Jacque Jones (reportedly) traded to Florida -Latest: Not

[Jopal78]

Linkage

 

It seems every year some dope GM is willing to bail Hendry out of one of his mistakes. Last year, Detroit took Neifi Perez's multi year deal of the Cubs' hands, now it is Beinfest stepping up to take Jacque Jones and his multi-year deal out of Chicago.

 

I realize the Cubs are probably still paying for those contracts, but it irritates that other teams help them solve their roster crunch.

 

EDIT: Title.

-PF

[nullbyte]

Dang. It's been kinda nice to have Jones clogging up their outfield playing time. Even though it'll probably cost them, I'd rather see them forced into giving playing time to underperforming (being nice) players like Jones than eating a few million of a contract.

[JoeHova]

Now we won't have to hear Bill Schroeder wax rhapsodic about Jacque Jones myriad exceptional skills so frequently.

[Brian the Automator]

[ I realize the Cubs are probably still paying for those contracts, but it irritates that other teams help them solve their roster crunch. ]

 

Meh, he probably would have been released if they couldn't find a taker.

[endaround]

Whats the benefit to Florida? An excuse why they can't afford to keep Willis? Jones is a poorman's Jenkins.

[RobertR]

They have to be giving him a shot in centerfield. Florida centerfielders are hitting a combined .249/.299/.351. At this point and after last year, they have to be desperate for anyone that can even come close to calling themselves a major league hitter and who can fake competence in centerfield.

 

I bet Hendry is picking up the majority of the contract as well.

 

Robert

[AJhawk50]

No deal yet.

 

FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal reports that the Jacque Jones-to-Florida deal won't happen, "barring an unexpected reversal."The Marlins wanted Jones as their primary center fielder, but apparentely the Cubs were quite desperate enough to get rid of him. Either they refused to pay the majority of the $7 million he's still owed or they wanted a better prospect in return if they were going to eat the salary.

 

msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/6964484

[dadofandrew]

Jones would be a decent, if overpaid, platoon CF.

 

For whatever reason, however, he's been utilized as an everyday corner OF, limiting his appeal.

[JoeHova]

Indeed. To hear some announcers talk, they act like Jones is (or at least was) a top player. He only had one good year for a corner OF, and that was in 2002. I have no idea why the Cubs brought him in in the first place, though he was somewhat servicable last season.

 

If a team can get him for free (or close to it), he's probably worth a shot in a CF platoon, like Al suggested. However, who knows if he is still acceptable defensively out there. This is the first year since 2000 that he has been playing regularly in CF.

[Brian the Automator]

This has do be doing wonders for Jones's morale.

[Cooper]

Aside from hitting, I've seen Florida's CFers give up at least two inside the park home runs this season. If this trade goes through, I think it's an upgrade from a group of youngsters who need more seasoning, but still might turn out to be not very good.

 

(On a side note, It's fun for me when Brian posts something humorous. Each time, I read what he types and then glance over at Earl Weaver to see him laughing. Then ol' Earl and I share a hearty laugh together.)

[GAME05]

This has do be doing wonders for Jones's morale.

 

yeah, he's already a Cub. How much can one man take?

[Never Outhustled]

So Florida is still looking for a speedy CF, and they have a bunch of flamethrowing relievers. Hmm.

[TheCrew07]

I like that thinking X... Gwynn + averagish prospect for a bullpen arm.

[steve267268]

I think TGJR would be pretty successful in Florida. Maybe like Pierre with less steals in his prime.

[saget]

Quote:

---

yeah, he's already a Cub. How much can one man take?

---

 

LOL

 

Is there a better place for TGJ than Florida? He'd sure get a lot of playing time down there.

[UWRyan428]

I seriously suggested awhile ago that we should attempt to trade Jr. Gwynny for Taylor Tankersley, as he would be a great late inning lefty flamethrower, and could figure into our closer mix next year, as he was anointed the Fish's closer before being put on the DL to begin the year.

[JoeHova]

give em Nix instead.

[recte44]

Good point- I've always suggested that with consistent playing time and health Nix could be an acceptable major league outfielder. Why not Florida's horrible OF situation?

 

Give us Lindstrom. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[Fear The Chorizo]

What makes this dead trade interesting is that the reason it died was because the Trib refused to pay any part of Jones' remaining salary - that pretty much means that the Cubs are not going to have an easy time of unloading him, since he's still owed 7 million dollars through next year...and he's brutal.

 

This also shows how difficult it's going to be for the Cubs to make any significant trades to improve their roster this year. They'd have to find a team willing to take on ALL of a player's contract in order to swing a deal, and the player they get in return has to either have no guaranteed money for 08, or be set to make less in future years than the player they're trading away was.

[GAME05]

I agree, Gwynn would be a beautiful fit in Florida. plus Milwaukee adding a solid bullpen arm might be an appropriate proactive response to Chicago adding someone big.

 

I like Gwynn and think he'll be a good ML leadoff guy, but he just seems too blocked here. Gwynn's never going to move Hall out of CF, plus in 2-3 years our speedy CF prospects will be knocking on the door.

[SheetsCyYoung04]

According to various baseball sources, it was Bud Selig who kiboshed that trade of Jacque Jones from the Cubs to the Marlins last week - and not a matter of the Cubs simply having second thoughts. Seems Selig deemed the money the Cubs were to absorb on Jones' contract as excessive. Apparently, the pending sale of the Cubs has prompted a "no more debt" edict from Selig, which may explain why there have been no further contract talks with free agent-to-be Carlos Zambrano. The fact that John Canning Jr., the billionaire CEO of Madison Dearborn Properties and a close friend of Selig's (with an 11% stake in the Brewers) has emerged as the potential frontrunner in the Cubs' ownership sweepstakes may also explain why the commissioner doesn't want any more onerous contracts at Wrigley in the aftermath of the Tribune Co.'s wild spending spree last winter.

 

Hmm, I got this off the Astros board so I am not sure the link but I believe a New York Paper.

[SeriesFinale]

Great...there always seems to be a way to twist this into benefitting Bud or the Brewers

[gregmag]

Am I missing something here? The Cubs are already on the hook for Jones' contract. They were going to trade him, stay on the hook for most (but presumably not all) of his contract, get back a prospect (right? -- the link to the original deal is gone) who would be making something less than the MLB minimum, and presumably hand Jones' roster spot to someone making little or no more than the MLB minimum. How does that deal add to the Cubs' debt? Is the story suggesting that Selig was insisting on affirmative debt relief -- that the Cubs find someone to take more of Jones' contract before he would let them make a deal? What am I missing?

 

Greg.

[Invader3K]

The big issue is that the Tribune company would be passing the debt from a player the Cubs wouldn't even have anymore onto the next owner.