BigbadB

Lugo, Renteria, Tejada are 3 off the top of my head. Lugo is one that was on the trade block and a deal never got done. Of course, I wanted the Cubs to bring back Nomar. Nomar backing up Cedeno and sticking Nomar in RF if Cedeno worked out would have worked for me. Putting Nomar at 3b if Ramirez had any lengthy downtime would have worked for me. Lofton in CF at 1m instead of Pierre with Hairston platooning with him would probably be close to equal production. Mitre, Nolasco and Pinto might have gotten the job done for Lugo. Hill might have needed to be in the mix, but if they wanted Hill, getting Aubrey Huff while his value was low wouldn't have been completely out of the question, IMO. Hendry blew money this offseason like it was going out of style. He did not spend wisely, and if the Cubs don't do well this year, it should be both he and Dusty's jobs that it costs.

The difference is those teams can afford to take on such a bad bat. The Cubs can't afford a black hole like Neifi in their already weak lineup. Boston has major holes in their lineup also. They're awful at SS,3B, and RF. And they're not overly strong at first. A platoon of Trot Nixon and Wily Mo Pena in RF will crush the production of any and all of the Cubs outfielders. I think Lowell will be just fine at 3b in Boston. Do you really want to compare the Cubs offense to Boston's? Boston's top of the line up of Crisp, Loretta, Manny, Ortiz, Varitek and Pena/Nixon will be one of the best in baseball. Sea Bass can go 0 for the year and Boston will still score more than 900 runs. The Cubs can only wish for 700 runs at this juncture, especially if Neifi is starting everday.

The fact that at age 30, and after 6 seasons, he hasn't come close to that in any other season. And how many of those 6 seasons were FULL seasons? Not many. Given a chance to play everyday, looks like Lugo is a pretty decent SS, IMO. I'd take him over Neifi everyday and twice on Sunday. I'd take Lugo's worst season of production over Neifi.

I can't disagree with this. I'm still hoping Cedeno does well, but Hendry could have traded minor leaguers for Lugo instead of Pierre, and left Patterson in CF with Lofton or some other veteran as a placeholder for Pie. Patterson was traded at his lowest trade value. Might as well keep him if you are going to just dump a guy.

What don't you like about Lugo? 48 XBH's, 57 RBI's out of the top of the order, 89 runs scored, 39 SB's, .295 AVG, .362 OBP. If we get that from Cedeno, I'll be quite pleased.

That didn't work with Corey Patterson. Giving someone playing time does not insure progress. You are correct. It won't guarantee a thing. But sitting him on the bench won't do a thing for him either. Stick him out there and see what what happens. But, just because sticking Corey Patterson out there everyday in spite of his struggles didn't do a thing for him doesn't mean it can't work out for Cedeno. Someone brought up Sandberg's struggles in his first major league stint. Should Lee Elia have sent Sandberg packing and replaced him with Keith Moreland or Pat Tabler when he went 1 for his first 30? Because the Cubs don't have "better" options to stick at SS, I think you have to see what you really have in Cedeno by letting him play everyday. Maybe if the Cubs organization didn't send Cedeno to AAA in favor of Enrique Wilson last year, we might have a better idea of what kind of player Cedeno might be in the major leagues. Stupid decisions like this is why they are in this position right now of not knowing what they really have at SS. There were SS's available this offseason. Julio Lugo and Edgar Renteria come to mind. They passed because they felt Cedeno could adequately do the job. They made that bed, now they have to lie in it. It's going to be a long season if they give up on Cedeno prematurely to go with the "known" production of one Neifi Perez.

Hendry made his bed, Dusty needs to lie in it. When they committed to go with Cedeno at SS, they need to stick to that commitment. Rookies struggle. But, sitting on the bench in favor of a guy who is not major league caliber will not do a single thing to help him through his struggles. Sticking with him through the tough times will help him mature and toughen him up. To me, Neifi is a late inning defensive replacement, a last option PH, and a starter if for some reason Cedeno can't play. A short stint in Spring Training should not change that.

What do the Pirates have to sell? Sean Casey, Jeromy Burnitz, Joe Randa, Craig Wilson, Kip Wells, Victor Santos, Jody Gerut, Solomon Torres and Damaso Marte.

Michael Tucker and Jacque Jones are pretty comparable, IMO. Tucker gets released and Jones gets a long term contract.

Isn't Scott Moore ready for AAA?

I thought the Cardinals were a better team with Reggie Sanders in the outfield, also. I think they downgraded there.

Well, you know Pittsburgh will be big sellers at the trade deadline once again, so without factoring in fire sales, those numbers may not be that far off.

Can someone share the link about the Nats LEAVING Soriano off the roster of the game in question? It's changed my stance on this whole topic. Apparently, Soriano didn't know he was scheduled to play as he was not one of the 9 players listed on the line up card in the game that left field was vacant.

Funny that you quoted Bruce's lineup, but left out Bruce's comments later in the thread saying don't read too much into Neifi batting second because it was just one/two games and Dusty did not see Neifi as a 2 hitter. I think you are right, the Chicken Little theory may have some credence. #1) I was being facetious about the Chicken Little Syndrome. Note the smiley face. #2) I didn't quote the game thread, someone else did. I never saw the whole thread, so I have no idea what Bruce wrote. What Bruce wrote does not change the fact that Neifi Perez hit 2nd in this game. Period. #3) Even if I saw the whole thread, that is still one of the worst line ups I have ever seen put together. Did you miss where I said I hope that he doesn't use it during the regular season and that I hope he's just getting it out of his system? I don't think my final comments should give people the impression that I think that's the way Dusty will run this team in 2006. Read my post again and show me how I made a sky is falling post.

By who's admission is Soriano a 2b? Because some team was dumb enough to put him there? Worst 2b defensively in the last 50 years. Think about how many 2b's have played the game. Wasn't he actually a SS at one time? I know he's horrible defensively, but Christian Guzman is even worse when it comes to hitting. Anything to get Guzman out of the line up would be a plus, IMO.

I guess I spoke too soon on this subject. Wow.

Does it really matter though when you are getting 30+ HRs and 30+ steals from a second baseman? So, if Aramis says today "I want to play 2b, are you going to give the position to him?" Could you just imagine watching David Ortiz play 2b base? Who cares. The guy can rake, right?

How so? This is from the 3/20 game thread: You can't be serious. You just CAN'T. Does this help you understand our chicken little syndrome a little better? :D Oh, and that line up ranks right up there among the worst I've ever seen. Let's hope he doesn't actually use that one during the regular season. Let's hope he's just getting it out of his system now.

I thought the Dodgers could have traded Choi to Tampa for Huff before they went on that huge spending spree. Choi's youth and being inexpensive seemed like a good fit for Tampa.

I agree he is a valuable asset. But, it doesn't appear to the Cubs organization that he is a valuable asset. And no other team is giving them any impression that he is a valuable asset. I have said all along that they should keep him, even if it means sitting on the bench, rather than give him up for less in return.

They didn't need to run him off though. All they had to do was not extend his contract. He even told them that if you intend to trade me, please do not extend my contract (not in exact words). I don't think Walker has handled this whole thing correctly, but Hendry certainly isn't a saint in this whole debacle.

I always thought Valley Fever was "like, gag me with a spoon" crazy talk.

What a really, really poor management team this is turning into. I could see Baltimore pushing a Matos/Walker deal, but the Cubs? Come on. It really peeves me badly to know that the Cubs are "pushing" this deal. Walker on the bench is better than Matos on the bench. That the Orioles are considering using Walker as their designated hitter makes it painfully obvious who is getting the short end of the stick here. Couldn't they just use Matos as their DH if he's equal to or better than Walker?

And if Jacque Jones comes out in the newspapers tomorrow that he only wants to play CF and refuses to play RF, do you still think that a player should have that kind of authority to make on field baseball decisions? Or are you basing your position on the fact that Soriano has expressed his desire to stay at 2nd base or should all teams discuss what position players want to or would be willing to play before trades are made?

My problem is that Neifi got a 2 year contract. My problem is that a guy like Jose Macias can have a job on the Cubs for 2 years. My problem is that a guy with the abilities of Neifi Perez or Jose Macias even get any newspaper time outside of a game winning hit after being the last guy off the bench in a close game. To me, Dusty values a guy like Neifi Perez way too much. Whatever my opinions of Walker or Hairston are, Neifi is an end of the bench, bottom of the order, late inning defensive replacement. Neifi had way too many top of the order at bats. He had way too many starts last year. Cedeno was sent to the minor leagues in favor of Enrique Wilson, who I think is even worse than Neifi Perez. It's only 6 months later, and Cedeno has very little more major league experience as he had when Dusty sent him down in favor of Wilson. A poor Spring Training isn't helping his cause. Rafael Furcal, Edgar Renteria, Julio Lugo, Miguel Tejada. A lot of names were thrown around in trade talks and free agency this offseason. They didn't do any of those deals. They wanted to go with Cedeno, or at least felt that the deals offered weren't worth it considering we had Ronny Cedeno (not Neifi Perez) already in our camp. A poor spring training should not change that and I hope it doesn't change that. But, given the current manager can bat Neifi Perez and Jose Macias 1st and 2nd in a batting order, pardon me for not having complete faith that Ronny will be given a fair shake.