BigbadB

I like the way you think.

Well, ya know........ If Hendry didn't quickly help Jacque Jones leave town, we might have been able to swing a deal with San Diego that helped them fill their hole in LF. Jacque Jones grew up in San Diego. So, imagine if you will, a deal that sent Jacque Jones, Ronny Cedeno and say Eric Patterson to San Diego for Khalil Greene. Jones' contract was right up San Diego's alley. It's also a place where Jones could likely get an extension. As it is, he's likely a 4th outfielder in Detroit, especially when Sheffield is DHing. Patterson could get a year in AAA to be ready to play CF when Edmunds breaks down. Cedeno slides into their hole at SS. But, ya know what? Hendry won't even be interested in Greene. He's not a top of the order hitter and he isn't a speedy lefty hitter. I'd guess Hendry is more enamored with Theriot than he would be with Greene. Greene would have a ball hitting balls out of the small parks in the NL Central. I say work a deal for Greene anyway. I'd take Soriano and DeRosa hitting 1/2 in the line up all day long knowing we have Greene towards the bottom of the order with Pie and Soto.

Jenkins signed a 2 year deal with Philadelphia. Thanks. Well, I can see why the Padres are hunting for an improvement in LF. Hairston is nice as a 4th OF, but really weakens the team dramatically if he's a starter.

I wonder why the Padres feel they still need to upgrade the corner outfield spot? Granted, their outfield looks very fragile with Geoff Jenkins, Jim Edmonds and Brian Giles, but Scott Hairston looked really good down the stretch for them last year, so I would think their biggest concern would be someone to protect in CF if Edmunds continues to look brittle. Chasing balls regularly in Coors Field can do that to an old CF. Wait a minute. I just looked and I don't see Geoff Jenkins on their roster. I could have sworn they signed him. Where did Jenkins end up?

I'm okay with the signing. Without trading Marshall and/or Gallagher, I don't think the Cubs had much depth in the rotation. Marshall seems to have stamina issues that may eventually work themselves out. Marshall is also a 3rd lefty in the rotation, and I sorta believe that Hendry would rather have a righty in that slot. Gallagher could probably use a little more seasoning in AAA, though he's my favorite to eventually lock down a rotation slot of the group we have. Hart could probably use more seasoning as well, though as a reliever his cutter is still deceptive enough to be a decent reliever. I would hope Dempster never really was an option for the rotation. He just walks too many guys to ever think he could keep Cubs close in ball games. Lieber adds depth. An injury allows Marshall to slide into one of the rotation slots and allow Gallagher to continue his development. Lieber also allows one of the other guys to be traded, and I'm sitting on the side of the fence that believes one of those guys will be traded, most likely Marshall. When Lieber can keep the ball down, he's pretty effective. Excellent outfield defense only helps him, and I don't think he really had that in Philadelphia. Let's just hope that when Lieber isn't keeping the ball down that the wind is blowing in and reducing the number of balls that leave the park. If it was more than 1 year, I'd get worked up. Because it's only 1 year and 3.5m, I have to say I don't mind it at all. Especially if it ends up allowing Hendry to feel better about giving up Marshall in a trade to upgrade somewhere else, preferably SS if they really don't feel Cedeno can adjust to the major leagues.

Agreed. But, I would imagine Hendry is not overly fond of the idea of having 3 lefties in the rotation, either. Unless of course all 3 lefties were lights out lefties.

I might do a Dempster/Veal type of trade for Nathan considering their taking Dempster would provide salary relief and I might consider adding a low prospect, but I'm sort of in agreement that the Cubs don't "need" a closer. I doubt if the Twins would be all that enamored with that sort of return, but Nathan is a 1 year rental. Let someone else overpay for Nathan.

His cutter (and I did see all 11 innings that Hart pitched in MLB) is at the very least good enough to make him a very serviceable major league reliever. Whether his other pitches are good enough to entertain the thought of being a good starter is still very much up in the air. He relied almost completely on the deception of his cutter in those 11 innings. Once the scouting report is out on him, he's going to need more than an excellent cutter for extended innings. That's my view.

Seems odd they would cut Spearman. SS is an awful shallow position throughout the organization and Spearman at least provided roster filler, though not really a prospect. Is it possible Spearman elected to just move on to a new career and the transaction lists Spearman as just being "released" because that's the way transactions are usually announced?

Yes, Hendry's strategy has typically been to go with what you got, and then wait to upgrade at the deadline. I hate the strategy. It eliminates any chance of running away with the division early, and having a truly great season. The Cubs are far too willing to try and tread water for 3 months instead of trying to be the best you can by April 1, and then working for improvements later. There isn't a realistic deal out there that will eliminate your chances of also improving in July. However, if you wait until July 31 you no longer have the chance to field the best team possible for the first 100 games. I agree with that, for the most part. However, a trade of Cedeno, Marshall and Gallagher for Roberts is not the type of upgrade that I would consider to be an overall improvement of the team. If you are going to upgrade, upgrade SS, CF and/or SP. Upgrade the positions of real need of upgrading.

The Cubs need to see if Soto, Pie and Cedeno are worthy of major league jobs. Cedeno has certainly been given a few opportunities, but he's matured now to the point he's either a major league SS or you move on to someone else. And I think he deserves an opportunity to prove whether he's matured enough to be the answer to the hole at SS. These are cheap, internal options that if proven to be good enough production, could allow the team to upgrade elsewhere in the line up at the trade deadline. With those 3 guys, the Cubs really do have more changes to their 2008 line up from their 2007 line up besides Fukudome. Those 3 guys added in with Fukudome makes half their line up "new". Soriano started the season in CF last year, not Pie. Izturis started at SS. Barrett started at C. Soto, Pie and Cedeno combined for just a hair over 300 at bats last year.

You probably will lose him. However, other good players will be available at the deadline. They always are. And they will cost a small fortune then, also. But, you can see at the deadline what your true needs are and giving up a small fortune would make a little more sense than upgrading a position that doesn't REALLY need an upgrade and ignoring positions that do.

Maybe it's just becoming harder for two teams to make an agreement on what would be a fair trade. Santana still hasn't been moved from Minnesota. Bedard hasn't been moved, etc... I think the team could start the season with what they have and look to beef up at the deadline if it's obvious that Cedeno and Pie are not the answers to the problems at SS and CF.

I'm not impressed with Burleigh Grimes, or Red Ruffing for that matter. Add Waite Hoyt to the list. Wow on Jesse Haines. What in the world were these people thinking letting guys like this into the HOF?

to be fair, he was found not guilty. Don't let that silly little fact get in the way of rationality. OJ was innocent too. no, OJ was found not guilty. =D>

It's interesting that you brought up Jacque Jones, because that's exactly what I thought of. Rolen doesn't want to be in St. Louis, so STL trades him out of the country and to a crappy team for a very respectable return. The Cubs trade Jacque Jones (who doesn't want to be in Chicago) to a team that's lined up to win a World Series as soon as this year for very little return.

A bunch of those guys will get looks in ST. Happens every year. Every team invites a long list of veteran's who aren't good enough to be on anyone's 40 man roster, but could make the team because of an injury or specific need.

While I was stuck in 1930, I decided to check out the worst team in the NL that year, which also happened to have Chuck Klein on the roster. There's a lot of cool stuff to check out. Baseball-Reference is fun! Philadelphia finished 1930 with a 52-102 record. Team Batting: .315 .365 .458 Team Pitching: 6.71 ERA 11 of the 14 pitchers who took the mound in 1930 had an ERA of 6.72 or worse. Errors by position: Catcher- 20 1b- 22 2b- 45 SS- 58 3b- 20 OF- 54 P- 20 That's a total of 239 errors. :shock:

While I was checking out Hack's 1930 season, I thought I would make sure there weren't any pitchers that were deserving to be mentioned with Wilson and Klein in the MVP voting, and I found this: Losses French-PIT 18 Frey-CIN 18 Willoughby-PHI 17 Lucas-CIN 16 Seibold-BSN 16 Kind of goofy, but French/Frey were the biggest losers in 1930.

Wonder why there wasn't an MVP in 1930. It was a two way race between Wilson and Chuck Klein.

He does have a newborn he probably prefers to spend as much time as possible with.

Are you referring to the Mike Ditka that has a Super Bowl ring?

This would be true. Sammy Sosa not only led the Cubs in strike outs, he's #2 behind only Reggie Jackson in career strike outs. Who really cares how someone makes an out? It's what you do when bat and meets ball. If Theriot never struck out and Peralta struck out 200 times per year, I'd take Peralta over Theriot all day long.

And what manager's job could he realistically find that would or could outdo taking a team with a 100 year WS drought and winning a World Series? That's a dream job, right there. But, can he pull it off?

I don't necessarily think anyone has to be moved at this point. Marlon Byrd making Murton expendable would be a downgrade to our #4 outfield position. Adding Byrd as a 5th outfielder would be an upgrade. I don't believe in making moves just to make moves to satisfy the fans who are bored with the offseason and just want to see something happen. The moves being proposed (Robers for Marshall, Gallagher and Cedeno) aren't moves that I'd be willing to make. A move like that would be lateral at best and could really damage the health of the organization at SS and in the rotation. I only support moves that improve the team or are complete non factors like a fringe prospect for a fringe prospect.