mg420

http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20051212&content_id=1280848&vkey=hotstove2005&fext=.jsp

hendry has already said in interviews that they plan on trying to sign pierre to a long term deal. if they do get it done, that would move pie to rf. he could turn out to be a bobby abreu type guy hitting 25-30 hr's & stealing 30+ bases.

I realize this is a big IF, but if Guzman is healthy, I want him starting over Rusch. His stuff is amazing. I have no issues with letting him develop in the bigs. The upside is HUGE. so is the risk to his health. what is the most innings he has pitched in a season in the minors? if he is healthy he has got to build up his endurance in the minors imo or he will just end up getting hurt again.

Having Rusch in the rotation is not good, that's a hole. RF is the one empty position, but depending on how it is filled, it might not be the only hole on the team. A mediocre RF, and no significant upgrade elsewhere, would leave this team still very much lacking on offense, and a rotation with Rusch, Maddux and Williams likely all getting starts in April is not good enough to mask the failings of that lineup. i disagree. rusch will be an above average #5 imo. as far as the upgrades on offense, pierre in cf, a full season of murton, cedeno & walker are all upgrades from last year.

The Cubs pitching is severely lacking in quality. This trade idea helps the offense, but hurts the pitching, and leaves very little room to make improvements elsewhere. Even in a trade for Tejada, the Cubs still need to get at least a decent bat for RF. Trade Z and others for Tejada, then sign a starting pitcher. The starting pitcher is going to be worse than Zambrano, probably much worse. Tejada is a really good player who I'd love to have on this team, but he's past his prime. Zambrano hasn't hit his. Tejada is very expensive, Zambrano is very cheap. Zambrano has been the only steady, healthy, effective starter on the roster the past 2 years. I think, at best, this trade makes the Cubs marginally better right now, but will make them worse as soon as 2007, with much fewer resources available then to make them better. But I also think that with the instability of the pitching staff already as bad as it is, this trade could make them worse in 2006. Another thing to consider is no other team that can consider a Tejada trade can offer anything close to Zambrano. San Diego isn't trading Peavy. Minnesota isn't going to give them Santana. Zambrano is in their class of pitchers. The only way a deal gets made that makes sense for the Cubs is if Baltimore truly does have to trade Tejada, and if their money grubbing owner would take back prospects for Miggy. Bottom line, I'd rather have Zambrano starting at pitcher and Cedeno starting at shortstop than Miggy starting at shortstop, Rusch getting 33 starts and paying some mediocre free agent pitcher a 4/40 contract to give the Cubs a 4.00 ERA or worse. The Cubs need more offense to this team and more starting pitching. They can't get rid of their best starting pitcher to help this team now. I understand your point, but respectfully disagree re the following: 1) Tejada is not past his prime. He's not even 30 yet, and a player's "prime" generally begins in hhis late twenties and lasts until 33 or 34. 2) I do not think that we would have to give Washburn or Millwood 4 for 40, and I think Millwood could be had for 3 years and 24 mill. Not a bargain, but in light of recent events, not a bank-breaker either. 3) You generally have to give up value in order to receive it, and if there is one position where we actually still have prospects who could fill in, its SP: Hill, Guzman (who had a good winter and is expected to challenge Rusch for the 5th spot per Levine), and Williams. This is not to say that their production would rival Z's; it would not. But its all about wins, and having Tejada in the lineup 6.9 days a week, IMO, would lead to more wins than a starting pitcher can give us. if this is true the cubs are insane. guzman cant even stay healthy through a season of minor leauge ball and they expect him to be able to start in the majors? at least see how healthy he is the 1st half of the year before bringing him up.

I'm not sure if he'll be at Furcals level or an All-Star, mostly because he won't have much power, but we have him cheap for a while, so he will be very cost-valuable. i can see him hitting 10-15 hr's a year. if he hits .280 + and plays a gg ss along with stealing around 20 bases, he'll be better than any ss the cubs have had since banks.

rf is the oly real hole. barring a trade, the potential starters are prior, z, wood (if he's ready), maddux, rusch, williams & hill. even if wood is hurt & williams gets dealt for a rf, there are still 5 starters.

how about someone who can play a full season and doesnt have a hairtrigger temper? i would not call bradley's career as "very productive"by a long shot. he had one good season and only had 377 ab's that year. other than that, his #'s have been average at best for a center fielder and below average for a right fielder (where he would be playing for the cubs).

wilkerson from the rangers for williams.

i still think that wilkerson will end up in rf for the cubs. i like the williams for wilkerson deal that someone brought up before. it would also give hill a shot at the rotation if wood isnt ready to start the season.

he wants the cubs to trade Z for tejada. i guess he hasnt heard that hendry said neither prior or z are going anywhere and that tejada denied he wanted to be traded.

he would have to be after reading this: http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/columnists/cs-051211rogers,1,7647259.column?coll=cs-cubs-headlines&ctrack=1&cset=true

i would hardly call a 88-92 mph fastball a "joke" (especially from a lefty). pettie throws about the same velocity and look what guys like kenny rodgers & jamie moyer do year after year with 83 mph fastballs. if hill can hit his spots he'll do good. if not he'll have problems just like all pitchers. velocity is majorly overrated when it comes to pitchers imo. a guy with an 85 mph fb who throws strikes & changes speeds can be a big winner in the ml's just as a guy who throws 95 but has no control will most likely get rocked.

guzman hasnt even gone a full season in the minors so i highly doubt he will be called up at all in 2006 even if he is healthy. from what hendry has said, rusch is going to start along with prior, zambrano & maddux. that leaves williams, hill & wood. you would have to think that either hill or williams will be used to get a rf, and the other will go to aaa if wood is healthy.

no offense but when it comes to pitching, i think its safe to take the opinion of a cy young award winning baseball anaylsis over a fan on a message board.

apparently floyd is not available. at least they dont seem to be interested in j. jones. http://www.suntimes.com/output/cubs/cst-spt-cub09.html

just dont swing at his pitches. he tends to walk in the winning runs that way.

for what its worth stone on the score just said that bigbie has a great swing and has the potential to win a batting title if he ever finds confidence in himself. the cards seem to bring out the best in players (grunz, womack, sanders, eckstein) so lets hope theydont do so in his case.

I was thinking something like Floyd, Pierre and Bradley or Wilkerson, with Murton as the super-sub. Murton should get lots of AB's since Floyd and Bradely may miss some time and Floyd can give Lee a day of rest from time to time @ 1b. This lineup could drive in some runs ~~ Pierre, Bradley/Wilkerson, Lee, Floyd, ARam, Soriano, Barret, Neifi/Cedeno murton needs to play every day or he will turn into the 2006 version of dubois.

i hope he's wrong. i'll take floyd or wilkerson over bradley any day. Why not both (Floyd and Bradley)? Can the Cubs pull off a trade for each? I think it's possible. Platoon Murton and Floyd in LF. because both murton & floyd should play full time. as i said, i would much rather have murton in lf & floyd in rf than bradley anywhere in the mix. Murton is no guarantee for 600+ PA of solid production, while Floyd is not a 600+ PA guy either. I'd take an OF of Murton (400), Pierre (400), Floyd (400) and Bradley (600), with Hairston and Mabry down the line. That would be affordable, flexible and productive. I'd love to get Murton 600 PA this year. But this offense isn't good enough to take the chance that he'll end up with a 750 OPS. Floyd would be nice to have, but he never plays a full season. Bradley would be great to have, and the worst that could happen is he's only out there for 200 PA (if he gets hurt or flips out), in which case you have Floyd and Murton to step in. it is if the starting pitchers stay healthy & the bullpen comes through as expected. floyd had 600+ pa last year so why not in 2006? Because he's only done it three times in his career, and last year was the first since 2001. if you include 2002 when he had 596, thats 4 out of 8 years of him starting.

I asked this in another thread and it never really got answered. Is it just common knowledge that Pierre is not a good centerfielder? I've never heard anyone speak bad of his defense before all the Pierre to the cubs talk started. Is he considered worse than Patterson in center? I'm asking because i honestly thought he was considered a good CF. I've always known about the weak arm but have never heard all of this talk about bad routes and late jumps. Wher is the information coming from? And who does he compare to defensively in CF? "Baseball" men who know "the game" think Slappy is a good defender because after all, a Center Fielder has to have good speed. Peirre has great speed and that saves him from tottaly screwing up. He will take a bad angle but make up for it somewhat with his speed. He will break late but make it up with his speed. But he will also not get to some balls because his speed cannot always overcome his judgement. He has a very weak arm, even for a centerfielder. All and all he is a medicore defensive centerfielder in my estimation. He is neither bad nor good. But if he is hobbled in any way he will immediately become a bad defensive centerfielder. Slappy is a one trick pony. All speed. His entire worth is tied up in his foot speed. I am not trying to disagree with you or pick a fight, because like the OP I don't know, but what is that assesment based on? Is there a scouting report somewhere or this based on your eyewitness accounts. Here's the Scouts Inc. scouting report that ESPN attaches to every player's page, so take it for what it's worth: "His defense remains a huge plus at spacious Pro Player Stadium. His range allowed the Marlins to get by with Miguel Cabrera and Jeff Conine flanking him for the first four months. Pierre's arm probably precludes him from Gold Glove consideration, but he never gives up on balls in the gap and makes his share of highlight catches. His resemblance to a young Mickey Rivers remains eerie." hmm, who's opinion is more valid- professional scouts or guy on a message board...

floyds last 5 years obp: .390 .388 .376 .352 .358 career .361. i think floyd gets on base pretty well himself.

Agreed. I would rather have Bradley or look at other options over Floyd. Just say no Hendry. what does bradley give the cubs that floyd doesnt (other than a hair trigger temper & a long rap sheet)? bradley has only played 1 full season in his career and hit .267 with 19 hrs and a .786 ops. floyd's .273 34 hr .862 ops last year blows that away.

i hope he's wrong. i'll take floyd or wilkerson over bradley any day. Why not both (Floyd and Bradley)? Can the Cubs pull off a trade for each? I think it's possible. Platoon Murton and Floyd in LF. because both murton & floyd should play full time. as i said, i would much rather have murton in lf & floyd in rf than bradley anywhere in the mix. Murton is no guarantee for 600+ PA of solid production, while Floyd is not a 600+ PA guy either. I'd take an OF of Murton (400), Pierre (400), Floyd (400) and Bradley (600), with Hairston and Mabry down the line. That would be affordable, flexible and productive. I'd love to get Murton 600 PA this year. But this offense isn't good enough to take the chance that he'll end up with a 750 OPS. Floyd would be nice to have, but he never plays a full season. Bradley would be great to have, and the worst that could happen is he's only out there for 200 PA (if he gets hurt or flips out), in which case you have Floyd and Murton to step in. it is if the starting pitchers stay healthy & the bullpen comes through as expected. floyd had 600+ pa last year so why not in 2006?

i hope he's wrong. i'll take floyd or wilkerson over bradley any day. Why not both (Floyd and Bradley)? Can the Cubs pull off a trade for each? I think it's possible. Platoon Murton and Floyd in LF. because both murton & floyd should play full time. as i said, i would much rather have murton in lf & floyd in rf than bradley anywhere in the mix.