badgercub

UPDATE: Nothing exciting, just heard that Hendry was discussing dollar figures with Furcal's agent today. That is all that was said (as reported on the SCORE, so take it for what it is worth)

better yet, make one up on another board and see how long until it makes it back here.

I think you need to look at this in context. Personally, I'm not upset that the Cubs have players with a history of injury on the team. What bothers me is that the fallback options in 2005 were weak. If you are going to have a Nomar on your roster, you can't afford to have a bench spot occupied by Macias. You need to make sure that you have better bench options. Injuries are going to happen...even to people that don't have a history of injury. A player might get hit by a pitch and break a bone. A middle infielder might get hurt on a hard slide by a runner coming into second base. Collisions in the outfield happen (see Mike Cameron). You just need to make sure you have enough options so that if an injury does happen, you have someone you're comfortable plugging into that spot for an extended period of time. Either that or you need to have the resources and presence of mind to make a trade for someone that you can plug into that spot soon after the injury, if you anticipate that the injured player is going to be out for more than just a few weeks. You also need to have a productive enough lineup/pitching staff where if someone gets hurt, you can still manage to score/prevent runs. If Nomar gets hurt, I'm comfortable with Cedeno starting everyday, with Neifi backing him up. You can't expect to replace the production of a Mark Prior if he gets hurt. That said, the Cubs have several people they can put on the mound every fifth day that should be somewhat effective. But, if you look at last year's team they had players prone to injury at too many positions. Wood, Prior, Nomar, Hollandsworth, Ramirez. You just can't afford to carry reliable backups at all of those positions. I don't disagree that sometimes it is worth it to take a chance on an injured player, it is just when you assemble too many of them that you are going to run into problems.

The people calling for the Cubs to re-sign Nomar are most likely the same people that complained that Hendry relied to heavily on players with a history of injuries. I think if the Cubs do not sign Furcal, Cedeno will be the starting SS and Walker will remain a Cub and be the starting 2b with Neifi backing up both. The PEOPLE who say "the people calling for this or that" are people who are labeling other posters, and it is NOT WELCOME here! Please stop. I believe this is the second warning I've given you recently. I wanted Nomar resigned because he'll likely come fairly cheap, provides excellent production offensively (which offsets his defense) at a position that can be difficult to find good production. There is the matter of health, but with Cedeno backing up, we should be covered. I never said a word about Hendry relying to heavily on injured players. Settle down, No one was singling anyone out or labeling anyone. There has been much debate on this board about signing and relying on players with injuries that have limited their playing time in the past. Just stating facts, not being derogatory to anyone. Quit acting so holier than thou.

The people calling for the Cubs to re-sign Nomar are most likely the same people that complained that Hendry relied to heavily on players with a history of injuries. I think if the Cubs do not sign Furcal, Cedeno will be the starting SS and Walker will remain a Cub and be the starting 2b with Neifi backing up both.

Nomar is not a bargaining chip that can be used either way in signing Furcal. I think their are very few teams out there that would be interested in signing Nomar to play short stop. He likely will move to third base, or as has been speculated before learn to play left field. I think his days as a SS are over.

I can't believe how much people are over valuing Felix Pie. The guy hasn't even played a year at AA and already he is the second coming. A majority of the posters on this board are clamoring for guys with high OBP, yet you want to pin all your hopes on an uber prospect whose plate discipline thus far is lacking. While Pie may end up being a great player, he is not there yet, and may never get there, while a player like Dunn is there and has been there for an extended period of time.

I usually value the farm guys as well, but I'd rather be a World Series contender for the next two years and not have to worry about the development of someone who isn't among the top 25 prospects in baseball. I agree, you have to give something to get something. And getting 2 years of Dunn, possibly longer, while giving up an unknown quantity (who til this point hasn't really shown any plate discipline) is well worth the risk. The Cubs should have the payroll going forward where we should never really see prolonged stretches of rebuilding

Great point Vance, we will also have to pay a premium because Cincy will not want to trade him within the division if they can get something comparable somewhere else

Would you bat them 1-2? Not necessarily a good idea. Furcal and Pierre both came to bat 81 times last season with a man on first and less than 2 outs. Both players hit into 13 double plays. The double play percentage works out to 16%, roughly one in every six opportunities. Neifi's DP% was 22%, so either Furcal or Pierre would be an improvement, but we already have Todd Walker, whose DP rate was just 9%. I'd actually rather hit Murton and Walker 1-2 than pick up Furcal and Pierre. Does anyone honestly believe Walker is going to be a Cub this season? IMO the only reason the Cubs picked up his option is because at that salary it makes him an extremely valuable trade commodity. Along with some young pitching he is probalby going to be the centerpiece to any deal that brings in a major upgrade to the outfield.

Furcal makes no sense for the Cards. I believe he was talking about Marcus Giles

Good glove guys who can't get on base can be had for a heck of a lot cheaper than this. I doubt there were many people knocking on Neifi's door despite the reports, but my guess this is just another case of Hendry bidding against himself. And I don't even want to think about what kind of trade that would be... We'll see how long it takes Hendry to say that this contract is a "reward" for how "well" Neifi did last season. I totally agree that he overpaid. I was just speculating/trying to make the point that another deal is in place already to land a big name outfielder, whether that be a Milton Bradley, Kevin Mench, or someone else.

With the GM meetings underway in CA, could it be possible that Hendry has laid the groundwork for a deal (with Walker being one of the pieces) to land a bat for either CF or RF, which made it necessary (at least in his mind) to sign (overpay) for Neifi? What I am trying to say is that a deal including Walker is all but done, if not I don't how this signing would make any sense.

The difference being that McGee had more power than Furcal and Coleman knew how to steal bases without getting thrown out 45% of the time. I thought I saw it posted somewhere else the Furcal had a success rate of over 80% on stolen bases.

It's a risk/reward situation. Can he stay healthy? Can he still play SS? What will he cost? Hendry was critcised for relying on too many guys with histories of injury, I don't think he will make that same mistake this year. While Nomar may have a resurgence this year, is it a risk the Cubs are willing to take? I don't think so. Hopefully they look to improve the defense up the middle by adding Furcal, moving Cedeno to 2b, and ? in centerfield. Furcal will be an improvement in the field and at the top of the lineup and Cedeno should be an upgrade defensively while his offense probably won't match Walker's I don't think he will hurt the offense especially if he is batting in the 8 hole. I have no idea what the solution in CF is going to be, but I am sure it will be somewhat of an improvement offensively.

Murton is already penciled in as the starter in left field. Not sure about Walker's arm either. I truly believe he was signed to be traded. I think Hairston will be the supersub, and if the Cubs don't sign a centerfielder this offseason and Patterson doesn't show them something in spring training Hairston could very well be the starting CF in 2006. and people are complaining about pierre being in center for the cubs??? One reason I like Corey in CF over Hairston and Pierre is his arm. Both Hairston and Pierre have very weak arms. Right now I think Corey is probably on the outside looking in, and unless he shows some drastic improvement in the spring, will not be with the Cubs. I heard an interview with Jimmy Piersal the other day where he was saying "if" Patterson doesn't produce in the spring the Cubs will try to trade him, or outright release him.

Murton is already penciled in as the starter in left field. Not sure about Walker's arm either. I truly believe he was signed to be traded. I think Hairston will be the supersub, and if the Cubs don't sign a centerfielder this offseason and Patterson doesn't show them something in spring training Hairston could very well be the starting CF in 2006. and people are complaining about pierre being in center for the cubs??? Just my analysis of what might happen. Of course, alot of this would depend on the Cubs signing Furcal. If they don't sign Furcal then I would bet they will surely sign a centerfielder to fill the leadoff spot. I don't think Hairston is that bad of an option to fill in, considering he makes far less than Pierre. If that is the case and Hairston doesn't produce you would have Pie in the wings, although I would hope they give him another full year in the minors.

Murton is already penciled in as the starter in left field. Not sure about Walker's arm either. I truly believe he was signed to be traded. I think Hairston will be the supersub, and if the Cubs don't sign a centerfielder this offseason and Patterson doesn't show them something in spring training Hairston could very well be the starting CF in 2006.

i don't think the TV Deals have hurt them one bit. You have to remember that yes, the Cubs were on TV everyday in the 70's and 80's, but it wasn't until '84 that Cubs started to draw any fans to the park. There are a lot of things that combine to make the Cubs so popular: Wrigley Field, the renaissance of the neighborhood, the fact they haven't one in nearly 100 years, and being in the third largest media market in the U.S. Being a Cub fan is Generational, something that is handed down from Father to son (or in my case, my grandmother started the tradition and handed it down to my dad and his brothers. None of which have ever lived in Chicago, or Illinois.) There are other franchises who have national appeal (Yankees, Red Sox, and in football you have teams like the Packers or the Cowboys)

I was going to make some snide comment about the author but I think Tim wrote it best. Off topic, but who was Snidely Whiplash? Was he Dudley Doright's antagonist? He certainly was. Boy does that bring back childhood memories.

Yeah, I think the comparison of Blanco and Barrett is comparing apples and oranges. How can you compare them when Blanco catches the better pitchers on the staff? I would like to see the break down of Blanco's starts and who the starting pitcher was that day, and who the opponent was.

Better yet, wake me up when Dusty is gone. Hopefully after next year at the very latest.

Len isn't even doing the game today. Dan Rhoan (sp) is sitting in for him.

They certainly will. My point was that, even with a "statistical correction", he's a very, very good player. His '04 season was actually his worst since '01; it just doesn't look like it, due to ballpark effects. Plus, I'm of the opinion that he's actually turned the corner, and isn't likely to regress TOO much. His approach at the plate is much better. His strikeouts are way down from previous, he's taking more walks again (though not as many as in '02-'03 -- stupid Cubs philosophy!), and, most important of all, he hasn't had a bad month, which always was a problem in the past. In fact, his worst OPS for a single month this year is July's 1.048. Based on this, while I doubt he'll have another year as good as this, whatever adjustments he's made have helped both his pitch recognition and his consistency. Those things are likely to help him continue at a higher level than as in previous seasons to this one, IMO. Lee may not regress back to his career norms, but I still have my doubts about him being a 1.000 OPS guy in coming years. With all the talent at 1B, it might be better served not to extend Derrek, and even capitalize on his inflated value by trading him. Also, and I'd expect you'd already know this, Derrek's had a great string of luck this year, BABIP-wise. Without his good fortune, Lee's OPS goes down a minimum of 60 points. Trade him for what? Young talent? Lee and Ramirez are the two guys you need as your cornerstones to make a run at a world series. With these two in the fold and Prior and Z the Cubs should have a 4 or 5 year timetable to make a run at a world series. I wouldn't think of trading him away unless you are getting a Miguel Cabrera type player back in return that you can lock up for 4-5 years. Which there is no way any team is going to trade their superstar, already producing at the ML level, cheap talent for something similar with a much higher price tag. Why would we trade away our best players when we haven't won a thing in almost a century?

I remember doing the century club (many years ago in college) We would make the 101st shot a shot of Tequila or Wid Turkey. Once, with the CD player on shuffle or random, as we took our 100th shot "This is the End" by the Doors was playing, how cool is that when you are drunk.