CubinNY

They moved a couple of times, Milwalkee then Atlanta. Both

I really don't think that Giles was an option at all. It seemed like almost everyone knew he was going back to the Padres cause he didn't get barely any offers. That could be. In which case the Pierre trade makes even less sense. For a marginal upgrade the Cubs gave up three of their biggest trade assests. Please let us not rehash the Pierre signing here and stick to the topic of the thread.

Hoops, I wish I had as much confidence in Hendry as you. It appears to me that so far Hendry has gotten almost everything he has wanted. The difference is it is not the same things as we want. Hendry signed Perez and Rusch pretty quickly and above market value. He signed Howry and Eyre pretty quickly and set the market. He went out and got his "lead off hitter" after Furcal split for more dough. To me it appears as if Hendry hasn't really thought too much about RF at all. He passed on Giles and insisted he could get a RFer via a trade. No, so far Hendry seems to be on track. The track leads to nowhere though.

If you can point to one article written by any news source that Hendry has been interested in any Pacific Rim player since Hee Sop Choi and Jae Kuk Ryu I'd really like to see it/them. Untill then the absence of evidence does equal the evidence of absence no matter what Dick Cheney wants us to believe.

Conor, Carlos, Chad, Chris (the names of the D'Backs top Of prospects). I'll take Jackson please.

Abreu is only a possiblity if Philly lowers their trade expectations. Insisting on Prior or Zambrano is not reasonable. Except they're not, for the millionth time, insisting on Prior or Zambrano. In talks with other clubs, including National League clubs, they've been reported to have asked for Matt Clement, Barry Zito, Erik Bedard, Derek Lowe, Brad Penny, Jason Schmidt and Jason Marquis amongst others. None of those pitchers are anywhere near as valuable right now as Prior or Zambrano, though a healthy Schmidt and an on-form Zito aren't too far back, and Bedard in about eighteen months could be damn good. What's going on here is that the Phillies are making it known that they want a good starting pitcher for Abreu, they're trying their luck with a few names, and every single team they're talking to is saying no. The reason that the A's said no to Abreu was almost certainly the money and not, despite Beane's insisting otherwise, that he doesn't want to move Barry Zito. Beane's clever enough to know that in Zito he has a widely overvalued pitcher that's going to hit free agency in one year's time, and the A's aren't going to be able to re-sign him. And the pitching market this winter is making a lot of teams desperate, pushing Zito's value up even more. Beane saying he's not going to trade Zito only gives him an even better trading chip. So what Hendry needs to do here is get in the middle of things... Phillies get: Barry Zito, Rich Hill A's get: Jerome Williams, Ryan Madson, Adam Greenberg Cubs get: Bobby Abreu, $5m towards 2007 from Phillies Something like that. Obviously, if the Cubs hadn't made the awful trade with the Marlins for Pierre, and had instead traded for Bradley on the ridiculously cheap as it turned out (Ethier isn't even equivalent in prospect status to Renyel Pinto in my opinion, and the Dodgers threw in a decent backup middle infielder), they'd be much more able to afford the pitching they're giving up to net Abreu, and this would leave us skating on thin ice a bit come next year. But we need Abreu, and it's as simple as that. I vote Diffusion for GM

Cliff Floyd was a solution to last year's left field problem. Cliff is a left fielder and not a particularly adept one. If the Cubs get Cliff that will mean Murton goes to the bench. If they also get Ecanarcion/Jones that might not be a bad thing at least until Cliff goes on the DL.

I would love Tejada. I mean kiss Jim Hendry on the mouth love. But all I can think of is the Hershal Walker trade. I wish it weren't for such price. I would do Dope + Williams + Cedeno + Novoa

Ethier probably would've entered the season ranked as one of Oakland's top 2 or 3 prospects, no? Maybe just behind Daric Barton. He's not just some scrub. I can't see how this trade tells us anything about the Pierre deal. And it baffles me that anyone thinks we could have dealt for Bradley and thereby filled a hole in right field. His rates are nice, but he only plays half-seasons. He was just one of many lousy RF options, and now he's off the board. Eh. I agree. Bradley was a bigger upgrade then Pierre in CF but not so much in RF. In addition, LA got a good return on investment.

Very possible. Beane and Hendry work pretty well together. Not if Ned finds out.

Who revealed this and when? Baseball is a business. If the Cubs would have made a good offer the Dodgers would have took it. Look what they got for him.

That would be Jim Hendry. The Cubs have drafted position players plenty high. One of the major problems was and is player development of both pitchers and hitters. The buck has to stop somewhere, and it stops with Hendry.

It is funny but I am upset for different reasons. To me it seems as if Hendry didn't see RF as a problem at all. To me he went balls out to resign a back up SS and 6th starter. Then was bonkers over two pretty medicore middle releivers. Then tried to find a lead-off hitter, as if that position exists on a baseball team. He did upgrade in CF and in the bullpen. But all the while the chasem in RF has been there. And it is still there. It was there last year, when Hendry could have signed Beltran knowing full well that Sammy would be gone. And it is still there today.

Bruce, if you stop by and see this, I was just wondering what the reason for this might be. Is it that Baker came away from his meeting less than impressed with Bradley? Are the Dodgers now considering keeping him? Has the asking price by the Dodgers gotten to high? Is Bradley not willing to play rigthfield? I'm just curious as to what has now made Bradley a dim proposition to the point that we would begin to look at Jones. Let's remember that it takes two teams to make a trade. From everything I've heard, the Dodgers seem to be in no hurry to trade Bradley to the Cubs. So, it's on the Dodgers end then. Do you suspect the Dodgers will tender him a contract on December 20th? I'm not Bruce, nor do I pretend to have any information, but my opinion is that the Cubs didn't/wouldn't offer enough for Bradley to make LA interested. Even with all the bagage Bradley is a pretty productive CFer, when healthy. EDIT: Nor has anyone else for that matter. Maybe teams are waiting until the 20th to see if he is non-tendered? If that is the case the bidding for his services might get high.

You take it back, Bruce. You take it back. At least he can catch the ball.

Wow, I leave for a few hours to watch the lefty movie syriana and found that someone was upset with my vomit post. Excuse me. But that list was pathetic Wilkerson or Bradley- My top 2 are not really RFers and probably wouldn't prduce enough offense to make a meaningfull difference. The rest just, bleck Mr. Trueblue, just put me on ignore already. This will save all of some consternation, no?

Yes, all Card fans should be pissed. And I mean royally. In fact, I think all Cardinal fans should stay away from the ballpark in droves. And the ones who do go should refrain from wearing those ridiculus red shirts. In addition, the outrage should be such that every Cardinal fan in Illinois should raise their children to be Cub fans.

Welcome. Good first post! Cool poppa Bell? or Coll poppy Ortiz?

a turd pie.

I would rather throw out one of Dusty's used wrist bands than Jones. Don't we have enough French sounding names who cannot hit for power out there already?

Sammy Sosa circa 1998

I think its every bit as bad. the difference is the subtleties. everyone in the world can see when one team is hammering the other in the paint without foul calls, while there are touch fouls called on the other end. with home plate umpiring, it's often times a matter of 1/2 of an inch, and what is outrageous is the media encourages it. "well Roger Clemens is going to get that pitch called. the batter needs to take a hack" or "if you're around the plate all the time, you're going to get those calls" or "he's called that pitch earlier in the game." NONSENSE!!! it doesn't matter if it's Pujols in the ninth at Coors and the tieing runner is on. a strike is a strike and a ball is a ball. (you know what I'm talking about Card fans.) Not really. Who specifically on the Cards do you think gets preferential strike zone treatment? Although I find it highly distastefull, I have to agree with the Card fan here. :D I don't like the fact that the strike zone is whatever the ump behind the plate says it is. But I also don't think they give breaks to the all-stars either. I think they do the best job they can and they make mistakes. I would love to see a machine used to call balls and strikes like they have in tennis.

This list makes me want to vomit.

I like "stepchild" for Muton As in he will be treated as such if he doesn't come out of spring training hitting. and his is obviously red headed. That nickname was someone elses.

Pie will likely increase his power numbers. After all he was a malnurished kid when they found him. However, he likely won't put up power numbers for a while. In addition, he has to cut down on the Ks and start taking some walks if he wants to succeed in the major leagues. According to scouts and people that have seen him play Pie has the bat speed to generate very good power numbers (bat speed is much more important that muscle strenght in determining HR potential). I wouldn't rule out him becomming a RFer or hitting for good power too soon.