BigbadB

It would be a great move by the Yankees. Sign Furcal to play center, Nomar to play 2b and they'll have 4 SS playing everyday.

Good points B, but with regard to the Cubs' interest: is it possible that Hendry is trying to not tip his hand (or rather, what he wants his hand to be)? I mean, if we went all gung-ho about how we wanted him, wouldn't he have even more bargaining power than he already has? I'm not terribly optimistic about us landing him, but from what I've read, that's something that Beane does. How much of an impact can Hendry make in boosting Giles value if the Yankees are knocking on his door? To me, staying silent is showing him how uninterested you are.

I predicted about a month ago that Giles would land in one of these three teams for 2006: Braves (to be with his brother AND a perennial division winner) Cardinals (in a position to continue dominating) Cubs (mostly because of money) I think his desire is to be on a winning team. I also think he would prefer to stay in the NL. The NL Central is closer to his roots, but his brother is in Atlanta. I don't think there is any chance he goes to the Yankees. At least I would hope not. But, then again, it would certainly be better if he went to the Yankees than the Cardinals. I'm feeling less than spectacular about the chances of going to the Cubs, since the Cubs don't seem to be all that enthused about him. How unfortunate.

I've been in San Diego for about 10 years and I've come to understand the way they do things here. Not well! Ramon Hernandez is leaving and Giles is waiting at the terminal for his ride out as well. The player the Padres seem the most interested in is Kenji Jojima. That's all well and good, but I'd be really nervous having a catcher who can't communicate with the pitching staff. It also seems as though they are going to court Jacque Jones. To put this into perspective, here is what this team might look like next year: Dave Roberts Mark Loretta Ryan Klesko Jacque Jones X Nady Vinny Castilla Khalil Greene Kenji Jojima/Miguel Olivo Peavy, Eaton, Park, Williams, Wells? Trevor Hoffman emptied his locker when the Padres lowballed him as well. John Moores is spending all the money he is making off the Padres baseball team on developing condominiums and shopping around the stadium rather than on improving the team. They were 6th in attendance with extremely healthy ticket prices last year.

A career 268/325 guy who went 286/340 with back problems!?!?!? I think so. Karros only had decent numbers when Dusty could match him up vs. lefties and crappy righties. When Karros had to play every day his utter inability any semi-competent RH pitching was exposed and his numbers plummeted. The Karros we saw was a slow runner, a below average defender, could only play 1B, had well below average power for his position, and could only hit LH pitching. If that was his career year that's a pretty sad commentary on his career. How dare you forget that Karros hit into 14 double plays in a half a season's worth of at bats. Didn't mean to hijack the thread, just wanted to point out that Karros did not have a career year in 2003. It also wasn't a career year based on how he did in the 2 previous years. He was injured those years, playing with a Bagwell-like bad shoulder.

Career year? I think not. Karros didn't have anything close to resembling a career year.

Stone also said one more thing, which was obvious, but encouraging: Jim Hendry wants to have a good offseason. He is motivated and positioned well for 4 reasons: (1) has more than $30M to spend (2) has decent young talent in the minors, which he can trade (3) he was 4 games below .500 (4) he finished behind the Brewers I think the better 4 reasons are these: 1. Has more than $30m to spend 2. Has decent young talent in the minors, which he can trade 3. Has trade commodity on the major league level (Walker, Patterson, Hairston, Williams, Cedeno, Murton, Mitre, Novoa, Ohman, Wellemeyer and Wuertz) 4. The team was horrible last year

Just for fun...... Florida receives Josh Barfield, Todd Walker, Shawn Burroughs and Corey Patterson San Diego receives Luis Castillo and Jerome Williams Cubs receive Mark Loretta and Juan Pierre

Not true. There isn't enough regular work to keep 7 guys sharp. Especially if Prior and Zambrano get back to regular 8 inning outings.

I'm a subscriber to ESPN Insider. Insider is where Rumor Central is housed. Rumor Central gets its "rumors" from quotes by major league ballplayers, teams and agents. I know I'm right. It was there for several weeks after the season ended. It's just buried now with all the latest rumors. The article I'm referring to said Nomar wanted to come back and that he would be willing to a position change to do so. An official with the Cubs was quoted as saying that it was very unlikely that the Cubs would bring Nomar back.

I like the guys suggested, but I'd take McClain over Macias all day long. In fact, that is a no brainer.

I'll probably get assaulted by Vance, but I see Mench as a 4th outfielder. Good thing I have mod powers. :P

Hollandsworth was a good bench addition. Period. Nothing more. Dusty did not see it that way.

I could live with that lineup, though I'd prefer a more predictably productive OFer than Guillen. Still, its a realistic scenario. Actually, that would be a best case scenario lineup. Cubs will be lucky to add 3 big additions in an offseason lacking of available talent. I don't agree with that. With Walker, Patterson and Williams on the major league roster available in trade (and quite possibly Cedeno as well), and a whole bunch of guys who cannot be protected on the 40 man roster and with 30+ million to spend on free agents, there is plenty of ammo to give this team a whole new look this offseason. I think you will see new people in CF, RF and SS, and quite possibly 2b as well. I wouldn't classify Guillen or Pierre "big" additions.

The Cubs have been at or near the top in HR's each year for the last umpteen years. What has it gotten them? They have 2 guys with 40 HR power already on the team. What they need is a lefty complement between them. It doesn't have to be another 40 HR guy. Just a guy with good OBP and a decent SLG. I'd take Bradley, especially if they are just giving him away. He can play center or right. What I really want more than anything is a whole line up of guys who can get on base at a .350+ clip. If you just went with speed and OBP to fill all the spots, I'd be fine with it. For example, I could deal with this line up: Furcal SS Castillo 2b Lee 1b Bradley RF Ramirez 3b Murton LF Pierre CF Barrett C You have potentially 5 guys who can steal 20+ bases. You have 8 guys who can all get on base at a .350+ clip. You have improved the defense tremendously in both the infield and the outfield. I'd rather have Giles in RF, but if you fill the line up all the way through with .350+ OBP, I think you have a team that scores 800+ runs throughout the season. Bradley is a hard read. He hasn't played a full season. His last 2 seasons were in a pitchers park. It looks like he was on pace for a 30 HR season in LA. Not bad. Put him in the hitter friendly NL Central and watch him go. It might be a good idea to pick up a little insurance in case we need to TO Bradley. Maybe Pie would be ready by that time, or maybe someone could be picked up at the trade deadline. It seems like Hendry likes youth and speed more than aging and risk. As long as that youth and speed can also get on base at a good clip, I think he can come out all right on this.

Ernie Banks, Ron Santo, Billy Williams, Glenn Beckert, Don Kessinger, Jose Cardinal, Randy Hundley, Fergusen Jenkins........ I loved watching these guys play together. I was officially hooked the day Milt Pappas threw a no hitter. I had never seen one before and I had never yet seen a guy get picked up and carried off the field in such jubilation. Some of these guys didn't actually play together, but that was the era that got me hooked on Cubs baseball.

Perhaps Hendry intends to trade Williams for that very reason for an OF bat because of the thin FA pool. ON that level bringing in another SP makes a lot of sense. It seems like Hendry subscribes to the notion that great pitching will win despite lousy hitting. He could cite the 2005 Astros as an example. Not saying I agree with that philosophy but Hendry's "guys that can catch" line sort of supports that. The problem is that Hendry has the available resources to have good hitting AND good pitching. Why let either of them suffer when you don't have to?

I disagree. While it is true that several people predicted that Hollandsworth wouldn't produce anywhere near the numbers he put up in '04 before he got injured, no one predicted that he would be so far under his career averages. And no one predicted that Hollandsworth would start the year the way he did. No one. Hollandsworth would have been just fine if they only used him for what he is good at. Coming off the bench.

so, his points don't count but he does count as one of your ten major league keepers. I believe that makes me quite legal, since I only have about 5 ML keepers. When are the winter meetings?

I never tire of seeing that picture. :D

I'll just randomly repeat the quote above in case it gets lost anywhere in this thread. Look at those numbers closely. Yep, that was our first bat off the bench in '05. Macias had twice as many PH at bats than any other Cub player last year.

Hasn't Hendry already commented that Giles will be out of the Cubs price range? That's not my idea of a savvy.

I'll just randomly repeat the quote above in case it gets lost anywhere in this thread. Look at those numbers closely.

My apologies if this is incorrect. But, here is where I'm confused. F. Prospects will be cap-exempt for three years starting the year they first appear in a major league game. This is copied from the Rules that are stickied above. I need confirmation before I actually drop him. I was also told by Poudre that he was exempt from counting towards the cap. Are you just picking on the new guy or what? :D

Actually Gammons said quite the opposite. According to him, the Cubs asked Nomar if he'd consider coming back to play LF, and Nomar said no. His willingness to shift positions is contained to 3B. What respect does Gammons deserve on this site? None! The quotes came from Nomar. Believe them or not. It was listed on Rumor Central on ESPN Insider for quite some time. They are no longer there now since there are a lot more fresh rumors than that one.