The MOST puzzling thing about all these trades is...

[anemic offense]

...if Hendry WASN'T willing to give the years and dollars for the younger player he wanted (not to mention who played in our league), why is he so keen in making a trade for an older player, who makes the same dollars, allthewhile including a superstar pitcher?? Then you think about what it does to the rotation. Unless Hendry is complacent enough to rely on three unproven (with Wood and Bedards healthe - if he comes -) starters and a quickly declining hall of pitcher, then he'll probably consider signing one of the FA pitchers. The sad thing is NONE of these pitchers is even half as good as Prior, while most (if not all) will cost more even after Prior is offered arb./signed to a one year deal. So where's the net gain? Furcal and Miggy are almost a wash (both offer slightly different, though equally valuable skill sets). Prior is BETTER than any pitcher we would receive in the trade/FA. We'd pry have more $ invested in contracts. This team would be older. It just doesn't add up. Either you should be willing to make all the deals (Furcal, and Tejeda) or you're willing to make none. Hendry's not even imploring his lack of logic consistently as he makes/considers his deals. He apparently has no idea what he's doing.

[hawkeyecub]

Tejada is much better than Furcal.

[CubinNY]

someone felt the need to open another thread

[ThePenguin11]

The point is the Cubs could have had either SS without sacrificing their biggest superstars - if they could just sign them in the first place.

[Derwood]

Furcal has never had 150 RBI in a season

 

Furcal has never won an MVP award

 

Furcal accepted the Dodger's deal without allowing the Cubs to counter.

[brinoch]

Ignoring the trade aspect for a moment (I know that's impossible -- even for me), Tejada is significantly better than Furcal. There's really no question about it.

[YearofDaCubs]

Furcal has never had 150 RBI in a season

 

Furcal has never won an MVP award

 

Furcal accepted the Dodger's deal without allowing the Cubs to counter.

Tejada is better than Furcal but actually Furcal DID allow the Cubs to counter and they were not willing to go over the 9mil per year they offered.

[DivineBovine]

It really steams me that the Cubs made no effort to get Tejada when in fact he was available on the open market. We had an abominable situtation at SS at the time, and were committed to KGonz for a year. So what. We could've unloaded him and even eaten a little of his relatively small but completely undeserved salary. I don't know if Arod would've come to Chicago, but somehow the Yanks got him for $16 mill/yr.

 

The fact that we get Jones to round out our corner OF is as absurd. Tejada production in the OF is so much cheaper than at SS, yet Hendry decides to upgrade the offense at the most expensive spot. He decides that Tejada is worth one of the most valuable players on the team in terms of trade value.

 

I sure hope all these rumors are a joke, because I'm beginning to feel that Hendry is one.

[muntjack]

Furcal has never had 150 RBI in a season

 

Furcal has never won an MVP award

 

Furcal accepted the Dodger's deal without allowing the Cubs to counter.

 

 

#1- Team stat. Who cares.

 

#2- He won in a weak year because of those RBIs. Voters are morons.

 

#3- Yes, but....

 

 

Is the difference between Tejada and Furcal worth Mark Prior? Certainly not.

 

Remember, Tejada has never posted an OPS above .900. This is a good #5 hitter, that is all.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

Furcal has never had 150 RBI in a season

 

Furcal has never won an MVP award

 

Furcal accepted the Dodger's deal without allowing the Cubs to counter.

 

 

#1- Team stat. Who cares.

 

#2- He won in a weak year because of those RBIs. Voters are morons.

 

#3- Yes, but....

 

 

Is the difference between Tejada and Furcal worth Mark Prior? Certainly not.

 

Remember, Tejada has never posted an OPS above .900. This is a good #5 hitter, that is all.

 

And the last 2 years Tejada had a higher OBP than Furcal. I guess that means he would also be a better leadoff hitter.

[BigbadB]

#1- Team stat. Who cares.

 

Not arguing with you in anyway, but thought I'd point this out:

 

Tejada had 150 RBI's his first year in Baltimore. He posted a .311/.360/.534 AVG/OBP/SLG. He had 76 XBH's.

 

Derrek Lee had 107 RBI's last year. He posted a .335/.418/.662 AVG/OBP/SLG. He had 99 XBH's.

 

Baltimore had a .341 OBP in the lead off spot the year Tejada got 150 RBI's. They had a .370 OBP in the 2 hole. 48 stolen bases between those two spots in the order.

 

Cubs last year had a .299 OBP in the lead off spot. They had a .314 OBP in the 2 hole. 27 stolen bases between those two spots.

 

The reason I bring up the top of the order is because the Cubs OBP at the top of the order cost them a lot of runs and a lot of games. The bad OBP outside of Lee, Ramirez, Walker and Barrett is why the team stunk so bad. Not defense, not speed. GETTING ON BASE is what they were bad at, and are still bad at.

 

How much you wanna bet Neifi Perez or Jacque Jones and their well below average OBP's hits 2nd for this team because Hendry and Baker are emphasizing speed rather than OBP?

 

Between Neifi and Jacque Jones, the two of them grounded into 39 double plays last year. That wretchedly horrible Todd Walker guy hit into half has many as Jones, and nearly 1/3 the amount Neifi hit into. He makes the same amount of money as Neifi, gets on base much more often, doesn't create nearly as many outs and this is the guy they want to trade.

 

:D

 

Fix the line up by removing bad OBP guys with good OBP guys and you create enough offense to get you by. Fix the bullpen, beef up the bench and get the starting staff healthy and you are a well rounded baseball team. You don't need to add a superstar. Subtracting here to strengthen there (Prior for Tejada) doesn't do a thing to help this team.

[Gunned]

To me, the difference between Tejada and Neifi is far greater than the difference between Bedard and Prior.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

To me, the difference between Tejada and Neifi is far greater than the difference between Bedard and Prior.

 

That may very well be true, but that is not what this club needs. We already have a shortage of MLB-ready (or proven) starting pitching with Wood on the shelf and Maddux on his way out. Cedeno, by the way, still looks to be the everyday SS when the season starts if we do not acquire Tejada.

 

I'd much rather have Prior+Cedeno than Bedard+Tejada.

[anemic offense]

The point is the Cubs could have had either SS without sacrificing their biggest superstars - if they could just sign them in the first place.

 

Yes, that and the fact Hendry's not even being consistent in his own bad decision making. If he declined to sign Furcal based on money fine (not that I necessarily agree with that but as least he has a stance). If he declined to sign Furcal based on years, fine. But to turn around and defy his OWN logic (or lack thereof) by trading one of his best players for the same caliber of player at the same position (as Furcal) then WTF is his stance? It isn't years. It isn't dollars. It's not age. It's not an overall talent upgrade. It's not ANYTHING!

[PieOnMyHands]

Furcal has never had 150 RBI in a season

 

Furcal bats leadoff. Tejada does not. While you might argue that Tejada hits third because he's so much better a hitter than Furcal is, that doesn't excuse the fact that you brought up a really bad point.

 

Furcal has never won an MVP award

 

Regardless, Prior will probably win a Cy Young within the next five years or so. Why trade an elite, young, cheap starting pitcher for an older, more expensive shortstop?

[CubfaninCA]

It really steams me that the Cubs made no effort to get Tejada when in fact he was available on the open market. We had an abominable situtation at SS at the time, and were committed to KGonz for a year. So what. We could've unloaded him and even eaten a little of his relatively small but completely undeserved salary. I don't know if Arod would've come to Chicago, but somehow the Yanks got him for $16 mill/yr.

 

The fact that we get Jones to round out our corner OF is as absurd. Tejada production in the OF is so much cheaper than at SS, yet Hendry decides to upgrade the offense at the most expensive spot. He decides that Tejada is worth one of the most valuable players on the team in terms of trade value.

 

I sure hope all these rumors are a joke, because I'm beginning to feel that Hendry is one.

 

Yep wish they would have got Tejada too, but they did fill some holes in 04. Iirc they had about $15 million or so available in 04 & spent the money on Maddux, Hawkins & Walker. Their 5th starter in 03 was Estes. Nuff said. The pen was an arm short & Hawk was the best available setup man in 04. Unfortunately, he choked as a Cub. Walker's been quite productive and is essentially a Cub icon. ;)

 

The available money wasn't wasted, but if Prior goes for Tejada, Hendry made a huge blunder.