WrigleyinEngland

Didn't know Encarnacion was a FA, any interest? I wouldn't mind his defence in RF.

Is Hasegawa at Seattle a name to consider for the Pen? H eis listed as a FA.

JeffH, I think you are bang on with this. I am nervous about giving furcal the money because of his personal history and his inconsistancy however as a lead off hitter he sure would take the pressure of Felix when he gets to the majors. Pie would be able to feel his way in rather than being forced in to a position he is not comfortable.

I like cedeno but saying he will out peform Furcal in 2 years for me is a stretch, however if you can get me castillo manning 2nd i am all for cedeno instead of furcal. Is anyone else thinking that Hendry is hell bent on getting Furcal and that is why ronnie will play 2nd at winter ball??.

Is Mota available as a FA??

If Steady Eddie hits the FA market along with Ryan and Wagner might we regret the 3 year deal??

As a die hard cub fan i have lived in agony during this month. Watched teams i dislike win, watching bandwagon fans get what they didn't deserve and most of all having a total feeling of emptiness about the sport i love. However REJOYCE!! it is all over the Sox will be forgotten quicker than the crap i watched on tv 2 days ago, we have hope again for next year and most of all this has re-enforced my love for the cubs and my desire to see them win a WS. It will happen i believe and each month the fund in my bank keeps getting bigger for my trip to chicago to watch us lift that championship. I cant wait to be stood outside the cubbie bear beer in hand celebrating with REAL baseball fans who love the sport and their team not people who even when winners are as classless as that Lot.

Would this work?? Wash gets D Lee 1B C Patt CF Cubs Get B Wilkerson OF J Vidro 2B J Guillen OF

I'd be amazed if JH hasn't even considered trading D Lee. He is 1 year from free agency, he is our biggest chip in a possible trade and there is help available at first with Thome, Howard or Helton poss available.

I guess i was just putting it out there as we seem to have little to offer in major league ready talent when looking at trades. How opposed would you be to dealing D Lee for a couple of power bats ie Dunn and Griffey and then looking for help in free agency i'll say this very quietly ( konerko??!!). What about a 3 way with both NY teams that lands us Beltran and Matsui H in a sign and trade?.

I saw on the 'would you?' thread an idea of trading D Lee for Manny. I must state i am totally opposed to that deal but what could derek bring us in a trade?. Also thinking totally out the box what about moving Nomar to third and packaging Aram and D Lee? Not saying this is a great idea just wandering how much we could improve by doing this. Is this worth exploring??.

The podsednik effect would translate as getting a guy on who jump starts your offense. Not just the stolen bases or the his peskiness but someone at the top with good OBP so our hitters focus and have a platform. Similar to what Grudz did for us hitting no 2 in '03. If he got on base you could bet your bottom dollar a rally was going to happen , last year we were so consistantly poor at doing the right thinss.

Tim , i know the stats wont show that for that series but it seems when we play the marlins they cause havoc on the basepaths. I dont just mean the hits walks etc, when they get either of those two guys on something seems to happen. One example is this year at Wrigley , can't remember the exact ways the run scored but Pierre led off got on base moved over on a wild pitch bunted over to 3rd the SF scored the run. Thins like that stick in the memory as does the nervous nature of our pitching staff once a guy like pierre gets on. Maybe i'm looking for us to get some of the podsednick effect???!!

Vance , what about a trade for a hitter like Burrel? If you could swing a trade for OBP guys like Castillo and land furcal you may be able to afford the SO that Burrel would bring. If you re-sign walker you would have a saleable chip not a good fit for the Phillies but what about if Texas ships soriano we could offer Walker and pitching for Mench?

I like castillo , so if a deal is possible for him do you still go after furcal?. I'm worried that loftons numbers will go down sooner rather than later. How sold are you guys on Pie? is he the real deal or just another tease??.

Vance i nearly put Ibanez in my lineup, do you think he is up for grabs?, whats his D like??

I guess i'm still influenced by the way the marlins owned us in '03. Castillo and pierre caused havoc and i see pierre and furcal doing similar things, and if they get on with D lee , A Ram and Nomar to follow that just sounds too good. Haven't looked but surely pierres SB's would be greater than loftons??.

What about this if Giles isn't available...... Re-sign nomar to play 2nd and hit 5th. Trade with florida for Juan Pierre, not sure what it would take ( Patterson, Hill and Mitre??) Sign Furcal to bat 2nd with pierre Leading off. My thinking behind this is.... I'm preety sure that pierre still has one year remaining before becoming a free agent. Therefor we have a year to see how JP looks in Cubbie Blue and wheather or not he is just a seat warmer for Pie. If JP is stella for us then look at a long contract + you can either move him or Pie to RF. That leaves you with a hole in RF. Jaque Jones or Encarnacion of florida could be options here. Line-up 1- CF JP 2- SS Furcal/Cedeno 3- 1B-D Lee 4- 3B-A Ram/Nomar 5- 2B-Nomar/Cedeno 6- Rf- J Jones/ Encarnacion. 7- LF- Matt Murton 8- C - Barret/ Blanco Not only will cedeno get enough starts to make it worth while him being here but there is a nice balance in that lineup. Pie has time to mature as do Murton and Cedeno. I'm going to say this bit quietly, with that collection of players you may have some nice Chips come trade deadline when JH might like to roll the dice. Just an after thought , i know how popular todd walker is on here and this probably won't go down well but i would pick up his option and use him as trade bait if Giles is not available. I know its hard on todd but boy are we going to need some help next year....

I have to be honest i'm having a quiet sat night here in London, I've just opened a beer having read this. Made my weekend, not only am i impressed with the job ryan has done but he seems a stand up guy in the club house. Whenever good times surround the team either jokes, celebrations or being a good team mate his name comes up. Just D-Lee and Nomar to go......

Sorry about the double Kent!!!!

I've read a lot of articles recently (including comments in todays Herald) about Wrigley being a terrible place to play. This is just more BS from Baker and an inept group of players. On a windy day (blowing in) Wrigley shouldn't make you a poorer team it just finds out the one dimensional nature of a team and here comes that word again fundementals. If you can hit line drives and gappers, put on a hit and run, bunt people over it doesn't matter where you play. Teams like the Marlins come to Wrigley and torch us with speed at the top (pierre and castillo) they dont care where the wind is blowing. Difference is they make things happen , we just sit admire and chat about how we need to get better. I want some kick ass players who know how to get the job done. Players with Heat like Kent, Eckstein even Jeff Kent. These guys know how to win and hate losing. One more thing about Todd Walker , While i agree that he is cheap, i can do a job at being the biggest bitch in the clubhouse for$2.5 million. Despite his flattering stats how many times does he fail to get the runner over or try and hit a home run when all we need are base runners. Feel much better Now!!!!!

Whats his 'stuff' like compared to other lefties in our system ie Pinto, gallagher?????

Won't trade for a rental' looks like thats exactly what he did?? is he auditioning lawton for beyond this season????

Any info fella???reading lots about poss trades with twins , texas , san diego, whats your info telling you???

Next year and the rest of this we could field one of the most potent Infields in the history of the game. Lee, Aram, Nomar , and Soriano. If we could do this we could then look at OBP guys in the outfield to get on base to be driven in by the big bats. So we could look to Murton in Left Poss hitting 2nd in the lineup and maybe go for a high OBP guy in free agency. Throw Gerut , Pie and Burny in to the mix and i think it makes an intresting discussion. We could go against all logic of run producing OF and look for great Defence and solid OBP guys. Any thoughts???