BigbadB

Lilly at 4/44 or 5/55 in comparison to what Schmidt will get makes Schmidt's deal look a whole lot better.

We probably have a LOOGY we can offer up as well. I like Penny a lot.

Funny thing is, Lilly probably isn't even a starter in the Yankees rotation. Does he displace Randy Johnson? No Chien-Ming Wang? No Mike Mussina? No Andy Pettitte if he's signed? No Carl Pavano? Maybe Philip Hughes? If he's ready, probably not. But, hey....Think big and put the screws to Hendry. I'm loving it.

Who's Sean Hill? :wink: Shawn Hill is a starting pitcher for the Washington Nats.

Yeah, Washington already has a pitcher named Shawn Hill.

Red Sox would rather move him to 2b, but would have been fine leaving him at SS if a better 2b option came along or Lugo signed elsewhere. Pedroia is starting, and will most likely be at 2b to begin the season.

Is there a chance that Hendry finally got around to reading all my posts? Not likely.

Hendry is not a good GM. And I think he just blew his chance to salvage his position for future seasons, which may be a blessing for all of us. We need competence in the front office. And this isn't necessarily because we didn't sign Schmidt. It's the big picture. He's willing to ridiculously overpay for mediocre talent like Lilly and Meche, but where are the reports that he was willing to ridiculously overpay for Schmidt? They aren't there, because he wasn't willing to do it. Schmidt wasn't even all that interested in years. 2/36m might have gotten the job done, and would still be worth way more than Lilly at 11m and/or Meche at 10m. That he values guys like Izturis is why this team is destined to fail under his leadership. Worse yet is that they attempt to get the fan base excited by saying they will do what is necessary to go to the World Series next year and then sit on their ass and lure mediocrities with wheelbarrows full of cash, rather than difference makers. This team will probably be better than 2006, but it will be a much more expensive team and certainly not a team that has the capabilities to go out and win it all. DeRosa, Blanco, Izturis, Lilly, Meche will make sure of it. 4/60 is a nice offer if they did indeed make it. But, when other teams started coming up with comparable deals, Hendry needed to show he was serious. Instead, he folded like an accordian. Doesn't really matter whether there was an attempt so much as how serious you were in your attempt. If he's got over 21m available for Lilly and Meche and wasn't willing to show Schmidt he was serious, then that's on Hendry. All we've heard for the last several days is Lilly and Meche, Lilly and Meche. Seems like Hendry is set on those guys rather than a real difference maker. That's what drove me nuts last year with Giles. It's not not getting them that pisses me off. It's the lack of sincerity and the lack of any real proof that he wanted either of these guys anymore than Lilly or Meche. The same can be said for Lugo and Drew. We have this humungous, gaping hole at SS and Hendry wants the best SS on the market to play CF. His priorities are completely whack. Fire Hendry!

Well, there is good news to this latest Schmidt rumor. I will no longer waste every breathing moment watching or waiting for something to happen at the winter meetings. What I wanted most is no longer an option. I'm off to do better things. Ta Ta!

Why do I remember this as a Saturday Night Live skit? Is it because it was one?

Based on the latest news, I guess it doesn't matter.

Quotes from Schmidt or his agent are good enough for me. Maybe not for you. Agree to disagree. I'm fine with that. Until I see reports that state Schmidt is not interested in pitching for Chicago, I'm not going to assume he has zero interest. And while I didn't word it properly when I stated I could dig up quotes, what I actually meant was that I could find information that shows that Schmidt hasn't completely closed the door on everyone outside of the west coast.

Couldn't the Mets work a deal with Pittsburgh for Milledge only? Both teams get what they are looking for.

Yep, it was sarcastic. While I can't find anything directly out of Schmidt's mouth that he would be interested in the Cubs, I don't see why your opinion should be held as gospel and mine should be tormented. The Cubs have tons of money to throw at Schmidt. If that doesn't interest him, so be it. But, if they want to lay out tons of money for Lilly and Meche, then why not throw all that same money at Schmidt if need be, to get it done. Schmidt is a difference maker. Lilly and Meche are not.

The Cubs can't win 100 games this year unless they sign Schmidt, Bonds, Zito, and maybe another bench player. If the Cubs signed Schmidt and Prior came back healthy, they could win 100 with the current offense, IMO. I think the Cubs will be either good or great in 2007, with Prior being the deciding factor between the two. I don't see the Cubs offense as being good enough. Figure Blanco at nearly 50 games, and you have a line up that features Blanco, Izturis and DeRosa (who is really an unknown in productivity this coming year), and who knows who will be in CF. The offense still needs a lot of work.

I could have told you that Giles' stats would suffer returning to Petco. In fact, I believe I did. He did it anyway. That's his problem now. I'd trade Jones for Giles now, later today and even tomorrow. Maybe even the next day.

If Theriot could play CF, Theriot/Lofton at 5-6m is not a bad platoon. I can't imagine anyone will actually give Lofton 6m.

He's probably last on their list of trade options regarding their rotation. It may take awhile, but one or more of their starters will probably be traded, which will put McCarthy back in the rotation.

Okay, you've convinced me. I have no business thinking that Schmidt has any interest in pitching for the Cubs because there is no solid proof.

New rumors about Manny possibly being traded to Seattle or LA could take one of those teams out of the hunt for Schmidt as well.

I don't know, but if Milledge were part of the deal, that might make Milton Bradley available.

What? They want a good pitcher when there are so many mediocre one's available? What is wrong with them?

The only one is Jack Wilson, and they still think he's the face of the franchise (which tells you a lot about the body). Bay is the face of that franchise. And, no, Jones for Duke won't happen. If the Reds are offering a power hitting OF, it makes you wonder just it might be. This could be interesting... The Pirates aren't a team that spends 10m on an outfielder. They are usually guilty of trading them away, actually. Jones for Dukes probably won't happen. But, I wouldn't rule out Jones to Pittsburgh for someone.

Again, Per Rotoworld: The Cardinals are targeting free agent Jason Schmidt, though they may not go beyond three years to sign him. "There's a question of how far we go, but we're going," GM Walt Jocketty said. "We'd like to have him." Agent Randy Hendricks said Schmidt was receptive to St. Louis, and that the team's reluctance to go beyond three years wouldn't be much of a problem. However, it appears likely that Schmidt will get $60 million over four years from some team, perhaps the Cubs or the Dodgers. Source: Cardinals.mlb.com This is a direct quote. Last time I looked, St. Louis was not on the west coast or anywhere near Seattle. Sure, it's St. Louis rather than Chicago. But, I've yet to see the Cubs get blown off as quickly as Milwaukee did. Therefore, I'm not willing to assume Schmidt has no interest in the money the Cubs seem to have readily available to hand out.

History is why people are panicing. We were told not to panic when Chicago started outbidding Pittsburgh for Jeromy Burnitz. The Cubs signed him. We were told not to panic about the possibility of trading prospects for a 1 year rental, mediocre talent Juan Pierre. The Cubs got him. The list is long. Instead of reading Lilly and Meche rumors all day long, we want to read Schmidt rumors all day long. When we don't see Schmidt rumors, we panic.