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Macias and ARam were the best Cubs on the field last night. Macias made one helluva sweet play at second late in the game. Having Macias on the roster at the end of the bench is fine. Playing him regularly or at the expense of a youngster isn't - but that's not his fault.

Wow, this was something to wake up to. From the Trib story: "Patterson had to clear waivers because he has had four seasons in the majors." He cleared waivers, or he still has to? Corey's still young and as physically talented as you need to be. I can't believe he'd go through with no team claiming him. Is this just Paul Sullivan missing something?

Right on. Go get 'em, Corey. You've still got lots of Cubbie fans pulling for you to be a star in our OF for a long time.

And what's more, Rich Hill will pitch for Peoria tomorrow night - sent there to stay on his rotation after Iowa's series with NO was postponed (according to IowaCubs.com). What's the over/under on K's for him tomorrow? ;)

Burnitz - nobody wanted him this offseason. Wouldn't expect that to have changed much. He'd bring a AAAA body or two. Perez - Ditto, and even less. Hollandsworth - Ditto. Rusch - Some value, but probably won't bring back more than a warm body. Why give up a potentially decent lefty reliever for what will probably be a bench warmer? Remlinger - We would quite literally have to pay to move him. Would bring back somebody's second to last best prospect. Maddux - the only one with decent value, but he's been so spotty lately that he's killing his value. A 6 inning pitcher with a 5 ERA? Meh, nobody's going to give up much for that. So, trade all of them minus Maddux and we pick up some other team's Dubois, Wellemeyer and Macias. The biggest trade of our season was Hawkins. Landing two potential big league pitchers, both under 25, for him was the best haul we'll see, I think.

Bingo. Sell, sell, sell...and we'll get more AAAA players in return. Dubois, Rusch, Mitre, et al...nobody's going to give up much for our role players.

Every team's fans do that. Look at the threads in this forum offering our spare parts for other teams' all stars. Unless Mac can draw walks like he used to give them out, he won't help us where we most need it.

The only guys on the ML roster with any real value to a "buy" team are: Zambrano, Prior, Wood, Maddux, Lee, Ramirez, Dempster, Rusch, Walker Z, Prior, Lee, and ARam are untouchable for all but the most ridiculous of scenarios, IMO. Of the remainders, only Wood would bring back a real difference maker. We all know the issues with his no-trade, and his value is probably as low today as it's been at any non-DL point in his career. Maddux might land someone decent, but likely nothing special. Dempster doesn't have the closer's track record to justify a huge return and won't change that in 3 weeks (and if he did, we'd win enough games to hover around .500 and not trade him.) Rusch isn't much past average, and neither is Walker. Both could bring back a young-ish AAAA player or two. So, maybe there's a firesale - but we've got few chips to get anything back with between now & July. If we decide to look at '06, I think you play Cedeno (until Nomar comes back) and maybe even Fontenot. Give Dubois got enough ABs (and pretend he's selective) and maybe he can hit 20 homers; he could entice someone in the AL to bid. Patterson might be able to come around and play himself into having some value in the offseason - but no team in the race is going to want a guy who needs work. Might as well call up Rich Hill (ideally in the rotation if Maddux were moved or Jerome Williams struggles - or when Wood gets hurt again.) I'd get JVB up and see if he can figure into the pen next year or not. Nobody else in Iowa figures to get a shot. I wouldn't get too anxious with the West Tenn guys, other than to give them a look in AAA. If we're totally out of it and under the radar, maybe Pie, Murton, (maybe even Aardsma or Nolasco) can get a slight taste in September. No real reason to do that, though. We aren't likely to get much in trades this season. See what you've got internal, and try to build some value for offseason trades.

Maybe, and probably not.

I was asking earlier in the season if Moore had passed Dopirak - since they're only a few months apart in age and Dope has struggled so much. With Brian putting up 2 homers in his last 42 games, and that being his only projectable skill (plus a little average), I'd say Moore's got to be ahead of him now.

Yeah he is prolly really 33-34. I would gamble with Z like others said though. Z, Patterson for Abreu and Lofton would be great What about Z, Patterson, Mitre, Wellemeyer for Abreu Lofton Wagner :D I'm ready to part with Mitre & Welly in the right deal - maybe even my favorite player (CPatt). But Wagner, for all his dominance when healthy, is rarely that...and he was supposedly considering retirement, though that looks to have passed. Lofton, while he's been awesome this year, is 38. And Abreu, while awesome every year, is too old to trade Z for, IMO.

Not much of a jump from Hollandsworth in either case. Adding more average players doesn't break this team out of its average funk.

I would not move Zambrano for Abreu. If they were the same age, I'd probably do it, but Z is 7 years younger. Z and Prior I wouldn't touch. Probably would hesitate on Lee and ARam (lest we fall into a Vance Law/Gary Scott/Steve Buechelle syndrome for another decade). Wood's the only other guy on the roster with enough quality for Philly to consider it, and as pointed out, Woodie wouldn't take it.

I kind of expect anything with Kotsay to drag a little bit - at least through the break. We can outbid the Yankees in terms of prospects, but we wouldn't necessarily need to add Kotsay if we're selling. The last part sounds like a guess from Gammons. I don't think anyone considers Pie ready to hit leadoff in the majors. Of course, you could say the same about the guys who usually hit leadoff for us now.

I've seen one article today that mentions the Cubs as a darkhorse for Boone. (Can't link to it or quote - premium stuff.) Other than the fact that we like cheap reclamation projects, I can't imagine why the Cubs would want him. Now that he's off the juice, he's barely average.

From an observer's point of view, Atlanta has seemed to get a lot from their minor leauges. They build up a core - Glavine, Maddux, Smoltz; or Chipper, Andruw, Smoltz - and actually play their rookies in positions where they can succeed. Maybe they just have better prospects than we do, and maybe I'm just generalizing hastily...but it seems like they've always got a promising rookie whom they know how to develop - Furcal, Laroche, Giles...hell, some guy named Kelly Johnson is an .800 OPS guy for them. They still sin with questionable filler guys (Brian Jordan, Fick, Mondesi), but appear more willing to develop a player at the major league level than we do. Sometimes I wonder if Dontrelle Willis would still be in AAA for us...or maybe trying to get a few innings out of the pen. Cox & Mazzone have also repeatedly shown a great head for putting together and using a bullpen.

We needed help in April but Hendry did not make the right moves. This entire situation was predicted. We're in bad shape right now. Not to be a Hendry apologist, but... The bullpen troubles were predictable, and for that I fault Hendry. Hawkins flamed, but never should've been a closer. Borowski's injury and subsequent struggles were unfortunate, but he shouldn't have been someone we counted on. Bartosh wasn't a great pickup, and we paid a decent price for him. That said, bullpens are mercurial things. A bunch of failed starters and/or closers trying to come together aren't often predictable. Hendry could've planned better and added a piece or two during the season. Like I said in a transactions thread, we've got about 3 or 4 guys as key parts of the pen who should be competing for at most 2 spots. I don't think there was a need for Hendry to do anything to upgrade SS. He's got Nomar, then Neifi hits like crazy for a month, and you've got a AAA shortstop hitting even crazier. Why spend to add another player there? Granted Neifi isn't a long term solution, and Cedeno will never get a shot. Still, you've got options there with a manager who can use the pieces well. Sure, Hendry could be doing more - but wishful propsed trades aside, there aren't a lot of tradeable pieces on this team. We aren't going to trade Corey for an all-star, or Dempster for someone's top pitching prospect. There are prospects we could part with, but who are we going to add that really makes a difference? Dunn probably won't be moved, Kotsay may not now that Oakland is sniffing respectability - and he was priced high, as well. Baez in the pen? Eh... Which leads to the real problem. You've got a manager who puts two of the worst OBP hitters in baseball at the top of his order over & over again. You've got Hollandsworth being very average in LF, and Hairston getting on base as well as anyone in the league (in limited time), and Hollandsworth keeps playing. Sure, the bullpen needs help. And sure, LF is still a sore spot. And Corey's slump (and Barrett's, and ARam early) have killed us. I don't expect Hendry to overbuild a team to compensate for Dusty's obstinance.

I'm in agreement that the core of this team needs one or two more significant pieces. However, I think it's unlikely we'll raise the flag overtly enough to trade our excess parts. Burnitz got no offers this offseason except ours, so I'm not sure how much we'll get for him. If he returns someone like Dubois - a guy who's probably a AAAA type - then it's a trade of little consequence. Maddux has good value, but it's questionable that we'd find a team that wanted him, offered enough, AND that he wanted to go to. Dempster would bring something, but he's got such a short track record that his is not a typical closer's value. If he put in another 3 weeks of effective closing, then his value goes up a touch -- but if that did happen, we're probably still around .500 and trading him won't happen. Cedeno probably won't start until Neifi hits under .230. He hit .229 for June, but Dusty will ignore that. Ronny probably rides the pine until August, then Nomar is back for his contract drive, and we still have little idea if Cedeno can play. Since Dusty said LF is the "most difficult OF position" (um, what?), I think Hollandsworth's glove will keep him in the lineup, no matter how ordinary his offense is. Hairston should have been leading off and playing there for weeks now - no reason to expect that will change. Probably won't trade Holla since Dusty thinks he has no other viable LF'ers. In the pen, Leicester, Wellemeyer, Ohman, and Novoa should be competing for at most two spots. Leicester isn't getting it done in AAA, so I don't factor him in at all at this point. Novoa and Welly are filler guys until they prove otherwise. To really contend, I think about 4 or 5 of the guys in that final roster would need to be in AAA.

Groan - a backup for Hollandsworth. Must keep that .750 OPS in the lineup, prospects be damned! More likely is that Murton will backup Macias who'll backup Dubois who'll back up Hollandsworth. (And, probably, the additional two or three old guys we'll acquire by then.)

The most likely and reasonable solution for the OF/leadoff position for this season is to play Hairston in LF and CF (and occasionally 2B) and let him lead off. He can't steal bases very well, but he does get on base. Patterson and Neifi drop to the bottom of the order - though that means Barrett has to protect ARAM (Baylor's obsession this month), and Barrett might not be consistent or dangerous enough for that. Of course, neither are Corey or Neifi. Three streaky, non-selective hitters make for a slump-prone team (add the slightly less streaky Burnitz and you've got four.) Getting some OBP out of the top of the order helps, but there's still more to address. Rushing Pie to try to salvage something this year is potentially damaging to Felix; and Felix's skills, at least today, don't lend themselves to leading off. It's likely Hairston would outproduce Felix in the majors the rest of this season, anyway.

I'll ask you to put yourselves in the shoes of the other team. Say the Cubs are offered a trade: We'll give you a young OF batting .230 with a .650 OPS, a 32 year old second baseman with an ok bat who's decent with the glove but has little range, a fairly effective 30 year old swingman lefty, and a 24 year old righty who's been very up and down, but has some promise. And from the Cubs, you have to give up: A 31 year old OF with a .950 OPS, a 29 year old 2B with 20 homers and a .845 OPS (despite never walking), and a 23 year old reliever who's been effective - and pretend that's one of the few effective young arms the Cubs have. Now do you do the trade? Texas would have to be desperate to part with Soriano and Dellucci to consider it. You don't get to subtract the excess parts from your team and trade them for all stars level players unless the other team is salary dumping or Pittsburgh. If we wanted to pry just Soriano & Dellucci from Texas, it would probably take 2 of our top pitching prospects - probably in addition to Mitre and one other major leaguer. I don't think they'd want Rusch, and Patterson's value (though he's still my favorite player) has never been lower.

Giving up the only guy who's closed games for us in 2 years would be giving up on the season, and neither Baker nor Hendry would do that - even if it has only been 2 months since Dempster started closingt. Dempster does have value, but I'd be surprised if Boston would give up Ramirez for him. If you had Ramirez, would you trade him for a guy with 14 career saves?

great, so he probably sits tomorrow. Can Neifi play 3rd? Not sure about Neifi, but Macias plays third, and I'm pretty sure that Cedeno does too. Well then, for the love of everything, let's hope Macias plays. :(

If Dubois is moved - and every trade on the board seems to suggest that - Hairston becomes the primary RH bat on the bench. Could argue that he's that already. I like Jason, but I'd rather have Hairston than Dubois on our bench. Burnitz and Holla aren't great options in center, so Hairston is the backup in CF, as well. Any trade involving him would need to add or move someone to the bench. Also, Ford's numbers aren't appreciably better than Jerry's. Afraid we don't have much major-league ready stuff to offer from 3B.

Eggg-xactly. No way that happens. Like going to, say, a Twins forum and seeing them post about getting Derek Lee. Mench comes up a bit on the board. May be unlikely, but Texas does need some arms.