Left-Handed Power Options For Cubs

If the Rangers trade Bradley, it's going to have to be for more value than 2 high draft picks because he'll surely be a Type A FA. Would the cubs pony up? Probably not.

Why can't Soriano just move to right field?

i dont think they need a lefty power bat. They just need a solid lefty. The answer is Nate McLouth. He is a lefty, he bats leadoff well, and he is a CF. He also has some power, with 12 HRs already (one off his career high). He would be expensive, but he is the kind of guy the Cubs need.

that would give them a lineup of:

1) McLouth
2) Theriot
3) Lee
4) ARam
5) Fukudome
6) Soto
7) Soriano
8) DeRosa
9) Pitcher

Why would the Pirates just ship off McLouth to the Cubs??

the would do it because they need more than just him. If you give up enough, anyone is available.

"the would do it because they need more than just him. If you give up enough, anyone is available."

It would take a huge offer for the Pirates to move McLouth I'd think. He's fairly young, cheap, and under team control for what, like 4 or 5 more years? Moving McLouth would be very low on the priority list, behind guys like Bay, Nady, LaRoche, Grabow, Marte.

If McLouth can bring the best package back its the guy you move. Who knows if he is going to continue playing like this, its far beyond what he has shown in the past. Strike while the iron is hot. Idealy they would like to keep him, but if a team comes calling offering young guys for him, but wont do a deal for anyone else, you must consider it.

I HIGHLY doubt Griffey, if at all traded, is going to another NL Central team. Plus as far as I can tell(I'm not well versed in their farm system though) the Cubs don't have anything that would have value to the Reds so that'd be a lose-lose for the Reds.

the cubs have plenty to interest the reds. Its a matter of wanting to give up enough for how much the reds think he is worth.

How about Giles? Im certain he would be available. I wouldnt be opposed to Bradley playing CF.

The downside to obtaining McLouth is that he wouldn't get to hit against the Cubs anymore.

We have the money to pay him, and I think we could put a package together for Holliday. Just speculating but would this be enough Pie/Hill/Murton/Ceda/Patterson/Veal

I like the lineup...Here is another good one.

Theriot
Fukudome
Lee
ARam
Holliday
Soriano
Soto
DeRosa

Either one is sweet.

Since when does Holliday bat LH??? This post is about LH bats...if we open it up to anyone then its just another lame post. Lets stick to the original topic. thanks!

How quickly people forget that the Cubs already have Reed Johnson who is hitting .276 against lefties. He might play even better given the chance to play everyday. This seems a lot like Theriot last year... but eventually... Ryan kept the starting spot and now we have a pretty solid SS.

Johnson has one error through 38 games and a couple of catches that would even make Jim Edmonds take notice.

So many people are so quick to dismiss the fact that the Cubs may have all the offensive players already in place... how about looking more towards another starter... because Gallagher is great for a quick fix... but to go deep in the playoffs... the Cubs need another solid pitcher. maybe Maddux?

Since when does Reed bat LH? We are getting off the subject here. Lou wants a LH bat with power. Not a RH bat with no power.

Maddux? Hes not much of an improvment over what we have. No thanks.

tim thats a bunch of BS. everyone is available for the right price.

Sometimes Cubs fans act just like Yankee fans. Other teams are supposed to give their good young players to the Cubs because...well, I guess because the Cubs think they should. No way does Huntington move McClouth. And I think the Reds will be buyers rather than sellers. With Bruce in the line-up, if the Reds could muster one decent LH staring pitcher they'll be nipping at the Cubs heels at the all-star break.

You will see the Reds will be sellers.

Tim is right, McClouth is not going to be for sale, it is intriguing though. We wouldnt want to pay the price for McClouth even if they wanted to move him.

because the price is lower for McLouth. They have other talent, but no one else on their roster is going to bring in talent from the Cubs. and only Bay can bring as much talent in return as Nate can.

The cost of McLouth might be too much, but to suggest he isnt available is rediculous. He is the perfect fit for the Cubs, so they should look long and hard at him.

I still think that Holliday would be better then McClouth even if he was available. Pricetag isnt going to be greatly different.

Why would the Rays trade Hinske? Last time I checked, they were first in the American League East.

You can have Brad Wilkerson if you want.

'sigh' I dont think the Pirates are going to be trading with the Cubs after we stole Lofton and Ramirez from them for Bobby Hill

He would be a great addition to the "Rotation" in the playoffs He would be a 5th starter (maybe 4th) until the playoffs.

Zambrano
Lilly
Dempster
Maddux
Gallagher

uww1,

So your idea is to go out and get a 5th starter then start him once the playoffs role around? If the Cubs would do that,then no wonder they havent won in 100years.

You are not very bright are you? I would pick up a starter whether that be Maddux or not. I think he would be a good addition to rotation to get rid of Marquis. He would start ASAP and would start in the playoffs.

Lilly used to be a yankee...I assume the yanks would want some younger players...maybe a young starter to help replace Mussina/Pettite once they are gone. I would do Hill+1, but I'm not quite sure that's fair.

I'm not to enamored anymore with Hughes and Kennedy...which is why I say I would want another starter.

"We have the money to pay him, and I think we could put a package together for Holliday. Just speculating but would this be enough Pie/Hill/Murton/Ceda/Patterson/Veal"

I highly doubt that Rookies would have any interest in Murton or Pie, they have outfielders, and Taveras is Pie, low avg. decent OBS, great speed.
The thing they would require is arms, lots of them. Gallagher/Veal/Ceda, and the other position in need or 2nd and catcher. That what more than likely they would ask for Holliday. Meaning the three arms an either a 2nd base or catcher prospect.
Anyways, I don't think that the cubs would pay that kind of price, since he hits right handed to begin with.

As a Padres fan i can tell you that Giles doesn't fit the Power bat idea, but he does fit the idea of a high OBS guy to get on in front of your big sluggers. And any trade for MadDog would have to be approved form him, as such it is believed that if traded he would like to return to Atlanta or all others. (Thats a local rumor, I have not seen anything officially yet)

Donaldson/Pie/Hill/Ceda/Patterson for Holliday

Donaldson is a hell of a catching prospect

Maybe that would work...

UWW1 is calling me stupid for simply shooting down his idea of using a 5th starter in the 3 man playoff rotation....I still dont see his logic, am i missing something? Dont you usually use your 3 best pitchers in the playoffs? ehhh...'sigh'

Arms UWW1, arms, they need pitching. They are going to want arms with upside, Veal/Gallagher/Ceda, and maybe others with Donaldson, but like I said Pie makes no sense. And Hill is not enough, and you know it. They would want Gallagher over Hill.

I never said to use a 5th starter in the playoffs. I said if maddux was on our team he would start. Read above

Your right about Gallagher pitching well. But Maddux isnt going to be super expensive and he would help us as a leader when we win the division and will help in the playoffs.

I wouldnt mind Burnett but I feel thats too much to give for him. Will he be able to get through this season and stay off the DL

I have been bored all day. I have been sitting around waiting to go play golf and its raining. I am a teacher we had our last day of school Tuesday. HAHA

That would not be a terrible deal for Burnett, but remember his injury history and the fact that he can Opt out this year.
As for Holliday, i still think you are overlooking the fact that Pie is not what the Rockies are going to for. And they would almost certainly require Gallagher.

I have not yet given up on Hill but I wouldnt mind using him as a trade prospect.

Fukudome can, has, and will hit American pitching. There is no reason to even argue that point. No one around baseball even questions this...

Holliday would require a true bounty. Something like HIll, Gallagher, Ceda, and Patterson.

I don't think you move Fukudome, who is a GG calibur RF, to put him in a position where he will be average.

Starting pitching is the need here, the rest are just nice to haves...

Burnett would be an awesome addition, especially if there was a way to have him waive the opt out and sign him to an extension.

Maybe Hill or Gallagher, Murton or Marshall, and Colvin or Ceda?

To this point in the season the Cubs have the best offense in the majors, wouldn't a solid starting pitcher make more sense? Their staff is doing quite well all things considered but with Hill lounging in the minors the back end of the staff Gallagher/Marquis/Leiber don't really inspire much confidence. Gallagher is young, Leiber is old and Marquis is Marquis.

“Fukudome can, has, and will hit American pitching. There is no reason to even argue that point. No one around baseball even questions this...”

So why are they moving him down further in the lineup if he is really going to be moved to the 2 spot? I mean, its not like Soto is tearing it up right now (.232/.325/.420 last 20 games) ~ but bringing in a power Leftie moves Fukudome to the 2 hole, right? If they are currently in the process of pushing him farther away, I cant imagine they would turn around and bump him up to one of the most important spots in a lineup… Does that seem logical?

And sorry, but the .274/.345/.376/.721 he has posted the past 5 weeks when he wasn’t given a free pass is not exactly living up to expectations. Infact, its not looking that dissimilar to what the team was getting from Jacque Jones… Who knows what the future holds, but so far…

If you notice Dark they move him down in the order when they are facing a left handed pitcher. Tomorow you will see that he will be back at the 5 spot. And Saturday he will be back at the 6th with a lefty on the mound.

I would move him to #2 because of his OBP and taking a lot of pitches.

Let us savor the day. The Cubs have the best record in baseball.

“If you notice Dark they move him down in the order when they are facing a left handed pitcher. Tomorow you will see that he will be back at the 5 spot. And Saturday he will be back at the 6th with a lefty on the mound.”

…that’s cool, but its still a downward move in the lineup and doesn’t generally indicate a person is preparing to move up… A move down means fewer PA, plain and simple ~ and if you really would like a player to get as many PA as possible, you don’t move him that direction at all…

“I would move him to #2 because of his OBP and taking a lot of pitches.”

…His pitches are something which has also seen a rather dramatic difference from the first 3 weeks to the last 5… It went from 4.68 to 4.01 ~ a difference of easily tops in the bigs over that time, to about 56th…

"Fact 1) the thread is about adding a LH power bat."

This is the one fact you bring up that is relevant here. Here is another: The Cubs have one of the best offenses in baseball. THEY DON'T NEED ANOTHER BAT! Hell, they probably don't need anything to win this division. However, its not the division they are thinking about this year. In order to go anywhere in the post season, or at least past Arizona, they are going to need to add a #2 or #3 starter to their rotation. Sorry, Maddux is not that.

Which all brings me back to the point I was originally making here...a Burnett type is what they Cubs need, or even Harden. (and pray either are healthy)

What they don't need is to add a bat to one of the most potent lineups in baseball when they already have everything you need offensively.

Fact: A #2 starter is the only real need for this team. The rest are just nice additions.

“Fact #1 - Judging by VORP, Geovanny Soto would be the BEST hitter on 18 major league teams right now!!! And you are wondering why they would bat him 5th?? Really?”

…And who the F* cares what he has done ~ he’s not doing it now… Do you wait till a guy retires to give him a raise? Do you wait till pitchers get shelled to call them up from AAA? Do you wait till a guy breaks his leg to give him the starting SS job? Well, maybe you do…

“Fact #2 - Fukudome has a .407 OBP, is KNOWN for his OBP, had a lifetime OBP of .430(!) in Japan, and will continue to do what he has always done.”

…Again, who the F* cares ~ its dropped almost daily since the start of week 4… But I did want to ask, why did this argument change? I mean, 2 weeks ago you proclaimed him a .322/.419/.466 hitter… 2 Weeks of .260/.362/.300 ball later and now he’s really a .305/.407/.422 guy though?

(BTW, I show him as a career .392 OBP guy in Japan, not .430 ~ and that’s with a .301 BA… US generally means somewhere around a .030 drop in BA, you do the rest of the math…)

“Fact#3 - If we are going by small sample sizes here, in his last four at bats, Fukudome has a .333/.500 line. I guess he is on an upward "trend"!”

Hahaha, ok man ~ yeah 5 straight weeks is nothing, and instead we should think back to his first 3 weeks in the majors, when pitchers didn’t even have a true scouting report on him, to know what type of hitter he really is… Thanks for clueing me into that one, yet again… And next week if his numbers drop another 15-20 points are you still going to be giving that same old tired spiel with whatever that new line is being the ‘real’ line we should believe?

...So anyway, ‘all Cubs players sh!t gold bricks’ ~ I get it man…

…And then another 3 posts of the same old tired crap? Really, whatever dude…

Look all that matters is that they are winning and winning every way imaginable right now.
The thing about stats,ESPECIALLY IN BASEBALL, is that you can manipulate them to lean toward whatever stance you have (as you have all seen Dark do repeatedly). I've never seen a season where any player on any team has been a flatline of consistency, that would please the most anal of statititions.
Players lines go up, they go down. That's baseball.
Some of you sit here and start typing away all smug, shooting down other peoples OPINIONS, like YOU sh!t gold (and shut the windows and door to enjoy the aroma). It is that very arrogance that has you looking like baseball know-nothings. You can hide a vast array of stats amongst ten dollar words(as if they some how emphasize your point) and that doesn't change the fact that the Cubs are playing pretty decent baseball right now. Nor does it change the fact that, yeah, Soto is a pretty good catcher learning a very complicated league and looking rather quite well in doing so. Fuk happens to be doing a nice job in right as well.

Would you rather have Soto or Barrett/Kendall? Fuk or J. Jones/M. Murton?
Bottom line is the Cubs did a nice job upgrading the '07 team that won them a division.
And if you think you can predict who's gonna do what with your random stats, I have two words for you
Detroit Tigers.
"Enjoy the ride or just get off at the next stop. Pointing out the bumps in the road does not make for a smoother ride nor does it keep you from arriving to your destination" -Your Mother

"Almost as dumb as asking why you would want Soto to be the 5 hitter when he has a 1.163 OPS against them. "

Them meaning lefties...