BigbadB

They got 4 of the their top 7 but it was 2, 3, 5 and 7 or some combination like that. They didn't even get #1. I saw them saying this on ESPN and it's a stupid way of making what the Mets gave up look better when what they gave up was not at all a steep price. (By the way, I'm tired of seeing the media say the Mets paid a steep price for Santana. They didn't. Quantity isn't quality. Quit saying it.) Not sure if there is a metric to grade each teams top 7 or even top 10, but wouldn't the Mets be pretty far down the list as far as best "top 7's" in baseball? Surely, to get those same top prospects from the Yankees or Boston would have been a much nicer looking package, IMO.

The amount of talent moving for Crisp will likely depend on how much Boston is asked to kick in to cover Crisp's contract. If the Cubs can absorb it all, it shouldn't take much to get him. If Boston is expected to pay half, it will obviously cost more.

I have to believe the Diamondbacks will be a team to deal with all season as well. They are young, but that's a pretty lively pitching staff they have Chris Young, Justin Upton, Eric Byrnes, Chad Tracy, Stephen Drew, Orlando Hudson, Conor Jackson, Miguel Montero Bench: Chris Burke, Mark Reynolds, Augie SP: Brandon Webb, Dan Haren, Randy Johnson, Micah Owings, Doug Davis

DVR Step into the 2000's! :wink:

Okay, so Clemens' agent was there when McNamee didn't inject Clemens with steroids? Or was he not there when NcNamee did inject Clemens with steroids? It appears Clemens agent is as annoying as Clemens. I'm sorry, but the only thing missing in this whole caper is a bloody glove. Signed, Jack McCoy.

I know it's against the religion of this board to say anything positive about Andy MacPhail, but perhaps this Bedard thing with Seattle has been drawn out because the Orioles wanted to see what the Twins got for Santana. My thinking is that MacPhail was tipped off by somebody in the league office over the weekend that the Santana trade would be going down soon, so he decided to wait it out. I think we'll see Bedard dealt in the next 48 hours. My gut says Seattle too, but I wouldn't rule out a NL contender seeing as the Mets just improved themselves. Maybe he wants to trade Bedard and Roberts for Santana. :lol: Seriously, that explanation would make sense if they weren't getting some pretty nice prospects in the deal. But it seems like the players they were rumored to be getting from Seattle was about as good as they are going to get for Bedard. There's another element to consider. The teams who lose out on the Santana derby can now switch gears and offer up prospects for Bedard. But, the other 2 teams in the Santana derby were the Yanks and Sox. Would the O's want to trade Bedard within the division? If the package was good enough, it wouldn't matter to me where the player was getting dealt. If Boston offered up Buchholz, Ellsbury and Lowrie, I'd probably take that deal over what Seattle or the Cubs have to offer.

I know it's against the religion of this board to say anything positive about Andy MacPhail, but perhaps this Bedard thing with Seattle has been drawn out because the Orioles wanted to see what the Twins got for Santana. My thinking is that MacPhail was tipped off by somebody in the league office over the weekend that the Santana trade would be going down soon, so he decided to wait it out. I think we'll see Bedard dealt in the next 48 hours. My gut says Seattle too, but I wouldn't rule out a NL contender seeing as the Mets just improved themselves. Maybe he wants to trade Bedard and Roberts for Santana. :lol: Seriously, that explanation would make sense if they weren't getting some pretty nice prospects in the deal. But it seems like the players they were rumored to be getting from Seattle was about as good as they are going to get for Bedard. There's another element to consider. The teams who lose out on the Santana derby can now switch gears and offer up prospects for Bedard.

Where is option C? C) Sign Lofton and trade Pie and other prospects for an upgrade at SS and the pitching staff.

GMJ's contract is ridiculous. There is no way the Cubs get him unless Anaheim is paying a significant portion of his contract. And I'm not sure a trade for GMJ would be something that would make everyone in Cubdom jump up and down with joy. He's been a Cub before, and it wasn't the most memorable experience imagineable.

I doubt the Angels would be interested in him. They want to win now, and plugging Moore in at 3rd base this year isn't likely to help them do that. He would just waste away either in their minors or possibly as a bench player. Not to mention the fact that Brandon Wood is probably much more valuable than Scott Moore in the eyes of Angels brass.

I think Hendry would be satisfying his own desires while appeasing those who aren't particularly fond of Hendry's desires. Hendry wants a speedy line up that plays good defense without having to count on any unknowns. I think he believes this is a win now situation, which I happen to agree with the latter part. I guess that makes sense. But his benefit in this is to save his job, not necessarily prepare his team for the long term future. Personally I think he should be looking at players that can SLG a little higher, but your point about keeping solid defense (probably the most underrated part of the teams playoff run last year) makes sense. Roberts and Figgins bring left handedness to a team that has been pretty righty dominant over the years. We know Hendry wants a more balanced approach at the plate, as he's admitted as much. But, in the past he's mentioned value in catching the ball and speed on the basepaths. While he has mentioned OBP being valuable, his actions prior to 2007 haven't really shown that he does value it as much as he should. Fukudome, Roberts and Figgins all improve OBP while giving him the defense, speed and left handedness he so desires.

Sir, you are guilty of not watching the games. Soto will win the NL MVP and hit 75 HR's in 2008. No one will steal a base on Geovany Soto unless they know what's good for them. Soto will burn down the house of anyone who even remotely thinks of stealing a base on him. Soto will have a CERA of 1.25. He would make it lower, but he honestly doesn't want "GOD" status in just his rookie season.

I think Hendry would be satisfying his own desires while appeasing those who aren't particularly fond of Hendry's desires. Hendry wants a speedy line up that plays good defense without having to count on any unknowns. I think he believes this is a win now situation, which I happen to agree with the latter part.

There has to be more to it than that. Anaheim currently sports: Vladmir Guerrero Torii Hunter Gary Matthews Jr. Juan Rivera Garret Anderson Reggie Willits in their outfield. There is no room for Pie. Yeah I dont think we would trade Pie to the Angels for Figgins cuz they dont need him. I think Pie would go to the Orioles. Maybe Pie and Gallagher to the Orioles for Roberts and something else. Maybe this is all taking too long because they have to work the steps out. For example.... Mariners give Jones, Sherrill, Tillman, and Chen for Bedard. Orioles then trade Sherrill, Mora and Roberts to the cubs for Gallagher, Murton, and Pie. Cubs then trade Sherrill, Cedeno, Mora and others for Figgins. Angels really have no needs except for a SS and maybe some RP. And if they trade Figgins they would need a 3B. So maybe they get a RP, SS, and 3B for figgins like Sherrill, mora and cedeno. I know this all wont happen but it make sense to me. The Angels don't need other teams prospects to get Mora. Baltimore would give him away for the right return, and very few teams have better talent to offer than Anaheim. Not that it would take anything special to get Mora in the first place. I'd bet Willits alone would get them Mora. Baltimore would love to get out of that deal with Mora. I don't think Anaheim wants Mora.

There has to be more to it than that. Anaheim currently sports: Vladmir Guerrero Torii Hunter Gary Matthews Jr. Juan Rivera Garret Anderson Reggie Willits in their outfield. There is no room for Pie.

Can you tell me who the he refers to in the second line? If it's Hendry, that is a little change of heart. Before, Hendry said he had two trades that he was looking to push through, but you could tell he wasn't optimistic about getting them both done. Now, he thinks both should go through? Hmmmm. If Pie is involved in the Roberts deal like some have speculated, the second would be a deal for a center fielder. Hopefully it's Figgins and not Byrd, although I don't think the Angels have figured out their 3rd base situation yet. Agreed. Until the Angels make another move, Figgins probably isn't going anywhere. I highly doubt Pie will be involved in a deal with Anaheim unless Anaheim plans on spinning him to get the player they covet. Anaheim already has a crowded outfield, but are hurting at 3b and gambling at SS with Aybar. Towers might get lynched in San Diego by the fans if he trades Greene. Although I'd prefer to see Greene be the principle player in the 2nd deal, I highly doubt it.

The rumored deals were Brian Roberts and Chone Figgins.

If the Roberts deal happens, DeRosa becomes the #1 option to play SS, IMO. Probably the weakest of the 3 defensively, but the big boost on offense makes it a no brainer for me, especially considering none of them sparkle on defense.

I guess he considers Pie in the deal? Also note that MacPhail was part of the Cubs organization for years and Cedeno has been mentioned more than just a few times as a piece in the deal and never once has Theriot's name been mentioned. Could it be that MacPhail knows what he would be getting in Theriot and doesn't have any interest at all, but is willing to gamble on a guy like Cedeno?

How is Theriot going to get better though? He already is given every advantage in the world by having pitches thrown right down the middle to him. If he couldn't drive that ball consistently last year, what is going to make that change? Cedeno has a clear avenue of change. He has to lay off of the pitches outside the strike zone, specifically the ones that are low and away. If he does that, he has shown in the minors and in the majors that he can hit pitches over the plate a long way, and he could hit for average if he forced pitches to come in with strikes more consistently. If Cedeno doesn't make any adjustments, you're right that they will likely be around the same type of player with Theriot probably being slightly better (although we haven't started talking about defense yet, where Theriot is weak at SS). However, Cedeno has adjustments he could make that could make him a much better hitter than Theriot. Theriot has reached about the top of what his natural skills will take him. I understand that it's more frustrating to watch Cedeno have so much talent and have so much of it be unfulfilled with silly mistakes and that it's rewarding to see Theriot play the game hard and do as much as his skill set will allow, but if we're talking just about who is the better bet to be productive next year, the great likelihood is that it would be Cedeno, not Theriot. Very well stated. I can't argue with any of this. That's why I like the idea of going with Cedeno and using Theriot off the bench.

not even Henry Blanco? That's probably a toss up, actually. But, Blanco is slated as a back up while Theriot is being handed a starting job for some unexplained reason.

Plus Theriot brings a lot more to the table than Cedeno. 10x better plate discipline. Umm, Theriot led the team in 1 pitch outs. Which player faced more pitches per AB? Cedeno. P/PA: Cedeno: 3.68 Theriot: 3.53 Theriot is a very patient hitter, one of the only few on the Cubs. It's just when he swung at a ball, he didn't miss it often like most of the other Cubs, so his pitches per at bat were less. Seriously, are you actually saying these things? This has to be a joke. It's a failure to really understand what these numbers really say. The reason Theriot gets so many first pitch meatball pitches to swing at is because pitcher's aren't afraid of what Theriot might do to the ball when served a meatball. In fact, no other player on the Cubs does less with a meatball than Theriot.

Prepare to be shocked. Here is a list of non pitchers who grabbed a bat for the Cubs last year with a lower P/PA percentage than Theriot: Cesar Izturis Jake Fox Scott Moore Whew, that wore me out listing all those names. And just for fun, here is the list of pitcher's who had a better P/PA than Theriot: Carlos Marmol Angel Guzman Kerry Wood Sean Marshall Steve Tracshel Jason Marquis

It sounds like MacPhail (and any other GM who is in this position) is a bit frustrated that private trade discussions are not very private.

You'll be disappointed to know Jacque is a Tiger now. :D