I thought the Jeff Samardzija trade rumors were put to sleep for at least a few months, but Gordo is back with more of them. Last we knew was that he had two years left on his contract, the two sides remained at a standstill with regards to a contract extension and that he probably wouldn't be traded before the season, but at the deadline. At least that's how I took whatever the last rumors were anyway.
The Cubs are no closer to finding common ground on a potential contract extension with pitcher Jeff Samardzija than they were a year ago. In some ways, they’re further apart.
He is considered the club’s top commodity for the July trade market, but could he be dealt before the season starts in five weeks?
Two industry sources said Monday they believe a trade is a strong possibility, although a third source said no such talks are happening.
Apparently Rick Renteria added some fuel to the fire.
Cubs manager Rick Renteria did little to quell the notion when, for the second time in a week, he declined to acknowledge the obvious choice when asked about the possibility of Samardzija getting a second consecutive start on Opening Day.
“So many things can happen over the course of the spring that I’m not going to lock myself into trying to divulge something that I can’t really determine will be in the end,” Renteria said.
Oh my god, he wasn't willing to state who the Opening Day starter will be during the first week of his new job before they've even played a single competitive game. I don't remember any of the managers the Cubs have had naming an Opening Day starter this early in spring training. You can correct me if I'm wrong, but back when Carlos Zambrano was a very good pitcher, and clearly the best on the team, he still wasn't officially named the starter until later in spring training. There's just no benefit in naming it so soon. Why not act as if it's open and see if that encourages the other starters?
Has he explicitly stated who the Opening Day first baseman will be? I think I'm going to write an article about how Anthony Rizzo's job may be in jeopardy.
I don't think Samardzija will be traded though anything is a possibility of course. I think the rumors have been real over the last several months, but I have a feeling they've been overstated. There was no reason for the Cubs to trade Jeff Samardzija unless they were blown away in an offer. They have time to trade him at the deadline this year or next, as well as next offseason. They can use that time, as they have, to see if they can reach a deal on a contract extension and if they can't, it becomes more and more likely that Samardzija will be traded.
I still think the Cubs reach a deal with Samardzija and he sticks around for several years. They don't have much pitching coming up in the system and just because Samardzija isn't an "ace" or "number one starter", it doesn't mean the Cubs wouldn't benefit by having him around. He's a good pitcher.
Comments
JonKneeV wrote:
It is bullshit, but taking legal action requires a lot of money and it’s risky. You could lose, though this one seems pretty clear. It’s also probable that even with nearly 40,000 likes, that the person isn’t selling that many shirts. Factor in his overhead and profit of each shirt and it’s hard to see how it would be worthwhile. Pretty sure we’d end up behind and all we’d get is the satisfaction of that person losing.
It’s angering for sure and I sent the person an email requesting they take it down. That’s really about all we can do unless one of you lawyers around here wants to write a more strongly worded request than I did. We’ll threaten legal action, but it’s not going to be worth our time or money to actually pursue it.
dmick89, Sweatpants GuruQuote Reply
Andrew wrote:
I don’t know enough about the other sports to know, but this makes sense to me. I would think the MLB manager would have to be at the bottom of this list.
dmick89, Sweatpants GuruQuote Reply
dmick89, Sweatpants Guru wrote:
Ssshhhh, don’t tell them that! dmick speaks for himself, but I will throw my considerable assets towards a lawsuit that will reclaim the $300 that is rightfully ours!
MylesQuote Reply
@ Myles:
That money is supposed to be paid to Carlos Silva.
Berselius22Quote Reply
@ dmick89, Sweatpants Guru:
The thing is, they probably already printed off 200 of the shirts. Maybe they’ll take it down when they are sold out. But I doubt they will do anything immediate without the threat of legal action.
JonKneeVQuote Reply
@ JonKneeV:
Could be, but even if that’s true, he’d only gross $3998. Say the shirts cost $10, which may or may not be low. That’s $2000.
He would probably know that we wouldn’t waste our time with legal action for $1998, much of which, if not all of it, would go to the attorney.
I did send the guy an email, but I was friendly about it. If it’s not down in five days and nobody here has written with more legalese, then I may ask my wife to do so. Hopefully someone around will do it. I’ll gladly send it to him.
dmick89, Sweatpants GuruQuote Reply
so was this just a hoax?
http://huzlers.com/breaking-news-joaquin-el-chapo-guzaman-escaped-isla-marias-prison/
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
aside: http://obstructedview.net/news-and-rumors/mike-olt-says-his-vision-is-ok-now.html
dmick89, Sweatpants GuruQuote Reply
EnricoPallazzo wrote:
Holy shit. That’s incredible. I’ve been reading up on the drug trade in the wake of Chapo’s arrest and it is all really, really interesting. I’m probably a bad person for saying this, but it seems like people on the level of El Chapo really should be extradited without trial immediately after capture, because there is almost no way stuff like this isn’t going to happen. That sounds intrinsically wrong, but is it more wrong than what just happened?
MylesQuote Reply
On the other hand, it looks like this article is 2 days old and definitely false.
MylesQuote Reply
@ Myles:
yeah i’m gonna go out on a limb and say that if it was true, there’d probably be more than one article about it on the internet…
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
@ Myles:
I’ll admit to not knowing much about El Chapo, but I disagree. I think whatever rights anyone else has must be afforded him. Furthermore, I think drugs should be legal. Obviously this guy has done way more than drugs and he should be tried for that, but he should be tried in Mexico where all the havoc has really happened. They’ve had tens of thousands die because of the Mexican Drug War and I feel confident in saying that in 50 years we’ll look back on this as an atrocity by the United States
http://www.salon.com/2012/09/26/mexican_drug_war_victims_us_is_responsible/
dmick89, Sweatpants GuruQuote Reply
I would like to see US leaders, military officials, FBI, CIA and DEA agents extradited to Mexico to face charges.
dmick89, Sweatpants GuruQuote Reply
I saw 424 was tweetibg with teespring last time this happened and they wanted a copy of the takedown notice, seems like they were happy to oblige.
This types of scumbag (and trust me, as someone who does digital marketing for giant brands, I meet a lot of trash who want to scam people for money) they USUALLY will bow down to a single takedown notice, because they run on such razor thin profit margins (for example, a lot of people make like, 2 cents a click) so when they know what they did was illegal, they take it down because they can’t afford the lawsuit, either.
akabariQuote Reply
@ akabari:
I was hoping 424 would come around. He’s far more active than I am on social networks, which I guess isn’t difficult since I’m barely active.
dmick89, Sweatpants GuruQuote Reply
If they are serious about trading him, and they may be, given the way that the market for extensions is shaping up, they have to hope he outperforms his periphs for once.
I hope they don’t, given that F7 is pretty much the only rotation member who is remotely watchable at this point.
GWQuote Reply
From the last thread:
BVS, Yo Elvis, tu Juana wrote:
I’d actually be surprised if he signs for less than $10 million. He had a high profile with the national team, and scouts seem to like him. He’s in his prime, and at least someone will think he’s MLB-ready. Even a fourth outfielder at 27 is going to be worth somewhere in that range.
GWQuote Reply
dmick89, Sweatpants Guru wrote:
Like You CareQuote Reply
Andrew wrote:
Great question. I think an argument can be made that MLB GM is the hardest. I think the hardest aspect of the NFL GM would be the salary cap. Both GMs have scouting to do but MLB has international and high school talent to evaluate as well. And it seems that hitting on talent through the draft is much easier in the NFL than MLB. But finding a good NFL head coach is more difficult than finding a good MLB manager I would say. I don’t know, the more I think about it the more I’m not sure.
Sorry for have wasting everybody’s time.
MuckerQuote Reply
But in case anybody is interested:
MLB GM
NFL GM
NFL HC
NBA GM
NHL GM
NHL HC
MLB Manager
NBA HC
NBA HC has got to be the easiest. I’m pretty sure I could coach the Heat to the playoffs.
MuckerQuote Reply
GW wrote:
This. There has to be a point at which the team is concerned about people even being interested. Samardzija isn’t great or anything, but he can be fun to watch. I’m hopeful for Rizzo, but really, other than him and Jeff Samardzija, this team doesn’t have much to get you interested in watching.
dmick89, Sweatpants GuruQuote Reply
I would say NBA GM is the most difficult by far. I’m not sure about most important.
GWQuote Reply
dmick89, Sweatpants Guru wrote:
As your counsel I would advise you don’t include this in the letter.
GBTSQuote Reply
@ GBTS:
Shit. Already sent. (dying laughing)
Is this type of thing standardized? Is there a letter online I could find and then copy/paste to him? Wanna write it for us? We’ll pay you $0.009 cents an hour.
dmick89, Sweatpants GuruQuote Reply
Mucker wrote:
OK, but the kicker is if you could coach the Pistons to the playoffs.
BVS, Yo Elvis, tu JuanaQuote Reply
Glad to be back in the land of Bell’s, if only temporarily.
Berselius, Cubs #12 prospectQuote Reply
@ dmick89, Sweatpants Guru:
We can pay him in FagetCoins.
Berselius, Cubs #12 prospectQuote Reply
Fuck this snow bullshit
dmick89, Sweatpants GuruQuote Reply
@ dmick89, Sweatpants Guru:
Haha, I’m in Michigan right now and wondering how long until the “cool, actual winter!” novelty wears off.
Berselius, Cubs #12 prospectQuote Reply
dmick89, Sweatpants Guru wrote:
do you need to borrow some money? i just made a bunch of cash by selling t-shirts with this logo that i ripped off of some chump bloggers, so just let me know.
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
dmick89, Sweatpants Guru wrote:
Hey bud, how’s it hangin’? I just wanted to reach out because I saw your Cubs-related t-shirt, which looks great by the way. In fact, we couldn’t have designed a better image ourselves! Which, pal, we actually did! Check it out man, no foolin’. So like, we’d be happy and all if you just stopped selling those shirts, but either way, no biggie. Just tryin’ to be friendly here. It’s not like some total asshole stole our fucking artwork and starting selling it or anything.
Suburban kidQuote Reply
Suburban kid wrote:
Fixed
BVS, Yo Elvis, tu JuanaQuote Reply
dmick, I thought you said the weight gain was from giving up smoking, not a recruiting violation.
BVS, Yo Elvis, tu JuanaQuote Reply
@ Berselius, Cubs #12 prospect:
Wave at Waldo Stadium for me.
And if you see PJ Fleck, tell him I said good coaches work with what they have, they don’t throw their team under the bus.
Just plain BVSQuote Reply
new shit:
http://obstructedview.net/commentary-and-analysis/dayron-varona-stats.html
GWQuote Reply
My two cents on ranking sports management:
MLB GM used to be more important when both the business and baseball operations of a team was under his control. But today, most teams have split the business department from the GM, so he is left with scouting, training, draft preparation, and roster construction (waiver, FA, promotion, etc.)
NFL GM, having to fill 53 active roster spots per year, with a salary cap, and a large unaffiliated minor league system (college football) takes time and resources to be successful
NFL HC probably has the least impact on the games, even if he calls plays, because of the variables and check downs by the players on the field. During games, Lovie Smith looked like a bystander on the Bears sidelines.
NBA GM, because of the pigeon hole structure of their CBA, and 2 round draft, and need to trade like contracts, they do not have much flexibility on roster moves.
NHL GM have easier time of rebuilding teams because NHL teams are willing to trade their star players to other teams. A hard salary cap has something to do with that.
NHL HC has the most active chess game moves because of matching up lines, judging ice time, the conditioning of his skaters, and making on the fly adjustments during the speed of the game.
MLB Manager, besides handing a line up card, in-game arguing close calls, the most important thing a baseball skipper has to do is manage the pitching staff, and he has a coach to do most of that work.
NBA HC. There used to be a saying in NBA circles that the sole duties of the head coach was to check-in the team at each new hotel when on the road.
TheStealthGMQuote Reply