HoopsCubs

I'm beginning to think that that is what is going to happen too. Damon will go to the Yankees or Angels. Beltran will become Boston's CF. Cliff Floyd coming here. So you're ok with a Murton, Wilkerson and Floyd OF? I'm okay with that OF, but then I also agree with Goony that you have to keep either Nomar or Walker.

He's got some tough decisions to make: (1) Should he or should he not trade Alfonso Soriano and/or Kevin Mench for starting pitching? (2) Can he get Boras to agree to an extension for Teixeira to cover his arbitration years at a price the Rangers can afford, or is it better to go with one-year deals until free agency? (3) Should they move Michael Young to 2B? There's probably several more. Hoops An addedum to #2 is if they can't get an extension for Tex, should they try to trade him while his value is so high? Good point.

I'm beginning to think that that is what is going to happen too. Damon will go to the Yankees or Angels. Beltran will become Boston's CF. Cliff Floyd coming here.

Unless the Cubs decide to have Murton play RF in Fall League/Winter Ball, I see very little chance of Murton playing RF in 2006. My comment is based on what someone close to the Cubs was telling me recently - Murton does not appear to have the arm to play RF. He seems to think Hendry will be looking to acquire players, who can play RF and CF.

He's got some tough decisions to make: (1) Should he or should he not trade Alfonso Soriano and/or Kevin Mench for starting pitching? (2) Can he get Boras to agree to an extension for Teixeira to cover his arbitration years at a price the Rangers can afford, or is it better to go with one-year deals until free agency? (3) Should they move Michael Young to 2B? There's probably several more. Hoops

Of course you would! But, it's hard to see even them dealing a guy with just 2 years of ML service and making $400K. Then again, Jim Bowden did sign Christian Guzman for 4 years and $17M, so anything is possible! Hoops

Jerome Williams + Todd Walker for Cliff Floyd?

I thought Jose Vidro is their most popular player.

You're probably right.

CP20, We can't totally ignore what Ted is saying, though. 2005 Pre-All Star .307 .428 .526 .954 (18 home runs and 58 rbis) 2005 Post-All Star .260 .376 .411 .787 (6 hrs and 44 rbis) Hoops

Hill and Mitre come to mind. You can put Jerome Williams in that group too, but I'd save him for another deal or as back-up in case of injury in the rotation.

Yes, it is. While there are certainly players available through free agency, who can address holes, my sense is that Hendry prefers to acquire most of his players through trade. And, usually, he likes to focus on low-budget teams during the offseason.

Let's just say that I wouldn't be totally shocked if the Cubs made a blockbuster deal to acquire Livan Hernandez and Brad Wilkerson this offseason. Hernandez has 2 years $15M left on his extension, and Wilkerson (arbitration eligible) will probably get a good raise from his $3M salary in 2005 to the $5-6M range level. Getting a durable innings eater and a bona fide lead-off guy, who can play CF could be significant pieces of the 2006 puzzle. I could see Corey Patterson, 2 near-ready major league pitchers and a young prospect being sent back. Hoops

I read the Miami papers this morning, and many down there believe he'll end up being the Marlins next manager. Hoops

I don't think it's that complicated. Sign Furcal. Move Cedeno to 2B. Trade Walker for a relief pitcher. Waive goodbye to Nomar. As for the other moves: Sign Lofton. Sign Giles or trade for a corner OF - Floyd, Abreu, Burrell. Sign (Millwood, Byrd, Weaver) or trade (Zito, Hernandez, Schmidt, Vazquez) for a starting pitcher. All those moves should easily fit into Hendry's budget.

Nothing in particular. I just wanted to list the important numbers for arguably the 10 best unrestricted free agent starting pitchers out there, and see what type of discussion and analysis we could come up with. I believe Hendry when he says he will strongly consider signing or trading for a starting pitcher. After seeing the often-offensively-punchless Astros and White Sox get into the post-season with strong pitching, I think Hendry feels that despite the offensive woes, the Cubs could have secured the wild card with better performance at the top of the rotation. He has money to address holes in all areas. Most of you here know I like Kevin Millwood a lot. Before Cleveland went on their second half tear, I was advocating we trade for Millwood. I still feel that with Maddux and Wood potentially both off the payroll starting in 2007, signing Millwood now even to 3 years does not handcuff us. Hendry and Boras have a good relationship. Speaking of Boras, I think Jeff Weaver would be a good signing too, but I think someone else will give him a 4 year deal in the $36-40M range. I'm not a big fan of Burnett, Washburn, Loaiza, Rogers, or Morris. I know neither Clemens or Moyer are coming here. That leaves Paul Byrd - he's intriguing too. I like the fact that he doesn't walk folks - decent WHIP. If Hendry is addressing starting pitching through free agency, the only guys worth looking at are Millwood, Weaver and Byrd.

Isn't that how the White Sox and Astros got to the post-season?

Re-signing Dempster was probably the first move. What will Hendry's second move be? It might be picking up Walker's option - but I am still convinced Walker will be traded. From what Mr. Miles wrote today, it sounds like Cedeno could be our 2B next year.

I am quite intrigued by the notion that the Cubs are considering to sign a starting pitcher as part of their off-season wish list. So, I did a quick scan of stats and data, and have listed out 10 unrestricted free agents, who stood out (i.e. for this thread I stayed away from pitchers with team options/club options and trade candidates). Next to each free agent, I have listed out 9 items: 1. ERA/2. games started/3. innings pitched/4. hits given up/5. walks given up/6. WHIP/7. 2005 salary/8. age/9. agent. AJ Burnett®: 3.44/32/209/184/79/1.26/$3.7M/28/Darek Braunecker Paul Byrd®: 3.74/31/204/216/28/1.20/$5.0M/34/Bo McKinnis Roger Clemens®: 1.87/32/211/151/62/1.01/$18.0M/43/Hendricks Brothers Esteban Loaiza®: 3.77/34/217/227/55/1.30/$2.9M/33/John Boggs Kevin Millwood®: 2.86/30/192/182/52/1.22/$7.0M/30/Scott Boras Matt Morris®: 4.11/31/192/209/37/1.28/$2.5M+inc./31/Barry Axelrod Jamie Moyer(L): 4.28/32/200/225/52/1.39/$8.0M/42/Himself Kenny Rogers(L): 3.46/30/195/205/53/1.32/$3.5M/40/Scott Boras Jarrod Washburn(L): 3.20/29/177/184/51/1.33/$6.5M/31/Scott Boras Jeff Weaver®: 4.22/34/224/220/43/1.17/$9.2M/29/Scott Boras Who or what, if anything, stands out? Hoops

The trouble with that is that we don't have a whole ton of players that would be useful in aquiring an impact player. Next, Huff sucked this year, and I don't think he'd outproduce Murton next year. Third, you can move Giles in the 3rd or 4th year if he's declined by then. It's worth signing him at 4/$42 because for the first 2 years of that deal he's a virtual lock to put up numbers that make our corner OF's this past year look like crap, and make us a pennant contender. If you did a Google search on "Huff lazy" you'll get a million hits. Huff is awful. I agree - let's stay away from him.

Vance, Don't forget the $11M they will pay Roy Oswalt. And, the way Bagwell's deal is structured, he also gets $3M of his signing bonus in 2006. In short, unless Drayton McLane is planning for a big expansion of sorts, the Astros appear to have some off-season cash flow issues - also, I believe Ensberg and Lidge are arbitration eligible.

Vance, Are you sure about this? I think the contract is guaranteed for 2006 at $17M. I think the Astros have the option in 2007. Hoops

Oh, I think we'd have to give up something good, whether it's 1 or 2 or 3 players/prospects. My questions for the group here are (1) is getting Vazquez plus a young bat a good idea in the first place and (2) what would be a fair trade for both teams?

He's got 2 years and a steep $24 million left on his deal. I don't know how the D-Backs feel about him, but I'm sure they would welcome the $24M relief, if it came to that. Rules regarding players traded in the midst of multi-year deals allow him to seek a trade. If he demands it, the D-Backs have until March to comply, or he becomes a free agent, which could be rather risky for Javier unless he feels confident he could find equivalent money from another club. Look at this from the Cubs perspective. The Cubs have telegraphed through the beat writers that they are going to actively search for a starting pitcher in the offseason. The implication is that they want a solid innings eater to offset the risk of injury to a current pitcher. If it meant getting Chad Tracy, Connor Jackson or Carlos Quentin as part of the deal, would you take on Vazquez and his $24M?

Raw, something is definitely going on here that none of us understand. Given his production, his left-handed bat and his cheap option, Walker should be a slam dunk to be back. But he isn't a slam dunk, as evidenced by the fact that neither Dusty or Hendry are embracing him. I'm beginning to wonder if there is some rift in the clubhouse with him involved, or some chemistry concern or some prolonged injury concern. I can't imagine that his average defense alone would cause so much consternation. Hoops