Cameron signs with Red Sox

[Tyrant]

If Cameron is off the board and Bradley's gone, it sounds like we have a Marlon Byrd signing coming up. Great.

 

If Cameron signs I would hope we just keep Bradley.

 

Bradley is better than Cameron and keeping Bradley wasn't an option then, so I don't know why it would be an option now.

 

Bradley is not better than Cameron.

[CUBZ99]

If Cameron is off the board and Bradley's gone, it sounds like we have a Marlon Byrd signing coming up. Great.

 

If Cameron signs I would hope we just keep Bradley.

 

Bradley is better than Cameron and keeping Bradley wasn't an option then, so I don't know why it would be an option now.

 

Bradley is not better than Cameron.

 

He was better one year than Cameron.

[cubsfan26]

What about Randy Winn? Keep Kosuke in CF, and Winn in RF. Not ideal, or anywhere close to my number #1 offseason option but he wouldn't be a horrible idea.

 

 

I'd rather keep Fukudome in CF and sign Xavier Nady or heck even Brian Giles then Winn at this point. But I doubt they would consider that. I think they are deadset on adding a CF and moving Fukudome to RF. Also there's just about no chance at all that Bradley is on the team next season. The decision has been made and they won't go back on it now. Even if they have to settle for C,D and F options and eat more salary then they wanted to with Bradley.

[Cubbie Swagger]

This sucks. Seriously, it does.

 

Why can't Milton just get it together? This off-season would be so much easier if he could just learn to act right and not cause problems. I would also lean a little more towards keeping him if Cameron signs elsewhere. But... the thing that worries me is all of the comments from his teammates. It sounds like it's really not even possible, even if we sat the guy down and settled our differences.

[haubrich91]

Hendry did say he expects more trades, and that it wouldn't come quick. Hopefully he has something up his sleeve.

[Magnetic Curses]

looks like the ricketts family has closed the shop. hope you all get what you wanted with a family-owned team.

 

we aren't going to be the red sox or yankees. perhaps we'll be the astros if we're lucky.

[Clem Fandango]

Hendry did say he expects more trades, and that it wouldn't come quick. Hopefully he has something up his sleeve.

 

Probably a donut!

 

snarf snarf

[17 Seconds]

our team is going to be incredibly mediocre next season

[cubsfan26]

our team is going to be incredibly mediocre next season

 

You probably said that going into 2008 too. Plus there's still tons of time left this offseason and no team outside maybe the Phillies looks good right now. If the Cardinals resign Matt Holliday they might be added to that mix. But just about every NL team has simliar questionmarks or issues as we currently have. Our offseason hasn't even really started yet. It's not like were about done and just added a bunch of crap players. Scott Podsednik didn't get signed to be the everyday CF and leadoff guy and Hendry didn't name Aaron Miles(the fact he's off the team is a postive) the everyday 2b and number 2 hitter. So can we chill with the doom and gloom stuff in December please? Or at least until the team actually makes some moves.

Edited December 15, 2009 by cubsfan26

[TruffleShuffle]

looks like the ricketts family has closed the shop. hope you all get what you wanted with a family-owned team.

 

we aren't going to be the red sox or yankees. perhaps we'll be the astros if we're lucky.

 

right.

[ConstableRabbit]

new idea for an Onion article: "MLB folds after Red Sox sign every player in baseball"

Really?

 

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/27656

[E.J.]

looks like the ricketts family has closed the shop. hope you all get what you wanted with a family-owned team.

 

we aren't going to be the red sox or yankees. perhaps we'll be the astros if we're lucky.

 

Only your teams.

[17 Seconds]

our team is going to be incredibly mediocre next season

 

 

You probably said that going into 2008 too. Plus there's still tons of time left this offseason and no team outside maybe the Phillies looks good right now. If the Cardinals resign Matt Holliday they might be added to that mix. But just about every NL team has simliar questionmarks or issues as we currently have. Our offseason hasn't even really started yet. It's not like were about done and just added a bunch of crap players. Scott Podsednik didn't get signed to be the everyday CF and leadoff guy and Hendry didn't name Aaron Miles(the fact he's off the team is a postive) the everyday 2b and number 2 hitter. So can we chill with the doom and gloom stuff in December please? Or at least until the team actually makes some moves.

 

ugh just give it a rest

 

 

JUST GIVE JIM A CHANCE YOU GUYS. i know he keeps making terrible moves, BUT HE MADE AN AWESOME TEAM IN 2008. just give him this 18th chance and you won't regret it this time

Edited December 15, 2009 by 17 Seconds

[Rob]

Rebounds from Soriano and Soto alone could be enough to get us into the playoffs, and that's to say nothing of potential contributions from some young guys we have reaching the upper minors like Castro, Cashner, Gaub, Jay Jackson, etc...

[questionmarkgrace]

This Bradley thing is management's fault, and not just for signing him. Of course we could make the argument that he should not act like a POS. But hey he had proved it time and time again. So why expect anything else?

 

If the yankees had signed bradley instead of us they would have put him in anger management, had him seeing a psychiatrist, given him meds; as they did for Arod, and some other notable players. Our organization, as inept as they are, never seemed to try to prevent this type of thing. Sure they protected themselves contractually but Hendry knows how ravenous the fans are now he should have known that Bradley wouldn't mix well with them, he should have known that the media would just gravitate toward him after every game; good or bad to magnify everything. they should have trained Bradley to deal with criticism with the media, given him a media liason, taught him how to deal with bad games civilly. It was a train wreck we all saw coming but hoped upon hope that it wouldn't happen. Management was hoping too, not being proactive. Above all, a couple of no-comments to the media and this is probably a completely different story.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Rebounds from Soriano and Soto alone could be enough to get us into the playoffs, and that's to say nothing of potential contributions from some young guys we have reaching the upper minors like Castro, Cashner, Gaub, Jay Jackson, etc...

 

Yep, the Cubs are better than their performance of last year. Not to say that they aren't missing out on chances to be even better, but just standing pat would make them strong contenders for a playoff spot.

[17 Seconds]

Rebounds from Soriano and Soto alone could be enough to get us into the playoffs,

 

and you could just eas easily reference lee's monster year, or wells ridiculous production, or lilly's career year, or the fact that we lost harden.

 

i'm not saying it's a guarantee we're going to suck. im saying that as of right now, it looks like we're going to end up heading into ST with a pretty mediocre roster and will be hoping on rebound years from a lot of guys to compete.

 

assuming the cubs make the small type moves it looks like they're going to, what would you guess for the cubs win total next season? i know its pointless to guess now, but you could give me a general idea. the point is that i bet you'd guess a record that was fairly mediocre.

[cubsfan26]

JUST GIVE JIM A CHANCE YOU GUYS. i know he keeps making terrible moves, BUT HE MADE AN AWESOME TEAM IN 2008. just give him this 18th chance and you won't regret it this time

 

Aren't we a little dramatic? I wasn't asking you or anybody to ignore bad moves Hendry has made or asking you to give them a chance. I said hey lets see what the heck we do this offseason, before we complain how mediocre the team is going to be. Also if you think Hendry is not capable of making good moves, then I don't know what to tell you. But lets at least see what moves we make this offseason before we make these type of judgements or start killing people.

 

Yep, the Cubs are better than their performance of last year. Not to say that they aren't missing out on chances to be even better, but just standing pat would make them strong contenders for a playoff spot.

 

Exactly, Cameron was the top guy I wanted and I'm disappointed we didn't get him. But the Cubs still have a very talented team, and they still can make some good moves to make them better this offseason. Especially with so many guys still on the market. This will probably be a slow moving market with good players still out there in mid to late January. So people need to be patient and not call this a horrible offseason, because we haven't done anything yet in mid December.

Edited December 15, 2009 by cubsfan26

[17 Seconds]

no it's not overdramatic when your defense of hendry is the same stuff over and over.

 

all im saying is that as of right now, this team looks pretty mediocre. i don't know how you can say otherwise. we were mediocre last season and so far the only significant move of the offseason has been losing harden. and where did i say hendry isn't capabel of making a good move? i'm saying that the payroll and bradley situation is going to make that pretty hard. we're more or less locked in with this team after we get a centerfielder.

 

we're going to be relying on bounceback years from guys to compete. i'm not saying we have no chance. i'm saying that as of right now, this team looks pretty mediocre.

 

p.s. it's probably not wise to spoil the ending of a tv show's season one night after the finale aired. if somebody hadn't already spoiled it for rob, he's probably be pretty pissed.

[cubsfan26]

don't know how you can say otherwise. we were mediocre last season and so far the only significant move of the offseason has been losing harden

 

I somewhat agree, but I think were better then mediocre and could be pretty good with a little luck. I also think were gonna add 2 or 3 players that will help us a good amount(or least I hope). Plus there's really only a 6-8 game swing in a season that makes a team mediocre and a playoff contender. Heck if Kevin Gregg doesn't blow and lose half of the games he did. Then the Cubs are contending for a playoff spot the final few weeks of the season and don't shut down Rich Harden.

 

 

i'm saying that the payroll and bradley situation is going to make that pretty hard. we're more or less locked in with this team after we get a centerfielder

 

Well I still think some minor moves could be made that might appear minor but end up helping us alot. Who we get and how good the CF is gonna be a big factor(I'd be ok with Cody Ross, David DeJesus, Ryan Church/Reed Johnson platoon or Marlon Byrd at the right price). But if we are able to add someone like Capps, or sign someone like Jonny Gomes to platoon with Fukudome or get another pitcher on a bargin. Those moves could help the team alot overall. Thats why I said lets see what were able to do before judging the team.

 

we're going to be relying on bounceback years from guys to compete. i'm not saying we have no chance. i'm saying that as of right now, this team looks pretty mediocre.

 

Yeah but overall alot of things went wrong for the Cubs last season. When you think about it's almost surprising that this team finshed 5 games above 500. Soriano had his worse season and was hurt, Soto had horrible luck and other issues, Zambrano, Lilly, Dempster and Harden all spent time on the DL. We got almost no production from 2b. Ramirez missed half the season, forcing us to have line-ups that included Fontenot and guys like Andres Blanco or Aaron Miles. Reed Johnson missed alot of time, which probably gave Fukudome a few extra starts against LH pitching then we wanted him to. Milton Bradley was bad hitting with runners in scoring postion hitting only 205 with a 701 OPS. Not to mention the bullpen blew alot of games for us. So even though Lee had a big season, and Lilly and Wells were awesome. I don't think those drop offs will be anywhere the potential improvements we could have offensivly and in the bullpen. Sure we can't expect everything to go right either, but even if Ramirez gives us 130-140 games and we even get decent years out of Soriano and Soto the offense will be much improved. Plus I wouldn't be shocked to see better years out of Zambrano or Dempster either. Zambrano hopefully will be in better shape and alot of people think Dempsters struggles early had alot to do with issues he was having with his daughter. I just see so much potential improvement from within compared to last year, and feel with a few good moves this offseason this team will have a chance to contend again.

[UMFan83]

You have to wonder how many of those things that went "wrong" for the Cubs last year are likely to reverse themselves next year.

 

Soriano has to be somewhat better than he played last year, but what can we really expect out of him at age "34"?

 

Soto is an interesting case. He was basically not very much of a prospect until 07, he played awesome, started out 08 very well, kinda dropped down a bit later in the year but was still above average, and then the bottom dropped out in 09. Which Soto is real? Do we just assume that the 07-early 08 Soto is the legit Soto, or is the Soto that had a .795 OPS the last 100 games of 08 and fell apart even worse in 2009 the real one?

 

After that who else do you really have that you'd expect to have a much better season? A full season of Aramis will certainly help if that's the case, but who else had a bad year that you'd expect to be better in 10?

 

On the other hand, can you count on Lee to have another .972 OPS at age 34 when he's only done it twice in his career? Maybe, but how likely is it? Can you count on Wells to give you a low 3 ERA next year? Is Lilly going to have another year with a 3.10 ERA when his previous career high was 3.83? Who is even going to replace him for an entire month when he's out in April? Will Gorzelanny have numbers that even remotely resemble Harden's last year?

 

I am not necessarily as negative about next year as my point makes me out to be. I am presenting a counter argument to people who think just hitting the reset button is going to make the Cubs back into a 90+ win team. The Lou Piniella era for the Cubs is going on it's 4th year. There have been several changes each year so comparing the teams isn't an exact science. But with this "core" around, we were an 85 win team, a 98 win team, and an 83 win team. Which one is the outlier? Can we expect another 90+ wins from a team that's 2 years older than the 08 team? The key pieces of that team are mostly all there. Only time will tell...

[Little Slide Rooter]

Soto is an interesting case. He was basically not very much of a prospect until 07, he played awesome, started out 08 very well, kinda dropped down a bit later in the year but was still above average, and then the bottom dropped out in 09. Which Soto is real? Do we just assume that the 07-early 08 Soto is the legit Soto, or is the Soto that had a .795 OPS the last 100 games of 08 and fell apart even worse in 2009 the real one?

 

My money is on something in between. Something along the lines of .270/.375/.450 with 15-20 HR, and I will gladly take it. While Im happy with the Lee/Ramirez 3-4, and Soriano at 6, what we need is a legit #5 guy, which Marlon Byrd, Rick Ankiel, and Scott Podsednik are not. Ryan Church may be the way to go unless another option shows up, or they do the sensible thing and keep Bradley. Hendry has to know that his job, and maybe career hinge on this season.

[inari]

JUST GIVE JIM A CHANCE YOU GUYS. i know he keeps making terrible moves, BUT HE MADE AN AWESOME TEAM IN 2008. just give him this 18th chance and you won't regret it this time

 

Aren't we a little dramatic? I wasn't asking you or anybody to ignore bad moves Hendry has made or asking you to give them a chance. I said hey lets see what the heck we do this offseason, before we complain how mediocre the team is going to be. Also if you think Hendry is not capable of making good moves, then I don't know what to tell you. But lets at least see what moves we make this offseason before we make these type of judgements or start killing people.

 

This is incredibly old. You were towing this line last offseason and will almost certainly be towing it next season as well.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Is Johnny Damon an option at all? Would he be willing to sign a contract similar to Camerons?

[jersey cubs fan]

don't know how you can say otherwise. we were mediocre last season and so far the only significant move of the offseason has been losing harden

 

I somewhat agree, but I think were better then mediocre and could be pretty good with a little luck.

 

They won 83 games last year. In what make believe world were they better than mediocre?