10 replies to this topic

[sven-erik312]

Reading all the talk about upcoming trades since the Soler thing has been solved, I think it's a mistake to trade Dempster, Garza or LaHair. The rest of the team is largly utility players working every day. Rebuilding is one thing, having a fire sale is something else again. With Jeff, Ryan and Matt on the mound next year, that is a very good core of a pitching staff. With a more mature Rizzo and Jackson, the Cubs could maybe sneak in to the Wild Card game next season if the team could just buy a bullpen this winter...

[King Jeff]

That way of doing things would have coincided with the old regime. This one wants to build a sustained period of success, making the playoffs year after year, not just making runs every couple of years. By trading the valuable, older guys that they have on their roster now, they are building a foundation for that success for years to come.

[soundCARDen]

That way of doing things would have coincided with the old regime. This one wants to build a sustained period of success, making the playoffs year after year, not just making runs every couple of years. By trading the valuable, older guys that they have on their roster now, they are building a foundation for that success for years to come.

Very well said and I couldn't agree more.

[Oswego Chris]

The only part I strongly disagree with is "buying a bullpen"...they have to develop bullpen guys on their own...for even a decent team this should be one of the easiest things to build.

[sven-erik312]

I do agree with both of you and I understand why you might equate my position with the "Old Style". But having said that, I still feel that those guys could be a great influence on new players coming up. Great coaching is one thing, but coming up and knowing that you have those guys to turn to would mean alot. And since nothing helps confidence more than winning, if they could find a solid bullpen guy out there this winter, I think it would be good for the development of the team and perhaps take some of the heat off the new pitchers coming up.
I understand the motivation behind the Marshall trade and I hope that it pans out, That infield guy that they got is supposed to be really good, but having a guy of Marshall quality in the bullpen would really be a great help to the bullpen pitchers and the team as a whole. Is it a great idea to remove all the leadership from the team. Is Castro really ready to take on that role?

[mrmeyer2144]

Dont get me wrong I like both Dempster and Garza. I wouldnt mind seeing them traded if we were to get the best talent available. Honestly Id love to see the Cubs sign Hamels in the off season. Not often is a great Lefty is available and Im sure the price will be high but we got some money comming off the books. Plus the fact that younger guys equal less to the payroll.

[Hector Villanueva]

They won't sign any big time guys in the off season. We are trying to purge from these bad contracts, not collect. Building from within will take patience. Next year is a wash too.

[sven-erik312]

I could go with a trade for those guts if they "broke the bank" of the other team. But thinking about what Sori has said about confidence loss and Bretts references to Dale "calling out for a little help", maybe they need to keep a small core veterans just so there is some hope of a win.
Should they go out and fill the team with has been free agents? No, certainly not. But, if while building up a good program, if they can lighten the load a little bit for the guys on the field right now, I think it's something to be considered.
Playing baseball for a living is just like any other job, if you get into a situation where your people don't even want to go to work everyday, you know what that does to your productivity.

[Cubbie Blues]

They won't sign any big time guys in the off season. We are trying to purge from these bad contracts, not collect. Building from within will take patience. Next year is a wash too.

That all depends on who it is and how old. You do have to get the pieces when they are available. You can't wait for everything to be lined up in a row. There is no telling who would be available to grab when you have the core set up.

[FFP]

Hey, Sven!
Where you been?
I like that you use the lens of "What will our rotation look like next year?"
That is a pretty sweet core, but being new to Cubs fandom you'll forgive me if I am much higher on Dempster than I am on Garza right now. (Boy, when Garza goes flukey, he goes.)
I think LaHair may stick this year for the same reason the pitching coach just left. Approach.
Why is Castro not on your keep-the-core list? I don't expect any leadership out of him, but I do want some learner-ship. If he can learn. I don't think he's found the right fielding instructor yet. Or, perhaps they move him to an easier position and just teach him a bit more of that "approach" at the plate we've heard so much about here and recently from the Front Office.

[sven-erik312]

Hey Buddy!
I have been really busy with Spring Concerts and something here in Sweden that they call Skol Avslutning which we could call an end of the year school ceremony. It's sort of like graduation for the kids going onward, but every grade will sing a song or do something and several of the schools around here call me in to help out. It's fun. Just wait until you've heard 23 Swedish six year olds singing Old MacDonald in English!
I didn't mention Castro in the "core" since it's a pretty sure bet that he isn't going anywhere and there's talk of those guys going everywhere.
Otherwise, everything is fine over here accept the weather, cold and rain almost all the time. It's going to exciting to see what happens with those guys over the next few weeks!