Let's look at our moves so far

[SteveSarley]

Is Pierre a better center-fielder than Patterson? (That's Patterson in 2005, not the past or the imagined future.) YES

Is Jones better in left than Burnitz? Let's call it even, although Burnitz is at the end of his career and going down while Jones is still younger and has a better chance of getting back to form. EVEN

Is the bullpen better than last year? YES! YES! YES!

Bench? Mabry in Macias out. Not done yet, but better already. YES

Is Murton better than Hollandsworth in left? God, I hope so! YES

Is the Cedeno/Perez, Cedeno/Walker, Cedeno/Hairston DP combo better than last year's? EVEN

Starting pitching? Same as last year. EVEN

Lee, Ramirez, Barrett? Same. EVEN

I still don't think we are done making moves, but it looks like, as of right now, that our 2006 team is already vastly improved over the 2005 edition.

Could we have already done more? Sure! But I like the direction in which we are headed.

[badger1679666666]

The positivity is a nice change, but the 2006 Cubs are screwed if they don't make a big move, or they don't get Cy Zambrano, Cy Prior, and Cy Wood clicking in the same year.

 

I'm predicting

 

Brewers

Astros

Cards

Cubs

Reds

Pirates

 

next year.

[otis89]

I don't understand why everyone is acting like we have absolutely no chance next year. Sure, Jones was horrible last year, but who would you rather have in right, Jones or Patterson? Who's to say Z, Prior, and Wood won't stay healthy? They stayed healthy in '03, and look where that got us. Sure, our moves haven't gotten us perennial all-stars, but stop acting like we're going to be battling for the cellar next year. I'm sick of it.

[USSoccer]

I don't understand why everyone is acting like we have absolutely no chance next year. Sure, Jones was horrible last year, but who would you rather have in right, Jones or Patterson? Who's to say Z, Prior, and Wood won't stay healthy? They stayed healthy in '03, and look where that got us. Sure, our moves haven't gotten us perennial all-stars, but stop acting like we're going to be battling for the cellar next year. I'm sick of it.

 

The facts are that Hendry didn't do anything to change the fact that we're going to have to rely on luck and health to win 90 games. With a $100m payroll, that's a poor job. Sure, if we get some breaks, no one regresses or misses signifigant time and Wood, Prior and Z stay healthy all year, we'll compete, but that's leaving an awful lot to chance, and again, we have the payroll to avoid counting on chance.

[ManEatingTarp]

The positivity is a nice change, but the 2006 Cubs are screwed if they don't make a big move, or they don't get Cy Zambrano, Cy Prior, and Cy Wood clicking in the same year.

 

I'm predicting

 

Brewers

Astros

Cards

Cubs

Reds

Pirates

 

next year.

 

I love it when people start picking the Cards 3rd.

Works like a charm every time ;)

 

I would agree that the Cubs and Cards off season has left a lot to be desired so far. That said, the Astros have done nothing, and I think the Brewers are still a year away imo. This is still the Cards division to lose.

[peoriachiefs]

I don't understand why everyone is acting like we have absolutely no chance next year. Sure, Jones was horrible last year, but who would you rather have in right, Jones or Patterson? Who's to say Z, Prior, and Wood won't stay healthy? They stayed healthy in '03, and look where that got us. Sure, our moves haven't gotten us perennial all-stars, but stop acting like we're going to be battling for the cellar next year. I'm sick of it.

 

 

 

well said, im getting sick of all this, we still have a very good team, and will be in the running all year, we now have a balanced offense and a very good rotation and bullpen, we dont have many real holes, i would like another move too, but if the season starts tomorrow, im not dissapointed and we will compete

[professahesse]

I don't understand why everyone is acting like we have absolutely no chance next year. Sure, Jones was horrible last year, but who would you rather have in right, Jones or Patterson? Who's to say Z, Prior, and Wood won't stay healthy? They stayed healthy in '03, and look where that got us. Sure, our moves haven't gotten us perennial all-stars, but stop acting like we're going to be battling for the cellar next year. I'm sick of it.

 

I'm with you there.

[USSoccer]

The positivity is a nice change, but the 2006 Cubs are screwed if they don't make a big move, or they don't get Cy Zambrano, Cy Prior, and Cy Wood clicking in the same year.

 

I'm predicting

 

Brewers

Astros

Cards

Cubs

Reds

Pirates

 

next year.

 

I love it when people start picking the Cards 3rd.

Works like a charm every time ;)

 

I would agree that the Cubs and Cards off season has left a lot to be desired so far. That said, the Astros have done nothing, and I think the Brewers are still a year away imo. This is still the Cards division to lose.

 

I agree. They were head and shoulders better than everyone the last 2 years, and even with them at status quo they have a big leg up on the rest of the division.

[YearofDaCubs]

I don't understand why everyone is acting like we have absolutely no chance next year. Sure, Jones was horrible last year, but who would you rather have in right, Jones or Patterson? Who's to say Z, Prior, and Wood won't stay healthy? They stayed healthy in '03, and look where that got us. Sure, our moves haven't gotten us perennial all-stars, but stop acting like we're going to be battling for the cellar next year. I'm sick of it.

03 was a long time ago. Not a good idea to rely on some of our aces who have been injured the past two years.

[SteveSarley]

Oh my God!

No one has disagreed with my opinion

that we are a better team than last year!

I'm quitting while I am ahead and going to bed!

[CardsFanInChiTown]

I know I've said this in a few other threads but it bares repeating - The Cubs have a good shot at 90 wins in 06.

[RockTheIvy]

I know I've said this in a few other threads but it bares repeating - The Cubs have a good shot at 90 wins in 06.

 

Stop it you're scaring me!

[Sarcastic]

I don't understand why everyone is acting like we have absolutely no chance next year. Sure, Jones was horrible last year, but who would you rather have in right, Jones or Patterson? Who's to say Z, Prior, and Wood won't stay healthy? They stayed healthy in '03, and look where that got us. Sure, our moves haven't gotten us perennial all-stars, but stop acting like we're going to be battling for the cellar next year. I'm sick of it.

03 was a long time ago. Not a good idea to rely on some of our aces who have been injured the past two years.

 

I can understand saying that about Wood, but Prior? I don't think line drives to the elbow are a frequently recurring injury.

[YearofDaCubs]

I don't understand why everyone is acting like we have absolutely no chance next year. Sure, Jones was horrible last year, but who would you rather have in right, Jones or Patterson? Who's to say Z, Prior, and Wood won't stay healthy? They stayed healthy in '03, and look where that got us. Sure, our moves haven't gotten us perennial all-stars, but stop acting like we're going to be battling for the cellar next year. I'm sick of it.

03 was a long time ago. Not a good idea to rely on some of our aces who have been injured the past two years.

 

I can understand saying that about Wood, but Prior? I don't think line drives to the elbow are a frequently recurring injury.

How quick we are to forget how much time Prior missed in 2004. Since then Prior hasn't been exactly "lighting it up" either.

[Sarcastic]

 

I can understand saying that about Wood, but Prior? I don't think line drives to the elbow are a frequently recurring injury.

How quick we are to forget how much time Prior missed in 2004. Since then Prior hasn't been exactly "lighting it up" either.

 

One major non-improbable injury does not make him a foregone conclusion to be on the DL. He was very good for the first part of the 2005 season, but understandably had a hard time coming back from a fluke injury. I think there is a good chance that he will be mostly healthy in 2006, and if he is, he should be very effective.

[RockTheIvy]

 

I can understand saying that about Wood, but Prior? I don't think line drives to the elbow are a frequently recurring injury.

How quick we are to forget how much time Prior missed in 2004. Since then Prior hasn't been exactly "lighting it up" either.

 

One major non-improbable injury does not make him a foregone conclusion to be on the DL. He was very good for the first part of the 2005 season, but understandably had a hard time coming back from a fluke injury. I think there is a good chance that he will be mostly healthy in 2006, and if he is, he should be very effective.

 

Very Very very effective. Let's not forget his unbelievable 2003:

 

IP H R ER HR BB SO W L SV HLD BLSV ERA

 

211.1 183 67 57 15 50 245 18 6 0 0 --2.43

[Sarcastic]

 

I can understand saying that about Wood, but Prior? I don't think line drives to the elbow are a frequently recurring injury.

How quick we are to forget how much time Prior missed in 2004. Since then Prior hasn't been exactly "lighting it up" either.

 

One major non-improbable injury does not make him a foregone conclusion to be on the DL. He was very good for the first part of the 2005 season, but understandably had a hard time coming back from a fluke injury. I think there is a good chance that he will be mostly healthy in 2006, and if he is, he should be very effective.

 

Very Very very effective. Let's not forget his unbelievable 2003:

 

IP H R ER HR BB SO W L SV HLD BLSV ERA

 

211.1 183 67 57 15 50 245 18 6 0 0 --2.43

 

You have to love that K:BB ratio.

[RockTheIvy]

Unreal huh? God that was a magical year. Sadly, I feel the pitching staff has to be that good to bring us another one of those. Hopefully our offense will be good enough. I'm praying Williamson can return to form. If so, our bullpen could be unreal.

[ChiCubsFan]

I like the positive attitudes of some people. Yes, Jim Hendry did not make the ideal moves. There really wasn't much out there though, to be honest. Brian Giles would have been nice for RF but whos to say he had any desire to play for the Cubs. Was there any other big FA we should have gotten that we didnt? You cant say he should have traded for Tejada or traded for Abreu because we don't know what the Orioles/Phillies would have wanted in return. Milton Bradley would have been nice but he does come with some bagage and we dont really know what the Dodger would have wanted from the Cubs for him. I think Hendry should have given Jones a 1 or 2 year deal if he wanted to go that route instead of a 3 year deal, but Hendry did improve this team from last year. I think winning 90-95 games is realistic. Not saying it will happen, but we do have a talented team that can easy reach that mark. Yes, we do need some things to fall our way but so does every other team. I think we have just a good of chance as anybody to win the NL Central.

[Fred Hornkohl]

I did some noodling around with numbers to try and see what kind of a team we would be fielding as of this moment, and here's what I found. I started with Zip's projections for 2006. I used John Mabry's actual numbers from last year since I could not find anything on him from Zips. Then I took the actual numbers from '05 for our pitching staff as a whole. I added the whole mess up and found that it totaled 6221 AB's as a team. Last year we lead the NL in AB's with 5584, so I needed to do some fudging. Zips had Patterson and Perez projected at 564 & 482 AB's respectively. Patterson, if he is even on the roster this year will certainly not be a starter, and Perez, in my opinion, will not see anywhere near the kind of playing time he did last year. So, I used a factor of 39% on all of Patterson & Perez's numbers, keeping their rate stats the same as what Zips came up with. I admit, this allocation is arbitrary and incorrigible, but it does serve to bring our AB's down to approximately where they were in 2005, thus allowing for some measure of comparability.

 

Name         P    AVG   OBP   SLG   G   AB   R    H  2B 3B  HR RBI  BB    K  SB CS 
Pierre*      cf  .293  .346  .364 162  676  92  198  22 10   2  61  50   41  52 22 
Walker*      2b  .277  .336  .435 125  451  60  125  26  3  13  57  40   49   1  2 
Lee          1b  .309  .398  .582 159  593 104  183  44  2  38 114  84  121  14  5 
Ramirez      3b  .302  .359  .541 142  549  83  166  33  1  32 104  45   75   1  2 
Jones*       rf  .261  .319  .433 145  541  71  141  26  2  21  76  42  121  11  7 
Barrett      c   .276  .342  .468 125  410  47  113  29  4  14  58  37   60   0  3 
Murton       lf  .289  .350  .430 137  470  64  136  16  4  14  56  42   77  10  5 
Cedeno       ss  .287  .332  .412 113  345  46   99  15  2   8  40  20   63  13  4 
pitchers     p   .202  .219  .277 162  336  25   68  12  2   3  18   6   97   1  2

Blanco       c   .204  .258  .351  81  225  22   46  12  0   7  27  15   39   0  2 
Hairston     2b  .273  .350  .378  98  333  44   91  22  2   3  31  31   39   9  9 
Patterson*   cf  .252  .298  .418  57  220  29   55   9  2   8  27  14   57   9  3 
Perez#       ss  .259  .288  .353  55  188  18   49  10  0   2  18   7   17   2  1 
Mabry        rf  .240  .295  .407 112  246  26   59  15  1   8  32  20   63   0  0 

Totals           .274  .331  .431 162 5583 731 1529 291 35 173 719 463  919 123 67
2005 CUBS        .270  .324  .440 162 5584 703 1506 323 23 194 674 419  920  65 39

 

I think you could make a reasonable argument that the roster, as it currently stands, is marginally better than last year. At the same time, it's certainly nothing to get overly excited about. For my part, I certainly hope Mr. Hendry has another big move up his sleeve.

 

Go CUBS !!

[TB_11]

I did some noodling around with numbers to try and see what kind of a team we would be fielding as of this moment, and here's what I found. I started with Zip's projections for 2006. I used John Mabry's actual numbers from last year since I could not find anything on him from Zips. Then I took the actual numbers from '05 for our pitching staff as a whole. I added the whole mess up and found that it totaled 6221 AB's as a team. Last year we lead the NL in AB's with 5584, so I needed to do some fudging. Zips had Patterson and Perez projected at 564 & 482 AB's respectively. Patterson, if he is even on the roster this year will certainly not be a starter, and Perez, in my opinion, will not see anywhere near the kind of playing time he did last year. So, I used a factor of 39% on all of Patterson & Perez's numbers, keeping their rate stats the same as what Zips came up with. I admit, this allocation is arbitrary and incorrigible, but it does serve to bring our AB's down to approximately where they were in 2005, thus allowing for some measure of comparability.

 

Name         P    AVG   OBP   SLG   G   AB   R    H  2B 3B  HR RBI  BB    K  SB CS 
Pierre*      cf  .293  .346  .364 162  676  92  198  22 10   2  61  50   41  52 22 
Walker*      2b  .277  .336  .435 125  451  60  125  26  3  13  57  40   49   1  2 
Lee          1b  .309  .398  .582 159  593 104  183  44  2  38 114  84  121  14  5 
Ramirez      3b  .302  .359  .541 142  549  83  166  33  1  32 104  45   75   1  2 
Jones*       rf  .261  .319  .433 145  541  71  141  26  2  21  76  42  121  11  7 
Barrett      c   .276  .342  .468 125  410  47  113  29  4  14  58  37   60   0  3 
Murton       lf  .289  .350  .430 137  470  64  136  16  4  14  56  42   77  10  5 
Cedeno       ss  .287  .332  .412 113  345  46   99  15  2   8  40  20   63  13  4 
pitchers     p   .202  .219  .277 162  336  25   68  12  2   3  18   6   97   1  2

Blanco       c   .204  .258  .351  81  225  22   46  12  0   7  27  15   39   0  2 
Hairston     2b  .273  .350  .378  98  333  44   91  22  2   3  31  31   39   9  9 
Patterson*   cf  .252  .298  .418  57  220  29   55   9  2   8  27  14   57   9  3 
Perez#       ss  .259  .288  .353  55  188  18   49  10  0   2  18   7   17   2  1 
Mabry        rf  .240  .295  .407 112  246  26   59  15  1   8  32  20   63   0  0 

Totals           .274  .331  .431 162 5583 731 1529 291 35 173 719 463  919 123 67
2005 CUBS        .270  .324  .440 162 5584 703 1506 323 23 194 674 419  920  65 39

 

I think you could make a reasonable argument that the roster, as it currently stands, is marginally better than last year. At the same time, it's certainly nothing to get overly excited about. For my part, I certainly hope Mr. Hendry has another big move up his sleeve.

 

Go CUBS !!

 

Fred rules.

 

My belief is that Hendry had opportunities to upgrade the offense this offseason, and failed. That doesn't mean that the Cubs can't compete for the Central or the Wild Card next year. It just means with virtually no change in offensive performance to be expected, the pitching needs to come through in the same way it did in 2003.

 

As it stands right now, we need to have Prior, Zambrano, and Wood all making 30+ solid starts next year to compete, along with Maddux and Williams/Rusch filling in to the best of their abilities. Not that all that can't happen in a season, but it would have been nice to not have to rely entirely on each of those things occuring.

[CuseCubFan69]

I did some noodling around with numbers to try and see what kind of a team we would be fielding as of this moment, and here's what I found. I started with Zip's projections for 2006. I used John Mabry's actual numbers from last year since I could not find anything on him from Zips. Then I took the actual numbers from '05 for our pitching staff as a whole. I added the whole mess up and found that it totaled 6221 AB's as a team. Last year we lead the NL in AB's with 5584, so I needed to do some fudging. Zips had Patterson and Perez projected at 564 & 482 AB's respectively. Patterson, if he is even on the roster this year will certainly not be a starter, and Perez, in my opinion, will not see anywhere near the kind of playing time he did last year. So, I used a factor of 39% on all of Patterson & Perez's numbers, keeping their rate stats the same as what Zips came up with. I admit, this allocation is arbitrary and incorrigible, but it does serve to bring our AB's down to approximately where they were in 2005, thus allowing for some measure of comparability.

 

Name         P    AVG   OBP   SLG   G   AB   R    H  2B 3B  HR RBI  BB    K  SB CS 
Pierre*      cf  .293  .346  .364 162  676  92  198  22 10   2  61  50   41  52 22 
Walker*      2b  .277  .336  .435 125  451  60  125  26  3  13  57  40   49   1  2 
Lee          1b  .309  .398  .582 159  593 104  183  44  2  38 114  84  121  14  5 
Ramirez      3b  .302  .359  .541 142  549  83  166  33  1  32 104  45   75   1  2 
Jones*       rf  .261  .319  .433 145  541  71  141  26  2  21  76  42  121  11  7 
Barrett      c   .276  .342  .468 125  410  47  113  29  4  14  58  37   60   0  3 
Murton       lf  .289  .350  .430 137  470  64  136  16  4  14  56  42   77  10  5 
Cedeno       ss  .287  .332  .412 113  345  46   99  15  2   8  40  20   63  13  4 
pitchers     p   .202  .219  .277 162  336  25   68  12  2   3  18   6   97   1  2

Blanco       c   .204  .258  .351  81  225  22   46  12  0   7  27  15   39   0  2 
Hairston     2b  .273  .350  .378  98  333  44   91  22  2   3  31  31   39   9  9 
Patterson*   cf  .252  .298  .418  57  220  29   55   9  2   8  27  14   57   9  3 
Perez#       ss  .259  .288  .353  55  188  18   49  10  0   2  18   7   17   2  1 
Mabry        rf  .240  .295  .407 112  246  26   59  15  1   8  32  20   63   0  0 

Totals           .274  .331  .431 162 5583 731 1529 291 35 173 719 463  919 123 67
2005 CUBS        .270  .324  .440 162 5584 703 1506 323 23 194 674 419  920  65 39

 

I think you could make a reasonable argument that the roster, as it currently stands, is marginally better than last year. At the same time, it's certainly nothing to get overly excited about. For my part, I certainly hope Mr. Hendry has another big move up his sleeve.

 

Go CUBS !!

 

Still denying the fact that Perez is going to get 500 or more AB's Fred? You do have Baker as the manager of this team...right? :D

[Fred Hornkohl]

Still denying the fact that Perez is going to get 500 or more AB's Fred? You do have Baker as the manager of this team...right? :D

 

I'm still trying to wrap my mind around your characterization of a possible future event as a fact ??? :wink:

 

Maybe I'm just too optimistic for my own good, but I kind of believed Bruce Miles yesterday when he said Neifi wouldn't be starting.

[CuseCubFan69]

Still denying the fact that Perez is going to get 500 or more AB's Fred? You do have Baker as the manager of this team...right? :D

 

I'm still trying to wrap my mind around your characterization of a possible future event as a fact ??? :wink:

 

Maybe I'm just too optimistic for my own good, but I kind of believed Bruce Miles yesterday when he said Neifi wouldn't be starting.

 

If Baker were fired today I would think that would be the greatest move Hendry could make.

 

Who are you going to believe about Perez....some guy that spends all his time with the Cubs or some guy in Syracuse? :wink: I remember the Dubois thing last off season and him starting in left last year and no way do I see Baker starting Cedeno over Perez. The only way Cedeno starts is if Perez is the SS or Cedeno is the SS and Perez is starting 2nd.

 

What really worries me is who is going to bat second on this team the way it is now. Walkers is as good as gone.

Edited December 22, 2005 by CuseCubFan69

[Bgbird68]

Here's what the question should be:

 

If the pitching remains healthy, can the Cubs win the World Series with the current lineup?