Cubs "losing" a bunch of players to free agency/waivers
Team MVP Shawn Camp was the only officially official free agent on the roster, but a few other players have opted for free agency after being kicked off the Cubs 40-man roster. Apparently they don't realize that "cut from the Cubs roster" is not going to be a net positive for them in future negotiations.
So far, the team has "lost" the following players to free agency/other organizations
- Shawn Camp (FA)
- Joe Mather (FA)
- Anthony Recker (Mets)
- Manny Corpas (FA)
- Justin Germano (FA)
- Chris Volstad (Royals)
As Aisley pointed out, given Mather's -1.5 fWAR last year he's probably going to have to pay some team $15m to play for them next year (laughing)
Brenly Replacement Search Continues
Dan Plesac has joined Eric Karros as a candidate for the position. Please, no Plesac. I'm really hoping to hear that Doug Glanville is actually being considered, rather than just being wishcast by various fans.
Thoyer Conference call with season ticket holders
Brett has a paraphrased transcript over at Bleacher Nation. Nothing too earth-shattering there. They admit that they inherited some really shitty pitching depth and mentioned that they're not planning to bullpen Arodys Vizcaino, which is great news. They also said they're not interested in doing any deals like the Cubs did with Carlos Pena that defers a huge chunk of money. But there's no real reason for them to do that right now anyway because they have so little payroll.
Javier Baez Update
Baez broke the tip of his left thumb, but it was a non-displaced fracture so it sounds like it's relatively not a big deal. It will end his AFL season, however. Logan Watkins was given his spot for the rest of the league's short season.
Cubs float a balloon about bringing back Ryan Dempster
In that same article, Carrie Muskat mentioned that Hoyer has been in contact with Dempster's agent. Hoyer was quick to down-play this, and said it was more of a "I bumped into him" kind of situation. Though it's hard to accidentally bump into someone when you pick up your phone and call them. Maybe he and Demp's agent were just discussing candlesticks as wedding gifts for a mutual friend of theirs.
Vague trade rumor of the moment
Bruce Levine mentioned last week that the salary-dumping Marlins have approached the Cubs about trading Josh Johnson. If (almost) all he costs is money, it's something I think that Thoyer would be interested in. He turns 29 in January, but has surprisingly little mileage on his arm. Of course, that's due to an injury or two…
The Cubs should strike while the iron is hot here, because if the Marlins secure the funds for a new ballpark they might keep Johnson and go on another spending spree.
(That's probably a top ten all-time Onion article)
Additional vague trade rumor of the moment
The Cubs are interested in Dan Haren, and according to Heyman they have been involved in "talks". The Angels have to decide today if they're going to pick up his option. I would be shocked if a deal gets done here though. The Angels don't have a ton of leverage.
Minor league coaching hires
The Cubs have hired Anthony Iapoce as the new minor league hitting coordinator. He was previously an instructor in the Blue Jays system, and a career minor leaguer with the Brewers and Marlins before that. The Cubs also grabbed Vandy pitching coach Derek Johnson as the new minor league pitching coordinator. Vandy went to the College World Series in 2011, and eight of their pitchers were drafted (two in the first round), and he also worked with David Price before he was drafted.
Is there a Cubs game today?
No.
Off-topic comments thread I recently enjoyed
There was much discussion of board and role-playing games in the comments yesterday, as well as arguments for and against plastic cutting boards. Needless to say, it's been our busiest day in weeks here at OV. The 2013 Cubs, everyone!
Comments
Probably even more if Mark Shapiro is correct.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Thoughts on Haren, anyone?
GBTSQuote Reply
@ GBTS:
If they don’t have to give up too much, then sure. The Cubs should be offering to take all of the money.
BerseliusQuote Reply
That said I like the idea of trading for Josh Johnson better. Do both! Even if they just get one, a top of the rotation of
Johnson/Haren
Garza
F7
actually seems worth watching
BerseliusQuote Reply
@ Berselius:
I think that’s what the Royals did with Santana, but my back of the napkin scribble-calculations suggest that Haren is better than Santana so they’d probably have to pony up a better prospect.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Maybe the Cubs can send them Tony Campana, since they don’t have Reggie Willits around anymore (dying laughing)
BerseliusQuote Reply
@ GBTS:
I’d think he would be great to play board games with.
He would also upgrade our rotation. He made $12.75M last year, would he be expected to come for less?
WaLiQuote Reply
@ WaLi:
The 2013 option is worth $15.5MM and the Angels might send over the $3.5MM buyout. But if not I think the Cubs have the money to absorb the full hit. Seems unlikely they would trade for Haren, buy him out, and then risk losing him to the open market afterwards…?
Rice CubeQuote Reply
GW wrote:
I used to dislike them, but don’t have a problem with them anymore. I haven’t listened to them as much as you.
I’m in Plesac’s corner on this one. Yes, he’s annoying and talks too much, but I know the times he filled in for Brenly he provided more ballplayer-type analysis than I’d heard from a Cubs announcer in years. Maybe that’s because he talks so much. I don’t know, but I liked him. I think Plesac and Kasper would be a pretty good team.
I don’t really know anything about Karros in terms of announcing.
mb21Quote Reply
@ Rice Cube:
I would assume they’d sign him to an extension. I don’t expect the Cubs to pull the trade off. There are teams who could use Haren more than the Cubs and they’d presumably be willing to offer more.
mb21Quote Reply
@ mb21:
I don’t think that he’ll be traded anyway. It sure seems like the Angels aren’t going to pick up the option, so teams would probably rather just take the chance that he’ll be a FA.
BerseliusQuote Reply
@ Berselius:
I thought the same thing about Santana. The Angels won’t get much if he is traded and I tend to agree, but I won’t be surprised if he is.
mb21Quote Reply
@ mb21:
they have kind of a deadpan humor that works pretty well. and deshaies incorporates analytics as well as anybody, fits it smoothly into the analysis; polar opposite of what kasper and brenly did.
GWQuote Reply
Apparently Keith Law is an OV Subscriber:
mikeakaleroyQuote Reply
@ mikeakaleroy:
Ooh, that’s a fun game
BerseliusQuote Reply
@ Berselius:
Never heard of it, but with the name Burgundy in it, I’ll assume it likes scotch and Afternoon Delight.
mikeakaleroyQuote Reply
Took me a moment 😀
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Rice CubeQuote Reply
@ mikeakaleroy:
(dying laughing) awesome
WaLiQuote Reply
If the Angels offered Haren for Josh Vitters, I think I would do it.
GBTSQuote Reply
You might try an antifungal.
I’m slow getting to jokes today.
joshQuote Reply
@ GBTS:
Jed seemed pretty obstinate that they aren’t trading young guys.
joshQuote Reply
@ Rice Cube:
Wha? That one was instanteous for me. Granted, I was just looking these guys up the other day as part of a “Who was Donatello, anyway?” question that popped into my head. Turned out he was kind of the guy who inspired the other dudes, but was less famous himself (if I’m recalling correctly).
joshQuote Reply
@ josh:
Vitters may well be a 46 year old DH. same kind of future.
mb21Quote Reply
@ mb21:
Right, but he’s filling a spot and allowing the guys in the lower leagues to develop. i’m just basing that off what Jed said in that video. Who knows what he’d really do.
joshQuote Reply
josh wrote:
Filling a spot is one thing. You can argue Joe Mather filled a spot. But Josh Vitters is fucking terrible, we all suspected he’d be fucking terrible, and from what I’ve heard he isn’t overly interested in taking extra time to improve anything he is fucking terrible at. So he isn’t filling anything.
Now, why the Angels would want a fucking terrible guy is a different story, but I don’t think the Cubs will have any problems jettisoning any of Hendry’s “kids.” I think they’re posturing to make teams think they think more highly of their current system than they really do.
Aisle424Quote Reply
HBT sez Cubs might be in on Scott Baker.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Minor leaguer from a 64 – 98 team ———-> Cubs
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/putnaza01.shtml
BerseliusQuote Reply
@ Aisle424:
Probably right. I guess I was thinking he still had bat potential.
joshQuote Reply
@ GBTS:
Does that mean there’s no way in hell you’d trade Campana for Haren?
mb21Quote Reply
http://www.avclub.com/articles/yeah-science-mythbusters-will-put-breaking-bad-to,88268/
BerseliusQuote Reply
I’d trade Vitters to any team and I don’t even care if they get anything in return.
Here, take him. Please.
mb21Quote Reply
For the love of god, will you please take Josh Vitters?
mb21Quote Reply
Nothing to do with baseball, and kind of old, but hilarious: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=vgYhLIThTvk
joshQuote Reply
@ mb21:
I’m all stocked up on Josh’s, try next door.
joshQuote Reply
mb21 wrote:
I feel like I’m a better prospect than Josh Vitters at this point.
Aisle424Quote Reply
@ mb21:
@ mb21:
mb21 —> Rodney Dangerfield
Rice in limboQuote Reply
Kameron Loe —> FA
What do you think? Ground ball guy, decent control…
Rice in limboQuote Reply
mb21 wrote:
Dear photoshopers of OV Blog: there has to be a good way to combine Josh Vitters in to the Fry “Shut up and take my money” meme.
Love,
Batman
MishQuote Reply
@ Aisle424:
I have no doubt you are.
mb21Quote Reply
Thanks to you guys, I played a 6 hour game of Axis And Allies yesterday. But at least I won. nobody fucks with Japan.
AkabariQuote Reply
@ Mish:
If it is possible to gifsoup Mish onto this that would also be hilarious since he thinks he is Batman 😉
Rice in limboQuote Reply
@ Akabari:
I WILL FUCK JAPAN UP!
joshQuote Reply
Aisle424 wrote:
I’m still laughing at this comment by 424. (dying laughing)
mb21Quote Reply
@ josh:
Racist
mikeakaleroyQuote Reply
@ josh:
/not Japanese
Rice in limboQuote Reply
I thought as early as the beginning of this year we were talking about Vitters having potential.
joshQuote Reply
(dying laughing)
I was totally kidding about Vitters, guys. He’s fucking awful.
GBTSQuote Reply
@ josh:
Some were. I was not one of them. I gave up on Vitters awhile back. Dude cannot take a walk to save his life. That would be OK if he played good defense and/or could hit for a lot of power. He does neither. Vitters has been an afterthought in this organization as far I’ve been concerned for some time. He even fell down out of the top 5 Cubs prospects prior to 2012 and that’s saying something considering the cubs didn’t yet have Rizzo, Soler or Almora.
Could something change all of a sudden? Sure. He could get better defensively or hit for a lot more power. It isn’t at all likely. Maybe he even starts taking walks at a decent rate. Who really knows? Odds are he does none of this.
mb21Quote Reply
@ GBTS:
(dying laughing) I couldn’t tell at first so I took it literally.
mb21Quote Reply
@ mb21:
I don’t really follow the minor leagues, so i have no idea. It’s probably just a case of I’ve heard his name so damn many times I’ve just assumed he was important.
joshQuote Reply
I thought it would be obvious considering we had several posts this year regarding Josh Vitters and his wRC rivaling Roy Halladay.
GBTSQuote Reply
NYC Marathon —> DFA’d
GBTSQuote Reply
@ GBTS:
I’ve heard Roy Halladay is a good hitter. Any chance he sticks at third?
joshQuote Reply
@ josh:
I’m confused. Is there nothing more than they are wearing turtle masks? I kept looking for more and more, but couldn’t find anything.
WaLiQuote Reply
@ GBTS:
I forgot about that. I wonder if any player who had a wRC+ of 10 or lower in his first 110 plate appearances ever amounted to shit. The list is small, but surely there’s a few guys who did.
mb21Quote Reply
@ WaLi:
It’s the actual guys the TMN turtles are named after wearing the proper turtle ninja eye mask of the ninja. I don’t think there’s anything more to it than that.
joshQuote Reply
@ josh:
This is why it took me a moment 😀
Rice CubeQuote Reply
GBTS wrote:
Probably.
MishQuote Reply
Heh, looked up Raphael on Wikipedia:
Never thought I’d envy a guy who died at 37.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
All those rock musicians who OD’d or choked on their own vomit are amateurs. That’s how you die young.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Google translation: “Report @ YancenPujols that Carlos Marmol told that was changed to # Angels # Cubs”
Aisle424Quote Reply
Aisle424Quote Reply
@ Aisle424:
Wut
Rice on busQuote Reply
Uhhhhh
GBTSQuote Reply
UHHHHHHHH
GBTSQuote Reply
Aisle424Quote Reply
@ Aisle424:
They probably don’t want to blindside Haren.
GBTSQuote Reply
Nice!
GWQuote Reply
Heyman is confirming.
GBTSQuote Reply
@ Aisle424:
Chicago beat writers still haven’t confirmed the Jeff Baker trade, I could give two shits what they are saying.
GBTSQuote Reply
Marmol was worth .9 rWAR more than Haren last year.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Ermahgerd…ermahgerd…ermahgerd
mikeakaleroyQuote Reply
@ GBTS:
Levine confirmed it.
GWQuote Reply
(dying laughing)
mikeakaleroyQuote Reply
Wow-ee-wow-wow.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
AND we kept Vitters!
GBTSQuote Reply
@ Rizzo the Rat:
Josh’s Hope Monster comic today was quite prescient.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
I’d think about trading Marmol for Haren.
mb21Quote Reply
@ GBTS:
Rice CubeQuote Reply
@ GBTS:
(dying laughing)
mb21Quote Reply
I mean, of all the deals to make, this is a really, really good one.
Jed Jam BandQuote Reply
Fun Dan Haren fact: he’s 5th all time in K/BB, and 2nd among active players (behind only Mo).
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
I’d write some shit about this trade if I wasn’t so fucking sick. Cubs have poor timing.
mb21Quote Reply
@ Jed Jam Band:
Yeah it is though to be fair, the Angels were kind of bent over.
mb21Quote Reply
@ mb21:
Still a great deal though.
mb21Quote Reply
I’m excited about the trade, but I’m a little concerned about Haren. He was hurt last year, and his velocity was down. He could recover, but velocity is like water in that it tends to run downhill.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
mb21 wrote:
mb21 wrote:
I think those two things often go together.
uncle daveQuote Reply
FUCK AND YES
BerseliusQuote Reply
@ uncle dave:
True. This is unusual though.
RTR makes. Good point too.
That said, Marmol for Haren is a fantastic trade.
mb21Quote Reply
I wonder how long it would take for thoyer to extend Haren, if that’s in the plans. Or they could just flip him for prospects.
BerseliusQuote Reply
@ Rizzo the Rat:
Yup, there’s risk here. Still, it’s only one more year he has on his deal, right? And it’s a year where the Cubs have payroll room and where it doesn’t really matter if he sucks. Best case is that he pulls it back together and becomes very valuable at the deadline, or even for a multi-year deal. He could even be middling and the Cubs could get a pick off of a qualifying offer.
And all this for Carlos Marmol and his oversized deal. Not much to dislike here, unless there’s something else going on.
uncle daveQuote Reply
wtf?
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Holy shit!
joshQuote Reply
@ Rizzo the Rat:
Slick.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Of-fucking-course
mikeakaleroyQuote Reply
@ mikeakaleroy:
Remember the good old days when information didn’t travel so quickly, and we would find out that a trade was done until 3 days later?
mikeakaleroyQuote Reply
@ mikeakaleroy:
Fuck those days in the ear!
joshQuote Reply
Wikipedia says:
And if I can’t trust Wikipedia, whom can I trust?
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
@ Rizzo the Rat:
Politicians.
mb21Quote Reply
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Marmol has a no-trade clause? WTF?
Haren has a limited no-trade clause…
Rice CubeQuote Reply
New shit
http://obstructedview.net/news-and-rumors/cubs-trade-marmol-to-california-angels-of-disneyland-for-dan-haren.html
BerseliusQuote Reply