Did we talk about this already? Yes? Oh well, I’ve got nothing else today:
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — Next time baseball’s general managers meet face-to-face will be the first week of December at the winter meetings in Nashville.
By then, the Cubs and White Sox hope to have different-looking rosters in the wake of three days of meetings and talks at the GM meetings here.
“I don’t think there’s going to be a void of news between now and Nashville,” the Cubs’ Jed Hoyer said before departing the warm desert setting. “I think we’ll have some deals. (December’s) a long way off. It always seems things bust around Thanksgiving. I’m sure we’ll get some stuff done during the course of November.”
For Hoyer and the Cubs, that most likely would mean adding an outfielder and starting pitching. It might not mean filling the large void at third base, which could take longer.
And then there’s this:
The Cubs are looking for an outfielder. What’s wrong with giving Tony Campana a chance to play full time? He’s fast, covers center field very good and could be a heck of a leadoff hitter. He can get on base, steal bases and that gives the team a chance to manufacture runs. Why are Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer so afraid to give these young players a chance?
– Jeff R., Waterloo, IowaIn order for Campana to utilize his speed, he has to get on base, and he hasn’t shown that he can do that consistently. He’s going to work on it this winter and was to begin play this week in Venezuela for Caracas. As for your comment on Epstein, president of baseball operations, and general manager Hoyer not giving young players a chance, you might want to double-check the Cubs’ 2012 roster. The Cubs used 20 rookies, the most since 1974, and 11 players made their big league debuts.
Discuss.
Tori Hunter’s availible,since the Angels have decided to go young in their outfield. He carried their team last year, and was one of the main reasons they even were in contention. We could save him from the Dodgers…
Too old.
He was too old like 5 years ago.
Till the kids get here, I’m content with LaHair in right. He CANNOT be worse defensively that Sosa was.
I think that they will just sign a couple of starters and relievers and save the money for next year.
Sosa was not a bad defender…in fact for the first 10 years of his career, he was a superb outfielder with a great arm and unbelievable range.
For LaHair not to be worse than Sosa would be unlikely.
The truth is, LaHair is probably one of the worst defensive right fielders we’ve had in quite a long time.
Are you kidding me? Or did you not watch him play?
Sosa was a butcher. He had NO CLUE what base to throw to and would sometimes triple pump while deciding where to throw the ball while the base runners ran amok.
He had a good arm when he finally decided to throw it. He was AWFUL.
After about 2001…yes…his outfield skills diminished a lot…especially as he focus entirely on hitting home runs.
Before that, and for a majority of his career, he was one of the better defensive outfielders in all of baseball.
Sosa was also good enough to play some centerfield back in the day.
That’s true…in fact, if memory serves me right, he was primarily a center fielder when he played for the Sox.
Above average yes…superb that’s a matter of opinion.
No…he was quite a good outfielder. People just didn’t pay attention to it. He had one of the best arms in baseball and he exceptional range.
Cubs sign Scott Baker…
One year, $5.5 million.
I figure they’ll give him a permanent spot on the 60 day DL just to save time.
Not a great deal or a terible one. I can live with this signing as its 1yr with the upside being he pitches against the NL Central and pitches great and doesn’t have a NTC. Could very well net us some real long term talent. Either way its a real no lose situation.
This is the Maholm like deal. The upside is pretty good and he could bring some nice prospects at the trade deadline. If he’s hurt…no big loss.
I hit a damn deer on the way to work this morning. Ugh. Not only did I not seriously injure the deer, it didn’t do enough damage to the car for it to be “totaled” which sucks because I’ve been looking to trade this car in for a new one and that would have accelerated the process.
At least you weren’t driving the Ferrari.
The Ferrari is the family car. I use the Mercedes for commuting to work.
Well, that’s one thing I never have to worry about in my comute. Peacocks,coyotes, bears, yes-deer no…
I would have preferred to hit a peacock…those damn things are always staring at you planning to murder you when you’re not looking. Evil.
I hate peacocks. They used to chase us around the grounds of the UN. I always hoped they died in the Winter.
Those weren’t peacocks…those were security guards.
My favorite thing about peacocks is they don’t ever care about anyone but themselves; yet the yuppie bike riders continue to ride into them and get totally surprised when the peacocks don’t fly away and their $$$ bikes or themselves get hurt…
That blows
Yeah…I was really hoping I’d get a new car out of the deal.
I can hear the deer:” I hit this car this morning and this guy driving was….(anyone may feel free to add)”.
I was in a conference this morning, but I heard we got another Paul Maholm.
Honestly, Scott Baker is a better pitcher than Paul Maholm was.
This is the type of signings we should be expecting the Cubs to make this year…and probably next year…and probably every year until 2020 when the farm system is back in decent shape and producing everyday bench players.
You want us to sign more guys who haven’t pitched for a year?
If they are likely to be flippable…yes.
The Scott Baker signing is a good move. Before his Tommy John surgery he had a WAR of 4.2 and an ERA of 3.14
Before that in 2008 he had a win/loss record of 11-4 with a WAR of 4.2 as well with an ERA at 3.45
The man can eat up innings and is a good pitcher. He commands the strike zone and has a good sized frame to put pitches in a swing/miss area.
He’s held a solid 4.15 ERA over seven years and we all know that the majority of pitchers that have TJ surgery make a full recovery usually after or under 1 year.
Good deal.
remember, those numbers he put up were in the AL too. Hopefully they’ll translate into better numbers against the NL now.
Totally agree.
My daughter is convinced that Santa isn’t coming this year because I hit one of Santa’s “rein”deer this morning driving to work and now he’ll have no way to get to all the houses.
She’s rather upset with me right now.
Inform her that Santa’s reindeer are safe at the North Pole, and that the deer you hit was an imposter…
Unfortunately, she doesn’t believe a word I say.
Then tell her Santa’s real.
Smart kid.