erik316wttn

i love the hawk, and he was a great defensive player, but he doesn't belong in the hall. he's short on the conventional statistics; hits and home runs, and he's short on OPS and OBP. he didn't strike out a ton, but he didn't walk very much at all. he only came close to .900 twice, and even then he was below. he was a very good player, and people will remember him for 87, but he's not a hall of famer, God Bless Him. There are plenty of guys in there with less than 2774 hits, Andre's career total. Sabrematitians would cringe at his career .323 OBP, but it was a different game then and OBP wasn't valued as much then as it is now. Also, 438 career home runs is/was a much more significant number then than it is now, especially seeing as he played most of his prime years in the 80's and early 90's, when 35 home runs would often be in the top 3 in the league. Man, Andre gave me some of my earliest baseball memories. I remember him with something like 4 IBB's in one game. I remember the grand slam he hit to tie the game at 4 against the Pirates, only for the Cubs to lose it in 10. I remember a game he had against the Braves where he hit the game tying and go-ahead homers. I remember many a mistake pitch up around his eyes that ended up on Waveland Avenue. I remember runners stopping dead in their tracks at third base not wanting to force a throw. I remember his meltdown where he got ejected then threw stuff on the field. I remember the game face. Oh, the game face. Top 3 I've ever seen are Dave Stewart, him, and Glenallen Hill. One of the best players in the game when he was in his prime, and he let his play, not his mouth, do all his talking for him. You'd get my vote anyday, Andre.

I'd keep him, and if we had a glaring need for a bat come June or so, then we could trade him or Williams or Rusch or something. Keep him at first.

You haven't forgotten who manages this team, have you? And his affection for aging veterans? If Grissom is signed I guarantee he'll at least be in a LF platoon.

This had better be a cruel joke. You KNOW, you just simply KNOW Dusty will play him over Murton. Marquis is a "Dusty guy".

Maybe I should take suggestions from you, the guy who runs the site which currently looks like this? ... Haha. Burn!

Check out what ATL paid last year for Hudson and you should get a good idea... So...Hill, Patterson and Wuertz in place of Meyer, Charles Thomas and Cruz? Where do I sign?

Kaplan said that he heard that Hendry was pushing hard to acquire Zito, and P. Sullivan said that he had heard that from his sources also. I say just sit on him and don't flip him. That would be an awesome rotation. I agree with you as long as Pie (stated earlier) isn't in the deal and Zito agrees to a contract extension before the trade. Of course. Zito agreeing to a long-term extention would have to be a dealbreaker.

Kaplan said that he heard that Hendry was pushing hard to acquire Zito, and P. Sullivan said that he had heard that from his sources also. I say just sit on him and don't flip him. That would be an awesome rotation.

Interesting.

I'd see if I could get him to lower the $$ amount if we would agree that he would only have to dress and be with the team on days he's scheduled to pitch.

Would they give up one of their top prospects straight up for just Corey Patterson?

Problem is, the Reds are going to want Mark Prior. I can hear them saying, "You offered him up for Tejada, you can offer him now." Very true.

My source was non-commital on that point. I got the distinct impression that Miller would not be in any pitching shape until the 2nd half of '06 at the earliest. As I said in the opening thread, if Hendry signs him, this really looks like a 2007 move to me. Make it a 2 year thing, vesting option for 3rd year. If he works out, great. We have Dempster II. If not, no big loss.

PLEASE PLEASE PLZ. do this! DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT!!!!

I didn't get it all, but did get that he would trade Prior for Tejada. Kinda surprised(and dissapointed) me to hear him say that. I heard that, too, and my opinion of his baseball knowledge went down a bit.

Then if the Orioles are so desperate to give him up, we should be able to get him for less than Prior. You know, sort of the reverse of the Sammy trade last year. And USSoccer, you stole my line. I had that "instead of losing 3-2, we'd lose 6-5" typed out, but then deleted it. Great minds think alike.

The IF becomes a strenght, but then the pitching becomes a weakness. I'm not the one who said it would be the worst in my lifetime. But I'm much more likely to side with the person who makes that claim than the person who has no problem dealing Prior because he's only won 18 games once so far in his career. There's a really good chance that Prior will have the best career of anybody the Cubs developed in my lifetime outside of Maddux, and he wasn't traded. So it could end up being the worst trade. Let's say Tejada comes here, has a nice 2-3 years then settles into one of those guys living off his reputation (occasionally looking great but largely much less productive than his former self). During that time the Cubs pitching is highly questionable, Lee returns to normal and the team fails to make any postseason noice. Meanwhile, over the next 10 years Prior develops into a top 5 pitcher in the game, consistently posts a 3.50 ERA or lower, wins 12-20 games a year, and picks up a Cy Young. This set of circumstances is hardly far from possible, and would leave most Cubs fans absolutely disgusted by the results of the trade. The Cubs would have to win it all in 2006 or 2007 to make that trade seem justified, but their pitching would have taken such a big hit that their odds would be no better than if they just maintained status quo. What he said. I don't often agree with you, but this time I'll say "Preach it, Goony!"

If the Cubs acquired Tejada they would have one of the best IF's in the league. How is that not a strength? Now don't get me wrong, I love Prior, I just don't see how this is the WORST Cubbie trade in your lifetime. When you are looking at Tejada's achievments, do you just throw them out the window? He still had a great year last year for a SS. Would having one of the best INF's in the league really be a strength if we had to decimate our rotation in order to get it? It's never a good idea to create one hole to fill another. You're right. Having Neifi start at SS is a much better option. Yeah. Because we have NOBODY ELSE IN THE WHOLE SYSTEM *cough*Cedeno*cough* who is capable of playing shortstop. Do you really think trading a once in a lifetime pitcher like Prior for a shortstop who will only be an elite shortstop for another 3 years or so is really a good idea?

Not exactly. Prior will be better than Brock but Tejada will be better than Broglio, and the Cardinals won't be involved. With our luck Tejada will break down in about 2 years, his contract will be an albatross, he won't be able to play short anymore, and Prior will thrive under Mazzone's wing and win about 3 Cy's.

If the Cubs acquired Tejada they would have one of the best IF's in the league. How is that not a strength? Now don't get me wrong, I love Prior, I just don't see how this is the WORST Cubbie trade in your lifetime. When you are looking at Tejada's achievments, do you just throw them out the window? He still had a great year last year for a SS. Would having one of the best INF's in the league really be a strength if we had to decimate our rotation in order to get it? It's never a good idea to create one hole to fill another.

Prior for Tejada would be Brock for Brolgio II.

I think JH is counting on the rotation looking like this: Z Wood Maddux Williams Guzman I'd certainly rather it be that way than having Rusch in the rotation, so may be its wishful thinking on my part. Aside from Z the pitching rotation would be pathetic. Do you guys really expect Wood to be back and injury free? Maddux is likely going to regress again this year. Williams is a good #5 right now and Guzman is in the same category as Wood. TERRIBLE. So in the end we're going to lose Prior because we lost on Furcal. Jim.... settle down. Tejada is NOT worth Prior. Give them Hill, CPatt, Guz, and another. If they turn it down, it's their loss. Of course Baltimore is going to take this trade. They'd be idiots not to. I hate you, Jim. Honestly, truly hate you. You guys keep forgetting Bedard. He's a huge chip. Prior + Hill > Tejada + Bedard

I think JH is counting on the rotation looking like this: Z Wood Maddux Williams Guzman I'd certainly rather it be that way than having Rusch in the rotation, so may be its wishful thinking on my part. Aside from Z the pitching rotation would be pathetic. Do you guys really expect Wood to be back and injury free? Maddux is likely going to regress again this year. Williams is a good #5 right now and Guzman is in the same category as Wood. TERRIBLE. So in the end we're going to lose Prior because we lost on Furcal. Jim.... settle down. Tejada is NOT worth Prior. Give them Hill, CPatt, Guz, and another. If they turn it down, it's their loss. Of course Baltimore is going to take this trade. They'd be idiots not to. I hate you, Jim. Honestly, truly hate you.

Prior will win at LEAST 2 Cy's in Baltimore. At least. Leave it to Hendry to make the rotation a strength, then make it a glaring weakness at the expense of a 30 year old shortstop on the downturn.

Why are they so hell bent on trading Prior? If you do, Z is the only constant in the rotation. Wood won't be ready. Maddux is done. Williams isn't more than a #3, as is Rusch. This trade would make the rotation very mediocre. We don't need offense that badly. I would love to see Tejada here, but I'd much rather trade a package of prospects for him. If he would cost Prior, then I'd say no deal. I'd be ok with it if we got Tejada, Bedard, and 2 top prospects. Anything less than that and Hendry should be kicked in the jewels.