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Cubs fire Jim Hendry

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Dick Whitman, Aug 19, 2011.

  1. RickStain

    RickStain Well-Known Member

    I don't think they'll go Marlins, but without Fielder that team looks awfully .500-y to me. 67-58 Pyth record, then they lose a 5 WAR bat?

    That's still good enough to be the best in that division, though.
     
  2. YankeeFan

    YankeeFan Well-Known Member

    Andrew Friedman? Really?

    He's had Gerry Hunsicker holding his hand for his entire tenure.

    Guys like Price were consensus number 1 picks.

    There's no miracle in Tampa. They sucked for a long time & plied up draft choices .

    They also took a lot of fliers, and a couple of them worked out. That's because of lock/odds. It's not due to genius.
     
  3. crimsonace

    crimsonace Well-Known Member

    They do play the arms race, but a significant part of the Red Sox core -- Pedroia, Ellsbury, Ortiz, Youkilis, Paepelbon -- came up through Boston's system.

    The Cubs have a license to print money. They've misspent it, but their biggest problem has been in developing talent of late. Much of the 2003 team that nearly went to the WS was homegrown (Wood, Prior, Zambrano, Farnsworth, Borowski just in the pitching staff) or obtained through trades of homegrown players (Bobby Hill for Aramis Ramirez comes to mind).
     
  4. MankyJimy

    MankyJimy Active Member

     
  5. Cubbiebum

    Cubbiebum Member

    I didn't realize Ortiz was really playing for the Red Sox during his six years in Minnesota to start his career.

    Same goes for Borowski when he was floundering around in the mid-90s with Baltimore, Atlanta and New York except he was really playing for the Cubs not Red Sox.
     
  6. Beef03

    Beef03 Active Member

    Rivalries between cities don't mean shit to players when you're throwing millions, sometimes hundreds of millions of dollars at them. The only rivalries that may persuade a player from signing with another team are personal rivalries -- if he hates the coach or another star on the team -- but even then normally those rivalries can be smoothed out with enough dollars. It happens in every sport where a player will sign with a rival, even a hated rival. Even if they came up with that team. Money always speaks loudest.
     
  7. Beef03

    Beef03 Active Member

    Did people forget that A-Rod played short? Jesus Christ, I mean Derek Jetah, has got to be retiring sooner or later, when Posada hangs it up this year, move Jeter to DH, A-Rod back to short, and either Pujols or Texiera to third.

    Personally, I's rather see the Cubs sign Fielder who will be cheaper than Pujols and spend some of the change on a decent pitcher or maybe an outfielder.
     
  8. Matt Stephens

    Matt Stephens Well-Known Member

    Yesterday was such a great day when I heard this.
     
  9. Matt Stephens

    Matt Stephens Well-Known Member

    Interestingly enough, this is all the MLBPA does when a player gets traded.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 15, 2014
  10. sgreenwell

    sgreenwell Well-Known Member

    1) Fielder is a FA, so minus his production and minus $15.5M.
    2) Corey Hart gets a $2.5M raise.
    3) Braun gets a $2M raise.
    4) Weeks gets a $6.5M raise.
    5) Hawkins is a FA, minus $4.25M.
    6) Marcum goes to arb, surely will get a raise from $3.95M.
    7) Gallardo gets a 2.2M raise. (Side note: Bobby Witt is an agent now, weird.)
    8) On the rest of the roster, have eight other guys who need to go to arb if they want to keep them.

    So yeah, they might still be fine next year. But there is going to be a good amount of turnover on that roster, and like usual, Melvin is going to have to be creative. I like him as a GM, but next year could either be the real "last chance" with that roster, or it could be a bit of a rebuild year, especially if they don't extend Greinke.
     
  11. RickStain

    RickStain Well-Known Member

    If the payroll stays where it is, there should be plenty of money for both a mega-contract 1b and one good starting pitcher. As for the OF, they are definitely stuck with Soriano, and Byrd is a nice piece. The smart move for them would be to shift Byrd over to right and hand CF to Brett Jackson. Jackson's not a high-ceiling prospect, but he's almost certainly going to be a decent MLB CFer and looks ready to do it right away for cheap.
     
  12. Bubbler

    Bubbler Well-Known Member

    Stop with the fucking Pythagorean record. Its total bullshit. If you have a lockdown bullpen, as the Brewers have had in the second half this season, you can win one-run games all the live long day.

    Does that one stat translate to next year? No. But neither do the doomsday scenarios. Every season is different. I seriously doubt anyone thought the Cardinals would have bullpen woes this season after blowing just 11 saves last year.

    Will the Brewers be diminished without Fielder? Absolutely. To say otherwise would be dishonest.

    Are they going to fall off a cliff as I've seen so many people claim? Not likely. Not next year anyway.

    I will throw this out there too ... with the attendance the Brewers have had this season and the possibility of more money coming in via the postseason, I think there's a very small chance the Brewers could retain Fielder. I wouldn't bet on it, but its more likely now than it was on April 1.
     
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