BigbadB

So, basically what you are saying is stats are worthless and your opinion is the true indicator of what should hold weight around here?

If you took away the ball, it'd just be a group of men in pyjamas standing around in a field. there's still swinging a bat and running the bases. you can at least go thru the motions of baseball without the ball, but you can't do anything in poker without cards. Wouldn't that be swinging the bat and jogging the bases? If you were using an imaginary ball, wouldn't every swing of the bat be a home run?

If this team tanks, it will be Hendry and Baker that need to go. No fire sales, please. Get rid of guys who don't produce and keep the one's who can. Elementary, really! Oh, and hire a GM that recognizes the value of a walk offensively, and the detriment of a walk defensively. The Cubs walked 44 times in the lead off spot last year. The addition of Pierre takes away 3 walks from that total. Pierre walked 41 times last year. Better batting average, yes! But a .326 OBP from your lead off man is not something to write home to mom about. Who will bat 2nd on this team? The guy who led the team in GIDP last year? Neifi Perez. I'll be the first to make the bold prediction that if Dusty manages this team all year, Neifi will get at minimum 150 at bats in the 2 hole. Dusty has given me no reason to believe this won't happen. None. Back to Juan Pierre, who will be in his free agent year. We gave up Mitre, Pinto and Nolasco for him. What would Tampa have required for not only Gathright, but Huff and Lugo as well. Tampa would be handing a hair more than 10m worth of salary to the Cubs and could have potentially got a CFer who won't be a free agent next year and might be just as good as Pierre, a power hitting RFer who they might trade for anyway, and a SS with a respectable OBP that could lead off. Would Hill, Pinto, Mitre and Nolasco have gotten this deal done? Maybe not at the time when Atlanta was hot on Lugo. But, I'd bet Tampa would have been interested in that deal now.

Probably because they can get quality offense for dirt cheap, meanwhile starting pitching is going at about 8m an arm per year.

Toronto denies ever offering it. And Toronto is: 1. In another country 2. About as far away from San Diego as you can get 3. American League 4. In a division with the Yankees and Red Sox

Overpaying would be giving Damon anything more than 6m a year for the next 3 years. :wink:

Very well done. Bowling, billiards, darts, curling..... Sports! Seem 'em all on ESPN at one time or another too.....

Growing up in Central Illinois, I went to a 2 week computer class in Minneapolis back in the '80's. On the first day, the teacher said "let's take a break and go get a pop". I looked at her strangely and said "can you repeat that?" "Let's go get a pop". I was floored. When I finally figured out pop meant to go get a coke, it took me quite some time to quit laughing at her for using the term pop. I then returned to Central Illinois, where I would say "hey, if you are going for a pop, get me one too", to which I received all kinds of ribbing. I live in SoCal now. The other day I was sitting in a bar watching the Bears game, and a guy came to the bar and ordered 2 beers and a pop. I asked him if he was from Minnesota. Nope. North Dakota. Them Northerners sure do talk funny.

I would say so too, but Dusty is still managing this team and Neifi is not only on the roster, but getting paid like a starter.

I honestly think the Brewers might be a team to watch as well. You know, so many people are on the Brewer bandwagon, I think it might be another year before they take the next step. If I'm right, it makes 2006 even more important for us. I really think the Astros and Cards are going to come back to the pack a little bit this year. Without Clemens, they may dip hard. I just looked at Clemens game log for last year. He lost 5 games 1-0 (three in a row in April) last year and he didn't give up the run in any of those games. After Clemens' first 4 games in April last year, he had a 0.32 ERA and a 1-0 record. He shut out the other team 11 times last year in starts, and had a 5-0 record to show for it in those games. 6 no decisions. He gave up more than 5 hits in a start once in the first two months of the season. He gave up 8 hits or more in a game only 3 times all year. In his 8 losses, he gave up a total of 24 earned runs. A 3.00 ERA. He had 12 no decisions. He gave up 11 earned runs combined in those 12 games. Less runs than starts. He had at least 5 starts in every month last year, except September (4). September was the only month he gave up more than 10 earned runs for the month (12). He gave up 4 earned runs in April in 5 starts. (3 in one game. Cubs!) He gave up 7 earned runs in May in 6 starts. He gave up 7 earned runs in June in 5 starts. He gave up 5 earned runs in July in 5 starts. He gave up 8 earned runs in August in 6 starts. I already gave you September. He gave up 1 earned run in October in his one start (regular season) Who won the Cy Young? [-(

How enamored is Oakland with Bradley or Kotsay? I would think one of them ought to be available for the right price.

Considering his age, I'm sure he would have wanted at least three years. I agree. He would have wanted a 3 year deal. 3/45m would have made him happy to live anywhere for the next 3 years. Imagine what Giles in RF would have meant to this team..... Ah, nevermind. Imagining at this point only hurts.

To play wherever he was needed. Or to trade to a team that could use him if we didn't have room for him with all the offseason moves. I'd have brought him back as insurance.

Cleveland says they will play Nomar in RF if they get him. And why didn't the Cubs think of that? Or did Nomar flat out say no to the Cubs yet it is an option for the Indians? You can't ask me that question, because I can't answer it. My first offseason move was to get Nomar back as cheaply as possible.

I believe the compensation the Cubs received for Grady Little was the cold shoulder for Milton Bradley.

I think the asking price would start at Juan Pierre and Aramis Ramirez, meanwhile we take on Mike Lowell's contract along with Manny's. I would gut the farm system for him, and give up CPat Hairston, and the usual pen suspects, but Aramis stays. Would love to have Aram-Lee-Man-Ram..........Sound familiar?.........Edmonds-Pujols-Rolan And my guess is Boston would hang up the phone as soon as you said Aramis wasn't available.

Circumstantial evidence also points to the fact that there is no need to pick up and move your family if Team A is offering the same amount of money Team B is offering.

Pudz? I need help with that one.

Cleveland says they will play Nomar in RF if they get him.

I'll retire. Winning a WS in '06 would be exactly 1 more WS title than I ever expected to see out of this franchise in my lifetime. My grandfather (huge Cubs fan) passed away a few months ago at 85, and he never saw one. If they win a WS next year, I could care less if they fielded a team of 64 year old women in 2007. I'll always have the memory of 2006. My grandfather is 84 and they aren't sure he will make it to his 85th birthday. He loves his Cubs, as do most retired senior citizens in Illinois that don't like soap operas. :P

I think the asking price would start at Juan Pierre and Aramis Ramirez, meanwhile we take on Mike Lowell's contract along with Manny's.

Those are the kinds of moves we could have made instead of trading for Pierre. It seems lead off guys were all over this place this offseason, which makes offering 1 of them 10m a year for 5 years comical. Especially since we already have a prospect shortstop. If Hendry made Giles his major priority, he could have locked up the most difficult position to fill, which was also the biggest position of need, and cut costs elsewhere like lead off by working moves for CFers like Lofton, Michaels, Crisp, Gathright, Dave Roberts, etc....

We have nothing to offer for Manny straight up that Boston would want. I'm not sure we have what other teams would want in a 3 way, either.

I don't believe he signed with San Diego for considerably less than he was being offered from other teams. I believe all the offers were pretty much the same. There was a rumor about Toronto, but Toronto is not only in another country, it's in another league, it's in a division that has the Yankees and Boston, and it's about as far away from San Diego as he could possibly get. And, Toronto did deny the offers. I think Giles would have left San Diego for Atlanta, St. Louis, LA and/or Chicago or another team for a significant increase, like 15m. No one offered him that. We were one of the teams that could offer that. Apparently LA could have as well, but even they didn't have a significantly higher offer on the table. At least nothing like what they offered Furcal when they lost out on Giles.

Have 2, their small. They also have an infielder by that name.