KingKongvs.Godzilla

+1 I'd want a better a good pitcher from the Pirates for Pena, specifically Jeff Locke.

Pomeranz might be my favorite long term LHP in the minors. I really buy that he's going to be awesome. I can't say I'm a huge Ubaldo fan, but he's obviously a very talented pitcher with MLB results (mixed, but dominant when good). I have to throw in that as time goes on I like this Garza trade more and more. Teams are really paying a premium on prospects for pre-FA young vets with upside for some reason. Probably cashing in on the prospect craze...who doesn't love a good prospect or two?

Agreed, doesn't sound like much, but the Cubs gave up Gorzelanny to save peanuts this year. Gorzellany MIGHT throw 150 innings this year for the first time since '07.

Who said that? I'm opposed to offering guys 25%+ more years and/or dollars than everyone else. Such as they did for Soriano. And such as folks apparently want to do for CJ Wilson. Yea, you're not going to get CJ Wilson cheap.

Why? It just pointed out that Swisher was the move to make at the time just based on money alone, and I don't think Dempster is a #1 pitcher and he got #1 pitcher money IMHO Maybe #1 pitcher money 10-15-20 years ago...That's #3 money nowadays.

I think the general idea is that we'll have somewhere around $35-45 million to spend after arb raises, etc. If we could get Fielder for $25 million and Wilson for $15, that falls right into the range of money we should have to spend. Wilson is 31, but he's largely been a reliever most of his career. He has less mileage than most 31 year old starters and should have a longer shelf life. Not to mention that really good pitchers nowadays seem to do alright in their early and even mid-30's. Wow. I did not know he was that old. I was thinking 28. what kind of contract do you think he will command? 4 - 5 years? No sure if I would be comfortable with them going that long. I'm thinking AJ Burnett or maybe Carlos Zambrano money/years. I'd be happy to have him for that much too, because I think Wilson will be a coup. I hate this effect too. Not so much here, where I don't post so much, but Cubs fans seem awfully scared to spend money this offseason, no matter who the money is spent on. Everyone will be finished in a matter of 3-4 years, if that. Soriano, if the Trib minded their own business, could be gone as early as next year....That irks me.

Carlos Beltran, but only if they lock up Fielder and a SP (Wilson) first.

I think the general idea is that we'll have somewhere around $35-45 million to spend after arb raises, etc. If we could get Fielder for $25 million and Wilson for $15, that falls right into the range of money we should have to spend. Wilson is 31, but he's largely been a reliever most of his career. He has less mileage than most 31 year old starters and should have a longer shelf life. Not to mention that really good pitchers nowadays seem to do alright in their early and even mid-30's.

You seem happy about any or all of these things. Correct me if I'm wrong. If talent is added to the FO I would not mind Hendry remaining. This year and last year sucked, but were necessary in the end and I think were fine moving forward given they don't blow their wad on another Soriano-esque player (high K, bad D, no BB, no elite tool). I blame Soriano mostly on the Trib, since the last two years are the ones that really hurt.

By the end of next year the Cubs will have a top 5 farm system. Just calling it now.

I think Ethier might be the better buy just because he's not tricking anyone into believing he's a CF. I know I sound kind of crazy for saying this, but if I was to go after a young maybe available player currently playing CF it'd be BJ Upton. I think Upton can basically be Mike Cameron 2.0 with sick D and solid offense with good power in CF. I like Rasmus, but like Kemp I feel like there just might be a chance that he's more COF than CF. For w/e reason I buy him as a CF moreso than Kemp. It might be because Rasmus came up as a CF all the way through.

You know...I've noticed this but never, ever thought of putting it that way. Throw Blake DeWitt on that list...and Jeff Baker was one before him. It does seem like former first round picks and other highly thought of amateurs tend to stick around as useful parts after they've been designated as busts for not becoming the stud-like stars they were formerly destined to be. I do think there are rules though...Just don't ask me what they are right now. I think athleticism and position is a factor...you'll probably see that alot of these guys were up the middle prospects as prospects...Kelly Johnson and Betemit are other guys who come to mind as former top prospects who took a long time to find a niche...

Id trade anyone not named Castro or Garza for Rasmus. He's got the potential to do what Matt Kemp is doing, and he's cheaper. The idea that he's actually available is pretty crazy...they must really be pissed at him over there in St. Louis.

I think Gillick gets brought on to be a figurehead amongst the consultants, as well as a valued consultant. He's old school and I think the Phillies are a pretty sweet team to look to imitate. I also believe he'd keep Hendry if his job title gave him that power. Gillick's an old school guy like Hendry and I think both might think the Cubs can turn it around quickly. I think that even might play a factor into why he's willing to take a non-GM or maybe higher role.

Yeah, Wilson's going to be a really good buy for someone, and I think he'd thrive in the NL. He's pitching like an ace. Kemp would be a catch, there's part of me believes that he's a COF about to be paid franchise CF money. Maybe I underrate his D out there in CF, but he's never been a particularly good defensive player. The young OF I hope hits the market is Justin Upton. He was supposedly dangled out there last year, and this offseason the D'Backs might lose their MIF and desperately need some pitching help. Wishful thinking, but hey... Cole Hamels gets my vote amongst the 2013 guys. I think he's going to be nasty in his 30's. Not that he isn't nasty now, just that he's getting better.

Options: - Chase CJ Wilson, hopefully land him. The guy's turned himself into one of the best pitchers in baseball. - Make a trade. Not sure who's available for that. Maybe dangle Wells out there, though I'm sure trading cheap pitching isn't something they're looking to do. - Buy alot of scrap heap/reclamation level talent. This is probably necessary anyway. I do think a season with a healthier Cashner will help. It'd be helpful if McNutt gave more reason to buy the hype. I believe we'll see more improvement from Garza, and then from there unless they trade one of Z/Dempster I hope they step their game up a little if they bring in a big bat and w/e other reinforcements the FO adds.

Am I reading this right? You would trade Marmol for Colby Rasmus? He's a career .259 hitter, doesn't get on base at a real good level, doesn't steal bases, and is only a 20 HR power guy. I've got to believe you're massively overrating his trade value.. Maybe I am wrong? I mean, I think Jackson could be brought up and put up similar numbers w/ a bit less power. I'd trade anyone not named Castro for Rasmus.

+1 If he wasn't a Cub he'd be a "why can't Hendry and the Cubs organization develop this kind of player" guy. Instead he is, and the Cubs are losing, so the grass is greener somewhere else. Castro's going to be an elite SS at least, and I think he can be an elite MLB player if both he and the Cubs put in work.

http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/cubs/post/_/id/5347/could-soriano-ramirez-be-fits-for-yankees Why are you seemingly so desperate to trade the best third baseman in the NL? He will not be here when our window reopens. I say grab what we can and move on. The window is open next year. I'm kind of pissed this isn't a more common belief. The Brewers are loaded and they can't even pull away from the pack this year. A good offseason and this team should be able to compete. Dream FA signings this year: Fielder CJ Wilson Beltran Keep Ramirez I think that'd make this team pretty damn watchable at least, and very competitive within this division.

They're not trading for Soriano or Ramirez. I do think they'd be interested in Baker. I also think they'd pay a good price for a reliever like Marshall. Maybe Reed Johnson? Could be anyone...except for Ramirez or Soriano.

I don't disagree, and I think Hendry is another advantage. Besides Soriano and a couple of stupid MR contracts when the team was good, I like what he's done in FA, especially recently. The Cubs' money certainly helps him, but I think he pushes hard for the players he wants and he usually lands them. While I'll never forgive him for skipping on Beltran, I have to credit him for having money to spend and an open 1B position the year Albert Pujols/Prince Fielder hit the FA market.

That's weird. The crappier the results have gotten the less you dislike Hendry? I like what he's done as far as getting rid of older veterans and rebuilding the farm system. The Wilken hire was genius for/from an idiot. While I generally think Hendry is a little too old school to be a GM nowadays, I do think he's setting this team up very nicely for post-2011. The farm system is on the up and up, the club is seeing some contracts go away, there's a young stud player at the ML level, there's "glue" veterans who'll still be around, there's a young pitcher in the rotation so that Z and Dempster doesn't go straight to Cashner/McNutt/whoever without a bridge player.... Also, my gut says that Hendry gives us a good chance to sign one of these 1B. It's probably just a kook theory, especially in this day and age where every theory is like that, but I do find myself believing it.

yeah - HJL is the piece we're really going to end up missing. Archer may not ever really get control of his stuff. Guyer and Chirinos are mainly just guys (old guys at that). It took a lot of the depth from the system and I would have loved to have Guyer on hand with the OF injuries we've had this year. But cripple seems too strong of a word. Fair enough. The system certainly isn't at a point where it can handle the loss of 3 of their top 10 prospects. I thought Archer was one of the more overrated prospects in baseball last year. He just walks too many guys for me to think TOR SP or even SP period. He showed better control at the High A level last year, but then went back to his 5+ BB/9 upon promotion to AA. He's doing it again this year. I think the system is fine, and well on the way up. I also believe we just might be close to having the ammo for a Justin Upton or David Wright (some kind of young star player) if they were to actually be traded.

I've always liked Ravech. I don't dislike Hendry as much as I used to, but the models we should be looking at (Boston and Toronto) are on point.

My concern with Cashman is that because of the huge amounts of money he's been able to play with, we haven't really seen a "type" of player he likes. We don't know what his philosophy is on what makes a player good, basically. With the Yankees, he's simply able to (and more often than not, I'd guess, instructed to by the Steinbrenners) simply outbid everybody for the stars who are good at everything (Sabathia, ARod, Jeter, etc). Should he come to Chicago and he has a big payroll but not unlimited, what type of player does he target and look to develop? Is he an OBP/more progessive stats guy or is he more of a traditionalist? The Yankees were looking at stats before it was cool, and Cashman was a part of that. Like most GMs I think he looks for a big bat 1B, a C, a SS, and CF, an then hopes to fill in the rest the best he can. It just so happens that at his current job the "best he can" for 3B is the guy who could have retired as arguably the greatest SS of all time. It wouldn't be like that here, but I think he knows exactly what kinds of players he wants. Guys who get on base, play D, stay on the field, and can hit with above average power. This is the guy I want the Cubs to go after. He's a FA GM this offseason. I'd take him over the probably overrated (at this point) Beane, and I don't think the Cubs have the balls to give DePodesta another shot at running/building a team. After Cashman I'd look at Cherington from Boston.