WrigleyinEngland

Do you think that trading T walk for a poss 4th OF ( we may already have that with Patterson or Murton depending on production) is value?. I agree with the ideas of Mitre or Leicester due to there options. I think Walker coupled with Hill or J williams could net us something very good.

Since it appears that the FA OF market is Brian Giles or bust in RF i thought it would be useful to have a thread on teams actively looking to shed payroll or players who are due for rises that their respective teams would rather not be stuck with. I'm going to start this off ( probably to many peoples surprise with the yankees). I honestly think they are ready to commit to the likes of cano and will listen to offers for most players. Cashman has been quoted as saying that the He will know whats happening with Matsui by the 15th and could be looking at another position to fill. Would you throw the kitchen sink at Godzilla if he became a free agent??. I quite like the idea of getting pavano out of new York. I would have to be convinced about his health though. Anyway hope you guys find this thread worthwhile.

Have you seen Mench's hitting with RISP??, man sign the guy for june and bring back burnitz!!! i feel ill........

If you want perez as a bench player you give the village idiot a chance to mess with ronnie so that perez ' can get his at-bats'. Put the peices in ie Furcal, Giles, burnett poss a replacement at 2nd or CF and dont let the inmate run the asylum!!!!

With the amount of cash we have i think we have to look at teams who have to shed payroll ie arbitration players such as castillo or teams who are starved of pitching ie Texas or the reds. If I had the choice of the 2 i would choose Giles and Burnett as they fill our biggest needs apart from Leadoff. You can then look at either signing Kenny Loft or throwing some of the excess pitching at florida to Land Castillo or Pierre.

Thats interesting cuse about a pitcher coming up to help. Do you remember last year the Q and A with Oneri Fleita he mentioned about Raul Valdez being the most MLB ready pitcher we had. Of course he then got injured!! I wonder if him or Pinto could at some point provide cheap options this year.

I'm amazed i thought i'd be hung from the rafters!!!!

What if we could land Furcal and Giles and with a combination of players we swung a deal with Florida for Castillo( i'm sure T walks contract is workable for them). I dont think it will cost a whole lot to get castillo poss throw in JVB or Mitre ( williams if we sign a starting pitcher). Here is the crazy wacky part ( bear with me) We let Corey have one more shot at CF hoping he can start producing lower down the order in a regular spot. His defence will hopefully return without the pressure of leading off and a more stable spot in the lineup. Now my key to this would be re-signing Hairston to face LHP that Corey struggles with and giving Corey more confidence when going to the plate. Not only would this leave more $ to go after SP and help the Bullpen but Hairston could also spell Castillo at 2nd and Murton in LF. So my lineup would be ........ 1. SS Furcal 2. 2B Castillo 3. RF B giles 4. 1B D Lee 5. 3B Aram 6. LF M Murton 7. CF C Patt 8. C Barrett I want to make it quite clear that i am no Cpatt fann however not only would he be a stop gap until Pie but we could actually help him turn this round rather than writing a talented player off. He could be useful for the team and would see some pitches with Barrett batting behind him. If it goes horribly wrong you have Hairston to play some CF and then look at trades. I'm not saying this cos i feel pitty for the guy this could actually be a way of improving the overall team in the grand scheme of things. Anyway shoot me dead now for suggesting this!!!!!!!!!!

I defintely see a match with the mets if we land Furcal, they will do almost anything to get rid of Matsui and Cameron would suit our need perfectly of a short term CF with a view to PIe '07. They would either have to eat alot of salary or give an MLB ready prospect.

I wouldn't mind ronnie at 2B if you assure me Giles in RF and Furcal at SS. Is anyone else here of the opinion that it is Murton who is the ideal #2 hitter and not Cedeno?.

Man i was feeling bad about the Furcal story and then you lay the J Jones name as well??!!!

I know its another Sullivan article but his name is being talked about everywhere in connection with the cubs. Whilst i'm not saying we will land him no question it does seem he is unquestionably no 1 on JH's wish list. ( sigh)

Little bit off the subject but boy do i dislike the Mets and there fans. Just read a whole load of them baiting Braves Fans about stealing him and moving him to 2B. Typical Mets move a premium SS to 2ND base and Pay him premium SS money. Good luck when Raffy takes the 1B head off with one of those throws!!!

Not as unhappy as i will be if Wood and Prior go down again. Also Rusch has signed for 2 years knowing full well this will be Maddux's last year. I also believe we might be able to package williams for something Tasty, when other teams evaluate our talent surely williams is far more attractive than Mitre or Karonka???

If Healthy, 1. SS Eckstien 2. CF Edmonds 3. 1B Pujols 4. RF B Giles 5. 3B Role 'Wake up wake up its just a nightmare'...thanks Mom!!!!!!

I totally agree with what you say Vance but does the thought of a Rotation of Prior , Wood, Big Z, AJ , Maddux not even make your heart skip a little bit??!! Adding to that we would have Rusch and williams in reserve if things do go wrong?. I also have to believe this is Kerrys year, it just has to be. If i'm Hendry i'm also thinking that the time is ticking on this much publicised rotation and maybe its time to light a fire under it. One last thought JH played it very carefully last winter taking little or no risks might he have a different outlook this time around?.

I've read endless articles about the holes we need to fill and the problems at the top of the order( which are there for all to see) the holes in the OF and the unrealiable defence. However i would start the off-season by nailing down a pitcher especialy one as qualified as Burnett for the very reasons Hendry has stated himself. If we lose a starter ie Wood or Prior we do not want to be caught short. This also sends out a messege to our own players and potential FA that we meen buisness. the focus would then turn to defence. We could possibly Start Cedeno at SS and look for the leadoff man to come from the OF ie Lofton, Pierre, Damon. The biggest reason i am willing to go after AJ is that i predict a career year from Wood otherwise he will be finished as a starter in the Majors. Wood above all else is determined and proud and i think he will get himself right for this season. Therefor if and its a big IF (but worth it in my opinion) we get full years out of Prior , Big Z, AJ and Wood it wouldn't matter what was in the lineup that is just Sick especially if you think about playoff baseball. The biggest question is does the potential upside out way the fact that we could suffer the injury bug again?. Another factor to consider is that this could be Dusty, Wood and Hendrys last year so will JH feel it is a win or bust situation?/

This mornings article on rusch contains a chilling line from Sullivan' Giles who appera on his way to St Louis'. Man i concede the season on Nov 1st if this happens!!!!

Jaque Jones would best employed in a platoon in CF. Suggests he is a strong enough defender would this interest anyone if he could play a couple of OF positions.??

I have read a lot of stuff on cedeno going to play 2nd at winter ball, why would the organisation do this if he was either coming back to play short or Backing up at 2nd just cant see that i think unfortunately todd will be traded.

I am going out on a limb here and not many are going to like it. Cubs deal Walker Patterson and another for Soriano, bad move i just see it coming.

Popping up all over the place now , still no official link.

Cubs mlb board claiming to have heard this on ESPN radio anyone confirm?????.

Would it be too much to offer Williams and CPatt with possibly a mid level prospect such as Mitre or would that be to one sided??.

I've seen Tracys name come up on a lot of messege boards what would Arizona want for him??.