Rizzo Time May be Near

ssckelley

ssckelley

Well-Known Member
Here is an article to get you Cub fans excited. Like I said in the Cub Season Thread in a couple of weeks there will be 2 lefthanded sluggers in the lineup:

Anthony Rizzo's Time May Be Near - Cubbies Crib - A Chicago Cubs Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and More

I like hearing they are considering LaHair a long term player, it really makes sense given his contract situation and how well he has been producing. But when Rizzo comes up, what do you think the Cubs will do with the outfield situation?

A. Move DeJesus to center and bring Campana off the bench putting LaHair in right?
B. Eat the contract and Bench/Cut Soriano and put LaHair in left?
C. Put LaHair in right and bring DeJesus off the bench?

To me the only option is B, Soriano is not part of the long term solution so why waste at bats on him? The Cubs need to get people on base in front of LaHair and Rizzo and DeJesus is 2nd on the team (behind LaHair) in OBP. They also need to see what they have in Campana, if he can be an every day starter in center or just a fast role player. If he can show he can handle being a starter in center that creates another asset for the team and when Jackson is ready, additional options.

But I would like to see them make room for Soriano on the bench. He could make a right handed platoon partner for either Rizzo or LaHair against a tough left handed pitcher. There will also be games played in AL parks where the Cubs will need a DH. Hopefully he has matured enough to accept his role since the Cubs are paying him a crap load of money.

Your thoughts, comments, opinions?
 
woodyk1 said:
But, Alfonso finally hit a HR (yesterday)! :) Option B would be nice, but I don't know what they will do. Here's hoping some team will want Soriano.
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I've heard several radio interviews with Kaplan. He thinks that Theo wants to dump Soriano and he's just waiting until they get past the date where they can bring Rizzo up without losing a year to arbitration. I think once that happens Theo will dump Sori.
 
Do not feel to sorry for Soriano, he gets paid $54 million for the rest of this season and the next 2 years regardless of what happens. My guess is if the Cubs do cut him another AL team will pick him up for the league minimum and play him at DH.
 
No reason to vilify him either. The guy was offered a contract and he signed it. While he's been here he's played hard and been a great clubhouse guy. I've never heard anyone say anything bad about the guy, other than performance. You can't even blame Hendry for this. He knew just like everyone else that it was a bad deal when he offered it.

The reason the Cubs are where they are is the Tribune company and they way they handled the last few seasons. They were selling the club, and realized that they could make a **** ton more money if they won a WS prior to the sale. As a result they gave out some unreal contracts with terrible back ends knowing full well they would be able to pass them along to whoever bought the team.
 
DuffMan said:
No reason to vilify him either. The guy was offered a contract and he signed it. While he's been here he's played hard and been a great clubhouse guy. I've never heard anyone say anything bad about the guy, other than performance. You can't even blame Hendry for this. He knew just like everyone else that it was a bad deal when he offered it.

The reason the Cubs are where they are is the Tribune company and they way they handled the last few seasons. They were selling the club, and realized that they could make a **** ton more money if they won a WS prior to the sale. As a result they gave out some unreal contracts with terrible back ends knowing full well they would be able to pass them along to whoever bought the team.
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Yep ,can't feel bad about Sorry. He got a great deal. He was a major contributor his first 2 seasons and the Cubs don't make postseason with out him. Time to move on.
 
DuffMan said:
No reason to vilify him either. The guy was offered a contract and he signed it. While he's been here he's played hard and been a great clubhouse guy. I've never heard anyone say anything bad about the guy, other than performance. You can't even blame Hendry for this. He knew just like everyone else that it was a bad deal when he offered it.

The reason the Cubs are where they are is the Tribune company and they way they handled the last few seasons. They were selling the club, and realized that they could make a **** ton more money if they won a WS prior to the sale. As a result they gave out some unreal contracts with terrible back ends knowing full well they would be able to pass them along to whoever bought the team.
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I'm definitely not vilifying Sori. He was an important piece to the puzzle during the 2007 and 2008 postseason runs. It really was Hendry's and the Tribune's fault that the Cubs are in this contract mess now. Hendry didn't need to sign Sori or give him such a huge contract. Hendry did it because the Tribune was throwing a **** ton of cash his direction and he could do what he wanted. No sensible general manager is going to give a guy like Sori an 8 year deal when he was already in his 30's. Hendry was desperate to win, and he rolled the dice. Now Theo and Co are left with the bill. Sori's time has come and gone, and there are now people behind him that are putting up better numbers and are more valuable to the team at this juncture. Cut your losses, either bench, trade, or outright release Sori, and get the people on the field that can produce.
 
Hawkfromnorwalk said:
I'm definitely not vilifying Sori. He was an important piece to the puzzle during the 2007 and 2008 postseason runs. It really was Hendry's and the Tribune's fault that the Cubs are in this contract mess now. Hendry didn't need to sign Sori or give him such a huge contract. Hendry did it because the Tribune was throwing a **** ton of cash his direction and he could do what he wanted. No sensible general manager is going to give a guy like Sori an 8 year deal when he was already in his 30's. Hendry was desperate to win, and he rolled the dice. Now Theo and Co are left with the bill. Sori's time has come and gone, and there are now people behind him that are putting up better numbers and are more valuable to the team at this juncture. Cut your losses, either bench, trade, or outright release Sori, and get the people on the field that can produce.
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Agreed, for the most part. I do think the player can have some responsibility for remaining to be a viable player on the roster for the length of the contract (ie. work on his game) instead of not improving in any aspect. I realize age (and injury) is a factor, and maybe he needs to be rested more often, but I don't think he has improved in any mental aspect of the game (from what I can see). I also agree he has been a good leader for the most part, so he can get credit where it is due, but it's time to move on.
 
I'll vilify Soriano.

He sucks and is clearly almost 100% unteachable in his approach.

His contract will have hamstrung the organization for the better part of a decade.

He sucks.

And apparently is a very good teammate (that still sucks).

I'm sure he feels horrible now. (And yes, I'm bitter...)
 
Hawkfromnorwalk said:
I've heard several radio interviews with Kaplan. He thinks that Theo wants to dump Soriano and he's just waiting until they get past the date where they can bring Rizzo up without losing a year to arbitration. I think once that happens Theo will dump Sori.
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The clock on Rizzo's service time started last year when the Padres brought him up. He's on the 40 man.
 
DuffMan said:
The clock on Rizzo's service time started last year when the Padres brought him up. He's on the 40 man.
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I'm just going by what Kap said on KXNO. He said Rizzo won't be up before this certain date passed because of arbitration. Just passing it along.
 
sergeanthulka said:
I'll vilify Soriano.

He sucks and is clearly almost 100% unteachable in his approach.

His contract will have hamstrung the organization for the better part of a decade.

He sucks.

And apparently is a very good teammate (that still sucks).

I'm sure he feels horrible now. (And yes, I'm bitter...)
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Soriano doesn't suck, he's 36. He's doing what 99% of all baseball players do after age 35, slow down offensively. The list of players who have produced offensively at a high level past the age 35 is almost nil (especially if you go pre steroid era). You have Ruth and Williams, and that's about it. Everyone else loses it right around age 35.

His "approach" is fine. He's done everything anyone's ever asked of him. His contract isn't his fault. If you want to be bitter be bitter at the right people.
 
DuffMan said:
I'm pretty sure his major league service time clock started last year. I could be wrong.
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Here is something I found. If I am reading it right, unless Rizzo accumulated at least 86 days of MLB service last year then he still has 3 years before he is arbitration eligible.

Rizzo only played in 49 games last year for the Padres so he would not have accumulated the required 86 days of service.

How Baseball Arbitration Works: MLB Rules Governing the Eligibility and Process of Arbitration | Suite101.com
 
DuffMan said:
I'm pretty sure his major league service time clock started last year. I could be wrong.
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It did start but since he is no longer in the minor its not running now. Im not 100% sure what the date is but there def is a date where the Cubs receive another year of team control. I think it is sometime in June, but I could be wrong about that.
 
Frankly, I have been a Cubs fan long enough to wait on crowning any young prospect as a can't miss star for the club. The list is legion when discussing Cubs prospects that were going to tear up the league once they arrived in the majors. Most of them were eventually traded away and were busts for other teams as well. Not saying Rizzo won't be the exception, but I'm not holding my breath.
 
MisterLucky said:
Frankly, I have been a Cubs fan long enough to wait on crowning any young prospect as a can't miss star for the club. The list is legion when discussing Cubs prospects that were going to tear up the league once they arrived in the majors. Most of them were eventually traded away and were busts for other teams as well. Not saying Rizzo won't be the exception, but I'm not holding my breath.
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I hear what you are saying but not even I am saying that Rizzo is a "can't miss prospect". This is the first time in a long time I can remember the Cubs are not blowing smoke up our butts and pretending this is the year. They have been up front that this was going to be a building year. One of the reasons I even started watching Cubs baseball was to see LaHair hit, I could not get into the game if Baker started at first. I wanted to see if he could hit anywhere near as well as he did in Des Moines and now he is tearing it up. In a couple of weeks we will get the chance to see this again. Rizzo may turn out to be a AAAA player, hit well in the minors but fail at the major league level. But there is that chance he could get to Chicago and do really well, if he does the Cubs are going to be fun to watch.
 
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