BigbadB

He will most likely be a Padre again next year. They love his defense out there.

Jimmy Rollins is my guy. :D

Mr. Bad Back only played in 156 games in 2004 and put up: .337/.391/.598

If you recall, Moises didn't exactly put up stellar numbers in 2003, even though the Cubs made it to the playoffs. Sosa's defense in RF was atrocious that year. It would have been a great move to get Guerrero. I don't think the Choi/Lee trade happened all that early that year, so there was more speculation around here that Moises could be moved to 1b if San Fran and Felipe didn't want Moises. Of course, Hendry didn't even look away from his donuts when the bidding began for Guerrero, so it's pointless to continue this discussion.

2003 was the year Hendry could have gone after Vlady. Moises could have been shipped to San Fran to play with daddy for peanuts. Sosa to left field and Vlady in RF. Maybe Moises to San Fran for Ray Durham?

Did you not say this? The pitching abuse responses are because of this post. Where is Hendry's name mentioned in this post?

How much more is a baseball juiced up than in the days of the pitchers you mentioned? How many of those pitchers used a devastating slider or curve ball as their out pitch? How many innings are extended these days because of the smaller parks? The older parks had huge foul territories, much deeper fences and a lot less offense in general. Guys like Gibson and Jenkins worked the corners of the plate with their fastballs, not 12 to 6 breaking balls. Those pitchers didn't have to be afraid to run their fastball right down the middle, as many of those that got plunked were nothing more than warning track fly balls instead of 320 foot home runs like they are nowadays. I loved watching the pitchers of the late 60's and 70's. But, I never saw a single one of those guys who were going 350 plus innings a season throw a breaking ball like the one Rich Hill or Barry Zito can throw. The stress created by each breaking ball is very hard on the pitching arm. The more you throw it, the worse off you are. Steve Stone had a long career going as a mediocre pitcher. Then, he won himself a Cy Young award throwing nothing but breaking balls. His career was basically over after that. I watched Rueschel pitch a lot. I watched Jenkins pitch a lot. What Prior, Wood and Zambrano bring to the table in pitch selection blows away what big Rick and Fergie brought. Those old school guys worked the plate with a steady diet of fastballs, with an off speed pitch or breaking ball as the pitch that would keep the hitters honest. That's the way I see it anyway.

Who knew? Most of the members of this community. It was talked about more often than just any other topic DURING the 2003 season. Feel free to dig through the posts in 2003. You'll find many discussions about the pitching abuse we all saw going on during that season.

For 1-2m, Hendry could have had Lofton. For 2.5m, Hendry could have traded for Bradley. Without spending a dime, they could have stuck Walker in the lead off spot. Same with Murton. All 4 of the names listed above are all better options than Pierre in the lead off spot. So, less than 3m with nothing given up (outside of Bradley) for a better option at lead off than a guy you traded 3 prospects and paid 6m is a no-brainer.

So, what you're really tring to say is Hafner basically has as many RBI's in 6 swings of the bat as Juan Pierre has in 500 at bats? Nice!

The Cubs could only wish they had Detroit's offensive deficiencies. Detroit is 7th in run production. Cubs are 30th. Give them the Cubs' staff, do you believe they'd be .500 or better? Yeah, I think they could be better than .500 with the Cubs pitching staff. Not much better than .500, but considering their record now with the pitching staff they have, I think it's conceivable. At the same time, if the Cubs had a healthy rotation of Zambrano, Wood, Prior, Maddux, Marshall, I think the Cubs could be a .500 team with the lousy offense they possess. Unfortunately, I don't think they'd be much better than .500 because of the offense. I penciled the Cubs in at 4th place at the beginning of the season assuming the pitching staff would be healthy. I'm not whining and crying about this team because of their current place in the standings. I was screaming about the poor offseason long before the season even started. The management team completely ignored the one biggest problem this team consistently suffers. OBP. While the pitching failed them this year as well, it was assumed that the staff would be healthy and they would keep them in games and they would at least flirt with .500. With over 40m to spend and lots of talent to trade, I was and still am furious at how poorly Hendry assembled the 2006 Cubs. He's getting exactly what he deserves. Unfortunately, no one in the front office has a clue to see how poorly Hendry has done his job. Changes need to be made, and there is no one with the nads to just do it.

Extensions for everyone!

The Cubs could only wish they had Detroit's offensive deficiencies. Detroit is 7th in run production. Cubs are 30th.

50/50 right now to me means the glass is completely empty. :(

It looks to me as though your team could use offense more than anything. I wouldn't do either of those trades. Carpenter is a franchise player. Don't let him go without receiving the compensation deserving of a franchise player.

I agree. If you are going to go with a "speed" guy at lead off, might as well grab one of your farmhands. They can nearly duplicate the production of a Juan Pierre or Podsednik at league minimum. Heck, you might even find one who is willing to take a walk. Hendry needs to sit down and analyze just what exactly makes the high scoring teams a high scoring team. He needs to look at the Los Angeles Dodgers top of the order. He needs to look at Boston's top of the order. He needs to look at NYY's top of the order. And not just the top of the order. The whole line up should be filled with quality OBP guys. He needs to notice that Boston had a semi-slow moving semitrailer 1b by the name of Youkilis batting lead off, and it didn't hurt their run production one bit. In fact, it bolstered it even more. 1b with piano on his back with .390 OBP>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>100m dash world record holder with a .325 OBP.

I love not being the most pessimistic Cubs fan. I still hold out hope that Hendry could see the light and make a couple good moves. I'm not confident at all, but holding out hope. Yeah, I recall giving you a ration or two about your pessimism. I've definitely surpassed you. I don't think a good GM could fix what Hendry has done, so I have little hope that Hendry can fix it. With Cedeno, Izturis and Neifi in the middle infield, at least 1 of them will have a regular gig. I'm assuming it will be Izturis since they just traded for him. Loretta and Tejada would be a much better middle infield, but I don't see Hendry having the pieces to acquire a guy like Tejada and I don't think he values what Loretta brings to the table. Aramis just might walk. His agent will be checking into his options. San Diego would be a great fit, IMO. With Klesko, Park, Williams and Piazza off the books, they could easily afford 10m+ for Aramis. Heck, they could afford Aramis and Zito. Hendry appreciates Pierre's hard work and dedication. That will drive Hendry to bring him back. Production seems to take a back seat. To Hendry, Pierre is still a prototypical lead off hitter, even though he gets on base no better than a utility infielder. The few decent power bats available this offseason will be very sought after, and I have no faith in Hendry to land one of them. The pitching staff is in shambles and may not ever recover.

Nope. Neifi's contract will be honored for next year. Count on it. He's probably just nursing an injury of some sort.

2007 is done. Nothing Hendry does will make this team competitive next year. And if Baker is the manager again next year, I'll get a lot more done in my real life. Because I'm not going to waste my time watching what will surely be another joke of a season.

Let's see. Hanley Ramirez and Dan Uggla are both rookies and they bat 1/2 in the line up. Ramirez' OBP has slipped a bit to .337. Uggla's at .348. Cubs 1/2 is .323/.289 That's OBP, not AVG. I'll take Girardi all day long. Here's what the Cubs have gotten in OBP out of the 2 spot so far this year. Walker (133 ab)- .320 Cedeno (102 ab)- .260 Perez (74 ab)- .286 Womack (41 ab)- .318 Hairston Jr. (27 ab)- .185 Izturis (23 ab)- .320 Pierre (13 ab)- .154 Bynum (13 ab)- .154 Murton (12 ab)- .308 Theriot (10 ab)- .455

You really should qualify that better - he's 10th in the NL in OBP among qualified CF's. If he were 10th in the NL, we'd be very happy with his .398 OBP. Unfortunatley for us, ol 43 is 74th in the NL in OBP. That's simply horrific for a lead-off hitter. No he's 10th in the NL in OBP among qualified Leadoff hitters... And how many are qualified? 10?

Haha. Okay, it was a horrible deal to start with. Now, it's really horrible.

I think it's a little early to get that negative about 2007, and I'm a guy who even before opening day wanted the Cubs to quickly fall out of contention in 2006. Hendry will be back for another year. Neifi, Izturis, Jones will all be back, and quite possibly Pierre as well. Pierre and Izturis will be batting 1/2. Neither is likely capable of providing an OBP better than .320 at the top of the order. Throw in Jones, Cedeno and Neifi, and you have the makings of a pretty horrid offense. If I was Aramis, I would definitely opt out. I'd bet the Padres could match what he's making now and they don't currently have a 3b. Klesko, Park, Piazza and Williams will all be off the books, I believe. There may be other teams interested in paying big bucks for his services as well. This team has no direction and the leadership is chasing its tail. I'm already writing off 2007. It's going to take an incredible offseason to make this a good team, and with Hendry pushing the buttons, I can only expect more of the same.

I seem to remember Gonzalez dropping a routine DP in game 6 of the NLCS. Yeah, I guess defense isnt important. Are you suggesting it's smart to construct a team based on the results of one play? Hehe. I knew someone would fall into my trap.

I seem to remember Aramis fumbling, bumbling and stumbling his way around 3b most of the 2nd half of the 2003 season. The Cubs still made the playoffs. I watched Sammy miss the cut off man on just about every throw he made from RF. I watched Moises fall down on routine fly balls. The Cubs defense in 2003 was beyond horrid. Yet, they made the playoffs. The Cubs offense in 2006 is dead last in just about every major offensive category. But, hey! They're fielding the ball pretty decent. The Cubs tried speed and defense and they have proven that a speedy, defensive minded team sucks. It's time to try OBP, SLG, quality starting pitching, and management with half a clue. Unfortunately, the idiots in charge haven't figured that out yet.