Theo Epstein to Cubs?

bwsmoney said:
Barney has more range, is quicker, and has better hands. Plus, Barney has been a Shortstop his whole career in the minors.Who are they going to replace him with? If you are willing to spend on Fielder, you should be willing to put support around him in the line-up. I believe Longoria is locked up for a while. Maybe I'm wrong about that. Anyway, there are very few 3B better than Aramis.
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No way does Barney have the range Castro does. It may be close but Barney doesn't have the arm strength that Castro does to complete those plays.

If you spend money on fielder and Aramis, (I don't think they should spend on either) where are you going to get starting pitching? That's a huge need for the Cubs right now.
 
thejumper5 said:
The interesting news (maybe it's not new, but it's new to me) is that Epstein isn't going to be the GM. The Cubs are expected to bring in Jed Hoyer from San Diego to be the GM and Epstein will be something like the President of Baseball Operations.
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Great news in my opinion. The Cubs have one of the smaller front offices in baseball. Bringing in Hoyer and McCloud will free up time for Theo to worry about the big picture. Theo has worked with them before and trusts them, so there won't be any surprises. Everything is going to go through Theo anyway.

Things are finally moving in the right direction.
 
hawkfarmer said:
No way does Barney have the range Castro does. It may be close but Barney doesn't have the arm strength that Castro does to complete those plays.

If you spend money on fielder and Aramis, (I don't think they should spend on either) where are you going to get starting pitching? That's a huge need for the Cubs right now.
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If they do in fact keep Aramis and go get Fielder, the odds are that they figure the SP market this year sucks (and it does), and next year's is pretty strong (and it is). And Zambrano's contract comes off the books after next season, too.
 
burky247 said:
Great news in my opinion. The Cubs have one of the smaller front offices in baseball. Bringing in Hoyer and McCloud will free up time for Theo to worry about the big picture. Theo has worked with them before and trusts them, so there won't be any surprises. Everything is going to go through Theo anyway.

Things are finally moving in the right direction.
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Was just coming to post the news about Hoyer and his assistant Mcleod...this is awesome news.

PADRES: Reports indicate Hoyer, McLeod are headed to Chicago

Some are calling it a front office dream team...now all they need is Theo coming officially and they can do introductions a la the Miami Heat! C'mon Sox, quit being so childish about this deal. They're basically ensuring bad blood between the two teams in the future, not to mention other teams probably being a little leery about dealing with them. Or, Theo waits a year sitting in his office looking out the window and bolts to Chicago on his own terms in 2013.
 
ssckelley said:
Does anyone know if the Cubs get compensation picks if Ramirez walks?
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I thought what I read was that Ramirez is a free agent, but the Cubs have an $16 million option for Ramirez next year. If I understand correctly, the Cubs get nothing for Ramirez if they let him walk. I don't believe he's part of the Epstein deal - he's just a free agent.. From what I'm hearing, the Red Sox' compensation for Epstein will likely just involve prospects. No cash or big league players.
 
1977Hawkeye said:
I thought what I read was that Ramirez is a free agent, but the Cubs have an $16 million option for Ramirez next year. If I understand correctly, the Cubs get nothing for Ramirez if they let him walk. I don't believe he's part of the Epstein deal - he's just a free agent.. From what I'm hearing, the Red Sox' compensation for Epstein will likely just involve prospects. No cash or big league players.
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I believe the way Ramirez sets up is that if the Cubs let Ramirez walk "straight-up" they get nothing; however, Ramirez has a double option. If the Cubs claim him and he chooses to walk, they get compensation, but if they claim him, they run the risk of having him pick up the option as well and getting saddled with him for one more year.

I might be misunderstanding the way it works, but I think that's right.

Edit: Here is the Cot's Contracts (Chicago Cubs Contracts) explanation of Ramirez's deal:
5 years/$75M (2007-11), plus 2012 club option
-re-signed by Cubs as a free agent 11/06
-$5M signing bonus
-07:$8M, 08:$14M, 09:$15.65M, 10:$15.75M, 11:$14.6M player option, 12:$16M club option ($2M buyout)
-full no-trade clause 2007-10, $1M assignment bonus if traded
-Ramirez has right to void contract after 2010 & become a free agent if club exercises 2012 option, Ramirez may void and forfeit option
-award bonuses: $75,000 each for Gold Glove or All Star selection, $0.25M for LCS MVP, $0.3M for MVP,$0.35M for WS MVP
-2012 option becomes guaranteed if Ramirez: wins one MVP in 2007-11, or places 2nd or 3rd in MVP vote twice in 2007-11, or wins LCS MVP once in 2007-11, or is an All Star 3 times in 2007-11, or is traded at any time & Ramirez exercises 2011 option
-Ramirez exercised 2011 player option 11/10
 
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Yes, Ramirez can refuse the option and it would save the Cubs 2 million if they picked it up and he decided to walk anyway. He is looking for a long term deal and he is the only big name available at 3rd base in the free agent market so I do not expect him to take the 1 year. My only question is if the Cubs do pick up the option and he still leaves do the Cubs get compensation picks?
 
Interesting thought:

What about this exchange for Theo:

Cubs: Get Lackey and Crawford and those "interesting" contracts.

Red Sox: Get Soriano and Zambrano.


I know this will never happen as I doubt Theo wants the Lackey thing to keep following him, but I would take this trade.
 
hawkfarmer said:
Interesting thought:

What about this exchange for Theo:

Cubs: Get Lackey and Crawford and those "interesting" contracts.

Red Sox: Get Soriano and Zambrano.


I know this will never happen as I doubt Theo wants the Lackey thing to keep following him, but I would take this trade.
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I would love that, I think Crawford will be good again, just had a bad year. However, nobody wants Soriano. Zambrano is crazy, but the Red Sox have had plenty of crazy on their team. He is paid too much so unless he goes to Miami with Ozzie, we may be stuck paying him too. I have no idea what's up with Lackey, too many beers and chicken in the clubhouse???
 
DJL said:
I would love that, I think Crawford will be good again, just had a bad year. However, nobody wants Soriano. Zambrano is crazy, but the Red Sox have had plenty of crazy on their team. He is paid too much so unless he goes to Miami with Ozzie, we may be stuck paying him too. I have no idea what's up with Lackey, too many beers and chicken in the clubhouse???
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This is why I think it is a good trade for teh Cubs. Lackey and Soriano have very similar deals, but Soriano could be a decent DH for them (especially if Ortiz leaves). And who knows maybe Lackey needs a change in scenary. Crawford has a lot of years left but I think he will turn it around. And Z has only 1 year on the contract so to basically rid themselves of Crawford's deal for a 1 year deal with Z, who has been better than Lackey, wouldn't be so bad.

Again, I know this own't happen but I think it would benefit both sides.
 
Section136 said:
The most likely scenario. Could have also seen keeping Quade on for the final year of his deal and having him be the "fall guy" in the probable event that the Cubs struggle next year.
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I posted this earlier in this thread but never got an answer but I can't see 1 positive to keeping a manager and not starting the rebuilding process right away. I don't think the cubs would be expected to turn it around next year even with a new manager. The new manager will get time and the sooner he can get in and start making changes in the organization the better.
 
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