Jason Kendall is now a Cubbie

[DMBZeppelin]

They give up a pitcher in A-ball named Blevins and career backup Bowen. I think all in all this is a GREAT trade for the Cubbies.

[hot_corner_gurl]

The same could be said for us. Kendall was a good catcher and worked well with the pitchers, but Beane decided that it's time for the rookie catcher (Suzuki) to take over, and hence, Kendall was traded...along with some cash.

[DMBZeppelin]

Ya I hope it works out for both sides.

[brewersfan19]

I am sure it will work out for the A's. Beane has a way to find hidden gems in his trading ability.

[Slyder]

They give up a pitcher in A-ball named Blevins and career backup Bowen. I think all in all this is a GREAT trade for the Cubbies.

*awaits Blevins to pull a Harden*

Anyways great trade for the cubs if Kendall stays healthy.

[CrimsonTribe]

I don't think you guys realize quite how bad Kendall is. The man has a .542 OPS. He's slugging .281... that's right, that is his slugging percentage, not his batting average. On top of that he's making $13M this year. The Cubbies only have to pay a pro-rated amount, but still that's about $5.7M for the rest of the season (is Oakland picking any of this up?). He may get a little bit better moving from AL to NL and pitcher's park to hitter's park, but the guy truly is a liability offensively and he's never made anyone scream with joy over his defense. Basically, the A's just dumped a lot of salary from this year and just got better in the process. The Cubbies, on the other hand, are paying a premium for a familiar name, but could probably get better production from a AAA catcher who they would only have to pay $350K.

[hot_corner_gurl]

Ok why does everything revole around hitting nowadays? If you think about the more deffensive and mental aspect of the game, I thought he did a good job. He would always be the first guy at the ballpark and the last one to leave, win or lose. I remember that twice last year he caught all of an extra-inning game, just to go out the next day and start a 1 o'clock game. How many other catchers can say that they've done that? Also, he was good defensively. By no means was he a Johnny Bench or Rodrieguez, but he was able to block balls in the dirt, which saved dozens of runs. He doens't get enough credit for how he handeled the A's young pitching staff too. Every A's pitcher had faith in Kendall that he would call for the correct pitch for that situation, and for guys like Haren, he'd know that Kendall would always block that nasty splitter of his. Kendall would work his ass off in the winter and during spring to prepare the pitchers and get ready for the season. So he doesn't hit .300, so he doesn't hit for power. He was the ironman of the team, he was the grizzled vet that the young players turned to for advice. I don't know about you guys, but in my book, that clubhouse presence is more important than homers and a .300 average. Much more.

[realmofotalk]

Kendall could have a 10/10 in leadership skills for all we know, but the fact remains that the Athletics (their GM, Billy Beane, in particular) dumped him for reasons that, in their eyes, outweighed his intangibles.

[rockin500]

I don't think you guys realize quite how bad Kendall is. The man has a .542 OPS. He's slugging .281... that's right, that is his slugging percentage, not his batting average. On top of that he's making $13M this year. The Cubbies only have to pay a pro-rated amount, but still that's about $5.7M for the rest of the season (is Oakland picking any of this up?). He may get a little bit better moving from AL to NL and pitcher's park to hitter's park, but the guy truly is a liability offensively and he's never made anyone scream with joy over his defense. Basically, the A's just dumped a lot of salary from this year and just got better in the process. The Cubbies, on the other hand, are paying a premium for a familiar name, but could probably get better production from a AAA catcher who they would only have to pay $350K.

first off, the A's werent paying the entire portion of his deal. they themselves are only paying some of the deal. The cubs are receiving cash in the trade as well.

i am kinda eh, about the deal. nothing special, but not going to hurt either. Blevins pulling a harden would not be a tragedy from our vantage point because then he would never be pitching anyways for the A's.

[CrimsonTribe]

first off, the A's werent paying the entire portion of his deal. they themselves are only paying some of the deal. The cubs are receiving cash in the trade as well.

i am kinda eh, about the deal. nothing special, but not going to hurt either. Blevins pulling a harden would not be a tragedy from our vantage point because then he would never be pitching anyways for the A's.

You're right, Pirates were paying $5.5M, therefore the remaining $7.5M is split btw the A's and Cubbies unless the A's are picking some up. Not a huge deal either way, but still not a good deal for the Cubs.

[CrimsonTribe]

Ok why does everything revole around hitting nowadays? If you think about the more deffensive and mental aspect of the game, I thought he did a good job. He would always be the first guy at the ballpark and the last one to leave, win or lose. I remember that twice last year he caught all of an extra-inning game, just to go out the next day and start a 1 o'clock game. How many other catchers can say that they've done that? Also, he was good defensively. By no means was he a Johnny Bench or Rodrieguez, but he was able to block balls in the dirt, which saved dozens of runs. He doens't get enough credit for how he handeled the A's young pitching staff too. Every A's pitcher had faith in Kendall that he would call for the correct pitch for that situation, and for guys like Haren, he'd know that Kendall would always block that nasty splitter of his. Kendall would work his ass off in the winter and during spring to prepare the pitchers and get ready for the season. So he doesn't hit .300, so he doesn't hit for power. He was the ironman of the team, he was the grizzled vet that the young players turned to for advice. I don't know about you guys, but in my book, that clubhouse presence is more important than homers and a .300 average. Much more.

Kendall has been as close to an automatic out as you can get this year. There's nothing that can balance that out.

[Slyder]

Kendall has been as close to an automatic out as you can get this year. There's nothing that can balance that out.

Would you rather have Javier Valentin whos got some pop but SUCKS behind the plate? Its not like you all are in dire need of some offense.

[CrimsonTribe]

I'm not a Cubs fan, but I know that no team, regardless of their offensive capabilities wants a black hole in the lineup. Especially one that they have to pay a couple million bucks for the rest of the year.

[rockin500]

I'm not a Cubs fan, but I know that no team, regardless of their offensive capabilities wants a black hole in the lineup. Especially one that they have to pay a couple million bucks for the rest of the year.

as bad as he is, hes still an upgrade over hill and bowen (and blanco when healthy). as long as he can call a good game and deal with the pitching staff, anything he bats will be a bonus.

he cant be as bad he has been this year.

[brewersfan19]

not only that a change of scenery can be a fresh start and re-energize a player.