Category Archives: Off-Season Rabble

M’s 2010 Roster

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I attempted to emulate Joe’s 2010 Cubbie lineup card with my own for the Mariners, but after staring at the active roster for a while it seems to be a Herculean feat. Not only did manager Don Wakamatsu use some 140 different lineups throughout ’09, there has also been quite a bit of shaking up on the current active roster. Pretty much the only guarantees are Ichiro in right, Gutierrez in center, and Figgins at third. Although I am sure Rob Johnson will be doing most of the catching.

The starting rotation is another quagmire following the best one-two punch in ball. Cliff Lee and King Felix will be dominant, but who follows them? Ian Snell, Garrett Olson, and Jason Vargas are my bets. There will be a dominant closer, however, in David Aardsma.

So, I tried. But that is one tough nut to crack.

Maddux Takes Position with Cubs

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Los Cubs have announced that Greg Maddux will join the team, in the position of assistant to GM Jim Hendry. Glad to hear it; Maddux is one of the best of all time, mentally. His duties will be mentoring in nature, helping younger players develop.

Truth be told, I just wanted to put that picture up. It is from The Onion…”Greg Maddux wears sweater vest to mound.” Classic.

Regardless, it can’t hurt. First Dawson to the Hall and Sandberg to AAA Iowa, now Maddux back in pinstripes. Good PR, if nothing else.

Big Unit Hangs Up His Cleats

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mullet head

mullet, 'shache, & soul patch...

Regarded both as one of the MLB’s all-time best pitchers and all-time ugliest dudes, Randy Johnson is calling it quits. I think his HoF bid is a no-brainer. Observe:

Category                                    #                Rank

Strikeouts per 9 IP                     10.61           1st
Strikeouts                                   4,875          2nd
Cy Young Awards                       5                   2nd
Hit batsmen                              190                3rd
Bases on balls                           1,497           13th
Games started                          603               21st
Wins                                      303               22nd

I wonder how many of those hit batsmen were intentional…I’m guessing quite a sum.

Encarnacion + Fireworks = Disaster

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Eduardo

boom, goes the dynomite

While celebrating NYE in the D.R., Edward Encarnacion suffered a little firework mishap. No biggie, just a little mix of 1st ad 2nd degree burns on his face. Idiot.

MLB.com has the full write-up…FTA:

Encarnacion said one of his brothers lit a firecracker that was supposed to go up but instead it went sideways and struck Encarnacion in the face. He went to a local clinic in the Dominican Republic on Friday but he was later transported to Miami, where he saw a face specialist for his injuries.

Cubs 2010 Lineup Analysis

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With Bradley out the door and Byrd in the fray, let me take a crack at the starting lineup for the ’10 Cubs. 

2010...a lineup odyssey

 

Position Players
1. Kosuke Fukudome  – Right
2. Ryan Theriot – Short
3. Derrek Lee – 1st
4. Aramis Ramirez – 3rd
5. Alfonso Soriano – Left
6. Marlon Byrd – Center
7. Geovany Soto – Backstop
8. Jeff Baker – 2nd

ROTATION
1. Carlos Zambrano
2. Ted Lilly
3. Randy Wells
4. Ryan Dempster
5. Sean Marshall

‘PEN
Carlos Marmol – Closer
Tom Gorzelanny, John Grabow,  Angel Guzman, Jeff Samardzija- Setup
Caridad, Silva, Berg – Long relief

Supporting Cast
Sam Fuld, Micah Hoffpauir – OF
Mike Fontenot, Andres Blanco – IF
Koyie Hill – C

Feel free to tear that appart…my apologies to Dempster. 

On paper, the team looked much more solid going into 2009, primarily with Milton in the mix.  The ‘pen is much more solid now with Grabow/Gorz, but Marmol is still somewhat of a wild-card as closer.  Rollercoaster ride nearly every outing…nobody can touch his slide-piece…hit batsmen….walks…K’s…all over the place.  Makes me tired watching him, but I love the guy. 

Either way, should be interesting.  Maybe Hendry can come up with another deal from left field and get another starting pitcher and/or veteran for the bullpen, but if not I think it is time for Marshal to step it up a notch.  With Samardzija on his heels, I think he might have to.

DeRo al Los Gigantes

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DeRo

DeRo

Los Gigantes de San Francisco signed Mark DeRosa to a two year deal. Boo.

Granted, DeRo is 35 and coming off of a wrist injury, but I was holding out hope that he might make a triumphant return to the Friendly Confines. After missing the boat on Cameron, Capps, Lackey, etc., I guess I should have put it out of the realm of possibility.

MLB.com has a release, and this essentially spells it out:

DeRosa likely will start at third base for the Giants, with Pablo Sandoval moving to first. However, DeRosa’s versatility will allow manager Bruce Bochy to use him virtually anywhere. DeRosa, who started 99 games at third last season, also has considerable experience at the other three infield spots and in the outfield.

Well worth 2yr/$12mil.

Silva trade revisited

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Silva, dejected

Silva, dejected

I found a nice write-up on waxpaperbeercup regarding the Silva/Bradley trade.

MB21 gave me a response to my question…

js, I’m not sure any Cubs fans have supported Bradley than those on Another Cubs Blog (myself and others). It was a great sign at the time based on talent level. That’s undeniable.

There’s more to baseball than OBP. OBP only tells us how often a player got on base. It doesn’t tell us how many bases he advanced (slugging), it doesn’t tell us about his baserunning, and it doesn’t tell us about his defense.

Byrd has nowhere near the potential that Milton Bradley has, but Byrd, because you can count on him to play in 150 games, has as much value as Bradley. Bradley’s projected wins above replacement using the CAIRO projections and their UZR/150 projections was 2.1. Byrd is somewhere between 1.8 WAR and 2.2 WAR.

If we project Bradley to get 400 plate appearances (.369 wOBA, +1 run fielding, which he was not close to last year), he’s worth 2.0 WAR.

If we project Byrd to get 550 PA (.340 wOBA, which may be low since he’s moving to the NL Central, -2 runs fielding), he’s worth 1.9 WAR.

You lose the upside for sure, but you gain some reliability because based on Bradley’s injury history he probably won’t get 400 PA.

The difference between Byrd and Bradley is defensive position and health. Byrd has the advantage in that he plays the tougher defensive position and he also has the advantage in that he’s healthier than Bradley. Bradley has the advantage in that he’s simply a better hitter no matter how you look at it. It’s just we’re likely to see Micah Hoffpauir in RF for 200 to 300 PA or more if Bradley is the RF.

The Cubs got a crappy deal out of this, but saved money and if that money allows them to get Byrd then they come out of this no worse than they were yesterday. If they go and sign Ankiel then they’re just idiots.

I think he is spot-on. As for ^ Ankiel…I’d rather see Scotty Pos, but maybe Colvin is a better option than either.

Bradley for Silva

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Well, the Bradley debacle is fucking over. Not exactly sure what the C-Bears are going to do with Carlos Silva’s fat ass, but good riddance.

milton-bradley-chicago

12:06pm: MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat confirms that the deal will go down.

11:39am: Larry Stone of the Seattle Times hears that the clubs will swap Bradley and Silva.

10:26am: The Mariners have had perhaps the busiest offseason in baseball so far, but they’re not about to slow down. Jon Heyman of SI.com reports that they’re once again talking with the Cubs about outfielder Milton Bradley. Three executives say the Cubs could send Bradley to Seattle in exchange for Carlos Silva, who will earn slightly more than Bradley over the course of the next two seasons (Bradley’s under contract for $21MM, Silva for $24MM).

The Rangers are “not likely” to acquire Bradley and Heyman says the Rays appear to have given up on trading for him. One Giants person says there’s “no way” the team trades for the 31-year-old.

The Mariners are looking at several possible solutions in left field, not just Bradley. They may consider Johnny Damon, though they’re not currently involved with Matt Holliday and Jason Bay.

Sorry Zig. Your turn.