Carlos Pena As Rich Harden 2.0

And it absolutely makes sense. But Dogge Stalker (Jessica, as I’ve seen mentioned many times) above was saying that Boras likely was the one to make the handshake agreement, meaning that it would be in the client’s best interests if arbitration could not be offered. I think we both agree that Type B arbitration being offered has no bearing on a prospective FA’s value.

The LaHair/Colvin platoon remark was made tongue-in-cheek, obviously, I don’t want the Cubs to do that, but for some reason you keep harping on that one point, while apparently glossing over all of the other points I’ve made about the 1B market.

Not signing Fielder or Pujols is not an option in my world (and I’d prefer Fielder over Pujols). Good organizations in large markets (e.g, the RSox, Yankees, Phillies) don’t let the players they covet on the FA market sign for other teams (unless they end up signing with another big market team), they spend the money and in some cases overpay, knowing that by the end of the contract, those elite players skills might diminish, but not to the point where they would not still be above-average players. The Cubs don’t have any competition for Fielder/Pujols from the big-market teams because 1B is filled for them. So there really aren’t any excuses to be made if the Cubs miss out.

And if the Cubs are stupid enough to miss out on both Pujols and Fielder as you seem to be implying is possible, then the $35-40M coming off the books should be spent on upgrading at other positions where we could use an elite bat. Maybe sign Jose Reyes and move Castro or Reyes over to 2B or 3B, sign CJ Wilson, who would be very good #3 starter on the Cubs, and then sign somebody cheaper than Pena to play 1B (maybe a Michael Cuddyer).

Or save the money you’d rather have the Cubs spend on Pena and invest it in the draft (go ahead and sign Dunston Jr, Gretzky, and that other guy we drafted who has signability issues to overslot money), the IFA market, and instead of adding 2 stud pitchers in 2013, you could add 3 (following the Giants & Phillies model of developing elite pitching staffs) and the money saved from not signing Pena could be used to pay some of the salary given to Matt Cain and Jeff Weaver because the Cubs wouldn’t have spent $20M on Pena. The Cubs could also make a run at CC Sabathia (who is certain to opt out of his Yankees contract) this offseason. There’s also the possibility of trading for a decent, cheaper 1B or perhaps signing or trading for David Wright and converting him to 1B. Also there’s also the potential of signing Joey Votto after the 2013 season.

But since you’re so stuck on the Cubs signing Pena if they don’t sign Fielder or Pujols, I’ll just throw out the name Lance Berkman. I’d much rather have him over Pena. He’s a couple years older, but he has a much better track record than Pena (career wOBA of 400 versus 360 for Pena) and he could probably be had on a 1-2 year deal (with a player, team, or mutual option) for less money than Pena. The Cubs could have and should have signed Berkman over Pena this offseason, but Jim Hendry is an idiot and spent $2M more on Pena, while Berkman tears the cover off the ball for the Cardinals

Again, no need for the Cubs to overpay for a non-elite, Boras client who has been in decline for a a few years now, irrespective of his foot problems. I think we just differ philosophically, it looks like you’d rather have the Cubs spend money on the FA market for the sake of spending it, and I’d rather have them use the FA market to sign elite, difference-making players for the most part. It seems like that is what the big market teams that we are trying to emulate do. Your way has been the Cubs way for a very, very long time (as evidenced by DCFs post) and it hasn’t really worked very well for the Cubs, has it? Why not try something different and model the RSox, Phillies, and Yankees for a change……