Cubzfan64

Personally I think now is the best time to try to get Crisp when he's had a very subpar year. He's only 27 and had 2 very decent seasons in 2004/2005 with Cleveland until his drop off in Boston in 2006. If all it would cost us is Izturis and a reliver, I'd say do it. He is a good defensive CF (although his arm is Pierre's at best) who can go get the ball. I'd really like to see us get Crisp when his value is as low as it's been for awhile - personally I think Boston is a very difficult market to play in and Crisp was definitely saddled with an injury early in the season which I've heard affected him most of the season. He could be a real bargain in this market and give us a CF who could definitely put up .300/10-20hr's/20-30sb's/.330-.350obp and a solid glove out there. It's a good scenario for us because it would allow us to trade Jones or Murton and if Pie is ready in a year or so, Crisp should have decent trade value. I don't think he's a "difference maker" for our team, but I think he's a decent fit and allows us some other options.

just getting Soriano doesn't do enough imho offensively - we need another bat and the obvious choice would be SS, RF or LF. I seriously hope that Soriano will be playing OF for us and NOT 2B - he is a below average 2B and at least decent in the OF. This was a ton of money, but I guess if it doesn't preclude us making other moves I can't complain that at least we went out and got a bat.

The contract is - I just wish DeRosa was :( But they are inextricably combined. A 3 year, 14 million dollar contract in a vacuum is meaningless. It is only when you know who the player is that you can evaluate the value of the contract. Since both Gonzalez and DeRosa got basically the same contract, then the question is who would you rather have on your team? For me, thats an easy one. DeRosa. Therefore, Hendry's decision to sign him at the terms he did is looking better and better. And as far as him not being better than the other players available, if you sign Durham, you might not be able to afford the other players you need. And I'm not convinced that other 2B would be demonstrably better. There are arguments for and against and both are pretty strong. I'll be curious to see what Mark Loretta ends up getting - with A Gonzalez gone, the Red Sox may keep him and play a rookie (Pedroia) at SS, but if they have to get Lugo for offensive reasons, I bet they let Loretta go - I would like to have seen him starting at 2B for us in 2007 Oh yeah, Lugo, I forgot about him. How could I have forgotten about Lugo? He was on my wish list. Maybe its because I wanted him for SS. Anyway, I bet Lugo gets paid a whole bunch more than 3/14. We'll have to wait and see. I see your points and I do think DeRosa has alot of value and usefulness as a utility player, I guess I just hope he isn't our starter is all. If you're correct and Loretta, Aurelia or Graffanino get more than 2 year contracts then outside of a trade, DeRosa is probably the best option. As you said - guess we just have to wait and see

The contract is - I just wish DeRosa was :( But they are inextricably combined. A 3 year, 14 million dollar contract in a vacuum is meaningless. It is only when you know who the player is that you can evaluate the value of the contract. Since both Gonzalez and DeRosa got basically the same contract, then the question is who would you rather have on your team? For me, thats an easy one. DeRosa. Therefore, Hendry's decision to sign him at the terms he did is looking better and better. And as far as him not being better than the other players available, if you sign Durham, you might not be able to afford the other players you need. And I'm not convinced that other 2B would be demonstrably better. There are arguments for and against and both are pretty strong. I'll be curious to see what Mark Loretta ends up getting - with A Gonzalez gone, the Red Sox may keep him and play a rookie (Pedroia) at SS, but if they have to get Lugo for offensive reasons, I bet they let Loretta go - I would like to have seen him starting at 2B for us in 2007

The contract is - I just wish DeRosa was :( But they are inextricably combined. A 3 year, 14 million dollar contract in a vacuum is meaningless. It is only when you know who the player is that you can evaluate the value of the contract. Since both Gonzalez and DeRosa got basically the same contract, then the question is who would you rather have on your team? For me, thats an easy one. DeRosa. Therefore, Hendry's decision to sign him at the terms he did is looking better and better. I guess it's all relative to me. Forgetting about any contract, I'd take DeRosa over A Gonzalez for the 2007 Cubs anyways - we need offense badly thought, and to tell you the truth I'm not particularily excited about seeing DeRosa be our starting 2B

The contract is - I just wish DeRosa was :(

Gonzalez isn't an above average defender. I'm confused - this is the Red Sox Alex Gonzalez who should have won the gold glove right? And you don't think he is even above average?? Yes, the Red Sox Alex Gonzalez, formerly of the Marlins. Hmm, we'll have to agree to disagree then. I don't think he's worth what he got, but if I have a team with a solid offense and want a top defensive SS to solidify the infield, he'd be one of the top ones I'd want. If the Red Sox don't drastically improve their offense somehow, there's no way they'd take Izturis - Lugo is the guy they'd target I think.

Gonzalez isn't an above average defender. I'm confused - this is the Red Sox Alex Gonzalez who should have won the gold glove right? And you don't think he is even above average??

It has been mentioned that they are looking for a GG caliber SS. I think we are in a better position to make a deal for Manny than many people think. If the Red Sox were to trade Manny, I don't see any option for them besides getting Lugo for SS - Drew would most definitely NOT make up for the loss of Manny offensively and the Sox were in need of more offense even last year. I would be very surprised if the Red Sox went for a primarily defensive SS this year - if they wanted one that bad, they would have kept A. Gonzalez.

When have the Cubs ever been a top bidder for a player? I'd like to give Hendry the benefit of the doubt, but too often he is just a day late and dollar short. In almost every case I don't think anyone besides the player, agent and GM knows what exactly is on the table as far as deals are concerned. It's pretty much guaranteed that nobody on any forum knows for certain how many times Hendry has offered the highest bid and when he hasn't. My real disagreement with Hendry doesn't revolve around contract offers and such, it's more focused on the fact that I don't like how he has put together the full team - I don't think he's done a good job at all of balancing OBP with power with speed with defense etc... The last few years we've just had too many guys with the same approach at the plate - that's obviously the approach Hendry was looking for because most of those guys already had that approach before they got here. I'm happy we re-signed ARam and I think Kerry was a decent signing for the price - I'm not happy with the DeRosa signing however as I think there were better options once again to help balance the team. I'm hoping to see more things I like happen before spring training, but past history doesn't bode well for my expectations.

More than likely it will Make Co Co and Willy -Mo more abailable. It's hard to say really - I think they got Pena with the hope that he could basically take over for Manny when he leaves - whether he proved enough to them last season or not I don't know. I think both Pena and Crisp could be had - Crisp had a down year last year, but he's really a Juan Pierre with a little more pop in his bat and a little more potential. His arm is terrible for a CF though and his OBP is nothing to get excited about.

Philadelphia Daily News: "The Red Sox aren't through yet. Multiple sources say they are set to sign free-agent outfielder J.D. Drew, the Phillies' old amigo, for a 4-year, $48 million deal... The GMs discussed use of instant replay, but reached no conclusion" sorry if this was already posted

it's probably not, but I figured I'd toss it out there anyways - I'll let you know if I head anything on the news tonight

for what it's worth, the Boston's WEEI radio mentioned on my way home from work that the Red Sox are on the verge of signing Drew to a 4 year $48mil plus contract

A Boston reporter down in FL at the GM meetings said that some of the GM's of the small market teams were walking around afterwards shaking their heads amazed that a team would pay more just to sit and talk to a ballplayer about a contract than their entire team's payroll. That said, moving from Illinois to the Boston area a few years ago, I've seen the difference in how the fans and media react out here to a bad team (or even a decent team that's not performing well or challenging) - they simply won't stand for it - the fans and media will crucify the manager and owners as well as call out the players. It's definitely not a market I would want to play in if I was a ballplayer - not a heck of a lot of tolerance and an awful lot of "what have you done for me lately" attitude. They'll regain that $51 million back as long as D-Mat performs like a #1 or #2 starter - the Japanese market is huge and Boston knows how to market their team. I'm guessing they will try to sign him to a 5 year contract, but you know Boras is going to shoot for a 3 year deal and hope D-Mat stays healthy, plays well and can then hit the open market for that one big huge contract. As someone else said, it'll be interesting to see how this all plays out.

At first I thought the Red Sox were insane for spending that kind of $$ just to get the opportunity to try to negotiate with him for a contract. After listening to TV and radio reports the last few days out here though, I can see some of reasons why they would want to outbid everyone: 1) It's a poor free agent market - especially for pitching. Boston desparately needs another starter because they have lots of other holes to fill and not much for trade bait (because they don't want to trade any of their young arms in AA or AAA). 2) They have the money 3) Boston is a different baseball town than Chicago - after failing to have a good year in 2006, they can't afford to only field a .500 team in 2007 - they don't have fans who will fill the stadium no matter what - they'll get ripped up and down in the media and from a strategic financial standpoint, they can't let that happen imho when they probably only have another year or so of Schilling and Manny left. 4) They saw what Ichiro did for Seattle (Mariners games are now broadcast in Japan as far as I know). Matsuzaka may not be as big of a name as Ichiro or Matsui, but he DEFINITELY has a young generation of followers over there and marketing WILL bring in $ to the Red Sox. It's a gamble for sure, but if your owner is willing to put up the $$ to give it a try, I'm guessing they have done alot of calculations as to what it would take to earn that money back through marketing, and they must think it's doable. He could be another BK Kim, but from what I hear he has much more potential.

Besides the almighty $, I can't think of any reason why any player would want to play for the Cubs right now to tell you the truth. They aren't close to being a contending team, their coming off a truly pathetic season and they have a whole new staff of "bosses" coming. I still believe deep down that the majority of ballplayers are competitive and hate losing - if they have a choice to play for $17 mil a year for a pathetic team or $15 per year for an organization that looks to be contending or at least going in the right direction, I gotta believe most of them would opt for the chance to win. Maybe I'm wrong - who knows - it's a long offseason, but 2007 isn't starting out on a very promising note so far.

I said it very early on, and I'll say it again here... If Aramis doesn't sign with the Cubs (which it appears more and more likely that he won't), the Red Sox will be the first ones standing in line to make him a great offer which will give them the offensive player they need to replace Manny who will be traded as will Lowell. The only way I could be placated by letting Aramis walk is if we get A Rod to take his place - be it at SS or 3B I don't care. This organization has proven to it's fans over and over again that as long as they can fill the stands with fans and sell craploads of merchandise, they couldn't care less about winning.

I wonder if Boston would deal Crisp for Pierre and a reliever? By the end of last season, their bullpen was in bad shape and they weren't real happy with Crisp underperforming (although some believe it was due to some lingering injuries). Crisp has a weak arm in CF like Pierre, and he's the same type of leadoff hitter Pierre is in not taking many pitches or having a high OBP, but I personally think he has a much higher ceiling that Pierre does. Just a thought

Personally I would chalk alot of that up to a young pitcher still "throwing" rather than pitching. Without talking about your points one at a time, I'll just make the comment that popped into my head right after reading your notes... I only have a limited amount of worry to go around, and there's a WHOLE LOT OF OTHER PLACES for me to focus that worry on than Zambrano. Not to say he doesn't need to improve, but I see that more as worrying about fine tuning the fan speed on an engine that needs a complete overhaul.

I'm sure Steve will be relieved to hear of your decision :wink: I don't care much for him as an analyst but I did hear him on Mike and Mike ( I know, I don't have much to do today) this morning and I think Fox dropped the ball also. I actually like that he's gone, because he sucks. But that is terrible reasoning for firing him. You gotta believe someone at Fox was just looking for some excuse to get rid of him

Put me in the category of not making the deal and not thinking twice about it. There's no way I give up a young ace for anything. Above average pitching is hard to come by these days, and Carlos is well above average. He's the kind of guy you build a championship team around.

Funny - isn't FOX the network that airs "Family Guy?" I'd love to know how supposedly intelligent people can justify racial, sexual, and about every other possible slur in one case, but not in another. I heard the quote from Lyons and as far as I can tell it had little or nothing to do with any kind of racial slur. I don't care for the guy either, but my guess is that someone(s) higher up in FOX were just looking for an excuse to can him. Political correctness has gotten so out of whack these days.

I wholeheartedly agree - I don't like the move, but if they spend their money intelligently, I don't think it will matter too much who manages. I really wish the FA market was better in a year when it looks like we may have the $ to spend on it. I'm very worried about the idea of overpaying for a Zito or Schmidt to a long term contract and not getting what we expect. At least it will be a more interesting offseason than the 2006 baseball season was for us.

For the sake of the 2007 Cubs, whatever happens with Ramirez and the organization had better happen soon!!! Either we have a bunch of extra $ to play around with, or we lock him up and don't have to worry about 3B - whichever direction it goes, it has to happen soon or the team's hands are going to be a little tied in making other deals I don't want to see this drag on and us lose out on some players when they declare as FA's.