Cubs manager Joe Maddon announced today that outfielder Shane Victorino will not be on the Opening Day roster, as ESPNChicago.com’s Jesse Rogers was among those to report on Twitter. As an Article XX(B) free agent, he’d have posed a $100K retention bonus question to the club in just a few days’ time.
It appears that Chicago has offered Victorino an alternative arrangement, as MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat tweets. He is still considering the new deal, pursuant to which he’d rehab his ailing calf before reporting to Triple-A in hopes of earning a major league opportunity.
It’s not entirely clear whether a new contract is being contemplated or whether the veteran would be given his retention bonus (and an automatic June 1st opt-out date). Implicitly, it seems, he could instead elect to look for another organization on the open market.
Victorino, 35, signed on with the Cubs on a minor league deal in late February. He’s managed only ten plate appearances this spring, and already seemed to face an uphill battle to crack a roster full of outfield options. Long a sturdy regular, Victorino posted a meager .230/.308/.292 batting line in just 204 plate appearances last season — by far his worst output since he established himself in the majors back in 2006.
The Flyin’ Hawaiian needs to stick it out with the Cubs and ride the wave of a winner as opposed to going to the suitor with the highest playing time available for a gimpy older outfielder! Soler likes to spend time in the summer on a paid vacation through means of the disabled list… so… Shane should bide his time in a winner circle type franchise and come back up when he can get time as opposed to walking away at this point in his career. I am not saying he will definitely earn a ring by staying with the Cubs, but he could do a lot worse…… Just my thoughts….
So third place in the division last year makes them a “winning organization?” Wouldn’t they have to win something first, or at least have 2 consecutive winning seasons before we can give them that label?
Yes Vedder they are a winning organization who had 97 wins and third best record in baseball. Sorry to disappoint you but the fact they two best records were also in the same division does not take away from anything. In fact they beat the Pirates who had the second best record in all of baseball and the division, the Cubs beat them in the first round of the playoffs then they pounded your Cardinals into submission, the same Cardinals who were the only team with 100 wins and most wins in baseball and of course most wins in the division. So I guess the “3rd” place Cubs kicked some ass amd had the best season in the division. Sorry dude. Go cry in your beer.
So winning once makes you a winning organization? Nice revisionist history.
Sure….. Winning more than a year would qualify them to be a winning organization. I agree there. But, there is no doubt that this team has as much talent as any team in baseball. So, all I’m saying is, he could probably go somewhere like Cleveland and outperform a younger outfielder provided he’s healthy….. He could go to the Angels and possibly change the thinking of the platoon they have set in LF…..If he desires more playing time. My point is, he could stick around the Cubs in double A or extended spring training and rehab himself to full health and possibly be a part of a special season in the making. It’s no denying that the Cubs have put together a sustainable spoils of riches which should translate into consecutive winning season. So, I am simply saying that sticking with the Cubs is not the worst thing in the world, especially with a coach like Maddon who doesn’t care about your feelings in September(see Jason Hammel) and will call upon veteran players like Victorino in crucial situations if he feels they have the best chance succeed over a younger player. Even give a veteran a post season roster spot over a guy who has been on the team all year. My point was he could probably fit in at some point during the year if he accepts a rehab assignment and is deemed healthy by the end of the summer and possibly help the team down the stretch or in the playoffs if the Cubs make it that far.