Cubs should pass on Matthews Jr.
Back in 2001, the Cubs made a terrible baseball decision when they put infielder Miguel Cairo and outfielder Gary Matthews Jr. on waivers and kept infielder Augie Ojeda on the active roster. Cairo and Matthews were quickly snapped up by other teams, and Ojeda was of little help as the Cubs fell short in their bid to win the NL Central.
Fast-forward to 2009. It seems Matthews wants to move out from the L.A. Angels with two years and $23 million left on the five-year, $50 million contract he signed before the 2007 season:
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-angels28-2009oct28,0,3353674.story
The reason this has come up is that the Cubs are trying to unload outfielder Milton Bradley, who has two years and $21 million left on the three-year, $30 million contract he signed last January.
The Cubs should pass on Matthews, and it appears from all indications that they’ll do so.
Matthews’ numbers have declined severely since he left Texas and their former batting coach, Rudy Jaramillo, after the 2006 season. You know where Jaramillo is now. In ’06 with the Rangers, Matthews had a hitting line of .313/.371/.495 for an OPS of .866 and an OPS-plus of 121.
Here is how it’s gone since then:
2007: .252/.323/.419 for an OPS of .742. The OPS-plus was 93.
2008: .242/.319/.357 for an OPS of .675. The OPS-plus was 77
2009: .250/.336/.361 for an OPS of .697. The OPS plus was 82, and his weighted on-base average (wOBA) was .313. Matthews hit only 4 homers. On top of it, this speedy player's groundball percentage fell from 59 percent in ’08 to 42.2 percent this year. His flyball rate jumped from 26.5 percent in ’08 to 38.9 percent this year. (On another topic, most of you also know that Matthews has had to fight off charges _ which he vehemently denied _ of HGH use.)
Matthews’ decline in production prompted an article on fangraphs.com to describe Matthews as the “most delusional man on the planet" for his assertion in the L.A. Times that "when I'm playing every day, I feel I can be a top-of-the-line center fielder, and that, I would think, is what a lot of teams want."
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/the-most-delusional-man-on-the-...
Just for comparison’s sake, Bradley’s line this year was .257/.378/.397 for an OPS of .775. His OPS-plus was 101.
Statistically speaking, you’d rather have Bradley. Of course, for myriad reasons, the Cubs are going to trade Bradley this fall. But there are better options out there than Gary Matthews Jr. The Cubs don’t want to err twice with him.
Bruce - Keep naming these guys the Cubs could get because it seems whenever we hear about about a player the Cubs might be getting in the news, they then come out of nowhere to get someone else.
Maybe one guy a week:
This week: Matthews
Next week: Bonderman
Third week: Oliver Perez
etc.....
if you keep naming crummy players aren't you almost assuring us that we'll get a diamond in the end?!?!?!
But if it works to your liking, I'm all for it. I don't think you have to worry about Matthews.
I'm sorry, but in this economic climate there are not teams lining up to take Bradley's $23 million contract off the hands of the Cubs AND give a good player in return.
no one disagrees with that. but there are better bad contracts to exchange.
Bruce, you forgot to mention that the reason GM Jr is bad is because he's off the steroids. He tested positive, don't be afraid to mention that Bruce. That's the real reason he is bad now.
GM Jr was busted for allegedly ordering HGH, not testing positive for steroids. There's no test for HGH. http://thesteroidera.blogspot.com/2007/03/steroid-era-news-gary-matthews...
"(On another topic, most of you also know that Matthews has had to fight off charges _ which he vehemently denied _ of HGH use.)"
Trade for Carlos Silva to replace Marshall or Gorzelanny, what would that accomplish.
All three are about the same, and Silva is on again off again type pitcher. I'd rather
have Marshall, and see what Gorzelanny can do in 2010.
Detroit would not want Bradley, even if the Cubs would accept Willis in exchange.
Granderson would be nice, but for who.
No no Matthews please. Josh Byrnes wants out of Arizona, but has he lost it the last
2 years. Burrell maybe, but do we want Fukodome in centrfield again.
Any chance if Detroit is interested the Cubs take back a bad contract plus offer a prospect or two and try to snatch Granderson? Unlikely but it seems like hendry is going to be forced to stay away from FA.
Levine reported that the Cubs have been in contact with the Blue Jays regarding Wells and possibly Halladay. I find it either scenario somewhere near the border of delusional and crazy.
"Levine reported that the Cubs have been in contact with the Blue Jays regarding Wells and possibly Halladay."
that was NOT reported.
THIS is what it Levine wrote:
Toronto will talk to anyone who will take outfielder Vernon Wells off its hands. Wells has a multi-year contracts that pays close to $15 million per year.
Toronto at some point will be looking at moving ace right-hander Roy Halladay. It's unknown at this point if the Cubs will be involved. Halladay is one season from free agency.
Thanks for clarifying.
He's just terrible.
being out here in L.A. and the wife being a big Angel fan I follow them a bit and I would be beyond shocked if the Angels even considered Bradley for 10 seconds. After the Jose Guillen fiasco, they won't willingly go down that road again...
question for Bruce....
From what you may have been told, is this, "there's more interest in Bradley than you may think" rumors legit or are the Cubs trying to create a market that barely exists?
Rob G. @thecubreporter.com
There are teams interested in Bradley. Somebody, somewhere always thinks he can make it work. But there's no doubt the Cubs are trying to create as much of a market as possible. Terming it a "market that barely exists" is not accurate.
thanks.
If Hendry was targetting equal duration and near equal salaries, here are some choices:
Juan Pierre
Oliver Perez
Carlos Silva
Francisco Cordero
On many levels, moving Bradley for Silva would make sense for both teams. Silva has decent control - in 2005 as a Twin he walked 9 batters in 188 innings. But he's not a strikeout guy either, and his ground out to fly out ratio is close to 1. The Ms have holes at DH and LF, so the switch-hitting Bradley could work well for them. Silva could be the #5 (replacing Harden), and this would allow the Cubs to move Marshall, Gorzelanny or Samardjiza as part of a package to upgrade at CF, RF or 2B.
Unfortunately, it's a trade that could only take place on my XBox (assuming I had one). I'm talking about Reds closer Francisco Cordero for Milton Bradley. Their contract amounts match up rather nicely and Cordero put up sick numbers for Cincy last season. The Cubs could then sell high on Carlos Marmol - maybe even sneaking Curtis Granderson out of Detroit to play centerfield. Alas and alack, I don't know why I'm typing this because it will never happen.
I like the Carlos Silva idea.
Right now, the Cubs would be selling LOW if they were to trade Marmol. A year ago, that might have been selling high. But the Bradley for Cordero thought isn't a bad one. Then the Cubs would have another option to go with Marmol to close out games. If they head into the season locked in on Marmol and he starts playing wild thing again next year, Lou will be totally bald and the Cubs will melt before June even rolls around. And Bradley in Cincinnati would mean the Cub fans would get several chances to razz him.
Cinci doesn't need a RF and might have to move Votto to LF to make room for Yonder Alonso at 1B.
With you 100% on this Bruce. Just say no to Matthews. And Aaron Rowand too.
Bradley makes $9M in 2010 and $12M in 2011. If I was Hendry's chief strategist in moving Bradley, I'd guide him to find a 1 year "bad" contract somewhere in the $6 to $12M range and then pay for half of Bradley's deal in 2011. I'd also focus more on AL teams*.
Here are some guys fitting that criteria:
Jeremy Bonderman - DET*
Jose Guillen - KC*
Eric Chavez - OAK*
Dontrelle Willis - DET*
Edgar Renteria - SF
Pat Burrell - TB*
Nate Robertson - DET*
Eric Byrnes - ARIZ
Mike Lowell - BOS*
Christian Guzman - WAS
Jamie Moyer - PHIL
Detroit badly needs OBP from LF - I think they were last in the majors. Bradley would be a huge upgrade for them. I think Robertson or Bonderman make the most sense. Cubs and Tigers do have trade history.
A Renteria deal could make some sense too. Move Theriot to 2B. Let Castro play in minors for the entire 2010 season and move him to majors in 2011 when Ryno is managing the club.
Hoops
I grew up in Chicago but live now in SF Bay Area and have some knowledge of Edgar Renteria and Eric Chavez. Renteria lost his job this past season to Juan Uribe, and Chavez has had so many surgeries on his back and other parts of his body that I have lost count. Please don't consider these two as Cubs. Nate Robertson is interesting. Of the list presented by Hoopscubs, I would select Christian Guzman.