The Cubs are reportedly one of the teams interested in A's free agent Brandon McCarthy. There's a lot of competition though.
The A's have been in contact with another of their free agents, starter Brandon McCarthy, but expected that there would be strong competition for the right-hander and they're right: The Chronicle has learned that among the clubs already expressing interest are the Red Sox, the White Sox, the Cubs, the Royals, the Diamondbacks and the Twins – and the Angels and Rangers also are expected to join in.
I'm just going to repost what I did last month when word of their interest in him first broke.
| Date On | Date Off | Transaction | Days | Games | Side | Body Part | Injury |
| 9/6/12 | 10/12/12 | DtdDL | 36 | 26 | - | Head | Surgery |
| 6/20/12 | 8/10/12 | 15-DL | 51 | 43 | Right | Shoulder | Strain |
| 6/8/12 | 6/19/12 | DTD | 11 | 9 | Right | Shoulder | Soreness |
| 5/18/12 | 6/2/12 | 15-DL | 15 | 13 | Right | Shoulder | Strain |
| 5/3/12 | 5/12/12 | DTD | 9 | 7 | Right | Shoulder | Soreness |
| 3/21/12 | 3/28/12 | Camp | 7 | 0 | Left | Fingers | Laceration |
| 8/12/11 | 8/12/11 | DTD | 0 | 0 | Right | Knee | Contusion |
| 5/19/11 | 7/3/11 | 15-DL | 45 | 41 | Right | Shoulder | Stress Fracture |
| 7/29/10 | 11/1/10 | 60-DL | 95 | 61 | Right | Shoulder | Recovery From Stress Fracture |
| 6/20/10 | 7/29/10 | Minors | 39 | 0 | Right | Shoulder | Stress Fracture |
| 6/11/10 | 6/19/10 | Minors | 8 | 0 | Right | Shoulder | Inflammation |
| 4/26/10 | 6/3/10 | Minors | 38 | 0 | Right | Shoulder | Stress Fracture |
| 6/5/09 | 9/1/09 | 60-DL | 88 | 77 | Right | Shoulder | Stress Fracture |
| 3/1/09 | 3/12/09 | Camp | 11 | 0 | Right | Shoulder | Soreness |
| 9/16/08 | 9/29/08 | DTD | 13 | 11 | Right | Fingers | Strain |
| 3/30/08 | 8/23/08 | 60-DL | 146 | 129 | Right | Forearm | Inflammation |
| 3/3/08 | 3/30/08 | Camp | 27 | 0 | Right | Forearm | Tightness |
| 2/26/08 | 3/7/08 | Camp | 10 | 0 | Right | Elbow | Soreness |
| 9/21/07 | 10/1/07 | DTD | 10 | 9 | Right | Forearm | Tightness |
| 8/11/07 | 9/11/07 | 15-DL | 31 | 27 | Right | Shoulder | Stress Fracture |
| 6/10/07 | 7/2/07 | 15-DL | 22 | 19 | Right | Fingers | Blisters |
| 5/26/07 | 6/9/07 | DTD | 14 | 13 | Right | Fingers | Blisters |
| 6/16/06 | 6/16/06 | DTD | 0 | 0 | Left | Knee | Contusion |
| Year | IP | fWAR | rWAR | WARP |
| 2005 | 67 | 0.5 | 1 | 0.1 |
| 2006 | 84.2 | 0 | 0.9 | 1 |
| 2007 | 101.2 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 0.7 |
| 2008 | 22 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0 |
| 2009 | 97.1 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 0.1 |
| 2010 | - | - | - | - |
| 2011 | 170.2 | 4.8 | 2.9 | 2.4 |
| 2012 | 111 | 1.8 | 2 | 1 |
I don't think I'd be too interested in signing this guy to a long-term contract. It obviously depends on the price, but he's had a million arm injuries and has really only been good over his last 280 innings. Those are more important than what he did in 2005, but considering the injuries and his previous ineffectiveness, I'd only get involved if he's going to be signed for 3 years and something like $20 million.
After thinking about this more, I'd stay away unless it's a 1-year deal.
The fact there is a lot of competition for him makes it unlikely he'd sign for less than 2 or 3 years and many more millions than he's worth.
The Cubs are also reportedly intersted in acquiring Yunel Escobar. From MLBTR:
- There's some conflicting info out there on the Yankees' interest in Escobar. Reports yesterday suggested that the Yankees had inquired, and Jayson Stark of ESPN.com tweets that New York is "definitely in" on the shortstop. However, ESPN's Buster Olney tweets that the Yankees aren't in the mix.
- The other clubs that are "definitely in" on Escobar, according to Stark, are the A's, Cubs, and Rays.
A lot of you will say the Cubs should stay away from Escobar because he's a homophobic asshole. I'm not one of them. I won't be inviting Escobar over for Christmas dinner so I really don't give a shit what he's like. I would also guess that as prevalent as homophobia is in sports that there is already at least 1 person like Escobar on the Cubs and probably more than that.
This doesn't mean I want the Cubs to acquire him. He's owed $5 million next year, but there are 2 team friendly options at $5 million each. Escobar used to be an above average hitter, but over the last 3 years his wRC+ has been 83, 117 and 75. Bill James projects slightly below league average .317 wOBA from him next year.
He's also a plus fielder at SS and although the Cubs don't need a shortstop, they could move him to 2nd base or perhaps more likely to 3rd base where they currently have no one who should be playing at the MLB level. We could expect his defensive to improve by about 5 runs or so with a shift to one of those positions making him a very good fielder who is also close to league average at the plate.
He won't hit for the kind of power you'd like at 3rd base, but could prove to be a Placido Polanco type player at the position.
It all depends on what it will cost. I wouldn't give up much to get him and I would factor in his character when it comes to what I'd be willing to part with, but I wouldn't stay away from him because of it. He's still a valuable ballplayer and the Cubs have a hole at 3rd base that he could fill. If he does prove to be as valuable as someone like Polanco at that position the Cubs would hold a nice $5 million option on him in 2014 and then another $5 million option in 2015. This would give time for any prospects they currently have to get to the big leagues and they'd do it while not spending much money at all.
Apparently Mike Olt might be available. This is a guy the Cubs should give up several prospects to acquire.
mb, idk how you can call that Dodgers trade the best of Jim Hendry when he traded peanuts and Bobby Hill for Lofton, Aramis, and Randall Simon.
Derrek Lee for Hesop Choi was also pretty deft.
@ JonKneeV:
Good point. Thanks for pointing out my stupidity.
The Randall Simon trade was a separate trade, but the Lofton,Ramirez/Hill,Hernandez and Lee/Choi deals were the two best.
Back at ACB, didn’t you either do the analysis or someone else’s analysis of all the trades Hendry made based off of WAR?
@ JonKneeV:
Yes, I also did free agents. I’ll find that article and post it here.
I would be one of “you.” There is no one like Escobar on the team because none of the potential homophobes on the Cubs has painted their hate on their face or otherwise publicized it. It is a whole new level of hate to be that public about it.
Like B said, character counts a lot on a 60-win team. Last thing the cuba need in the middle of a rebuild is to have players you can’t root for.
It strikes me that Escobar’s attitude toward gays now isn’t much different than Cap Anson’s toward blacks at the time at the time Anson played. But wasn’t your point about Anson a few daya ago that he damaged baseball more than the peds users and so was less deserving of the Hall? If Anson being a bigot in an era where his bigotry was largely accepted and that was bad for baseball (a sentiment I agree with btw), why is Escobar any more acceptable?
I have a question about the Escobar homophobic stuff. Did he come out and say he hates gays or something? I don’t remember hearing about this.
Channeling old cubs unis. (dying laughing)
http://dmick89.com/cubs/joomla/index.php/11-analysis/articles/52-jim-hendry#Trades
That trade actually wasn’t even top 5 and only resulted in +2.4 WAR for the Cubs. Interesting how the mind plays tricks.
@ Mucker:
http://www.obstructedview.net/aside/baseball-sports-and-insensitivity.html
@ dmick89:
I would have guessed it as #2 after Lofton Aramis. Must have been Karros’s video recorder.
Aramis has to be his masterpiece. I was shaking my head then and still am.
JonKneeV wrote:
Don’t discount the value of peanuts, you can buy a bunch of Cubs tickets with those!
http://www.obstructedview.net/aside/cubs-tickets-are-not-selling-for-peanuts.html
SVB wrote:
No, not at all. My point was that Cap Anson belongs in the Hall of Fame every bit as much as someone like Barry Bonds. Anson was a fantastic player who played for something like 27 years. He was a player/manager at the age of 28. Baseball is a damaged sport (all sports are). There’s room to honor all types of players and one of them is most definitely Cap Anson. So is Barry Bonds, Pete Rose, Ty Cobb, Shoeless Joe, Jackie and others.
I don’t root for the people who play in a Cubs uniform. I root for the ballplayer and nothing else.
I’m not saying I’m right and others are wrong. I’m just saying I couldn’t give two shits how homophobic Escobar is. If we’re talking similarly talented players to choose from, I’d go with the one other than Escobar, but other than that, it wouldn’t factor into any decision I’d make.
@ SVB:
Maybe the Cubs acquire Escobar as a ploy to try to get Nolasco, then flip Escobar for someone else who doesn’t suck as much on a personal level.
This guy has a cool business card:
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/12/04/the-coolest-business-card-youll-see-today/
Yeah I remember he put that on his face but I don’t remember why he did that. Did he ever say why?
I’m also not saying that Escobar’s behavior is a acceptable. It’s disgusting, but if it’s a good trade for the Cubs, make it. I have undoubtedly rooted for more disgusting players in my life and surely will do so in the future. Like I said, that stuff just doesn’t matter to me.
@ SVB:
I mean, its kinda 2 sided. If the Cubs signed Bono I wouldn’t think “Well, we’re still fucking awful, but at least we look like we care”, ya know? I know these are 2 extremes but its not like Escobar is John Rocker.
@ SVB:
Also, several members of the Cubs team made a “It Gets Better” video, which I thought was both awesome and unexpected (based purely on my impression of sports people).
I don’t want Escobar because I feel like he isn’t a player we need.
@ dmick89:
Not me. I barely like baseball at all. Shit like that makes me want to tune into something else. I feel like I’m on the cusp of not giving a shit anymore as it is. The less I have to know about the real guys, the more I can keep my distance and actually derive enjoyment out of sports.
@ akabari:
He might be John Rocker in Spanish. His eye paint was quite blatant in Spanish.
Dmick–I misremembered your Anson comment.
I think the bigger point is B’s. If this guy pops off again on a bad team, the media circus in chicago and the losing will cement a negative vibe that’ll beimpossible to shake.
@ WaLi:
But is he the one the team deserves?
/Bat-Mish’d
DMX has put me in quite the festive mood.
SVB wrote:
I can accept that, but for me the negative vibe is already present. This team sucks and there’s little hope for them being good in 2013, 2014 and maybe even 2015 and beyond. I don’t think it could get more negative. I know I’ve never been this negative about this team and it’s not really close.
The Cubs are banking on the most unreliable players to be successful. I don’t think the Cubs can get any lower. They’re worse than they’ve ever been in my life.
WaLi wrote:
He isn’t the player we need, but the one we deserve.
/Batman
josh wrote:
I’m the same way, but the only thing that will change that feeling for me is winning.
I could easily be wrong, but from what I remember he was a bad clubhouse guy with the Braves, which was one of the reasons they got rid of him. The clubhouse there was happy to see his back, and that was before the eyeblack stuff. I agree that homophobia is a relatively common sentiment among athletes (though luckily, not as much as it once was), so for the most part I don’t think that in particular would bother his teammates that much. My point is more that if the team is winning, I’ll watch anyway. If the team is losing 100 games and I actively despise someone on the team, I’m far less likely to watch than without the player.
Escobar said they call each other fagets all the time in the clubhouse, and that they don’t literally mean homosexual when they use it. Others backed him up that the Spanish word in question does not always mean homosexual. He apparently didn’t think having it on his eyeblack was a big deal. He’s an idiot, but it is not in anyway clear that he hates gay people.
I don’t give a shit about clubhouse stuff on winning teams, but I think it matters on a team like the Cubs are probably going to be for the next year or two.
That said, I also remember the Braves (and possibly the Royals before them) being very glad to be rid of him from an asshole teammate perspective.
@ Berselius:
That doesn’t make sense to me, b. How is a bad clubhouse worse on a bad team? You mean for your viewing pleasure? I’m curious, how much did you watch this team down the stretch last year? I don’t recall a lot of game chatter here for much of the season as I think most of us tuned in and out (mostly out for me).
Here’s what I know about Escobar: if he’s having a good season with the Cubs people will consider him reformed and if he isn’t, they’ll bring it up all the time.
Suburban kid wrote:
Did they used to read and comment @ OV?
@ dmick89:
I think it is possible to have a good or bad clubhouse while losing, but when you are winning you only have a good clubhouse.
@ dmick89:
I have no idea. I just fucking hate Yunel Escobar and I’ll leave it at that.
@ Suburban kid:
I seem to remember that too.
I can’t wait until Haren returns to form and the Nats shut him down for the playoffs to preserve his arm for a new long-term deal. (dying laughing)
@ GBTS:
I don’t really know why, but I find myself rooting against the Nationals at this point. It would be hilarious if they never reached the playoff again. (dying laughing)
I just don’t see the point in bringing in the baggage that Yunel Escobar carries. If he was going to improve the team in some meaningful way, then maybe I can get past him being a completely unlikable person. I mean, if he was as good as Zambrano was when he was still useful, I’d have no problem, because like MB said, he isn’t going to be hanging around me and my family at all, so who gives a damn?
But he isn’t very good and the one place where he might have some value is currently taken by Starlin Castro, one of the few actual areas of the team that doesn’t need blatant repair. So you keep an asshole around to be a utility guy that can play once a week to give a breather to Barney and Castro? Why? They can’t find somebody of Yunel’s relative value that isn’t a giant dickbag?
The only way this makes sense at all is that the Cubs are trying to get someone else from the Marlins (Nolasco, Stanton, do they have anyone else useful?) and part of the price of acquiring that person is that we also have to take and pay for Yunel Escobar.
Yuni anyone?
http://muskat.mlblogs.com/2012/12/04/124-cubs-consider-betancourt/
(dying laughing) (dying laughing) (dying laughing)
Would you consider trading the 2-3 top prospects (probably just the starter) to get David Price?
@ Aisle424:
I think they want Escobar to play 3b, he’d probably be pretty good there defensively too.
@ Berselius:
He’d either be part of a platoon, or depending on the buyouts for his team options etc. and whether Ricky Nolasco comes back the Cubs could just take the $$ hit and release him…?
@ Rice Cube:
If Nolasco comes back with Escobar, they absolutely have to flip him, just for the meme’s sake.
I can’t tell if all the Nolasco talk is serious or not (dying laughing)
@ WaLi:
Someone started it numerous threads ago and I’m just continuing the theme.
Pretty nice interview here, if you haven’t heard it: http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/12/04/deshaies-cubs-job-is-the-best-in-baseball/
MLBTR:
(dying laughing)
@ JonKneeV:
You can’t spell Victorino without Victori!!
Holy shit…
Some of these deals that are getting signed makes me think that Shapiro wasn’t as far off on the $9 million per FA Win on the market as we may have thought.
Which, if Shane fucking Victorino can get $38M guaranteed from somebody, I’d think Soriano’s value is suddenly prettyyyy prettyyyy prettayyy good.
@ Aisle424:
Ahhhh, Twitter.
Since Cap Anson’s HOF credentials have been mentioned, I thought it would be worth printing this excerpt from The New Bill James Historical Abstract:
Victorino is probably worth about 8 wins over 3 years. That’s a little less than 5 million per win. He’s still pretty good.
can someone explain to me what happened with escobar besides the eyeblack thing? because if it’s just that, it’s really not a big deal. i’ve worked in a whole bunch of bars/restaurants where > 60% of the empolyees are young mexican men, and i would say that every other word out of their mouths is “maricon”. it is really closer to “asshole” than “faggot” (not literally, but in their parlance).
i have also heard that he’s a bad clubhouse guy, but if i recall correctly, a lot of guys said that about pierzynski, and his current teammates claim to love him. if you’ve got a very strong personality, you will probably only fit into a select number of workplaces, no matter what kind of job you have. so maybe he’d be a great fit on the cubs.
unless there is other stuff that i don’t know about?
More on Anson (this time from Edward Achorn’s bio of Old Hoss Radbourne):
@ dmick89:
I don’t know. He was only worth 1.8 last year. He walked less and hit for less power. He managed 22 infield hits, but how many of those are just going to be outs this year? I’d be surprised if he ended up being worth 6 wins by the end of the deal.
@ Rizzo the Rat:
This Cap Anson fellow was like a scrappy white guy with heart who was actually good at baseball.
And racist.
@ Aisle424:
Honestly BJax unfucking himself might make me happier than any move they could make.
@ EnricoPallazzo:
Here’s a link talking about Escobar around the time he was traded. Apparently a lot of players wanted him gone. One of the NY media pot-stirrers blamed it on a latino-nonlatino divide within the clubhouse, but it’s not like Aramis Ramirez was there to wall of the clubhouse or anything.
http://markbowman.mlblogs.com/2010/07/14/wren-had-to-trade-escobar/
I saw another quote earlier today that was pretty similar to all of the inferential stuff the Cubs were saying after Bradley left too.
@ Aisle424:
The average of the 3 WARs was 2.0 last season, but the years before were quite a bit higher. Bill James projects a .327 wOBA, which is better than league average and he’s a really good fielder and an excellent baserunner. Looking at this more thoroughly I’d say he’s about a 3 WAR player next year followed by 2.5 and 2.0. Or a little over $5 million per win.
If the average win value is $6 million over the next 2 years they’re only paying him for 6 wins and he should easily pass that.
I wouldn’t offer more than $38 million for him, but he’s still a valuable player.
@ Aisle424:
I’d love to see this happen too, but for now this means as much as a “best shape of his life” remark.
@ dmick89:
I’d discount that Victorino deal a bit due to his age, but yeah he’s still pretty good. I don’t think 3/38 is far-fetchd.
I think there are 2-3 reasons why the Cubs might be interested in Escobar. They intend to play him at 3rd base (most likely), which would complete the infield. They’re working on trading Darwin Barney and they want to have Escobar as his replacement (probably nothing lost, maybe a little gained). The Cubs are hoping his bat comes bat and they have a nice piece to trade at the deadline. At least a team or two in contention will be looking for a SS and if he can re-establish that bat then that contract looks really good. The Cubs might get something valuable in return for him.
He does fit the type of player the Cubs have gone after the last couple years. He’s underpaid though he is probably better than any non-Rizzo MLB player they’ve picked up, which means they have no interest in him. He’s good defensively, runs the bases well and is only under contract for one more year.
@ Berselius:
I’m just posting the tweets.
@ dmick89:
He’s a much better hitter than I thought. He seems like he’s too old for the Cubs to extend, and I don’t know how much surplus value they can get by trading him again at the deadline, especially since they have to trade for him in the first place. Maybe if there’s a bunch of money involved.
@ Aisle424:
Didn’t mean that as a criticism of you, just a general comment.
Well, Victorino gets 3-$39M from Boston. Better them than us.
Victorino looked like shit last year and I’m actually surprised he had as much value as he did. I’d want no part of him for 3 guaranteed years, and I still say he’s on that same slope of decline as we see with other guys whose legs make up for deficiencies in other parts of their game.
@ Berselius:
If the Cubs acquire him now it would be for dirt cheap, but if he has a good season at the plate, shows that eye black to be more of an isolated incident and has no clubhouse issues (big ifs), the Cubs can turn that into a nice haul. He has 2 team options on his contract, each for $5 million. He’s basically a 2 WAR player right now so there’s $5 million in surplus value. If he hits well again (move to Wrigley will help), the Cubs might find they have $10-15 million in surplus value, which is greater than anything they’ve traded away so far.
dmick89 wrote:
Except for Cashner and that’s arguable.
@ Berselius:
No worries. I wasn’t offended or anything.
Asshole.
@ Aisle424:
I’m glad the Cubs didn’t give out that money either, but regarding his legs, he had more SB last year than any season in his career and was successful 39 out of 45 times. That’s fantastic.
I guess if he keeps up being a pull hitter he can turn some routine outs into hits against the Monster, but his power numbers and OBP were WAY down last year. I assumed it was due to his legs, but I just don’t know.
Either way, I’m glad it isn’t the Cubs. It will be interesting to see how this plays out,.
@ Mish:
Has BJax ever had an unfucked swing?
Aisle424 wrote:
——-> TRANSFORMED!
@ dmick89:
Ah, I didn’t realize he had those cheap options. That’s a great contract.
Aisle424 wrote:
;
If Samardzija continues to be a serviceable starter and BJax learned to hit/walk efficiently all of a sudden, that alone should forever cement Theo’s place in Cubs history. The guy whose mere presence made players stop sucking.
The Rays are supposedly linked to Escobar now. Apparently Luke Scott left a bigger void than I knew.
Jeff Keppinger is looking for 3/36 at age 32 after breaking his leg. Good luck with that one.
(dying laughing), apparently Sveum recently got Dick Cheney’d by Robin Yount
Here’s what little I can tell about Victorino from last year: his BABIP was down despite a ground ball rate equal to 2006 and 2007 when his BABIP was well over .300. He hit more infield flies, which could be a bad sign. His infield hit percentage was higher than the previous two seasons. His bunt percentage was lower, but in his best offensive season it was only 0% and the sample size of bunts is so small I wouldn’t draw any conclusions. He took a few extra bases (1st to 3rd on single, etc).
I’m also glad the Cubs didn’t give out that kind of money, but I think he’s still a good ballplayer and that will be an OK contract for the Red Sox.
@ Berselius:
I think he’s looking at $12MM altogether, not per season (dying laughing)
Because if it were the latter, then his agent is insane.
@ dmick89:
Keith Law is not a fan of the deal, says that Victorino is a platoon outfielder now
@ Rice Cube:
That’s what the original reports I saw said, they must have corrected it to 3/12
Enjoy Bielema, Arkansas. You’re welcome to him.
What’s up with Courtney Cox’s face? I just saw a Cougar Town commercial and barely recognized her. Haven’t seen her in anything since Friends. Her face looks like it was eaten by a crocodile.
@ dmick89:
Maybe she went hunting with Robin Yount.
@ Rice Cube:
If they’re hunting with grenades maybe.
@ dmick89:
How’d you think Sveum got shrapnel in his ear?
@ Rice Cube:
I bet he still looks better than her. (dying laughing)
I don’t understand this plastic surgery shit. She looks awful now. I can’t imagine how bad she’ll look in another 10 years.
@ dmick89:
If this hunting accident thing happened before the Winter Meetings then from the video posted to ESPN Chicago earlier, Sveum looks awesome for a guy who got bird shot in the face.
Actually he got shot in the back and ear, but the point still stands!
Escobar —> Rays (tentative)
@ dmick89:
she’s not objectively hot
@ EnricoPallazzo:
I’ve been wondering for a long time, is there a reason you link to the Pottery Barn?
@ mb21:
the short answer is no. (the long answer is also no.)
@ dmick89:
I guess when you work in an industry where women are generally unemployable after they hit 28 years old, it makes you do some dumb shit. Not that she has to work at this point, of course, but still…
@ uncle dave:
This has amazing parallels with what goes on in baseball re: PEDs…
Apparently, Escobar told the Marlins that he didn’t want to play third. So there you go.
Since I’ve missed the 38 posts a day since they hired Deshaies:
FanGraphs wrote:
This sounds like winrar. Although not so much for Astros fans.
@ fang2415:
I almost feel bad for them.
Update on Oliver projections:
Brian Cartwright @blcartwright
@ManuclearBomb Oliver will be moving to FanGraphs soon, others are working on web design, I’m upgrading projections
I enjoy how OV is in denial about having 100+ losses. It’s as if the final 3 games of the season never happened.
WaLi wrote:
@ uncle dave:
That’s part of it, but you’d think at some point they’d realize that too much plastic surgery makes them look worse than they ever did before.
@ Mish:
Thanks
I remember a few years ago I used to get on my computer and after about 30 minutes of reading ACB and/or reading other sites I’d have about 5 ideas to write about. These days I get on the computer and 5 minutes later I’m stopping myself from playing games. There ain’t shit to write about.
@ WaLi:
That kind of criticism isn’t very classy, WaLi
Puppy.
So a few of us, myself included, were saying this team needs to sign someone even remotely exciting to make the train wreck at least KIND of watchable. But now I’m thinking…who the fuck is left to get REAL excited about? Bourne?
At first I let the Hope Monster get at me, assuming if we bid the highest for a good reliever that meant THoyer were optimistic about progress. Now I’m just wondering when I get my beer gut to round it out.
@ akabari:
Or they signed him to lead a Stadium filled mass Seppuku. Put us out of our misery.
i never get sick of mike tyson
@ Berselius:
Sorry I’m just a classless jabroni.
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/12/05/theo-epstein-free-agents-totally-want-totally-want-to-come-to-a-100-loss-team/
@ Berselius:
Also looks like GB is going to keep the #1 spot. Old man Urlacher is out for the year.
Suburban kid wrote:
It’s pretty much this.
We need to calm down with calling him a homophobe. He wrote “you’re gay” on his face. I play xbox live and i hear people call each other gay about a thousand times a day, i don’t think they are homophobic they are just dumb. If i remember correctly Gordan Beckham wrote on the field “Getz is gay” for the whole world to see and nobody calls him a homophobe. Get over it, he did something stupid by trying to insult people in a played out fashion. Lets not turn this site into another Grant Hill commercial.
Awkward white guy alert!!
You don’t interrupt when King James is talking to RG3 and All-Pro Linebacker Brian Orakpo.
@ Alex:
Ignorant homophobia is still homophobia, just like ignorant racism is still racism. I don’t think Escobar actively hates gay people any more than Paul Sullivan wants to lynch black baseball players.
The Race to the Top has been put out of its misery.
@ Aisle424:
I like it.
@ Aisle424:
But now I will never know who won
Also, very nice.
@ GBTS:
In retrospect, GB, you should have known better.
@ Berselius37:
the point is, if you’re not running Beckham out of town for doing the same then what’s your beef with Yunel? Not once did i hear anyone call him homophobic, just a terrible baseball player which is accurate. He is not homophobic he is just stupid, it stops there. If you don’t want Escobar to come to the team i first want to see you run Beckham out of town only for being a homophobe and nothing else. If that’s your stance you can’t pick which player you want to cost a job, its all or nothing.
@ Alex:
I was not aware of the Beckham incident because I rarely pay any attention to what the White Sox are doing, but if I knew about that I wouldn’t be any less pissed off at him for it. But he doesn’t play for my team, so if someone else wants to pay him and root for him, then that’s their choice.
I don’t want Yunel on my team because I don’t think he’s any good, and he certainly isn’t good enough to put up with that nonsense on the side. If it turned out Anthony Rizzo is a raging gay-basher, then you have to decide how much homophobia on your team is worth his production.
@ Alex:
i’m with you 100%. if someone says “you’re a faggot”, there is a very good chance that they are using a word that is in no way connected (in their mind) with gays. they just mean “you’re an asshole.” yeah it’s ignorant but it signifies absolutely nothing w/r/t that person’s feelings toward gays.
it’s not fucking homophobia. it may be ignorant but it has nothing to do with homophobia. it’s the same as if you grew up white and thought it was ok to use the word “nigger” just because you heard a black guy use it on a rap album. yeah, it’s ignorant as fuck. but there’s no racist intent.
if you want to say “hey those words are hurtful to some people and we need to stop saying them” then yeah, of course, but to label someone that doesn’t know any better as basically being a KKK member is bullshit, i think.
@ Aisle424:
For what it’s worth, teams have shown in the past that they’re willing to put up with about 2 WAR when it comes to players with clubhouse issues. Anything less than that and teams are more than willing to give it up without regard for what they get in return. Over that and teams put up with it. I think Escobar is right on that line so I think it’s more than acceptable to get rid of someone who is basically league average for nothing in return. Teams have done it in the past and they’ll do it again. I’ll defer to the front offices on a decision that could go either way. They know more than I do. If he was just a little better than he had been he’d probably still be a Brave.
I think what aisle 424 said is what’s most important here:
It seems that teams have decided Escobar is not worth it. My guess is that the Cubs would have pursued this further if they thought he was open to playing 3rd base, but that was the point they got out of it. It’s a contract that makes a lot of sense for this team, but only if he’s more than willing to move to 3rd. Sounds like he wasn’t.
At that point you include how unhappy he’d be about the move to 3rd AND his previous issues and you move on.
I don’t know who the Rays gave up to get him, but they did get a bargain if he can keep his mouth shut and just play the game.
@ dmick89:
Rays gave up this guy:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=dietri002der&utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.typepad.com
Seemed like he had some promise.
@ Rice Cube:
If he played SS I would think he might have a future, but he’s a 2nd baseman and is only OK at hitting. He’s a little better than I thought a team would give up to get Escobar though.
I threw out the surveys that had way too many votes along and as of today with 77 ballots counted, there are 6 players getting into the OV Hall of Fame. Free subscription to the person who guesses all 6. (dying laughing)
@ dmick89:
Bonds
Clemens
Piazza
Biggio
Bagwell
Raines
?
@ Rice Cube:
That was easy. (dying laughing)
Another free subscription to the person who guesses who has the 2nd highest total.
Keppinger —> White Sox
@ dmick89:
You are insulting your best customers by handing out these free subscriptions.
@ dmick89:
Piazza
bonds
you must be getting a ton of money from the larry the cable guy prilosec ad that i keep seeing in order to be able to afford to keep giving away all these subscriptions.
Dave Brubeck ——-> Takin’ Five forever.
@ frysredmobile:
Sad day for music.
@ WaLi:
I just listened to that this morning. Eery.
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/12/05/andrew-cashner-injures-right-thumb-in-hunting-accident-needs-three-month-recovery/
I feel really bad for the guy. He’s like a walking disaster area.
@ Rice Cube:
Was he hunting with Sveum?
@ WaLi:
I always loved the way he’d noodle around outside the key then bring it back home.
The cat was the king of variation on a theme as well.
And who could deny the genius of doing a swing chart in 5/4 time?
@ WaLi:
Is this necessary?
Not it is not.
@ WaLi:
Perhaps it is safer to hunt with Sveum than with Robin Yount.
Cubs sign Nate Shierholtz to a one year deal
Cubs To Sign Nate Schierholtz via MLBTR
It’s 1/2.25 with 500k in incentives.
So. Schierholtz.
@ Rice Cube:
whoa, whoa whoa, shierholtz? as in NATE schierholtz?
nah i’m just kidding, i don’t give a shit.
@ EnricoPallazzo:
I kinda like it, I always thought of him as a decent defender. He’d usually come in late in Giants games to spell Aubrey Huff or whoever else was standing in RF at the time, then when Pat Burrell’s AB was done in the 7th he’d just slot over to LF. He’s also average-y with the bat so it’s not a terrible signing by any means.
So my complaint with the Cubs off season signings so far is that none of them have an option year with a buy-out. It’ll be hard to Maholm these guys without it, I think. This is where they could spend their money. Suppose the option costs an extra 20% in a buy-out. That won’t break this year’s bank. It might put them over 60% of the way to the salary cap, but so what?
The guy’s second position on B-ref is “pinch hitter.” That about sums it up. He’s this year’s Reed Johnson.
@ SVB: Maybe agents are hip to that game and asking for a ridiculous bonus that would drive them out of tradeable range anyway, so it’s a no-win.
@ Rice Cube:
What the fuck is going on there?
@ Suburban kid:
Kiss cam (dying laughing)
@ Suburban kid:
They didn’t have these back in your days, but now in most every stadium (but Wrigley) they have these screens that are called BIG SCREEN TV’s or JUMBOTRONS.
To correlate with these, there will be someone working at the stadium controlling a VIDEO CAMERA. These are like normal cameras, except they capture motion as well.
So you have this guy with a VIDEO CAMERA and whatever he is filming is being displayed on the JUMBOTRON. Usually this is the sport that is taking place. However, during the timeouts, or in between innings, or whatever break there may be, the person using the VIDEO CAMERA may film the crowd.
During this time, there is someone watching what the person is filming and he may apply a SPECIAL EFFECT to the camera. I know this is confusing, but bear with me. The couple above is NOT in an actual heart. A separate picture of a heart is transposed over the video feed. When this happens, the video feed is called a “Kiss Cam”. This means that the couple is supposed to kiss.
The person in this video decides to kiss his one true love, beer. He then sucks it dry. It’s kind of dirty.
Of course SK is up at 3:30 in the morning already working on his morning crossword puzzle.
@ Suburban kid:
@ WaLi:
The short answer is…true love.
JonKneeV wrote:
Rule 5 is helping to weed out all the scraps from the Cubs minor league system.
@ Rice Cube:
I guess they’re not exactly “scraps” per se, but they weren’t protected. Nick Struck stayed with the Cubs though.
Cubs lost:
Starling Peralta
Michael Burgess
Matt Cerda
Alvido Jimenez
Could’ve made a minor case to keep each of those guys.
@ Rice Cube:
I don’t even recognize any of those names, except maybe Peralta
Cubs picked up Hector Rondon. Looks like he’s an injury project. Couldn’t be worse than most of the bullpen this year.
@ Berselius:
Cub Reporter linked to something earlier that said he had recovered from the arm surgeries and was throwing upper-90s.
Apparently Youk is mulling a 1 year/$12 mil offer from NYY. If that’s the price, I’m surprised the Cubs aren’t in on it.
@ Rice Cube:
No wait, that was Bleacher Nation, never mind. Here’s the mini-blurb from TCR:
http://megasportsnews.com/?p=40321
@ Rice Cube:
That’s encouraging. I wonder if he can get it over the plate though, IIRC that’s the bigger problem post-TJS
@ Berselius:
Very small sample size in 2012, no idea when he had the surgeries or what the recovery times were but Brett linked to something from Ben Badler that said he was pitching in Venezuela and making scouts jizz in their pants, so maybe that’s good.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=rondon001hec
Ben Revere —> Phillies
Worley, Trevor May —-> Twins
I think the Phils might have gotten screwed in this trade.
@ Rice Cube:
I wonder why he wasn’t protected. His numbers looked good enough pre TJS.
Here is his BA writeup after 2011. He had a second surgery after TJS.
@ WaLi:
NiceExcellent snark.@ JonKneeV:
@ Mish:
From 2009 re: Hector Rondon:
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/a-venezuelan-double-whammy/
New shit
http://www.obstructedview.net/chicago-cubs/cubs-acquire-hector-rondon-in-rule-five-draft.html
and this: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/a-minor-review-of-2009-cleveland/
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