iortiz

What would you give for Garza? He could be a solid 3-4 SP in our rotation.

Cubs Open For Business On Matt Garza By Tim Dierkes [November 28 at 1:54pm CST] Teams have a clear belief that the Cubs are open for business on starter Matt Garza, tweets ESPN's Buster Olney. *Some teams expect Garza to be dealt this winter. *Earlier this month, USA Today's Bob Nightengale wrote that the Cubs are willing to listen on everyone. Garza, 28, moved to the National League this year and posted career-bests with a 3.32 ERA and 197 strikeouts. *He's under team control for 2012 and '13, and MLBTR projects a salary around $8.7MM for '12. The Yankees, Red Sox, and Blue Jays, three of teams that had no access to acquiring Garza when he pitched for the Rays in the AL East, figure to inquire with Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer this winter. *The Rangers, Rockies, Marlins, Angels, Nationals, Reds, and Dodgers could be other interested parties, and the Twins certainly know Garza well having drafted him in '05. * What will it take to acquire Garza? *The Cubs' farm system is light on top-shelf young pitching, based on rankings from Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus. *With Manny Banuelos, Dellin Betances, and Martin Perez, the Yankees and Rangers' top arms could be of particular interest to the Cubs.

I'm optimistic, I think this is done at very most the next couple of weeks, I'll be surprised if they don't sign someone before this 2011 ends

I would give up Reddick since we already have Kalish and maybe a couple of mid-class prospects, but I'm not sure what the A's need. What is interesting in this kid is that he can give you 200 IP +, he already had a couple of great seasons 3.1/3.2 ERA (likely is not a fluke anymore), he would be cost controlled, he put a 4.2/5.0 WAR the last two years, he is young and seems not to be prone to injuries. If I were in A's shoes I would ask for him, what I would ask for Kalish or maybe more, but it is just me.

Btw, did you take the picture?

if true, they should better offer him 20M/2Y, right? But again, if they spend those tons of money on him 10-15 M how much is left for our pitching holes?, unless they are considering go over the cap.

That's exactly what I was thinking Jung. It woundn't make sense bust the cap by only a couple of millions this year... I wouldn't bust it if that were the case. BTW good analysis.

E1 and A700... A question... Beyond the term (1-2years) ... If they resign him +- 10 M (2012), and if they do not go over the cap... Are we going to have enough money to fill our real PIORITIES with solid players (pitching)? In other words, What do you read between lines (Assuming they resign him), mostly moving forward this 2012 offseason?

IMO this is not a matter of who is making more or less money but to execute properly predefined policies of conduct and discipline plus professionalism in both sides players and FO.

EDIT: Around 20 M before the cap?, so... If they pay him+- 20 M/2y, they will consider go over the cap?... I mean, the DH is not our priority, and if you pay him that contract you will eat around the half of our 2012 budget and still a lot of holes to fill in our pitching staff, right? I'm not sure if +- 10 M is enough in order to bring a solid SP and BP/depth arms.

Like in that reality show called Big Brother?

Wow! This diligence is turning ridicoulus. Is this a matter of money? Is this a matter of the correct profile? ... I don't know, but the logic indicates that this should be a GM's call (Seems to be far that way in Boston). If this takes another month I will guess that this organization has serious differences at the FO, serous! and I would wonder whether this process will be extendend for the selection of the players, if yes, we are screwed.

BTW If we go and play with Reddick/Kalish (OF) and Lavarnway (DH) and they prove that they are ready to be 'realities', this organization will gain a lot moving forward and a promising horizon will come. This is called Cost of Opportunity. I hope we capitalize in our favor, if we move in that direction.

Yup. We need a bigger sample. Given our circunstances (clogged in the books), I would shuffle the RF with Kalish and Reddick and see how it could work out, if they put combined something around .270/.330/.790 we'll be fine, otherwise I would bring someone before the trade deadline. I would invest our entire budget (20 M) in our pitching needs (SP(s), BP arms, pitching depth). I don't like the idea of having Lavernway as a full/part time as a DH, I'd prefer having Ortiz, but again, there's no budget, plus our ace closer gone, and our priorities and main holes are at our pitching staff.

Garcia is the kind of arm I would like as an elite depth arm.

IMO Reddick surprised me a lot last season. I was saying that we needed to improve our rotation before the OF position since the kid fit just fine out there (before the trade deadline), and even finishing with average numbers he wouldn't have impacted negatively since our offense was already a beast. I like the kid, he is talented, plays good defense and showed interesting things at plate (showed some passages of good disciple AB ). On the other hand, it's too early to even say that he will be a very good player or beyond, an all-starer. We shouldn't overreact about this. If he puts something around his 2011 numbers .280/.327/.784 the next three years (likely), he would be a good player or at least an average player, and who knows ?, maybe he can fight an OF position or at least be a very good back up. We need to see a lot more from this kid.

I see.

how much would you give this guy?

I like this.