**OFFICIAL CUBS REGULAR SEASON THREAD**

I don't want to turn this into a bashing Soriano thread, but the reason I didn't like the deal, was length, but mostly because they wanted to turn himinto the center fielder when he had shown he was a poor defensive 2B and OF to begin with. It obviously didn't last long but still, that was just a poor idea.
 
hawkfarmer said:
I don't want to turn this into a bashing Soriano thread, but the reason I didn't like the deal, was length, but mostly because they wanted to turn himinto the center fielder when he had shown he was a poor defensive 2B and OF to begin with. It obviously didn't last long but still, that was just a poor idea.
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you live and learn and move on and take it for what it is.

now that I've said my peace on that get rid of Byrd and Soto NOW!!!
 
my biggest question is why they are batting castro in the 3 spot? the batting order they are using looks like the mariners who cant score runners because they dont have an rbi guy in the 3 spot. i think there are holes in castro's game and am not sold on him being a star like mast seem to be but he is a on base machine and guys like him should hit 1 or 2 so they can be driven in. in a homerun park like wrigley you need a guy that can pop it out in the 3 spot not a singles hitter.
 
DDStretch said:
I'm not sure if the length or the money was worse, but you hit the nail on the head early in that paragraph. The Cubs were a couple of pieces short. They needed to add something more, Soriano happened to be the top free agent on the market. If you're going to get the top free agent, you have to put out that kind of deal. How can anybody, without the benefit of hindsight, blame a guy for trying to make his team better? I'll never understand that.
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Had the Cubs went to the World Series we would all be sitting here saying that the Soriano money was money well spent. It was a gamble Hendry made and lost. The reason why we can blame Hendry is because he was the one getting paid to make those decisions. The Cubs needed someone to build the franchise not a gambler. You would have thought the Cubs as an organization would have learned from the mistakes made in the 80s & 90s that you cannot buy a World Series.

If you can honestly say that, congratulations. But, by and large, the majority of Cubs fans were tickled pink when Soriano was signed. He was the top free agent on the market, and most fans wanted him. I preferred to sign Carlos Lee, simply for the fact Chicago could have gotten him on roughly a 5-year deal rather than an 8-year deal, which is what Soriano got.
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Looking back on it I would have to agree with you, Carlos Lee would have made more sense although it would have been a 6 year deal since that is what he got from the Astros. But at the time Soriano was coming off a 40/40 season and was scoring a ton of runs. It appeared that the Cubs found someone they could plug into the top of the lineup and score in front of Lee & Ramirez. Statistically Soriano did exactly what they paid him to do the first 2 seasons as his numbers were similar to what he did with Washington only he did not get the plate appearances. But the injuries and his age really took their toll when his numbers fell off the table in 2009. You CANNOT sign someone at the age of 31 to a 8 year contract worth 136 million without some kind of performance based options at the end. I know we were all excited as Hendry made a bunch of deals in that off season. With Lee coming back from injuries and Piniella leading the way it looked like everything was falling into place. But what fan base that had not been to a World Series since 1945 or won it since 1908 would not be?

3. Unlimited money and $100 million baseball dollars are two quite different things. No GM in the history of baseball can guarantee that if he spends X amount of dollars, his team will win a World Series.
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See this is the part of your argument that makes no sense as spending "Unlimited money" or spending "X amount" is exactly what Hendry tried to do. The Cubs needed someone to build the organization, which I think they have now, and all we have gotten up to this point is Presidents & GMs who were all tried to make their mark by trying to be the one who led the Cubs to the World Series with big splashes and spending tons of money.

All you can do is put a contender on the field and hope for the best once everybody goes back to 0-0 in October. Hendry made the Cubs a contender for much of his tenure.
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I do not know what your definition of a "contender" is but in the 8 full seasons Hendry was GM the Cubs made the playoffs in 3 of them and had losing records in 4 along with the worst record in the National League just 3 years after the Cubs were 3 outs from the World Series. While other teams were building their farm systems and spending money on their scout system Hendry was taking chances on washed up players like Wade Miller, Jacque Jones, Jason Marquis, Cliff Floyd, Milton Bradley, and Nomar Garciaparra.

This rebuilding thing is going to be a process, fellas. There's no use getting too worked up looking at every day's box score. I'm just looking for guys like Castro, Jackson, Lake, Rizzo, Szczur, Baez, Castillo, Samardzija, McNutt, Dolis, etc., to improve this year. They're going to have to be the core of the future Cubs.
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agreed!
 
Foval21 said:
my biggest question is why they are batting castro in the 3 spot? the batting order they are using looks like the mariners who cant score runners because they dont have an rbi guy in the 3 spot. i think there are holes in castro's game and am not sold on him being a star like mast seem to be but he is a on base machine and guys like him should hit 1 or 2 so they can be driven in. in a homerun park like wrigley you need a guy that can pop it out in the 3 spot not a singles hitter.
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I agree with you that Castro is more of a 2. he doesn't have the power YET, but he's 21 years old, and it will come. The only problem is who do you put in the 3 hole? LaHair would be the best option right now, but Soriano is a K machine, and Byrd is hitting .048, and Stewart, who knows, but I doubt that's a good idea, Soto? I think this is more of an experiment for the future as he gets more power and becomes a better "clutch" hitter. Some of his at bats just baffle me on how undisciplined he is, or his selection, but then the other 85% of the time he's a stud at the plate so you know.
 
byrd is the best option at 3. i know the average is low but he is the guy they need. castro doesnt have the makings of a 3 hole. he will never be a power guy and most of his power will be a product of wrigley being hitter friendly. byrd will raise it and end up around . 270 for the yr which is solid enough considering they are so weak as a team.

i would say fire sale but they dont have anything to sell.
 
Foval21 said:
byrd is the best option at 3. i know the average is low but he is the guy they need. castro doesnt have the makings of a 3 hole. he will never be a power guy and most of his power will be a product of wrigley being hitter friendly. byrd will raise it and end up around . 270 for the yr which is solid enough considering they are so weak as a team.

i would say fire sale but they dont have anything to sell.
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I wouldnt' consider Byrd a real power guy either though as he has shown over the past 2 years, and last year he STRUGGLED in the 3 hole. Again I agree I dont' think Castro is best served/or best serves the Cubs in the 3 hole, but they don't pay me to manage so it doesn't really matter. I think Rizzo is a 3 or 4 of the future, and if you can get an outfielder with power, maybe Jackson (though sounds like he could be lead off) or a FA, maybe Vitters (doubt he ever makes it) or a 3B, if Lake or Baez make that transition, don't know on their power. Again, even if Castro never bats 3rd again after this year he'll have the experience which will definitely help him.
 
Foval21 said:
byrd is the best option at 3. i know the average is low but he is the guy they need. castro doesnt have the makings of a 3 hole. he will never be a power guy and most of his power will be a product of wrigley being hitter friendly. byrd will raise it and end up around . 270 for the yr which is solid enough considering they are so weak as a team.

i would say fire sale but they dont have anything to sell.
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I have heard it mentioned a few times that Castro has the capability to develop some power. A good sign of that is someone that hits a lot of doubles (he hit 36 last year along with 9 triples). But honestly do you really need someone with power hitting 3rd? I want someone hitting the ball with runners on base, it is nice when the ball goes out of the ball park but a double/triple drives in runs as well. Plus Castro did knock in 66 runs last year primarily hitting leadoff.

BTW, I don't remember where we were discussing Clevenger but I might have been wrong on my comments of him being a career back up. He is hitting the cover off the ball and already has 2 doubles today.
 
legit rbi guys need guys in front of them that get on. that is what castro can do. rollins used to be that guy and he drove in runs from the 1 spot. but they have tried him in the 3 and he hasnt worked out. castro is similar to rollins in rollins heyday. you dont have to pop it out to be a 3 but you do need power. the majority of castro's doubles were speed doubles rather than power doubles. all good rbi guys hit doubles...howard and pujols and others do. it is about how they get those doubles. castro doesnt seem to have legit gap to gap power he tends to have rolling doubles that you see 1 and 2 hitters get.
 
Castro is 21 or 22. He can develop that power, and he does have some gap to gap power, he's not Barney for crying out loud. Also, if he can get consistent I dont' mind him in the 3 hole if he hits 10 hrs a year with plenty of doubles but we have to have someone in front of him get on base, and that we don't have consistently right now.
 
guys either have power swings or they dont. guys dont usually develop into a power hitter it comes with a natural swing. i remember 3 guys that did develop power swings later on i think they were brady anderson, brett boone, barry bonds. maybe others too but those 3 i remember. castro is a single doubles hitter and that is fine. just shows how weak their lineup is that your best 1/2 hitter has to hit 3rd. that isnt a knock on him it is a knock on the rest of the team.
 
Foval21 said:
my biggest question is why they are batting castro in the 3 spot? the batting order they are using looks like the mariners who cant score runners because they dont have an rbi guy in the 3 spot. i think there are holes in castro's game and am not sold on him being a star like mast seem to be but he is a on base machine and guys like him should hit 1 or 2 so they can be driven in. in a homerun park like wrigley you need a guy that can pop it out in the 3 spot not a singles hitter.
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Not going to be a star? The guy hit .300 when he came up around May 2 years ago and then proceeded to hit north of .300 the next full year. Although I would not say he is a star yet when he gets some more power he will be an elite SS. But more important than the power is the defense when he cuts down on the errors that's what will complete his game. I would be completely fine with him not gaining any power but cutting way down on the errors.
 
Foval21 said:
guys either have power swings or they dont. guys dont usually develop into a power hitter it comes with a natural swing. i remember 3 guys that did develop power swings later on i think they were brady anderson, brett boone, *barry bonds. maybe others too but those 3 i remember. castro is a single doubles hitter and that is fine. just shows how weak their lineup is that your best 1/2 hitter has to hit 3rd. that isnt a knock on him it is a knock on the rest of the team.
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Fixed it for you.
 
Officially time to ink Garza to a long term deal, or deal him for Really good prospects. The Red Sox sure could use some starting pitchign.
 
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