TrueBlueCubFan

You seem to think Howry has turned a corner in his career at age 32. No one here disputes that Howry had a career year, but do you actually believe that one year represents what he is likely to do in the future? Yes, I do. 2005 was a career year, no doubt, but look at 2004. 44IP with 2.74 ERA. Far above average. Then the next year he further improves. If you can get anywhere in the ball park of his 2004 numbers, you'll have a very successful relief pitcher. He pitched 79 games at a 31/32 year old, so I hardly think he is wearing down yet. As far as the contract situation: Howry simply was a benifactor from a market that desired relief pitching. It would have been the same no matter who you went after. You could have gotten a pitcher for lesser money, but it would have been a lesser pitcher. It just seems no matter what happens, something negative is always found in it. I'm not just saying this situation, because there are some real reasons for complaining, but this isn't the only example. It's not like the Cubs just made a move and people decided to think of something negative. Relievers have short-shelf lives. Outside the best of the best (Wagner, Rivera, Hoffman etc), your typical reliever's career is extremely up and down. They don't get 3 years until after they've had some success, but then after they've had some success, their peak is probably already past. The Cubs are paying guys for what they did before as opposed to what they are likely to do for them in the future. You may be annoyed by all the perceived negativity, but I for one am quite annoyed at all the pleas for people to just be happy with whatever they do. It's been explained over and over why there are drawbacks, and why those drawbacks can't be ignored. This is a very risky move without a ton of upside. It's not like they are overpaying potential superstars. And while it's fine to pay a guy like Howry what they are supposedly paying him, it's not fine to just do that with several players, as the Cubs have done. If $5-6m of your payroll goes into overpaying role players, then that is $5-6m you can't spend on a player who can be an actual difference maker. And we Cubs fans are all too familar with the Cubs tendancy to fall a few million short of signing or otherwise acquiring difference makers. Did I say that you should be happy about anything? Remember, you are complaining about a free-agent signing, not a trade. Huge difference.& some just complain no matter what the Cubs do.

The 2006 season will not exist to me if that happens. I heard the White Sox could use some more fans. Have at it!

Also I also saw Torre quoted as saying that the Yankess were out of the running for BJ Ryan since they couldn't offer him the closer job. If Ryan and his agent have made it clear that they will only sign with a team that gives them money and the closer role then it takes some air out of the arguments that Hendry should have combined the Eyre and Howry money and just signed Ryan. Same argument goes for Wagner. He is an option for a team looking for a closer & the Cubs are not one of those options.

No, it's missing Scott Moore

You might be surprised. Rumor has it they plan to flip Blalock once the trade is completed. Wow. That used to be a good organization. Beinfest is a very good GM & Loria is a very good owner. The problem is the support the Marlins is awful. Loria has lost money every year b/c they were spending like a mid-level payroll team & had the income of a low-level payroll team. I don't blame Loria for doing what he is doing. Also, the future of the Marlins in S.FL looks more dim every day. If they don't get a stadium deal very soon, I expect them to pack their bags in the next year or so.

Isn't it possible Hendry has had interest from other teams for one of those 4 catchers & if one is traded he would like to have 3 on his 40 man roster? Isn't Reyes fairly young & has the potential to be a ML catcher? What kind of year did Brownlie have & what type of ceiling do we expect from him? Brownlie had an okay year out of the pen, but lost velocity on his fastball that he previously had in college. I think he would have made sense to protect over Aardsma. Brownlie may not have the big fastball anymore, but he can still get guys out by pitching intelligently. Aardsma really can't do either, but he can throw hard. Aardsma has been a dissapointment since being acquired from SF, obviously they(scouting dept.) weren't ready to give up on him & value his potential more than Brownlie's.

Lowell had a down year. He should come around. I still think Lowell is very capable of a 25/100 season in Arlington. He is only in his early 30's. If I'm the Rangers I do this deal in a heartbeat. Beckett's ongoing blister problems has been a concern, however, when he is pitching the way he is capable there are not many better. Receiving Beckett & Lowell's contact is worth giving up Blalock & a top pitching prospect.

Isn't it possible Hendry has had interest from other teams for one of those 4 catchers & if one is traded he would like to have 3 on his 40 man roster? Isn't Reyes fairly young & has the potential to be a ML catcher? What kind of year did Brownlie have & what type of ceiling do we expect from him?

The Dodgers have a GM opening. Have you applied? Since you have all the answer's to the Cubs organizatinal plans & understand all of what their scouting department sees, I'm sure you could put that on your resume. FYI, Why don't you wait & see what's happens, via trades, Rule V, etc. before drawing your pessimistic conclusions?

BA's already said that 2006 is shaping up to be a weak draft class, so as of right now I'm not too upset about losing a 2nd rounder. Cubs better nail their 1st rounder though. Won't the Cubs lose their pick, if they sign either Furcal or Giles?

The Mets front office seems to think Furcal will sign with the Cubs! And as the day wore on, the club became convinced that Rafael Furcal would sign with the Cubs and be eliminated as a potential solution for the Mets' second base situation. http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20051118&content_id=1269807&vkey=news_nym&fext=.jsp&c_id=nym

& Fielder,Casey,Dunn & Overbay

Maybe Ohman is now expendable/trade bait? It's safe to say that Hendry feels Eyre will compliment Ohman (or vice versa). Daily Hearld: http://www.dailyherald.com/sports/sportsstory.asp?id=122715 Thats good to hear as I think Ohman can be a very valuable guy in our pen. However I dont understand the fact that we are going to have 3 lefties in our bullpen(Rusch, Eyre, Ohman). I just hope this doesnt mean Rusch is our 5th starter, but Ive got a pretty bad feeling that that is going to be the case. Now it's sounds like Williams could be the possible trade bait or Williams & Rusch will both be starters going into ST until they know how KW is progressing from his off-season shoulder surgery. Well, quite frankly I dont like the idea of trading Williams unless its for a big time bat. I love Jeromes upside and hes only 23 and had success at the ML level. If they do trade him I hope its for a proven big time slugger cause if its not Id rather keep him. I'm with you on that one. My guess is that JW & GR will be fighting it out in ST for the 5th spot in the rotation. What happens when JW wins it and if Wood stays healthy? Starters: Prior Z Woody Maddux (I hated this option year given to him) Williams Bullpen: Wuertz Ohman Eyre Dempster Novoa Williamson Howry (whomever/Hendry has said he's going after a Righty setup) That's with a 7 man pen. Why on God's green earth did we resign Glendon Rusch? That has been my main concern with this signing. If we hadnt re-signed Rusch and then signed Eyre then i would have no questions about this signing. However, if Wood stays healthy then I have no clue what the point of Rusch being on this team is. When is the earliest we can trade Rusch? I think they have to wait until June 1st to trade Rusch. I could be wrong b/c they extended his contract, before Glendon filed for FA.

Maybe Ohman is now expendable/trade bait? It's safe to say that Hendry feels Eyre will compliment Ohman (or vice versa). Daily Hearld: http://www.dailyherald.com/sports/sportsstory.asp?id=122715 Thats good to hear as I think Ohman can be a very valuable guy in our pen. However I dont understand the fact that we are going to have 3 lefties in our bullpen(Rusch, Eyre, Ohman). I just hope this doesnt mean Rusch is our 5th starter, but Ive got a pretty bad feeling that that is going to be the case. Now it's sounds like Williams could be the possible trade bait or Williams & Rusch will both be starters going into ST until they know how KW is progressing from his off-season shoulder surgery. Well, quite frankly I dont like the idea of trading Williams unless its for a big time bat. I love Jeromes upside and hes only 23 and had success at the ML level. If they do trade him I hope its for a proven big time slugger cause if its not Id rather keep him. I'm with you on that one. My guess is that JW & GR will be fighting it out in ST for the 5th spot in the rotation. I think JW is best suited for the rotation over the BP. I'd rather see Rusch as the long man in the BP than placing JW's in the pen.

JW will make league minimum next year.

An excellent,fair & rational post. It's a nice change around here.

Maybe Ohman is now expendable/trade bait? It's safe to say that Hendry feels Eyre will compliment Ohman (or vice versa). Daily Hearld: http://www.dailyherald.com/sports/sportsstory.asp?id=122715 Thats good to hear as I think Ohman can be a very valuable guy in our pen. However I dont understand the fact that we are going to have 3 lefties in our bullpen(Rusch, Eyre, Ohman). I just hope this doesnt mean Rusch is our 5th starter, but Ive got a pretty bad feeling that that is going to be the case. Now it's sounds like Williams could be the possible trade bait or Williams & Rusch will both be starters going into ST until they know how KW is progressing from his off-season shoulder surgery.

This is pure speculation I got from a Cub's fan blog on Eyre's contract: 06': 3 mil 07': 3.5 mil 08': player option for 4.5 mil. Supposedly, there are some incentive bonuses for appearances,etc.

Was that necessary?

The Cubs won't pick up any more bullpen guys, I'll say that now with confidence. Starters: Wood Prior Z Maddux Rusch Bullpen: Williams Williamson Novoa His Eyreness Dumpster Wuertz Ohman Intentional? I will come through this screen after you. I thought their were word filters so that wouldn't happen or is it just for the Sosa & Cpatt lovers?

fyi, he signed a 2 yr. deal with a 3rd yr. option. $ has not been confirmed yet. yeah, it's even worse than a 3 year deal. it's a 2 year deal with a PLAYER option for the third. Can you please post the link where it says player option?

That's a dangerous way to think. We need like backups, and backups for the backups after Dusty burns out those guys. He did it to Weurtz last year. What's to stop him from doing what he's done the whole time he's been here. Hell, in 2003 he rode Farnsworth/Borowski into the ground. Remember when we had to go to Dave Veres because the rest of the guys were gased? Ohman/Novoa/JVB/Rusch would be the back-up/6th or 7th inning guys.

fyi, he signed a 2 yr. deal with a 3rd yr. option. $ has not been confirmed yet.

Is Eyre now the set-up/8th inning guy from the left side & Williamson/Weurtz from the right? If this is the case, I think the Cubs may be done acquiring BP help.

I've been of the persuasion that the bullpen should have been the final focus after lead-off, shortstop, and the gaping hole in rightfield. We have a number of arms for the pen. But if I were going to gamble three years on a reliever, Dotel please. I'f Im going to give a reliever 3 years I'm going to give it to the guy who's proven he can throw in 70+ games, not a guy 4 months removed from TJ surgery. I think over the course of three years, Dotel will prove to be the better signing. At least Dotel hasn't had only one good season. Both Dempster & Williamson weren't really productive or themselves in their first years back from TJS, I wouldn't Dotel to be Dotel in his 1st year back, if you know what I mean.