BRob potential deals to the Cubs

[Sports Guy]

Anyone else tired of talking about Roberts to the Cubs?

Much better than talking about keeping BRob and extending him.

[crawdad]

How can they possibly consider a Peavy deal at this point?

It sounds like they would need to deal out Fukudome or Soriano. They tried initiating discussions about both warly this off season and found no takers. I doubt they have room to maneuver for him now that Bradley is on.

That said, Peavy improves them far more than Roberts would, so forcing a contract in makes more sense with Peavy than it does for Roberts. Peavy would be replacing the number 5 pitcher. Roberts would be replacing an average MLB second baseman.

[Sports Guy]

Oh wow, 2-3 wins?

Maybe 2, but not three. Three wins is the difference between Kaz Matsui and Brian Roberts last year. Fontenot would really have to underperform to meet that. His 530 plate appearance in the Majors are something to write home about. He has a career 110 OPS that is half buoyed on last year. If that is an outlier, than we can still expect something in the 100 OPS+ arena. There just is not much of a difference between Roberts' 110-115 OPS+ next year and Fontenot's 100 OPS+ for it to make sense for the Cubs to make the deal.

I just do not see it.

Depends on what you think the real Fontenot is.

In 2007, he had 234 at bats and had a 738 OPS...In 2008, that OPS was over 900...In the minors, it was in the 800 range.

So, I think to to expect much more than a 775ish OPS is expecting too much and even that may be too high.

But he will not give them the OBP or stolen base ability they seem to want at the top of the order.

By WARP1 last year, BROb was worth 4 more wins...Now, WARP is a counting stat, so the difference in at bats is obviously extremely important....But if you combine the 2007 and 2008 seasons worth of at bats, you get a 5.7 WARP1...Last year, BRob was over 8.

So yes, I see at least a 2-3 win difference because I think expecting Fontenot to come close to approaching what he did last year is expecting way too much...We don't even know how he would hold up over the course of 500-600 at bats at the ML level yet.

Fontenot would make sense for a team like us a lot more than the Cubs.

[El Gordo]

As stated by others, I just don't see a good match with the Cubs, at this point. I'd much rather see us target the White Sox, expanding the trade to include one or more of our lesser prospects to get a starting pitcher and Getz. Next season we will need to replace our starting 1B, 2B, 3B and DH. If we trade Roberts, we have to get an infielder back at 1st, 2nd or 3rd. If he walks for draft picks, I will consider that a major failure on MacPhail's part. Right now, the only prospect that fills one of those positions with a possibility of being ready next spring is Brandon Snyder, either at 1B or 3B. Nolan Reimold could be ready to step into LF, allowing Scott to move to DH.

So, trading Roberts and a prospect like Liz or Mickolio (or both) to the WSox for Poreda and Getz fills the hole at 2B, adds a young ML ready pitcher, and puts you in a position to trade Huff, Sherrill or Scott at the trade deadline with the goal of getting another young infielder or more pitching (as in, you can never have enough...).

I'd rather trade for Poreda and Allen than Poreda and Getz. Turner 23 at AA :.289 .359 .432 791; Getz 23 at AA:.299 .382 .381 763.

[crawdad]

Depends on what you think the real Fontenot is.

In 2007, he had 234 at bats and had a 738 OPS...In 2008, that OPS was over 900...In the minors, it was in the 800 range.

So, I think to to expect much more than a 775ish OPS is expecting too much and even that may be too high.

But he will not give them the OBP or stolen base ability they seem to want at the top of the order.

By WARP1 last year, BROb was worth 4 more wins...Now, WARP is a counting stat, so the difference in at bats is obviously extremely important....But if you combine the 2007 and 2008 seasons worth of at bats, you get a 5.7 WARP1...Last year, BRob was over 8.

So yes, I see at least a 2-3 win difference because I think expecting Fontenot to come close to approaching what he did last year is expecting way too much...We don't even know how he would hold up over the course of 500-600 at bats at the ML level yet.

Fontenot would make sense for a team like us a lot more than the Cubs.

Well, that still undershoots Fontenot's worth because you are comparing a guy with 549 plate appearances to someone who garnered 704. Normalize them . . . and you get a difference of less than 1 WARP1 over the course of a season.

Keep in mind, with your calculations . . . you are assuming Roberts repeats his season. Looking back at Roberts career, that is far from certain. James, CHONE, and Marcel peg Roberts in the high 700s. Fontenot from 775 to 815. Roberts worth over Fontenot looks more to be speed and defense, not hitting.

[El Gordo]

I could see them trading Vitters before Marshall but personally, I don't think they trade either.

I would ask for Pie, Cedeno, Wuertz as a start...Marshall with those 3 would be very nice but again, I am doubting that can happen because the Cubs need the depth.

Some kind of deal where we get pieces like the Tejada deal may work...Pie, Cedeno, Hill, Wuertz and another lower level arm could work.

Nothing the Cubs care about losing and it gives us some useful pieces with some potential very good upside.

I think Pie, Cedeno, Hill, Wuertz is about the best you could do. Where's Dave?:laughlol:

[Optimum O]

I don't buy for a second that Lou is excited about Fontenot, especially if they can get BRob.

Actually Lou has been quoted on the record as wanting to give Mike every opportunity to win the starting 2B job.

[Mackus]

Vitters is too much, and I'm not really sure I like anything else they have.

I have very little interest in Cedeno, but Fontenot and Pie would interest me. Who were the pitchers they got for DeRosa, any of them worth looking into?

[Belkast]

FWIW, Take it with a grain of salt, I've been wrong before, yada, yada, yada....... There appears to be some positive progress made towards extending BRob. Just thought people would want to know.

[clapdiddy]

FWIW, Take it with a grain of salt, I've been wrong before, yada, yada, yada....... There appears to be some positive progress made towards extending BRob. Just thought people would want to know.

Good to hear from you, Belkast! Hope things are going well!

At this point, this may actually be good news. I doubt we'd be able to get much value for Roberts at this point, and he is a guy who keeps himself in peak physical shape. I just hope we don't go way overboard on an extension.

[Scrat1]

FWIW, Take it with a grain of salt, I've been wrong before, yada, yada, yada....... There appears to be some positive progress made towards extending BRob. Just thought people would want to know.

Thanks for the info. With O-Dog out there messing everything up, this might be the best option.

[Flosman]

Would any one take Fukodome off the Cubs hands to get Vitters and Pie from the Cubs?

[Fan4Life]

FWIW, Take it with a grain of salt, I've been wrong before, yada, yada, yada....... There appears to be some positive progress made towards extending BRob. Just thought people would want to know.

Thank you Senor!

[clapdiddy]

Would any one take Fukodome off the Cubs hands to get Vitters and Pie from the Cubs?

What would we do with Pie at that point? He's out of options.

[crawdad]

FWIW, Take it with a grain of salt, I've been wrong before, yada, yada, yada....... There appears to be some positive progress made towards extending BRob. Just thought people would want to know.

If it turns out we cannot get anything for him . . . then maybe this makes sense. He is in for a drop in the next couple of years and I think by the end of any extension we will have an expensive bench player on the roster.