Another Cubs Post

Now we hear that the Cubs are targeting Alfonso Soriano for center field to complement Aramis Ramirez and Derrek Lee. 

Is this feasible?  Here's one possible scenario:

2B - Optional - $4MM
SP - Guy with #2 potential - $11MM
SP - #4 guy - $7MM
CF - Alfonso Soriano - $17MM

Total: $39MM with a 2B, $35MM without

The Cubs have maybe $81-85MM committed depending on the incentives reached by Wade Miller and Kerry Wood.  If they are reached the Cubs would probably view that as a positive.

Interestingly, if you take my current $85MM estimate and add the above free agents (but use an in-house 2B option) it puts you right at $120MM.  It would not be ridiculous for the Cubs to take payroll to that level.

Go with Ryan Theriot at second base, as many here have suggested.  You've got Eric Patterson and Ronny Cedeno floating around as well.  It's only second base, after all.

If willing to go to $120MM, the Cubs could add Vicente Padilla, Miguel Batista, and Soriano.  You can substitute many different similar options.  The #2 potential guy could be Gil Meche, Randy Wolf, or Ted Lilly instead of Padilla.  The #4 could be Kei Igawa, Mark Redman, Tomo Ohka, Chan Ho Park, Jason Marquis, or even Ryan Dempster.

Here's the lineup:

1. Matt Murton
2. Michael Barrett
3. Derrek Lee
4. Aramis Ramirez
5. Alfonso Soriano
6. Jacque Jones/Jose Cruz Jr.
7. Ryan Theriot
8. Cesar Izturis

It's easy to forget that Lee has a decent chance at 40 HR and Murton is blossoming nicely.  1-6, the lineup could be tough.  I'm sure Lou would find a less optimal way to order them and he'd bat Jacque against lefties, but let's not nitpick.

And the rotation:

1. Carlos Zambrano
2. Vicente Padilla
3. Rich Hill
4. Kei Igawa
5. Wade Miller/Mark Prior

Zambrano and Padilla could be the new bad boy tandem, terrorizing the NL with beanballs.  I'm sure Lou would put someone between Hill and Igawa to avoid two consecutive southpaws.  Igawa could baffle the NL for half a season.  And between Prior and Miller there's got to be 180 innings of 4.50 ball, right?

Bullpen:

1. Kerry Wood
2. Bob Howry
3. Scott Eyre
4. Mike Wuertz
5. Ryan Dempster
6. Sean Marshall
7. Will Ohman

Like the lineup and rotation, this pen would be solid if not spectacular.  Of course, it could be ugly if Wood gives the Cubs nothing.

See, this is how Cubs fans think.  Forgive me for playing fantasy baseball with this roster just this once.  I love the hot stove.

Comments

[bravesrule14]

zambrano and padilla hot damn i would crap my pants goin against those two and if everyone in that lineup produces and prior/miller produce then i expect the cubs to win the central and i dont even like them.

[stlplaya2143]

I really don't think the Cubbies will get Soriano

[ScottBrosius]

Drew and Soriano both picked good years to be free agents. Inherently flawed players that are going to make Beltran money.

[Hammondsbird]

Sori seems a bit hard to work with, which makes me wonder how he would react to the posibility of not batting lead off. He always seemed like he was a better number two hitter than lead off, and I've wondered why he hasn't been used in that position more often. Don't know much about him, just wondering.

[StLknows]

As a cardinals fan it is great to see the cubbies expanding their payroll in a year the market is full of over-priced players.

[EM3]

I think I like the hot stove season more than the regular season.

[Why am I a Cubfan?]

I still don't get why anyone would consider obtaining a secondbasman. We've got three guys to battle it out for that position, and one (theroit) that proved a lot last season. they are all cheap options and one of them should be out guy. Wasting 4 million on a free-agent secondbaseman would be a complete waste of money.

It's nice to see Pinella speaking his mind and letting it be known the players he wants. I've got to believe (as I do every year with no results) that Hendry has the okay to spend up to 120 million. I'd still prefer C Lee, but Sorriano would be fine. If we got Padilla to fill the #2 rotation spot then I'd be happy with any healthy arm filling the #4.

[Darin]

Does this really matter? This is the Cubs we're talking about, which means, they'd find away to blow it all up.

Jones would regress. Padilla's vastly over-rated...he's posted 3 consecutive ERAs over 4.50 (hardly #2 material), Prior and Wood both actually have their arms fall off, and then duct taped back on because Wade Miller has to go on the DL again.

Am I the only one that thinks Derrek Lee's '05 season's a little out of whack with the rest of his career, and that he may return back to that .270 avg, mid to high .800s OPS we've all grown to love? I mean those are still servicable numbers by all means, but expecting him to post another 1.000+OPS season is stretching...which is I guess there's all that talk about Soriano.

[Dave]

Roto,

If your estimates are right, and they decide the Theriot (am in favor of that option), Cedeno/Patterson experiment is worth a try, they could spread that money over the #2 spots pretty easily. 13mm should more than wrap up Schmidt and 9MM would be pretty close to the 10MM Padilla wants.

Don't know if Padilla being represented by Kinzer would help or hurt that...I could see either. Guess it depends how hard he cried when ARam took the hometown discount.

[Dave]

Meant to say: spread it over the #'s 2 and 4 spots...

[Jman]

Doesn't ARam's new contract have an impact on what the FA's are able to command? Sure theres going to be more of a true open-market bidding happening but I would think the owners would be upset if some team gave Soriano or Lee almost 20-30MM more than Ramirez. especially since ARam is a good 3 years younger than the current FA power hitters.

[greenbaydude1232]

Oh God I love cubs fans! I'm a diehard cubs fan as well and I love the prospects of this but its simply not going to happen. The cubs getting soriano for center? Hes a below average fielding outfielder and were going to stick him in center? Wow! On the topic of the schmidt comment. The Mariners are going to outbid anyone for schmidt and overpay for a slightly above average pitcher just because hes the 3rd best on the market. I understand we have to dish out the dough like everyone else but i dont see this scenerio happening at all. Mathews Jr. is much more reasonable. Sorry to rain on your parade. But I'm a cubs fan and I hear this kind of stuff every year and enough is enough.

[Dave]

You must have been rooting against them to sign ARam, because what you are saying is they don't have the ability to sign somebody like ARam. Which, I think, already happened.

If anything, the Mariners are going to offer him a slightly lower contract banking on the hometown discount.

Soriano sure had a lot of outfield assists last year for someone who hadn't played the outfield before. He made some errors, but he's very fast and he's been groomed as a middle infielder, which would help his senses in CF. Sorry, but putting Soriano in center is a good idea. He's got the arm and he's going to get better at tracking down those high flys. CF is probably his only shot at a gold glove...

ARam took a hometown discount, but by how much the market hasn't determined yet. I see Lee going for about the same, 5/75 and I think Soriano will wind up around 5/85. Beltran got a 7 year deal because of his age...Soriano is a little bit older than Carlos.

It's possible they might throw in an option year for Sori...much like ARam, let's not forget that deal is potentially 6/90.

[plh903]

BAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

This year's the year Cubbies!

BAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Really, I'm not joking. This year! It's the year! They won't blow it! Spend all your money! It's a great market-year!

2005 wasn't a wholesale anomaly! Derrek Lee is a great first baseman!

Padilla doesn't have a drinking problem!

Zambrano doesn't walk more people than a crossing guard!

Aramis Ramirez can field!

Michael Barrett can throw a punch!

Who is Matt Murton!

As bad as Matsuzaka will be, Kei Igawa will be a Cy Young winner! Japanese pitchers are great in the bigs!

What a bullpen! They could probably throw a great bullpen!

Defensively, strong up the middle! To say the least!

The Cubs won't be a giant DL this year, or any year!

Ramirez' contract, a seemingly hometown discount, won't prove to be prohibitive! He won't get fatter! He will play great 3B, for years to come! There will be a DH in the NL!

Perfect!

[RotoAuthority]

Despite the dripping sarcasm...you said a lot of dumb things there. Are you actually saying Lee and Zambrano are not excellent players? That is silly.

[Dave]

ARam lost 15lbs. going into 2006.

[Kyle]

Soriano or Lee???
What is the rela difference here. Well there are a lot of differences but one important one should be that we have a lot of holes to fill and a pretty good FA market to do it in. It also helps that the payroll was bumped up. So if you sign Soriano then you pay 3-5 million more a year then if you sign Carlos Lee. Strictly batting though you are getting about the same but i think that Carlos Lee would end up being a better power hitter at Wrigley then Soriano. Yeah you get the speed with Soriano but if you signed Lee for less and then let Theriot play second base you could Get a CF and get some one with some speed. Platoon Murton and Jones in right field. I think it is only a matter of time before Murton is the payer that we are looking for also so i am also in favor of trading Jones. I am not sure why everyone is so wrapped up on Soriano though. yeah he is a great player and had some really good years but is anyone really worth that kind of money? i mean we have D Lee and Rameriz that are not making that kind of money and i would hate to face them as a batter then Soriano. I am all in favor of the Cubs signing Carlos Lee, letting Theriot play second base and take that 4 million you said was set aside for second and then take that 3-5 million you would save on signing Carlos Lee and get a decent CF like Mathews or Roberts.... The Crawford trade is a great idea to me also. We do have a a bundance of farm players that we could use as trade bait. i mean there are many teams out there that want are farm players and we keep them and none of them are ever ready to come to the big leagues so why not trade them for a player that is ready and will give us what we need now. I just think the Cubs would be wasting their time by spending all that money on Soriano and they will have to spend it cause there are other teams out there that will offer it to him and i think we should let them have him and start working towards some players that will more then do the job and save us a lot of money. Just because we have the money to spend i don't think that we should put all our eggs in one basket. If they could sign Soriano for 14 or 15 million i think it would be great but i don't think that will happen. Not to mention that Carlos Lee has been more then out going saying that he would love to play for the cubs.
No matter what happens i just hope that Hendry makes some smart moves. and spending all our money on one Name is not going to help us in the long run.

[ejruiz777]

You know what the crazy thing is? Even with all of this fanciful thinking, the Cubs STILL don't look like a World Series contender. Sure, they might be favored to win the NL Central, but that's just because we're talking about the weakest division in all of baseball. Heck, even with all of these improbable improvements, I can honestly say that I believe they'd come in 5th in the NL East (ahead of only the Nats). That's just sad; I'd hate to be a Cubs fan.

I mean, when you catch yourselves saying things like "if only our five incredibly injury prone and yet unbelievably crucial players can stay healthy" and "if everyone plays to their absolute potential" as neccesary for your success, you know you're in trouble. At this point it might be easier to take the Marlins approach of radical rebuilding than adhering to the AL East's mantra of spending your way into contention. Come to think of it, is there a team in a better position to do the former than the Cubs right now? Just a thought...

[Mowbray]

Did the Cardinals look like a world series contender? and they came out of the god-awful NL central. I think the majority of Cub fans would love to win the central and then take a gamble on the crap shoot called the playoffs

[BobbyMac]

First -
1. Matt Murton
2. Michael Barrett
3. Derrek Lee
4. Aramis Ramirez
5. Alfonso Soriano

All these guys bat right-handed. Terrible idea.

Second -
Any team that spends $7m on a #4 starter is making a grevious error, IMO.

[plh903]

It's all ridiculous - just a comment on Cubs' fans perennial blind optimism.

Sorry you took that seriously Zambrano will probably win a Cy Young despite Wrigley and poor defense. And Lee will settle in nicely as the 3-5 best first baseman in the NL.

I could discuss it all in unbiased, serious terms, but why do that when you can rile people up with obvious absurdity!

I LOVE Cubs fans.

[plh903]

I am not even saying that Lee will not be a little better than that, but I would be surprised if his careered didn't level out after 2005, to something a little more similar to previous numbers. Injury doesn't help.

[bsox21]

It's funny the things being said about Sori on this board...

..Sori is flawed.

...Sori wouldn't adapt well to Wrigley..

..."We should get Sori to PROTECT ...."

Soriano jus learned a new position and lead the league in assists for most of the year. Yes, teams tried running on him to test him. Still, he got the F-ing job done.

He just became the first 40-40-40 player in the history of baseball, in a park where MAYBE 4 or 5 other players in all of baseball would be able to hit more than low 30's.

The power alleys in Washington say 380 on the walls. When they measured it, it turned out to be more than 400 feet.

SORIANO JUST HIT FOR 40+ HRs WHILE PLAYING HALF HIS GAMES IN A PARK THAT IS MORE THAN 400 FEET FROM LEFT CENTER TO RIGHT CENTER.

You guys just watched one of the 5 best seasons you will ever see by a baseball player, and all you can say about that player is that he is flawed and that he wouldnt adapt well to Wrigley?

Wrigley would be child's play to Sori after Washington.

Wrigley is a tough HR hitter's park, but after he beat, kicked, raped and sodomized Washington to the tune of 40-40-40, Wrigley won't be a problem at all.

If the Cubs sign Sori, him and his 70 speed should be batting #1-#3 with Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez protecting HIM.

[BobbyMac]

Alfonso Soriano road stats, 2006: .293/.354/.558

Aramis Ramirez road stats, 2006:
.292/.352/.583

[RotoAuthority]

"I could discuss it all in unbiased, serious terms"

This is doubtful, your post was packed with as much anti-Cub bias you could cram in there. Barrett's punch? The alcohol problem of a guy the Cubs haven't signed? Implying that Lee and Zambrano will play poorly? Those are all kind of silly.

[RotoAuthority]

The post wasn't blind optimism. Blind optimism= "we are gonna sign Schmidt and Zito and Soriano and Lee lol"

Not blind optimism: "If we sign three guys, all fully available and at market value, the team looks decent."

[RotoAuthority]

Call it #4 starter, call it #412 starter. Who cares. Point is to get the best you can afford.

I dunno, I wouldn't mess with the lineup just to stick a crappy lefty in the middle like Jones or something.

[wmk51]

plh, that was absolutely hilarious and made my morning.

I wouldn't be all that surprised if the Cubs get a big name free agent but I don't think it will be Soriano. They will go after Carlos Lee and snag him for a similar contract to Aramis.

However, the Cubs pitching does not saturate me in confidence. No closer whatsoever, and 2 baller relievers in Howry and Eyre.

Cubs need alot to solve their problems and I don't see how they can address everything this off season without pulling a Blue Jays and overpay for mediocrity.

[Dave]

Bob Howry would be an excellent choice as closer should Dempster continue to struggle. The bullpen is the LEAST of the Cubs woes.

[coolpapabell]

The Flotilla refuses to set sail for anything less than $10M/yr. Are you sure you want to give him that much?

[greenbaydude1232]

Time to play with the cubs lineup again...The cubs have 85 million committed so lets say they have 35 million to work with. I think glaring whole #1 is another SP so lets say we sign someone like schmidt, what are we talking 12 MIL a year at most? Were down to 23 Million. We Sign a #4 SP for another 5 Million and were down to 18 Million. Don't you think we could get Carlos Lee for 13 and Dave Roberts for 5? We use an infield option at 2B and I think we have a real solid Lineup.

Lineup would look something like:

1. Roberts
2. R. Theriot
3. D. Lee
4. C. Lee
5. A. Ramirez
6. M. Barrett
7. M. Murton/J. Jones (possibly move Jones up to 6 when hes in)
8. C. Izturis
9. Pitcher

I understand we lack left handed bats but honestly if we can get this lineup I don't think that would be a very big deal. Its not probable but I certainly think its possible. Our bullpen doesnt really need work and I predict howry will be the closer next year with dempster or wuertz being the primary set up man along with eyre. Tell me what you think, again not probable but if I was the cubs thats what I'd be hoping for.

[greenbaydude1232]

meant to say in house not infield

[greenbaydude1232]

I understand Roberts at 5 is overpaying him, but I meant we have that much left so maybe roberts for 3 and another sp option for 2 incase neither prior or miller works out?

[Kyle]

Hey Green bay Dude sounds great to me..... Call Hendry and tell him to get it done.