BigbadB

There might be people who wouldn't like that deal, but that would be THEIR problem, not yours or mine. Tejada is the type of player you sell the farm for, as is Abreu. Not Huff, not Wilkerson, not Mench. Don't lose hope. Once you've lost hope, there won't be anyone left. j/k :D

I'd take a chance on him. Most definitely.

Not true. You and I have butted heads all offseason, so while you are under the impression I am all gloom and doom while I'm under the impression you believe Hendry can do no wrong, there is a middle point most likely for both of us. I had my hopes set for a certain line up this offseason. Expecting my line up to be that line up is unrealistic. However, that wasn't the only line up that would satisfy me. I said right after the offseason ended to give me a line up with .350+ OBP throughout and this team will win more games than it loses. Burnitz, Preston Wilson, Jacque Jones, Juan Encarnacion, etc.. cannot provide a .350+ OBP. I could honestly deal with a year of Jacque Jones if we had Abreu or Tejada or both playing in the same line up. However, the "improvements" I have seen this offseason are a .326 OBP lead off hitter, the resigning of a sub .300 OBP of Neifi Perez, Cedeno will be lucky to be anywhere close to .350 in his rookie year, Murton will likely make it, but he has no back up in place if he gets hurt, Patterson is sub .300 OBP, and the trade Walker rumors haven't gone away completely. I would have been fine with letting Nomar walk, Walker walk, Patterson walk, etc... if they would have replaced them with guys who know how to get on base at a decent clip. I'm not all gloom and doom. Honestly. I've adopted a philosophy that getting on base improves your run scoring chances. Maybe it's not a good philosophy, and maybe it wouldn't get the Cubs any farther in the standings by adopting it as well, but these stats are why I'm so gung ho on improving team OBP: Cubs in 2005 270 AVG, 440 SLG, 703 runs, 419 walks Reds in 2005 261 AVG, 446 SLG, 820 runs, 611 walks We had a better AVG, slightly worse SLG, and scored 117 less runs. Couple a comparable offense to the Reds of last year with our pitching staff, and I think you have a pennant winning caliber team.

I don't agree with his premise AT ALL, but he feels Hendry's moves that he listed outweigh the idiocy of keeping Wood pitching. However: 1) How did he chastise you, at most he was sarcastic? IF sarcasm is a no-no, many of the "old time, respected" posters would be out of here 2) Wouldn't asking someone how old they are anyway be considered condescending, and therefore chastising? 1) What is your definition of this sentence "Oh the pain!!! Jim you shouldn't have! How dare you!!! ? How is that sarcasm? 2) The age question is a legitimate one. If TBCF wants to belittle me for his opinion that I'm overreacting, I'd like to know if he's been suffering from bad baseball even half as long as I have. 3) It had nothing to do with you, so why are you even getting involved with this now NON-BASEBALL discussion?

HAHA. Good one. I almost completely forgot that the Cubs organization is a winning franchise that brings championships to the fans year after year, and that I'm completely overreacting. Thanks for bringing me back down to Earth. How crazy of me to wish that just once in my lifetime someone with half a brain could figure out how to take a top % payroll and turn it into a World Series Championship for all the longtime suffering fans. It's amazing to me that anyone could find it so easy to be so disrespectful to a fellow fan of a team that hasn't won a World Series since 1908. The most futile team in sports history. If I was a Cardinal fan and I was whining about having a losing record for the first time in 15 years, that might be one thing. However, I sit here and watch a 9m outfielder kick a ball into the ivy because he's too lazy to pick it up and throw it back in. No punishment from the manager. Just a pat on the butt and a start the next day. I sit here and watch two guys hit at the top of the order who's OBP's are lower than every other teams lead off hitters AVG's. I sit there supporting this team day after day hoping for different results. And on top of that, now I have to be chastized by a (supposed) fellow Cub fan because he hasn't been there long enough to understand the frustration? Wonderful. How old are you anyway? It's brave enough that you would chastize other members of our community when you know that is an absolute no-no. It's incredibly brave to do it to a moderator who is in a really bad mood. I'll let it go this time. But, I won't be so nice the next time. I'd suggest the next time you see the "bag on Hendry" threads, look the other way. This won't be the last one, and you will have no luck converting every member of this community into a happy-go-lucky, nothing is wrong with the Cubs group of giddy people. If you know you can't do it, QUIT TRYING!

That's cuz I gave him a private ass chewin'. :D

Great? He pitched a total 28 innings in the Cubs system, posting a 3.86 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. We all have our own definition of great, but I'm sure most would agree that that isn't "great." 28 innings doesn't sound right to me. Are you sure? That's what the Baseball Cube says, but it's missing his 2001, where he pitched 93 innings for Boise, with a WHIP of almost exactly 1.00 and a 2.98 ERA. Wasn't 2001 the year the Baseball Cube was missing for Nic Jackson too? Ah, that's more like it. Thought I was losing my mind.

That isn't the only "hard" question I'd like to see answered by Hendry. By the way, I had a nice breakdown of when Wood started in relief that somehow disappeared when I timed out. The gist is that Wood pitched more innings between August 5th-29th than Novoa, Wellemeyer, Ohman and Williamson. The first 3 games Wood entered were hopeless no-chance-to-win games where the Cubs were down by 5 or more runs. In that span of the 3 games he pitched in relief, the Cubs went from 54-55 to 54-61. Matt Lawton was traded on August 27th, a sign the team was giving up, yet there was Kerry Wood on the mound August 29th in a meaningless game the Cubs were losing 9-4. Not that Lawton ever did anything to help the team, but the the team was more than done. If he isn't ready, and I mean truly ready, on opening day, someone's got to go. The boneheaded moves this organization has made are beyond belief. Whether it be not giving Choi reps in September rather instead of letting McGriff chase a home run record he never achieved, batting Neifi and Macias 1/2 in a batting order, bringing in Chad Fox 8 times in a 10 game span, bringing scrub utility man Enrique Wilson to the organization while sending Cedeno to the minors, Murton getting basically no respect from management when all he did was hit the ball, etc.... I could go on and on, but it's too frustrating to do so.

Great? He pitched a total 28 innings in the Cubs system, posting a 3.86 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. We all have our own definition of great, but I'm sure most would agree that that isn't "great." 28 innings doesn't sound right to me. Are you sure?

Boxing is not a sport because the outcome is determined by a judge? Okay then. :shock: I dont consider it a sport. If I get in a fist-fight with someone, am I playing a sport? No, I'm fighting. Boxing is fighting. And if it's not a sport, then I suppose I ought to be able to just jump right in the ring with some puny little featherweight, and beat him to a pulp. Not gonna happen. I'd get pummeled. The training alone that takes place makes it a sport. To need to be in physically perfect shape to be able to compete against others makes it a sport. I can't bear to watch figure skating. To me it's a girly sport. But, I use the word sport because it takes practice to be good at it, there is a physical and skillful competition against others and there is a scoring system to determine who the winner is. Sport!

Boxing is not a sport because the outcome is determined by a judge? Okay then. :shock:

By the way, Joe Theisman just drove me nuts last night, as he usually does. How can a sports oriented station miss the boat so badly by employing Theisman AND Joe Morgan? [-(

I think the real question that should be asked is why Reggie Sanders would want to sign with the Dodgers? If you see a team already has Drew, Lofton, Cruz, Werth, Nomar (who could play outfield more than he plays 1b), Repko and Ledee, why would you want to play where your playing time might be minimized?

Oh yeah. I forgot about that. It's amazing how Colorado can brainwash someone into believing they are still really good. :D

=D> Well played!

At the risk of being branded a "Hendry apologist", how do we know they didn't? Whatever, Hendry apologist. :D I wouldn't be surprised to find out that Hendry put a 2-3 mil bug in Jeromy's ear. I would be surprised. As much as Burnitz was the most effective outfielder we had last year (excluding Murton's short stint), he was still ineffective. Would Hendry make an offer to come back as a 4th outfielder, knowing that Dusty would play him over Murton? Burnitz would make for a decent 4th outfielder, but Dusty can't be trusted with him.

HAHA! Good one. I don't know. Don't they have Olmedo Saenz too? By my count, they have: C: Navarro/Phillips/Alomar INF: Furcal, Kent, Saenz, Izturis, Choi, Mueller, Nomar OF: Drew, Jose Cruz, Jayson Werth, Ricky Ledee, Jason Repko, Lofton And they're rumored to be close to signing Reggie Sanders. That's 17 guys. Phillips is either already gone or will be gone via non-tender. Choi will likely be non-tendered as well. Could they be gearing up for a blockbuster deal with Boston for Manny?

I'd much rather have McNair. Of course, if Grossman takes us deep into the playoffs or wins the Super Bowl, I'll take more Grossman, please!

No Phil, it probably is a VERY BAD option. Although NOBODY wants to see a mediocre outfielder rob this team of years and dollars, this team can't survive with this cancer on the team. It's obvious by now Corey is neither wanting or willing to invest the time and effort it will take for him to realize his potential. Seemingly (how I have no idea), there are still some teams out there dumb enough to think they can coax it out of him. Could they? I suppose its plausible. But I'd like the Bears chances of beating the Colts in Super Bowl 100 times over. And thats not likely to happen. Quite frankly I'm sick and tired of idiotic journalists proposing such silly and preposterous ideas like this. Just because turd A stinks a little less than turd B doesn't mean that's a good option. Why would/should the Cubs settle for that??? IMO this scenario is a last resort and should only be explored if we can't get anybody else. If this happens it means Hendry has failed...demonstrably, and it should go a long way has to initiating his disposal. I agree with that. At this point, the Cubs need to sign Kevin Millwood since the arms are getting thin. With Millwood locked up, Jerome Williams becomes the necessary trade chip to get someone GOOD in RF. Millwood slots in quite nicely behind Zambrano, Prior and Wood, and just ahead of Maddux. Keep Hill and Guzman. Send Jerome Williams, Novoa/Welly and Corey Patterson to Texas for Brad Wilkerson. Money is probably about the same. If Tampa lowered their demand for Huff, add him as well. I really do believe they would let him go for a song if Travis Lee does get tendered. I can't imagine Tampa being even slightly interested in paying all of Huff's 7.5m contract for next year. Now you have an outfield of Murton, Pierre, Huff, Wilkerson, Hairston and Mabry. Huff can also play 1st and 3rd, Wilkerson and Hairston can play CF if Pierre is hurt or needs a day off. All it should REALLY cost for Huff (bad contract, coming off a bad year, where they have plenty of depth) is a guy like Brandon Sing mixed in with say Will Ohman/Welly/Novoa. If they would rather pay Huff 7.5m, be my guest. There is no way I offer Guzman and Wellemeyer for him, however. Not a chance. Call me a prospect lover if you wish, but Tampa's got unrealistic visions of way too much in return for a guy who is now officially a "bad" contract.

They have ivy at their stadium? What is it now anyway? PacBell? SBC? Rice-a-Roni Park? I believe it's AARP Park.

This doesn't make sense. Kolb does not "have to" be non-tendered just so the Brewers can sign him to a lower contract. The Brewers can resign him before the 20th to a lower rate than his 2005 contract. If he is non-tendered, he is free to negotiate with any team, including the Brewers, but that puts Kolb in a better bargaining position. :roll: I thought a team could only offer X percent lower then the last contract? It's true if the case goes before an arbitrator. If you decline to tender him, he becomes a free agent. You can offer him league minimum at that point, but you'll have to worry about someone else outbidding you. It sounds like Kolb and the Brewers have a deal in place to non tender and re-sign Kolb to something favorable to the player and the team.

Don't you need 1 TD before you can get 2? :wink:

HAHA! Good one. I don't know. Don't they have Olmedo Saenz too?

Bradley is good, but the excess baggage might make Oakland flinch. Plus, wouldn't the A's really rather have a Craig Wilson type than Bradley? Why didn't those two teams work a deal? Is Swisher really a horrible outfielder?

The As have not signed him since trading for him. Certainly makes one wonder if they don't sign him today, will they take a chance on what he might get by offering him arby? Yes, of course. This is a team that exercised a $4 million option on Jay Payton. They won't blink at paying Bradley a $4-ish contract. Interestingly enough, the Brewers just traded for Kolb, and now may non-tender him if they can't work out an agreement before the non-tender date. Would the A's do the same? I'm curious.