Soriano, Rafael

by Snake Plisskin on Dec 8, 2009 8:05 PM CST

What about trying to trade for Rafael Soriano? According to our favorite site he has already given his trade clearance.

Rafael went 1-6 in 77 Gs last season with a 2.97 ERA a 1.06 WHIP with a .194 BAA 27 BBs 102 Ks and 6 HLDs 27 SVs. in 31 chances

Going into next season, as of now, we have a very young bullpen. Bringing in Soriano would add a veteran right arm to the pen, something I know the Cubs have been interested in, and provide insurance behind the sometimes Hot and Cold Carlos Marmol at Closer.

I don't know what the Braves would want for him.

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Money's an issue

and considering that the Cubs are having problems putting money together for Cameron, I doubt we’d have it for Soriano. He’s likely to get a decent raise in arbitration.

by toonsterwu on Dec 8, 2009 8:12 PM CST reply actions

Granted

I’m just quite nervous about how young our pen is. I’m worried about blowing games in the late innings. Cameron or someone else at Center would be nice, I just consider the bullpen a higher priority (though, I’m obviously not Hendry).

by Snake Plisskin on Dec 8, 2009 8:17 PM CST up reply actions

How do you propose to pay the man

Soriano is way out of the price range of Jim Hendry right now.

The Blackhawks and the Stanley Cup in 2010.

by BLou on Dec 8, 2009 8:32 PM CST reply actions

if only that were the case

a few years back…

by DartmouthCubsFan on Dec 9, 2009 10:25 AM CST up reply actions

Legal Tender

We both know the Rickets have the money. The question is would they be willing to spend it.

In all likelihood, the answer is probably no. But, I question whether an extra few million in salary would stop the Yankees or Red Sox (especially the Yankees) from going out and getting what they need. If the Cubs really are part of the “We’ll out spend you” club then we mst act like it.

I’m not saying taking hendry off the leash, all I’m saying is we could do it if we realy wanted to.

We just probably won’t.

by Snake Plisskin on Dec 8, 2009 9:07 PM CST reply actions

I don't think

The Cubs are part of the “Well out spend you club”. And why does everyone assume that the new ownership has spoonfuls of diamonds? The purchase of the team required quite a bit of debt financing and Ricketts already has indicated it was not an investment that was expected to produce immediate profit. Partly, because there are alot of areas where the team has fallen short in generating revenues to support its operations. While he may have “money” from his sucessful business ventures – only a poor businessman would dump more cash (from outside sources) into an already hemorrhaging payroll.

"Ask Dad. He'll know. And on the off chance he doesn't, he'll make something up"

by StevenABQ on Dec 9, 2009 10:47 AM CST up reply actions

Ok. Great.

“You don’t know what the Braves would want for him”?

You realize the Cubs have twenty+ million dollars tied up with Milton Bradley, and that as of now there are no takers who want to come close to relieving the Cubs of a portion of this obligation?

WHy don’t you reach for the skies and suggest they trade for Matt Holiday, Michael Young, Hanley Ramirez, Jason Werth, or Justin Verlander.

I mean if you are going to play armchair non-sensical G.M., might as well expand the wish list!

by The E-Man on Dec 8, 2009 9:11 PM CST reply actions

OK, deep breath E-Man

INNNNNNNNNNNNNNN and OUTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT.

I refer you to my post above about money. I realize I went off a little half cocked on this. That’s no reason to freak out.

Of course I’m playing nonsensical GM, we all are.

by Snake Plisskin on Dec 8, 2009 9:18 PM CST up reply actions

I still maintain Ricketts will give the ok to spend the $ needed to sign one decent FA...

…regardless of what happens with Bradley. Obviously the less we have to eat on Bradley the better, but even if we get totally hosed on that (very likely IMO), I still think Ricketts will let Hendry sign ONE decent FA. Just seems like the smart thing to do as a new owner – establish some goodwill, send a message, etc.

Scuttlebutt seems to point towards Cameron. Meh… I know I’m in the minority here, but I’d still be comfortable with a Reed/Fuld quasi-platoon in CF (especially now that Granderson is no longer an option) and spend the Cameron money elsewhere. I think a case could be made that it might be better to bolster the bullpen by signing Valverde or working a deal for Soriano.

Lou Brown: "My kinda team, Charlie, my kinda team..."

by ballhawk on Dec 8, 2009 11:42 PM CST reply actions

What would you spend the Cameron money on?

Starting pitching?

Catch my act on Twitter as @dat_cubfan_dave.

by daver on Dec 9, 2009 10:59 AM CST up reply actions

Valverde would be my first choice.

Seems to be a lot of closers on the market so hopefully that keeps the price down. Haven’t heard yet what he’s looking for but I’m guessing it’d be less than the $10M I’ve heard for Cameron. Granted Valverde would probably want more years than Cameron, but he’s young (and good) enough, I’d be comfortable with 3 yrs and a team/mutual option for a 4th.

Obviously you can never have enough SP, but outside of Lackey, there’s not much out there FA-wise that excites me. And I don’t think Lackey will drop down to the 10M range. Wolf would have been interesting, but not at the 3/29 I think he just got.

So with Valverde as the only FA I’d want to sign, if that doesn’t work, then I’d put the Cameron money towards a trade. I’d look at Atlanta first, see what they want for Soriano, but I’d also ask about one of their starters not named Lowe. I’d also place a call to Theo and see what he wants for Bard. After letting him laugh for awhile, I’d say, ok – what about Papelbon?

In other words, I think Reed/Fuld/Dome/some non-tender can handle CF and RF well enough that I’d want to improve our bullpen and/or rotation first.

Lou Brown: "My kinda team, Charlie, my kinda team..."

by ballhawk on Dec 9, 2009 12:07 PM CST up reply actions

Well, you're probably going to get some sabermagicians chiming in here...

…that $10M is way too much to spend on a closer. But Valverde is, though annoying, a really good pitcher. And he’s just the sort of tried-and-true, lockdown closer the Cubs have been missing for quite some time. If the Cubs had a lot of money to spend, I might be more on board with this. I’m just not sure that Fuld and RJ can give the Cubs the same production in centerfield as Mike Cameron – and that could hurt the team more over the course of the season than lack of a rock-solid closer.

Catch my act on Twitter as @dat_cubfan_dave.

by daver on Dec 9, 2009 12:40 PM CST up reply actions

Agreed - $10M is too much for a closer

that’s why I’m thinking/hoping that with a somewhat saturated closer market, Valverde can be had for less. I’m also thinking the difference between Valverde & $10M plus whatever we salvage from the MB deal, would be enough to bring Reed back.

I just not thrilled by St. Cameron ;-). To me, the biggest pluses he brings to the Cubs would be his glove and his professionalism. Well, we get the same goodness (glove & ‘tude) with Reed/Fuld. Ok, Cameron’s bat might be better, but I don’t think it is big enough to justify the additional cost.

On the flip side, I look at Valverde vs Guzman for example, and I can easily be convinced Valverde is worth the additional cost. Disclaimer: No stats were harmed in the forming of this opinion – just my gut.

Lou Brown: "My kinda team, Charlie, my kinda team..."

by ballhawk on Dec 9, 2009 1:14 PM CST up reply actions

I'd actually be curious to see...

…how a Fuld/RJ platoon would do. But I don’t think it’s a risk that a team with serious plans of contending (for the division, at least) can take. Mike Cameron has an established – a very well-established – track record of major league success on both sides of the game. Plus, there’s his relationship with Lou. Fuld has never played a full season in the majors and Reed has had injury problems for the last several years of his career. I think if Cameron could get the Cubs to Brett Jackson while performing consistent with his last few years, he could turn out to be a big win.

Catch my act on Twitter as @dat_cubfan_dave.

by daver on Dec 9, 2009 2:17 PM CST up reply actions