Ryan Theriot wants $3.4 million -- the Cubs offered $2.6 ('09 salary was $500k)
Carlos Marmol wants $2.5 million -- the Cubs offered $1.75 ('09 salary was $575k)
Sean Marshall wants $1.175 million -- Chicago offered $800,00 ('09 salary was $450k)

The '10 payroll will be around $146 million total...man, that's a hefty price tag for what'll most likely be a 2nd place team.

Sign J.D. already.

oh no, not again

Are you referring to Damon? I'm sure Boras would be beyond ecstatic to have someone interested in his client. I guess we won't know the extent until (if) he signs, but it sure seems like they've worked themselves into a disaster scenario. I've read he's even contemplating retirement rather than play for the couple million the only interested teams are willing to spend on him.

I think he's referring to Dye.

Huh. Didn't think Dye was much more than a 4th OFer signing at this point. That's the talk I've read about him.

Pitchers & catchers report in 29 days. You understand this cycle, don't you? It's like that old short story "The Lottery" -- every season we glumly report in to have rocks tossed at our heads.

And yep - I was talking about Dye.

Yeah, I think Dye can still give you 20+ home runs & around 80 RBI; anyways, he'd be a big improvement over Bradley.

I don't think they're looking at him to amass enough ABs to get 20/80. I can't believe the Cubs would willingly stick a guy that bad defensively in the OF for 100 games or so. Dude's UZR numbers for the past 4 years are consistently -20 and worse every year.

Fangraphs wOBA comparing Dye and Ibanez. Dye's defense is probably worse, but i'd say he deserves a shot in the NL somewhere.

Aren't the Cubs set in the outfield already? Dye probably still has some gas in the tank. The best bet would be for a team with a hole at first base to sign him and give him ~400 PAs mixed between 1B, OF and (ideally) DH.


lol

wOBA? "wins over batting average"? Close?

I'm dipping my toe in the more sophisticated game stats in an attempt to understand them...baby steps. I'm in with the in-crowd and all that. If nothing else, I'll draft better in a few weeks in my roto-league and be better equipped to talk shit in bars.

Weighted On Base Average. Not too complicated, just a more-accurate version of OPS, basically.

http://www.insidethebook.com/woba.shtml

Question Schrute style: we know that the run value of the HR is 1.4 runs above average, and 1.7 runs above the run value of the out. In rate measures, like OBP, the value of the out in the numerator is zero. If we recast the run values of the most common events relative to the out (rather than relative to the result of an average plate appearance), we get the following:

HR 1.70, 3B 1.37, 2B 1.08, 1B 0.77, NIBB 0.62.

How do 'we' know this? Why/how is a HR valued at 1.70 vs. a double at 1.08?

The Cubs. HA

Remember when they won the World Series?
No you don't, and neither does anyone else that's alive today.

I've never really learned how they derived those numbers exactly but intuitively if you took hypothetically 1000 hitters that hit 1000 doubles, I'd imagine the probable average of runs accounted for by those doubles (RBI and runs scored) would be approximately 1.08. Ditto for HR, 3B, IB, BB, etc. I don't understand that why IBB aren't counted though...

Well, that definition is more or less an excerpt (hence "From the preceding section"). I think they go into more detail elsewhere.
Basically, they want you to buy their book :-/

mlbtraderumors.com indicating Xavier Nady & the club have agreed to terms...2 Tommy John surgeries!? Yowza. Hey, is Tommy John (the player) in the Hall?

12:57pm: SI.com's Jon Heyman tweets that Nady will make $3.3MM in 2010 plus an additional $2MM in incentives tied to games played.

11:41am: Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports tweets that the team has reached an agreement with Nady on a one-year deal, pending a physical. Given his elbow, the physical is far from a slam dunk.

10:40am: ESPN Chicago's Bruce Levine writes that the Cubs "appear close to adding outfield depth," and notes that a decision on Xavier Nady, Reed Johnson, Jonny Gomes, or Jermaine Dye "appears imminent."

You'll notice that all four players are right handed hitters, and yesterday we heard that Nady was the team's first choice unless Dye's price drops. Nady is coming off his second Tommy John surgery, which is uncharted territory for an established every day player.

Although he's probably the worst hitter of the bunch, Johnson has the ability to play all three outfield spots, plus he's certainly familiar with the team and vice versa.

No, Tommy John is not in the Hall of Fame. Here are his vote totals 95-09.

Hall of Fame
1995 BBWAA (21.3%)
1996 BBWAA (21.7%)
1997 BBWAA (20.5%)
1998 BBWAA (27.3%)
1999 BBWAA (18.7%)
2000 BBWAA (27.1%)
2001 BBWAA (28.3%)
2002 BBWAA (26.9%)
2003 BBWAA (23.4%)
2004 BBWAA (21.9%)
2005 BBWAA (23.8%)
2006 BBWAA (29.6%)
2007 BBWAA (22.9%)
2008 BBWAA (29.1%)
2009 BBWAA (31.7%)

I think both him and Mario Mendoza belong in for having surgery and ineptitude famously named after them.
Also Fred Merkle for his boner.

Good deal on Nady, now they won't have Bobby Scales, So Taguchi, Joey Gathright, Jake Fox, and Ryan Freel roaming around out there when Soriano goes down.

This will be our year. Took a long long long long time to come.

Hell yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I asked because I recall Rick Telander writing more or less the same thing -- that he was voting for his inclusion because of the surgery that bears his name. Drove by the ballpark Sunday on the way to Trader Joe's & saw a shiny new bar on that soulless strip called Merkle's - just awful. Next year we'll have the Gloamin', the year after Mordecai's 4th, the year after Drinkers's-Never-Chance...

And is it really? Because, hey...you know...

Alan, Merkle's can't be THAT shiny and new - I think it has been there 3 years. I'm not saying it's a great place, but it's not new.
What IS new is the new, rebuilt Sports Corner. How much you want to bet they've taken all the character out of it and made it JUST like all the other bars in that neighborhood? It even has a rooftop viewing area. I only hope they have more than one ladies' bathroom, because that was fucking ridiculous.

Has it really?! Wow. I never noticed it. There's so much turnover on both sides of the street on that block of Clark that all those places look the same, I suppose...I never noticed Merkle's before. I'll be content as long as Strange Cargo & the used book / record store next door hang on.

The new Sports Corner better still have Lou's Chili. And Lou, too, of course...

Yeah, all those places look the same. Even Bernie's has a new sign that "blends" with the neighborhood.
Merkle's has a pretty good burger.

http://www.chicagobreakingsports.com/2010/...as-an-expo.html

Andre Dawson will be going into the Baseball Hall of Fame as a member of the Montreal Expos, the Tribune has learned

Dawson had made it clear earlier this month to the Tribune that he preferred going into the Hall of Fame on July 25 in Cooperstown, N.Y., as a Cub.
"I will probably have a preference, but again I will respect their decision," he said then. "I feel that (the decision) is probably going to be based on the history of the game. (The Hall of Fame officials) made it obvious when they sent the letters out to us before the announcement...and I respect that."

I guess it makes sense, he played over half his games with the Expos and only a third of his career was with the Cubs.

Are they making any plans to retire his number? That's Ron Santo's Hall of Fame.

Two new news items to report:

The Cubs signed Chad Tracy.

The Cardinals signed Rich Hill.

I call "shenanigans!"

Or "Bullshit!" at least.

Very, very pleased with the Expos nod.

Chad Tracy looks to be the backup corner infielder, I guess.

Marshall signed.

It's the right thing to do.

These decisions will get more interesting as time goes on.

Hardly.

But the most important thing is his inclusion & thats enough to make up for the sartorial error...and he'll don a Cubs cap at some point during his speech, too, so that'll help.

do away with the team affiliations in the HoF inductions already. Give them all that navy blue hat with the blurred out logo that the non-licensed baseball cards used to use.

What?! Somebody would make an awful Crip...

Cubs about to sign Kevin Millar, hoping his 2004 Red Sox ties rub off?

I have to ask again, why why why trade Jake Fox making the league minimum and eventually get someone like Millar? Good for him for finding a job.

Maybe the same reason why the A's re signed Cust. I'm not really sure of what that reason is though.
Didn't the Cubs just sign Chad Tracy last week? They are really beating this depth thing to death.

Oh, just looked at the Oakland A's depth chart and they list Jake Fox as their #1 at First Base and Daric Barton #2.
I did not know that. Eric Patterson #2 at 2B.

The prospects the Cubs got back for Fox and Miles were uninspiring but sounded sorta useful. If they believed that Fox couldn't ever become at least an OK starting 1B, then I guess it made sense.

No real reason for the second part though. I guess it's just a minor league deal, so they don't have to devote a 40-man roster spot unless he actually wins a job, right? No real risk.

I'm guessing it's as simple as the Cubs not really having a good idea of what to do with him and/or far less of a favorable opinion of him than Beane, and Beane using that to get what he wanted and not give up much. He also just took on Willy Tavares to get a middle INF he wanted and then immediately DFA'd him. I wonder if Dusty Baker is begging the GM to bring Tavares back...

Kevin Gregg went to the Blue Jays. Good, he was terrible. Was it really worth it to let Wood go last year for that?
I know Wood had a bad year last season with Cleveland, but bringing in Kevin Gregg to replace him, what a waste.

One of my favorite days last summer will forever be tattooed in my memory: Wood back at Wrigley for the first time as an opponent on the mound, he'd blown a save the day before, and he blew it again in extra innings this afternoon. I'd decided to take a drive that afternoon & I was cruising as far north as Sheridan would take me -- as I wound around that bluff/ravine winding area Cub runs kept crossing the plate & Santo was having a near heart attack. Great, great game to listen to.

I took Sheridan all the way up to North Chicago (Chicago North?) that day -- all of a sudden the North shore estates & Porsches gave way to shanty fast food joints & street toughs staring at passersby. Yeah, I said 'street toughs'.

What's going to be tougher this year: finishing behind the Brewers or watching Carols Zambrano regress to a #2/#3 starter?

Spoiler Alert: The Cubs will blow it again in 2010. They can have that motto for free.

I just couldn't help myself. Went online and bought tix for a couple games this year. I know it's a lost cause, and that they keep screwing the fans and all that. But I couldn't help myself.
So, I guess, go Cubs!


3 weeks until I'm in Arizona for spring training. Spring is near!

I'm expecting the Cubs to suck this year, so I won't be disappointed. In the end, baseball is baseball. Warm weather, sunshine, and the crack of a bat is what I'm looking forward to.

Yep. Warm weather, sunshine, BEER, and the crack of the bat are on my list.

Oh, and I'd like to see one of the hometown teams do well this season. I'm extremely jealous of Kate goin' to spring training. Bring me a hat, please?

Spring training is the BEST. I go every year. For baseball fans, I highly recommend it at some point in your life. The weather is nice, the beer is cold and the baseball is fun and meaningless. It's perfect. The players are relaxed and having fun, they sign a ton of autographs, and it's nice to check out the prospects.
Last year we sat near the home bullpen for one game. The super young pitcher who was supposed to get the start that day started throwing up during the national anthem. Not sure if it was nerves or hangover. The rest of the players hassled him the whole game. Fun times.

I bag on the Cubs, but seeing a ball game in Wrigley Field is pretty cool. I just don't care about the team.

The Cubs are a rudderless ship of fools. As the season begins its wind up the last few years I just picture this large boat full of drunks and idiots circling aimlessly in the sea while shouting "help us!!!! MY GOD!!! Throw us a FUCKING LINE MR.!!!!". I see a small boy at the back of the boat scooping up water from the sea and pouring it into the craft. I see a guy in a Cubs jersey trying to row with the wrong end of the oar. I see an obese woman with hair like Bozo the Clown snacking on Doritos fiercely as she shouts" That's not how ya do it! That don't look right!".

I've been a fan since I was four so it pains me greatly to say that.

Had anybody heard of the awful robbery & murder of Angel Guzman's brother & friend a few weeks back in Venezuela? I hadn't...read about it on the train this morning. Disturbing. Poor kid.