Looking Ahead without Furcal

[AramisRamirez]

at this point im not optomistic about bringing in some good talent through either FA or trades. i think we might get only 1 signing and no trading. i think pierre is unlikely despite all the talk. the marlins have traded so many guys already, i dont think they depleate the entire team. all they got left is cabrera and pierre.

 

i think we'll get one guy and that is paying too much for jaqcue jones. i doubt we get bradley after the furcal deal. we'd need to give up too much for pierre or bradley.

 

so here we are after our lone FA signing for 2006:

 

SS cedeno

2B walker

1B lee

3B ramirez

OF jones

C barrett

OF murton

OF patterson/pie

 

SP1 zambrano

SP2 prior

SP3 wood

SP4 rusch

SP5 maddux

 

 

its not a world series team. its really as simple as that. the 3-4-5 of lee, ramirez, and jones is good but not good enough. we'd need monster years from cedeno in the leadoff role and aramis would need to stay healthy. he hasnt shown that he can stay healthy for an entire season and play All-star quality.

 

perhaps the most important thing would be 200 IP from wood. i think zambrano we know will produce 200+ IP with his usual 3.25-3.50 ERA. prior is a shoe-in for 175 IP, i cant see him going 210 IP any year after his past couple years.

 

so the odds of this team winning the pennant are slim to none. cedeno would need .280/.340/35 SB, wood would need 200 IP, 15 wins, and a 3.50 ERA, and aramis would need .300/40/120. all three of those things wont happen....

 

its the usual cubbie way. just competitive enough but not a world series contender. i honestly think to win a world series we would need a leadoff speedster like either furcal or pierre, milton bradley or jacque jones, and a solid starter ideally a lefty like zito. then we'd be looking more like a winner with this lineup:

 

OF pierre

2B walker

1B lee

3B ramirez

OF jones

C barrett

SS cedeno

OF murton

 

SP1 zambrano

SP2 prior

SP3 zito

SP4 wood

SP5 maddux/Rusch

 

atleast in my opinion that team is a contender. its well-rounded with speed and power. when pierre would be on-base, the pitcher would probably press his pitches more staring at lee, ramirez, and jones.

[ChiCubsFan]

Please, no Lofton. PLEASE

 

Why do you say that? Would he really be that horrible for one year? Lofton's OBP has been just as good, if not better, than Furcal's, even in the past few years. He had his best season (OBP-wise) last year since 1999. I don't think he's an amazing player or even a great option, but if we could trade for an Adam Dunn or Manny Ramirez to go along with Lofton, I'd be very happy with that.

 

Lofton was very very very very very very lucky with balls in play this year. He's not going to have a BABIP 60 points higher than he's had the last 3-5 years or so again. In short, his production is about to fall off a cliff. I'd rather have Pierre, if that tells you anything.

 

I completely agree. I dont expect anything near that production. I would, however, expect at least a .340 or so OBP. That would be a decent improvement over last years production with very minimal cost and no player cost.

 

.340 is probably represents the high end of the spectrum.

 

Well he hasn't posted an OBP lower than .340 since 2001 and that was his only season below .340 in his career. I feel it to be a very realistic expectation.

[CubsWin]

Unfortunately, more realistic might be:

 

CF Pierre

LF Murton/Mabry platoon

1B Lee

3B Ramirez

RF Jacque Jones ($8M)

C Barrett

2B Neifi!

SS Cedeno

 

Add SP Burnett or Weaver ($10-$12M)

 

Patterson/Walker traded for prospects

Welcome to the forum!

 

I must say, though, your line-up doesn't sound very realistic to me.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Please, no Lofton. PLEASE

 

Why do you say that? Would he really be that horrible for one year? Lofton's OBP has been just as good, if not better, than Furcal's, even in the past few years. He had his best season (OBP-wise) last year since 1999. I don't think he's an amazing player or even a great option, but if we could trade for an Adam Dunn or Manny Ramirez to go along with Lofton, I'd be very happy with that.

 

Lofton was very very very very very very lucky with balls in play this year. He's not going to have a BABIP 60 points higher than he's had the last 3-5 years or so again. In short, his production is about to fall off a cliff. I'd rather have Pierre, if that tells you anything.

 

I completely agree. I dont expect anything near that production. I would, however, expect at least a .340 or so OBP. That would be a decent improvement over last years production with very minimal cost and no player cost.

 

.340 is probably represents the high end of the spectrum.

 

Well he hasn't posted an OBP lower than .340 since 2001 and that was his only season below .340 in his career. I feel it to be a very realistic expectation.

 

He's 39 next year, and he relies on his speed to help him get hits. He was very fortunate last year that he was able to get a .360 BABIP. Next year he should regress at least to his previous norms, which hovered around .300 BABIP. So at best, you're looking at a .275/.335 line, and that's assuming he doesn't decline from those numbers from being two years older and a player dependent on skills that diminish quickest. For that production, we might as well stick Hairston in CF.

[da bears]

Man, I have no clue what Hendry has planned for right now. I do agree with Vance though. Why the Cubs did not get involved in trying to get Castillo is a huge mystery to me. He was probably one of my top interests for this offseason. I really don't know what we're gonna do now though. Anyone know Hendrys plan B?

[CubsWin]

Wow. A lot of people are really depressed by the Cubs missing out on Furcal even though they would have had to pay him at least 13 million a year to get him. I just don't see the reasons to be so depressed. Its not like signing Furcal was the Cubs only chance to improve themselves. There are several players available via trade. Wilkerson, Michaels and Pierre are some of the more likely to be traded. Starter A.J. Burnett and Kevin Millwood are still available. Kenny Lofton is a pretty decent option in CF through free agency.

 

And as far as SS is concerned, Ronny Cedeno has had two rather impressive years back-to-back with the bat. He has always had an excellent glove and arm. He will be just 23 this season and will cost the league minimum which will allow the Cubs to add OFers and a starting pitcher of note. The difference between Cedeno and Furcal in a season or two could be negligible, except for their price tags, that is.

 

All is not lost, yo. Now, lets see if Hendry can get it done. This is make or break for him and the Cubs of '06.

[ChiCubsFan]

Wow. A lot of people are really depressed by the Cubs missing out on Furcal even though they would have had to pay him at least 13 million a year to get him. I just don't see the reasons to be so depressed. Its not like signing Furcal was the Cubs only chance to improve themselves. There are several players available via trade. Wilkerson, Michaels and Pierre are some of the more likely to be traded. Starter A.J. Burnett and Kevin Millwood are still available. Kenny Lofton is a pretty decent option in CF through free agency.

 

And as far as SS is concerned, Ronny Cedeno has had two rather impressive years back-to-back with the bat. He has always had an excellent glove and arm. He will be just 23 this season and will cost the league minimum which will allow the Cubs to add OFers and a starting pitcher of note. The difference between Cedeno and Furcal in a season or two could be negligible, except for their price tags, that is.

 

All is not lost, yo. Now, lets see if Hendry can get it done. This is make or break for him and the Cubs of '06.

 

That's exactly what I've been saying. I'd much rather not have Furcal. LA is stupid.

[dbf1999]

Welcome to the forum!

 

I must say, though, your line-up doesn't sound very realistic to me.

 

Thanks. I've been reading for a long time, just never posted.

 

That's not the lineup I want, but I think it's very realistic. I can just see Baker starting Neifi 140 games at 2B and playing Hollandsworth...err...Mabry wayyy too much. I think we're all gonna be sick if we have to endure that again.

 

To get Jones I guess you'd have to commit to 3 years, so maybe it rules him out. Hopefully.

[ChiCubsFan]

Welcome to the forum!

 

I must say, though, your line-up doesn't sound very realistic to me.

 

Thanks. I've been reading for a long time, just never posted.

 

That's not the lineup I want, but I think it's very realistic. I can just see Baker starting Neifi 140 games at 2B and playing Hollandsworth...err...Mabry wayyy too much. I think we're all gonna be sick if we have to endure that again.

 

To get Jones I guess you'd have to commit to 3 years, so maybe it rules him out. Hopefully.

 

Hopefully is right. I'd stay as far away from him and his career .327 obp/.782 ops as much as possible.

[don_kessinger_was_good]

First, Vance's list is off slightly--Patterson will be traded or non-tendered, I think that's a given. Wuertz, rather than Novoa, gets the last middle reliever job I'm sure, though the money is the same. Jerome Williams is left off the list but should be on it, at least for now. There has been no indication the Cubs will tender Hairston, and even if they do, 2.2MM in arby seems a bit high. And the Cubs will certainly go with a 12-man staff (if Wood isn't traded), so only one, and not two, bench spots are needed (a reserve OF). Nonetheless, the total estimated dollar figure left to work with is still roughly 22-23MM, very similar to Vance's figure, it could maybe be as high as 25MM depending on some of these marginal cases.

 

I chose to put together a list of every player I've heard about that is realistically on the block from other teams. Players with big league experience only, not minor league prospects. Players that are likely available, and not pipe dreams. For example, Albert Pujols is certainly available--if the Cubs offered Lee, Prior and Zambrano. So just realisticly tradeable players that have been mentioned in the press. And just for trades, no free agents are listed (we know those). I'll surely leave off some names, but a "shopping list" might make trade scenarios easier to construct in the post-Furcal environment here. So, my stab at it--

 

Atlanta--Andy Marte, Ryan Langerhans, Dan Kolb, Johnny Estrada

Philadelphia--Bobby Abreu, Jason Michaels

New York--Cliff Floyd, Xavier Nady, Victor Diaz, Kaz Matsui, Jae Seo, Steve Trachsel, Aaron Heilman, Kris Benson

Florida--Juan Pierre, Paul LoDuca

Washington--Brad Wilkerson

Cubs--Todd Walker, Corey Patterson, Jerome Williams, Rich Hill, Roberto Novoa

St Louis--Jason Marquis

Houston--None

Cincinnati--Wily Mo Pena, Austin Kearns, Sean Casey, Eric Milton

Milwaukee--Lyle Overbay, Bill Hall, Brady Clark, Tomo Ohka, Russ Branyan

Pittsburgh--Jack Wilson, Craig Wilson, Kip Wells

San Diego--Ryan Klesko, Dave Roberts, Sean Burroughs

San Francisco--Jason Schmidt, Pedro Feliz, Todd Linden

Los Angeles--Milton Bradley, Derek Lowe, Edwin Jackson

Arizona--Luis Gonzalez, Troy Glaus, Chad Tracy, Shawn Green, Javier Vazquez, Alex Cintron

Colorado--None

Boston--Manny Ramirez, Trot Nixon, Kevin Youkilis, Matt Clement, David Wells, Doug Mirabelli

New York--Carl Pavano, Chien Ming Wang, Scott Proctor

Baltimore--Erik Bedard, Jay Gibbons, Jorge Julio

Toronto--Alexis Rios, Orlando Hudson, Miguel Batista

Tampa--Aubrey Huff, Joey Gathright, Julio Lugo, Danys Baez, Toby Hall

Chicago--Damaso Marte, Orlando Hernandez

Minnesota--Kyle Lohse, Brad Radke, JC Romero, Juan Rincon

Cleveland--Casey Blake

Detroit--Dmitri Young, Franklyn German

Kansas City--Mike Sweeney, Mike MacDougal, Jeremy Affeldt

Texas--Kevin Mench, Gary Matthews Jr, Alfonso Soriano, Hank Blalock, Joaquin Benoit

Oakland--Barry Zito, Charles Thomas

Los Angeles--Steve Finley, Casey Kotchman, Brendan Donnelly

Seattle--Ryan Franklin, Yorvit Torrealba, Jeremy Reed, Raul Ibanez

Edited December 4, 2005 by don_kessinger_was_good

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

at this point im not optomistic about bringing in some good talent through either FA or trades. i think we might get only 1 signing and no trading. i think pierre is unlikely despite all the talk. the marlins have traded so many guys already, i dont think they depleate the entire team. all they got left is cabrera and pierre.

 

.

 

The Marlins will trade Pierre. He's of no use to them. They won't contend this season and he's a FA after that. He's as good as gone. The only question is where.

[Outshined_One]

DKWG,

 

I think some of the guys you put on there are quite realistic for the Cubs from various standpoints. Others are intriguing possibilities.

 

But you listed some guys on there I could only see the Cubs acquiring via a "white flag" trade. Say, if they traded Derrek Lee. These guys are young, cheap, productive, and have a good to high ceiling. It's not like the Cubs could flip Todd Walker to the Mariners for Jeremy Reed, ya know?

 

Still, that list doesn't exactly make me swell with confidence regarding Hendry's potential trade market.

[don_kessinger_was_good]

DKWG,

 

I think some of the guys you put on there are quite realistic for the Cubs from various standpoints. Others are intriguing possibilities.

 

But you listed some guys on there I could only see the Cubs acquiring via a "white flag" trade. Say, if they traded Derrek Lee. These guys are young, cheap, productive, and have a good to high ceiling. It's not like the Cubs could flip Todd Walker to the Mariners for Jeremy Reed, ya know?

 

Still, that list doesn't exactly make me swell with confidence regarding Hendry's potential trade market.

 

I didn't offer any comments on any names, OO. I was just trying to put together a comprehensive list of names I've read bandied about in various stories as being available in one trade or another. Sometimes, those names are high value guys because the teams willing to trade them have serious needs and they recognize it takes value to get value. For example, Texas being willing to trade Hank Blalock.

[Outshined_One]

I didn't offer any comments on any names, OO. I was just trying to put together a comprehensive list of names I've read bandied about in various stories as being available in one trade or another. Sometimes, those names are high value guys because the teams willing to trade them have serious needs and they recognize it takes value to get value. For example, Texas being willing to trade Hank Blalock.

 

I understand completely, but I just found your list to be potentially misleading.

 

As much as I'd love to see Hendry swing a trade for Alexis Rios or Erik Bedard, I have a hard time seeing that happen without him trading one of the big name guys. It's pretty rare seeing cheap young talent swapped for cheap young talent (unless a payday is in the near future) and/or prospects, ya know?

[don_kessinger_was_good]

DKWG,

(snip) ...Still, that list doesn't exactly make me swell with confidence regarding Hendry's potential trade market.

 

Depends on how creative he can get. The two names that jump out of course, given our needs, are Manny and Abreu. Honestly--were I Hendry, I'd sell the farm for Abreu. If you overpay, so be it, you need this guy to fill your biggest hole. If you trade three top prospects, the odds are only one of the three will actually pan out, based on past experience. So offer Gillick a threesome of Pie, Hill and Jerome Williams first thing Monday morning and take your chances. Maybe he bites if he was seriously considering just Erik Bedard for Abreu. If Pie turns out to be the real deal, Pie for Abreu isn't an awful swap, given Abreu's talent and our specific, IMMEDIATE needs.

 

Short of the monster deal, there are a few names on the list that would interest me as improving the team. I like Javier Vazquez and Zito. Shawn Green and Raul Ibanez would be OF options for us. Milton Bradley, Jason Michaels and Juan Pierre as previously discussed at length. Wilkerson, Kearns, Brady Clark?

 

I do think at this point Ronny Cedeno/Neifi Perez is your SS though, that is now set.

[RyCubsFan]

1. Sign AJ Burnett for 5/50 (Furcal's money). Trade for Zito is backup.

2. Trade for Abreu or Dunn. Wilkerson is back up option here.

3. Trade for Bradley. Michaels is back up.

4. Keep Walker and Cedeno as your middle infield.

[don_kessinger_was_good]

As much as I'd love to see Hendry swing a trade for Alexis Rios or Erik Bedard, I have a hard time seeing that happen without him trading one of the big name guys. It's pretty rare seeing cheap young talent swapped for cheap young talent (unless a payday is in the near future) and/or prospects, ya know?

 

If you have young pitching and need young OF-ers, why would GMs be opposed to swapping prospects with a team that has complementary strengths and weaknesses, so both teams improve themselves?

 

For example, maybe the Cubs trade Rich Hill for some team's hotshot OF prospect, a guy a year or two closer than Felix Pie is at so we get immediate help.

[don_kessinger_was_good]

1. Sign AJ Burnett for 5/50 (Furcal's money). Trade for Zito is backup.

2. Trade for Abreu or Dunn. Wilkerson is back up option here.

3. Trade for Bradley. Michaels is back up.

4. Keep Walker and Cedeno as your middle infield.

 

I have seen nothing, other than wishful thinking here, suggesting Dunn is being made available by Cincinnati. Kearns or Pena yes, Dunn no. If anything, the Reds are shopping Casey so they can move Dunn to 1B.

[Salazar89]

How about looking at Arizona to see what they would need to pry Vasquez and Green away. Perhaps a package starting with Williams, Hairston, Mitre and Wellmeyer. Which would also help free up some room on the 40 man roster. We can land a run-producing left-hand bat along with a No.2 inning eater.

 

Next, sign Nomar to another a one-year incentive laden deal. Nomar is sound insurance for the off-chance Ronny had a fluke season last year and the inevitable Ramirez/Walker injuries.

 

Walker

Nomar

Lee

Green

Ramirez

Barrett

Murton

Patterson

 

Prior

Zambrano

Vasquez

Maddux

Wood/Rusch

[da bears]

DKWG,

(snip) ...Still, that list doesn't exactly make me swell with confidence regarding Hendry's potential trade market.

 

Depends on how creative he can get. The two names that jump out of course, given our needs, are Manny and Abreu. Honestly--were I Hendry, I'd sell the farm for Abreu. If you overpay, so be it, you need this guy to fill your biggest hole. If you trade three top prospects, the odds are only one of the three will actually pan out, based on past experience. So offer Gillick a threesome of Pie, Hill and Jerome Williams first thing Monday morning and take your chances. Maybe he bites if he was seriously considering just Erik Bedard for Abreu. If Pie turns out to be the real deal, Pie for Abreu isn't an awful swap, given Abreu's talent and our specific, IMMEDIATE needs.

 

Short of the monster deal, there are a few names on the list that would interest me as improving the team. I like Javier Vazquez and Zito. Shawn Green and Raul Ibanez would be OF options for us. Milton Bradley, Jason Michaels and Juan Pierre as previously discussed at length. Wilkerson, Kearns, Brady Clark?

 

I do think at this point Ronny Cedeno/Neifi Perez is your SS though, that is now set.

 

I couldn't agree with you more. If youre trying to get the fans back on your side, even if it is unfair with the Furcal signing, I think trading for someone like Abreu is a must. It would not only make the fans happy, but restore our trust in Hendry.

[dacheezwhiz]

First, Vance's list is off slightly--Patterson will be traded or non-tendered, I think that's a given. Wuertz, rather than Novoa, gets the last middle reliever job I'm sure, though the money is the same. Jerome Williams is left off the list but should be on it, at least for now. There has been no indication the Cubs will tender Hairston, and even if they do, 2.2MM in arby seems a bit high. And the Cubs will certainly go with a 12-man staff (if Wood isn't traded), so only one, and not two, bench spots are needed (a reserve OF). Nonetheless, the total estimated dollar figure left to work with is still roughly 22-23MM, very similar to Vance's figure, it could maybe be as high as 25MM depending on some of these marginal cases.

 

I chose to put together a list of every player I've heard about that is realistically on the block from other teams. Players with big league experience only, not minor league prospects. Players that are likely available, and not pipe dreams. For example, Albert Pujols is certainly available--if the Cubs offered Lee, Prior and Zambrano. So just realisticly tradeable players that have been mentioned in the press. And just for trades, no free agents are listed (we know those). I'll surely leave off some names, but a "shopping list" might make trade scenarios easier to construct in the post-Furcal environment here. So, my stab at it--

 

Atlanta--Andy Marte, Ryan Langerhans, Dan Kolb, Johnny Estrada

Philadelphia--Bobby Abreu, Jason Michaels

New York--Cliff Floyd, Xavier Nady, Victor Diaz, Kaz Matsui, Jae Seo, Steve Trachsel, Aaron Heilman, Kris Benson

Florida--Juan Pierre, Paul LoDuca

Washington--Brad Wilkerson

Cubs--Todd Walker, Corey Patterson, Jerome Williams, Rich Hill, Roberto Novoa

St Louis--Jason Marquis

Houston--None

Cincinnati--Wily Mo Pena, Austin Kearns, Sean Casey, Eric Milton

Milwaukee--Lyle Overbay, Bill Hall, Brady Clark, Tomo Ohka, Russ Branyan

Pittsburgh--Jack Wilson, Craig Wilson, Kip Wells

San Diego--Ryan Klesko, Dave Roberts, Sean Burroughs

San Francisco--Jason Schmidt, Pedro Feliz, Todd Linden

Los Angeles--Milton Bradley, Derek Lowe, Edwin Jackson

Arizona--Luis Gonzalez, Troy Glaus, Chad Tracy, Shawn Green, Javier Vazquez, Alex Cintron

Colorado--None

Boston--Manny Ramirez, Trot Nixon, Kevin Youkilis, Matt Clement, David Wells, Doug Mirabelli

New York--Carl Pavano, Chien Ming Wang, Scott Proctor

Baltimore--Erik Bedard, Jay Gibbons, Jorge Julio

Toronto--Alexis Rios, Orlando Hudson, Miguel Batista

Tampa--Aubrey Huff, Joey Gathright, Julio Lugo, Danys Baez, Toby Hall

Chicago--Damaso Marte, Orlando Hernandez

Minnesota--Kyle Lohse, Brad Radke, JC Romero, Juan Rincon

Cleveland--Casey Blake

Detroit--Dmitri Young, Franklyn German

Kansas City--Mike Sweeney, Mike MacDougal, Jeremy Affeldt

Texas--Kevin Mench, Gary Matthews Jr, Alfonso Soriano, Hank Blalock, Joaquin Benoit

Oakland--Barry Zito, Charles Thomas

Los Angeles--Steve Finley, Casey Kotchman, Brendan Donnelly

Seattle--Ryan Franklin, Yorvit Torrealba, Jeremy Reed, Raul Ibanez

 

 

Nice job, good list

Players that interest me are:

 

hitters:

abreu, michaels, wilkerson, pena, bradley, manny, orlando hudson

 

pitchers:

Donnelly, Zito, Macdougal, Baez, Aaron Heilman, Chin MEing Wang, Edwin JAckson

 

I think via trade we need to acquire at least one impact bat and 2 pitchers one for rotationa nd one for the bullpen. Most of the hitters would take top prospects except for pena, hudson, and maybe wilkerson.

Assuming Zito is out of reach, Wang and JAckson seem like viable options to me. HOw much trade value does either have? Could the yankees, in desperation, take corey for wang? For the bullpen Id really like Donnelly or Macdougal. I think we need a more proven commodity than either eyre or howry

[Iceblink]

I think there's a bit of a parallel between the Cubs and Furcal and the Astros and Beltran last year.

 

Houston hinged their offseason on getting Beltran. They didn't, and didn't have time to make many other moves. While they were terrible early, it turned out to not be a negative - though having an utterly dominant front 3 starters let them make up for a bad offensive team.

 

Garner can outmanage Dusty, and our top 3 starters have to put some health with their talent to get near that level, so I'm not saying I expect a World Series.

 

Still, while I'm bummed at losing out on Furcal, there's a recent precedent in our own division for a team overcoming that sort of thing.

[XZero771679666304]

I think there's a bit of a parallel between the Cubs and Furcal and the Astros and Beltran last year.

 

Houston hinged their offseason on getting Beltran. They didn't, and didn't have time to make many other moves. While they were terrible early, it turned out to not be a negative - though having an utterly dominant front 3 starters let them make up for a bad offensive team.

 

Garner can outmanage Dusty, and our top 3 starters have to put some health with their talent to get near that level, so I'm not saying I expect a World Series.

 

Still, while I'm bummed at losing out on Furcal, there's a recent precedent in our own division for a team overcoming that sort of thing.

 

Beltran dragged the whole thing out a lot longer, IIRC.

 

At least Furcal had the decency to finish it before the winter meetings.

[jmajew]

Ok...as we look ahead without Furcal, this is what we have:

 

Position Players

C- Michael Barrett- 4 million

C- Henry Blanco- 1.5 million

IF/OF Jerry Hairston - 2.2 (arb estimate)

1b Derrek Lee- 8.67

OF Corey Patterson- 3 million (arb estimate)

IF- Neifi Perez 2.5 million

3b- Aramis Ramirez 10.5 million

2b Todd Walker 2.5 million

if/of John Mabry 1 million

 

Starting Pitchers

SP Greg Maddux 9 million

SP Mark Prior 3.55 million

SP Kerry Wood 12 million

SP Carlos Zambrano 5.5 million (arb estimate)

SP Glendon Rusch 2.5 million

 

Bullpen

Ryan Dempster 5 million

Scott Eyre 3 million

Bob Howry 4 million

Scott Williamson 2 million

 

That puts my payroll estimate at 82.42 million.

 

If I pencil in Murton at leftfield at 400 K and Cedeno either at SS or bench at 300 K, then I'm at 83.12 million. Assuming a 105 million payroll, we have 22 million left to play with. If we add Novoa (500 K) and Ohman (500 K) to the bullpen I'm left with 21 million to play and need two bench players. Assume 1 million each for the bench spots, and I'm at 19 million with needing to add a CF and a RF.

 

If I non-tender Corey or trade him I can add another 3 million to that estimate.

 

Either way, there's not many free agents worth spending that much change on.

 

So, given that we have 19-20 million to spend or use in absorbing a contract from another team, what does everyone suggest?

 

I think we should trade for Lugo and Huff. If we give up Williams, Hill and Walker. Then you go out and trade Patterson for Bradley. Because of the Furcal signing the Dodgers now have no need for Walker. Izturis when he is healthy will play second and Kent is moving to first.

 

SS Lugo

LF Murton

1b Lee

RF Huff

3b Ramirez

CF Bradley

C Barrett

2b Cedeno/Perez

 

Hairston

Perez/Cedeno

Mabry

Blanco

FA

 

Zambrano

Prior

Wood

Washburn

Maddux

Rusch

 

Dempster

Eyre

Howry

Williamson

Wuertz

Ohman

[rawaction]

Patterson, Hill and Nolasco to Dodgers for Bradley and Lowe.

Walker, Pinto, and Williams to Texas for Soriano and Mench

Mench and Wuertz to NYM for Floyd

 

Cedeno

Bradley

Lee

Ramirez

Floyd

Soriano

Murton

Barrett

 

Prior

Zambrano

Lowe

Maddux

Wood/Rusch

 

 

or

 

Patterson, Hill and Nolasco to Dodgers for Bradley and Lowe

Pinto, Williams, and Dopirak for Huff and Lugo

 

Lugo

Bradley

Lee

Ramirez

Huff

Murton

Barrett

Cedeno