Cubs that got away

[CSF77]

Best they drafted: Palmero, Carter, D.J., Lou.

Don't think they drafted Hamilton. He was a rule V that they then traded to the Reds. He had coke issues at the time.

Donaldson would fall under drafted with Archer. Donaldson hurts more as the Cubs got little to show for that trade. Archer turned into Edwards, Ramirez, Olt and Grimm. Cubs are way better off at the end of the day and losing Archer is much less of a impact if you look at the whole evolution. The rest around the Archer trade has amounted to nothing. Just Grimm and Ramirez alone have stabilized the pen over the last 2 years. Then add Edwards to the pen next year....

Palmero for Mitch Williams...Like him better now BTW on MLBNW. But he made a memorable time as a closer in 89. I question if he puts up the same production as a Cub. Texas is where he broke out and that team had Roids issues with Canseco there. Which makes me think that is when Sosa started to take them before the Sox got him. Raffie will never be a HOF because his numbers were tainted.

I can't put anyone over Lou. He had a HOF career that was legit.

 

[brett05]

They didn't miss out on his talent for the better part of his career. IOW, in the spirit of the thread, the Cubs had him during his most productive years.

Gotcha.

Kinda hard to do that with players as the Cubs have not really sent anyone away outside of the few mentioned that are still playing.

 

[Boobaby1]

I guess we could go with Cashner too, since he was traded for Rizzo and had a few nice years in San Diego.

Probably the biggest one that got away that donned a uniform at Wrigley Field to me was Marla Collins.

I bet she is still laying down sacrifices even today. :saxy:

 

[beckdawg]

106 OPS+, .377 OBP, 18 SB, 3 CS. 2.6 fWAR at the age of 26. Im sure he has nothing left in the tank. 7th in the league in WAR at second. Ahead of guys such as Altuve, Robinson Cano, Daniel Murphy, Brandon Phillips etc. etc. .991 FP.

Well, we better get Addison Russell off the team if we want to make the playoffs. His 1.6 fWar won't cut it.

He would start on this team.

Come on SilenceS you're better than this sort of comment. It's pretty clear what I was saying. He's quite literally having a career year way above any other point. And it's not like he had 300 PAs prior to this. He had over 1300. In other words, this is probably as good as he gets and I acknowledge that wasn't bad but comparing him to a 21 year old Russell is clearly a false equivalent.

Ultimately the problem I have with him is that even if you consider this year stable and what he'll be going forward, he has been an empty average type player. He has 18 doubles which is tied with 3 players for the 2nd worst behind Brandon Phillips among qualified 2B. He has 4 triples which is decent but probably more to do with coors huge OF. And he has 5 HRs. That gives you 27 extra base hits playing in the most friendly hitter park in the league according to fangraphs park factors. Russell has almost 100 fewer PAs and has 30 extra base hits and he's not even having that amazing of a year.

Put another way, while it's great he gets on base, he's largely a singles/walk hitter who isn't going to drive in a ton of runs(12th in the majors among qualified 2B despite his great average) and who's not going to get extra base hits to put himself into a good position to score. Ultimately that probably makes him a decent 7th/8th hitter on an NL squad who's hoping for the playoffs. That's not suggest you can't win with him but he's someone a team would want to upgrade from.

 

[SilenceS]

Come on SilenceS you're better than this sort of comment. It's pretty clear what I was saying. He's quite literally having a career year way above any other point. And it's not like he had 300 PAs prior to this. He had over 1300. In other words, this is probably as good as he gets and I acknowledge that wasn't bad but comparing him to a 21 year old Russell is clearly a false equivalent.

Ultimately the problem I have with him is that even if you consider this year stable and what he'll be going forward, he has been an empty average type player. He has 18 doubles which is tied with 3 players for the 2nd worst behind Brandon Phillips among qualified 2B. He has 4 triples which is decent but probably more to do with coors huge OF. And he has 5 HRs. That gives you 27 extra base hits playing in the most friendly hitter park in the league according to fangraphs park factors. Russell has almost 100 fewer PAs and has 30 extra base hits and he's not even having that amazing of a year.

Put another way, while it's great he gets on base, he's largely a singles/walk hitter who isn't going to drive in a ton of runs(12th in the majors among qualified 2B despite his great average) and who's not going to get extra base hits to put himself into a good position to score. Ultimately that probably makes him a decent 7th/8th hitter on an NL squad who's hoping for the playoffs. That's not suggest you can't win with him but he's someone a team would want to upgrade from.

Better then what? I have seen you say Dexter Fowler is worth 4 years 40 million or more for a 2.5 WAR. LeMahieu is around the same war and you think he is a secondary player. I have watched LeMahieu since LSU. His bat is real. He has hit at every level. His knock is his power never came along for his size. He is a 26 year old player that produces at the plate and in the field. You don't care for him because he was traded for a washout which Theo admitted was a mistake. He isn't the next great thing but this guy will play in the majors for another 8 plus years. He is a ball player. This isn't an anomaly. The guy didn't peak at 26. People saw this coming including me. Give him his credit. The guy is a solid major leaguer that can play multiple positions at a high level and the Cubs gave him up for a clubhouse dickhead that thought he was better then what he was. I bet if you ask Theo, he wants that trade back. It won't cripple the franchise but its real being real.

 

[beckdawg]

Better then what? I have seen you say Dexter Fowler is worth 4 years 40 million or more for a 2.5 WAR. LeMahieu is around the same war and you think he is a secondary player. I have watched LeMahieu since LSU. His bat is real. He has hit at every level. His knock is his power never came along for his size. He is a 26 year old player that produces at the plate and in the field. You don't care for him because he was traded for a washout which Theo admitted was a mistake. He isn't the next great thing but this guy will play in the majors for another 8 plus years. He is a ball player. This isn't an anomaly. The guy didn't peak at 26. People saw this coming including me. Give him his credit. The guy is a solid major leaguer that can play multiple positions at a high level and the Cubs gave him up for a clubhouse dickhead that thought he was better then what he was. I bet if you ask Theo, he wants that trade back. It won't cripple the franchise but its real being real.

How have I not given him credit? I've consistently said he was a starter just one that you'd rather replace on a very good team. As for him vs Fowler, again I think that's a false equivalency. You're comparing Fowler who's had multiple years at 2+ fWAR years(4 out of the last 5) and who's biggest knock hasn't been talent it's been injury to DJ who's never done it prior to this year and who's playing significantly better than any other point in his career. You're also comparing a 2B to a CF when I generally think it's harder to find even a passible defender out in CF. And for what it's worth, even after having said that about Fowler, he's a guy you'd probably replace too if you had better choices. The problem is that there's far fewer choices out in CF to replace him with especially on the cubs.

Regardless, my point is DJ isn't a star player and almost certainly never will be unless he suddenly develops more power than he's ever shown. That's all I'm saying. He doesn't have to be a star to be a decent player who plays in the league(or even an all-star). I just really don't get the seeming lament some have for losing him. Obviously you like him more than I do which is fine. But you're going to lose decent players in trades/rule 5/FA. Its the price of doing business. Even if the cubs hadn't traded him for Stewart it's entirely probably he'd have been dealt in a move similar to what Valbuena was because the organization is clearly loaded in the middle infield. So, good for him making a career for himself in Colorado but it's extremely unlikely he would have done the same in Chicago. And ultimately that's why I don't really have an issue with the Stewart trade. At the time they need a 3B far more than they did a 2B so they dealt him away. The trade didn't work out but not every trade will. Again, it's the price of doing business.

 

[Doubledown]

was a big Bill Mueller fan the short time he was with the Cubs

went on to win a batting title with the Red Sox

 

[Zvbxrpl]

Lou Brock comes to mind first.

In recent memory, Tim Lincecum. Drafted but unsigned in 2004.