Cubs sign Scott Hairston to a two year contract

[JP:CubsFan910]

(Edit: directed at the guy that hated this move and *****ed about Epstein. Is that another secret BB account?)

Who are you? This is terrible. Is this sarcastic?

[Buckcub]

I know most people on this board prefer prospects, but I'd love to see an expanded Soriano deal that got the Cubs Asdrubal Cabrera to play 3B. It seemed like a foregone conclusion around the winter meetings that he'd be traded, he's not really a shortstop anymore defensively, and Cleveland picked up Mike Aviles early in the offseason who can be a stopgap for a year or two...so I don't think it's totally unrealistic that Cleveland would trade him in a deal for a win-now type player and a couple other pieces.

I would still rather have 5 years of Chisenhall (who's got just over 1 year of service time in, and was once considered a top prospect, so he's got room to improve) than 2 years of Asdrubal at 16.5mil, but Cabrera is the better player right now.

I don't think we should over-estimate Soriano's trade value. Just a few months back he was completely untradeable. I know he had a great year, and I hope that Baseball realizes just how effective a player he still is, and how beneficial his clubhouse presence can be, but I don't think he's going to net us something great just by himself.

Re-read my Chisenhall post, I meant to add a decent starting pitching prospect to the Indian's side, but had to go to work. Oops. But I still think it would take some extra MLB-level parts to get either Chisenhall or Cabrera. Just my opinion though, hope I'm proven wrong. I just hope a deal comes together soon because I do feel bad that Soriano has to see his name bandied about so much.

[SenorGato]

Give me Cabrera over Chisenhall all day err day eeeeaaaarrrllllyyyy. Could not possibly care less about controlling mediocrity for 5 years that isn't homegrown (generally).

[Rynoplasty]

Is Cabrera even that much better, though? You look at Chisenhall's line in the majors last year and it's pretty comparable to Cabrera's career line. The difference in value is mostly positional. So I guess if you think Cabrera will be a great defensive 3B, that could be the difference maker, but you're getting a similar type of bat in the lineup either way.

[SenorGato]

So Chisenhall did in 180 PAs what Cabrera has averaged in almost 3000 MLB PAs before the age of 28. This is ignoring the thirty points in OBP, defense, and Cabrera toppinghis SLG significantly in three of the past four seasons.

It's not even a contest of who you want want from the Indians if given a choice, but I doubt we have the choice of Cabrera.

[deltaclown]

Yeah, that's just silly. 2 years of Cabrera is more valuable than Chisenhall and I don't see how that's an argument. Even if you don't necessarily want Cabrera, you could flip him and get a lot more than Lonnie Chisenhall.

[Rynoplasty]

So Chisenhall did in 180 PAs what Cabrera has averaged in almost 3000 MLB PAs before the age of 28. This is ignoring the thirty points in OBP, defense, and Cabrera toppinghis SLG significantly in three of the past four seasons.

It's not even a contest of who you want want from the Indians if given a choice, but I doubt we have the choice of Cabrera.

I only think it's a contest in the sense that you could be looking at Cabrera vs Chisenhall+ and they might be close enough that the + is worth the trade-off.

Even then, I'm not following some of what you're saying. Chisenhall's SLG was .415 and .430 in his two callups. Cabrera only "significantly" out slugged those numbers in his surprise 2011 season (.460), but has also slugged well below those numbers twice (.366 and .346), and he was right in line with them the other three seasons. And Chisenhall has the better minor league SLG numbers, so none of this is really unexpected.

And defense is only an advantage positionally, if at all. Chisenhall is a better defender at 3B than Cabrera is at SS, and since we'd be moving Cabrera to 3B, it's reasonable but still essentially theoretical to just assume he would be a better defender there since he started as a SS. But really, he barely has the arm for SS, let alone 3B. His best fit is likely 2B, all things considered. If we were talking about pairing him with Castro up the middle and trading Barney, that would be more exciting than either of them at 3B.

[SenorGato]

Cabrera still >>>>> Chisenhall+ unless that plus is the Indians landing better prospects to trade us.

2. Cabrera has a career .416 SLG. He's put up less than that once since he he was 24, and put up .438, .460, and .423 in three of the past four years. Not only that, he's averaged about .440 over the past two years.

3. The "Chisenhall is a better at 3B than Cabrera is at SS" is not only unsubstantiated by any significance evidence, but Cabrera in this completely fantasy scenario would be playing 3B or 2B here rather than SS. He would be a better defender at either position than Chisenhall is.

I still don't get why this is even a contest or a topic to debate. The Cubs aren't landing Cabrera. The Indians have no reason to trade him. The reason Chisenhall is somewhat desirable is because he's a former top prospect who plays a position of need. He might become average for a few years and help our Roster Efficiency Rating.

[ABE32]

Cabrera still >>>>> Chisenhall+ unless that plus is the Indians landing better prospects to trade us.

2. Cabrera has a career .416 SLG. He's put up less than that once since he he was 24, and put up .438, .460, and .423 in three of the past four years. Not only that, he's averaged about .440 over the past two years.

3. The "Chisenhall is a better at 3B than Cabrera is at SS" is not only unsubstantiated by any significance evidence, but Cabrera in this completely fantasy scenario would be playing 3B or 2B here rather than SS. He would be a better defender at either position than Chisenhall is.

I still don't get why this is even a contest or a topic to debate. The Cubs aren't landing Cabrera. The Indians have no reason to trade him. The reason Chisenhall is somewhat desirable is because he's a former top prospect who plays a position of need. He might become average for a few years and help our Roster Efficiency Rating.

I want Salazar...damn it!

[Yagyu+]

I want Salazar...damn it!

I'm not saying it negates the possibility of his involvement, but -- like Chisenhall -- Salazar is on the 40-man.

[ABE32]

I'm not saying it negates the possibility of his involvement, but -- like Chisenhall -- Salazar is on the 40-man.

yeah i know...but i still want him in any deal with cleveland.

[TyrionLannister]

Hey excillon, I remember in your constant *****ing besides Friedman and Beane you said Towers was in your top 3? What do you think of him now?

[jiggin]

until i see a garza extension, this team could easily flip him at the deadline (assuming good health). With our #1 possibly gone by mid year, do you really see this team as .500 or better? I dont.

I don't, but any top draft picks the Cubs pick up during this short rebuild is just added gravy. Garza just needs to have a good first half get that value up as high as possible.

[Cubsfan365]

There's no way I want to take the wait-and-see approach and let Garza build value until the trade deadline again. That's exactly what happened last year and he got injured right when his value was pretty much at its peak. I wouldn't want to take that chance and potentially lose out again. Either commit to him long-term or trade him while he's healthy.

[davell]

If we can pull off Olt/ Perez or Gyorko/Kelly or something else like that prior to Opening Day, I'm OK with trading him. Even if he's having a good season though, his value is less at the deadline: The return on Greinke last year wasn't anything special and he'd bring more than Garza would. I hope we make our decision by the end of ST: Trade or extend at that point. A rotation that has Shark, Garza, and E-Jax is solid- add Price next offseason and it's looking elite.