this is the dumbest things i have seen in a while, an owner begging for money and goes out and spends 10 million for ONE year rental player in a non contending season, wow, what a way to try to appease the fans. so dumb.
another bad signing by hendry.
We haven't seen him play yet, you can't say anything till he performs.
LaRoche wanted to be a Nat, so ya. And before anyone says Hendry made a bad deal, remember that they had to bribe him down to just 1 year and he's a Scott Boras client.
Amen
makes no sense unless the Cubs think they can win the World Series.
So we should only make moves if we think we can win the WS?
Who? Pena or Garza? And they needed somebody to play 1B.
It isn't TOO far-fetched to say they have a chance at the division though.
Reds were 20-33 against above-.500 teams, Cardinals have Berkman in left and Theriot at short and only won 86 games last year and seem to eb getting worse, Brewers stink, same for Houston and Pittsburgh.
IF Pena, Sori, Byrd, and Rami, have big seasons (compared to previous seasons, or in Byrd's case, the same as last season) and Castro does well they could win this division.
We shouldn't be favorited, but it's not too far fetched to see us there. I think this will help us contend down the stretch, then we will blow it in September.
who cares what he does...great his numbers will go up, like the one article said he is going to use this year to test FA next year and build his stock back up. The cubs spent 10 million dollars on a guy who is not going to make a difference on whether or not you contend. that is a bad signing, and from jersey sales stand point, no one is going to go rushing for their carlos pena jersey. bad signing period.
So if he goes out and his worth 6 WAR, hits 45 HRs, has an wOBA of .400, it is still a bad signing?
no, just no.
once again the cubs are giving their fans false hope.
The cardinals still have a very very good lineup, and il take their top 3 starters all day long over the cubs starters.
The Cardinals line up sucks. They have Holliday and Pujols. That's about it for them.
10 mil for a guy that hit below the mendoza line?
Batting average is suuuuuuuuch a good stat. That's why it is still used by anyone with baseball knowledge today.
Ok. for the last time.
Cub fans that are pissed right now, i have 100% respect for. Cub fans who believe this team will not contend I have 100% respect for.
This is a business move to appease the fans. It is business misdirection at its finest. Anyone who cannot see that is blind.
Cubs contenders....jesus....that is a lot of Ifs on the part of optimistic cub fans.
you have declining players, soriano isnt the 40/40 guy from back when, aram is an injury risk waiting to happen.
please stop saying z is returning to form because of the end of last year.
dempster will be ok
il take the cardinals all day long with pujols,holliday,berkman, rasmus in their lineup vs the cubs lineup and the starting pitching for the cards is >>>than the cubs.
also noting ryan theriot not swinging at first pitches and how he is on the cards really has no affect on the overall evaluation of each team.
stop getting fooled by the cubs. the best thing for this team was to rebuild, and that is what they are doing without saying it.....carlos pena is the business misdirection. happens in all corporations.....and the corporation has some of you fooled...which it was intended to do.
Pretty good post, but Dempster, okay? He'll be good, as usual. Z never lost form. He is the same pitcher he was 7 years ago. Nothing has changed.
I wasnt aiming anything at you personally, i was specifically stating my thoughts of reality before people start getting fooled by the cubs.
Yes the NL central is weak, but i think the cardinals are the team to beat in that division, as flawed as they are....the cubs are just alot more flawed.
my other beef besides the fooling of fans by the cubs is ricketts pan handling for money when he just gave 10 million to a player in a non contending year.
The Ricketts are businessmen, it's a business move.(asking for money)
The Cubs are not as far out as you think. However, they are not as close as some other people think.
But according to CO, Hendry is amazing! :dunno:
Right, because I have said that before.
I'll take a guy that has hit 144 homers over the last 4 seasons..
1 year at 10 mill is fine considering there are bench players that get 3-5 mill a year..
Overall the more I've seen of the guy.. I'm pretty happy.. almost excited.
Plus after watch his press conference he seems very humble.. which for any pro-athlete is good to see.
Amen.
I love how everyone is guarnteeing the Cubs are wrote off for 2011.....You guys gotta remember, look at the teams that won any division in the NL last season.
You could probably count on one hand, all the people who said the Giants, Padres AND Reds would win their respective divisions last year.
Anything can happen in baseball. If the guys on the Cubs all form great chemistry, and play good defense mixed with solid pitching, than they, or anyone else in the NL Central, can contend.
They can... but I doubt they will. We'll end up in 3rd place, more than likely.
Also, he may be slightly overpaid, but look at who the Cards signed. Lance Berkman, who is clearly worse than Carlos Pena (Pena has the highest HR per AB rate for 1B in the past 4 seasons, and the Cubs do need that "power" bat, as the highest HR hitter they had last season was an injured Aramis Ramirez)
Personally, I'd take a guy who can drive in everyone on base with one swing for 10 mil, over a guy that is declining at the Rate of Berkman for 8 mil.
Thats probably the reason Pena wouldn't lower his asking price.
That, and it is just a 1 year deal. But, but, but, Pena K's a lot... so he must suck. Ya know, since 1.6% of the time, this team sacrifices.
He hasn't hit over .247 in 3 years.
The dude is a career .241 hitter.
Batting average FTW!!!!
No one gives a **** if he has a low batting average..
If he's poppin' 30 approx bombs out a year plus driving in around 100.. That's plenty good in my book.
Thank. You.
He is a class act, but I'm not liking the $10 million, especially his performance last season and a .196 BA. Sure, the Rays were hit-or-miss on a daily basis- either scored 11 runs or were no-hit- but he produced so well because of the lineup he was in. In 2009 he had four .300 hitters hitting in front of him in Bartlett, Zobrist, Crawford, and Longoria. Now he's missing the insurance of being in a great lineup and is placed in the lackluster Cubs lineup? Greeeeeeeeeeeeeat. I would have much rather had Adam LaRoche and his sexy Post All-Star Break Bat.
Batting average doesn't mean shit. Personally, I would rather not have LaDouche's bat. Way to not acknowledge his awful BABIP and he'll be in the Central.... they factor into this, too, ya know?
With the way the deal was done the cubs still have 5 to 10 million left to spend.
Everyone needs to relax a bit about signing Pena. If you want to be mad about something let's look back and see where the real $$ crunch comes from....it's not from signing Pena for $10 mil. The problem lies in underperforming long term deals that were given to Soriano, Ramirez & Fukodome.....two of those worth 28 mil per will come off the books next year. We had no better options for 2011 at 1B so we just need to sit back and hope for a miracle!
Go Cubs Go!
Why do people think Rami is a bad contract? He isn't. God...
