The $100M 2006 Cubs - includes Giles, Furcal, Wagner, Zito

[frostwyrm]

We'd have to sell a large chunk of the farm to get Zito, and I don't see why Beane would want Patterson, who is the ultimate anti-Moneyball player. Better to keep the farm intact for late season trade flexibility, forego Furcal, and use the money that would have been spent on Zito and Furcal to get Burnett locked up to a multi-year deal. Burnett will be cheaper than Zito+Furcal, so we should have a few million left over for a stopgap CF. With a little luck Pie may be ready after the break.

 

Boiling it down, I think the choices are

 

1) Zito, Furcal, Pie in CF, and losing several valuable minor leaguers(to get Zito).

 

or

 

2) Burnett, Cedeno at SS, stopgap CF, retaining all valuable minor leaguers.

 

Choice 2 looks a lot more appealing to me.

[UBlink]

We'd have to sell a large chunk of the farm to get Zito, and I don't see why Beane would want Patterson, who is the ultimate anti-Moneyball player. Better to keep the farm intact for late season trade flexibility, forego Furcal, and use the money that would have been spent on Zito and Furcal to get Burnett locked up to a multi-year deal. Burnett will be cheaper than Zito+Furcal, so we should have a few million left over for a stopgap CF. With a little luck Pie may be ready after the break.

 

Boiling it down, I think the choices are

 

1) Zito, Furcal, Pie in CF, and losing several valuable minor leaguers(to get Zito).

 

or

 

2) Burnett, Cedeno at SS, stopgap CF, retaining all valuable minor leaguers.

 

Choice 2 looks a lot more appealing to me.

 

The Rule 5 draft could make keeping the farm intact somewhat difficult. Better to use at least some of that minor league talent as trade bait rather than let it be drafted away.

[nick23]

We'd have to sell a large chunk of the farm to get Zito, and I don't see why Beane would want Patterson, who is the ultimate anti-Moneyball player. Better to keep the farm intact for late season trade flexibility, forego Furcal, and use the money that would have been spent on Zito and Furcal to get Burnett locked up to a multi-year deal. Burnett will be cheaper than Zito+Furcal, so we should have a few million left over for a stopgap CF. With a little luck Pie may be ready after the break.

 

Boiling it down, I think the choices are

 

1) Zito, Furcal, Pie in CF, and losing several valuable minor leaguers(to get Zito).

 

or

 

2) Burnett, Cedeno at SS, stopgap CF, retaining all valuable minor leaguers.

 

Choice 2 looks a lot more appealing to me.

I think option 1 looks far better. Are you kidding me? Furcal is the the player I want the most this offseason. Zito would be the best 3rd starter in baseball. And who says we'd need a stopgap CF? I don't think Beane would ask for Patterson in return for Zito. In this scenario we'd have one of the best defensive shortstops in baseball and a quality leadoff hitter locked up for 4 years. If Wood comes back healthy we'd have by far the best rotation in baseball. Just resign Walker and sign or trade for a high slugging corner outfielder and your looking at a playoff team IMO.

[frostwyrm]

We'd have to sell a large chunk of the farm to get Zito, and I don't see why Beane would want Patterson, who is the ultimate anti-Moneyball player. Better to keep the farm intact for late season trade flexibility, forego Furcal, and use the money that would have been spent on Zito and Furcal to get Burnett locked up to a multi-year deal. Burnett will be cheaper than Zito+Furcal, so we should have a few million left over for a stopgap CF. With a little luck Pie may be ready after the break.

 

Boiling it down, I think the choices are

 

1) Zito, Furcal, Pie in CF, and losing several valuable minor leaguers(to get Zito).

 

or

 

2) Burnett, Cedeno at SS, stopgap CF, retaining all valuable minor leaguers.

 

Choice 2 looks a lot more appealing to me.

I think option 1 looks far better. Are you kidding me? Furcal is the the player I want the most this offseason. Zito would be the best 3rd starter in baseball. And who says we'd need a stopgap CF? I don't think Beane would ask for Patterson in return for Zito. In this scenario we'd have one of the best defensive shortstops in baseball and a quality leadoff hitter locked up for 4 years. If Wood comes back healthy we'd have by far the best rotation in baseball. Just resign Walker and sign or trade for a high slugging corner outfielder and your looking at a playoff team IMO.

 

No, I'm not kidding you. Let's just say I'm not as impressed with Furcal as you are, particularly at $8M. I'll take Cedeno at $350K. Pie is the CF of the not too distant future, so I expect Patterson to be dealt, and we will need a stopgap CF until Pie is ready. Zito is fine, but I'd rather just pay Burnett his fair price and save the farm.

[nick23]

We'd have to sell a large chunk of the farm to get Zito, and I don't see why Beane would want Patterson, who is the ultimate anti-Moneyball player. Better to keep the farm intact for late season trade flexibility, forego Furcal, and use the money that would have been spent on Zito and Furcal to get Burnett locked up to a multi-year deal. Burnett will be cheaper than Zito+Furcal, so we should have a few million left over for a stopgap CF. With a little luck Pie may be ready after the break.

 

Boiling it down, I think the choices are

 

1) Zito, Furcal, Pie in CF, and losing several valuable minor leaguers(to get Zito).

 

or

 

2) Burnett, Cedeno at SS, stopgap CF, retaining all valuable minor leaguers.

 

Choice 2 looks a lot more appealing to me.

I think option 1 looks far better. Are you kidding me? Furcal is the the player I want the most this offseason. Zito would be the best 3rd starter in baseball. And who says we'd need a stopgap CF? I don't think Beane would ask for Patterson in return for Zito. In this scenario we'd have one of the best defensive shortstops in baseball and a quality leadoff hitter locked up for 4 years. If Wood comes back healthy we'd have by far the best rotation in baseball. Just resign Walker and sign or trade for a high slugging corner outfielder and your looking at a playoff team IMO.

 

No, I'm not kidding you. Let's just say I'm not as impressed with Furcal as you are, particularly at $8M. I'll take Cedeno at $350K. Pie is the CF of the not too distant future, so I expect Patterson to be dealt, and we will need a stopgap CF until Pie is ready. Zito is fine, but I'd rather just pay Burnett his fair price and save the farm.

So you pretty much just don't want to compete for a WS next year. Not if you want a stopgap CF and a Ronnie Cedeno at SS. I suppose you want Murton in left and a Klesko type player in right? There's an imposing lineup. I'm sick of having no offense. Who's going to lead off for this team, Todd Walker? I don't care about his OBP. You need some speed at the top of the order. Even if he leads off the game with a hit or walk it's going to take 3 more hits to get him home. I'm also not quite sure what doesn't impress you about Furcal. Is it the great defense? Or maybe the career .350obp. Or maybe the fact that he rarely strikes out. Or it could be the fact that at 27 he's about to hit his peak years. What is not impressive about him?

[frostwyrm]

We'd have to sell a large chunk of the farm to get Zito, and I don't see why Beane would want Patterson, who is the ultimate anti-Moneyball player. Better to keep the farm intact for late season trade flexibility, forego Furcal, and use the money that would have been spent on Zito and Furcal to get Burnett locked up to a multi-year deal. Burnett will be cheaper than Zito+Furcal, so we should have a few million left over for a stopgap CF. With a little luck Pie may be ready after the break.

 

Boiling it down, I think the choices are

 

1) Zito, Furcal, Pie in CF, and losing several valuable minor leaguers(to get Zito).

 

or

 

2) Burnett, Cedeno at SS, stopgap CF, retaining all valuable minor leaguers.

 

Choice 2 looks a lot more appealing to me.

I think option 1 looks far better. Are you kidding me? Furcal is the the player I want the most this offseason. Zito would be the best 3rd starter in baseball. And who says we'd need a stopgap CF? I don't think Beane would ask for Patterson in return for Zito. In this scenario we'd have one of the best defensive shortstops in baseball and a quality leadoff hitter locked up for 4 years. If Wood comes back healthy we'd have by far the best rotation in baseball. Just resign Walker and sign or trade for a high slugging corner outfielder and your looking at a playoff team IMO.

 

No, I'm not kidding you. Let's just say I'm not as impressed with Furcal as you are, particularly at $8M. I'll take Cedeno at $350K. Pie is the CF of the not too distant future, so I expect Patterson to be dealt, and we will need a stopgap CF until Pie is ready. Zito is fine, but I'd rather just pay Burnett his fair price and save the farm.

So you pretty much just don't want to compete for a WS next year. Not if you want a stopgap CF and a Ronnie Cedeno at SS. I suppose you want Murton in left and a Klesko type player in right? There's an imposing lineup. I'm sick of having no offense. Who's going to lead off for this team, Todd Walker? I don't care about his OBP. You need some speed at the top of the order. Even if he leads off the game with a hit or walk it's going to take 3 more hits to get him home. I'm also not quite sure what doesn't impress you about Furcal. Is it the great defense? Or maybe the career .350obp. Or maybe the fact that he rarely strikes out. Or it could be the fact that at 27 he's about to hit his peak years. What is not impressive about him?

 

I don't want a WS in 2006? I want Burnett locked up longterm and a real star like Giles in RF, and it can be done too, if we don't waste money on Furcal, and getting Burnett means we won't have to gut the farm to get Zito, who I believe will be very expensive in terms of minor league talent. We would have a real contender with Burnett and Giles on the team and plenty of young talent for trade bait. I'd also like to know who your CF is. We are close to the beginning of the Felix Pie era and Patterson is out of favor with the organization, so it makes sense to get a competent vet to bridge the gap, which will be brief if things go as planned.

[Nobody youd want to know]

. . . I'm sick of having no offense. . . .

 

No offense to you, nick23, but that's a widespread misperception on this board. The Cubs are first in BA in the NL, second in HRs, lead in total bases, and are 6th in runs scored. That's hardly 'no offense.'

 

The Cubs' problem is that they allow more runs than they score. Period. That's a function of bad pitching, bad pitching, bad pitching and bad pitching, with some bad fielding thrown in.

 

Stand pat on the hitting, improve the fielding (especially up the middle) and add one good starter, 2 good relievers and one great closer, and I guarantee you the Cubs will be a playoff team.

 

That having been said, I agree with you about Furcal. He makes this team better with his defense alone.

[nick23]

. . . I'm sick of having no offense. . . .

 

No offense to you, nick23, but that's a widespread misperception on this board. The Cubs are first in BA in the NL, second in HRs, lead in total bases, and are 6th in runs scored. That's hardly 'no offense.'

 

The Cubs' problem is that they allow more runs than they score. Period. That's a function of bad pitching, bad pitching, bad pitching and bad pitching, with some bad fielding thrown in.

 

Stand pat on the hitting, improve the fielding (especially up the middle) and add one good starter, 2 good relievers and one great closer, and I guarantee you the Cubs will be a playoff team.

 

That having been said, I agree with you about Furcal. He makes this team better with his defense alone.

You can spout out all the numbers you want. We have a bad offense. I don't think is a misconception at all. We are horrible fundamentally, we can't get on base. It's a bad offensive team. We may score some runs in bunches but all in all it's a bad offensive team IMO.

[nick23]

We'd have to sell a large chunk of the farm to get Zito, and I don't see why Beane would want Patterson, who is the ultimate anti-Moneyball player. Better to keep the farm intact for late season trade flexibility, forego Furcal, and use the money that would have been spent on Zito and Furcal to get Burnett locked up to a multi-year deal. Burnett will be cheaper than Zito+Furcal, so we should have a few million left over for a stopgap CF. With a little luck Pie may be ready after the break.

 

Boiling it down, I think the choices are

 

1) Zito, Furcal, Pie in CF, and losing several valuable minor leaguers(to get Zito).

 

or

 

2) Burnett, Cedeno at SS, stopgap CF, retaining all valuable minor leaguers.

 

Choice 2 looks a lot more appealing to me.

I think option 1 looks far better. Are you kidding me? Furcal is the the player I want the most this offseason. Zito would be the best 3rd starter in baseball. And who says we'd need a stopgap CF? I don't think Beane would ask for Patterson in return for Zito. In this scenario we'd have one of the best defensive shortstops in baseball and a quality leadoff hitter locked up for 4 years. If Wood comes back healthy we'd have by far the best rotation in baseball. Just resign Walker and sign or trade for a high slugging corner outfielder and your looking at a playoff team IMO.

 

No, I'm not kidding you. Let's just say I'm not as impressed with Furcal as you are, particularly at $8M. I'll take Cedeno at $350K. Pie is the CF of the not too distant future, so I expect Patterson to be dealt, and we will need a stopgap CF until Pie is ready. Zito is fine, but I'd rather just pay Burnett his fair price and save the farm.

So you pretty much just don't want to compete for a WS next year. Not if you want a stopgap CF and a Ronnie Cedeno at SS. I suppose you want Murton in left and a Klesko type player in right? There's an imposing lineup. I'm sick of having no offense. Who's going to lead off for this team, Todd Walker? I don't care about his OBP. You need some speed at the top of the order. Even if he leads off the game with a hit or walk it's going to take 3 more hits to get him home. I'm also not quite sure what doesn't impress you about Furcal. Is it the great defense? Or maybe the career .350obp. Or maybe the fact that he rarely strikes out. Or it could be the fact that at 27 he's about to hit his peak years. What is not impressive about him?

 

I don't want a WS in 2006? I want Burnett locked up longterm and a real star like Giles in RF, and it can be done too, if we don't waste money on Furcal, and getting Burnett means we won't have to gut the farm to get Zito, who I believe will be very expensive in terms of minor league talent. We would have a real contender with Burnett and Giles on the team and plenty of young talent for trade bait. I'd also like to know who your CF is. We are close to the beginning of the Felix Pie era and Patterson is out of favor with the organization, so it makes sense to get a competent vet to bridge the gap, which will be brief if things go as planned.

Well yeah, you throw Giles in there and I'd much rather have he and Burnett over Furcal and Zito. But in your original post you stated that you would rather have Burnett and Cedeno over Furcal and Zito. And, can you honestly see the cubs signing both Giles and Burnett this offseason?

[Nobody youd want to know]

. . .We may score some runs in bunches . . ..

 

I'll agree with that, and that's a function of bad plate discipline. Home runs seem to come in streaks, but without a halfway decent team OBP you're not going to 'manufacture' a lot of runs. I haven't run any statistical studies in years, but I'd bet a million bux runs scored correlates better to OBP than BA.

 

So what the Cubs need to do is replace their low OBP players (Neifi, Macias, Patterson, Burnitz) with average or high-OBP guys, while getting better on defense.

 

An offense with 3 .400-OBP guys (Lee, Giles, Murton) would have no problem manufacturing a run or two per game.

[frostwyrm]

But in your original post you stated that you would rather have Burnett and Cedeno over Furcal and Zito.

 

No, those are not the complete choices I listed. You left some important stuff out. I originally wrote the following:

 

1) Zito, Furcal, Pie in CF, and losing several valuable minor leaguers(to get Zito).

 

or

 

2) Burnett, Cedeno at SS, stopgap CF, retaining all valuable minor leaguers.

[goonys evil twin]

I'm sick of having no offense. Who's going to lead off for this team, Todd Walker? I don't care about his OBP. You need some speed at the top of the order. Even if he leads off the game with a hit or walk it's going to take 3 more hits to get him home. I'm also not quite sure what doesn't impress you about Furcal. Is it the great defense? Or maybe the career .350obp. Or maybe the fact that he rarely strikes out. Or it could be the fact that at 27 he's about to hit his peak years. What is not impressive about him?

 

Now that's just ridiculous. Walker is more than capable of hitting leadoff. And he's more than capable of reaching home with less than 3 hits after him. That's just absurd talk that completely belittles the rest of your message.

 

I'm not impressed with Furcal because he's not very good. He's fine, but he's no $8 million difference maker. He's a career .346 OBP player, and that's acceptable, but hardly impressive. He's also got a drinking problem, that, unlike Kyle Farnsworth, has actually gotten him in serious legal trouble. If Furcal is your primary offensive improvement in the offseason, you will still be severaly lacking on offense. The OF must be addressed. The Cubs have options at SS, but they don't have anything for the OF.

[frostwyrm]

Another thing to consider is that if Zito has another excellent season he will be due for a big raise if we want to keep him. I'd rather just lock up Burnett right now and be done with it. Burnett won't cost any prospects either, unlike Zito.

[nick23]

I'm sick of having no offense. Who's going to lead off for this team, Todd Walker? I don't care about his OBP. You need some speed at the top of the order. Even if he leads off the game with a hit or walk it's going to take 3 more hits to get him home. I'm also not quite sure what doesn't impress you about Furcal. Is it the great defense? Or maybe the career .350obp. Or maybe the fact that he rarely strikes out. Or it could be the fact that at 27 he's about to hit his peak years. What is not impressive about him?

 

Now that's just ridiculous. Walker is more than capable of hitting leadoff. And he's more than capable of reaching home with less than 3 hits after him. That's just absurd talk that completely belittles the rest of your message.

 

I'm not impressed with Furcal because he's not very good. He's fine, but he's no $8 million difference maker. He's a career .346 OBP player, and that's acceptable, but hardly impressive. He's also got a drinking problem, that, unlike Kyle Farnsworth, has actually gotten him in serious legal trouble. If Furcal is your primary offensive improvement in the offseason, you will still be severaly lacking on offense. The OF must be addressed. The Cubs have options at SS, but they don't have anything for the OF.

Speaking of ridiculous. I would love to hear your explantion on why Furcal is "not very good". I'm also wondering how you know Furcal has a drinking problem. And isn't the point of a leadoff man to not only get on base, but also get himself into scoring position?

[nick23]

But in your original post you stated that you would rather have Burnett and Cedeno over Furcal and Zito.

 

No, those are not the complete choices I listed. You left some important stuff out. I originally wrote the following:

 

1) Zito, Furcal, Pie in CF, and losing several valuable minor leaguers(to get Zito).

 

or

 

2) Burnett, Cedeno at SS, stopgap CF, retaining all valuable minor leaguers.

Right. Like I said no mention of Giles.

[jtownie]

I'm sick of having no offense. Who's going to lead off for this team, Todd Walker? I don't care about his OBP. You need some speed at the top of the order. Even if he leads off the game with a hit or walk it's going to take 3 more hits to get him home. I'm also not quite sure what doesn't impress you about Furcal. Is it the great defense? Or maybe the career .350obp. Or maybe the fact that he rarely strikes out. Or it could be the fact that at 27 he's about to hit his peak years. What is not impressive about him?

 

Now that's just ridiculous. Walker is more than capable of hitting leadoff. And he's more than capable of reaching home with less than 3 hits after him. That's just absurd talk that completely belittles the rest of your message.

 

I'm not impressed with Furcal because he's not very good. He's fine, but he's no $8 million difference maker. He's a career .346 OBP player, and that's acceptable, but hardly impressive. He's also got a drinking problem, that, unlike Kyle Farnsworth, has actually gotten him in serious legal trouble. If Furcal is your primary offensive improvement in the offseason, you will still be severaly lacking on offense. The OF must be addressed. The Cubs have options at SS, but they don't have anything for the OF.

 

I agree with Goony here. We have to look at how much value we are getting for what price. Is there a huge difference between Cedeno and Furcal...at least a 7.5M dollar difference? what I look at is Burnitz could make 7 mil next year if we pick up his option. Whereas Giles could make around 10.5 or 11. I think that extra 4 mil is worth way more than giving 7.5 mil more for a SS.

 

We just need to be smart with the money we are paying...

 

The Cubs attention needs to be primarily focused on the OF and bullpen imo. We need a more productive bat in RF and we need to decide if we are going to keep Murton or explore a trade for a more productive LF.

[frostwyrm]

But in your original post you stated that you would rather have Burnett and Cedeno over Furcal and Zito.

 

No, those are not the complete choices I listed. You left some important stuff out. I originally wrote the following:

 

1) Zito, Furcal, Pie in CF, and losing several valuable minor leaguers(to get Zito).

 

or

 

2) Burnett, Cedeno at SS, stopgap CF, retaining all valuable minor leaguers.

Right. Like I said no mention of Giles.

 

Why would I mention Giles in the original post? He's an RF. I was comparing Hoop's package of SP, SS, and CF to my plan for those positions. RF is a different matter. For some reason you implied I wanted Klesko in RF, so I felt compelled to mention that that was not the case. My original post didn't cover RF.

[CuseCubFan69]

How badly was Giles hurt in his collision the other day?

[nick23]

I'm sick of having no offense. Who's going to lead off for this team, Todd Walker? I don't care about his OBP. You need some speed at the top of the order. Even if he leads off the game with a hit or walk it's going to take 3 more hits to get him home. I'm also not quite sure what doesn't impress you about Furcal. Is it the great defense? Or maybe the career .350obp. Or maybe the fact that he rarely strikes out. Or it could be the fact that at 27 he's about to hit his peak years. What is not impressive about him?

 

Now that's just ridiculous. Walker is more than capable of hitting leadoff. And he's more than capable of reaching home with less than 3 hits after him. That's just absurd talk that completely belittles the rest of your message.

 

I'm not impressed with Furcal because he's not very good. He's fine, but he's no $8 million difference maker. He's a career .346 OBP player, and that's acceptable, but hardly impressive. He's also got a drinking problem, that, unlike Kyle Farnsworth, has actually gotten him in serious legal trouble. If Furcal is your primary offensive improvement in the offseason, you will still be severaly lacking on offense. The OF must be addressed. The Cubs have options at SS, but they don't have anything for the OF.

 

I agree with Goony here. We have to look at how much value we are getting for what price. Is there a huge difference between Cedeno and Furcal...at least a 7.5M dollar difference? what I look at is Burnitz could make 7 mil next year if we pick up his option. Whereas Giles could make around 10.5 or 11. I think that extra 4 mil is worth way more than giving 7.5 mil more for a SS.

 

We just need to be smart with the money we are paying...

 

The Cubs attention needs to be primarily focused on the OF and bullpen imo. We need a more productive bat in RF and we need to decide if we are going to keep Murton or explore a trade for a more productive LF.

Listen, I think Giles is a great player. And I will not be upset if he is in our outfield next year. I just don't want to pass on Furcal just because we have Cedeno. No one knows how good of a player Cedeno is going to be. Furcal is a very good SS and a good leadoff option. I think he would improve this team so much.

[JC]

SS is a dangerous question for the Cubs. With regard to Furcal, I don't see $8M worth of production there. Further, why in the world would the market even reach $8M? Because of Renteria and Cabrera last year? I don't think there will be a number of teams looking to pay that kind of money for Rafeal. If there are, let them have him.

 

I would try to bring back Nomar, personally. I know, I know. Of course, it would be a contract even more incentive laden than his current one. However, if I brought back Nomar, I'd make certain that Neifi was no longer a member of the Cubs, nor Macias. That way, Cedeno could get time to back-up Nomar. I think the risk is worth it that Nomar could return to a plus player at the SS position.

 

That being said, I don't expect Nomar to resign with the Cubs. I suspect San Diego may make another run at him for 2B with a multi-year contract. If so, Nomar would be hard pressed not to take it in light of his repaired hamstring.

[nick23]

But in your original post you stated that you would rather have Burnett and Cedeno over Furcal and Zito.

 

No, those are not the complete choices I listed. You left some important stuff out. I originally wrote the following:

 

1) Zito, Furcal, Pie in CF, and losing several valuable minor leaguers(to get Zito).

 

or

 

2) Burnett, Cedeno at SS, stopgap CF, retaining all valuable minor leaguers.

Right. Like I said no mention of Giles.

 

Why would I mention Giles in the original post? He's an RF. I was comparing Hoop's package of SP, SS, and CF to my plan for those positions. RF is a different matter. For some reason you implied I wanted Klesko in RF, so I felt compelled to mention that that was not the case. My original post didn't cover RF.

We're talking in circles here. Anyway, I was just responding to your original post by saying I would rather have Zito, Furcal, and Patterson, than Burnett, Cedeno, and a stopgap CF.

[cjbucks]

I'm sick of having no offense. Who's going to lead off for this team, Todd Walker? I don't care about his OBP. You need some speed at the top of the order. Even if he leads off the game with a hit or walk it's going to take 3 more hits to get him home. I'm also not quite sure what doesn't impress you about Furcal. Is it the great defense? Or maybe the career .350obp. Or maybe the fact that he rarely strikes out. Or it could be the fact that at 27 he's about to hit his peak years. What is not impressive about him?

 

Now that's just ridiculous. Walker is more than capable of hitting leadoff. And he's more than capable of reaching home with less than 3 hits after him. That's just absurd talk that completely belittles the rest of your message.

 

I'm not impressed with Furcal because he's not very good. He's fine, but he's no $8 million difference maker. He's a career .346 OBP player, and that's acceptable, but hardly impressive. He's also got a drinking problem, that, unlike Kyle Farnsworth, has actually gotten him in serious legal trouble. If Furcal is your primary offensive improvement in the offseason, you will still be severaly lacking on offense. The OF must be addressed. The Cubs have options at SS, but they don't have anything for the OF.

Speaking of ridiculous. I would love to hear your explantion on why Furcal is "not very good". I'm also wondering how you know Furcal has a drinking problem. And isn't the point of a leadoff man to not only get on base, but also get himself into scoring position?

 

In some circles getting into legal trouble as a result of your alcohol comsupmption is by definition " a drinking problem". I don't think anyone is saying Furcal isn't a decent player - the question is, is he the best player and is shortstop the position to spend 8-10 million dollars on.

[nick23]

How badly was Giles hurt in his collision the other day?

I'm assuming not bad. He went 2 for 4 with a homer last night.

[CuseCubFan69]

I really think it depends on cost effective Furcell will be. If the market goes nuts and he can get 8-11 I say no and go with Cedeno. If the Cubs can get him with a 6-8 with incentives I say yes only if the Cubs get a masher in one of the corners.

[jtownie]

SS is a dangerous question for the Cubs. With regard to Furcal, I don't see $8M worth of production there. Further, why in the world would the market even reach $8M? Because of Renteria and Cabrera last year? I don't think there will be a number of teams looking to pay that kind of money for Rafeal. If there are, let them have him.

 

I would try to bring back Nomar, personally. I know, I know. Of course, it would be a contract even more incentive laden than his current one. However, if I brought back Nomar, I'd make certain that Neifi was no longer a member of the Cubs, nor Macias. That way, Cedeno could get time to back-up Nomar. I think the risk is worth it that Nomar could return to a plus player at the SS position.

 

That being said, I don't expect Nomar to resign with the Cubs. I suspect San Diego may make another run at him for 2B with a multi-year contract. If so, Nomar would be hard pressed not to take it in light of his repaired hamstring.

 

Quality post! i feel the same way in that there is ahuge question to answer for SS.

Personally I really want to know in what direction is hendry going to aim. If he can bring in two high-OPS corner OFs I feel much better just giving SS to Cedeno.

This appears to be one of the toughest off-seasons Hendry has had because there are so questions marks. There don't appear to be any easy answers either.