Knyption

exactly my point... 2006 was a terrible season. that said injuries played a large toll on the performance of the team.. a healthy team as it looks now is good for contention in a weak NL central

Okie so we got rid of some very big problems from last year including Cedeno Perez Too many young pitchers Weak Bench. Adding Soriano Ward Lilly Marquis Floyd (possible) Cotts Outfield- Soriano Floyd Jones Murton Pie/other (?) This is a good group of guys any which way you cut it, you have bench options, pinch hitting options, platoon options, and all around a better set of guys than '06. Despite no true center fielder the production of the outfield will surely increase in '07 Infield Lee Derosa Iz Aram Ward Theroit Barrett Blano other While there were no major changes at De Rosa is better than walker / perez combination by far. De Rosa has a better glove than Walker did and a better bat than perez did. So im looking at De rosa as bieng the middle point between both. That along with a full year of D Lee, our infield production barring injury has to increase as well. Starter Zambrano Lilly Marquis Hill Prior/Miller/all the other guys One thing this does is give the rotation a little bit more experience as well as provide some guys who may not be the best pitchers but they can keep you in a game long enough for the offense to have a shot to do their thing and also with the innings eaters you save the bullpen some fatigue for the stretch. Pen Wood Dempster Eyre cotts Howry loogie this pen with a healthy wood will compete for top 5 in NL if not MLB barring injuries. People don't count on wood anymore but if it pans out we will have our killer killer closer that we haven't had for years and some very reliable set up men Overall, the team has improved hands down no matter how its looked at.. money set aside.... in a weak central is it enough to compete for the pennett? darn right it is.

So we have the rotation for '07 set unless Prior can return to health and form.. I'm wondering though who will get shafted if Prior does return... So we have Zambrano Lilly Marquis Hill Marshall/Guzman/Miller/Prior/Marmol That said, if Prior returns to form and Miller good as he has been in the past who do you demote / send to the pen. I would imagine that Lilly and Marshall are stuck in the rotation given thier hefty contracts.. but something tells me Hill will outperform both of them. Will money play over winning and Hill get sent to the pen? Will a healthy and performing (if) Miller get traded? Would the other youngsters get dealt or dwell yet again in the minors? I personally think in the most optimistic world if everything goes above expectations with health the cubs should do the following Zambrano Prior Hill Lilly Marquis/Miller With good health to everyone will this happen."??? only lou knows

no one else can handle the defense our pitching staff needs at SS i mean out of the Derosa Giles IZZy mix. Izzy as long as he is healthy is needed unless we can get a better all around option at SS.. Giles and De Rosa wouldn't have the range. Bench of De Rosa, Ward, Theroit, Blanco + 2 would not be bad at all.. we would have some solid subs to keep the starters fresh as well as some decent players for pinch hitting.

Why not move De Rosa to super sub have Izzy and Giles at SS / 2b and have a strong bench with derosa and ward first off the pine?

zito would be nice.

Along with Schmidt and Soriano... I know people have said it a million times but a Murton / young arms package for Dunn would be awesome

Do what you have to do to get Cano in the A-Rod deal.. rather than giles. 23 years old great obp / avg...

call me crazy but cano soriano lee aram arod jones murton barrett would be a killer offense.

Z, Cedeno for A-Rod Cano would be huge for our offense.. Cano is a killer top of the order guy. Like another poster said, we are more likely to produce another good arm than a position player of a-rods caliber.

Z for Arod Money and Cano would be worth it to me.

Knowing the cubs luck.. they will sign schmidt and he will be hurt by May. They will sign Soriano and he will hit 40 hr's with about as many walks and 200 k's They will sign C. Lee and he injure his leg in july and be out for the year Prior will return to form and look good till august then go down needing tommy john's Wood will become a killer closer and suffer gagne syndrome. Soriano - KKKKKKKKK's D. Lee - Good Season Theroit - Flash in the pot Cedeno / Izzy - Terrible OBP Aram - Benched due to laziness C. Lee - Killer season then leg trouble J. Jones - Fulltime while Murton sits the bench A LOT BArrent - Another fist fight and be suspended 2 weeks during the stretch Zambrano - Arm Surgery Prior - Back to form, then injured again Schmidt - Season ending shoulder trouble in May Hill - Inconsistant but promising Whoever - Up and down from the minors Wood- looking good as closer than just blowing up again everyone else - pissed off 2007's MOST PISSED OFF MAN ON THE EARTH: LOU Piniella - he'll prolly end up breaking a camera or something.

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/99274,CST-SPT-cub17.article Even with Schmidt, Soriano, and C. Lee... can this club be turned around?

The above sounds nice. I would Let Theroit Sweat out a year, convert Cedeno to SuperSub hopefully he could become better than Bellhorn has been in that role. Infield Stays the Same. We will need the defence of a healthy Izzy to backup the hopefully dominant pitching. Get 1 good offensive (ops) pickup for the OF. Get 2 good pitchers Wood Closer by playoffs. Sounds good. I think the trouble Hendry has all the time is that he is going into the offseason with TOO MANY IF'S about which players will be healthy or not. And sometimes when Hendry Gambles his luck isn't WSP caliber.

With the payroll increase mentioned in the Herald (i know PAYROLL topic has been covered). WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU WERE J H ?

Don't forget Murton... he is a keep would love to have the power in the lineup for him to bat 2nd.

I am as upset with the cubs as anyone. People shouldn't be shot down for bieng optimistic though. Everyone has a certain way to react to situations such as whats going on with the cubs now. I'm kinda seeing a little relief by getting rid of MacPhail. He pretty much set hendry up in a messed up situation with the sosa, wood and other contracts that hendry really didn't do. Hendry does have resources to make a winner in terms of payroll, but between bad contracts and injuries he has had some bad luck. I am hoping that the ISSUE about OBP and OPS which seems to be not very important to the cubs was more of a BAKER/MACPHAIL influence then Hendry. When Hendry first became GM he seemed sharp, I don't know if he ran out of gas or just has had some very unfortunate circumstances ruin his plans... Truthfully its probably a little of both. He did bring in Baker after all and has pretty much made some personell deciscions that didn't work out. I will give Hendry one last chance to get back on his feet before i disown him as a fan of the cubs. Listening to the New CEO Marketing guy (forget his name) He said at the press conference that they will win and Hendry will have all the resources he needs to do it. We will see if thats another smoke screen or if its real. But at least there is a little hope Although still grim my outlook on the cubs is Better than Saturday Today....

Why do I get the feeling that Hendry will spin resigning these guys or keeping thier services as a successful offseason and not bring in anyone else that will make a difference?

At this rate, the cubs will end up with a top 3 pick in the draft. Who should they be trying to get and how good do they look? Are there any Mauer/Texeria/Prior types in the upcoming draft?

I think that with the right coaching, Mateo can be a killer closer.

Steroid Policy anyone?

Hey guys. Despite the cubs poor performance as a team, its good to see many young guys get a long look this year. I have watched games where most of the young guys have played multiple times and was thinking about which should be given a good shot at full time play in '07 Murton: I think he has grown a lot as a big leager this year. He had bumps in the road, but his great approach at the plate cannot be ignored. OBP, Contact is solid. Sure, he does not have a ton of power and average defense, but guys like him should bat 2nd imo. He will prolly end up platoon role like this year, but I think he should be given the starting job outright. You can never have too many high obp guys right? Cedeno: I do not think he will ever develop into an All Star Caliber IF. He reminds seems to be a mini Julio Lugo. Lugo is good, but a Mini Lugo does not really say much... Cedeno should be traded or turned into the Neifi / Macias role as the super backup. The cubs should look for a solid offensive 2b (i know walker is gone tho) with a lil speed and all. Pagan: Pagan looks bad at the plate, he has speed and good moments, but I don't know if he should be given a full blown shot over Murton. Pagan would be a good pinch hitter / runner type and a good backup. I don't think he has the moxy of a starter. Surely he does not have the plate discipline. Marshall: Marshall had some bad outings and some good ones, overall i think he would be a good spot starter / middle relief type of pitcher. Perhaps he should take Rusch role for next year. Guzman: Guzman always had one bad inning, but even that said, I can see why he has been hyped up... When he is on, his stuff truely is filthy. Problem is can he be consistent? Mateo: For some reason, if he can harness his control, I see Closer or Setup man for him in the future. Something about his bulldog face... i dunno Hill: Hill has not really impressed at all, I have seen a couple of good hooks, but he may end up bieng one of those AAAA players. Im sure there others like that one guy who pitched against houston, but i don't think they are really starter material. what do you guys and gals think?

I agree. At least Izturis hits .250 better than neifi. Both have the potential to be .280 hitters with great defense next year, thats solid for middle infield.

They both are still rough, but could be a great duo better than neifi, walker had to go cuz contract, etc.

Lol too bad Hendry does not get the good ones from them.