Mark DeRosa(Cubbie Nation/File)
Take back everything good that I've said about Jim Hendry.
In moves that make me wonder if Dusty Baker has returned from the managerial graveyard to haunt the front office, Mark DeRosa has been traded to the Cleveland Indians for a trio of minor-league pitchers.
You guys know me by now. I've no problem with shipping DeRosa out of town. I sell high on principle, so with one year left on his deal, and coming up on 35 years old, this was probably the best time to thank him for his services...and ship him on his way.
And while I do realize that with the sagging free agent market, it was probably more appropriate for many would-be DeRosa suitor to go that route, rather than deal prospects. I mean, Brian Fuentes couldn't even clear 20 million on the market in signing with the Angels, so I think we can all agree tis better this year to bargain shop. But there are still a half-dozen teams that would love to have Mark DeRosa specifically -- if the Peavy debacle was any indication -- so you'd expect that Hendry would get a nice return. And by nice, I mean someone able to help make significant improvements to the 2009 club.
Instead, he gets two A-prospects in Chris Archer and John Gaub, and Triple-A reliever Jeff Stevens. None of which are among the Indians' top twenty prospects, by the way.
Archer and Gaub look to be high upside candidates who may be of some use a few years down the road -- assuming that they stay. Steven is at least interesting, sporting late-inning quality stuff, and high career strikeout totals that put him much in the mold of the prototypical Cubs pitching prospect. Chances are you can expect to see him on the major league roster by summer, if not to start the season.
In short, I hate it. And I really can't see why the Cubs effectively swapped a likely Type A free agent for a middle reliever and some filler. Maybe between obtaining Patton and Stevens, it pushes Michael Wuertz far away from the the Cubs roster, but past that, I can't quite see the point.
Part of another deal? Not likely, as Stevens looks like a few seasons away from a legitimate closer candidate. And most teams have at least one guy like him in the system anyway.
Taking the place of someone about to be traded? There are a few rumors, but you'd expect that for a quality talent like DeRosa, you still could have gotten more sure things.
Freeing up cash to make a bigger move, such as the rumored Milton Bradley signing? Maybe, but I would hope that Hendry on his worst day isn't dumb enough to move DeRosa just to overpay Bradley.
I'm left with two thoughts then. Either he just really wanted a left-handed bat there, or the Cubs are waffling a bit on the salary increases for 2009 that were suggested earlier in the off-season. I'm going to think on this for awhile, and see if there's another alternative. If you've got a take, please share.
Oh, and to complete the day, the Cubs signed Aaron Mile to a two-year deal. No pop. Doesn't get on base. Doesn't play great defense. Maybe he's enough to finally have Cedeno traded or cut, but you could have made a better argument for grabbing Felipe Lopez.
Felix Pie(Cubbie Nation/File)
Filed:December 21st, 2008
Bradley. Abreu. Dunn. Ibanez. Etcetera. Etcetera.
I love these guys. I really do. As a fan of plain old baseball entertainment, I've enjoyed these guys for years.
Who can think of Bobby Abreu without remembering his sweet, elegant grace in the field and at the plate in his prime? Remember the 2005 All-Star Game?
Or the way that Ibanez has carried himself for years now; in my mind one of the benchmarks of how the modern-day baseball player should carry himself. I live thousands of miles away, see maybe a half-dozen Mariners games a season, and even I realize that he's the consummate pro.
And let's not even get started on Adam Dunn. You need only see one of those rocket shots out of Wrigley -- and onto Sheffield -- in person to realize he's a beast; you know, when he's not striking out.
But enough already!!!!! I can't crack a paper, open my e-mail, check out a sports site or blog, or even finish my coffee without these names coming up. Where are they going? What are they getting? Are the Cubs really chasing Milton Bradley? You'll notice that I don't recall him fondly, by the way.
Now, with the holidays approaching, it's likely that these deals will be pushed into the early New Year, and perhaps more so as the Nationals wait to see what the Teixeira talks will bring. I hear they're looking hard at Dunn as a Plan B, so I suspect that some East Coast team -- the Red Sox, Mets, or Nationals likely -- will have to commit some dollars before this situation unclogs.
I stick by my original opinion though either way, in that relievers and corner outfielders are going to get burned, burned, burned in this economic market. But must they postpone the inevitable?
Having all week to reflect on my version of Outfielder on The Brain though, a few thoughts came to mind:
For what it's worth, my current opinion is:
Abreu - Cubs
Dunn - Nationals
Bradley - Hell Rays
The economy will truly hit Main Street by early next year, potentially cutting into ticket sales for the 2009 season. Ancillary purchases should be down, and baseball is cutting fixed costs all around the league. Yet the sport is healthy, acknowledged by all parties involved as flush with cash, and many marketers have signed up for long-term deals. With the suddenly deflated free agent contracts -- just like most everything else right now -- I'm giving it about another month before the grumblings of collusion become louder out of the MLBPA. Remember all those 2/6 deals for corner outfielders earlier this decade that got MLB in trouble back in 2006? After a few too many position players find their initial demands cut by 40 percent, you'll be seeing those complaints all over again.
I keep looking at the Phillies signing of Raul Ibanez, and I just don't get it. I like the move, so don't get me wrong. He's not only a professional bat, but a true pro in a clubhouse that seems to appreciate pros. Production-wise, he should mimic Pat Burrell's batting line for a least the next few seasons, and Internet fodder aside, he's about the same defensively, if not a touch better than Burrell. Maybe the lineup is a touch too left-handed, but he really was about the best fit, in my opinion.
Now maybe the fans should have a beef if they feel they missed out on an impact bat, but really, what was the alternative? Overpay Pat, and watch him de-evolve into more underperforming seasons? Bring back Abreu? Just kidding. And let's not even get started on the personal issues with Burrell. I get to hear a new jaw-dropping story about him every time I visit Philly. I just can't see how he's going to be missed, at least on the field.
The Cubs signing Joey Gathright I get. Signing him before trading Felix Pie is ludicrous.
I consider Gathright about the perfect fifth outfielder; fast, a plus defender, and inexpensive at under a million bucks. It's a good signing. What I'm left wondering is how badly have the Cubs diminished the trade value of Felix Pie in the process? In my mind, it's to about the value of a decent A prospect, and a couple of bats.
Let's see. You can't send him back to the minors; out of options. You won't carry six outfielders. It's extremely unlikely that the Cubs won't add an outfield bat. And the fifth outfield spot was just taken. I feel like I'm looking at Matt Murton all over again. Jim Hendry generally gets a pass with me, as he's been a fine evaluator of major-league talent. But continuing to get himself put into bad trading positions with prospects is inexcusable. I'm beginning to wonder if the concept of selling high just doesn't register with him. And yes, I think of the fact that he should have gotten more for Jose Ceda when I say that.
Bottom line, he appears to be operating under the mindset that he can still lie in wait, and fleece the Pittsburghs of the sport, using whatever prospects are handy. Those teams have more money now, and significantly more desire and ability to secure those arbitration-year players to multi-year deals early, as opposed to trading them. If he wants to use the farm system as the preferred acquisition tool, then fine. But let's start preserving the value of those assets, and trade guys too early, rather than too late.
Lastly was the under-the-radar signing this week of Felipe Lopez by the Diamondbacks; at not only a great price, but a one-year deal. Sad.
Felipe has been my Cubs move of the off-season, assuming that he would be within this price range. I had envisioned him filling the role that manager Lou Piniella keeps trying to tie Mark DeRosa to. He's a switch-hitter, who has shown an ability to play *cough, shortstop, *cough, cough*, and a passable outfield. Keith Law has a fine take on the signing, which I think is worth a read. All I'm going to say further about this is that Washington is where careers seem to go to die. Blame the park, the management, the players who've no winning experience there, an organization that doesn't know how to get things done, or any combination of the above. You should check out his stats before he got sent to purgatory, and what he did immediately upon leaving. Do not be surprised if he's the Comeback Player of The Year. Just sayin.
Filed:December 9th, 2008
The Tribune filing bankruptcy. Greg Maddux retiring. Jake Peavy potentially being acquired as soon as today. Ron Santo's Hall of Fame snub. And that was before the Governor was charged in the biggest corruption case that I can think of since the Monopoly Era in America. Amazing.
Let's start with the Tribune, who officially filed for Chapter 11 protection yesterday. The good news is that according to the release from the Cubs, and some old documentation put together from last year, it should have little effect on the ballclub. It appears that they were spun off as an LLC in advance of the pending sell, and they've been excluded from the filing.
Sam Zell won't get to pocket the cash from the sale, as they are still as asset of the parent, but normal operations shouldn't be impacted, and this allows them to complete the sale in a less-rushed manner. I've suggested here previously that all the talk about a delay in the sale was nonsense until there was accompanying news regarding a renegotiating with creditors. Well, this is the extreme version of that.
These leveraged equity deals are coming home to roost, and in a very nasty way. I don't know what to say. American business plays these games with credit in a manner that gets progressively worse each time the market contracts. First we gobbled up bad loans in S&Ls. Then the Michael Milken-led junk bond market. The maturation of sub-prime in the 90s. CDOs and SIVs earlier this decade, and now crazy LBO deals that would make even Ivan Boesky's jaw drop.
Each time though, it amounts to the same thing: people and entities that had no business with credit getting it, in order to preserve a lifestyle or market they didn't merit. I'd like to think that restructuring would make the Tribune a competitive company. I'm pretty sure though that it's just postponing their demise. Sadly, it's at the expense of the employees.
Ron Santo
Snubbed again. Look, I'm indifferent about his candidacy in general, but if you forced me to comment, I'll tell you that I wouldn't vote for him. There was just never a point in which he was the preeminent talent of the generation, nor were his teams generally competitive enough to create the proper legacy. I'm happy to leave it to others as to whether he belongs. If/when he makes it in, I'll cheer, and send my congratulations will no ill will.
What troubles me though is the position of some towards the Veterans Committee. Look, here's my take on them. By the time a candidate gets to them, those players have had a lot of chances to make a compelling argument for their candidacy. The baseball writers are responsible for selecting Hall of Fame inductees, and I don't think it's their province to overrule them unless there is significant argument to do so. The VC not voting players in perhaps speaks to the candidate being as un-compelling in their eyes as they were to the writers.
I look for them instead to be a backstop to correct blatant injustices in the process; for those who have truly fell through the cracks, perhaps unfairly snubbed by the writers for personality or other issues.
You know, in another few years, the VC will probably have to correct some of those injustices that I’ve suggested, voting players in who were “victims” of the Steroid Era. Some of those guys are going to get lumped in unfairly by writers, and the VC will have to make some of those cases right. Or guys who the media just didn't like, and they lose some votes because of it. I'm sure you can think of a few guys that are likely worthy, but that might get "punished" by the press down the road.
I'm troubled by the fact that they've voted so few players in, but I keep coming back to the thought that for the most part, if these guys were such clear-cut candidates, they wouldn't be sitting with the Veteran's Committee in the first place. Some have called for their disbandment; personally instead I might like to see all the players lumped on a ballot, and the top vote-getter for each year gets in, with no player on the ballot for more than three years. Just an idea.
Greg Maddux
I remember watching him get tagged on a cold, nasty day in 1986, and thinking to myself "there's no way this guy is going to make it with that fastball". HA!! Thanks for the memories Greg.
Filed:December 5th, 2008
Atlanta Braves (Cubbie Nation/File)
Frank Wren just went to the top of my favorite GMs list.
First, he quickly excavated himself from the prolonged Jake Peavy discussion, rather than compromise organizational philosophy and lose top assets. Now, he makes my week with a mini-megatrade, with the Sox sending Javier Vasquez to the Braves, in exchange for a bunch of talent that Atlanta really wasn't all that interested in. I love it.
Call me a fan of the trade as well, if only because I don't have to listen to Ozzie Guillen and the Chicago media whip on Javy like he's got a tail anymore. Personally, I think general manager Kenny Williams is still miffed about giving up Chris Young for him, but hey, those are the breaks. Vasquez has always struck me as ridiculously overrated though. The stats are there, but he's never been the guy to give the ball too when you had to get a win. Ever. Yet, he gets paid like it, the media mostly treats him that way, and GMs continue to drool -- at least until they spend a few seasons with him. Even Bobby Cox had this to say:
"I consider Javy [Vazquez] to be an elite pitcher. His stuff is way above average and he's a great athlete. ... I think it's a tremendous deal for the Braves to have Javy in our uniform."
To paraphrase Treebeard, "A manager should know better!!" Vasquez is who he is; a strong innings-eater, who will never be the centerpiece of a staff.
In return though, they got a true Kenny Williams player back in Tyler Flowers. A big-butted, strong, lumbering basher who should rocket balls out of US Cellular with regularity, and as early as in 2010. From the scouting reports, he probably will never see a day at catcher, but with both the Konerko and Thome contracts expiring in less than two seasons, he could be a real fixture at first base. All in all, I like it both teams -- albeit with the slight edge to Atlanta.
And for the record, I'm starting to get really excited about the Braves in 2009. If they can land A.J. Burnett as rumored, I'd certainly consider them the NL East frontrunners for next season.
Meanwhile, in an example of how not to compose a team, the Giants committed almost 20 million to a well-into-decline-phase Edgar Renteria, signing him to a two-year deal. This after paying 3 million to sign Bob Howry earlier in the week.
I think you have to at least have a patch of grey hair just to get GM Brian Sabean to take your agent's call. I mean, I sort of get it. Some guys just aren't meant for the American League, and I'd say that Edgar is at the top of that list. So, I'm confident that he'll bounce back offensively somewhat in 2009. But his defense really has been as bad as they say, and hitting him in the two-hole seems overly optimistic. He is an upgrade, but at these prices, it's just robbery.
The funny thing is, the Giants are quietly putting themselves into a position to be competitive in 2009. The NL West is starting to look pretty watered down for next season, and if they can get a little more offense, and Howry bounces back in the bullpen, they should be in the mix.
Back in Chicago with the Cubs though, everyone is waiting breathlessly for the consumation of the Jake Peavy deal. I'm making this a Peavy free post however, because frankly 1) I now think it will actually happen, and 2) I'm still hoping it won't.
Speaking of pitching, Paul Sullivan thinks that Chad Gaudin is a non-tender candidate. And this is why I avoid Paul Sullivan. Putting aside the question of why a major-market team would non-tender a decent swingman as opposed to say, trading him -- I mean we're talking about a few million bucks here for a fifth starter option -- it flies somewhat at odds with Lou Piniella's public comments to date.
From the right side, we picked up Gregg from the Marlins, but we're going to have to have a guy like (Chad) Gaudin pitch well for us. And (Kevin) Hart, (Angel) Guzman ... we're going to have some young people that are going to have to come through for us, too."
Me thinks he stays; at least until the Cubs hammer out their starting rotation question marks.
Chad Fox signs a minor-league deal this week; again. Enough already. I understand why the club did it, but I've had to endure two Chad Fox tenures in Chicago, and I'm convinced that his shoulder is now held together by stickum and scotchtape. Couldn't you just have offered him a roving instructor job instead? He's 36, you know. I lay odds at 50-50 that his arm literally falls off in Spring Training.
And let's not forget VERY old pitchers, and give Comcast analyst Dan Plesac a proper sendoff. He's taking a position with MLB Network, and I'm sure that he'll be fantastic. Dan arrived at Comcast in 2004, and has proven himself over the last few years to be one of the brighter analysts in baseball, in my opinion. I know I'm crossing sports here, but you need only look at his work as opposed to say, Jerry Azumah for Bears football with the same network to see the difference. Best wishes Dan.
Meanwhile, what I think is the one of the more interesting developments this week is the Yankees declining arbitration to Bobby Abreu, which was almost as certain as Christmas just a month ago. Yo'all know I'm a fan, although I acknowledged that the likelihood of he and the Cubs being a match was remote. However with a declining market, I sense that closers and corner outfielders are the ones who are really going to feel the burn. At 12-16 million per, I'd say keep on looking, Jim Hendry. But if the price starts dropping into the 8-10 range, or heaven forbid he'd agree to a one-year deal to let the market reset, well...
Lastly, this week brought news that Henry Blanco's brother died, a victim of a botched kidnapping attempt. My condolences and thoughts are with the Blanco family. Kidnapping has been something of a cottage industry in parts of South America for years now, and I've joked with visiting friends about the merits of a bodyguard while visiting there in the past. The fact is, it's not funny, and the danger to South American players and their families is unfortunately all too real. They're way too visible, well-known, and rich -- relative to the remaining population -- for them in many cases to genuinely be safe. I was horrified at the kidnapping of Ugeuth Urbina's mother a few years ago, and I thought that was the worst. I was wrong. May Carlos rest in peace.
Kerry Wood(Cubbie Nation/File)
Filed:December 2nd, 2008
Well, I guess now we can move on.
Arbitration passed last night at 11:00 PM, and with it any hope of Kerry Wood remaining a Cub in 2009. The club refused arbitration to all of of their free agents, including Kerry, who now faces an extremely uncertain future, given a sudden flood of available closers, and a worse than expected economic downturn.
I know, I know. Some people will say that there is still negotiating room there, with the Cubs able to work a deal out on the cheap, once the market officially bottoms. Don't buy it. There's no nice way to say it, but Wood just isn't wanted. Everyone involved has been a bit tight-lipped to date, understandably so given that Wood likely saw arbitration as a last possible means of being retained.
However, now that that deadline has passed, I expect that some of the more aggressive Lou bashers in the media should either be able to extract an interesting tidbit or two, if not the full story altogether. My suspicion? He just wasn't a Lou guy, and Lou told Hendry as such. Kerry seemed extremely amenable to staying, Hendry seemed way too fond of him, the Kevin Gregg trade seem so prepackaged and arranged, and declining arbitration -- while potentially losing picks that a badly drained farm system could use -- for me to think otherwise. It all just speaks volumes.
One thing that has struck me about the Piniella tenure in Chicago is his desire to ride his favorite arms. HARD. Maybe it's a carryover for all those Torres, Leylands, and Piniellas of baseball who came up in the sixties and early seventies, when situational relievers just didn't exist. They've adapted some, but now they drop two or three of their guys in the pen, give them the ball when needed, and short of their arms' falling off, keep on doing it. You can't do that with Kerry.
Keeping Kerry Wood healthy is tricky. You have to watch pitch counts, meter the days that you throw him back to back. You probably can never use him three straight days. Hell, you even have to watch how often -- and for how long -- you can have him warming up in a game. And a month with a blister? I'm not saying it went down like this, but when I start thinking about moments at the park this season, I can start to get a picture of where those mysterious "factions" in the organization might want to move on.
Maybe we'll find that the Cubs, faced with a eight million plus allocation to Wood in 2009, just wanted to take the money and use it elsewhere. They are on a budget, after all. But this whole thing stinks, and frankly it has the stench of a classic Piniella vote of no confidence.
But hey, if you want some good news, the Mariners have offered Raul Ibanez arbitration. The potential loss of a first-round pick should be enough to make the Cubs think twice about sticking him in right field.