Bruce Miles

I assume you're talking about defensively with the above statement. Otherwise I'd rank Thomas ahead of Bags in overall value. I believe Bagwell should be in the HOF. And Frank. Blyleven should have been in a long time ago! Yes, I was talking about defense. I used to like watching how he'd cut across the pitcher's mound on bunts and get the guy at third base (against the Cardinals, of course).

I nominate Bruce Miles! Can't afford the paycut. Remember it's the Tribco, and they spent all the money. It's always about the money with you baseball people. :D No, no. With Mike Hampton, it was about the Denver school system. (My all-time favorite.)

Until I saw Derrek Lee, I thought Bagwell was the best right-handed first baseman I'd ever seen. Now, he's second best. But he was a tremendous player and one I hope everyone here appreciates, even though this is a Cubs board. He and Biggio were the faces of the Astros for a long time, and both have been terrific to deal with. (I'm voting for Blyleven again, by the way.)

I nominate Bruce Miles! Can't afford the paycut. Remember it's the Tribco, and they spent all the money.

Hey, guys, what's up?

I agree. Might be a long shot, but it would be nice knowing that the AGM reads nsbb regularly. Just imagine if they hired someone from NSBB. The Cubs payroll would be 300 Million in the off seasaon. Then when they don't win everygame, the Cubs would trade every high dollar player and call up AAA guys because we need to see what the kids can do. :D And the Cubs would have a 50-man roster because they'd sign everybody whom everybody here likes. :D

I agree. Might be a long shot, but it would be nice knowing that the AGM reads nsbb regularly. Just imagine if they hired someone from NSBB. The Cubs payroll would be 300 Million in the off seasaon. Then when they don't win everygame, the Cubs would trade every high dollar player and call up AAA guys because we need to see what the kids can do. :D And the Cubs would have a 50-man roster because they'd sign everybody whom everybody here likes. :D

For the record, I don't think anybody is stupid here. I wouldn't be here otherwise. I have a little bit of an insider's perspective, and I try to share that at times. That's what I was trying to do with the trade thing. These days, there is a lot of stuff that goes into making what might seem to be a simple deal.

I don't know exactly what the Nats have asked for Church, but it's likely they've started with Rich Hill. They're famous for this kind of stuff. It's possible a trade could happen late in the off-season or during spring training. I've not heard the name of Gross mentioned with the Cubs.

People are wasting their time talking about this shortstop thing and Giles. The Cubs, whether you like it or not, are happy with Izturis and are not looking for a shortstop. They signed DeRosa for three years to be their second baseman. They are not going to sign Giles. I cringe at the thought of Murton being platooned. There's no reason to take away at-bats from this promising young player. His splits don't warrant it, either. Unfortunately, Jones is horrible versus lefties, and should almost never face them. I don't think the Cubs have a "straight platoon" planned for Murton. They know that if they sign Floyd, he'll miss a lot of games (he always does), and Murton will get most of the at-bats. The outfield picture has a ways to go before it takes shape.

From what I gathered at the winter meetings, the Reds weren't moving Dunn. I don't think the Cubs have visited that one in some time. Hendry always liked Kearns when he was with the Reds. I haven't heard any talk on Jones. The Braves may wind up keeping him through the entire 2007 season or making a July 31 trade.

These points are all true, well made and well argued. But Ryan Church is not a free agent. The fact is, the Cubs have talked with Washington about him (as have other teams). Perhaps the Nationals are asking way too much (this is what I hear) for Church from the Cubs and other teams. This goes back to my point about taking two sides to make a deal. The Cubs aren't alone in not being able to pull off a trade, either major or minor. I was at the winter meetings, and there was virtually NO trade activity. All these GMs face to face, and the most that was going to happen was that somebody was going to catch a cold. Getting a trade done assumes that the team wants to move the player and is asking for a reasonable amount in return. I don't know if the Nats want to move Church. I do know they've fielded calls and have asked for a lot from everybody who has called. Right now we have: Blanco Theriot Pagan Ward Cedeno I think Cedeno should go back to AAA and work on his game. Pagan is alright but I'd like to have a few veterans on the bench to add a little veteran prescence in the clubhouse. I do think that our depth needs to be addressed and I think we need more than Floyd. Bruce, has Hendry been looking for some solid backups this year. Guys like Craig Wilson, Miguel Cairo, Aaron Boone, Shannon Stewart, Steve Finley? Many of these names have come up in the Cubs' discussions. Some are back-burner guys if they can't get Floyd (seemingly their first choice) done. If you look at trades since Hendry has become the GM, he's actually pulled off quite a few, getting Lee, Ramirez, Lofton, Grudz, Karros, Nomar, Murton, Barrett, Nevin, Izturis and others. He's also been able to move guys like Wellemeyer, Hollandsworth and Remlinger via trades, least getting warm bodies instead of losing guys on waivers or having to release them.

These points are all true, well made and well argued. But Ryan Church is not a free agent. The fact is, the Cubs have talked with Washington about him (as have other teams). Perhaps the Nationals are asking way too much (this is what I hear) for Church from the Cubs and other teams. This goes back to my point about taking two sides to make a deal. The Cubs aren't alone in not being able to pull off a trade, either major or minor. I was at the winter meetings, and there was virtually NO trade activity. All these GMs face to face, and the most that was going to happen was that somebody was going to catch a cold. Getting a trade done assumes that the team wants to move the player and is asking for a reasonable amount in return. I don't know if the Nats want to move Church. I do know they've fielded calls and have asked for a lot from everybody who has called.

I seem to recall a lot of people being happy with this deal. Getting anything for Hundley was a thing of beauty. Oh yeah, a lot of people were happy. It was a great deal. The point I was making is that, nevertheless, I got a lot of e-mails saying Grudz would be no good.

Why exactly is Hendry so enamored with him? That's what I don't understand. Izturis is just another in a long line of slick fielding/no hit SS's who come and go in this league, and are soon forgotten. Hendry likes him because he likes that long line of slick field SS. He has acquired about 30% of those that have been in baseball at one point or another during his regime. His love for Izturis is because of his defensive reputation and the fact that he doesn't strike out. Hendry values the ability to make outs when putting the ball in play. Over 162 games, Izturis will probably strike out less than 75 times. That's not Juan Pierre, or even Ichiro, but it's low. It's lower than guys like Royce Clayton. Hendry is also the type of guy that will judge a player on what he has done at his peak, and just assume that's what he'll do as a Cub. And at his peak Izturis hit a lot of singles and had an acceptable average. Izturis is only 26 years old. Is it really that bad to assume he can reach prior peaks, and possibly surpass them? (note: asking this question doesn't make me an Izturis lover or Hendry defender...in fact you could simply replace Izturis with any other 26 year old hitter and apply the same question) This is a good post. To be fair, I got a lot of e-mails after the December 2002 trade of Hundley to the Dodgers for Grudz and Karros. Most people said Grudz sucked, he was past his peak performance and it was downhill from there. Well, ol' Grudz has done pretty well for hisself. He's not a great player, but he proved a lot of his detractors wrong. Izturis is their guy. We'll see what he can do healthy.

He got into some bad habits at the plate and did not adjust. It seemed at times he was the only one who didn't "get" that he was struggling. I also think he didn't adjust well to the big-league lifestyle. He probably has some growing up to do.

Well, this is the quiet (and boring) time of the year. I stated in another post that I think all of Hendry's transactions this offseason has spoiled us into thinking that he needs to do something every 2 days. I think Hendry will find a trade partner for Jones, but he has to have a replacement lined up in case Pie isn't ready. Also, I have trouble believing that there won't be some kind of deal involving Marshall/Marmol/Guzman/Mateo/Ryu. Hopefully Zambrano's extension will come soon and then he will have most of the starters locked in for quite a few years, so I don't think he is going to let the young pitchers I mentioned rot at Iowa for the next 4-5 years. Also, it wouldn't surprize me to see Cedeno packaged with others in a deal. Something will happen, but it may not be until spring training. You've got it sized up pretty well.

You do watch the team make mistakes and are powerless to do anything about it, even more powerless than a beat writer who has frequent contact with the team in question. Hello ulcer! Somebody mentioned earlier about how nice it would be if they listened to the NSBBers. I'd like to see some of you guys (and women) ask some pointed, well-reasoned and thought-out questions at the Cubs Convention during that Saturday session. If anybody's going, make sure you get there early and get in line.

People are wasting their time talking about this shortstop thing and Giles. The Cubs, whether you like it or not, are happy with Izturis and are not looking for a shortstop. They signed DeRosa for three years to be their second baseman. They are not going to sign Giles. I definitely don't like it even though what you are saying is true. It just goes to show you with all the money spent on this team we will be lucky to make the playoffs. isnt it ridiculous how much medicrity costs these days- a quarter of a billion for a third place team- Payroll jumping to 250 million!! Now we're really talking. Quarter Million spent this offseason, but I'm sure you knew that. I'm not a big fan of the "quarter billion spent this offseason" rhetoric. It distorts the truth. They didn't spend $250 million this offseason. They committed to spend that much over the next 8 years. And the way they backloaded the deals, they haven't spent nearly as much for this upcoming season as it seems. You know with all the back loaded contracts and big money we have to dish out in the future I wonder if they made a decision not to resign Z, and others after this year? Who knows, I hope not. The two aren't related. My guess is they'll avoid arbitration with Zambrano and then work on an extension. They did this with Wood and Lee and got it done (by the skin of their teeth) with Ramirez.

http://web.mit.edu/jonb/www/animate/grinch.gif I know, I know, don't shoot the messenger. Glad you made the distinction.

At the moment, they are not considering such an arrangement. They see Theriot as their fifth infielder and someone who can play the outfield every now and then.

Oh, we don't like it. You can rest assured on that. Why exactly is Hendry so enamored with him? That's what I don't understand. Izturis is just another in a long line of slick fielding/no hit SS's who come and go in this league, and are soon forgotten. I wasn't fond of his offensive output pre-injury. He's 2 years removed from that offensive output and may never match it again. The Cubs apparently feel they'll get enough offensive production from Soriano, Lee, Barrett, Ramirez and others that whatever Izturis gives them will be fine as long as he continues to play defense as he has in the past. Bruce, Any ideas about CF? Is Jones out of here? Are they looking to leave CF open for Pie? I've addressed that briefly above. For a guy to be "out of here," it takes two teams to deal. That's what amuses me about some of these Ryan Church posts. It's not that easy to make a trade. You had 30 teams together last week in Florida, and how many trades were made? As of now, Jones is on the team, the Cubs will bide their time, and if Pie tears it up in Mesa, they'll possibly make room for him.

Oh, we don't like it. You can rest assured on that. Why exactly is Hendry so enamored with him? That's what I don't understand. Izturis is just another in a long line of slick fielding/no hit SS's who come and go in this league, and are soon forgotten. I wasn't fond of his offensive output pre-injury. He's 2 years removed from that offensive output and may never match it again. The Cubs apparently feel they'll get enough offensive production from Soriano, Lee, Barrett, Ramirez and others that whatever Izturis gives them will be fine as long as he continues to play defense as he has in the past.

People are wasting their time talking about this shortstop thing and Giles. The Cubs, whether you like it or not, are happy with Izturis and are not looking for a shortstop. They signed DeRosa for three years to be their second baseman. They are not going to sign Giles. I hate it when you say such things. Any ideas on what's happening with Jacque? There doesn't seem to be much of a trade market for Jones at the moment. As one poster pointed out above, a Murton-Jones time-share in left isn't out of the question if Pie tears it up in spring training. The Cubs will bide their time on this one.

People are wasting their time talking about this shortstop thing and Giles. The Cubs, whether you like it or not, are happy with Izturis and are not looking for a shortstop. They signed DeRosa for three years to be their second baseman. They are not going to sign Giles.