Bryan LaHair was designated for assignment today. I think we generally hoped he would have a teeny tiny bit of trade value, but maybe he didn't or maybe the Cubs thought they should do right by him and just let him go so he can pursue an opportunity elsewhere (the talks of Japan are most prevalent).
But no matter the reasons they came to the decision, the fact is that Bryan LaHair is gone from the Cubs just four months after representing them in the All-Star game. Has that ever happened before?
It certainly hasn't happened with the Cubs in my lifetime. The closest instances are probably the guys who were traded in the off-season after an All-Star appearance and their career ended after the next season. That happened to George Bell after his 1991 All-Star appearance when he got traded to the White Sox for Sammy Sosa. It also happened after Ron Santo made his last All-Star game in 1973 and then also traded to the White Sox for one last season.
But as unusual as the move is historically, it really isn't that strange when you consider the options the Cubs had with LaHair. The league had pretty much figured him out, so a return to his prolific first couple of months was unlikely. He just turned 30 years old a couple of weeks ago, so he's not exactly young anymore. He doesn't play anywhere defensively very well and his best position is currently occupied by Anthony Rizzo. So he could rot on the bench or the Cubs could trade him or they can set him free. So they loved him enough that they cut his time with them short.
So it is understandable, but some folks are not having as easy a time understanding the situation. To be fair, those tweets are a clear minority, so I'm actually kind of proud of Cubs fans for not throwing a collective hissy fit. There are actually more fans of other teams drooling over the possibility of signing LaHair off the scrap pile. They must be the people who read Rant Sports.
It is bizarre, but yeah, he had fallen off a cliff after the ASB and RIZZOMANIA.
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/brewers-contest-allows-fans-design-alternate-uniform-052518763–mlb.html
My guess is that Lahair will get a job with some MLB team. He had an above average season at the plate last year (not much worse than Rizzo) so there will be at least one or more teams trying to sign him since he’s so cheap.
Ha!
@ mb21:
He’ll be an upgrade for some. But no one must be chomping at the bit for him or the would have traded him, you’d think. Or, teams were shrewd enough to know he’d be expendable.
@ josh:
Yeah, I’m guessing there will be teams interested precisely because he only costs a little bit of money, but they probably weren’t very interested if it was going to cost players. I think we can assume that is true or, as said, he’d have been traded.
mb21 wrote:
He was platooned a lot more than Rizzo.
RaBomb.
/obligatory lacist joke by RC
Ichiro did cool stuff for a fan:
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/ichiro-surprises-keeper-ichimeter-special-thank-presents-232543149–mlb.html
SK Here’s your Christmas present. You can relive past glory.
First the Cubs don’t jump in on the Marlins’ firesale gravy train, and now they get nothing for LaHair!
@ Mish:
Brah, you know this person? Are they currently employed? Got a business opp for them, have them hit up my celly.
@ Mish:
I like the part about how the Rays are not interested in getting the appropriate value back for Longoria, or that they always trade away big moneyed players, which is A) not true and B) that 6 year, $18M contract Longoria has sure is an albatross.
can you please rant sports the headline of this and all future articles bro?
@ wpbc:
Chicago Cubs: Could They Stop Giving Away Mediocre Quad-A Players and Start Building a Winner Already?
Rays Shopping Longoria?
RC, sorry to hear that your post-PhD job isn’t going so well
http://www.lex18.com/news/nicholasville-walmart-evacuated-due-to-possible-meth-lab/
Brah, why haven’t we traded Jose Macias and Scott Eyre for Mike Trout already? Fuck this regime.
It’s sounding like LaHair to Japan is a done deal….and the Cubs are getting nearly a million dollars back for him. Definitely more than they would have gotten in value in the states.
On Deshaies, see #4:
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/broadcaster-rankings-tv-10-1/
That convinced me to go with the Astros feeds when they met the Cubs in a futility-off.
/Hasn’t read every comment’d
@ SVB:
That Dome ‘head is sweet.
Sus’ Anal Bum Party
@ Suburban kid:
Also, it’s great that they give you six months to pay for it without charging interest on the discounted clearance price of 9 bucks.
@ Berselius:
Ha. They took out my competition.
$$$$$$
Castro AND Rizzo would be the starting point for Longoria.
Today’s PSA:
Joe Pos reposted his blog about Musial:
http://joeposnanski.blogspot.com/2012/11/musial-redux.html
Might pop in and out over the next two days, but before I forget, Happy Thanksgiving fuckfaces!
@ Mish:
Profanity-laced holiday greeting —————————–> lacking confidence in your level of seasonal cheer.
Suburban kid wrote:
We try to keep it classy around here.
So here’s a question I don’t feel like looking up right now. If the 40 man rosters locked last night, do they not unlock until after the Winter Meetings and the Rule 5 Draft? Is it something where you can make changes, but changes you make won’t protect people eligible to be taken in the Rule 5?
For instance, what if the Cubs complete a trade between now and the Winter Meetings or at the Meetings before the draft? What if they sign a free agent in that time period?
Can someone Google this for me?
@ Aisle424:
What this means is that the Cubs cannot trade anyone not on the 40-man roster until after the Winter Meetings (whatever that date is). I’d have to look into it more, but I think it’s all the players, but it could just be all the players who are eligible for the Rule 5 Draft, which is the last day of the Winter Meetings. The Cubs can sign anyone they want as long as they don’t exceed 40 and they can trade anyone on the 40-man roster for players on other team’s 40-man roster.
LaHair ——> Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks
http://espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/story/_/id/8657939/chicago-cubs-designate-bryan-lahair
I miss the West Wing.
So I didn’t know that MLB teams had posting fees for their players to go to Japan…
@ SVB:
I won’t deny that I was tempted to write in Jed Bartlet on my ballot this year.
That’s what I’m talkin’ about.
SVB wrote:
Definitely.
SVB wrote:
I miss the first 3 or 4 seasons. Wasn’t a huge fan of the show after that. I think I stopped watching during season 5.
@ The Toronto Blue Jays Organization:
I bet Cesar Izturis and Peanut Tillman are great friends.
mb21 wrote:
I missed the end of Season 5 and the beginning of Season 6. I picked back up when Alan Alda and Jimmy Smits joined the cast. It still wasn’t nearly as good, but at that point I knew it was ending and I wanted to see how they wrapped it up.
@ Berselius:
(dying laughing) (dying laughing) I thought that had to be a photoshop at first.
I’m waiting to be able to give the gift of Rusin.
@ Berselius:
What the hell?! (dying laughing)
Shark in a Box
@ Suburban kid:
Candygram…
Happy Thanksgiving to all. May your turkey be adorned with bacon and other tasty treats, unless you are vegetarian or vegan, in which case may your tofurkey not taste like a used sponge.
Just saw this tag and about died laughing: http://www.obstructedview.net/tag/another-potential-fighter-in-the-never-ending-battle-against-ham
Well done, 424. Best tag ever.
@ mb21:
I still liked when our posts were about motherfucking things.
@ Aisle424:
(dying laughing) this is about as close as I’ve come to that recently: http://www.obstructedview.net/tag/stupid-motherfuckers
@ mb21:
Even the tags here lack confidence.
@ Suburban kid:
Happy Thanksgiving, fuckfaces!
Berselius wrote:
Instead of writing your profanity-laced comments, why don’t you show some class and do a question and answer with me on Thanksgiving and the Cubs? Since we keep it classy and clean, it may be an issue for you. But I will be happy to post a debate on our answers against yours when it comes to the Cubs. So what do you say? Are you tough enough to do it? Or does your inappropriate language express your lack of confidence.
mb21
PS-I don’t resort to hashtagging about other sites.
@ Rice Cube:
I’m frying a turkey and tofurkey today.
I have updated the tags on this post to make it more appropriate.
@ WaLi:
I only had to make pies this year, which has been a nice change.
@ Berselius:
Those are nice pies. The Cubs, on the other hand, were not as successful in making pie…
@ Berselius:
Is that a pecan pie? That’s my favorite dessert.
I made pumpkin custard pie with white chocolate ice cream.
mb21 wrote:
That and cheesecake. (dying laughing)
I forgot to post this thread from my kitchen the other day:
Chone Figgins ——–> DFA.
Now the Cubs can get on that opportunity they missed a few years ago. They can use the $1M they are getting for LaHair.
(dying laughing)
This was our turkey for dinner. It was the best turkey in the history of ever.
@ Aisle424:
I assume you posted that from the ER after they defibrillated you.
That looks awesome though.
@ mb21:
It’s the first pecan pie that I’ve managed to successfully execute. Every other time I’ve tried to make one I’d fuck up the crust, and it would bubble over the sides of the pie and make a huge fucking mess in my oven and/or between the crust and the pie plate.
That’s a nice picture of your son and grandson, SK.
new shit: http://www.obstructedview.net/commentary-and-analysis/cubs-roster-updates.html