Rob

The Cubs don't need to improve "leadoff hitter" one tiny iota. Improve the quality of the players on the field, and the lineup will resolve itself.

About 2.5 wins... and then perhaps another win based on DeRo getting all the extra reserve at-bats instead of guys like Fontenot.

FWIW, simply being able to trade Brian Roberts is a huge step in taking control back from Peter Angelos and his reign of terror.

Actually, studies have proven that the hitters are actually the ones who suffer when a "disruptive" runner is on the basepaths. I'm not a psychologist, so I'm not going to pretend I can tell you why, but the fact of the matter is that stolen bases mean almost nothing to teams now. Roberts, stealing at that clip, might add five runs a season on offense. And if you believe the studies, the batter behind him might give that right back up. Nobody is saying that Roberts isn't a good hitter, or that he wont help this team. He is a darn good hitter (no matter where he hits in this lineup), and he certainly would help the team. The problem is that the resources needed to acquire him can be better utilized elsewhere.

That Trachsel deal is really coming back to bite us in the ass right about now. If we still had Scott Moore, we could afford to trade either him or DeRosa in a follow-up deal for another pitcher or (ideally) a new SS, and we'd still have an adequate backup for when Aramis gets gimpy. If we still had Rocky Cherry, we could stick him in the pen, keep Hart stretched out in the rotation at AAA, and not feel the sting as much from dealing Gallagher and Marshall in this ill-advised deal. It may not seem like it at the time, but all these little "let's just go for it" deals that don't make much of a difference on the overall talent level of the team can have far-reaching implications for the next season, or the season after that, or the one after that, etc... The trick has always been pretty simple... put a product on the field that is fairly likely to get you into the playoffs, and then cross your fingers. Pissing away all our tradeable assets for marginal upgrades (Marshall to Trachsel, Murton to Monroe, DeRosa to Roberts, etc...) is simply not going to help us. Can you imagine how much easier our lives would be with guys like Moore, Cherry, Blevins, Rapada, etc... in our system while we try to make trades that are real upgrades? We still might not have the pieces to bring in Santanas or Cabreras, but we'd be able to get guys like Burnett without freaking out about how we have no depth left in the system. We'd be able to take risks on real difference makers, and that's what well-managed clubs do.

I could have sworn Pagan had another year of options... perhaps even two, considering all the injuries affecting his service time.

Yes, the guy who took fewer pitches than anyone else on the team has a "good eye at the plate." Theriot does have a good eye. The fact that his P/PA is last on the team is misleading. Most of his at bats came as the 2 hitter in the lineup. Batting in front of Lee, he naturally got a lot of good pitches to hit. Pitchers weren't going to throw him junk out of the zone (because they knew he had a good eye, and wouldn't swing at it) and walk him in front of Lee. They knew that he was a contact hitter that hits the ball on the ground a lot, so they threw him pitches to hit. You can fault Theriot for several things, but having a good eye is not one of them. All you have to do is watch a few games and you'll see that he knows the strike zone very well. Just looking at his P/PA and concluding that he doesn't have a good eye is simply wrong and a great example of how stats don't tell you everything. You're reading way too much into this... If you want to make the argument that P/PA is not good enough to determine a batting eye, the logical explanation in Theriot's case is that, while he may have a good eye, pitchers throw him stuff right down the middle because they know he can't do any real damage with it.

I find it somewhat disturbing that so few people cannot empathize with Leyritz. Not a single one of us here can honestly say they've never made a mistake. This certainly wasn't something Leyritz had planned. This was a mistake on Leyritz part, and I wont disagree that it is a horrible one, but it's still something unintentional that will have devastating implications for Leyritz, his family, and his friends for a very long time. Leave it to the Republican to show some empathy... goodness.

Certainly not until the new year. The MLB front office is shut down til then.

Manny Parra Sean Gallagher If people actually think more highly of Parra, the only reason I can think of is that Parra is a southpaw. Gallagher has put up equal or better numbers at every level and at a younger age.

What do the Brewers have that could be traded for Bedard? Sheets - Will be a free agent after this season. No real value to the Orioles, who are likely 3-4 years away from competing. Capuano - coming off a down season Gallardo - more valuable than Bedard straight up Parra - Has real value. Vargas - probably a toss-in Fielder - more valuable than Bedard. Weeks - A good possibility, but MacPhail does have that defense fetish, which may preclude him. Besides, the available 2B market consists almost entirely of has-beens or never-weres. Only Marcus Giles and Jorge Cantu might provide value, and they are shaky propositions. Hardy - Another good possibility, but the FA SS market is even worse. Braun - Even with his horrific defense, he's far more valuable than Bedard. Hall - coming off a huge down season. Besides, the Brewers are already struggling to fill out their outfield. Hart - Real value, but again, the Brewers are already shorthanded in the outfield. LaPorta - Can't be traded until one year after he's drafted. I just don't see the Brewers having the pieces to put a Bedard trade together while managing to actually improve their team. We should all be so lucky as to see the Brewers trade Hardy, Parra, and Hart for him. It'd cost them a few wins the next two seasons, and many more after that.

If memory serves, the only published offer from the Tribe was Lee, Shoppach, and Gutierrez.

God bless Ed Wade. Is there a good Astros board to look at to see their reactions?

Actually, Olivo was on the list of guys I would like to sign to replace Blanco. I'd still prefer Lieberthal, though.

Z's peripherals are heading in the wrong direction, and while Bedard is due for some regression, he's still likely to be better than Z next year. That being said, Z doesn't have the same injury issues that Bedard has, so I'd still take Z.

The chicks in San Diego only dig pitchers? And Chicago girls love the men with big sticks?

That has the potential to hurt pretty bad.

I think Harvey converts to the mound sometime shortly after a horrific showing during spring training, personally.

I doubt I'd ever stop laughing if you guys traded away the farm for Bedard.

That's what I'd like to see. Cleveland wants Jason Bay really bad and they haven't made an offer yet that Pittsburgh would be satisfied with. A 3 way deal that sends Bay to Cleveland, Peralta to the Cubs and major league ready players go to Pittsburgh would make a lot of sense, IMO. Cleveland has Cabrera to step in and play SS. Cubs could use a SS. Pittsburgh wants players that will, well, I've never really understood what Pittsburgh wants, so I'll just say a package of players. :D I totally agree with that deal, even if the Cubs don't make the Roberts deal. In fact, I would drop the Roberts' deal and send those players (Gallagher, Murton, Patterson) to the Pirates in this 3-way instead. SS is the position the Cubs most need to upgrade. It would be great to expand the deal to include Jason Michaels (maybe send Cleveland Marquis/Dempster or a young player), who can play all 3 OF positions and would be a RH bat off the bench. How About: Pirates get: Gallagher, Murton, Patterson, Theriot Indians get: Bay, Dempster/Marquis Cubs get: Peralta, Marte Soriano LF DeRosa 2B DLee 1B ARam 3B Fukudome RF Peralta SS Soto C Pie CF Bench: Michaels, Cedeno, Ward, Blanco, ????? =D> =D> =D> Just a few things here... 1. Did you want Marte or Michaels? Cause you put Marte in the actual trade proposal instead. Cause depending on if that's Damaso Marte or Andy Marte, that could change things quite a bit. 2. Any way you want to cut it, the Pirates would not be getting enough for Bay. 3. DeRosa shouldn't be batting #2. If we have to go with a semi-typical lineup (i.e. Lee not batting 2nd), Fukudome is our best option there.

Blanton's a decent #3, but he's not worth what it would take to get him. Pass.

The only big difference is that if it doesn't get done today, it probably wont get done til after the holidays.

Theriot is easily the worst of our available options there (Cedeno and DeRosa being the others). If, for whatever reasons, Cedeno and DeRosa are not going to be given every single opportunity to take over the starting SS role, then we absolutely need to acquire a real SS. If Lou is going to allow Cedeno and DeRosa a real chance to take over at SS, I feel just fine going into the season. And as far as pitchers are concerned, the only way to go right now is Bartolo Colon. Two years, club option for a third, and incentives based on weight and innings pitched. He's got the upside, and he's not about to bankrupt our system of propects like Blanton or somebody would do.

Yeah, I wouldn't part with Marmol for Nathan. We might get a small marginal upgrade for one year, but it would cost us millions of dollars and 4 or 5 more years of work from Marmol. If we pulled the trigger on that trade, Hendry would be in the Bavasi class of GMs.

At almost the same cost as Fukudome of 12 million a season its not going to be too hard for him to fail. The more home games he pitches the better off he will be. Can't do much worse than Kei Igawa. Kei Igawa makes 4 Million per. If he is anywhere close to Kei Igawa's number he is a SPECTACULAR failure at 12! I also do not think he will do well. You can't ignore that posting fee, even if you are a Yankee fan.