The Yankees DFA'd Alfonso Soriano. 

APIAD wrote:

I dont think it was a bad trade for the cubs.  The arguement is that even on a team out of the race you dont watch to trade off players the fans like.   The cubs have the advantage of nobody showing up to actually watch baseball.  Old stool taste the same no matter who is pitching.

 
I don't know either of the two minor leaguers they obtained, but the shortstop is supposed to be a prospect. How that works with Castro, who finally seems to being playing better, I don't know.
I've seen Straily pitch once on TV, but my knowledge of him is mostly statistical. He's been up and down the past two or three years, and it's not like the A's haven't given him opportunities to stay in their rotation.

APIAD wrote:

I believe they have some middle infielders in triple a as well.

Their system is supposedly loaded with position players, but they don't have much pitching, which makes it kind of strange they would trade a guy like Samarjilzinian when he could still be a top of the rotation pitcher in a few years. They sold high on Hammel, which will probably turn out to be a good move, but I'm having a hard time trying to figure out what the Cubs are trying to do.
 

I wouldnt worry about being over populated at ss.  If you have 2 or 3 good or decent ss in the minors you can always pick one and  trade the other.  There is never not a need at ss.  The cards signed a high thought of cuban (i believe) ss just this year after inking peralta to a huge deal.

"Is the cardinals trading for chase utley a real possiblity?"

I don't know, but his contract is complicated and could end up costing whichever team he's on a ton of dough. He's guaranteed the remainder of $15 million this year, and at least $10 million next year, with an increase to $15 million if he spends less than 15 days on the disbaled list. 
From 2016-18, he has options that pay him $15 million a season if he makes 500 plate appearances the previous year.

Last edited by artie_fufkin (7/08/2014 8:55 am)

tkihshbt wrote:

I think Utley has said he won't leave Philadelphia. 

As for the Cubs, Russell is supposed to be better than Castro. Javier Baez is not going to stick at shortstop and will be moved to third. Kris Bryant is unfortunately going to be a monster, and he's going to be in left field. Soler is ticketed for right field. 

They still haven't begun to address their pitching needs, and in fact just traded a good young pitcher, which seems curious since I've read somewhere that pitching is important. The Cubs' payroll was 28th in the league at $73 million before the deal with the A's, in which they shed $11 million.
If there's a plan, I'm not sure what it is. And I'm not sure Theo knows what it is. The only thing I can think of is he's become so obsessed with collecting prospects to build the farm system he's doing it at the expense of the major league roster. I think there may be something like that going on in Houston, too, where the goal may not necessarily be to win the World Series, but to prove you can run a major league franchise on a cost-effective basis. 

Epstein On Cubs Rebuilding PlanBy Jeff Todd [April 27, 2013 at 9:21pm CDT]
In an interview with Chicago's The McNeil and Spiegel Show earlier this week (hat tip toBleacher Nation), Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein addressed several pertinent topics. In particular, Epstein sought to answer the question of why the Cubs seem unable to contend while they rebuild.
Epstein's long answer was interesting, even as he largely kept on message about the need to drive new revenue through a renovation of Wrigley Field, new television deals, and the like. He said that, until, the club can generate new revenue, it is placed in an "untenable position": the Cubs are "fighting upstream" against division competitors that get competitive balance draft picks, but are simultaneously unable to increase payroll to keep pace with the top of the division.  
On the question of payroll level, Epstein was seemingly quite revealing. His quote is lengthy, but worth repeating in full (transcription courtesy of Bleacher Nation):“It’s not a choice. We are not making a fundamental choice to only focus on the future. We’re not withholding dollars from this year’s team. We are spending every dollar that we have on this baseball team. We maxed out our payroll last year and we maxed out our payroll this year. It’s not a choice. It’s not like we’re making a conscious decision to say, ‘Hey, let’s withhold $15-20 million from the 2012 or 2013 payroll because we don’t think we’re quite good enough or it’s not worth it to spend it there. Let’s save it for a rainy day. Or let’s save it so we can get that free agent in 2016.’ The baseball department is spending every dollar that is allocated to baseball operations. Yeah, we’re spending it in the draft and we’re spending it in the minor leagues. There’s only so much you can spend there. We’re also spending every dollar we have available on the Major League payroll." 

Last edited by artie_fufkin (7/08/2014 11:19 am)

artie_fufkin wrote:

tkihshbt wrote:

I think Utley has said he won't leave Philadelphia. 

As for the Cubs, Russell is supposed to be better than Castro. Javier Baez is not going to stick at shortstop and will be moved to third. Kris Bryant is unfortunately going to be a monster, and he's going to be in left field. Soler is ticketed for right field. 

They still haven't begun to address their pitching needs, and in fact just traded a good young pitcher, which seems curious since I've read somewhere that pitching is important. The Cubs' payroll was 28th in the league at $73 million before the deal with the A's, in which they shed $11 million.
If there's a plan, I'm not sure what it is. And I'm not sure Theo knows what it is. The only thing I can think of is he's become so obsessed with collecting prospects to build the farm system he's doing it at the expense of the major league roster. I think there may be something like that going on in Houston, too, where the goal may not necessarily be to win the World Series, but to prove you can run a major league franchise on a cost-effective basis. 

 

It is hard to take the stance of defending the cubs but samarja i believe would have ran out of controled years before the cubs are scheculed to be competitive.  While the trade does help long term pitching goal neither would have not making the trade.  The money they saved could be used in 2 or 3 years to adress the pitching issues when it could actually matter.  Im sure they would have traded for cost controled young pitchers if ghey could....those guys are not on the trade market tho.  Nobody is going to deal good young pitchers at the aaa or aa level.

artie_fufkin wrote:

Epstein On Cubs Rebuilding PlanBy Jeff Todd [April 27, 2013 at 9:21pm CDT]
In an interview with Chicago's The McNeil and Spiegel Show earlier this week (hat tip toBleacher Nation), Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein addressed several pertinent topics. In particular, Epstein sought to answer the question of why the Cubs seem unable to contend while they rebuild.
Epstein's long answer was interesting, even as he largely kept on message about the need to drive new revenue through a renovation of Wrigley Field, new television deals, and the like. He said that, until, the club can generate new revenue, it is placed in an "untenable position": the Cubs are "fighting upstream" against division competitors that get competitive balance draft picks, but are simultaneously unable to increase payroll to keep pace with the top of the division.  
On the question of payroll level, Epstein was seemingly quite revealing. His quote is lengthy, but worth repeating in full (transcription courtesy of Bleacher Nation):“It’s not a choice. We are not making a fundamental choice to only focus on the future. We’re not withholding dollars from this year’s team. We are spending every dollar that we have on this baseball team. We maxed out our payroll last year and we maxed out our payroll this year. It’s not a choice. It’s not like we’re making a conscious decision to say, ‘Hey, let’s withhold $15-20 million from the 2012 or 2013 payroll because we don’t think we’re quite good enough or it’s not worth it to spend it there. Let’s save it for a rainy day. Or let’s save it so we can get that free agent in 2016.’ The baseball department is spending every dollar that is allocated to baseball operations. Yeah, we’re spending it in the draft and we’re spending it in the minor leagues. There’s only so much you can spend there. We’re also spending every dollar we have available on the Major League payroll." 

 

I dont believe it.  Why was their payroll doubled a few years ago?  They are nit spending that much extra at the minor league level.

Was just coming to post that. I bet this deal happens within a week.

artie_fufkin wrote:

JV wrote:

Hmmm. Sweeten the pot with Middlebrooks and I might like this. http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/07/08/cardinals-reportedly-making-a-strong-push-to-acquire-jake-peavy-from-red-sox/?ocid=Yahoo&partner=ya5nbcs

Oh god no. He's not the player you remember when he was with the Padres. He hasn't won a game since April 25, and his ERA over the past two months is nearly 5.50. And I'm not sure what Middlebrooks gives you other than a slow guy who hits into a lot of double plays and spends a lot of time on the DL.

Okay, maybe not Middlebrooks, but somebody who provides some value as I agree Peavy brings little to the staff at this point.

What do u think gets peavy?  Lyons?