Jazz

I think what alot of people are forgetting is that Neifi effing perez consumed over 800 AB's in the last 2 years. Not to mention Juan Pierre, Cesar Izturis, Ronny Cedeno, Angel Pagan, Freddie Bynum, John Mabry took turns being absolutely dismal at their respective positions. Not ot mention the smorgasbord of AA pitching that got their turn starting with Maddux gone, Prior down, Wood down, etc.. Last year's team no doubt was badly put together, but don't take away from the fact that we had a lot of bad players eating up starts and innings. If you can get a couple quality bats, a couple quality arms, a well put together bench, and some lucky breaks as far as health goes (Prior and Wood returning?), we're world series contenders.

With a healthy DLee, and replacing Neifi and Pierre with Derosa and Soriano, you are going to be disappointed in that projection.

As opposed to Baker's favorite model Speed Catches ball Power Power Power Scrappy Can play the game right way Catcher until he has proven himself for 2 years Pitcher

I don't have a problem with that. Soriano is going to be a future LF IMO anyway. I don't buy into that RF for years to come deal .

His character issues make me wary about taking him on. But if it cost us Pawelek and Colvin, I'd be up for it. He has GREAT patience, and has so much about him that would add a great deal to this team. He is toolsy, which Hendry loves. I'd definately look into getting him .

I've seen Jones go in some deals to Boston for Manny, but they all have looked unrealistic because the amount of money they're going to pay manny (7M more than the amount to Jones), would cut into the money they are going to end up signing Glavine for (and yes, they will get him, since the mets won't). 3 team deal with Hudson to cubs anyone?

Link. From what I can ascertain, Muskat is not a very good "beat writer". Rarely has she come up with insider knowledge regarding the direction the Cubs are going to take. It looks like she is taking info from various other sources and turning them into her own analysis.

http://wiki.coolmon.org/files/cookie.jpg No milk?

Which will force our hand to up the ante for payroll, right :D?

Eww at lugo in CF. I'd rather play Pie immediately than sign him to the deal he's going to get, plus the production he's going to put up is not going to be worth it. What about Kenny Lofton people? he hasn't had a bad season since he left cleveland. Last year he put up a .360 OBP, and he was relatively healthy for most of last year. He'd be a great stop gap option for Pie, and would fill a need for OBP at the CF position. Sign him up for a 1 year/4 mil deal please.

I've been saying all along that it would be that high. this only confirms it.

in this market think of it this way. Soriano got 8 years, and hes 30. he also got 136M If 2007, Pujols will be 27. That's the cusp of his prime. If we were to be a FA right now, he would get: 10 years an NTC for at least the majority of the contract. 20-25 mil per. 10/250 minimum. And you know who would sign him.....

Schmidt, Igawa, and Westbrook anyone? :D

Another name that was discussed a while ago, but not so much anymore is KC outfielder Emil Brown. Brown is 31, but he's cheap. Right now they are trying to shop Sanders as well as Brown, looking for cheap young SP, and bullpen help. If you don't up trading Jones, Brown would be an OK choice for a platoon partner. His 3 year splits vs. lefties are promising (.848 OPS). Another platoon partner choice is Ryan Freel. versus Left handed pitching, he put up a pretty good line .303/.424/.413. It would take some creative dealing, but hey if we can deal with the white sox, why cant we deal with the reds :D?

1B Boog Powell :D DH Rucky Kuntz

This market really confuses me. Ramirez gets 5/73, But Soriano gets 8/136 (I understand the circumstances, but to FA's, those might not matter). Then Daisuke gets a 50 mil posting fee, and Pierre gets 9 mil per for 5 years. Imagine what Barry Zito will get when he signs. 6/110M?????

Drew is not coming to the Cubs via Bruce Miles. I'll take his word for it. I'd love Wells. But any deal involving him starts with Barrett, and probably with Pie/Veal.

Can anyone do a photoshop where Hendry has the terminator look where half of his face is peeled off to reveal a robot?

I'm pretty sure we can still offer it, the deadline hasn't pasted. That doesn't make sense. He's reportedly just signed a deal. Why would offer Arbiration?

In that case, lets get this boy on some HGH. WOO UNPROVEN ACCUSATIONS FOR EVERYONE! I can't find the actual career stats for Sosa prior to 1998 but go look for yourselves. Both players had their breakout years at the age of 30. Both were raw speed and power type players earlier in their careers. Both in their first big years began to walk a bit more. Soriano 67 walks and 16 IBB and Sosa 78 BB and 14 IBB. Sosa had way more power, and OBP though, in his breakout year. But if you want to be really optimistic, you could probably make a case where if last year is how Soriano will be in his prime, than he would get a boost in power just from hitting in wrigley for half his games, as well as some better runs scored numbered hitting in front of Lee and Ramirez. The peak for Soriano might be 50HRs, 130 Runs scored.

The way I look at it, is that we are going to be the top bidders if Zito gets signed by the Yankees (hopefully they dont get crazy and try to sign both of them). Right now the potential suitors are: -Dodgers -Mariners -Giants -Phillies -Cubs -Angels The cubs right now, have 20-25 million to potentially work with for this upcoming season. The selling point that the Cubs could give to Schmidt though, is years and wanting to win now. After Soriano's signing, it should not only boost are talking power with Schmidt, but with all other FA's. The Dodger's just signed Pierre to a 45/5 year deal. Thats a healthy chunk out of the 26 mil that they were projected to be working with after signing nomar. The mariners, after losing Meche, and Pinero, have about 13-18 mil to spend depending on where there payroll is estimated. I'd guess that its going to top out at 95M, maybe a couple million less. I don't think he is going to be returning to SF with the way the Bay Area papers are talking about it. The Phillies are in a bad position right now, they have some money to spend, but no one to spend it on. Schmidt would aid that problem. They have about 20 million right now to work with, but that could jump up to 30 mil if they deal Burrell (which it looks like they are split on). They also might pursue FA Carlos Lee, which would take them out of this hunt all together. The Angels are going to be a serious contenders for Schmidt. After losing out to us on Ramirez and Soriano, I think they will be gunning for Drew/Lee/Wells, and Schmidt. They have money to spend, and want to make a splash somewhre. Schmidt would do it for them. I do like the Cubs chances though, if they pony up the years and the money. If they strike fast, and offer a deal in the neigborhood of 4/56 with a 5th year option, I think Schmidt would take it even with his statements about sticking to the coast.

Its starting to look like its 8 years, no options. I'm lazy and dont want to post links, but there are articles on cubs.com and rotoworld. You're kidding I hope because that would be a pretty nasty deal then. Thats the vibe I'm getting. I've seen no mention of options years in the latest articles. I saw Mr. Miles roaming a few minutes ago, maybe he can shed some light. I don't think anyone right now really knows. Kaplan was talking about option years though on the radio when the deal was announced, and so were a few other voices, so its not like we are the only people speculating that here. What it could be though is that those 3 are vesting years based on plate appearances.

It's very obvious that right now Hendry is being as open as he has ever been regarding who he will sign, and who we will pursue via trade, but there are names mixed into the rubble that could play some dividends if we look into them. Todd Walker This is a name that should make alot of people warm and fuzzy remembering the good old days of grudz and twalk at 2nd. We just didn't know what we had in that, probably our best platoon in the last 5 years. Anyway, Walker IS a free agent, and posted some pretty good numbers after he was traded. He put up a .256/.344/.406 in a pitchers park. I know he might not want to come back to wrigley after the way we treated him, but his bat would look awful nice coming off the bench, and starting at pretty much any position when one of our starters goes down. Willy Mo Pena Right now, in Boston, he is being wasted on the bench behind Trot Nixon. When Drew or whatever FA they sign comes in, its going to be crowded. They won't ask for to much, maybe a straight up exchange, Eyre for Pena which I will do in a heartbeat. He has pretty good power coming off the bench. In a half season with Cincinatti, he put up a .259/.316/.527. I'd love to see what Perry could do with him. He might even steal some starts from Murton if he struggles. Oliver Perez Where in the world did this guy go. I remember in 2004 he was being hailed as a potential Cy Young canidate, and with those filthy numbers, and a couple of plus pitchers, he would probably have competed for a number of them in his career if not for his control problems and injuries. I liken him to Mark Prior in terms of trade value, but with 2 less good years of work to add to his value. Near the end of this season, the velocity started to come back on his fastball after it had dipped into the 80's, and was starting to go into the mid 90's. He also pitched ok during the NLCS (he was 1-0, but he got a no decision in game 7 in which they lost). The Mets have 7 guys right now who will be ready to start come opening day, and Oliver might be the odd man out there. I'd offer them Izturis, or a B prospect and hope that they bite.

Let me take this thread into a new direction. In 5 years, what will the Cubs payroll look like? Undoubtedly there will be new ownership, so you can rule out the Tribune and their investor friendly strategies. If you get one of the NBA owners, you might see an even higher payroll, going into luxury tax territory. All this hypothetical thinking though is making my head hurt, but it is very possible that near the end of Soriano's deal, even in the option years, that it will be less of a chunk of our payroll than it is now.

Shouldn't that have been a while ago?