Some notes from the senior circuit…
- Carl Pavano is still "entertaining interest" from a handful of teams according to MASNSports.com's Ben Goessling. The Nationals remain very much in that mix, and Goessling's source indicates that there is no timetable for Pavano's decision.
- Meanwhile, Adam Kilgore of The Washington Post gets the sense from team officials that the Nats are "lukewarm" on Pavano (Twitter link). He says not to expect a deal until Pavano's asking price comes down.
- ESPN's Buster Olney tweets that the Mets' offer to Chris Young "likely includes guaranteed money over $1 million." A team offical said that yesterday's Chris Capuano pickup will not take the team out of the running for other free agent starters.
- The Cubs are not planning to upgrade at second base, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (via Twitter). That makes it unlikely that they'll pursue Michael Young.
- The Brewers have signed right-hander Jesus Sanchez to a minor league deal, reports Baseball America's Matt Eddy (on Twitter). The 23-year-old posted a 2.99 ERA with 5.8 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9 in 129 1/3 Single-A innings for the Phillies last season. They originally acquired him from the Yankees in the Bobby Abreu trade, back when Sanchez was a catcher.
- Eddy tweets that the Brewers also signed outfielder Brandon Jones to a minor league deal. The 27-year-old hit .231/.333/.325 in the minors last year, bouncing from the Braves to the Pirates to the Tigers.
Pavano needs to sign with the Reds.
Reds have TOO much pitching. Leake, Cuedo, Volquez, Bailey, Arroyo, Chapman…etc.
Chapman’s going to be going to the setup role. He never started all of last year.
I know he’ll be in the pen. But he is a starter and is getting paid starter money. The Reds already have a full rotation with other internal options for the rotation if need be. Pavano won’t be wearing a Reds jersey next year.
He started plenty of games in the minors, and just because he initially broke in as a setup man doesn’t mean whatsoever that he’s going to play out his contract in that role. The Reds would be fools to use him as a reliever over the duration of a six-year, $30M contract.
Chapman should easily be in the rotation. There’s no question he’s not one of their five best starting options. Unfortunately for Reds fans, they gave their sixth or seventh-best starting option a $35M extension.
With what some relievers are demanding now it’s almost cheap. I’ve heard some rumors that the Reds are considering using Chapman to close starting 2012.
But I do have to agree with you. It would be crazy for them to not at least try Chapman out as a starter.
Agree with your last line. Honestly, because of his contract, I think they should give him a shot to compete for a starting job, but no way do I think he is a starter. Like Feliz, you risk endurance and durability if you take him out of the pen and the hitters would get used to him. Plus, the Reds bullpen is pretty lousy actually without Chapman in it. I would personally sign a bullpen arm or two like Beimel or something like that before I make a Chapman decision.
The problem with this is that you ignore that fact that Chapman has spent most of his time as a starter in Cuba. To keep him in a setup role would be identical to turning Strasburg or Felix Hernandez into setup men or closers. Chapman was a starter and should remain a starter UNLESS he shows he cannot start.
I hope the Nationals sign Pavano. As a Twins fan I’m close to the point where you know what, whatever, we’ll take the picks and save money and let him walk. We’ll see what Gibson does for us when he gets a mid-season callup and what pitchers are on the market in July.
If Nats sign him you get a 3rd round pick. Good luck with that.
3rd round pick AND a sandwich pick in between the first and second rounds.
Yeah and no third round picks ever pan out or show Major League potential.
Right, Ian Desmond and Danny Espinosa?
Remember when Monasterios and Sanchez were the “centerpieces” in the Abreu deal? Gosh…Anyway, the Angels pickup of Jose Alvarez and the Brewers pick of Sanchez are two guys who I think can be sleepers in ST. Both can be pen guys.
Yeah sad to see Sachez go. He had the skills, just needed to learn how to pitch.
I’m not sure what it is the Cubs love so much about having a platoon situation at 2nd, but their unwillingness to upgrade, is just another sign the organizations need some fresh leadership
IMO Ithink there fine with a platoon untill Lee comes up. Then Lee and Castro up the middle would be soild Defence. with Lee at SS and Castro at 2B. Note i only say that because the orginization says Lee is better Defencivly.
I’ve actually heard Lee will take over at short and shift Castro over to third as they expect him to get bigger and stronger with age. Lee would be the best defensive SS in the division if he started on opening day.
No it isn’t. Why make a long term investment when there are guys one to two years away? The Cubs could be the Reds or Padres of 2010 in 2011 and 2012, but 2013 is the projected year they make themselves legitimate contenders. Having a cheap platoon that can play other infield positions is most definitely a sign they are committing to the future. Their management is finally being allowed to show what they are capable of doing. 2003 was the only year Hendry could show case his ability as a GM. 2004 -2006 were a Dusty debacle, and 2007-2009 were the years of Sam Zell’s checkbook. Hendry made several good moves for the future in 2010 and the entire organization took steps forward.
Finally somebody speaks the truth! I have been saying this as well. You have Lee, Lemahieu, Vitters, Jackson, and Guyer getting close. In the next couple of years at least 2 of these guys are going to be starters on the team. I look at 2013 and 2014 as the years that the Cubs could have a very talented young team contending.
DJ Lemehieu gets no love. I’d love to see him shift to first base.
There’s no doubt that years 2004-2009 were a total waste and I’d love to believe that we’re close to fielding a team full of home grown talent, but the Cubs just don’t develop players. Once a decade they’ll get a borderline all star out of pure luck but that’s about it. If you look at four of the top prospects in the organization and can only say “2 of 4 will be starters” you clearly see how low the bar is set.
He didn’t list any of the pitchers. The Cubs minor league system has done a 180 degree turn. Oneri Fleita is the real deal.
Personally I think you just wanted to take a shot at the organization. You’re twisting his words and leaving others out wherever it suits you, and I don’t understand why. You say “we” like you’re a fan but are literally inventing reasons to insult the team.
He didn’t say “look at four of the top prospects in the organization and can only say ‘2 out of 4 will be starters’.” You did. He said in the NEXT COUPLE OF YEARS, AT LEAST TWO OF THE FIVE people he listed would be starters.
And quite frankly he’s a bit bare. Archer, Carpenter, Jay Jackson, McNutt, Simpson and even Dolis give you hope going forward — and those are just the pitchers. Brett Jackson, Lee, Castillo, Chironos all have good potential to be major leaguers. Darwin Barney might be able to land a backup role someplace, whether with the Cubs or not. I’ve personally given up on Vitters but some others still like him, so throw him in there as well at your discretion. Same with Jeff Samardzjia (which is almost certainly not spelled correctly). Casey Coleman doesn’t seem to have much stuff, but performed well in his call-up.
Oh, and you may have heard of Sean Marshall, Carlos Marmol, Tyler Colvin, Geovany Soto and Starlin Castro, all of whom graduated from our system within the last four years.
Even at face value, “once a decade they’ll get a borderline all star out of pure luck but that’s about it” is wrong. There are at least two such players playing for the team RIGHT NOW, who came up less than half a decade ago, and that’s assuming that not a single one of these players I just named turn into anything.
The major league team is a mess, hampered by aging, underperforming players and bad contracts. But the farm is actually in a pretty damn good spot.
Thanks for clarifying that for me, so that I don’t have to 🙂 I was actually just touching on position players in my post, and yes there is a lot of hope in the pitching as well!
I think that the whole organization has done a 180 since hiring Wilkins as the scouting director. The Cubs have the 9th pick in the draft this year, and I would expect that whomever they get there would also be only a couple years away from the big leagues.
Chirinos is still a question mark for me. He has switched positions and will be 27 in 2011. I expect him to land somewhere else, and if so, hopefully we can get something good for him! Castillo is an interesting one. I kind of expect him to be better than Soto, but will he be given a chance? He is another one that the Cubs should think about trading before he loses value, or trade Soto if they think higher of Castillo.
Overall, there is a lot of good things coming, and some depth at trade-able positions.
Nope. Big Cub fan, have been for a long, long time. And believe me I want to believe that all of these guys are going to pan out and I can appreciate that Marshall, Soto and Marmol are legitimate contributors. Colvin and Castro looked good their rookie years, but so did Jerome Walton and Dwight Smith.
Go ahead and Google Cub’s top ten prospects from 2000 forward and see what you get. How’s Ronny Cedeno going now? Felix Pie? Donald Veal? Angel Guzman? Brian Dopriak? One of the reasons that the big club is full of old, underperformers is because nobody off the farm has come along to take those jobs.
I hope against hope that the tide has turned and these kids will turn out to be the cornerstone of the organization going forward, but…..
With the Cubs history of inflated payrolls, I don’t see how the Padres and Reds are good comparables. Success is expected from them just about every year, they just don’t happen to deliver most of the time.
With the Cubs history of inflated payrolls, I don’t see how the Padres and Reds are good comparables. Success is expected from them just about every year, they just don’t happen to deliver most of the time.
I’m not knocking the young guys, I hope they all make it to the big leagues. I was really just thinking short term. The Rangers don’t need infield help, so they aren’t going to take the young infield potentials from the Cubs. If we had to give up some pitching to get Young, for the short term, I don’t see a problem with that. I see Ramirez leaving after 2010, Young can play 3rd. If Pena doesn’t return, Young can play 1st. It’s a short term solution while we wait for the studs to arrive. There is no guarantee these kids are going to make it. Yes, we have a great core of young players coming up through the organization, but it doesn’t stop there. We need to continue building the minor league system.
I wonder if the Pavano debacle with the Yankees is why he cant get a contract offering to his liking. Maybe teams are a bit shy on offering him any real length.
… ya think so eh?
my beloved cubbies might not reach 80 wins (again)
I don’t think you’re right, but I’d actually be okay with that (and yes, I’m a fan).
Whatever slim chance the Cubs might have had in competing for the division this year predicated on a better bullpen, improved record in one-run games and a slight bounce-back from Ramirez evaporated when the Brewers jumped into serious contention with the additions of Marcum and Greinke. Those two are just too damn good, and that offense is already potent (at least this year). Leapfrogging three teams (Brewers, Cardinals, Reds) to contend isn’t something I find realistic.
So part of me hopes we tank. Hard. Why? A better draft position. That will help no matter what. Ability and willingness to trade away some pieces if we don’t feel they’re part of the plan moving forward (like Pena as an example), something we might be disinclined to do if we think we’re still in the race. There’s also a lot of money coming off the books beginning in 2012, so if we think we can start to make a run then we might be able to get our first round pick protected as well and pick up some free agents with less of an organizational cost. Hell, we could do that in the offseason after 2011 even if we don’t think we’ll be contenders in 2012 — a guy playing for a year on a team that won’t contend isn’t the end of the world for a payroll as healthy as the Cubs’ if they feel he’ll be major contributor to a championship-caliber team after that.
It would be painful to watch, but better in the long run. If we’re not serious contenders, we may as well be out by a mile.
How many starters are the Mets up to now with or without Santana to start the year? Capuano broke off negotiations with Milwaukee because he wasn’t guaranteed a starting job and apparently wasn’t content competing against the likes of Manny Parra and Chris Naverson, so it seems like the Mets must have “guaranteed” him a spot. Do they have room to do the same with either Francis or Young? Just looking for opinions on their rotation.
Pelfrey/Niese/Dickey/Capuano/Young
Depth: Gee/Misch
Santana: Probably out for the year
I’d say sign as many arms as they can.
I’m glad they are not in on Michael Young. Way overpaid in my opinion.