whistler wrote:
Chet Coppock's Fur Coat wrote:
NWsider4-3-3 wrote:
whistler wrote:
Hard to believe this is only Contreras's second career walkoff hit. Both against Milwaukee.
And people wanted him traded.
Cubs 18-10 since the All-Star break.
i wanted him traded, for quality. no quality offered for an all-star/likely silver slugger C, then don't trade him. will the cubs resign him? after all the tears and ovations, will he return - hometown discount or not? i don't think so for one minute, not after this season's offensive numbers.
his defense has been slipping and this year, not very good. lots of lazy stuff - not shifting to block balls in the dirt, dropping throws on plays at the plate.
I think he will be back. Which playoff quality team has a spot for him? And if they do, will they give up a pick due to the QO?
I think he will accept the QO and take the $19M and then negotiate a deal in the 4/70 range with some sort of vested opt-out after three (similar to what Rodon got from the Giants) and a mutual option for a fifth year for maybe $20M.
Yadier Molina was never part of any trades. He stayed thru thick and thin. It's hard to find great everyday catchers that can hit, hit for power, play defense, and work with pitchers. We are lucky to have him. Molina's and Posey's only come along once in a blue moon.
molina and the cards and contreras and the cubs...well, i believe each club has had very different trajectories. if the cards decided to bottom out, i'm sure he wouldn't have been untouchable.
defense? i think contreras' defense has slipped and i've seen plenty of examples - including one hot summer afternoon in st. louis, when the cardinal winning run advanced a base in the 8th after contreras failed to block a ball in the dirt. just didn't shift his weight to his right. runner scored on a sac fly, where as, if contreras had kept the ball in front of him, runner stays on 2nd with 2 out. lazy tag against the brewers - cost the cubs a run in a game that they lost in extra innings. erase that run, cubs win in 9 innings. ball beat the runner in plenty of time, contreras didn't want to bend down and tag the foot, kept his glove high and tagged his shoulder - after the runner's foot slid across home plate. has dropped at least two good relay throws on plays at the plate...and, he's been playing less at C.
he does have some faults.