BigbadB

You should hesitate to bring that up. :D Hendry should just make a last ditch effort to get Fukudome to sign, and if he plays games, he should focus his energy on signing Milton Bradley and start working the phones for an improvement at SS.

6/150 That's why only the Red Sox and Yankees are talking to Minnesota. At the same time, I'd laugh at Boston for offering Coco Crisp, Buchholz and Lowrie about as loudly as I would laugh at the Yankees package that excludes Hughes and Chamberlain.

We might not like his game, but it's not fair to call Kaz a loser. Because he's clearly the winner here. The Cubs still lose, because now they probably move on to plan B from Kaz, which could only be worse. I dread Plan B. I'm so frustrated with Hendry, that I'd just as soon they don't make any moves this offseason, because I probably won't like anything he does. Call it an offseason now before any more damage gets done.

Agreed. I don't understand why teams continue to deal with the Yankees. Sure, money is great. But, if it keeps a team from getting deep into the playoffs, find a different team to pillage. If I'm Minnesota, as soon as the Yankees state "We will not part with Hughes or Chamberlain", I say, "pleasure talking to you, call me when you change your mind, good bye".

Yep. I wanna know who done did it. Especially the one's who did it and still sucked. :D

You are still taking my post out of context. But, whatever. I have no desire to attempt to explain it any further.

Here is what I said, word for word. Antonelli, Matt I'll be shocked if he's with the big club opening day. None of our 2b's are guys who block Antonelli. I think I heard the Padres lost Blum also. Infante would be a guy they could use to hold down 2b until Antonelli is ready and then as a back up later. Obviously, Infante would not be one of the major trading chips for Peavy, however.

Instead of sitting back and making smart ass comments, how about reading the entire posts rather than just skimming? Where in my post did I say anything about one of our 2b's being a valuable trade chip? Where? Quote me on it and post it here. Please. I'm dying to see it. Where in my post did I say anything about you saying anything about one of our 2b's being a valuable trade chip? Where? Quote me on it and post it here. Please. I'm dying to see it. You poked fun at my post after taking it out of context. Did you not? That's certainly the way I read it. "The irony is delicious" comment clearly meant to poke fun at the reference that San Diego would take a stop gap 2b in exchange for Peavy when I clearly said that Infante wouldn't even be a valuable chip in the trade. If that is not what you meant, please clarify what you mean by "the irony is delicious".

There is already a Prior Discussion thread in this forum.

cuz they have 8 home dates, not 81 While your point still stands, they actually have 10 home dates in the NFL. They charge full price for preseason games. Heh. While your point still stands, you originally said "college FB" which doesn't play in the NFL. College teams only typically have 5 or 6 home games. :D

Instead of sitting back and making smart ass comments, how about reading the entire posts rather than just skimming? Where in my post did I say anything about one of our 2b's being a valuable trade chip? Where? Quote me on it and post it here. Please. I'm dying to see it.

Jason Bartlett is a nice pickup too. The Rays terrible run prevention last year wasn't just bad pitchers. The defense behind those pitchers was just awful. Bartlett is a very good to elite defensive SS. Even if he isn't any better than replacement level on offense, he has a lot of value for Tampa. And if Brignac shows he's completely ready, Bartlett isn't so good you can't bench/trade him for the new guy. As a Rays fan, I like the deal. Trade from a source of depth to get lots of value where we're weak. I hate to lose the potential of someone like Young, but I feel it's worth it. I don't think Garza will ever be a #1, but that's not what the team needs. A solid #3/possible #2 is exactly what the team does need. Another good thing, in my opinion, is this deal reinforces what I've believed for a couple years: There's almost 0 chance the Rays will trade Crawford for prospects. It never made any sense to me that people thought the team would trade him unless it was for an elite pitcher(Oswalt, Santana, Zambrano. etc.). He signed a below market deal to stay in Tampa. He's been an all-star and the face of the franchise. Only way it'd make sense to trade him is if 1) he was in the last year of his deal and 2) he refused to sign an extension. Neither of those things are anywhere close to being true. I agree with you. Delmon Young is young and he will likely improve. However, he has a long way to go to be an elite player. His patience at the plate makes Rocco Baldelli look like a patient hitter. Young was promoted too quickly, and an argument can be made that the Tampa outfield will be better with Crawford, Upton and one of Dukes, Gomes or Baldelli out there rather than Young. And when you couple in the fact Longoria could end up being better offensively than Young, where is the drop off in offensive production when you exclude Young from the picture? What Tampa needs more than anything is pitching. And they just got a solid arm to add to the youth. Tampa can start this coming season with Kazmir, Shields, Garza and fill the last spots with Sonnanstine and possibly one of the prize young prospects coming through the ranks.

Agreed. On a related note: Why don't the Cubs just move Soriano to RF where he belongs? I've become tired of the "wonder if he can play RF" posts when we have a guy in LF that would be the best RF option of anyone that might be available this offseason.

Antonelli, Matt I'll be shocked if he's with the big club opening day. None of our 2b's are guys who block Antonelli. I think I heard the Padres lost Blum also. Infante would be a guy they could use to hold down 2b until Antonelli is ready and then as a back up later. Obviously, Infante would not be one of the major trading chips for Peavy, however.

I love the thought of Santana in a Cubs uniform, but the only Santana the Cubs would trade for is Ervin. Why? Because of the same crazy and idiotic reasons the Cubs are looking for lefty power bats for RF. Hendry likes a good lefty pitcher, but he doesn't want a whole rotation of them. Sure, Hill or Lilly could be part of the deal that landed Santana, but I don't see them going that route. As funny as it sounds, I think the reason Marshall got pulled from the rotation and Dempster is getting a look in the rotation is because they don't want 3 lefties in the rotation. Here's a thought, though. San Diego is probably not going to get Peavy signed to an extension. They need outfield help and they have a huge hole at 2b.

Yay! One more year of Wood in the bullpen and then stretch him out to be a starter again in 2009. I'm guessing Wood probably agreed to a 1 year deal with some promises of getting an opportunity to start again after this year. This is great news.

It's actually quite entertaining watching the Reds spend talent and money on bullpen guys. I'm glad it's them and not us forking out big cash for Cordero. But, I can see why Reds fans are happy with this deal. They don't have problems offensively. They have holes in their rotation, but there aren't many teams that don't have that problem. It's always a bad move to spend big bucks on bullpen help. Relievers can't get anymore touch and go than they are now. Eyre certainly hasn't been worth the money. Who was the best reliever on the market last year and how did he do? Did he do better than Ryan Franklin, who flew way under the radar? The shelf life of a reliever isn't much more than the one good season they already tossed up, with a few limited exceptions. Marmol could fall on his face next year. The Cubs bullpen could go from first to worst next year. It's a complete crapshoot. That's why that contract was horrible. But, you can't blame Cordero for wanting it. It may be his only big contract. And if he can continue being effective, he'll be doing it for the Reds. And if they can't find the arms necessary to fill out their rotation, they do have a chance to be in the thick of things next year.

OF- Guererro OF- GMJ OF- Rivera DH- Anderson 3b- Cabrera (if they get him in trade) SS- Aybar 2b- Figgins 1b- Kotchman C- Napoli Not bad.

Sounds to me like Anaheim is about to deal for Cabrera. Kendrick, Mathis and Adenhart or Kendrick, Morales and Adenhart? Either of those deals would still have the Angels with Figgins, Aybar and Wood to move around between the two infield spots.

I can't believe everyone is giving this guy a pass. Do you realize how many steroids Jeter could purchase on the money he saved in avoiding his taxes?

Last word on rotoworld was that he probably wouldn't be back by ST...and its not a torn MCL and a torn meniscus. And he had elbow surgery to remove loose bodies. Personally, I love to have loose bodies floating around me. My original post was to get Hamilton or Scott (let me add Church) to complement Murton and/or Pie and then add Bradley. Bradley being available later might work to our advantage. The Cubs could see if Pie is able to hit at the major league level and, if not, pick up Bradley for less money (half a season). If he really struggles in the first half, a player like Hamilton or Church can help out in CF. I think you might be selling Hamilton short a bit. Assuming he's healthy and clean, he's gonna be a monster. I doubt the Reds would hand him over to the Cubs without being blown away. (Think Hill +) Scott is totally available, though, and suits that role perfectly. If we don't get the eff you Japanese dude I'd prefer Scott by a large margin over Geonkins. I have seen rumors that Hamilton might be traded because they have a glut of outfielders, but I don't know what the cost might be. Another very interesting name might be Seth Smith from the Rockies. Right now he's pretty much 3rd string in their OF, but he would certainly be what the doctor ordered as a young, cheap, left-handed, power hitting corner OF. I think they could use a 2B and pitching. Start with an offer of Theriot/Cedeno/Infante (their choice) or Ohman. Perhaps both? Either way the players mentioned are spare parts. Hendry could trade Matsui to Colorado for Smith after he gets him signed.

Leave it to Jim Hendry to have holes to fill at SS and RF and spend all of his resources on finding a 6th 2b. :roll:

Shocker of the offseason, no doubt. Rivera accepts a measily 3/45m deal.

Who can argue with logic?

And they went to different high schools together. Perfect. No need for Kazuo.