At the bottom of The Hardball Time’s Oliver forecasts page they have the 2012 projected standings. They were updated yesterday, but I know this was done before the Brewers signed Aramis Ramirez. National League Central Team Wins Losses CIN 90 72 STL 88 74 MIL 86 76 CHN 82 80 HOU 65 97 PIT 62 100 Oliver projects 1.2 WAR …
How much is Prince Fielder worth?
We’ve talked a lot about Albert Pujols and taken a look at his value, but I don’t believe we’ve done so with Fielder. Apparently many executives think he’ll sign with the Cubs. I’m not optimistic about it, but it’s worth looking at anyway. CAIRO projects 4.4 WAR while Oliver projects 4.0. Let’s split the difference and go with 4.2 in …
How I learned to stop worrying and love the big contract
Alfonso Soriano‘s contract was an idiotic move that sank the Cubs into an economic impasse. I’d like to congratulate myself officially for expressing that sentiment for the 1 billionth time. While the confetti falls and the celebratory fireworks explode, I just want to point out one problem with that notion that fuels so many protests from those who think acquiring …
How does losing Pujols and Fielder affect the Cardinals and Brewers?
The short answer to this question is that it doesn’t affect them that much. If the Cardinals were willing to spend $22.5 million on Pujols (10 year, $225 million offer) they still have that $22.5 million available to spend on free agent talent. If a win costs $5 million in 2012, that buys 4.5 wins. Pujols was projected to be …
Pujols is Coming, Tra La Tra La…. Wait, No He Isn’t…
The Winter Meetings are always fun. Especially now that Twitter is a part of the rumor mongering, the GMs and agents can’t do anything without it being tweeted to a breathless horde of followers watching their tweet stream far more intently than they have watched their own children do anything. “The Cubs are in on Pujols.” “The White Zone is …
Winter Meetings Day 2 Open Thread ***UPDATED***
Carlos Zambrano is convinced he’ll remain a Cub next year. DALLAS — Carlos Zambrano has told friends that after meeting with Cubs President Theo Epstein a few weeks ago in Chicago, he’s convinced he will be able to remain a Cub in 2012. “All the things he wanted to see gone are now gone,” said one friend, referring to former …
What the Cubs have to consider at the Winter Meetings
We haven’t talked a lot about what the Cubs need to do this offseason. When the season ended they were without a GM so it made no sense. After they hired Theo and he assembled his front office it was difficult to know which direction the Cubs may go. There have been indications they’re willing to trade anybody and everybody, …
Cubs in on Pujols and Fielder
Per Robothal, the Cubs are pursuing both Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder. Not surprisingly, his sources say that the Cubs would rather go long-term with Pujols than Fielder. That’s a no-brainer given the current peak that Pujols would be coming down from without even considering Fielder’s probable age curve. Still, I don’t think the Cubs will be interested in beating …
Theo is a Cub so what next?
When the reports of Theo Epstein signing with the Cubs began to trickle in this morning (or actually last night), I started thinking about what it means in the short-term for the Cubs. The truth is that I, and you, have literally no idea. I wrote this before reading Aisle 424’s most recent article so there may be some similarities. …
Series Preview: Arizona Diamondbacks (94-68) vs Milwaukee Brewers (96-66)
Milwaukee is already up 1-0 in this series but these things take too damn long for me to write to have this up before that happened (laughing). It’s hard to believe that there are two teams from the NL Central in the playoffs this year. Team overviews Team stats, with NL rank in parentheses DBacks Brewers wOBA .321 (4th) .327 …