The Cubs signed Ryan Sweeney to a 2-year deal for $3.5 million according to Bob Nightengale.
The Chicago #Cubs sign Ryan Sweeney to a two year, $3.5 million deal
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) October 8, 2013
He also has the breakdown.
Sweeney will get $1.5 million in 2014 and 2015 w a $2.5 million option or $500,000 buyout
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) October 8, 2013
Mostly playing centerfield, Sweeney had a pretty good year in 2013. He had 212 plate appearances and hit .266/.324/.448 with a .337 wOBA and 110 wRC+. He was worth 1.1 fWAR.
Comments
I don’t have a lot to say these days, but I like this deal.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
CUBES ARE GOING TO THE WORLD SERIOUS!!
Aisle424Quote Reply
There’s almost no way this doesn’t end up being a good deal for the Cubs.
SamQuote Reply
@Sitrick – I don’t think the Garza trade was that bad. I hated it at the time. I couldn’t even believe there were rumors. Midway through that season though, I changed my mind. I didn’t like it, but I didn’t think it was bad. Probably fair. Looking at this many years later I’d say it worked out pretty well for the Cubs unless your still high on Hak-Ju Lee. I think he sucks even more than I thought he’d end up sucking at the time of the trade.
dmick89Quote Reply
@ dmick89:
(dying laughing) I must seem like an asshole to Sitrick today. Sorry about that. I really don’t mean to be.
dmick89Quote Reply
I wonder if MLBPA’s answer to the Lohse situation might be allowing for sign-and-trades.
BerseliusQuote Reply
@ Berselius:
That would be interesting.
dmick89Quote Reply
@ dmick89:
I mean, they sort of do already though you don’t see it happen very often. I’m blanking on the last player to do it, but I do remember seeing players with NTCs refusing to waive it until they work out an extension with the other team, which certainly complicates things. So I guess those are more like trade-and-signs (laughing).
BerseliusQuote Reply
A’s/Tigers playing some exciting ball here
dmick89Quote Reply
GWQuote Reply
@ dmick89:
You can’t give back a lead against Scherzer. That will cost them the series. (And hand the LCS to the fucking Red Sox, who won’t have to face either him or Verlander in game 1.)
uncle daveQuote Reply
@ uncle dave:
wow, i can’t believe he got out of that
GWQuote Reply
Fuck.
uncle daveQuote Reply
dmick89 wrote:
(dying laughing), I’m cool. I’m an argumentative dick myself, comes with the territory.
sitrickQuote Reply
Berselius wrote:
Santana the last one to do it?
sitrickQuote Reply
@ dmick89:
Archer is the guy you’re going to regret losing Chirinos and Guyer are slightly above replacement or replacement players. Jury’s out on Hak Ju Lee. If he pans big, Rays win, if he is a solid but not great player, it’s a draw or a slight win for the Cubs (especially with the return they got back)…
2883Quote Reply
@ uncle dave:
Not thrilled with Melvin’s work in this one.
uncle daveQuote Reply
@ 2883:
Yeah, exactly. Maybe CJ Edwards goes all Tim Lincecum and becomes a 200 IP horse, but barring that, I’d rather have Archer at this point than anybody involved in either of the garza deals.
sitrickQuote Reply
I guess it depends on what you think of Archer then. Sure, I wouldn’t mind having him, but he’s a number 4 or 5 starter. I don’t think I’ll be wishing the Cubs still had Archer at any point. I think Hak-Ju Lee has very little chance of even sticking on MLB roster in any capacity. Well, maybe he’d be a really good coach or something, but other than that, I don’t see him being anything other than terrible at the MLB level. I think he’ll struggle in AAA.
You guys know what I think of Edwards (reliever, hope for the best).
Let’s not forget the Cubs got 6.9 fWAR out of Garza for about $25 million. That’s a factor too.
dmick89Quote Reply
@ sitrick:
I’d rather have about 3 years of Matt Garza and Mike Olt’s potential over Chris Archer and first dibs on a coach or manager.
Regardless, it was a trade that ultimately didn’t hurt the Cubs. At the time I thought it was the dumbest thing I’d ever heard about, but the lack of having Chris Archer on the Cubs is not really hurting them.
dmick89Quote Reply
Let me start out by saying that I like Ryan Sweeney. I was happy when the Cubs initially picked him up and I hoped he would do well. While he pretty much a textbook example of a replacement player, I think he has been a bit unlucky with injuries and if he could ever figure out how to stay healthy for a length of time I suspect he would prove to be a bit better than replacement level. I think the Cubs signed him to a great contract and they will get very good value out of it.
That said, I don’t like resigning him.
Sweeney, Bogusevic, and Schierholz are all the same player: a left handed platoon outfielder. Since they will probably only keep 5 outfielders next year it means one of the three has to start even against tough lefties even though none of them are very good against left handed pitching. Furthermore, I think it hurt Anthony Rizzo last year because oftentimes it was easier for an opposing manager to justify using up his left handed specialist out of the bullpen if he knows the pitcher will be able to face two or three lefties all in a row.
The Cubs already had an offensive black hole in their lineup in Barney, having Sweeney/Bogusevic/Schierholz having to bat three times against a lefty may not have been as bad as Barney but it wasn’t much better. Making matchups easier for the opposing manager isn’t ideal either.
The real kicker though is adding someone like Choo to the mix won’t make it any better as he is a lefty as well.
Jim LQuote Reply
I also wanted to add, great job on the series on the Cubs prospects. It was very informative and entertaining. Thanks for taking the time and sharing.
Jim LQuote Reply
@ Jim L:
I think it’s more of a meh signing. They could release him at any point.
Thanks for the compliment.
new shit: http://obstructedview.net/major-league-baseball/cubs-free-agent-contest.html
dmick89Quote Reply