& what way would that have been that your aware of? I would have kept Nolasco, overpaid for Furcal to get our "leadoff hitter" (who i didn't want until i realized we were going to go with Pierre for decent talent, and blocking Pie in the process). Pie is mediocre in a corner OF spot and a possible stud in CF. I also would have picked up Michaels and stuck him in RF instead of Jones. The next good long term RF option to come on the trade market would be ours. muahahahaha :lol: I also liked Nolasco & his #'s LY impressed me more than did Hill's. However, I'm glad JH didn't pay 13 mil. + a year for Furcal. It gives him more room to resign Lee, pay Zambrano when he becomes a FA after the 07' season. I 'm not a huge of the Jones signing, but I also realize options were very limited. The Phillies got Arthur Rhodes who is an experienced LH set-up man in the Michaels trade. Sounds to me like the Cubs didn't have that to trade & therefore the Cubs were not a good fit for the Phillies to trade Michaels to the Cubs. Pie is 21 & still developing & it's unknown what kind of corner OF he will turn out to be. The Cubs did overpay prospects slightly to get Pierre. Pinto & Mitre, in my opinion, don't seem to be that big of a loss. However, the Cubs had plenty of good pitching prospects in their system. The farm is there to improve the big club & that is what JH did.