BigbadB

Umm. No.

The Reds were a threat until they made one of the dumbest trades of the century when they gave up Austin Kearns and Felipe Lopez for bullpen arms. At this point, they might as well trade Dunn for whatever they can get. And the fact they blocked 1b yet again is unbelievable. Dunn really has no business patrolling the outfield.

I think the draft will be looking a lot stronger this year. I'm letting some good players go. I have my 8 or 9 locks, but the last couple are tough to call.

Fuzzy's had a hot run in the second half of the season. I have lots of exempts available and lots of cap space as well as I continue to improve the team.

If Izturis is batting 2nd, I could see Soriano getting IBB'd a lot with 2 outs.

Who plays CF?

I won't evaluate this offseason completely until the offseason is over. I think there is still time to make it a very successful offseason. If Hendry is done, I won't be fond of this offseason at all. But, I don't believe he's done. Evaluating what's been done so far: Soriano: I like this move, but I wanted Drew. Getting either or both are best case scenarios in this market, but I can't complain about Soriano. Lilly: It makes me real nervous that he's a fly ball pitcher. But, I like Lilly more than I like Zito. Zito and Hill are too much alike, and Lilly gives you a little bit of a different look from the left side. DeRosa: He wasn't on my radar at all in what I felt was a very strong 2b class. Lugo, Loretta, Durham, Giles are all guys that come to mind immediately ahead of DeRosa. But, DeRosa might surprise me. Yes, he put up solid numbers given more at bats in the friendly hitting confines of Arlington, but the NL Central is loaded with hitter friendly parks. If he matches what he did last year, he's a pretty good pick up. His versatility adds to his value if the Cubs were to grab someone else to man 2b later. In other words, I'm willing to see how he pans out at 2b, as he definitely has the potential to put up solid production. As a bench player, we couldn't have done much better than DeRosa. Marquis: I sure hope someone knows something I don't. Well, I know someone knows stuff I don't. But, looking at his year to year stats, he looks like a high profile prospect that never put it altogether. I hope "someone" knows what they are doing here. Ramirez: I can't stress enough how important this signing was. If they couldn't retain Ramirez, I don't think there is anything Hendry could do to salvage this offseason. Wood: Thanks Kerry! Looking forward to see how you do out of the bullpen and hope that your starting days are not over. Miller: Thanks Wade! The bargain basement price of a guy who has the potential of locking down a starting job all year is awesome. If he does well and there is plenty of depth at SP, Miller is the kind of guy that could net something REALLY good at the trade deadline. Cotts: More depth in the bullpen. I think someone has to go, but nothing wrong with having plenty of options in the pen. Ward: The Cubs have had weaknesses in just about every aspect of the team the last few years. None was more obvious than the bench. Ward certainly is a huge improvement over what they've had. Piniella: I wasn't in favor of this signing, but I do like his intensity. I do like what he's inspired Hendry to do this offseason. Dusty must be pissed. I'm going to give him a chance to show that I was wrong to want Bochy. This offseason, I wanted Lugo, Drew, Matsuzaka, Schmidt. We didn't get any of them. But, I think they've done some good things with the team overall. They didn't just assume Prior and Miller would be healthy and the kids would be enough depth if they weren't. They didn't just sit on the bullpen. They've improved the bench and they've kept the most important piece to the offense and added another key component in Soriano. I think Hendry will still move Jones and a bullpen guy, and bring in another starting bat (CF) and maybe another bench guy. Right now, I'd give him a "B". If he gets Church and gets a quality return for Jones, I'll likely move my grade up to an "A".

Frank Robinson went to the same school as Dusty. It's yet to be determined whether he'll be a great talent. But, even if he's just a good talent, Church patrolling CF when we don't have a current in house option to play CF is way, way better than how well Marmol does in AAA this year.

Shawon Dunston was one of my all time favorite players. Funny, considering my SABR views. But, when he was a Cub, I didn't look at OBP. I looked at AVG, defensive ability and hustle back then as the main indicators of a players abilities. But, when he was no longer a Cub, I paid zero attention to him. Fergie Jenkins was one of my all time favorite Cub pitchers. When he got traded to the Rangers, I didn't keep up with how he was doing in the AL at all. I'm happy for those guys if they continue to have successful years (easy there all you Dunston haters :D ), but I didn't care enough to follow their careers with other teams. Maybe it's different now that you can draft your favorite players on your fantasy teams, and there is much more visibility of other teams on cable tv. But, I've yet to really show dedication or loyalty to players nearly as much as I do for the team, unless they are actually on the team. But, just because they are on the team doesn't necessarily mean I'll show dedication or loyalty. They have to show values that I appreciate. And there really is something to be said for the lifers like Sandberg and Ripken. There aren't many of those anymore. Ripken saw playoff action 3 times in his 21 seasons. Sandberg saw 2 in his 16 seasons. They didn't have to stay loyal to organizations who suffered futility more often than success, but they did it anyway. I was never a Ripken fan, but I take my hat off to him.

It's not stupid to the team that gets the money for posting a player. pretty sure seibu is going to be upset if boston fails to reach a deal with matsuzaka. a revamped posting system would prevent something like this from happening. seibu would set a minimum bid, like a "reserve" on an auction. then, they're guaranteed to receive at least that much if a team reaches a deal with their player. Not a bad idea, but MLB would need protection from collusion on the other side. I don't think Seibu should receive $10m (pretending that's the minimum bid) simply because the player didn't sign a deal. The whole system is flawed, but I really don't have any answer to correcting it.

It might take even more than 7 guys, since Gallagher, Veal and the Cubs #3 pick could possibly be one of the best players in this year's draft could surpass Marmol in 3-4 years. This would be another perfect example of imcompetence of Cubs management to not work a deal for someone like Church. Maybe Washington his holding out for someone to overpay? Well, we've overpaid for Soriano, DeRosa, Lilly and Marquis, why not overpay for someone who won't cost you much more than minimum salary at a position you are extremely weak and trading from a position of strength. There is a lot of stuff we don't know about Jones (can he play CF everyday, does he want to be here anymore, is there a market for him), but he's currently the only person remotely capable of playing CF in 2007, assuming Pie needs another year of seasoning at AAA. Church can step right in, and it won't cost anyone currently on the 25 man roster. It's a no-brainer. Instead, Hendry (or whoever is calling the shots right now) is going to let Pittsburgh or Philadelphia swoop in and get him, leaving the Cubs to spend big money on an aging vet like Lofton, who we aren't sure can even play everyday, anymore. Overpay! Give them Marmol and Novoa. Give them Marmol and Ohman. Church is the one guy that just about everyone at NSBB is on board with acquiring. He is young, cheap, provides good OBP, hits left handed and can play any outfield position. A team that produces next to no positional major league talent is getting one (like Murton) handed to them for next to no visible loss in talent and it's not getting done. I know, I probably shouldn't jump the gun. It frustrates me that talks have broken down. I want to get really excited about an acquisition. DeRosa, Lilly and Marquis just isn't doing it for me. I really like Marmol. But, Jacque Jones could likely net even more than a Carlos Marmol type prospect if traded. Just get it done, already!

As long as the cost of a ticket comes out of the fans pocket, it wouldn't change a thing. A middle income family of 5 can't afford more than a game a year. The cost of tickets has become ridiculous. The reason tickets have become ridiculous is a vicious circle. Players demand a bigger percentage, the owners increase ticket prices to accomodate the players, and the fans of the game are the ones who suffer. It doesn't cost $40 a person to see a movie. At the same time, anyone making 1m or more a year to play any sport is making too much money for what they do. The question becomes how much it will be tolerated. The tolerance level is actually pretty mindboggling. The last strike definitely impacted the tolerance level, but not enough to change anything. Will there be a McGwire or Sosa to bring the fans back the next time there is a strike? I'm not so sure. I admit that my tolerance level for Juan Pierre was definitely impacted by the fact that it cost 3 prospects and nearly 6m for a 1 year rental, but he still would have frustrated me batting lead off all year if he was a minimum salary CFer. My frustration there isn't really on Pierre, but rather the GM who values what little tools he has, and the manager, who feels those tools are most valuable in the lead off spot. There is no cap in baseball, and there also isn't any uniformity. Free agency really kicked uniformity to the curb. If free agency didn't become so prominant, I'm sure there would still be 1st, 2nd and 3rd tier teams in regards to market size and visibility, but it really would be a thing of beauty if most of these teams could actually keep the players they drafted and groomed to be major league ballplayers. In other words, when the A's had too many long term major leaguers on the roster (Giambi, Tejada, Chavez, Hudson, Mulder, Zito, etc...) and needed to free up salary (because ticket prices are no more than $15-20 a seat), they could trade that talent to a team that can afford to take on salary, and the A's could get young talent in return rather than draft pick compensation, which has such a poor percentage of producing major league talent. What I really miss is baseball pre-free agency. And there really is a flaw in the system when a guy like David Wright can produce: .311 .381 .531 for $367K and a guy like Juan Pierre can produce: .292 .330 .388 and make $5.75m Granted, Wright hasn't reached his arby years yet, but it's just plain silly that a guy who is head over heals better at his job than someone who has been around for awhile gets less than 10X the amount of said veteran. Actually closer to 20X than 10X. I can't believe there isn't more rioting or protesting when a team like Pittsburgh trades off all their good players for prospects if the end result doesn't reduce ticket prices. When Florida cut their payroll in half or 2/3 (not sure how much they were before their latest fire sale), ticket prices should have been cut by that much as well. Maybe this doesn't answer your actual question, but I felt it needed to be said. I love the game and I'm more hooked now than I've ever been. But, there are a lot of things about this game that frustrate me to no end. That I know how much Pierre makes per year, and how overpaid he actually is bugs me, but it's more of how he was used and what he cost the team in talent that bugs me more. If that makes any sense. I can live with the salaries these guys make. I don't like it, but it's not what irritates me the most about this game. What irritates me the most is imcompetence of the people in charge. Valuing the wrong things and ignoring the true problems.

I think you both need to chill out. Because I knew Rich Hill before he was conceived.

If Prior comes back 100%, Hill pitches like he did in the 2nd half, the Cubs are going to be pretty good. If they can land Church with something along the lines of Marshall and Novoa, I think they will have a very solid team going into the 2007 season. I wouldn't call it great, but definitely a favorite to win their division. Maybe trade Jones for a bench guy who can play 3rd. Hmmm. Jacque Jones to Atlanta, Marcus Giles to San Diego, Russell Branyan to Cubs (Cubs get some cash or a prospect)

Is Sing still around?

Looking at your line up, I can't, for the life of me, figure out who Baltimore or Milwaukee ripped us off for Tejada or Hill? Well, I don't see Jones or Izturis, so maybe those two guys and our entire farm?

Iowa could be looking pretty good in 2007. Pie, Patterson, Coats, McGehee, Hoffpauir, Fontenot, Montanez, Moore, Pagan? Marmol, Guzman, Marshall, Mateo, Ryu, Piggy, Wells Novoa, Rapada Still think someone will get dealt for a bat at the major league level. Marmol or Marshall for Church?

All this crazy spending is all well and good, but why didn't they do this when there was lots of talent available? Vlady, Beltran, Tejada, etc..... In 2003, we watched Alex Gonzalez bobble the World Series away. He was really only of any value for his glove, and he hasn't landed a decent job since 2003. Miguel Tejada made so much sense that year, it isn't even funny. Fast forward to 2007, the Cubs have Cesar Izturis and Ronny Cedeno 1/2 on the SS depth chart, meanwhile Baltimore dangles Tejada in trade rumors every offseason. :roll: But hey, call me thrilled that we have Jason Marquis. Because I'd much rather we have someone like him than someone like Tejada. :cry:

Interesting that when you view the similar players to Marquis at baseball-reference that these names can all be found there: Jake Westbrook Ted Lilly Gil Meche Jason Jennings Others of note: Kip Wells, Joel Piniero, Adam Eaton

Looking at the bright side, Izturis will be able to bat 9th when Zambrano and Marquis are pitching.

Hello? Link please to confirm that I got the title changed correctly?

I still don't see Hendry being done. He wants to honor Jacque's request, and there's no reason to have all these bullpen arms or all the kids if they are just going to be blocked.

Did I get the title changed correctly? I never did see anything official and am trusting that 3/20 is correct.

The Cubs will get a fair offer for him. There's no reason not to. He's making reasonable money for decent production, even if all of his production comes against RHP.

There's absolutely no way Hendry is done by signing Marquis and Lofton. Jacque wants out and Hendry will likely accomodate him. The pen is overflowing with arms. There's no way they come to ST with: Dempster Wood Eyre Howry Wuertz Ohman Cotts Novoa all on the roster. I think Jacque gets packaged with a reliever for a starting pitcher. One or two of the kids (Marshall, Mateo, Marmol, Guzman) will get traded for an outfielder.