Um...
Wowie zowie. That's right, I said it. After campaigning to re-sign Aramis Ramirez for almost as long as my campaign to cut Ol' Double Switch loose, Jim Hendry has finally taken my advice (and only mine) and has actually re-signed Ramirez.
This is great news on so many levels, and I think that my reaction is perfectly suited. Tell me it's not. I dare you. See, you can't.
Really, this amazes me. The terms of the deal are thought to be somewhere around 5 years, $70 million, with a mutual option for 2012. So, damn. It looked like the Angels were going to try to get a deal done with Ramirez today. Suckers.
I can't express how shocked I am. This is actually a smart move. And after all this time I made sure to get my early seat on the "We lost Ramirez" bus, it proves to be all for naught. Awesome.
My dad and I were having a small conversation about bringing back Ramirez last night, and he thought it would be a mistake. However, I thought I presented a pretty good argument. You see, we all know (as I've beaten it into the ground here) that Ramirez's numbers were excellent for 3rd basemen last year. We also know that Ramirez tends to not run out some grounders, and occasionally may get stuck at 1st on a single when he should clearly be at 2nd.
But what seems to get lost in the shuffle is how Ramirez just goes out and does his job. And by that I'm assuming running out all grounders isn't in his job description. This team completely blew ass this past season, and you barely heard anything from Ramirez. And all you heard was disappointment with results, not directed at management or other players or anything. He easily could have volunteered to be traded, but he chose not to, and it appears that he was willing to take some kind of paycut to stay a Cub. Surprisingly, he's a team player.
Also, Ramirez is working pretty hard at 3rd. A couple years ago I remember rumors of Ramirez being a Gold Glove candidate, and while I don't know if he should have won it, I thought he deserved more consideration than he got. He only made 11 errors this past year, and really the glove was one knock on his abilities. That and tender hamstrings and ankles. And the ankles have held up so far.
Ramirez won't carry a team, especially for the length of the entire season, but with D-Lee, he provides a nice complement. Add in a Soriano, Carlos Lee, or Gary Matthews Jr., or perhaps even a J.D. Drew, or, dare I say, Vernon Wells or Carl Crawford, this lineup will not be taken lightly 3-6 or 2-6.
Of course, that's still really wishful thinking. If you believe all the rumors, the Cubs are going after Zito, Igawa (who I'd take as a #4 starter), possibly Jason Schmidt, Soriano, Matthews Jr. However, don't forget who our GM is.
I refuse to give Hendry more credit than he's due for this. This was a good move, but it was not strategic at all. This was a necessary move. So it's good we didn't overpay too much (allegedly) for Ramirez, but, truthfully, Ramirez should get whatever he wants from us. So, now the real question is can Hendry actually go out and get someone?
Also, I guess we re-signed Kerry Wood. This is good, because he can't go elsewhere, and he could prove to be very dangerous should he ever regain his health. Of course, with Rothschild as our pitching coach, Wood's arm will probably fall off after the season anyways.
This is great news on so many levels, and I think that my reaction is perfectly suited. Tell me it's not. I dare you. See, you can't.
Really, this amazes me. The terms of the deal are thought to be somewhere around 5 years, $70 million, with a mutual option for 2012. So, damn. It looked like the Angels were going to try to get a deal done with Ramirez today. Suckers.
I can't express how shocked I am. This is actually a smart move. And after all this time I made sure to get my early seat on the "We lost Ramirez" bus, it proves to be all for naught. Awesome.
My dad and I were having a small conversation about bringing back Ramirez last night, and he thought it would be a mistake. However, I thought I presented a pretty good argument. You see, we all know (as I've beaten it into the ground here) that Ramirez's numbers were excellent for 3rd basemen last year. We also know that Ramirez tends to not run out some grounders, and occasionally may get stuck at 1st on a single when he should clearly be at 2nd.
But what seems to get lost in the shuffle is how Ramirez just goes out and does his job. And by that I'm assuming running out all grounders isn't in his job description. This team completely blew ass this past season, and you barely heard anything from Ramirez. And all you heard was disappointment with results, not directed at management or other players or anything. He easily could have volunteered to be traded, but he chose not to, and it appears that he was willing to take some kind of paycut to stay a Cub. Surprisingly, he's a team player.
Also, Ramirez is working pretty hard at 3rd. A couple years ago I remember rumors of Ramirez being a Gold Glove candidate, and while I don't know if he should have won it, I thought he deserved more consideration than he got. He only made 11 errors this past year, and really the glove was one knock on his abilities. That and tender hamstrings and ankles. And the ankles have held up so far.
Ramirez won't carry a team, especially for the length of the entire season, but with D-Lee, he provides a nice complement. Add in a Soriano, Carlos Lee, or Gary Matthews Jr., or perhaps even a J.D. Drew, or, dare I say, Vernon Wells or Carl Crawford, this lineup will not be taken lightly 3-6 or 2-6.
Of course, that's still really wishful thinking. If you believe all the rumors, the Cubs are going after Zito, Igawa (who I'd take as a #4 starter), possibly Jason Schmidt, Soriano, Matthews Jr. However, don't forget who our GM is.
I refuse to give Hendry more credit than he's due for this. This was a good move, but it was not strategic at all. This was a necessary move. So it's good we didn't overpay too much (allegedly) for Ramirez, but, truthfully, Ramirez should get whatever he wants from us. So, now the real question is can Hendry actually go out and get someone?
Also, I guess we re-signed Kerry Wood. This is good, because he can't go elsewhere, and he could prove to be very dangerous should he ever regain his health. Of course, with Rothschild as our pitching coach, Wood's arm will probably fall off after the season anyways.
posted by Jtrouble at 1:55 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home