Replacing Marquis with Johnson is a less cost effective upgrade than replacing Theriot with Furcal, and I’m willing to bet that it would net us less wins as well… but i didnt look it up

I’m sure MD or Colin could run the numbers. I’d be interested to see how it works out.

I think people would be amazed at just how much Marquis sucks. It’s something worth looking at.

Off the cuff: Theriot would be -7 on defense and -8 on offense. (That’s relative to average, position for defense and league for offense - doing a full WAR I’d do some other adjustments, but since I’m just comparing him to Furcal - another shortstop - I can live with it.) Furcal is +2 on defense and 0 on offense. So that’s about +17 runs for Furcal or roughly 1.5 wins. Not bad.

As for Marquis/Johnson, I’ll try to get around to that.

These items are covered by the collective bargaining agreement.  The regulation concerning the sale of clubs is not.  Therefore, if the court ruled that MLB could not block the sale, it would have no effect on these items.

Thanks, gw.  I did not know that.  What’s your take here?  Do Cuban or Zell have any standing if Cuban can’t get approved?

So I found where you linked to Creeping Death and now I see I need a username and password to download it?

Damn, I was hoping Hendry would let Dempster walk.

Aging is .5 less WAR per season, right?  Inflation is 10% increase?  It was $4.4 million in 2008 so 10% increase would be $4.84 million in 2009.  Is that right?

Dan Graziano out in NY says the deal is done but unannounced.  4/52.
Not too shabby all things considered.

If this rate is correct, I’m pretty happy.

I’d still prefer Derek Lowe.

I’m not the most optimistic fan but it’s really surprising how many fans on BCB and NSBB forget the Cubs just won 97 games. 

Someone actually said they’d rather have Burnett at 5/80 over Dempster at 4/52.  That’s just stupid.

If he’s willing to do that, and you don’t know that Lowe will (and really have no reason to think that Lowe would prefer to pitch for you) then you sign Dempster. when you have the chance.

If Dempster’s deal won’t stop them from going after Peavy why should it from signing Lowe?

Johnson is 45, herniated disk surgery (3 times), sucked pitching in cold weather NYC because of his back and is a dickhead.

He’s certainly an injury risk, but he’s made 30 starts or more in 4 of the last 5 years.  I don’t think there’s any reason to think he won’t make about 25 or so starts.  I don’t care if he’s a dickhead.

The American League is also a much, much tougher league.

I don’t care if he’s a dickhead.

I do. If he’s a dickhead, most Cubs fans won’t want him…which means I would.

Anyone think that Milton Bradley would be a good fit? I know he would fit nicely in the lineup, but what about RF?

I like Bradley and think the Cubs would be wise to look into him.  I’d rather have him than Abreu or Ibanez.

This also means you’re finally on board for Bonds, right?

I’ve always been. I’ve always hated him, but he’s a great player.

Thats why I agree with you that the timing of these insider trading allegations is suspicious.

it gives the owners a reason why they won’t approve him for sure.  Any question of whether or not the owners could come up with a reason why they don’t want Cuban as an owner has been supplied.  You can’t blame an owner or owners for not approving of a potential owner who is being accuse of insider trading.  It’s only a civil matter at this point, but it could be criminal. 

I imagine that’s the owner’s excuse for why they won’t approve him and at that point there would be nothing that Cuban or Zell could, I wouldn’t think.  It’s most certainly a valid reason to not approve him.  Whether or not the charges and accusations are valid is another matter, but the fact it’s an issue is an excuse. 

Well done by Selig.

Bradley would actually be a good move due to the depth the Cubs have at 2B/RF. On days when he needs rest (figure 2 to 3 a week, maybe), DeRosa slides to RF and Fontenot covers 2B.

I like Bradley and think the Cubs would be wise to look into him.  I’d rather have him than Abreu or Ibanez.

If he could stay healthy I’d be all about Bradley.  the problem is that this guy practically DH’d the entire year and still wasn’t healthy.

I’ve always hated him, so I’m taking a wait-and-see approach to decide if he’s worthy of the MVP awards that he won.

Fixed.

it gives the owners a reason why they won’t approve him for sure.  Any question of whether or not the owners could come up with a reason why they don’t want Cuban as an owner has been supplied.  You can’t blame an owner or owners for not approving of a potential owner who is being accuse of insider trading.  It’s only a civil matter at this point, but it could be criminal.

I imagine that’s the owner’s excuse for why they won’t approve him and at that point there would be nothing that Cuban or Zell could, I wouldn’t think.  It’s most certainly a valid reason to not approve him.  Whether or not the charges and accusations are valid is another matter, but the fact it’s an issue is an excuse.

Well done by Selig.

Innocent until proven guilty and if they don’t get anything to stick why should it change anything on his purchasing front. MLB owners piss me off beyond explanation this country club group shit needs to stop. It be like your homeowners group telling you that you can’t buy a black car only red and blue is allowed.

  I’ve always hated him, so I’m taking a wait-and-see approach to see if he can prove me wrong about whether or not he was worth of MVP awards that he won.

Fixed.

Bradley would actually be a good move due to the depth the Cubs have at 2B/RF. On days when he needs rest (figure 2 to 3 a week, maybe), DeRosa slides to RF and Fontenot covers 2B.

yeah i guess that depth does help quite a bit.  Financially speaking Bradley probably comes pretty cheap as compared to all others.  Might be able to get a smaller per-year salary if the cubs were to go more years.  3/24 perhaps.  It’s a gamble but probably something that works out to the benefit of the Cubs especially because they could still afford to bring aboard Furcal.

Bobby Abreu: It would be nice for the Yankees if he accepted arbitration and came back for a year. But he makes too much sense for the Cubs. They need a lefty hitter and a right fielder. Prediction: Cubs for three years and $44 million.
—Some fat-ass New Yorker

Abreu’s defense is bad, and his head is gigantic.  That wasnt a knock on his ego, his head is literally huge and it frightens me.

Pedroia was named the AL MVP.

Abreu’s defense is bad, and his head is gigantic.  That wasnt a knock on his ego, his head is literally huge and it frightens me.

That’s an element that this club has been missing since Hee Seop Choi got dumped.

I’d consider either Bradley or Abreu a solid pickup for the team.  Joe Sheehan (yeah, yeah, shoot me) did a piece on the latter the other day and brought up at least one good point: the NL Central will be an easier place for him to hit than the AL East was.

The devil’s in the details, though.  I suspect Milt has a lower price tag, and it’s looking like that will matter.