It's been a long long time. I've been consumed with a little thing called Final Fantasy XII, but of course. It should be all fine and dandy from here on out. There are a lot of things to catch up on!
First of all my thoughts on the news of today. The Cubs traded David Aardsma to the White Sox for Neal Cotts. I am a bit torn on the move. I thought Aardmsa turned the corner and was well on his way developing into a good middle reliever the second half of the season. From late August on he might have been our best reliever. Cotts is a big lefty with decent stuff. He was the exact opposite of Aardsma last season and was similar to Scott Eyre. He had a phenomenal 2005 season and was well on his way of doing it again in 2006 before he flat out fell on his face in August and September. He falled hard. There's a pretty good chance that he bounces back to being a fine lefty reliever. The only question is why? Why do we need another lefty reliever. We have Eyre, Will Ohman and the severely underrated Clay Rapada waiting in the wings. Of course one of the first two is a lock to be traded in some deal. The rumors have Eyre going to Cleveland in a package for either Jake Westbrook or Cliff Lee. If this move makes Scott Eyre more expendable and increases the likelihood of Westbrook coming to Chicago I am all for it. If this move makes Scott Eyre more expendable and increases the likelihood of Cliff Lee coming to Chicago I am all against it.
Next bit of older news, the Cubs signed Mark DeRosa to a three year contract worth $13 million to play second for us. This is a move I could defend if he was going to platoon with Jacque Jones in right and be a super utility player, but we've got a similar player that costs $300,000 in Ryan Theriot. This is a terrible deal. We're paying a guy over $4,000,000 who has a career EqA that's below average. I take that back, we're paying two two guys like that. On the outside this looks like a terrible deal, and it does in the inside as well. The guy's turning 32 before the start of the season too.
Next bit of even older news, the Cubs re-signed Kerry Wood to an incentive laden 1 year deal with a base salary of $1.75 million. Now that is a good move. We had a logjam in our bullpen, but it's a guy who could potentially be the best closer in the league. I really hope we don't use him that way and utilize him as the classic relief ace. Where he would come in during the 7th inning and shut the door. He wouldn't be available every night that way, but we'd have plenty of other quality guys who could close out games like Bob Howry and Michael Wuertz. Also, kudos to Kerry being a standup guy and seriously signing where his heart and desires were. He deserves better.
And finally for the oldest news, the Cubs re-signed Aramis Ramirez to a huge contract worth 75 million. With his lackluster defense, the Cubs probably overpaid. but they have the resources and certainly needed him more than most, so it is justified. He probably would have gotten even more from the Angels, so I'll take it.
All in all Jimbo is three for four this offseason. Right now, with predicted arbitration figures totalling $12 million for Carlos Zambrano, Ohman and Cotts, the Cubs have a shade under $86 million devoted to the 2007 payroll. With the increases of the payroll into the neighborhood of $115 million, that gives the Cubs about $30 million to spend on two starting pitchers and a centerfielder. That figure could go up if the Cubs can shed the contracts of Scott Eyre and/or Cesar Izturis in the deal for Jake Westbrook. Jim Hendry has stated he won't be outbid for Alfonso Soriano and the Cubs look to be one of the favorites for JD Drew, so it could be interesting. One thing's for sure, Jim Hendry isn't being patient like he was in 2004.
First of all my thoughts on the news of today. The Cubs traded David Aardsma to the White Sox for Neal Cotts. I am a bit torn on the move. I thought Aardmsa turned the corner and was well on his way developing into a good middle reliever the second half of the season. From late August on he might have been our best reliever. Cotts is a big lefty with decent stuff. He was the exact opposite of Aardsma last season and was similar to Scott Eyre. He had a phenomenal 2005 season and was well on his way of doing it again in 2006 before he flat out fell on his face in August and September. He falled hard. There's a pretty good chance that he bounces back to being a fine lefty reliever. The only question is why? Why do we need another lefty reliever. We have Eyre, Will Ohman and the severely underrated Clay Rapada waiting in the wings. Of course one of the first two is a lock to be traded in some deal. The rumors have Eyre going to Cleveland in a package for either Jake Westbrook or Cliff Lee. If this move makes Scott Eyre more expendable and increases the likelihood of Westbrook coming to Chicago I am all for it. If this move makes Scott Eyre more expendable and increases the likelihood of Cliff Lee coming to Chicago I am all against it.
Next bit of older news, the Cubs signed Mark DeRosa to a three year contract worth $13 million to play second for us. This is a move I could defend if he was going to platoon with Jacque Jones in right and be a super utility player, but we've got a similar player that costs $300,000 in Ryan Theriot. This is a terrible deal. We're paying a guy over $4,000,000 who has a career EqA that's below average. I take that back, we're paying two two guys like that. On the outside this looks like a terrible deal, and it does in the inside as well. The guy's turning 32 before the start of the season too.
Next bit of even older news, the Cubs re-signed Kerry Wood to an incentive laden 1 year deal with a base salary of $1.75 million. Now that is a good move. We had a logjam in our bullpen, but it's a guy who could potentially be the best closer in the league. I really hope we don't use him that way and utilize him as the classic relief ace. Where he would come in during the 7th inning and shut the door. He wouldn't be available every night that way, but we'd have plenty of other quality guys who could close out games like Bob Howry and Michael Wuertz. Also, kudos to Kerry being a standup guy and seriously signing where his heart and desires were. He deserves better.
And finally for the oldest news, the Cubs re-signed Aramis Ramirez to a huge contract worth 75 million. With his lackluster defense, the Cubs probably overpaid. but they have the resources and certainly needed him more than most, so it is justified. He probably would have gotten even more from the Angels, so I'll take it.
All in all Jimbo is three for four this offseason. Right now, with predicted arbitration figures totalling $12 million for Carlos Zambrano, Ohman and Cotts, the Cubs have a shade under $86 million devoted to the 2007 payroll. With the increases of the payroll into the neighborhood of $115 million, that gives the Cubs about $30 million to spend on two starting pitchers and a centerfielder. That figure could go up if the Cubs can shed the contracts of Scott Eyre and/or Cesar Izturis in the deal for Jake Westbrook. Jim Hendry has stated he won't be outbid for Alfonso Soriano and the Cubs look to be one of the favorites for JD Drew, so it could be interesting. One thing's for sure, Jim Hendry isn't being patient like he was in 2004.
