Illini Iceman

That seems fair to me. I think if the Cubs have to give up DeRosa to make this happen then Vitters shouldn't be included. They should make the deals with Baltimore and Philly and flip those players to SD along with Marquis (eating half the contract) and Hart and possibly Cedeno. As it is with that the Padres are getting 6 players (1 from Baltimore, 2 from Philly and 3 from the Cubs) for Peavy which seems more than fair when they have to trade him for salary relief and he has pretty much told them it has to be to the Cubs.

What free agent offers to take a 1-year deal? Hendry pushed Wood out the door. He didn't want him on a 1-year deal. And he shouldn't have. If this was a player with the same history and his name wasn't Kerry Wood people wouldn't want him even on a 1 year 10 million deal. Better off giving Wuertz, Shark, Guzman, etc a chance to fill the role at lower cost. Look at Boston - management there doesn't get hung up on the emotional issues of letting a long time player go if it doesn't make sense in the overall team financial picture. IMO that is how to build long term success, not by re-signing veterans at high cost because they happen to be fan favorites. Wood's negative history is that he can't stay healthy as a starting pitcher. He'd have troubles in the 4th and 5th innings of games. He was perfectly fine as a reliever and an excellent performer. And now he's being replaced with a lesser guy who is probably going to make $6+ million. He didn't stay healthy as a reliever this year either. I know, it was just a blister so he gets a pass for some reason. Missing almost a month in his first season as a reliever doesn't qualify as healthy to me. Especially when he also had blister problems as a starter. He had the "miracle" recovery from the shoulder injury so it wouldn't be completely unexpected for him to have future shoulder problems, especially if he starts being given a heavier workload. Hendry's mistake was not calling his bluff and offering arbitration. He was probably just not willing to take the risk it would mess up his plan to try to acquire Peavy and the outfield bat with his available budget.

What free agent offers to take a 1-year deal? Hendry pushed Wood out the door. He didn't want him on a 1-year deal. And he shouldn't have. If this was a player with the same history and his name wasn't Kerry Wood people wouldn't want him even on a 1 year 10 million deal. Better off giving Wuertz, Shark, Guzman, etc a chance to fill the role at lower cost. Look at Boston - management there doesn't get hung up on the emotional issues of letting a long time player go if it doesn't make sense in the overall team financial picture. IMO that is how to build long term success, not by re-signing veterans at high cost because they happen to be fan favorites.

I wouldn't describe Dawson as a guy who was "lucky enough not to get injured". He was a guy that despite getting injured still managed to play 21 seasons. I am sure a lot of other guys would have just hung up the cleats much earlier and not put up with the constant pain. Loved having him on the team, not a hall of famer (in my opinion).

And Meph is still disliked here And you are? I love it when people with less than 20 posts insult other posters. Oh, I see, you need a certain minimum number of posts to insult others, huh?

The Rays are all hung up on "character" guys so I don't see them going for Bradley.

I think it's a big deal. If you're not blocked by me then it generally means that I *want* to read your posts because I *value* what you say and think you, sometimes, have a better opinion than me. Key word: generally. You're not blocked. Generally because you can't block mods, admins, or yourself, unfortunately. I tried all of the above. You do get that people are mocking you, right?

I'll add a Saints fans stamp of approval onto this post. Saints are pretty much fried toast in games in those elements. Only consolation is that Reggie looks to be back from the DL playing very well and Pierre Thomas has never played as good as he has recently. Bears win. The Saints are going to stomp the Bears. Cold weather, unless accompanied by snow or rain, doesn't mean a thing. It is much harder to run a vertical passing game in the cold. Need to wear gloves or lose feeling in your hands, the football is hard, tougher to stay loose for the receivers. Not saying it is impossible, just that it would be crazy to think the Saints wouldn't much rather be playing in their dome than outdoors in Chicago.

Marquis in Colorado or Cincinnati would be very interesting.

He should be fired for being cautious with a firm budget? Among other reasons, he should be fired for painting himself into a corner by spending like Mack the Knife. Spending like Mack the Knife?

If Zambrano starts your in trouble....

and our current shortstop has the same range as a tee ball player picking grass. Your point? All that matters to wirgley23 is guys getting on base. He doesn't actually care if they score or not or whether they produce runs...he just wants them on base. He's down with OBP. To an insane level. Stupid guys that get on base and don't score. Base cloggers - that's what they are.

I blame Vedder for giving me a headache every time I had to listen to that god awful song.

Wow. There's so much... I mean... The delusion... Wow. Where to begin? It's just as delusional to think that Greene and his salary are the solution to any of the Cubs problems. I would only take him as a throw in to a Peavy trade that included Theriot. Even then I am not so sure I would rather have him as the starting SS over Cedeno.

I've been wondering about just this scenario since the whole "Kerry is gone" story broke. It seems remote that Kerry would be back, accepting a 1 yr deal with the Cubs, but certainly not impossible :beg: This is why (sorry to say because Kerry has always been one of my favorite players ) I am calling [expletive] on the whole "I would have taken anything to stay" act. He CAN take anything to stay. Just accept the arbitration. But he won't. And it will be because he wanted a long term contract and was probably put off by the fact that Hendry would not give it to him so he retaliated by making Hendry look bad in the press. Hendry is doing the right thing not giving him a multi year eight figure annual deal. I think he will break down with another major injury before those three years are up. The magically healed shoulder makes me nervous.

You all know who you are.

What is with this WGN broadcast? The backround noise is louder than the announcers.

id rather lose with wood than win without him. and i know i am not in the minority. You are right, a lot of grade schoolers probably feel the same way.

RedIvyCub

thought this was kinda of upsetting...almost making it sound like they won't sign Demp or Trade for Peavy. To me it sounds like Hendry has a continguency plan IN CASE they don't re-sign Demp or trade for Peavy. It doesn't read they won't, just that they have a plan in place in case neither happens. Yeah true, but still that contingency plan scares me. I dont want a rotation of Z, Harden, Lily, Marshall, Samarazija Don't be scared - the rotation would be Z, Harden, Lilly, Samardzija, Marquis. Feel better now? I didn't think so.

Because they probably have other guys in the system they would prefer to use the 40 man roster spot on to protect in the offseason but who weren't deemed ready to come up in September. Also, I have read numerous places that McGahee had one of the better attitudes and work ethics in the system so perhaps they wanted to reward him for that with a cup of coffee.

Yeah, because Harden would have done great with those 2 runs of support in game 1 or with the 1 run of support in game 2. And as an added bonus, the defense will give the Dodgers 6 outs in the second inning!

It's crazy to think of such hypotheticals, but I'd think that Lou would have to kill Z to get the ball away from him. Dempster deserves it. I have more confidence in him than Z. But you could always throw Z and Dempster, each guy go 4 innings or so. If it is game 5 with the season on the line, I have only two words for you: Jason Marquis.

Maybe if we issued firearms to all the players. Certainly not with bats and gloves. They could have amputated Santana's leg prior to the series and he still would have shut out the Cubs in both his starts.

Not likely, but anyone that thought the Cubs would sweep the Dodgers should also think they have a chance to come back and win 3 in a row. Game 4 is going to be the toughest one to get.