CubinNY

They really look out of sorts. I wonder if the trade sort of shocked them.

That was Patterson. I was wrong. That was Barrett.

he should be honored to be leaving this franchise hahaha!

I sometimes just sit here and smile as I come home and read through the pages after an eventful day for our cubbies. i always just think to myself--man, I wish this board could have been here to hear what people said when the cubs got a terrible prespect named Sandberg and terrible hitting shortstop for Ivan DeJesus I'm getting real tired of this. Sandberg was never terrible and Greene knew exactly who he was getting as he worked for the Phillies for a number of years prior to cubs. http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/S/Ryne-Sandberg.shtml Is it that hard to really try to think? Most of the people who have posted in this thread have been more than rational with good reasons why they think the trade was bad, good, or indifferent. What's the temperature up there on that horse of yours?

Speaking of... Where did you hear this as he hasn't pitched in the minors yet?

Bowen is a former good prospect out of the Twins organization who had an absolutely awful season at the age of 24 in AA and then a little better season in AAA in 05. He had a 733 OPS as the Padres backup catcher last year, and has an 810 this year (age 26). He is reputed to be a strong defensive catcher, although that is in great dispute. He is a low BA, high walk, with decent but not great pop in his bat. Burke is a 19 year old drafted in the supplemental round who has been absolutely terrible his first two years in the minors, but still has a lot of tools that could possibly pan out. Good synopsis. I don't really think all that many people are angry.

I'm no draft expert, but I don't understand that at all. It seems to me that a team would want to go with BPA AND need. To me that was clearly Weiters. Now if the Cubs have concerns that he won't stick at catcher, I could see drafting someone else. I just seems that a team would want to at least think about the mid term future of their ball club when drafting.

I don't know if I would call myself indifferent, but I'm not really upset. I wish they would have drafted Weiters if they were going to deal Barrett. That's my gripe. Truffle, I'm just trying to look at Burke and see what the Cubs got. Frankly, I don't see the ceiling being all that high. He is young though. I'm definately not worked up about it. How isn't his ceiling high? He's unlikely to come close to it but he has a high ceiling. Well, first I should say I don't exactly know what a ceiling is except for one that actually sits under my roof and over my head. I don't buy into draft slot, subjective analysis, and "dunking" ability. I go by numbers. The numbers say he is a terrible professioanl ball player at every level he's been. To me that means his ceiling is low. A player's ceiling and $2.02 will get him a Venti cup of coffee at a Memphis Starbucks.

I don't know if I would call myself indifferent, but I'm not really upset. I wish they would have drafted Weiters if they were going to deal Barrett. That's my gripe. Truffle, I'm just trying to look at Burke and see what the Cubs got. Frankly, I don't see the ceiling being all that high. He is young though. I'm definately not worked up about it.

Sometimes a change is in order, not only for the team but for the player. Barrett, right, wrong, or indifferent was singled out early on as one of the trouble makers and therefore one of the scapegoats on this team for this year. Even if he went on to win the Batting Title, he still would have been tagged for the fight with Z, v 1.0. There were a number of things he was getting blamed for (justly or unjustly) in defense, game calling, team relations, mental errors, and base running blunders. Does this mean he was the only one doing it? No, others have been thrown out stealing 3rd and getting hung up between the bases. But consistently, he was one of the ones showing the least amount of proper judgement in his total game. I hope he does well in SD, and i am glad we got a return on him before he headed out on us via FA. This at least gives us a backup catcher under contract for next year. Blanco is headed for surgery and that may be touch and go And Hendry is not giving up this year just yet. That is a terrible way to justify a trade. Clubhouse chemistry doesn't matter, I don't care that fans (you especially) blamed him for things that you are now admitting were only partially his fault. His production this year is pretty much guaranteed to outpace Bowen's significantly since Bowen can't hit. This is still a terrible trade. Saying you had to trade a guy because he was marked for trading is asinine. Clubhouse chemistry doesn't matter? Did you play baseball ever in your life? Please no. God, please no.

The more I look at it the more I think this is a Jim "I like tools" Hendry moment. Last year in the Arizona Fall League he played in 45 games, k'd 56 times and put up thses numbers: .209/313/.294/.607 Not too different from this year and in Arizona!. I hope the Cubs send him back to Boise. Maybe he just needs a good hitting instructor.

How do you feel about Adam Dunn? I love Adam Dunn. Why do you ask? Are you trying to equate Kyler with Dunn? Just saying he's struck out a lot more times than games played (94Ks in 70 games)...so I guess he's abysmal too. No you are attempting to make a really bad compairson between one of the best hitters in MLB and a 19 year old who can't hold his own in low A ball. Not at all...nowhere have I ever said that he's Adam dunn...you just made a blanket statement that "Striking out more times than the number of games you've appeaed in is abysmal." (that's a direct quote)...and I just thougth it worthy of note that that's not always correct...and that just measuring # of Ks is not a good way to evaluate a guy. It is when he's also sporting these numbers .211/.305/.268/.572

How do you feel about Adam Dunn? I love Adam Dunn. Why do you ask? Are you trying to equate Kyler with Dunn? Just saying he's struck out a lot more times than games played (94Ks in 70 games)...so I guess he's abysmal too. No you are attempting to make a really bad compairson between one of the best hitters in MLB and a 19 year old who can't hold his own in low A ball. AT age 19 Dunn played 93 games in low A and struck out 64 times. He also posted a line of .307/.409/.476/.885 with 11 HRs. If Kyle Buke can do that next year I will be ecstatic.

How do you feel about Adam Dunn? I love Adam Dunn. Why do you ask? Are you trying to equate Kyler with Dunn?

I don't think it is "safe" to say that at all. Striking out more times than the number of games you've appeaed in is abysmal. There is no way to sugar coat the performance. It sucks. The statement says nothing about his future.

Anyone want to take a bet on the first player Barrett goes after when the score gets settled either in ST or the regular season? My bet is Rich Hill. Surely, Barrett wouldn't be stupid enough to go after Z, would he?

barrett for bowen and A prospect OF Kyler Burke. Extremely mixed opinions on both. Burke very raw but has big potential to break or bust. Cash is involved and espn is reporting it's the padres that are recieving it. no real surprise there. I haven't decided if this is a good trade or a bad trade for the Cubs. The offense is severely challanged, but I haven't liked Barrett's play for a while, starting in Philly in 2005. It's hard to say, I guess this trade hurts the Cubs and was unnecessary. I guess that's my opinion. I don't know if it was a bad trade in terms of talent. However, I will say I wish the Cubs would have drafter Weiters. Catching is one of the hardest positins to fill (with talent).

I was thinking the same thing. It's the new sample size. I don't think you can all hyperbole the word of choice in this thread because of sample size. This thread is a lock to go another 10 pages. Based on it's absurdly high BABIP.

You have no idea what you are talking about. He's a legit prospect if they keep him at 2nd like they should.

I loved Steve . . . . . hated Joe "shaveless" Carter. . . . . didn't brennaman work for the cubs? i seem to remember that, though i may be wrong. i REALLY don't like him. Yep, and he has absolute vitriol toward the Cubs because they wouldn't allow him to do network. The [expletive] is a pale immitation of his father, just like Joe "I like the way he listened" Buck.

Still not getting it, so i will recap it for ya one more time. We trade Jones to the A's for Kendall, clearing 5.6M next year in cap room and fixing the disfunctionality of our OF. We then flip Barrett for a prospect over to the AL. Barrett is probably leaving anyway, so might as well get something for him. The difference between Barrett and Kendall at the moment is 1 WS. We gain 5.6M next year to use either on the FA market or to re-sign Z, v 2.0. Because remember, we may or may not have a 100M payroll depending on the new ownership, so we may need to conserve some cash. Jones is the 6th highest paid player on the Cubs atm and is a waste of talent and money. He is an albatross and his deal is a boondoggle (link for Raisin b/c he obviously gets confused when i use big words http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/boondoggle). Then who is the catcher? Who's on 1st and I didn't know there was a cap in baseball (except the ones worn tilted slightly to the right or left depending on your affiliation). This thread is getting good.

The Pierre thread where we discussed the pros and cons of the pornstache is one of my favorites.

That is signature worthy right there.

My guess is that this host heard a rumor about Griffey going to Chicago, and he mistaken assumed the Cubs, and made up the rest himself. I've heard plenty about him going to the Sox, and zilch about the Cubs. I'm certainly willing to be proven wrong, but I really think we'll see Hendry go more for a Tejada than a Griffey. The White Sox have pretty much eliminated themselves from the "buyers" category. They will be dumping players, not adding them. I think the same should be said about the Cubs.

Abreu has always been a slow starter, IIRC. It's one of the reasons whey people hated him in Philly. He's good and will likely be good for the next couple of years. It would be stupid to trade him and I don't think a small market team could afford him.