BigbadB

Yeah, we agree on that. I've been calling for Hendry's head for over a year now. You are well aware of that. Trading 3 prospects for a 1 year rental like Pierre was beyond stupid. The failure to recognize how far his value had decreased in making such a sizeable offer is inexcusable.

Fair enough on the leg issues. However, Aramis' leg issues have been different. The one that knocked him out in 2001 was a foot problem. A hamstring problem like the one he had in 2004-2005 seems to have resolved itself. I've heard of a few guys who never got over hamstring issues. But, I've seen a lot more get over that issue.

Manny Ramirez has a bad work ethic, can quite often be considered lazy and is well into his 30's and still putting up quality offensive numbers. I'm not here to label Aramis as the Cubs savior or worthy of every dollar he would earn in a long term contract. However, Hendry put himself in the position that he had to give Aramis what he wanted. And I've seen teams be competitive even though they were hampered by bad contracts. And because Hendry put himself in the position of having to give Aramis the world and didn't do it, now the Cubs are even more worse off. Wow. In 2003, I was so optimistic of the direction this team was headed. BEFORE THEY EVEN MADE THE PLAYOFFS. I was excited about the farm system. I was excited about the money freeing up to spend on quality talent. I was excited about the increased money being made available to add quality players. I even uttered "dynasty" a few times when I viewed the future of the organization. My how far we have fallen. Thanks, Jim Hendry.

It wouldn't matter to me if the MLB rumors were true. I wouldn't care if Aramis refused to offer a "home town discount". If he leaves, it's because Aramis wants to play for a team that has a chance to win, which would still make this Hendry's fault for making the poor decisions the last few years to make this team a team that has no chance of winning.

Well spoken. Instead, we can trade Felix Pie and Donald Veal to the Tigers for Neifi Perez and only pay him 7m a year. Just look at the wonderful savings Hendry will be giving the Cubs.

Well, I suppose McDonough should hold off for at least a month or two on announcing the ticket price increase. Aramis will not be back. If the Cubs couldn't work out an arrangement that made both sides happy during an exclusive negotiating window, they certainly won't work it out now. How much more time will Kinzer and Aramis want to waste with an organization that isn't serious about retaining his services? With Aramis leaving, free agents are not going to want to join a team that finished in last place and then just gave up their best player by pinching pennies. A trade for A-Rod is not the slightest bit reasonable after Aramis leaves. A-Rod would have to waive an NTC to join a team that doesn't have the parts necessary to finish .500, let alone challenge for the division title in the weakest division in baseball. It's not going to happen. It's funny that Hendry can pay Neifi 5x more than his value, but Hendry can't take the money he would have given Neifi and add it to Aramis' contract. 5 years? If it's truly years that held up this deal, Hendry has no business being a GM at a used car lot let alone a baseball team. You could give Aramis a 10 year deal and it would still be a better deal than letting him leave for another team. Signing Aramis might have helped lure other free agents here. Letting him walk discourages other quality players from wanting to play here. Just wow!

Exactly. I mentioned it above. He hasn't lived up to his salary. Possibly not Pudge, either. But, are Detroit Tigers fans running around griping that Maggs isn't worth the money, or are they excited about being in the World Series and getting even more excited watching Detroit make moves that might help them get there again next year?

From Rotoworld: "The Brewers will keep trying to find a taker for Jenkins and they may non-tender Mench. Corey Hart is the favorite to start in right field, and the team is likely to sign a center fielder to play over Brady Clark. Gabe Gross, Laynce Nix and Tony Gwynn Jr. will be candidates for bench spots." Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

And the aforementioned gambles helped them do what? Meanwhile, Tiger fans can ask Cub fans how the view from the bottom is. I sure wish our GM had the audacity to go out and get the players necessary to at least threaten to win a division.

And that's why those deals are considered gambles..... They're also looking at Aubrey Huff, Nomar and Shea Hillenbrand at 1b. I think they'll be fine at 1b with all the pop they have at other positions.

The Tigers also gambled on Maggs (16m+ in 2006) and Pudge (10m+ in 2006) and an argument could be made that neither provided the production worthy of their salary. However, would the Tigers have been in the World Series in 2006 without those two players? Maggs was interested in playing for the Cubs the year Detroit signed him. He was definitely a huge risk. Probably more of a risk than Sheffield is right now. A lot of people screamed that Pudge's contract with the Tigers was just crazy. At that time, many believed Pudge was a broken down former shell of himself. He's caught an amazingly high number of innings over his career, which made him a big risk as well, though maybe not as risky as Sheffield. The Cubs were unwilling to take that risk, and a mediocre team got worse rather than better.

We, as Cub fans, are used to having Cubs management go out and buy the absolute best big screen tv and the best DVD player and then signing guys like Jeromy Burnitz instead of JD Drew. That's probably a more accurate analogy. :D

Boston is paying Manny between 18-20m a year. They still seem to be able to afford other big contracts as well. There is no reason/excuse why the Cubs can't come up with a contract that would secure 3b for the next 6-7 years.

When a team has a pitching staff that finished first in the league in ERA that features: Jeremy Bonderman (23) Justin Verlander (23) Zach Miner (24) Jordan Tata (24) Joel Zumaya (21) Andrew Miller (21) Nate Robertson (28) and still doesn't include their most notable signing, Kyle Sleeth.... and they trade a guy, who might not even be able to pitch better than what's already on the major league roster, for an offensive weapon, which was one of the team's weaknesses this year, I wouldn't say it's dumb. The Tigers traded from a position of strength to strengthen a weakness. Definitely a gamble, but if it helps them finish above Cleveland, Minnesota and Chicago in the NL Central again next year, it will have been worth it.

The Tigers are dumb? Granted, I wouldn't want Sheffield given the circumstances for acquiring him, but Detroit gambled with Maggs and Pudge and came out alright. They can probably trade Monroe and/or Thames for some pitching help, resign Casey and be sitting pretty offensively next year. Meanwhile, the Cubs are on the verge of losing one of their main offensive threats. Who's dumb?

I'm not so sure the markets are all that far off. Chicago shares their market with the Sox and Anaheim shares their market with the Dodgers. But, there is plenty of market to share in the LA area. Orange County, LA County, Riverside County, North San Diego County and San Bernardino County is a nice population to draw from. The Angels outdrew the Cubs in attendance this year.

Especially now. But, all I've heard from St. Louis so far this offseason is potentially retaining Belliard and letting Mulder and Suppan walk. I suppose they have replacements for both guys with Reyes and Wainwright. It just seems weird to me that they aren't being mentioned as suitors for some of the free agents out there.

If the Cubs lose Ramirez, I'll get a lot of stuff done around the house next summer. But, if I had to pick a replacement for Ramirez and A-Rod and Cabrera were not available, I think I'd like to see the Cubs win the bidding for Iwamura. Heck, I think I'd like to see them win the bidding for him anyway. He can always shift to 2b if Ramirez is retained.

What's tying up all of their money? I don't get it. Brand new park. World Series Championship. Went cheap last year and the year prior. I'm fine if they go cheap again this year, but I don't understand why.

This is where Jim can earn a shred of my respect back. He'll have a long way to go if he can bring back Ramirez, but that would be a good start.

Exactly.

I'm not sure how you can fault a player for wanting to get as much as he can. A very small percentage of people have the ability to earn that kind of money, and if there is someone willing to pay them, why shouldn't they make themselves available? Aramis owes nothing to the Cubs ownership. They offered him a deal and he accepted that deal. The Cubs got good value for that deal. When Aramis is 37 or 38 and can no longer be productive in MLB, he will need all that money to live for the rest of his life. He doesn't have a college education to fall back on during hard times. What her earns during the life of his baseball career will possibly have to last the rest of his life. He might be thinking about making sure his kids are comfortable as well. Sports figures don't have things as easy as the average joe. We can walk out of a diner with a $.50 cent tip for a cup of coffee. Aramis would be labeled a cheap skate if he dropped less than $10.00 for a tip. And of course, the government definitely gets a healthy portion of their salary. No need to feel sorry for him, of course. I'd love to be able to play baseball for a living. But, I can't blame him for hunting around for the best offers and the best conditions for his services. I see absolutely no reason to turn him away due to years, however. Is Aramis going to be a shell of his former self in 6 years. Probably not. Manny Ramirez is just about as productive at 34 as he was at 28. Sammy Sosa was more productive at 34 than he was at 28. But, I have zero faith that Hendry values Ramirez as much as I do. Hendry seemed like he would go a ridiculous amount of years for a much less productive player like Rafael Furcal, a guy who has never even been a Cub before and a guy who has had some off field issues. Just give him the money. And get it done before Saturday night. Someone WILL give it to him.

Yet, the Detroit Tigers were 3rd in HR's in the AL (6th overall) in 2006.

I agree with others that Drew is probably the better option in CF, a position that Drew apparently prefers to play.

But, Jacque shouldn't be starting on a regular basis. That's where the difference is, IMO. Yes, he played everyday, but he shouldn't play everyday. He has next to no value against left handed pitching. This decreases his overall value. If you have to pay someone else to play the position against left handed pitching, how much he makes to be a part time player makes him overpriced for the production he provides.