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First, the news from yesterday: Quote:
CHICAGO -- Lou Piniella's coming to Wrigley Field, agreeing Monday to a three-year contract to manage the Chicago Cubs and accepting a job that has long been one of the most challenging in baseball.
His assignment: Get to the playoffs and win a championship with a franchise that hasn't been to a World Series since 1945 and hasn't won one since 1908.
"I feel terrific about Lou. I think he's a tremendous baseball man and a proven winner from the beginning of his career," Cubs general manager Jim Hendry said Monday.
"I think he's absolutely the perfect choice as we move forward."
Piniella, who will be introduced Tuesday at a news conference, has a deal that is worth about $10 million. The Cubs hold an option for a fourth year, sources told ESPN.com's Jayson Stark.
"I'm basically a blue-collar-type manager that believes in a good work ethic, preparation and a desire to win a baseball game," Piniella told the Chicago Sun-Times over the weekend in Detroit where he worked the ALCS for Fox TV.
Piniella replaces Dusty Baker, another veteran manager with a strong resume, who left after four years when his contract was not renewed following a 66-96 last-place finish in the NL.
Piniella has 19 years experience managing in the big leagues with four teams -- the Yankees, Reds, Mariners and Devil Rays -- and said his work in TV and a year away from the dugout on a daily basis refreshed him.
Known for his fiery style and outbursts with umpires -- in which he's thrown his cap, flung a base and kicked dirt on the plate -- the Cubs hope Piniella can be the spark the team obviously lacked during the final two seasons of Baker's tenure.
Joe Girardi, fired by the Florida Marlins after one season and a former Cubs player, also interviewed for the job as did Cubs broadcaster and former Diamondbacks manager Bob Brenly. Mike Quade and Pat Listach, managers last season in the Cubs' farm system, also were interviewed.
But Piniella's experience, his toughness and run of success that included a 1990 World Series title with the Reds were obviously factors that impressed the Cubs.
The hiring of Piniella is the latest move in a Cubs' overhaul that began two weeks ago when chief executive Andy MacPhail resigned the day before Baker's contract was not renewed.
Now Hendry will begin refiguring his roster with decisions ahead on third baseman Aramis Ramirez, who can opt-out of his contract; center fielder Juan Pierre, who is a free agent; and oft-injured pitcher Kerry Wood. The club has a $13.75 million option on Wood, who is rehabbing a torn rotator cuff.
The 63-year-old Piniella has a record of 1,519-1,420 and was honored as AL manager of the year in 1995 and 2001.
He became the Cubs' top choice over Girardi, who had two different playing stints with the team that he broke in with in 1989.
The Cubs nearly reached the World Series three years ago, getting within five outs before a collapse against Florida in the NLCS. But Baker couldn't get the team back to the playoffs.
Piniella began managing in 1986 with the Yankees, where he lasted three years. He managed the Reds from 1990-92, leading them to a World Series championship in his first season. During his time in Cincinnati, he got national attention for a clubhouse wrestling match with reliever Rob Dibble.
From there it was on to a long run in Seattle from 1993-02. His 2001 team went 116-46, but lost in the ALCS to the Yankees. His 1995 and 2000 Mariners teams also were beaten in the league championship series. During his decade in Seattle, the Mariners won at least 90 games four times.
Piniella won 93 games his final season with the Mariners in 2002 before heading home to his native Tampa to try and build a winner for the Devil Rays.
But ultimately he had a difference of opinion with ownership and questioned management's commitment to winning before the team bought out the final year of his four-year contract.
Piniella had an 18-year career as a player, 11 of them with the Yankees, and was a career .291 hitter.
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Now, the rumor today: Quote:
CHICAGO -- Lou Piniella, who will be formally introduced as the new Chicago Cubs manager Tuesday afternoon, wants to acquire embattled -- and possibly available -- New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez.
Sources familiar with the situation told ESPN.com that Piniella, who is extremely close to Rodriguez, expects the Cubs to aggressively pursue the 10-time All-Star. The 63-year-old manager and the 31-year-old Rodriguez have what amounts to a quasi-father/son relationship; Rodriguez was managed in Seattle by Piniella from 1994-2000. It is that relationship -- and the tantalizing talent of Rodriguez -- that has prompted Piniella to want to explore a trade with the Yankees.
Despite the Yankees' insistence that they have no intention of trading Rodriguez, the former two-time American League MVP seems to have alienated fans and perhaps even teammates with his postseason failures. For the second consecutive year, Rodriguez failed to drive in a run and helped contribute to an early exit by the Yankees, most recently a 3-1 Division Series loss to the Detroit Tigers. In the final game of that series, Rodriguez was dropped to an unheard-of eighth in the batting order. He finished the series 1-for-14 with no extra-base hits and is 4-for-41 (.098) with no RBI in his last 12 postseason games.
Rodriguez has a no-trade clause and could veto any proposed deal. But the idea of playing for Piniella, in the slightly less-pressurized Chicago market, and for a franchise that loves star power could appeal to Rodriguez. So could a chance for a fresh start after a .290-35-121 regular season that wasn't good enough for Yankees fans.
For the Cubs, whose management experienced the rare and unnerving sight of empty seats at Wrigley Field this past season, the attraction of Rodriguez is obvious. He would immediately strengthen a lineup in dire need of power. He is normally an accomplished defensive player. And despite his postseason difficulties, he has a career .305 batting average and 464 career home runs in 13 major league seasons.
With the hiring of Piniella, it is understood that the Cubs will expand their payroll, which was close to $100 million in 2006. Depending on how much they want to spend, the Cubs are one of the few teams capable of taking on Rodriguez's salary. He is owed $95 million for the remaining four years of the landmark 10-year, $252 million deal, he signed with Texas. The Yankees are responsible for paying $66.6 million; the Rangers are paying the other $28.4 million.
A Cubs deal with the Yankees potentially could include third baseman Aramis Ramirez (career highs of 38 home runs and 119 RBI in the regular season), but Ramirez can opt out of his contract and become a free agent this offseason. It is thought the Yankees would also want a quality starting pitcher in any deal involving Rodriguez.
Piniella, who replaces Dusty Baker after the latter's four-season tenure in Chicago, agreed to a three-year deal, with a club option for a fourth, earlier Monday. He has hired most of his coaching staff and has decided, sources say, to retain Cubs pitching coach Larry Rothschild.
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Clearly, any A-Rod talk is pure speculation at this point. A great deal stands in the way of Alex Rodriguez leaving New York. The Cubs don't have much to make it an even trade in terms of production(they have some oft-injured talent and a bunch of bad contracts), and A-Rod's contract would undoubtedly require some creative financial re-arranging. Plus, Rodriguez has been extremely vocal about his desire to remain a Yankee, and as the article notes, he has a no-trade clause.
So, for anything to happen, the Yankees are going to have to really want to get rid of the guy, and Alex is going to have to change his tune about wanting to be a Yankee.
Still, its an interesting prelude to what I'm guessing will be the east coast media's main topic of discussion for the next six months(along with the annual Manny Ramirez trade rumors).
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from what im hearing the yankees would only be interested in trading him for some decent pitching, and i think there would be few teams willing to give up good pitching AND take on a huge salary like his
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The Cubs do have some talented pitchers...most of them are hurt a lot, though.
I'm very skeptical about this having any chance, but I dunno...maybe this would be best for all parties involved. New York would definitely take a hit in the exchange of talent and production, but they could, conceivably, fill a more pressing hole(their pitching), and on the other side, it certainly seems like Alex has been trying too hard in New York, as if he's trying to quiet his critics with every swing. Perhaps a less stressful environment would benefit him.
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As far as I understand it, if ARod is asked to waive his no-trade clause he wants some serious bucks for it. This is one time where I really wouldn't blame him for asking that. What else is it there for? But he's already making beaucoup bucks in the first place, I don't know if any of the parties involved could afford his salary AND compensation. There might even be question as to who pays for it, considering the Rangers are still partially paying his salary.
ARod has also stated a preference for the AL as well in the past. I don't see him leaving the Yankees at this point. If the Yankees could get Zambrano and a healthy Prior they'd do a trade but that won't be happening anytime soon.
I wonder if Lou will hire Steve Lyons as his bench coach????
"You kind of get tired giving the other team credit. At some point you've got to look in the mirror and say 'I sucked.'"
Alex Rodriguez, after the NY Yankees were eliminated from the 2006 ALDS by the Detroit Tigers.
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Bobby Abreu said that he wanted compensation for waiving his no trade clause to come to New York, but in the end he did it without compensation, so who knows.
Unless it was agreed upon in the Soriano trade(which I doubt), the Rangers wouldn't be under any obligation to compensate A-Rod unless they were the team trading for him.
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I can see someone waiving a no-trade clause to go TO the Yankees, but not to leave them. And I can certainly see Steinbrenner being arrogant enough to insist that the Rangers cover any sort of "compensation" for ARod leaving the Yanks. Steinbrenner would probably argue he did the Rangers a favor by taking ARod off their hands and he isn't that far off on that. I see Georgie insisting that the Cubs and Rangers cover any sort of compensation and the Yankees reap the benefits.
Just because that's Georgie for ya.
"You kind of get tired giving the other team credit. At some point you've got to look in the mirror and say 'I sucked.'"
Alex Rodriguez, after the NY Yankees were eliminated from the 2006 ALDS by the Detroit Tigers.
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Quote:
jafabian said:
And I can certainly see Steinbrenner being arrogant enough to insist that the Rangers cover any sort of "compensation" for ARod leaving the Yanks.
Now, I do not claim expertise in the field of sports finance, but given that such an insistence would be so completely without justification or precedent, it wouldn't just be arrogant, it would be nonsensical.
However...I dunno, I guess nothing's impossible. Steinbrenner has probably done crazier things. Still, I can't see how the Rangers would be under any obligation to meet his request.
Quote:
Steinbrenner would probably argue he did the Rangers a favor by taking ARod off their hands and he isn't that far off on that.
Yes, yes he would be. He would be very far off. Very, very, very far off. So far off, he'd have passed off, circled on twice, and landed back towards the outest reaches of off again.
The Rangers lost the best player in the league. They gained a solid but not elite prospect, a lot less salary space than you'd probably guess, and a talented, but overpaid, underachieving, malcontent who refused to accomodate the organization and who conveniently changed positions and started playing like a star again after he was traded.
The idea that the organization unburdened itself financially by removing Alex Rodriguez is a myth, on three fronts: the first being that Alex was never a real burden, the second being that the main player they got in return was expensive himself, and the last being that the Rangers will still be paying part of Rodriguez's salary in 2025(yes, you read that right, 2025).
For a salary dump, they didn't dump that much salary, and for a talent exchange, they sent a lot more talent away than they got back.
Basically, it was job. A gyp. A heist. It was "Cashman's Eleven"(Steinbrenner's Eleven doesn't have the same punch), only in this metaphor Alex Rodriguez represents both Julia Roberts and the money.
Infact, it's probably a cross between Oceans Eleven and Deliverance, where Tom Hicks was Ned Beatty and Steinbrenner was Bill McKinney.
Steinbrenner hasn't done many people favors, I'd guess, and he certainly hasn't done the Rangers any.
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Oh, I'm not saying Steinbrenner is right. Just that after years of watching him do business I think he's arrogant enough to try and do it. And with Bud Selig as commisioner, George would certainly try it.
However, I don't see ARod moving. This year at least. Maybe next year, if he continues down the path of Knoblauch.
"You kind of get tired giving the other team credit. At some point you've got to look in the mirror and say 'I sucked.'"
Alex Rodriguez, after the NY Yankees were eliminated from the 2006 ALDS by the Detroit Tigers.
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Rumor around Chicago is that The Yankees want Felix Pie and I think Rich Hill in return, which wouldn't be such a bad deal for The Cubbies. For years I've heard people complaining because The Cubs keep getting rid of their farm guys for established veterans, but I don't mind it. I don't want a chance of winning in five years, I want to win now. I like The Yankees model of letting a guy go through his growing pains on a small market club, and then picking him up when he becomes a stud. For years I railed against the "haves and have nots" system in baseball, but now I'm changing my tune. If that's what the owners and the league want, then a major market team like The Cubs should take advantage of it.
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Quote:
rufusTfirefly said:
Rumor around Chicago is that The Yankees want Felix Pie and I think Rich Hill in return, which wouldn't be such a bad deal for The Cubbies.
If that's all it would take, it would be quite an extaordinarily spectacular deal for the Cubs, even if they had to inherit all of A-Rod's contract. Keeping both Aramis Ramirez and Carlos Zambarno, their two top(healthy) players, and adding the best player in the AL? Hendry would probably crap himself.
Quote:
For years I've heard people complaining because The Cubs keep getting rid of their farm guys for established veterans, but I don't mind it. I don't want a chance of winning in five years, I want to win now. I like The Yankees model of letting a guy go through his growing pains on a small market club, and then picking him up when he becomes a stud. For years I railed against the "haves and have nots" system in baseball, but now I'm changing my tune. If that's what the owners and the league want, then a major market team like The Cubs should take advantage of it.
I am a prospectphile, and as such have a tendency to tout farmhands from time to time, although I've tried to temper my optimism over the years. It's true, prospects are far from sure things. Only a couple of years ago, the Cubs were considered to have the best collection of minor league pitching talent in baseball(and this was after having graduated Mark Prior and Carlos Zambrano to the majors the year before), with more high-ceiling arms than they knew what to do with. Even a reasonably cynical person would have assumed that at least one would "make it", but due to a combination of poor roster management, freak injuries and simple poor performance, none have. Andy Sisco was left unprotected in the Rule Five Draft and was taken by the Royals(a foolish move by the Cubs, in my opinion). Bobby Brownlie, Chad Blasko and Luke Hagerty all succumbed to injuries. Ricky Nolasco, Renyel Pinto and Sergio Mitre were included in the awful Juan Pierre deal(who was, in a depressing but perhaps somewhat forseeable bit of irony, outperformed by Corey Patterson in Baltimore). Angel Guzman, one of the most touted pitching prospects of the last decade, might still make it, but he too has faced injury problems.
Throw in the way Prior and Wood fell apart, and it really becomes quite astonishing just how much talent has gone bad lately under the Cubs' watch. And you can't blame it all on Dusty Baker and his "leave the pitcher out there until their arm falls off" approach to managing.
That all being said, moderation in all things. You can't completely devalue the prospect. Trading Dontrelle Willis for Matt Clement and Antonio Alfonseca was not a good move, at the time, or in retrospect. Winning now is great, but if you're sacrificing winning later, make sure you're getting something that can actually help you win now. I think the worst trade since Larry Anderson for Jeff Bagwell was the now infamous Kazmir for Zambrano deal, which infuriated me, not only because of how obviously preposterous it was, but also because of the way the New York media tried so desperately to spin it in the Mets' favor.
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Quote:
Animalman said:
That all being said, moderation in all things. You can't completely devalue the prospect. Trading Dontrelle Willis for Matt Clement and Antonio Alfonseca was not a good move, at the time, or in retrospect. Winning now is great, but if you're sacrificing winning later, make sure you're getting something that can actually help you win now. I think the worst trade since Larry Anderson for Jeff Bagwell was the now infamous Kazmir for Zambrano deal, which infuriated me, not only because of how obviously preposterous it was, but also because of the way the New York media tried so desperately to spin it in the Mets' favor.
Don't forget, that deal wasn't really Clement for Willis. Both pitchers were thrown in as after thoughts. The real deal was Julian Tavares for Antonio Alfonseca, both pitchers who had worn out their welcome in their respective clubhouses.
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