Wells, but assuming we don't, either we should put together an offer for Soriano (to play whatever he wants) or consider trading for Tejada. Apparently it will get to take a lot to get Tejada though. So, maybe we'd consider a reunion of Julio Lugo with Lou Piniella. Lugo loved Piniella as a coach and credits him for his improvements, so that may be a possibility. And, Lugo is going to OBP above .299, so he's obviously an improvement over Izturis.
Pitching. Oh boy, we need help. I think we need to sign Barry Zito. We continously lose out on good pitching free agents when they drive their price too high. Well, what with the Japanese pitchers commanding a lot of money just for contract negotiations, that could leave Zito as a second option, and if teams miss out on their first option of a Japanese pitcher, they may be willing to overspend for Zito. That being said, I wouldn't mind picking up a Ted Lilly, or possibly trading someone out of the bullpen for a young arm. We need at least two pitchers though, and I'd say we could use an extra arm just for insurance.
As for right field, we're rumored to be in negotiations for Gary Sheffield, but I don't see him getting along with too many people anywhere. I was hoping we could include Jacque Jones in any deal we make, but now that there are rumors his throwing arm was hurt all season and he was trying to treat it without surgery, his value has gone down. I still think, should we not get Sheffield (whom I don't really want anyways), we should try to include Jones in any deal we can. Should we not be able to deal him for anyone big, I say we try to deal him straight up for a young, slightly unproven outfielder who may have a big upside and is going to be cheap. I may hate myself for saying this, but I wouldn't mind having Adam Dunn. Sure he only hits about .230's, but he still gets on base nearly 37% of the time. Jones gets on nearly 34% of the time. Call me crazy, I like guys who can take a walk even if they suck at hitting for average.
So this is somewhere along the lines of what we should do. What we will do is hopefully re-sign Ramirez, possibly trade for Sheff, and then overpay for two underachieving starters and rely on Mark Prior to come back healthy. Again.
posted by Jtrouble at 9:50 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home