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Talking Chicago Baseball was founded in February 2009 as a way for the authors to whine about the Cubs and White Sox. Now it is a top destination for all the latest Cubs and White Sox news and analysis. We have all the current news for both teams in Chicago and proudly do so with as much bias as possible.

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Is It Time to Move Theriot? | Print |  E-mail
Written by Justin Bridgman   
Friday, 09 October 2009 16:03

As you may have guessed based on some recent writings, I'm not a big fan of Ryan Theriot. Still I am willing to admit that he has a lot of value to the Cubs right now and a lot of that has to do with his cost controlled contract. Theriot was paid 500k this season according to Cot's Baseball Contracts, a cost that really makes it easy to understand why he has stayed on the team despite being a bit overmatched at times.

This offseason though Theriot is arbitration eligible, meaning that his salary is going to take a jump. The way arbitration works is Theriot and his agent present a salary figure they think is acceptable for the level of performance we have gotten from Theriot. The Cubs also submit a figure, it will be much lower than the one Theriot will submit. The two sides then quibble for a week or so before settling somewhere in the middle.

If they can't agree the case goes to a judge who hears arguments from both sides and picks either Theriot's side or the Cubs side. It is an ugly process that involves a lot of mean things said, because the Cubs have to go up and insult Theriot to explain why he deserves their lower salary figure. The good (or perhaps bad) news is that Jim Hendry will never in his life go into an arbitration hearing, meaning lots of guys will get their demands.

Now let's say Theriot ends up with $3 or $4 million out of that, he suddenly looks a lot less valuable. At 30 years old Theriot's best days are starting to be behind him, and if we have seen his prime I don't want to imagine what he becomes soon. Theriot's value will never he higher than it is now (well that isn't true last season it was at it's highest) a lot of people want to see him shift over to second where his glove won't be as bad because his weak arm won't matter as much.

I think he should be shifted to a new city, mostly because he does have value in the trade market right now. Teams are looking for cheap middle infielders who have proven they can be competent, the Cubs have one, and if they include Theriot in a bigger deal he could be a big chip.

I'm not saying Theriot has to be dealt no questions asked, but he should be able to be tossed in a bigger deal if a team asked about him. He shouldn't be on the untouchable list of Cubs players now that his salary is going up.



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