Princess Dye

QUOTE (WCSox @ Oct 16, 2009 -> 04:20 PM) Eccentric people tend to cause a lot fewer problems in the workplace than people with serious anger issues. Rodman headbutted a ref and had a huge suspension. I believe with the Spurs he used to take his shoes off at odd times. That stuff interferes with a team.... but I might argue that everything Bradley did this year couldve been passable if the team was good enough around him. Because the Cubs were bad, it snowballed. Next year, I see us having a kick ass rotation... we have a lowstakes x-factor in Rios, and highstakes x-factors in Quentin, Pods.....but if those two come through, we could have an above average offensive attack. We just need to fill the DH role. If all the pieces are in place, a headcase can sometimes fit the bill as a cheap last piece to the puzzle.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Oct 16, 2009 -> 03:01 PM) Every team that has signed him has thought this. They all thought it would be different. Seven teams later, it isn't. Its incredibly unlikely that somehow this time, in the same town where he already failed, would be the magic key. It worked in Texas. In other locations, it worked 'well enough.' Dennis Rodman had some big problems in Chicago, but not his biggest ones. So it worked well enough-because everything else was in place...and they took home 3 titles. I cite this just to point out that a headcase can sometimes act out but not derail the team. And still perform (and Bradley has done this some years). QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Oct 16, 2009 -> 02:43 PM) Taking Bradley for Linebrink straight up, even with "sweeteners" involved, would be very dumb. The difference in salary between the two players is $10.5M over two years. Think of all the great prospects we'd be able to buy with $10.5M dollars, or think of all the players we'd be able to afford in free agency with $10.5M dollars. This is kind of the opposite viewpoint that I have. I think of $10.5M over two years as not being much money at all. Obviously if we could get the next Abreu or Hudson, an underpaid 1-year, then that's one thing. But those do not grow on trees. Those guys take less to go to a readymade contender...we're going to be telling FAs to replace the vets and play alongside Quen-stion Mark (sorry) and a bunch of young promising guys. For instance, Nick Johnson. A team may pay him $8M for ONE year. If we could get Bradley's .375 OBP and a decent reliever...for two years $10.5M sounds like a solid price.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Oct 16, 2009 -> 02:13 PM) I'm unsure the Cubs even have the prospects worth doing such a deal? One sneaky thing would be to try to get Jake Fox for DH duties. I suppose under that scenario Fox would be our 2010 Kotsay type (righthanded), cheaper The obvious downside to my situation is that Pods or Bradley is in the field most the year. That and the unrestrained anger problems.

I thought I'd bump this since the Score 670 has been bringing up a few times this week that the market is completely dead for any Bradley trade. And that the Cubs are desperate. As Bernstein has put it, it could have gotten to the point where they'd actually throw in sweeteners (which is obviously not commonplace in MLB) Would anyone here now do Bradley for Linebrink if the Cubs were willing to throw in some decent spects? This one move could solve LH bat, DH and maybe a decent reliever to boot. You dont add too much payroll and yet you solve a few problem spots at once.

I guess it comes down to how much agency the fans have. Booing may be seen by some as the only immediate way to have an impact as a fan. You want a leadoff hitter taken out of the lineup. You boo in order to expedite that. It gets in the press and puts pressure on the mgmt. Did the fan booing get Ozzie to change his mind faster? My guess is no, and Ozzie would never tell you in person (as honest as he tends to be/seem with the media). But actually, if someone told me they felt it did make the move happen faster...i'd hear em out. I would not throw out that opinion outright, but at present I think it's unlikely. I respect the position that we have to keep our front office in check, but i think it's done more on a year to year basis with attendance figures. Not done really in a game to game manner.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Oct 13, 2009 -> 01:42 PM) Were people actually booing Wise late in the summer? I really don't recall that happening. The Opening Day booing, why's that being brought up again? b/c it's an example of what i'm talking about. A player is misused by a team, and that player becomes the one who takes the heat.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Oct 13, 2009 -> 01:37 PM) Discontent towards Wise has to do with the fact that he played waayyyy more than he should. Then we are on the same page. Wise shouldnt receive hate for this. He does not write his name in on the lineup, doesnt place himself as freakin leadoff hitter.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Oct 13, 2009 -> 01:37 PM) Q had a bum foot the entire year, not to mention he was coming off of a season-ending wrist injury. He never had the time to make a healthy adjustment. Also, his 32 bombs from last year give him the benefit of the doubt. Wheezey had had a decade to prove his worth in the majors, and has failed at every turn. Oh I definitely agree with the last part of that. But thats part of my point. Because we know he's one of the worst players in the league, why did we spend pages and pages of posts ripping on him all year, booing him on the field. Since everyone's sure about how much pain Quentin was in, we can take him out of the equation. We can insert other sluggers that have an off year. They take heat but for some reason it just doesnt get to the obsession level it did w/ BA/wise But the larger point--instead of booing players, doesnt the fault fall to Ozzie or KW for having him leading off? Instead of posting about how horrible they are, cant we just save ourselves all that typing? He's a defensive player and pinch runner. That's a role. He should be in that role and allowed to do it w/o interference. Stuff like the booing and the northside's "Horry Cow" t-shirts have always been mindblowing to me. If you're rooting for a team, wouldnt you want the players to feel some degree of comfort at the park? As a fan, the very least you can provide is a lack of hostility....b/c the hostility at most does nothing, at worst creates conflict/tension in NFL, fan noise does have a real impact. MLB - not so much. Booing and posting are two different things, but the way things are going, the online components to watching games are informing fans more and more...and informing the trends that go on in the park with fan booing.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Oct 13, 2009 -> 01:32 PM) I read the post. "I stopped reading" was figurative. That was my way of dismissing the entire comparison because I thought it was ridiculous. When did I compare their talents? If you read the post you see that I'm talking about fan reaction and how it seems to target 25th men disproportionally.

Both of you just totally missed my point completely. I'm not comparing the talents of Wise to Quentin. Jesus. QUOTE (lostfan @ Oct 13, 2009 -> 01:27 PM) I stopped reading when I noticed you were comparing Carlos Quentin to DeWayne Wise. Lostfan my short n' quick advice to you would be read a post if yr going to respond to it. With regard to your second point, Quentin takes heat but not in the drawn out 8 month long Wise/BA debate sort of way.

It's always a mystery to me how a Carlos Quentin hits .235 and never takes much heat for it on these boards. Meanwhile the 25th man plays like a 25th man, and he's the butt of every joke. Guy 1 didnt do what he was expected to do (in a high stakes role), Guy 2 produces what you'd expect in what for the most part was a low stakes role. Now if Wise played too much, that is Ozzie's fault. Or KWs for not restocking the outfield last offseason (and then spending tons of future dollars midyear once enough crap teams had beaten us). But all the hate goes towards Wise for pretty much being what he is. It happens each year it seems with all the different 25th men, Timo, etc. What are people here expecting? There are not enough great players to have each team feature this great hitting/fielding 25th man.

QUOTE (son of a rude @ Oct 12, 2009 -> 01:26 AM) He gets me so excited. I am one of the few on the Trade AJ while his value is high and sign Nick Johnson with the salary room we make bandwagon. It is a very disliked bandwagon. It's probably the right move, but just like trading Jenks last year, it would be crushed by the Loyalist opposition

Would anyone else prefer Kotsay to Thome? Kotsay can actually play a few positions, probably a little more speed, and can put the bat on the ball. Thome is all-or-nothing.....the only thing making me think twice is how low our power would be up and down the lineup.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Oct 7, 2009 -> 03:40 PM) Given that Johnson is always hurt and is nearly worthless defensively, I doubt that he gets anywhere near Bradley money. Figgins money is even more of a pipe dream. It's all about the market though. As a free agent, all youve gotta find is one sucker. Milton found that in the Cubs. If there's a team desperate enough for an LH high OBP guy.... Johnson could make a bundle. After all, Bay and Holliday are righties. Abreu is a lefty but is older. Johnson may fit the bill for someone, as Balta laid out.

Unless I missed it, it looks like we're kind of closed to the possibility that Nick Johnson will cost the same yearly as Figgins. If Milton Bradley with his malcontent-history got 3/30, it's not crazy to think Nick Johnson could do the same...even with his injury history. 450 ABs this year while being a fielder. '08, extensive missed time, but then the two years before were a combined 950 ABs. Plus consider the sellers market in free agency this year.

Obviously none of us knows what payroll restrictions are in place. From what we hear, KW doesnt even know them til after he negotiates trades. But that said, it's not out of line to have the expectation that this will be a moderate spending year. After all, they stocked the rotation, they have maybe two positions to fill assuming Pods returns (DH, corner OF) We can always hope they shock us. If Jenks and Dotel are both out, that does free up a bit of cash from at least what our prior payroll was at.

I guess I'm not like a lot of the people here, but the Twins fans I know are real class people...the Tigers fans i know are deplorable scum of the earth. Go Nathan

Compared to the shots-in-the-dark we took in '05....this is nothing. You'd be taking an injury prone guy and DHing him. When healthy he has put up the #s you want. If you want more power, you will need to break the bank - all signs point to us not doing that this offseason. I can only see not pursuing him if, as I stated earlier, you are planning to wait one more year for payroll to be real small and then make a '98 Albert Belle sized splash in the FA market. Perhaps more will be available then at the power positions. It's not what we usually do, but at the same time we are pretty darn blessed with pre-arb talent at the moment. At multiple positions. I have to think that the acquisitions of Peavy and Rios mean we wont let the power spots go unfilled for '10, though.

I cant dislike this idea. Until PK and AJ contracts are off the books (not that I want them gone, per se).........we cant easily get an impact OBP middle-of-the-order guy. not without getting in a bidding war (which of course we dont fare too well in ever). A guy like this is one we can get. The injury concern is real, but it's also the reason we could even get him.

Apparently Octavio was a percentage point or so away from being Type A?

I wonder how much alcohol Miguel Cabrera would have to drink til he's worse than Brad Eldred

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Oct 5, 2009 -> 11:51 AM) Lexi walking 49 times is nothing to get loud about. Yeah, it's a lot more than 18. Still, nothing to get real excited about. Now if 49 turns into, I don't know, 75 next year? Then we're talking. True but I think Alexei's bat as-is...along with his second half defense is a pretty good one-two punch for a SS. Sub-allstar but I will gladly take it.

It's funny this year because so many of the big question marks were answered positively...and yet still things didnt work out in the end Found a real leadoff hitter midseason Alexei took more walks We solved defensive CF Gavin/Danks held up Called up Gordon and he varied from great to good throughout Getz was alright Paulie had a bounceback year We turned some of our young arms into an ace (while still contending) AJP career year Had two passable RHP middle-relievers and our LHP guy kept being great Just goes to show how gigantic it is when your 3-4-5 falls apart and you wait too long to replace it. And of course closer issues.

If he gets back to even just being near what he was in '08, I am perfectly fine with that bat and that defense in CF.

Emergency C and a utility spot could possibly be 'kilt' by two birds with one stone: CJ Retherford THAT BIRD WAS KILT CJ's development would be hurt as a utility guy, but then again he's turning (I think) 25 during next summer?