WrigleyinEngland

I'm very nervous about our SP. I don't see where the quality starts come from in April.

I'm really worried about how hard he's hetting hit. Needs another season at AAA to find that other pitch IMO.

My best suggestion is to trade todd walker for Matos .........bridge jump!!!

Don't know how i forgot that trade , especially as the guys name was Coco Crisp!!!!

Over here in England it was about 11pm when the first rumours of Prior and Lee first appeared. This morning i got up , started work and found out the news i was totally expecting. I posted an idea about what Lee and Murton would be worth in a worse case scenario a few days back and got blasted for raising the white flag in march. The only thing that really bums me about this team is Jones in RF. If we had gone in to the season with an OF of Murton, JP and Pie it would of at least be fun to watch. The only thing to debate this year is how we get better. We are not competeing its as simple as that so lets see if Hill and Guzman later in the year can pitch in the bigs. Give the riot a chance on the 25 man and maybe have a look at Marshall, Ryu etc. As far as deals go how about D Lee to the Sox for Marte, Pappelon and another top prospect?. I would like to see a bunch of talented guys get a chance to prove themselves. I don't want to see Perez, Rusch, Maybury,Grissom,Jones on a team which now has little or no chance to contend. Hendry has made the problem worse with the aquistion of Jones because he limits the moves we can make for the future. I noticed Tim putting forward a suggestion of players who would make the club after early spring. maybe its time to take that attitude. For those who don't want to go young who would interest other clubs enough to give us quality SP?

I have to be honest i like Jr a lot at 2nd. I like his grit and attitude , he's a no nonsense player with good D and speed. He played hurt last year and still didn't complain when put in the OF etc he might surprise many this year. If we had a quality #5 hitter playing RF i would have already nailed my colours to the J Hairston Jr fan club. However i still feel walker can be a quality role player on this team, his mouth however needs to stop opening IMO.......

I accept the criticism raised and see what people are saying about why would we trade a young player for more prospects etc however maybe we won't have the same manager next year or GM for that matter. As to the white flag issue this team IMO will not be a middle of the road team, they will either ride there pitching in to the post season or absolutely suck with a lineup that has minimal improvements from last year. There is nothing wrong with planning for the best & worst case scenarios, maybe if this had been done in '04 and '05 we wouldn't of ended up so dissapointed. I am also not opposed to trading big bats like Lee, Ramirez if the return ie quality SP or established talent makes us a better club. Our team is always lopsided , if we have the pitching we don't have the bats and if the bats are smokin' the bullpen will suck. This year the bullpen will be better and i have hopes for the pitching barring injuries, no one will convince me we are a playoff team with the OF on show.

I know , I know, why would i even consider this however.......... Not only is he currently proving that without question he is the real deal in LF but he just isn't the kind of player that will stick at this club. Not because he isn't good enough just because the set up of this team is a veteran manager who values experience over talent. I'm not saying this is right just looking ahead to what may take place. If a deal is not in place for D Lee and we are out of it by july what is the value of Lee + Murton in a package?? Would teams throw quality prospects at us?? How would some of those Angels or Diamonbacks prospects look in cubbie blue?? I'm not advocating this i just feel we should plan unlike Hendry has seemed to do the last 2 winters. What would be a reasonable deal to ask for if offering Lee + Murton?

beautiful defensive play from Ronnie.......

He launched that to the moon in left centre......

I am amazed that when we needed middle infield help last year we couldn't get this guy. Wouldn't Van Buren of interested them?? Cintron has way more upside than neifi no question.

Is the feed available online??.

4 man rotation needed for 1st 2 weeks so Z, Prior, Maddux, Will/Rusch. I had no plans for Wood until May when i actually thought Miller would come back quicker than Kerry. I cant see Glendon nailing down a place and i don't think the Cubs are sold on Jwill . So when it all shakes out in May i see Z Prior Mad Dog Miller Guzman/Hill IF and a big IF Kerry can slip in the back end of the rotation all is good if not you have surplus pitching to put in a deal to get a quality number 3 behind Prior and Z. How about Hill+JWill and Walker together with an arm like Brownlie for Zito?

Great news first calamity on the base paths in the 1st inning of ST sweet!!!.....

Thats my man big Z, lets start the season!!!

Nice play Twalk, ok you've twisted my arm you win the 2B contest!!!

Ok lets have the first contest of the year , first cub to get hurt?? i'll go cedeno........

Ok i'm going to be the first to crack this one.......Next year is this year!!! Lets thrive when Ernie 75!!!woo hoo cubs baseball!!!

Ah the sweet sounds of cubs chatter.........

I believe Murton will develop in to a perfect number 2 hitter. nice eye good contact and a little bit of speed. He ain't no vet man so he wont get a chance this decade.

I thought we would live or die by our pitching when the lineup started Loften Grudz/T walk Sammy Alou Ramirez D Lee Now i have no clue how bad this could get, i really want them to win but in my head JH's Lightning in a bottle stuff could sent us under.

So it looks like the moves have been made and the hospitals cleared of all there injured pitchers. Is it time for us to get behind neifi and Jock (i mean Jaque!) and the rest of this car crash of a team or should we stick to our guns and follow with extreme caution?. My main fear is that the boo birds will be out before April is over, we dont have a good team so maybe its time to suck it up and get behind the guys? think i might just settle for minor leagueball this year!!!

I don't see us getting that value out of williams. What about trading him together with walker ( as hendry is determined to go) for a top OF prospect. i'm not aware who has a surplus of OF prospects, would the Mets do williams, walker and another minor league arm for Miledge? Would Arizona part with one of there guys?. I feel we might get some value out of dealing for a prospect rather than a Major league star.

Sorry my bad i was in a delusional world where we waited until next year to get pierre as a FA and didn't give up 3 pitchers for him. Then it turned in to a nightmare when you wrote the Jones word.....oh happy days!!!!

Thats a hell of alot of players going in rounds 2-5. Did we lose those picks for Howry , Eyer and Pie???