BigbadB

I also think he'll want that big contract that he thinks he deserves, and the Cubs would be nuts to offer it to him. The Padres might lose Roberts and Cameron. They might offer up a lengthy deal for a guy like Pierre. They will want someone who can cover a lot of ground in CF and can lead off.

Hendry has had his share of good deals and bad deals. I also don't think it's fair to evaluate a trade in hindsight. Unfortunately, the good deals are far removed and replaced by bad deals. Deals should really be replaced by "decisions". Whether those decisions be trades, free agent signings, retaining Baker all year, waiting too long to make deadline deals, etc... there really wasn't much to get excited about in 2006. Signing Rusch, Neifi and Blanco to ridiculous sized contracts for their production was amazingly stupid. Putting all of his eggs in Rafael Furcal's basket was pretty stupid. Kicking Nomar to the curb without looking back was pretty stupid. Trading 3 pitching prospects for a 1 year rental, speed demon was stupid. Waiting too long to fill the biggest hole in the offense (RF) and having to settle for the best off the scrap heap was stupid. Not firing Dusty after the 2005 season was dumb. Not firing him sometime during the season was ridiculously stupid. It goes back to the 2005 season, but agreeing to allow Wood to pitch out of the pen in a season that was lost to about 99% of the viewership and retarding his chances of being healthy in 2006 was stupid. Maybe I overvalue some players, but I felt that they could have gotten much more in return at the trade deadline than they actually did. Maddux, Walker, Jacque Jones, Juan Pierre to name a few guys that I felt could have garnered some interest from other teams. I penciled them in to finish closer to the bottom of the division than towards the top at the beginning of the season. The writing was on the wall. ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE offseason by Hendry.

Okay, so Nic is a 6 year free agent, but isn't he also 6 years out of college.

He's a cheap imitation of Rafael Furcal. I wouldn't mind having him on the roster at all. Of course, I view Izturis as a utility player, so just about anyone who can provide better offensive production and would be a replacement for Izturis in the starting line up will get a thumbs up from me. And that includes Theriot.

And, STILL no 20 game winners. :D

Thought for sure the job offers for a guy who nearly lost a hundred games with a 95m payroll would just be pooring in about now.

Soriano's production seems to defy convention, which is an indication he is a hitter with comfort issues. His worse years were in Texas, one of the best hitters' parks in baseball, in a line-up full of support in the way of good hitters. During these years he hit was placed, as convention dictates, in an RBI production role. He moves to Washington, one of the worst hitters' parks in baseball, in a line-up with anemic support, and absolutely thrives. Back in the leadoff role, his numbers return to the Yankees years numbers, and even exceed. It doesn't make any practical sense, and logically Soriano should be a run-producer. But his career numbers and production make it clear: regardless of the ballpark or the support around him, his best spot in the lineup for maximizing production is at leadoff. Provided the team doesn't have a hole in the 3-4-5 spots (and the Cubs would be just fine with Lee, Ramirez, Barret), there isn't any real reason to force Soriano into a run-production role. If the Cubs pursue him, it's likely in his comfort zone role at leadoff IMO. I have to agree with this. While some RBI's are lost in his first at bat, and potentially for the rest of his at bats if you have poor OBP in the 7 and 8 spots (excluding the pitcher's spot), at least he's getting the most at bats, something Juan Pierre never should have received, IMO. Mark Bellhorn seemed to excel at the top of the order. Dusty tried to make him an RBI guy, and he struggled mightily. Bellhorn is not nearly the player Soriano is, but it's another example of a guy who seemed to need a certain spot in the line up to do his thing. If Soriano's OBP stays where it was this year, I have zero issues with him hitting lead off for the Cubs. By the way, Soriano had nearly 3 times as many RBI's as Pierre did this year. 81 of his 95 RBI's came while he was a lead off hitter. Now all the Cubs need to do is find respectable OBP guys to balance out the bottom half of the order and give Soriano some guys to drive in.

I'm also in agreement that it may take 3 teams to make a deal work. Florida, Colorado, KC or some small market team that could take prospects to give up their starting pitchers who are going to be making big money soon, if not already. The Cubs can absorb the entire salary of A-Rod. The small market team can load up on pitching prospects. The Yankees can get the 3b or SP they desire. Colorado could move Garrett Atkins and Jason Jennings to NY. Colorado would probably love a Felix Pie type CFer that can cover a lot of territory. They might like a guy to fill their 2b hole like Patterson. They could certainly use some young starting pitchers. Scott Moore could bridge the gap at 3b for them until Ian Stewart is ready. It would depend on what Colorado would want, but Atkins' trade value is high now and they have Stewart on his heals. This would be a good time for them to make a nice haul on a few players to build for the next several years. Someone already mentioned Dontrelle. I just don't see a good trade involving only NYY and the Cubs. Add a 3rd team, and the options seem endless.

Wright and Reyes are the core of those good players, who happen to be extremely good and come from within and currently underpaid for their production. Their value allows the Mets to pay FA prices for Beltran and surround him with very good players. Exactly. Spend more money on player development too! Whatever it takes to do it from within, do it. They won't win without improving from within 1st. So, in other words, it might have been a poor decision to trade 3 pitching prospects for a 1 year rental CF who doesn't provide much outside of a stolen base threat? :D

I don't remember what the numbers are exactly. Tim or JeffH might have the particulars. If you don't lose any free agents, there is a set maximum number, like 3 that can be signed. For each free agent you lose, you get an extra free agent signing above and beyond the "3". I don't believe it matters what Type FA they are. But, PLEASE understand, I don't recall the specifics. I could be way off.

I don't believe the limit is tied to Type A's only. I think it extends down to Type B and C as well.

If the Cubs did things the right way this offseason, they could potentially have a guy like Barrett hitting 8th. Couple that in with a few PH at bats from a decent bench in place of the pitcher, and Soriano could still have plenty of RBI opportunities. I've never been a huge fan of Soriano, but he's a much better option than the Cubs have had in recent years.

After watching last night's game, I'm even more convinced this team needs to lose a game to get some focus back. Teams consistently fall into the trap that they are unbeatable. Not only does every team want to beat one of the last remaining unbeatens, they want to beat the best team in the league. It's one thing for the player's to get egos. It's another if the coaches, themselves, need a wake up call.

If there is, I'm sorry. I didn't know there was a transactions thread, and I didn't know this was a transaction. . Is there a speculations forum? :lol: Transactions is the forum to discuss transactions, real or otherwise.

Soriano>>>>>>>>>>>>Pierre at lead off.

How often does a team go out and get 3 of the top 5 free agents AND trade for one of the best available players via trade in 1 offseason? Ain't happenin'.

Baseball Prospectus (subscription required for most data) keeps pretty close tabs of PAP.

The Cubs were much closer to be a 100 loss team this year than a .500 team. I believe there is plenty of reason for panic.

If he promises to keep Izturis as strictly a bench player, I might turn into a fan of his.

To get that kind of results, that team had to be CONstructed of guys who already had the ability to get on base. That has little/nothing to do with the manager. That's all on Hendry. Instead of signing or trading for guys like Neifi, Bynum, etc... you steer clear of the guys who will drag down the team offensively. Baker had decent OBP guys on the team. He refused to bat them at the top of the order. I don't know what Piniella will do, but ultimately, that's the one way he can have a negative or positive impact on the overall offensive production. I turned on the Tigers game the other day, and there was Neifi Perez batting 2nd. A lot, and I do mean a lot, of managers just do not get the whole OBP concept.

With Lou coming on board, let's see, Aramis has the choice of resigning with a manager who will berate him up and down on a daily basis for his lack of hustle, or he could put himself on the market to 29 other teams that value his production over hustle. Weighing in also is that Hendry values a manager more than one of the 3 "franchise" players on this roster, and my attachment to staying in Chicago wouldn't be high on my priority list anymore, either. It was nice knowing you, Aramis.

We wouldn't need to give them 15m if we were taking one of their biggest breadwinners off their hands. :wink: Also, let whatever team trades for Willis pay half their payroll.

I'm really torn on Soriano. I don't think I'd mess with him. I'd keep him within my sights, but I'd focus on trades to make the team better along with less significant FA signings. I'd bring back Wade Miller, Kerry Wood and extend Aramis. I would target guys like Julio Lugo, Durham, Vicente Padilla and Kenny Lofton on the market. I'd attempt to trade Jacque Jones and Bob Howry along with a prospect for JD Drew. I'd attempt to trade Cedeno, Dempster (and cash) and a prospect pitcher to Tampa for Crawford. OF: Murton, Crawford, Drew, Restovich, Lofton, Pagan IF: Ramirez, Lugo, Durham, Lee, Izturis, Theriot C: Barrett, Soto SP: Zambrano, Prior, Miller, Hill, Padilla, Marshall, Guzman, etc... RP: Eyre, Wuertz, Wood, Marmol, Mateo, Novoa, Aardsma, Ohman, Rusch Crawford (age 25, .348 OBP in 2006, just entering prime) Lugo (age 31, .340+ OBP last 3 years) Lee (needs no introduction) Drew (lefty power bat desperately needed in between Lee and Ramirez) Ramirez (will absolutely love driving in guys from the 5 slot) Durham (potential top of the order guy, placeholder for Patterson) Murton (could be involved in midseason trade if Pie is ready) Barrett (is there a better #8 hitter in the league?) Durham and Murton are like a whole 2nd top of the order, but at the bottom. Sign a Kevin Millar type as a 4th outfielder/1b in case Murton is moved to make room for Pie. Crawford slides over to LF. Besides, replacing Pagan or Lofton with someone like Millar provides a bit more pop off the bench. That's how I would rebuild for 2007. They might have to give up a few decent prospects to get guys like Crawford and Drew, but that's two guys I think I'd rather have than someone like Soriano.

I don't know why he wouldn't consider the Cubs job. He's underappreciated in San Diego. The fans want him gone. I've been upset with San Diego for not opening up the wallets for more talent and I'm not even a Padres fan. Imagine how Boch must feel watching ownership put it all in their wallet. Look at San Diego's attendance in that fancy new, high priced stadium to know they are doing quite well. Yet, Bochy goes out and wins divisions with very little to work with. Send him our way. They can have Dusty.

If he takes the challenge of the Cubs job, I'll be challenging myself to take a huge break from baseball. And I'd really rather not have to do that.