RynoRules

Nah Furcal is much better, that is true. But man, didn't Shawon have a cannon? and a group a fans that monitored his Shawon-o-meter?! I sure did. I loved Shawon in 89'. One of my fave pics of all-time is the cover of the NLCS program from that year. It shows the Hawk scoring a winning run and Shawon hugging him, with that 50 mega-watt smile. Those were good times.

It could be the alcohol that I drank tonight talking, but I think Furcal's agent is full of it. The mkt determines the price, not some loud mouth Rosenhaus-like agent.

Per his contract, he can request a trade and AZ must deal him before March 15 or he becomes a FA. Thus, I think AZ will be willing to eat some of his money raher than losing him for nothing. I also don't think he's posturing at all. Go check out the article at ESPN.com to see what I mean.

No, mainly because I don't want to deal Z and I don't really want Kearns. I would deal Pie for Dunn though. What he said. And I'd add that I don't want Z traded w/in the division.

thanks for the info! Pierre is the top priority over Furcal? That's new. Very interesting. ' I think that is b/c Furcal is an FA and therefore is likely to wait longer to make a deal, whereas he can trade for Pierre anytime he wants. My impression is that JH wants both, and won't wait if he can get one before the other.

Levine on ESPN Radio right now (paraphrasing follows): Top priority is trade for Pierre. Furcal is right behind that. Atl and Chi appear to be the only viable options for Furcal. The Cubs could be close to something this weekend. Could be Pierre or McDougal. JH is also likely to talk with the Reds in the next 7-10 days re Dunn or Kearns. Cubs may revisit Giles, but he's on the "back burner". Levine sees him as a two year option. He made it sound like Nomar will not be back. Levine thinks Hendry wants to "add and add".

And tonight on ESPN, Hendry and the Reds' GM play "Go Fish".

=P~ Pierre Furcal Lee Dunn ARam Murton Barrett Cedeno PLEASE!!!!

What he said. Name the last time Hendry traded the best prospect in the organization and got fleeced. (no, the Dontrelle trade does not qualify) Cruz for Pratt? Cruz was the best prospect in the org?

What he said. Name the last time Hendry traded the best prospect in the organization and got fleeced. (no, the Dontrelle trade does not qualify)

not if he can get pierre from the fish for cp as has been rumored. If I'm signing Furcal, as has been rumored, I'd rather have Bradley than Pierre. Also, trading for Bradley doesn't preclude you from trading for Pierre and moving Bradley to right. thats fine but as has been stated above, there is virtually no chance of the cubs getting a guy with bradley's issues. i would rather see pierre in cf than bradley. on paper bradley has better #'s but in reality he's a bomb waiting to go off. maybe he and urbina can be pen pals from their respective jail cells. Bradley is a better fielder than Pierre. He has more power than Pierre. He likely will get on base better than Pierre. He's put up a 900+ OPS once in his lifetime, a number Pierre could only dream about. Does he have some issues, surely. Because of those issues, his cost in salary and players, is also less than Pierre. I agree that I doubt the Cubs look at him. Of course, that shows how inept they've been at creatively making this team better. After 2004, they wanted to get rid of the bad apples. Well, they did and our team was worse for it. I agree the Cubs won't make a run for Bradley, but they should. Once again, not pursuing him is another bad decision on the part of the Cubs. Has Hendry come out and say that he doesn't want him?

Six of one, half dozen of another. Murton's arm isn't great either. Not sure who's arm is better between the two. Neither's a great fit in RF, IMO. Home runs seem about right. I think the avg and obp are a bit low. Is he better than Drew? Drew scares me with all these injuries. I understand some you can not help but he just seems to be hurt all the time and Matsui seems to be out there everyday. Exectly why Matsui is twice as valuable as Drew. Drew might be a bit better, but you can't say with any confidence that he'll play more than 80 or 90 games.

Hm. I like that. I'd prefer Bradley over Pierre in CF (especially if Fucal signs). I don't think Hendry feels the same way though. Probably right. If we get Furcal and Bradley (as has been noted several times in other threads), that would be a great start.

What Vance said. Give the man the house. http://www.baseballreference.com/m/matsuhi01.shtml

Hm. I like that.

I'd jump all over that first one. Heck yes. I think the second and third are questionable.

I could live with that lineup, though I'd prefer a more predictably productive OFer than Guillen. Still, its a realistic scenario.

I don't have a real problem with CPatt for Pierre, straight up. Reminds me of Choi for Lee, in a way. You?

No, its not blatantly obvious that Hendry is a moron. No it is not a fact that Hendry is single-handedly imploding the organization. There is far more evidence to support that Hendry is not a moron and has improved this ball club than there is evidence to support the contrary. How soon you all forget. I'll let Bruce Miles take over now... How does a moron or a complete idiot or any of the other names he has been called do all of that in just a couple of years? Pull your heads out of your butts people and see both sides. Is he perfect? No. Is he a moron? No. Does he have differing views on baseball than some of us? Clearly. Does that mean that he is wrong and we are right? No. You are free to over-react and vent all you want on these pages. But it does get old. Especially when there is evidence presented to you that counters many of the over-reactions. That evidence often gets ignored and the bashing continues. There are more sides to be seen and understood than just your own. From what I have seen from last offseason and this one yes he is a moron. Maybe you shoulg get your head out of your butt. I guess 4th place in the division with a 100mil payroll is good enough for you. Well it isn't for me. So far this offseason has been a HUGE dissapointment. I know we are all frustrated, but when is this sort nonsense going to stop? Mods? And by the way, this offseason is something like two weeks old. Lets wait and see what else happens before we hang JH in effigy (sp?). I don't like the Neifi deal, but am willing to wait and see wha happens next.

How about Walker and some young arms of ours to ATL then for Giles. Ronny and Marcus take ss and 2b respectively, with Neifi backing them both up?[/quote] I like it.

maybe you missed this...$5M / 2 years. that's not "backup" money. Is that sarcasm always necessary? This signing stinks, but I am personaly holding out hope that JH will get his act together over the next couple of weeks and produce a booty (sticking with the recent pirate theme on the news) of Abreu or Giles, Furcal, and at least on other player to get excited about.

Ronny Cedeno should be the backup middle infielder. Yeah, and I think he should start, but that's not the point. I am trying to find out how much the Stros and Cards pay their backups. Here's two examples: Cards: John Mabry: $725,000 (in 2005) Stros: Vizcaino: 1.25 mill (in 05') :evil: Boy, this signing looks worse and worse, mainly b/c they gave the guy borderline-starter money. Again, its fine if he's a back up. I wonder if they over pay b/c they have the NL's biggest payroll and therefore they can?

Wow. I have been giving JH the benefit of the doubt for some time now, as many of you know, but even I am depressed by this.

It occurs to me that many posters are comparing our team's philosophy and transactionto those of the Cards and Stros. I understand why and think it makes sense, Lets assume that Neifi is going to be a back up (and lets hope while we are at it). Has anyone actually looked up the stats and salaries of their backup MIFers and/or OFers? If so, can you post those nos.?

I'm not going to lose it....just as long as he doesn't start. Ever.