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Author Topic: Cubs in '11  (Read 57428 times)

davep

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Re: Cubs in '11
« Reply #1515 on: June 16, 2011, 09:14:04 pm »
Quote from: StrikeZone on June 16, 2011, 07:43:02 pm
Kosuke Fukudome would be a horrible candidate for arbitration because of the rule that you can only cut a guy's salary by 20%.

/quote]

Is that accurate?  I thought it only applied to auto-renewal players.  If true, then it is a good thing he is not eligible for arb.
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Reb

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Re: Cubs in '11
« Reply #1516 on: June 17, 2011, 10:32:11 am »
One more note about Soriano.   At .538 slugging %, he would be 6th in the NL if he had the required plate appearances, trailing only Kemp, Berkman, Fielder, Braun, and Stanton.
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Cactus

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Re: Cubs in '11
« Reply #1517 on: June 17, 2011, 11:33:18 am »
Quote from: Reb on June 17, 2011, 10:32:11 am
One more note about Soriano.   At .538 slugging %, he would be 6th in the NL if he had the required plate appearances, trailing only Kemp, Berkman, Fielder, Braun, and Stanton.
I had to check - Albert Pujols is slugging .491
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StrikeZone

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Re: Cubs in '11
« Reply #1518 on: June 17, 2011, 11:34:15 am »
Cubs tickets aren't so hot:

http://tinyurl.com/3vafkgv

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Cubs fans, it seems, have finally had enough.


Not from their team's eternally forgivable performance on the field, but rather high ticket prices and sales policies of recent years.

Local ticket resale companies are reporting a historic decline in demand that not even the weekend series against the New York Yankees or next week's crosstown games with the White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field are helping to rebuild.


“People are just not interested like they were,” said Max Waisvisz, owner of Chicago-based Gold Coast Tickets. “It's too-high ticket pricing and fans not getting value for their money. We thought it was invincible. We were wrong.”


Demand for baseball is generally down, Waisvisz added, but the White Sox policies are a bit kinder to their fans and season-ticket holders. The Cubs, on the other hand, are alienating their season-ticket holders by offering deep discounts on individual games, he said.


Cubs officials did not respond to a request for comment.
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brjones

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Re: Cubs in '11
« Reply #1519 on: June 17, 2011, 11:46:56 am »
Interesting stuff from Levine...first, on the Yankees being interested in Cubs pitchers:

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The one name that keeps coming up in baseball circles is Carlos Zambrano. Yankees scouts watched him pitch on the Cubs' recent 10-game road trip. These were not advance scouts who prepare teams for the next series, because the Yankees do video work on the next opponent instead of using scouts. These were top advisers to Yankees general manager Brian Cashman.

Zambrano, who has a full no-trade clause, has said on numerous occasions he wants to stay with the Cubs until his deal expires after 2012. But Zambrano, like any veteran, wants the opportunity to perform in a World Series before his career is over. If the Yankees, who are in need of starting pitching, decide to approach the Cubs about Zambrano's availability, the veteran pitcher could change his mind. Losing is not fun for any player, but for a 10-year veteran like Zambrano, this might be his last shot at playing in a World Series.

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Some of the Yankees top evaluators have more interest in Ryan Dempster than Zambrano, but the Cubs would not be interested in dealing Dempster. Zambrano may be another story, considering his volatility and inconsistency over the last 2 ˝ years. Dempster is considered more consistent by some scouts, but Zambrano has pitched more innings this season. What the Yankees and other teams like about Dempster is he's averaged over 200 innings over the last three years.

And a Soriano quote on his no trade clause:

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"I expect to stay here," said Soriano, who also has a full no-trade. "This is my fifth year, but if they say they want to trade me, then why wouldn't I want to go somewhere else. I wouldn't stay here."

http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/cubs/post/_/id/4932/with-n-y-in-town-let-big-z-speculation-begin
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Ron

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Re: Cubs in '11
« Reply #1520 on: June 17, 2011, 11:57:18 am »
Interesting, indeed. 

I would, in some ways, hate the see the Cubs trade Zambrano, because he's still relatively young and remains a very good pitcher.  Those are hard to find.  But if the Cubs could get some really good young talent in return - talent that fit the Cubs' real needs going forward, then that would make a  lot of sense.
There may not be any other players who have the same potential to return good young talent in a trade.

But I'm not convinced that the Cubs are very interested in trading Zambrano.  This season has underscored how fragile the starting rotation is, and if you remove Zambrano, it is substantially worse.

It's also encouraging that Soriano says he would not block a trade, if one were to somehow materialize.






« Last Edit: June 17, 2011, 12:08:54 pm by Ron »
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Cactus

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Re: Cubs in '11
« Reply #1521 on: June 17, 2011, 12:15:42 pm »
ChicagoCubsOnline

The Cubs must start receiving something from Doug Davis. The Cubs are 2-19 this season in games started by Doug Davis, James Russell, Casey Coleman and Rodrigo Lopez. If Davis cannot win games or at least eat innings, the Cubs should use this spot in the rotation as an audition for pitchers in their system.

Hard to argue with that.
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JR

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Re: Cubs in '11
« Reply #1522 on: June 17, 2011, 12:25:51 pm »
I don't know.  We used that spot to audition Casey Coleman and James Russell, and they sucked.

Besides Trey McNutt, who can't pitch more than 5 innings in a game, is there anyone in the system that's worth looking at in that spot? 
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buff

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Re: Cubs in '11
« Reply #1523 on: June 17, 2011, 12:54:58 pm »
If the cubs could trade Dempster tho the Yankees for a real nice package of players they better damn well do it.
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Cactus

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Re: Cubs in '11
« Reply #1524 on: June 17, 2011, 12:59:30 pm »
Would Rob Whitenack have been given a chance by now?  That would've been a real stretch.
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brjones

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Re: Cubs in '11
« Reply #1525 on: June 17, 2011, 01:03:14 pm »
It is really amazing how awful Cubs starting pitching has been.  They have the highest ERA of any rotation in the NL at 5.42, and the next highest is 4.59.  The difference between the Cubs and 15th place is 0.83, which is roughly the same as the difference between 15th and 6th.

Cubs starters also have the fewest innings pitched of any starting rotation at 371 2/3 IP, with the next lowest being 405 2/3.  They have allowed the highest opposing batting average at .282, while the next highest is .267.  They haven't just been the worst...they've been the worst by a huge margin.
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bitterman

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Re: Cubs in '11
« Reply #1526 on: June 17, 2011, 01:04:57 pm »
Trade them both.  This team is going nowhere in the next 3 years, at least.
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buff

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Re: Cubs in '11
« Reply #1527 on: June 17, 2011, 01:05:07 pm »
In fact the 5 guys in order I would try to deal would be

1. Dempster
2. Soto
3. Zambrano
4. Marmol
5. Marshall

Obviously if you could deal Soriano or Ramirez you do it but I just don't see it happening. 
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bitterman

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Re: Cubs in '11
« Reply #1528 on: June 17, 2011, 01:08:49 pm »
I have no problem trading anyone on this roster, even Castro.  Trade 'em all. 
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Chris27

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Re: Cubs in '11
« Reply #1529 on: June 17, 2011, 01:25:17 pm »
even Castro.

Why is there no "laugh until I cry" icon?
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