Can they package a side of Papi with that, too?
I'd be a completely worthless blogger if I didn't pile on regarding the wild speculation on the big free agent names every fall.
Sure, technically every team is looking at every free agent - and if they're not, then how do they justify their billable hours? - but the two big names in the front of the pack this hot stove season are Manny Ramirez and Jake Peavy.
Peavy is an easy one, as he's announcing his preference to stay in the National League where he can stick with hitters he already has a book on and won't face a designated hitter several times a game.
The best part of this is Greg Maddux's comment that he's stuck around the NL for his entire career because he's not stupid.
A trickier discussion arises around Ramirez who is the best way to start an argument with Red Sox fans this month. In the plus column is his status as arguably the best pure hitter in the majors right now. In the minus column is his "Mannyness" and his representation by Scott Boras.
The question with Ramirez is what it has been for years now - how much crap are you willing to put up with to reap the benefits of his big bat that doesn't disappear in the brightest spotlights?
If you're the Cubs, that crap threshold may be higher than most. Hence, the Manny to Chicago rumors are already swirling. Intertwined with this is the question of how to move Alfonso Soriano and his massive contract.
If nothing else, it gives Cubs fans something to talk about besides curses and how Old Style matches up against Bud Light.
(Image taken for Siberian Baseball)
Sure, technically every team is looking at every free agent - and if they're not, then how do they justify their billable hours? - but the two big names in the front of the pack this hot stove season are Manny Ramirez and Jake Peavy.Peavy is an easy one, as he's announcing his preference to stay in the National League where he can stick with hitters he already has a book on and won't face a designated hitter several times a game.
The best part of this is Greg Maddux's comment that he's stuck around the NL for his entire career because he's not stupid.
A trickier discussion arises around Ramirez who is the best way to start an argument with Red Sox fans this month. In the plus column is his status as arguably the best pure hitter in the majors right now. In the minus column is his "Mannyness" and his representation by Scott Boras.
The question with Ramirez is what it has been for years now - how much crap are you willing to put up with to reap the benefits of his big bat that doesn't disappear in the brightest spotlights?
If you're the Cubs, that crap threshold may be higher than most. Hence, the Manny to Chicago rumors are already swirling. Intertwined with this is the question of how to move Alfonso Soriano and his massive contract.
If nothing else, it gives Cubs fans something to talk about besides curses and how Old Style matches up against Bud Light.
(Image taken for Siberian Baseball)
Labels: Cubs, Hot Stove 08-09
posted by Matt G at
9:37 PM
1 Comments:
I don't get the Manny-to-the-Cubs rumor. I'm not saying that he wouldn't help the Cubs or any other team, but the one weakness in their lineup was the lack of a consistent lefty power-hitter (which Fukudome was supposed to provide yet didn't do as well as expected). Manny obviously doesn't address this problem as a right-handed hitter. This goes into the general quandary for the Cubs over the offseason - this team won 97 games but then laid a goose egg in the playoffs. What exactly are you going to tinker with on a team that played extremely well the entire year (certainly, from April to September it was the best Cubs team that I had ever seen) except for the 3 games that happened to matter in October?
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Anonymous, At
Sunday, October 19, 2008 10:39:00 PM
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