HoopsCubs

I don't buy that for a second. You think there's any chance an agent will tell a big market team with a top payroll that they won't entertain any offers from them until everybody else drops out? That's about the worst possible strategy, and most unrealistic scenario that could play out in this mess. There is no excuse not to get in on the Giles talks, and there is no reason to try and search for excuses. I don't buy what you are saying either. If Giles specifically told his agent that he wants to play for the Yankees, Cards, Angels or Dodgers, I guarantee you Bick wouldn't bother talking to the Cubs, Mets, Tigers or Mariners in the initial rounds. Several teams could have afforded Hideki Matsui too. According to Bruce Levine, Arn Tellem didn't talk to anybody except the Yankees.

Unless, Giles and his agent have already told Hendry, that they will not get involved in any talks with the Cubs until their other avenues have been exhausted (Yankees, Cards, Braves, Dodgers, Angels). This is the point I've been trying to make. If Giles' motivation for signing is a weighted contribution of wanting the best chance to play for a consitent winner, the best available money, some proximity to the West Coast and playing with his brother, the Cubs don't have a chance in that equation. Best chance to win = Yankees, Cards, Braves and Angels Best money = Yankees, Angels, Cubs, Mets Proximity to West Coast = Dodgers, Angels, Giants, A's Playing with his brother = Braves or the team he's traded to The only way he comes here is that the "best money" component dwarfs everything else in his decision making process and the Yankees back off, or there is another key factor that hasn't been discussed in his motivation. Hoops

I seem to recall that we got some guy named Jesus Sanchez as the 2nd player in a deal. I believe Hendry non-tendered him the very next season. Hoops

Jeff, In your opinion, any chance Hendry non-tenders Hairston?

Triple B, I was talking to one of my best sources today, and he felt that Roberts might actually be a good fit, and seems to recall that Hendry had expressed interest in him in the past. That is not to say we should start any Roberts to the Cubs rumours here, but he may definitely be an option for Hendry for CF/lead-off, if Cameron passes his physical. I think being arby elgible will make him very attractive to Hendry because of the Cubs cash situation.

Does this mean Dave Roberts could be coming here to play CF and lead-off? Is he an every-day type of player or part-time? How is he defensively? I heard Boston is interested in re-acquiring him. Hoops

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/sfl-marlins16nov16,0,1257921.story?coll=sfla-sports-front 2 relevant points on Alex Gonzalez and Juan Pierre in today's Sun Sentinel: (1) "Both the Cubs and Braves are believed to have pinpointed Gonzalez as Plan B assuming they don't land free agent Rafael Furcal." (2) "The Cubs have inquired about Marlins center fielder Juan Pierre, but a source familiar with those talks said the teams were "not very far down the road" on a possible deal." I have felt the last 2 days that the Pierre to the Cubs deal had lost momentum. This article suggests that talks were in the early stages at best, and certainly not the closing stages as the ESPN radio reports indicated on Sunday and Monday.

A few phrases came to mind when I read this: Ouch. No way. Riiiight. Good luck. You're crazy. Negotiation ploy to get a 5 year deal. http://www.newsday.com/sports/printedition/ny-spyanks164514987nov16,0,3933460.story?coll=ny-sports-print But if you're on the Giles to Cubs bandwagon, a cautionary note: "The Yankees were discouraged by Scott Boras' asking price of $84 million over seven years for Johnny Damon, so they will look seriously at signing Brian Giles with the thought of using a rotation in centerfield. The Yankees are thinking about offering Giles, 34, close to $30 million for three years, but they want to investigate whether he seriously will consider coming to New York, a person familiar with the situation said."

In reading his quotes over the past 2 weeks, one gets the sense that the man really loves to deal, and not really negotiate. And I think this year, especially, he is leery of the free agent market. We all know it and see it: poor class in general, very few impact players, teams will overspend for mediocrity. I haven't seen any quotes from Hendry since Kinzer put out his $50M price tag for Furcal, but I could see Hendry throwing out a "good talking to you and good luck" comment. So, I pose this question to all of you. Is it possible, that we could see every major hole on the Cubs filled via trade? I think we all agree that there are 5 major holes Hendry is looking to fill: CF, RF, SS, a starter, and a setup-man. I know some of you don't think starter is high on the priority list, but I'll take Hendry's word that he wants one. We'll assume either the CF or SS is the lead-off guy. As one poster said earlier in the week, while Hendry will probably not shop any major big league talent (Lee, Ramirez, Barrett, Prior, Zambrano), Hendry does have a lot of medium to good talent to shop: Todd Walker Corey Patterson Jerry Hairston Matt Murton Ronny Cedeno Rich Hill Sergio Mitre Todd Wellemeyer Felix Pie Angel Guzman Ricky Nolasco Brandon Sing Renyel Pinto Is it possible we could see 10 (making a number up) of these 13 guys dealt for some of the likes of CF: Pierre, Wilkerson, Bradley, Michaels LF/RF: Mench, Jenkins, Floyd, Abreu, Sheffield, Dunn, Soriano SS: Lugo, Jack Wilson SP: Zito, Wells, Garland, Marquis, Lowe RP: Mota, Batista, Riske, Romero, Baez? What if this free agency thing is just a ruse for Hendry? Just throwing some stuff out. Hoops

If I was Nomar, I'd tell Hendry and the Cubs to go jump into Lake Michigan. That's why I said 6M, which is much more than he's likely to draw from other teams. I'd also throw in incentives to take it up to about 8.5M if he stayed healthy and produced. Wanting to improve your defense is a noble aim. Obsessing over it to the point where you sacrifice your offense is utterly stupid. Nomar swung the bat great in August and September. With Cedeno in the fold, and Neifi sure to be re-signed, the Cubs should have taken one more shot with Nomar. But they didn't give him the time of day. Exact same way they treated Moises after 2004. Where would the Cubs have ended up if Moises had been playing LF in 2005 from day one? I hope we're not asking ourselves, where would the Cubs have ended up if Nomar had been playing SS in 2006 from day one?

If I was Nomar, I'd tell Hendry and the Cubs to go jump into Lake Michigan.

Julio Lugo, your table is now ready. Agent ploy or not, let the Mets and Yankees fight over Rafael Cabrera Renteria Furcal. Let's get Pierre and Lugo deals in place, and focus efforts (and money) on RF and bullpen.

What might it take to convince the Sox to unload him?

If the Cubs wanted to re-acquire White Sox pitcher Jon Garland, that move might make sense for both clubs at many levels. Jim Hendry is looking to acquire an innings-eater, but does not necessarily want to enter into a long duration contract. Kenny Williams is looking to find a rotation slot for Brandon McCarthy, and free up some cash to address his current holes at 1B and DH. The White Sox may be in a bit of a payroll dilemma. They currently have 13 players under contract at $53M. If you add in 3 under control players in Cotts, Jenks and McCarthy, they have 16 players at $54.1M. Near as I can tell, they have 6 arbitration eligible guys (salary in 2005): Garland ($3.4M) Pierzynski ($2.25M) Vizcaino ($1.30M) Perez ($1.00M) Crede ($400K) Harris ($365K) Assuming they want to keep 4 of them , they will probably have to shell out the following: Garland - $6.5M Pierzynski - $4.5M Vizcaino - $2.0M Crede - $1.0M Add that in, and the Sox now have 20 players at $68.1M. Let's say Jerry Reinsdorf were to increase payroll by 10% from $75M in 2005 to $82M in 2006. That still only leaves $14M to address 1B and DH plus a few reserve spots. In other words, it would be almost impossible to re-sign Konerko let alone trade for Thome, Delgado, Sweeney or Helton. I think Williams has to move a starting pitcher, and while his preference would be to deal El Duque, I think Kenny knows he'll have to pick up some cash there. But, if he packages Garland and Marte ($2.25M in 2006), that allows him to save significant dollars, which he can plough back into 1B and DH. Would the Sox accept Todd Walker (DH - $2.5M) and 2 pitching prospects for Jon Garland and Damaso Marte? Garland is a free agent after '06. Would the Cubs do it? How would NSBB forum feel? Hoops

I just don't think there is enough money to pay Burnett or Millwood if the Cubs sign Furcal and acquire a stud RF. But, I wouldn't be surprised to hear that Hendry is inquiring about Paul Byrd or Esteban Loiaza.

I disagree. Hendry has enough cash, and should have enough talent and creativity to get another good starting pitcher in addition to filling RF, CF, SS and a set-up guy. Planning on having a healthy Wood ready for Opening Day is fool-hearty. If Kerry is ready, great, but based on his health record you can't plan on it. I see little risk in getting another pitcher - after the 2006 season the Cubs instantly free up $21M if Maddux and Wood leave.

Peter Gammons was on Mike and Mike in The Morning on ESPN radio this morning, and flat out said Seattle will not trade Ichiro. He means as much to them in their international marketing and revenue efforts as Hideki does to Steinbrenner Inc.

Philly Inquirer If that's all it's going to cost to get Abreu Hendry better be all over this. Between the Blue Jays rumours (Wells) and the Yankees rumours (Wang or Cano), I think it all points to the fact Abreu is very available. That is a good sign.

Probably not. I'm not thrilled about Kearns, but we all know Hendry really likes him.

This is what was reported on ESPN Radio AM 1000 at 6:20 AM CST. Beyond Furcal and Pierre, Jim Hendry is interested in Kansas City pitcher Mike MacDougal, and Reds outfielders Adam Dunn and Austin Kearns. Hoops

Good read Ronnie. Vazquez and Erstad to Boston; Ramirez to Anaheim; Boston and Anaheim send good prospects to Arizona. Or a scenario that involves sending Vazquez and Glaus to Boston for Manny; Then Arizona sends Manny to Anaheim for pitching.

I'm not advocating one way or another if Hendry should get him or not for our open RF slot. I'm only initiating a discussion. I will merely point out that he's under 30, bats left-handed and is arbitration eligible for one more season. He made $2.6M in 2005 and will probably get $4-5M range in 2006 if offered arbitration or tendered. He is rumoured to be on the trading block. I happened to be looking at his stats earlier, and made some observations I would like to share with you. Overall, he had 488 at bats with a .317 OBP and .516 SLG (SLG ranked 2nd among all RFs in baseball) for an OPS of .833. Here's a breakdown by position: (1) He had 8 at bats as a pinch hitter OBP was 0 and SLG was 0. (2) He had 70 at bats when playing 1B OBP was .307 and SLG was .414 (3) He had 151 at bats when playing DH OBP was .270 and SLG was .430 (4) he had 259 at bats when playing RF OBP was .357 and SLG was .610 Now, I don't know if the sample size is large enough for this to be statistically significant, but does it strike you as odd how radically different his offensive numbers were when playing RF vs. not playing RF? If we miss out on acquiring Giles and Matsui, or making a trade for Abreu, Dunn, Sheffield, would Gibbons be a better choice than the tier 2 free agents like Jacque Jones, Juan Encarnacion, Preston Wilson and Reggie Sanders? Hoops

What's not to like about it Cuse? I think every GM looking at Pierre believes he can rebound from his below average 2005 season. I personally like Wilkerson better because I think he has a better arm, and more power, but I'd take Pierre over Corey Patterson. I'd probably bat Giles clean-up, in between DLee and ARam. I might also flip flop Barrett and Murton.

You'll recall a week ago he rejected the 3 years and $21M offer. According to this link, he also rejected the latest 3 years and $25.5M offer. http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/padres/20051110-9999-1s10padres.html Leaving the Yankees out of the conversation for a second, it looks like the Mariners, Cardinals and Red Sox seem to be converging down to that 3 years and $28-30M range we all talked about several weeks ago. Barring a miracle, it looks like Giles will indeed hit the open market at 12:01 AM.