Cubs are saving money for a change

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thejumper5

Well-Known Member
The Cubs picked up Aramis Ramirez's 2012 option, but he has decided to decline the option and test free agency. That saves the team $16M for the season and $2M over what they would have paid had they declined the option from their end. They expect to not re-sign Ramirez. I'm glad they are making an effort to spend less.
 
Ramirez will probably come crawling back after he finds out that nobody is willing to give him as much as the Cubs were going to. Right?
 
That was a no brainor to pick up Ramirez's option. He wants a multi year deal and he knows he put up just good enough numbers that someone will give him that on the open market. The 3rd base free agent market is thin this year. So they saved themselves 2 million by picking up the option knowing he would reject it.

Zambrano comes off the books after next year so that is another 20 million. The Cubs will have some money to spend if Epstein sees someone that will offer the Cubs good value. As I stated in another thread I doubt Epstein goes after Pujols.

I do have to say with the Brewers losing Fielder and the Cardinals possibly losing Pujols and LaRussa the Central is looking winnable next year. I do not think it would take many pieces or a ton of money to be competitive in the Central next year.
 
The only bigtime FA I hope the Cubs are interested in is Fielder. Signing him would make a rival worse and the Cubs on the road to relevance. Just hope the Cards resign Pujols to a long term contract so they can be like the Cubs in a few years...just waiting for a contract to run out.
 
ssckelley said:
That was a no brainor to pick up Ramirez's option. He wants a multi year deal and he knows he put up just good enough numbers that someone will give him that on the open market. The 3rd base free agent market is thin this year. So they saved themselves 2 million by picking up the option knowing he would reject it.

Zambrano comes off the books after next year so that is another 20 million. The Cubs will have some money to spend if Epstein sees someone that will offer the Cubs good value. As I stated in another thread I doubt Epstein goes after Pujols.

I do have to say with the Brewers losing Fielder and the Cardinals possibly losing Pujols and LaRussa the Central is looking winnable next year. I do not think it would take many pieces or a ton of money to be competitive in the Central next year.
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Not to mention Dempster and Byrd come off the books, there's another 20 mill. Could be interesting.

I for one don't think they get Fielder and go with Pena or LaHair. Just a feeling.
 
HawkeyeMike23 said:
Ramirez will have plenty of teams after him. He's a top 5 third baseman in the MLB.
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Eh, I don't know about that, especially since he's on the backslide of his career. I'd give him top 10. A few that are better off the top of my head:

A-Rod
Wright
Longoria
Beltre
Zimmerman
Sandoval
Youkilis (sp?)
Bautista
 
ssckelley said:
I do have to say with the Brewers losing Fielder and the Cardinals possibly losing Pujols and LaRussa the Central is looking winnable next year. I do not think it would take many pieces or a ton of money to be competitive in the Central next year.
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I was with you up to this point. I think that if Pujols and Fielder both leave the division, then 86-88 wins will be good enough to win the division, but I don't think the Cubs have what it takes to pick up those 15-17 extra wins. I just think they have too many question marks to contend next year. Honestly, I think it is more likely that their win total will be in the 60s next year than in the 80s, though around 75 is where I would imagine they will end up.
 
thejumper5 said:
I was with you up to this point. I think that if Pujols and Fielder both leave the division, then 86-88 wins will be good enough to win the division, but I don't think the Cubs have what it takes to pick up those 15-17 extra wins. I just think they have too many question marks to contend next year. Honestly, I think it is more likely that their win total will be in the 60s next year than in the 80s, though around 75 is where I would imagine they will end up.
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So you think the Cubs will not even try next season? Cubs spent 134 million on payroll last year and right now they currently sit at 71 million obligated for next season for 6 player contracts. You have another 6 players they can offer arbitration to. In comparison Boston spent 160 million for their roster. I don't know if I have ever seen a big market team reduce their payroll. While I do not expect Epstein to foolishly throw money around in free agency I do think he will make moves that will be a good fit for the Cubs long term. If you got 2 of the top teams in your division losing their key player I think it would be foolish for the Cubs just to give up next year and not at least try to put the pieces in place to compete for the division.
 
I think next year will be another painful on field experience...one more year of waiting out some expiring deals..and of course, the Soriano deal is still around for a bit...it might just be best to wait things out another year and bank on the 'Let's go to Wrigley because its a party' card you know you can draw on.
 
So the Cubs go out and spend money to bring in a top notch Team President and in the first year he comes in and slashes payroll?
 
ssckelley said:
So the Cubs go out and spend money to bring in a top notch Team President and in the first year he comes in and slashes payroll?
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It makes perfect sense - the only way the Cubs can get better is to shed the awful deals. ?By bringing in a high profile guy like Epstein the Cubs have bought time with the fan base because all Cubs fans have a huge chub for Epstein.

Ownership spent $15 mil on a GM instead of $200 mil on a fat 1st baseman

Its actually a genius move
 
busabus114 said:
It makes perfect sense - the only way the Cubs can get better is to shed the awful deals. ?By bringing in a high profile guy like Epstein the Cubs have bought time with the fan base because all Cubs fans have a huge chub for Epstein.

Ownership spent $15 mil on a GM instead of $200 mil on a fat 1st baseman

Its actually a genius move
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Winner. I still think the Cubs might go after Fielder, but overall, slashing the payroll is what the Cubs need. Get rid of as many of the bad contracts as possible so that we can move on.
 
ssckelley said:
So you think the Cubs will not even try next season? Cubs spent 134 million on payroll last year and right now they currently sit at 71 million obligated for next season for 6 player contracts. You have another 6 players they can offer arbitration to. In comparison Boston spent 160 million for their roster. I don't know if I have ever seen a big market team reduce their payroll. While I do not expect Epstein to foolishly throw money around in free agency I do think he will make moves that will be a good fit for the Cubs long term. If you got 2 of the top teams in your division losing their key player I think it would be foolish for the Cubs just to give up next year and not at least try to put the pieces in place to compete for the division.
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Of course they'll try to win, but what they currently have isn't good enough to add other parts to it and win the division. I believe that they will stop wasting money, and without wasting money there isn't enough available in this free agent market to add the 15 wins it will take to even be in contention for a division crown.

And yes, I believe the Cubs will have a smaller payroll this year.
 
busabus114 said:
It makes perfect sense - the only way the Cubs can get better is to shed the awful deals. ?By bringing in a high profile guy like Epstein the Cubs have bought time with the fan base because all Cubs fans have a huge chub for Epstein.

Ownership spent $15 mil on a GM instead of $200 mil on a fat 1st baseman

Its actually a genius move
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You are absolutely correct. This is exactly what they are doing, and I think it is a solid move by Ricketts. The buying of Epstein has bought them one or two years to dump some bad money and rebuild. They have also hired some big name statisticians to help target better talent and further help the long term project of rebuilding the entire Cubs system.
And just to be clear, Theo is not the GM. He is the President of Baseball Operations, Theo hired Jed Hoyer from San Diego to be the GM.
 
So much for the Cubs finally having someone locked down on the hot corner. Aram was losing a little the last few years, but they needed to keep him.
 
GoHawks24 said:
Eh, I don't know about that, especially since he's on the backslide of his career. I'd give him top 10. A few that are better off the top of my head:

A-Rod
Wright
Longoria
Beltre
Zimmerman
Sandoval
Youkilis (sp?)
Bautista
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Add Freese to that list. Much rather have his potential without the 16 mil.
 
storminspank said:
So much for the Cubs finally having someone locked down on the hot corner. Aram was losing a little the last few years, but they needed to keep him.
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I disagree. I think the Cubs aren't in a "win now" situation, and signing a 33-year-old third baseman isn't a practical long-term option. Their best bet was to get the one year option and trade him for prospects.

That said, I am awfully pessimistic about the Cubs' chances of being a contender next year, which affects my point of view considerably.
 
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