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As Cub fans we are glutton’s for punishment. Until recently most of that punishment came between the months of June and September (and occasionally October). The offseason was the time for duckies, bunnies and world series dreams. But that has changed, the last three offseason’s now Cub fans, thanks to the msm, have set their sites on a player that is property of another team. You remember, after the 2007 season it was Brian Roberts. Roberts was gonna come to the Cubs and be the top of the lineup guy that would put the club into the World Series. Well that didn’t happen, and the team fared pretty well in 2008. Last offseason it was the non-stop Jake Peavy to the Cubs rumor. Peavy was going to team with Zambrano to give the Cubs the best 1-2 in the National League. Only Peavy never was traded to the Cubs and he spent most of the season battling injuries with the Padres and the White Sox.

This offseason Cubs fans and Phil Rogers have set their sights on Tigers CF Curtis Granderson. Rumour has it the Tigers are preparing to dump salary and Granderson appears to be the player that Dave Dombrowski might be able to get the most in return for. Most of the Cubs blogs have already written something about the cost of getting Curtis Granderson. Desipio’s Andy Dolan has a real good take on it:

The truth is, the Cubs need to be careful not to fall into one of Hendry’s favorite traps. He gets his mind set on a certain player and he plows ahead, come hell or high water.

For all of Granderson’s talents, the fact that you can bring a lefty–any lefty–in from the ‘pen late in the game and get him out more than 80 percent of the time puts a big dent in his value.

He’s a guy that, according to Baseball Reference, has a #1 comparable player of Kal Daniels. He led the AL in strikeouts in 2006 and has finished top ten in that category twice in the last three years. (He missed 21 games in 2008 and only struck out 111 times.) He went 2-21 in the 2006 World Series (I thought that was cancelled?) against the Cardinals. His 162 game career averages are of a good player. .272 BA, .828 OPS, 113 OPS+, but not a great one.

The Cubs just need to keep that in mind. This is a team that has to be conscious of it’s payroll again, and adding $8.25 million in 2011 and $10 million in 2012 isn’t insignificant.

Kal Daniels are you fucking kidding me? LMAO. One of the failing Cub images that has never been able to escape me is that of Kal Daniels rounding third with the winning run and falling flat on his face in 1992. It’s one of those images that just won’t go away. A momenet where the Cubs snatched defeat from the jaws of victory!

At ACB, MO took a look at what the Cubs may have to give up for Granderson:

I have to think Castro is pretty much untouchable. And honestly, a player of his potential might be too high a price for a player like Granderson. Granderson is certainly not the 7.1 WAR player he was a couple years back. He’s probably closer to the 3 WAR player he’s been the past two years, and that’s fine. He’s a solid ballplayer who will get a slight offensive bump by moving to the senior circuit, but you don’t give up 19 YO SS prospects of Castro’s ilk for solid ballplayers. You give them and their years of team control up for stars, for the Halladays and Teixerias of the world, not for the Grandersons. I probably also wouldn’t give up Jackson. Outside of those two, though, I’d move anyone in the system for Granderson. As for the veterans angle, I have to think that the Tigers probably don’t want Hoffpauir, but Fox and Fontenot might be used to sweeten the pot in a potential deal. Both guys are cheap and capable of contributing at the ML level, which is exactly why DET will want no part of Heilman or Miles, who are expensive and suck ass. But Hendry needs to stand firm here when it comes to just what prospects will be included in the deal. Dombrowski has to cut payroll, so the leverage is on Jim’s side. He doesn’t need to go all-in with Castro and Jackson on a player like Granderson, espcially not when the DET GM is in a real financial bind.

So have the extra cruller, Jim, and let Dombrowski stew.

Any cruller reference involving Jim Hendry is certain to get space on this page!

Joe at VFTB asks if Curtis Granderson is worth Starlin Castro or Josh Vitters?

Maybe I’m missing something here, but Granderson doesn’t seem to be the player that solves all of our woes. There is not a question in my mind that he would be a great fit from the standpoint that he would provide a lefty power stick that can play a great CF, but I’m not sure that he’s worth the price tag of some guys that I consider core parts of the infield in the next 3-4 years. It’s not that I’m that guy that never wants to deal prospects to get talent. That’s not the case at all. I simply don’t see the worth in Granderson to merit a guy like Castro or Vitters. If you want to look at a package that includes someone like Cashner or Jackson or even someone like Jeff Samardzija, I’m fine with that. I’m just not touching the other two for Granderson. Am I being too shrewd?
Carrie Muskat mentioned “Granderson would fill the leadoff spot”. How do you figure? Why is it that just being fast means you’re the best candidate for the leadoff spot. Granderson’s on base % was a mere .327 last year where he spent the majority of the time in the leadoff position. If we did bring him in, he’s NOT my leadoff man. Give that spot to Fukudome or Theriot with the other hitting 2nd.

No Joe, you aren’t missing a thing.

These are all real good questions about Granderson. Questions that I’d love to pretend and be smart enough to answer. While he’s certainly a very good ballplayer, he is not and will not be a solution to everything that ails the Chicago Cubs? Absolutely not. He’s also probably not worth the time that the fanbase will invest in ‘Granderson watch’ this winter.

What really bothers me most about all of this is the focus on Granderson, Peavy or Roberts. As Joe says at VFTB:

It’s as if the media locks in on one guy each off-season for this team and beats it like a drum until something happens. We saw it with Brian Roberts and we saw it with Jake Peavy. We even saw it way back when with guys like Mike Hampton, Barry Zito, Carlos Beltran, etc. We lock onto a guy and never want to rest.

Amen. The focus of the media on one player every offseason is disheartening. It’s as if writers like Phil Rogers have decided if the Cubs get ‘this guy’ the offseason will be a success. It doesn’t work that way fellas. This is not that simple. There are alot of moving parts to a baseball team and you have to try and focus on the big picture. Either that is difficult for these writers to do or they just think this kind of stuff will sell papers. One player certainly does not make an offseason. See Roberts and Peavy from the prior two offseasons.