Josh Vitters entered the 2007 Draft as one of the best bats in the class. Matt Wieters was considered the best college bat in the country and scouts debated whether Mike Moustakas or Josh Vitters was the best high school bat. Some scouts even said Vitters had the best bat in the draft. David Price would be selected 1st and …
The Rise and Fall of the Dempster Trade
The Ryan Dempster saga seems like it has been going on longer than it took for the Ricketts to complete the transaction to acquire the Cubs, but it's all only a little over 24 hours old. I'll see if I can sum this up as succinctly as I can, though I'm sure I will miss some salient details. As best …
A few things that don’t make sense
Carl Crawford and a prospect to the Marlins for Hanley Ramirez and Heath Bell is something that Bob NIghtengale is suggesting is in the works that doesn't make the least bit of sense. Carl Crawford, a truckload of money and all the Red Sox prospects for Hanley Ramirez makes sense, but other than that this is just ridiculous. I've read …
Why Matt Garza’s trade value is lower than I think
Earlier today I wrote why Matt Garza's trade value may be higher than I think, or rather higher than the trade value numbers show. Since I wrote about why they may be higher it only makes sense to also spell out why they may be lower. I'm going to do the same thing for Ryan Dempster tomorrow, but some of …
Why Matt Garza’s trade value is higher than I think
When I wrote about Matt Garza's trade value last month I showed that it's not that high. Aside from the Cubs kicking in some money to cover the rest of his salary this year, the Cubs couldn't expect to get all that much in return. People have consistently told me I'm wrong. Apparently some anonymous GMs were on record (can …
Brewers and Phillies prepare offers to keep Greinke and Hamels
The Brewers are willing to offer Zack Greinke around $100 million over 5 years while the Phillies are prepared to offer Cole Hamels an equally large contract extension. Greinke and Hamels were likely going to be the two best starters available at the deadline if their respective teams made them available. My first thought was that this was potentially good …
When to evaluate a trade
Evaluating trades becomes a topic of interest as each trade is made. Before the trade we're analyzing the rumors of what teams would be giving up and getting in return. Some people are content to make baseless claims about the quality of the trade when it happens, during the contracts and after it happens. Some are content to look at …
Rumor: Dodgers interested in Ryan Dempster and Matt Garza
According to Jon Heyman the Dodgers are the most likely destination for Ryan Dempster and the Dodgers might also be interested in Matt Garza. The Dodgers are talking to the Cubs about acquiring either one of their two coveted starting pitchers, Ryan Dempster or Matt Garza, sources say. The Dodgers have long been known to be targeting Dempster and are seen as a favorite for him. …
Obstructed View’s Top 20 Cubs Prospects
1. Brett Jackson OF AAA The Math — The 23 year old, 2009 1st round pick has a slash line .261/.339/.494. Astronomical strikeout rate (33.8%), but he still has a 114 wRC+. The Good — Despite the K's Jackson has still been a productive player. He gets a ton of XHB's with his speed and has plenty of pop from CF. …
How much is Darwin Barney worth in a trade?
Before we look into Darwin Barney's trade value, I was thinking I wouldn't be that confident in the numbers below. Most of the time I am, but for someone like Barney I'm not. At all. Why? Because of Placido Polanco. To understand why you can check these two links out. IN the first link written after the 2006 seaosn, Tangotiger …