List is claimed to be accurate as of 9-4-2014. Who should SpedStein go after ? Catchers John Buck (34) Ryan Doumit (34) Nick Hundley (31) ? $5MM club option Gerald Laird (35) Russell Martin (32) Jeff Mathis (32) ? $1.5MM club option Wil Nieves (36) A.J. Pierzynski (38) David Ross (38) Geovany Soto (32) First Basemen Billy Butler (29) ? $12.5MM club option with a $1MM buyout Michael Cuddyer (36) Jozzen Cuesta (25) Corey Hart (33) Adam LaRoche (35) ? $15MM mutual option with a $2MM buyout Adam Lind (31) ? $7.5MM club option with a $1MM buyout Mike Morse (33) Lyle Overbay (38) Carlos Pena (37) Mark Reynolds (32) Kevin Youkilis (36) Second Basemen Emilio Bonifacio (30) Mark Ellis (38) Rafael Furcal (37) Kelly Johnson (33) Nick Punto (37) - $2.75MM club/vesting option with a $250k buyout Brian Roberts (37) Ramon Santiago (35) Rickie Weeks (32) ? $11.5MM vesting option Ben Zobrist (34) ? $7.5MM club option with a $500k buyout Shortstops Mike Aviles (34) ? $3.5MM club option with a $250k buyout Clint Barmes (36) Asdrubal Cabrera (29) Stephen Drew (32) Rafael Furcal (37) J.J. Hardy (32) Jed Lowrie (31) John McDonald (40) Nick Punto (37) ? $2.75MM club/vesting option with a $250K buyout Hanley Ramirez (31) Third Basemen Alberto Callaspo (32) Jack Hannahan (35) ? $4MM club option with a $2MM buyout Chase Headley (31) Kelly Johnson (33) Donnie Murphy (32) Nick Punto (37) ? $2.75MM club/vesting option with a $250k buyout Aramis Ramirez (37) ? $14MM mutual option with a $4MM buyout Hanley Ramirez (31) Mark Reynolds (32) Pablo Sandoval (28) Kevin Youkilis (36) Left Fielders Melky Cabrera (30) Endy Chavez (37) Nelson Cruz (34) Chris Denorfia (34) Jonny Gomes (34) Tony Gwynn Jr. (32) Scott Hairston (35) Reed Johnson (38) Ryan Ludwick (36) ? $9MM mutual option with a $4.5MM buyout Nyjer Morgan (34) Mike Morse (33) Alfonso Soriano (39) Yasmani Tomas (23) Josh Willingham (36) Chris B. Young (31) Delmon Young (29) Center Fielders Emilio Bonifacio (30) Endy Chavez (37) Franklin Gutierrez (32) Nyjer Morgan (34) Colby Rasmus (28) Grady Sizemore (32) Denard Span (31) ? $9MM club option with a $500K buyout Chris B. Young (31) Right Fielders Bobby Abreu (41) Norichika Aoki (33) Endy Chavez (37) Tyler Colvin (29) Nelson Cruz (34) Michael Cuddyer (36) Chris Denorfia (34) Scott Hairston (35) Torii Hunter (39) Jason Kubel (33) Nick Markakis (31) ? $17.5MM mutual option with a $2MM buyout Alex Rios (34) ? $13.5MM club option with a $1MM buyout Nate Schierholtz (31) Ichiro Suzuki (41) Chris B. Young (31) Designated Hitters Bobby Abreu (41) Billy Butler (29) ? $12.5MM club option with a $1MM buyout Ryan Doumit (34) Adam Dunn (35) Jason Giambi (44) Jonny Gomes (34) Raul Ibanez (42) Jason Kubel (33) Adam Lind (31) ? $7.5MM club option with a $1MM buyout Victor Martinez (35) Kendrys Morales (31) Delmon Young (29) Starting Pitchers Brett Anderson (27) ? $12MM club option with a $1.5MM buyout Scott Baker (33) Josh Beckett (35) Chad Billingsley (30) ? $14MM club option with a $3MM buyout A.J. Burnett (38) ? mutual option Chris Capuano (36) Bruce Chen (38) ? $5.5MM mutual option with a $1MM buyout Wei-Yin Chen (29) ? $4.75MM club option with a $372K buyout Kevin Correia (34) Johnny Cueto (29) ? $10MM club option with an $800K buyout Ryan Dempster (38) Gavin Floyd (32) Yovani Gallardo (29) ? $13MM club option with a $600K buyout Jason Hammel (32) J.A. Happ (32) ? $6.7MM club option Aaron Harang (37) Dan Haren (34) ? $10MM player option if 180 innings reached in 2014 Roberto Hernandez (34) Hisashi Iwakuma (34) ? $7MM club option with a $1MM buyout Josh Johnson (31) ? $4MM club option Kyle Kendrick (30) Hiroki Kuroda (40) Jon Lester (31) Colby Lewis (35) Francisco Liriano (31) Paul Maholm (33) Justin Masterson (30) Daisuke Matsuzaka (34) Brandon McCarthy (31) Franklin Morales (29) Brandon Morrow (30) ? $10MM club option with a $1MM buyout Felipe Paulino (31) ? $4MM club option with a $250K buyout Jake Peavy (34) Wandy Rodriguez (36) Ervin Santana (32) Joe Saunders (34) Max Scherzer (30) James Shields (33) Misael Siverio (24) Kevin Slowey (31) Carlos Villanueva (31) Ryan Vogelsong (37) Edinson Volquez (30) Jerome Williams (33) Randy Wolf (38) Chris Young (36) Closers Jason Grilli (38) LaTroy Hawkins (42) ? $2.25MM club option with a $250K buyout Casey Janssen (33) David Robertson (30) Francisco Rodriguez (33) Sergio Romo (32) Rafael Soriano (35) ? $14MM vesting/club option Huston Street (31) ? $7MM club option Koji Uehara (40) Right-Handed Relievers Mike Adams (36) ? $6MM club option Matt Albers (32) ? $3MM club option with $200K buyout Burke Badenhop (32) Andrew Bailey (31) Ronald Belisario (32) Matt Belisle (34) Heath Bell (37) Jared Burton (34) ? $3.6MM club option with a $200K buyout Joba Chamberlain (29) Jesse Crain (34) Kyle Farnsworth (39) Jason Frasor (38) Kyuji Fujikawa (34) ? $5.5MM club/vesting option with a $500K buyout Luke Gregerson (31) Matt Guerrier (36) Luke Hochevar (31) Jim Johnson (32) Matt Lindstrom (35) Daisuke Matsuzaka (34) Dustin McGowan (32) ? $4MM club option with a $500K buyout Jason Motte (33) Pat Neshek (34) Darren O?Day (32) ? $4.25MM club option with a $400K buyout Juan Carlos Oviedo (33) Joel Peralta (39) ? $2.5MM club option Chris Perez (29) J.J. Putz (38) Sergio Santos (31) ? $6MM club option with a $750K buyout Joakim Soria (30) ? $7MM club option with a $500K buyout Kevin Slowey (31) Jose Veras (34) Brian Wilson (33) ? $9MM player option Jamey Wright (40) Left-Handed Relievers Joe Beimel (38) Craig Breslow (34) ? $4MM club option with a $100K buyout Sean Burnett (32) ? $4.5MM club/vesting option with a $500K buyout Phil Coke (32) Neal Cotts (35) Scott Downs (39) Zach Duke (32) Tom Gorzelanny (32) Andrew Miller (30) Franklin Morales (29) Joe Thatcher (33) :-*
Melky, Nelson Cruz or Morse to play LF. Robertson or K-Rod to have a real fucking closer for a change. Hanley Ramirez to play 3B if they decide to move Bryant to LF seeing as he made 21 errors at 3B this year or if they decide to move either Castro or Baez for pitching like Cole Hamels, you can put him at SS and the other at 2B. And two out of the following SP, Shields, Lester, Scherzer and Santana. My dream offseason would be to sign Melky to play LF, move Coghlan to CF, trade Baez, Alcantara and Hendricks in a package for Cole Hamels, sign Hanley to play SS and move Castro to 2B, sign Robertson to close and Shields and Santana for the rotation. Let's say Melky gets 4 years and $48M, Hanley gets 6 years and $120, Hamels is signed through 2019 at about $22.5 a year. Robertson gets 3 years and $36M, Shields gets 5 years and $90M and Santana gets 4 years and $72M. Decline arbitration on Wood, Mcdonald, Doubront, Baker, Kalish and decline the option on Fujikawa. Pick up the $1M option on Turner if he has options remaining and can go to Iowa. That probably puts them in the ballpark of a $145M payroll, which is not outlandish for a team with the revenues of the Cub$ despite what the fanboys will say. Seven teams had payrolls exceeding that number this year. That will give you an everyday starting lineup and batting order of.... CF - Coghlan LF - Melky SS - Hanley RF - Soler 3B - Bryant 1B - Rizzo 2B - Castro C - Castillo With a starting rotation of Shields, Hamels, Santana, Arrieta and Jackson (they are stuck with him unfortunately). A bullpen of Robertson, Rondon, Strop, Ramirez, Wada, Grimm and Wright. A bench of Ruggiano, Sweeney, Valbuena, Watkins and a backup Catcher. Now that would be a team to get excited about. Of course very little, to none of this would actually happen. It is good to dream though.
Mine is to sign Melky (preferably) or Morse to man left. Then throw the rest into the staff. I would like to see them get a Shields/Lester and Santana but it won't happen, and honestly, I could let the bullpen stay as is for now with a closer by committee and see if they are in the hunt at the break, and then pick up a bona fide closer for a team that is out of it at the time. I think the Cubs will go after one TOR pitcher between Lester and Shields, and the other will be someone like Brett Anderson as this years Hammel/Feldman type player hoping he rebounds and that it will pay-off for the long term, especially with him being only 26 years old and also a lefty. Seeing as Baez, even at 2B is an upgrade to Barney power-wise, and should put 25-30 HR's in the seats over the course of the year, I could let the rest of the young ones learn as they go and have the veterans of Rizzo, Melky, and Castro lead this team. CF Coghlan/Alcantara LF Cabrera 3B Bryant 1B Rizzo RF Soler SS Castro 2B Baez C Castillo SP: Shields/Lester, Arrieta, Brett Anderson, Hendricks, and Wood. E-Jax takes Villy's place as spot starter/long relief and keep Turner as additional depth. As a back-up to Castillo, I would pick up Pierzynski to give them more of a power hitting LH than Baker. Bench is Coghlan/Alcantara, Ruggiano, Pierzynski, Olt, Valbuena. This is probably in the 110 million dollar range, and probably a little closer to where they will spend, if they spend.
My wish list? Kenta Maeda on a 5 year deal. Michael Cuddyer on a 1 year deal with team option for 2016. Russell Martin on a 2 year deal. Luke Gregerson in the bullpen on a 3 year deal. See if Ryan Dempster is gonna come back or retire. Look at Lester or Shields' price tags. If Shields wants 12-15 mil a year definitely have to jump. I'd also look to see what some teams want for pitching, IE what would the White Sox price be for Chris Sale? Could Almora, Schwarber, Castillo, and Hendricks get it done for Sale and Tyler Flowers? I'd take that in a second. So: Line up goes Coghlan, Cuddyer, Rizzo, Soler, Castro, Baez, Martin, Valbuena (i'm under the impression Bryant will be held in AAA till June/July) SP. Bench of Valbuena, Ruggiano, Castillo, Alcantara, Szcur. Rotation: Either: Arrieta, Hendricks, Shields, Maeda, Dubrount/Turner, OR Sale, Arrieta, Shields, Maeda, Doubrount/Turner. Bullpen: Strop, Ramirez, Wright, Gregerson, Rondon, Doubrount/Turner, Grimm, Blake Parker. Closer between Rondon, Gregerson and Parker. Dempster in mix if he comes back in pen.
$110M range is an insult and disgrace to every Cub fan out there and should not be acceptable, even though the sheep will do as they are told. The biggest issue with going to 'conservative' route that Boo suggests is that it makes it a very tough sell on the one or two quality players you try to target in FA. Toronto has already said they will make a qualifying offer to Melky with means a compensation pick which the fanboys will wet their diapers over. They have also said they want to work out a multi year deal with him. Toronto is a lot more competitive than the Cub$ are so will be much more attractive to FA's. There will be other top teams from large markets that will be going after the TOR starters people want the Cub$ to get. If Detroit doesn't keep Scherzer, they will go hard after someone else. They are still in win now mode with Miggy and and Verlander. Boston won't sit back and be passive after finishing in last place this year. That fanbase will not tolerate that like the Cub$ fans have. They are at $105.5M in guaranteed contracts right now and with their recent history of payroll in the $160-170M range they should be players in the FA market. The Yankees always spend and have Jeter and Kuroda coming off the books and even with an already large $166M committed for next year can still add a TOR starter. The Dodgers have Hanley, Beckett, Billingsley, Brian Wilson all coming off the books. They already have $172M committed for next year, but if they continue to be willing to spend over $200M, they will be players as well. The Angels are at $120M so if they continue to be in the $160M range, they have money to spend. Toronto is at $95M, so if they keep their $130ish payroll they had this last year will have money to spend. Washington is at $86.5M and they have been over over $120M average the last two seasons and will still be looking to win now. Baltimore only has just over $32M in guaranteed contracts for next year. Those are all teams who can easily match the Cub$ in terms of money is they go conservative and only raise payroll to the $110M range and they are all better teams that will be in a win now mode and will look more attractive to potential FAs. Look what happened two years ago when the Cub$ went conservative and targeted only Sanchez? They made an offer that Detroit could match and looked better with their better team and the Cub$ ended up with Edwin Jackson. We all know how that turned out. Shields just went through two seasons with a young promising ball club that looks like they will fall a tad short. He might not want to do that again. However if you go out aggressively and trade for Hamels, that shows that the Cub$ are serious. If you tell FA that you are willing to go to the $145-150M payroll range, that will tell the FA and the agents that the Cub$ are serious. You trade for Hamels, you aggressively go out and sign another top FA QUICKLY, that shows without a doubt that the Cub$ are serious and you can easily build momentum and attract a couple other FAs. Despite what the idiot fanboys will tell you, with the right aggressive moves this offseason and in FA, this team can be a winning playoff team next year. It can be turned around in one year.
This team needs a LEGIT impact bat in the lineup. I like Nelson Cruz here and would offer him a 3/52 million and shove him in left field. To me this move is a no-brainer. You may very well end up with all the protection these young guys need around them and Castro's idiotic days at cleanup are long gone. Lester and Scherzer are must haves and I would go through almost any expense to capture BOTH of these guys on six year big money deals. I like Lester's power arm over Cole Hamels. I would dangle whatever prospects along with Castro and talk to Miami about Stanton. If we have the best farm, then let's see WTF happens then. I would also try and take a flyer on Josh Johnson. Obviously I'm a fucking greedy bastard, but if you want sustained success you have to put your money where your mouth is and get after it. Fuck the jumbotron, Wrigley would be full and rockin' and they would finally be giving their fans something for their hard earned dollar. The Ricketts family can go fuck themselves for being cheap fuckers and paying a PR team to attempt to mask it.
110 million is not such a conservative route when you have 31 million (12 million being E-Jax) in guaranteed contracts, and tack on another 17 million on arbitration and that puts it at lets call it 48 million. 62 million will get a fair amount of talent and would easily get a Lester/Shields, Cabrera/Cruz/Morse, Anderson and Pierzynski. Is that enough to be competitive? Who knows. With the emergence of Bryant next year, and the current crop having a couple of months under their belt and an off-season to work on their flaws, we will see. I think the Cubs will be closer to the 110 million mark but could surprise, and I also think that Philly would want a really good package to let loose of Hamels. If I am Philly, I am wanting Bryant and Russell. If I am the Cubs, I would tell them to go @$*#*% themselves. The Cubs will be lucky to get one TOR pitcher, and you would have to figure that the other one will be in the Anderson, Hammel, and McCarthy range. What position player they target should be interesting. If the Orioles opt out on Markakis, I could see the Cubs making a serious play for him considering he (as well as Melky) fit the role of left hander, high OBP, low SO rate, pop in the bat, as well as above average hitters.
A lot of people down on Markakis, because he's 30, and because people think he'll get a Jocoby Elsbury type-deal. 17.5 mil is a lot for a guy who like Boo said, high OBP, low SO rate. But we don't see eye to eye on his 'pop,' as he hasn't hit 20 HR in a year since 2008, and I don't see that changing if he came to Wrigley, unless we set weather records for gales of wind to right field. He is a must sign if Baltimore makes him available, but Baltimore media has said several things about him. With Nelson Cruz, JJ Hardy, Kelley Johnson and Markakis hitting the FA market, extensions are something Baltimore can afford, but who gets the $? Tommy Hunter, Chris Davis, Matt Weiters, Alejandro De Aza, Bud Norris, and Brian Matusz are all hitting Arb. 3 level, that is going to be big chunks of change. If Weiters is extended, Markakis is expendable, if Weiters gets dealt over contract issues, Markakis ain't going anywhere. The White Sox, expecting to go into rebuild mode also should not have reservations trading Sale. Almora, Chunk, Hendricks would be where I start. If they wanted Russell, you give it to them if you're serious about winning. Wasn't the point to stockpile talent and trade some of it? I like Cole Hamels, but if Sale could be had for a slightly higher price, you make that deal. Sale and Arrieta beats the hell out of Arrieta and Henricks when we talk TOR starters, I don't have to tell you guys that. Maybe on CCS.......but not here. I respect 99% of you guys to agree here...... The White Sox could sell to jump start their rebuild. And I know Hendricks has had a great 2014, but sorry, his career won't be anywhere near the level of Chris Sale. Sale is only 8 months older too with no injury history.
Granted they are no Sale, but wouldn't it be easier just to pay a Lester/Shields/Scherzer to get a TOR arm right now and not have to forfeit any of the farm at this time, continue drafting more pitching, and hope that the Johnsons, Edwards, Tsengs, Underwoods, and Torrez's amount to the in-house players where seemingly every club tends to find there own TOR pitching?
I don't want to sound stubborn, but give me Sale over Lester/Shields/Scherzer, Hendricks, Johnsons, Edwards, Tsengs, Underwoods, Torrez's, and any other name in the cubs system. Will Scherzer, Lester, and Shields come with the comp pick loss as a result? Cubs right now if the season ended would be picking 8th. It costs resources to get him, get him. But I'm not a fool, you cant sell the entire farm for one guy. I feel the cubs are deep enough that they should be able to part with Russell and Hendricks as the main pieces, then a wonderful second wave of Almora, Chunk. If you're gonna sell pieces, you do it for a guy like Sale, not Hamels. A Sale, Arrieta, and Maeda punch would be far better with Arrieta, a #2 on a good day being the 'ace' of the cubs rotation.
Lets dive into this further. 3 years now Theo has had to draft TOR potential and 3 times he has intentionally gone the batter route. Appel once, Gray once, Nola and Freeland this year. Theo's approach to drafting pitchers is throw shit against the wall and hope it sticks. I don't like this approach. We all jumped on Mark Appel for sucking at class A in Houston, but since promotion to AA he's been far improved. He should be on the Cubs now, not Almora. 2012 after Almora only 2 players were taken with 11 picks in the first 10 rounds (Pierce Johnson was comp pick for Aramis). 7 pitchers. 2013 saw 7 pitchers and 3 batters in the first 10 rounds. 2014 saw 2 catchers and 8 pitchers. High potential, high risk arms in Cease and Sands. I believe one has TJ. It will take 3-4 years before you know what you have with these high school kids. And while I liked the Stinnett pick, he's not TOR. Neither is Pierce. Or Tseng. Or Edwards. Zastrysnsy got shelled when he left Kane County for Daytona, Skulina too. Now we all have different definitions of TOR pitching. An ace to me is someone who goes out every 5th start and dominates the other team. NOT the #1 in a rotation. The cubs right now have none. That's why I got a hard on for Sale. The white sox are not going to be competitive, and to me have 3 pieces in Sale, Abreau, and Eaton going forward. Their farm sucks and they know they are going to have to rebuild.
Arrieta has been an Ace this year. Lets hope it continues. It isnt just a fluky season in the sense he didnt change anything but had a good season. He has changed almost everything. From standing all the to the third base sid of the rubber to creating the cutter/slider to being able to throw any pitch in any count for a strike. 9.4 K/9 and 3.83 K/BB rate is nothing to sneeze at. He will be 29 next year. Lets see what he does. I think the Cubs will go after Lester because he doesnt cost a compensation pick. Theo has a big connection to him and Theo should be able to start selling the future. Madea would be another target. I think the cubs need to get 2 this offseason. Also, Liriano will probably be on their radar. As for hitting, I dont believe the Cubs go to FA unless everything matches up right. They are going to let these kids make it or fail. Russell Martin could be a target. Castillo is better with the bat then he has shown this year. The Cubs have really babied him since the knee surgery. He has been absolutely incredible at catching runners stealing in the second half. He now has a 34% CS on the year. One of the best in the league. I could see them pairing him with a lefty hitting catcher, but please be better then Baker at the plate. The reason I dont believe they go after hitting is because where are you going to put them. CF-Alcantara RF-Soler LF-Coughlan/??? 3rd-Bryant/Valbuena/Olt SS-Castro 2nd-Baez 1st-Rizzo C-Castillo/??? You only have two positions that maybe the Cubs will want to upgrade. Coughlan has been pretty good this year and could be a place holder considering Addison Russell should start the year at AAA. I said my Castillo thoughts up top. They are going to let these kids play. So, I see the only big splash being for pitching.
After reading this morning that Pit is willing to spend on Martin, I think he's off the table by the sounds of it. I'm still not comfortable with Castillo. Lester is the only big pitcher I expect them to really go after. As KB said, there's lots of money on the sidelines so I think it will be challenge to land him. I'm not sure they are willing to win a bidding war for one of the other two. I think they're still two years out from hitting the gas and they have way too much uncertainty to deviate from what they said they were doing all along now. I don't think they're ready to stomach the risk on the majority of high end pitchers. They'll need a new punching bag since it's going to be really tough to justify giving Jackson starts again. I think they'll go for somebody that stays relatively healthy at the bottom of the rotation more so than a quality player. I would think they want to start bringing stability to mound so they can better slot all the bodies they have going in and out of the active roster, but the emphasis will be on innings more than wins. I'm not sure if that makes sense. I have no interest in reading what I just typed right now. I think bullpen help is tough to speculate on, since so much of it depends on their own scouting. I'm guessing they'll sign somebody, maybe two. I'm not expecting money spent on a closer and I expect to scratch my head on the deals. I'm not ready to hurt my head trying to figure out who the best candidates are, I don't think they're going to make a push next year. The revenue picture looks better than projections for 14', so I think bumbling Tommy Boy might let Theo spend on a big position player before a pitcher because hitting is easier to sell while they finish the Ricketts plan. They might be able to frontload like STL did recently on Peralta or something like that. I'm not sure how much spending Tommy can do in all the other areas and I think he would bite his arm off before paying extra taxes. Even Hanley Ramirez might be in play for the Cubs on the left side of the infield. I would think they have to accept injury risk in any signing for a decent or good bat as they work in at bats for the young players. Curious to see what happens in LA and Baltimore, among other places. We should know more in a few weeks about who is really in play as far as the batters are concerned. I expect a couple vets to get contracts and they'll be full of intangible fun even as they suck. They're in a bad position to really try to improve dramatically in most areas this without taking on massive risk of fucking up worse. Not much point in being so loaded with prospects if vets are going to eat up 1000s of at bats. I'm not going to be shocked if they spend by taking on bad money from somebody else for two years as long as they get something they consider decent with the package. I do think they'll spend 40 or 50 million this offeseason for each of the 15' and 16' payroll. I guess, I'm just expecting 2 or 3 big swings but I'm not confident they'll land anybody. I think they're going to go into 15 just trying to better understand what they have and what they don't more than really trying to win games. I am hoping for somebody fun, like Delmon Young. He's been known to have interesting things to say. They'll need some distractions for next year's roller coaster ride.
McLeod is a HUGE part of this drafting thing, and I have little reason to doubt what he thinks. I am not sure I am going to argue over the ones that didn't or won't make it, or who they could have drafted pitching wise, when of his big four, they have Almora, Soler (IFA), Bryant, and Schwarber. Nice little mix if you ask me. If the Cubs had drafted 3rd, they maybe go with Rodon. Who knows....who cares? There isn't a single pitcher drafted in the last 3 years that would be better than getting a Lester, Scherzer, or Shields, and all are ready to take on the TOR status on the Cubs, so lets see who they target and if they get lucky enough to land one of them. And as HockeyBob stated, maybe the Cubs will take a contract off of some ones hands, and with Pederson, Puig, and Kemp apparently locked in for the future, and Ethier and Van Slyke as the odd men out, it might be a possibility that the Cubs kick the tires on Carl Crawford. He would play the top of the order left handed, left fielder that they are looking for, and he still possesses speed, a good average and a decent OBP. Injuries have plagued him lately, but I would take the chance if offered, and they would still have Coghlan or others to spell him from time to time. If they could get him at 50% discount for the next three years, it would be worth the 31 million IMO, or work out a deal where they take E-Jax too.
