Proven Veteran

Chad Tracy, please.

:lol: I was already there.

This deal is completed, the A's sent out an email.

Michaels/Abreu to Cubs now?

How about B______ in CF? :?

He writes for Baseball Prospectus also.

THAT special? They weren't even good. His numbers were much worse than Cedeno's and they are the same age.

Red Sox are making out like bandits. You beat me to it. I can't believe this.

Not a positive review.

Well, how many positions can Marlon play? :roll:

Somehow, it's comforting to hear about other organizations being just as screwed up as the Cubs.

He had the third lowest WHIP of guys with less than 8 K/9 that throw with their left hand. :lol: :cry:

Soooo, he's off the market. Who's next?

He'd have to be crazy to go to LA, they are a mess. Lasorda is worse than Lucchino.

If the Cubs get Mench, I suppose that means no Giles or Dunn, unless Murton is traded.

Do you think Sarge knows who Hendry is?

neither was dontrell and look how he ended up. if hill can come up with a decent 3rd pitch (like a cutter or straight change) to go along with the low 90's fb & awesome curve, he will end up being a very good ml starter. You do know that Dontrelle is two years younger than Hill, right?

A SS might not be had, but you could slide Cedeno in the SS position and trade for a number of 2Bs. I would just keep Walker then.

I'm glad I finally get to see a bears game. It sucks being in an area with two horrible teams, I'm stuck with those games. The NFL needs to get rid of its local blackout rules.

Maybe I'm crazy, but the guy I'd LEAST want to give up is Jerome Williams. He's only 23 and he's already an above average MLB pitcher. He's almost 2 years younger than Rich Hill and the same age as Guzman. Pie has zero plate discipline, he may find some eventually, but that could very likely be after the window has closed for this group.

What he said. Name the last time Hendry traded the best prospect in the organization and got fleeced. (no, the Dontrelle trade does not qualify) Cruz for Pratt? If Juan Cruz is the best prospect in our organization, or if he ever was, then I shudder at the thought of the future of the Cubs. "Two years ago, Juan Cruz ranked with Mark Prior as the top prospects in the Cubs farm system. But Cruz has been unable to claim a spot in Chicago's rotation and the club tired of waiting for him to live up to his potential. On Thursday, the Cubs stopped waiting, trading him and minor league lefthander Steve Smyth to the Braves for two prospects, lefty Andy Pratt and second baseman Richard Lewis." From Baseball America. :| He was also the #6 prospect in ALL OF BASEBALL in 2002 according to BA, ahead of Mark Teixeira and Joe Mauer among others.

He moves back there when Pierre leaves as a FA. Where will Pie play?

If the cubs get wilkerson, I want him in CF.

I think a little context is relevent. From everything I have read, it is the years on the contract (and thus bottom line total value), and not the per year value of the contract that scares Hendry. At Giles age of 35, I think Hendry is very comfortable paying Giles top dollar for a 2-3 year contract (total value 30 million or so). I think he is very uncomfortable adding a 4th year or beyond (total value high 30s or low 40s). I believe someone had posted the idea of a front-loaded contract for Giles, which, if Giles is open to it, is not a bad idea. If you're planning on paying him $10 million a year, and you're comfortable giving him only three years at this time, how about something like this: 2006: $11.5 million 2007: $10 million 2008: $8.5 million 2009: Team OR Mutual option for $9 million If Giles is interested in playing for a winner, you can sell the idea to him like this: The Cubs know how much they have to spend in 2006. They don't know how much they'll have available in 2008. This keeps them in a position to have a little extra money available then in case they need to add another piece to the puzzle to help maintain a winning team. The option for 2009 should be a team or mutual option. If Giles is still somewhat productive and the market on outfielders is thin after 2008, then the Cubs can pick up that option. It's less than the annual average of the contract, but more than the final year of the deal. It's also more than he made this season. If he wants more money, throw in some bonus incentives for 2007 and 2008. There's no need to front-load the cash in the contract. What the Cubs need to do is front-load the expensing of the contract. Professional sports must be the only business left in America that operates on cash accounting. If we are stuck with cash accounting, then pay Giles $8.5 in year one, but also put $3 in a bank account and charge $11.5 to the 2006 budget. Then in 2008, take the money out of the bank, add it to $8.5 from the 2008 budget, and pay him his $11.5 in 2008. As long as the whole contract is guaranteed, you can expense the money over the course of the contract any way you like. Adding in interest costs and time value of money complicates the calculations slightly, but that's how it works. In the real world you don't set up a bank account, it's just part of your capital budget, but nobody measures the profitability of their business on a cash basis. If the Cubs had expensed more of Maddux's contract in years 1 and 2 so that he only hit the budget this year for $5 million, nobody would be complaining about his contract. We have no idea how the cubs do their budget, do we?

1. Neifi wants to start. 2. Neifi wants Furcal. 3. Furcal would start at SS. 4. Neifi thinks he will start at 2b.