You're the GM (Game)

[Parade_Rain]

I'd hope the Cubs turn down Kershaw for a bag of balls. Kershaw and his 4.59 ERA in the playoffs can hit the bricks.

And for the record, 6 years of incredibly limited starts is still a small sample size since it's only 64 innings. There are legit reasons to not want David Price; his previous 64 innings of playoff pitching probably isn't one of them.

Ok. So you don't want to go deep in the playoffs either.

 

[DanTown]

Ok. So you don't want to go deep in the playoffs either.

Here are the FA starters and their Playoff ERA

Price - 5.12
Grienke - 3.66 (9 starts)
Cueto - 5.35 (7 starts)
Zimmerman - 4.26 (3 starts)
Samardzija - 9.00 (1 inning)
Lackey - 3.11 ERA (20 starts, 127 innings)
Lincecum - 2.40 ERA (6 starts, 56.1 innings)
Buerhle - 4.11 (30.2 innings, 4 starts)

I guess it's Tim Lincecum then.

 

[Parade_Rain]

Here are the FA starters and their Playoff ERA

Price - 5.12
Grienke - 3.66 (9 starts)
Cueto - 5.35 (7 starts)
Zimmerman - 4.26 (3 starts)
Samardzija - 9.00 (1 inning)
Lackey - 3.11 ERA (20 starts, 127 innings)
Lincecum - 2.40 ERA (6 starts, 56.1 innings)
Buerhle - 4.11 (30.2 innings, 4 starts)

I guess it's Tim Lincecum then.

So what. If you want to sign someone in the Youre the GM thread, be my guest. The post-season ERA for Greinke is significantly less than Price. The poster asked why I didn't want Price. If you want him, sign him. No one needs your Lincecum BS here.

 

[DanTown]

So what. If you want to sign someone in the Youre the GM thread, be my guest. The post-season ERA for Greinke is significantly less than Price. The poster asked why I didn't want Price. If you want him, sign him. No one needs your Lincecum BS here.

It's 64 innings. If you wanted to go Grienke because he has a lower regular season ERA, better probability of aging as he pitches, better athlete, etc than sure. Your reason against not getting him is "he didn't succeed in previous situations so he won't going forward". The sample is literally too small to even have this discussion. I mean why throw out 1500 innings to evaluate him based on 65?

 

[Parade_Rain]

It's 64 innings. If you wanted to go Grienke because he has a lower regular season ERA, better probability of aging as he pitches, better athlete, etc than sure. Your reason against not getting him is "he didn't succeed in previous situations so he won't going forward". The sample is literally too small to even have this discussion. I mean why throw out 1500 innings to evaluate him based on 65?

I am not going to keep repeating myself in this forum. I've answered that question clearly.

 

[Shawon0Meter]

Those playoff struggles fall in the same category as "clutch" for me and I just don't believe in that in baseball. In an important situation, give me the guy that would normally be considered the best option available.

 

[brett05]

Is that why his pitch mix was different?

Shark was on his own. It wasn't until Mid September that he allowed himself to be coached. It's the reason I am comfortable if he would have accepted the QO. It's also a reason for the Cubs to be comfortable if he goes North again.

 

[TC in Mississippi]

Shark was on his own. It wasn't until Mid September that he allowed himself to be coached. It's the reason I am comfortable if he would have accepted the QO. It's also a reason for the Cubs to be comfortable if he goes North again.

You've said that several times but I've seen reports that Cooper, who loves the cutter, coached him to throw more of them than he was comfortable and when he stopped throwing as many he improved.

 

[TC in Mississippi]

Not entirely sure that's being fair to Fernandez. From the sounds of the article the org. is a joke. If you look at the talk of the cubs front office they talk a lot about bringing in vets for a club house presence for the younger players. Maybe Fernandez is an asshole(there was this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6OxpsF4aNw). But the reason you have guys like Ross and Lester is to set young players on the right path. At this point we can probably put Rizzo in there too. And then there is Maddon.

At the end of the day he's what 24? How dumb where you when you were 24? Additionally, if you are going to acquire a player of his talent level and age you're going to get baggage of some form.

Well mostly I pass because of what he would cost in prospects. The red flag just adds to those reservations.

 

[TL1961]

Shark was on his own. It wasn't until Mid September that he allowed himself to be coached. It's the reason I am comfortable if he would have accepted the QO. It's also a reason for the Cubs to be comfortable if he goes North again.

The fact that he doesn't allow himself to be coached, always thinks he's better than he is, and always is looking at his next stop is why I don't want him.

But if he comes, fine. Rumors are that the Cubs may sign him again. He gambled on himself and lost. Hope they don't pay much (relatively speaking).

 

[TC in Mississippi]

If Samardzija their guy, they might as well stick with Hammel cause your basically gonna get the same results. ..

If their serious about taking that next step and being WS contenders every year, they dont sign a middle of pack starter. .



Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I527 using Tapatalk

Samardzija is fringe TOR starter but he, and much if baseball after his stellar 2014 season, though he was an a true #1. The Cubs did not and valued him at about 5/$85 which is the going rate for a very good #3 fringe #2. That's going to be very close to what he's going to get. I'm fine with Shark if they can trade for a young arm as well.

 

[beckdawg]

Well mostly I pass because of what he would cost in prospects. The red flag just adds to those reservations.

I can understand. Just saying a lot of people get the "bad club house" moniker and go else where to be fine. And to be honest, if the cubs are trading for Fernandez I'm sure they did their homework on his character concerns as make up seems to be a huge deal with them. Honestly, to me I don't care about the character. I don't care about the cost. I worry about the injury more than either of those because he does rely on his curve often and obviously already had issues.

 

[CSF77]

Jordan Zimmerman: 1094 IP 7.43 K/9 1.82 BB/9 3.40 FIP
Jeff Samardzija: 991.2 IP 8.18 k/9 2.96 BB/9 3.84 FIP

That is really the 2 guys you should be looking at. 20 mil is reasonable with Jordan. Jeff should get 18 per on avg. Maybe less if you look at 2015's low value pitching in the AL. Most teams will shy away from a 4.23 FIP and his K/9 was down to 6.39. Now his BB/9 has improved to a 2.02 with the sox. That may push him up to the next level looking ahead.

Over all he is worth a short term deal. 4 years at 18 per on avg. I wouldn't go longer just because he is not a proven commody at the age of 30. Add to it his best selling point maybe the fact he is a 200 IP pitcher that can be had cheaper than the others. He starts to demand more cash then teams will start to look at him closer and judge that he falls short of those players.

 

[beckdawg]

Keith Law did his weekly chat and despite his reputation as a hater of all things Cubs, he had high praise for several Cubs prospects, in particular Eddy Julio Martinez. According to Law, Martinez reportedly had a $10M deal lined up with a club but that "something weird happened behind the scenes". Law went on to say he views EJM as "a potential star".

Law is also high on Gleyber Torres, calling him "wildly advanced" for his age and thinks the Cubs are two years away from having to make a decision on whether to keep or trade Torres. Law also added that he wouldn't trade Torres now, calling him a "potential superstar whom I’d be loath to trade now for fear that I’d be selling too low."

Law also said he thinks Kyle Schwarber will eventually settle into left field and is likely to be a better power hitter than the Mets Michael Conforto and listed the Cubs, Red Sox, Astros and Rangers as teams who could put together a trade package for Marlins SP Jose Fernandez.

cubs den quoting klaw

 

[brett05]

You've said that several times but I've seen reports that Cooper, who loves the cutter, coached him to throw more of them than he was comfortable and when he stopped throwing as many he improved.

I can only report what was advertised on the White Sox Radio Flagship (well former) WSCR

 

[DanTown]

Supposedly the Marlins can't wait to trade Marcell Ozuna and that could be a great buy low opportunity for the Cubs. I'm not sure what the Marlins would want for him but he's not a bad defender in the outfield (UZR of 2.9 in 2014 and -1.4 in 2015), can play CF, murders lefties (.295/.337/.471), and is only a year removed from 3.7 WAR where he hit .269/.303/.389 with raw of 23 HR / 85 RBI on a bad Marlins team. He is a fairly high SO guy (right around Fowler) but doesn't quite have the same walk rate. Obviously cost of acquiring him is the main thing but maybe Florida is so blinded to trade him that they take less than you'd think.

 

[TC in Mississippi]

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/yankees-talking-brett-gardner-for-starlin-castro-cubs-article-1.2441411

I'd probably do a straight up trade of Castro for Gardner. He more or less replaces Fowler's numbers exactly and although it's over 3 years to Castro's 4 the salaries balance out. Probably makes more sense than Parra or Span on a 3 year deal.

 

[DanTown]

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/yankees-talking-brett-gardner-for-starlin-castro-cubs-article-1.2441411

I'd probably do a straight up trade of Castro for Gardner. He more or less replaces Fowler's numbers exactly and although it's over 3 years to Castro's 4 the salaries balance out. Probably makes more sense than Parra or Span on a 3 year deal.

Contract:
2016 (age 32) - 13.5 M
2017 - 12.5 M
2018 - 11.5 M
2019 - 2M buyout OR 12.5 M TO

Trailing three years (per 162 game totals for total)
.262/.338/.412
15 HR / 65 RBI / 24 SB / 20.8% k rate
-.3/2.9/-2.2 UZR/150
3.4/3.4/2.5 WAR

I think the Cubs problem with Gardner (at least for me) is two fold

1. He's clearly declining from when he missed most of the 2012 season with an elbow injury
2. His K rate was around 16% before the injury but since it's been about 21%
3. His WAR the last two years before injury was 11.1; his last three years is 9.4

To me, he just looks destined for that Carl Crawford type decline.

Crawford at 31
.283/.329/.407
2.8 WAR
UZR 14.2

Crawford at 32
.300/.339/.429
2.4 WAR
7.3 UZR

Crawford at 33 (only 69 games due to injury)
.265/.304/.403
.4 WAR
-11.2 UZR

Gardner at 31
.259/.343/.399
2.6 WAR
-2.2 UZR

I just hate the idea of getting an OF in his mid/late 30s. It just completely against Theo's plan to trade a 26 year old MIF on a fair deal for a 32 year old OF.

 

[CSF77]

Contract:
2016 (age 32) - 13.5 M
2017 - 12.5 M
2018 - 11.5 M
2019 - 2M buyout OR 12.5 M TO

Trailing three years (per 162 game totals for total)
.262/.338/.412
15 HR / 65 RBI / 24 SB / 20.8% k rate
-.3/2.9/-2.2 UZR/150
3.4/3.4/2.5 WAR

I think the Cubs problem with Gardner (at least for me) is two fold

1. He's clearly declining from when he missed most of the 2012 season with an elbow injury
2. His K rate was around 16% before the injury but since it's been about 21%
3. His WAR the last two years before injury was 11.1; his last three years is 9.4

To me, he just looks destined for that Carl Crawford type decline.

Crawford at 31
.283/.329/.407
2.8 WAR
UZR 14.2

Crawford at 32
.300/.339/.429
2.4 WAR
7.3 UZR

Crawford at 33 (only 69 games due to injury)
.265/.304/.403
.4 WAR
-11.2 UZR

Gardner at 31
.259/.343/.399
2.6 WAR
-2.2 UZR

I just hate the idea of getting an OF in his mid/late 30s. It just completely against Theo's plan to trade a 26 year old MIF on a fair deal for a 32 year old OF.

You can over think it all day. The needs of the Cubs are Better D in CF. Lead off. Too many MI.

Gardner is GG quality. He pretty much fills the CF need to a tee while opening up 2B for Baez.

I'm fine with that trade. To be honest I'm surprised that the Yanks would even consider it.

 

[TC in Mississippi]

Contract:
2016 (age 32) - 13.5 M
2017 - 12.5 M
2018 - 11.5 M
2019 - 2M buyout OR 12.5 M TO

Trailing three years (per 162 game totals for total)
.262/.338/.412
15 HR / 65 RBI / 24 SB / 20.8% k rate
-.3/2.9/-2.2 UZR/150
3.4/3.4/2.5 WAR

I think the Cubs problem with Gardner (at least for me) is two fold

1. He's clearly declining from when he missed most of the 2012 season with an elbow injury
2. His K rate was around 16% before the injury but since it's been about 21%
3. His WAR the last two years before injury was 11.1; his last three years is 9.4

To me, he just looks destined for that Carl Crawford type decline.

Crawford at 31
.283/.329/.407
2.8 WAR
UZR 14.2

Crawford at 32
.300/.339/.429
2.4 WAR
7.3 UZR

Crawford at 33 (only 69 games due to injury)
.265/.304/.403
.4 WAR
-11.2 UZR

Gardner at 31
.259/.343/.399
2.6 WAR
-2.2 UZR

I just hate the idea of getting an OF in his mid/late 30s. It just completely against Theo's plan to trade a 26 year old MIF on a fair deal for a 32 year old OF.

I get that, the issue is that there aren't a lot of CF options out there, especially considering you have 2 minor league options coming within the next 2 years in Almora and Martinez. If Almora does well at AAA he'll be up late and see some time there, Martinez should start at Myrtle Beach and if he does well get to AA fairly quickly. All Gardner is going to cost is money already spent on Castro. Maybe he ends up an expensive 4th OF but those are sunk costs anyway.