pccubfan

What if they win the WS and Theo decides to stay or next year other teams are looking for a GM and pay more money for his services. Get it done now. What if? There is no way that Theo is going back to the Red Sox front office. If this deal breaks down, the Sox will pay Theo to sit the year out. They have publicly expressed a lack of trust in his judgement with the latest Henry interview. As far as other teams go. They had the same opportunity to request an interview this offseason and no one did. I'd take my chances that Theo would be willing to sign a deal that he thought was acceptable this offseason.

How about Geo Soto too? Hm... no thanks? He's 29 years old and he isn't good behind the plate or at the plate. He hit .202 with RISP last year in 114 at-bats. Why do you believe he isn't good behind the plate? Is it because that is the only reason you can justify Koye Hill being played? He didn't hit well in any situation last year but he did the year prior. I'm willing to believe that Soto will bounce back in 2012.

So if Theo is such an idiot, why do we have to give up anything for him? Because he's under contract with the Red Sox. Yeah, but aren't the Cubs doing the Sox a favor if they are willing to take the idiot and in effect give the Sox $3.5 million to take him off their hands? They have every right to receive as much compensation as they can get. Sure they do. And the more Henry opens his mouth the less leverage the Sox have. I can't imagine Theo going back and finishing out his last year after the Red Sox ownership and president have thrown people under the bus. Actually, I'd laugh if the Cubs pulled back and said we'll wait until next year to hire Theo. How much would that really set this franchise back?

So if Theo is such an idiot, why do we have to give up anything for him? Because he's under contract with the Red Sox. Yeah, but aren't the Cubs doing the Sox a favor if they are willing to take the idiot and in effect give the Sox $3.5 million to take him off their hands?

I can't imagine that there aren't franchises watching this occur. I wonder if this event will become the standard for front office people moving from one franchise to other in the future. This has the potential to come back and bite the Red Sox in the behind in the future.

I'd be interested in trying to hire Jocketty away from the Reds.

Hendry has been given enough time and money to succeed and hasn't. He should be gone. However, I'm not real confident that the Cubs will make a good hire.

I will choose my words more carefully in the future. The Cubs have developed talent, it just hasn't been equal to most of their competition.

I didn't mention Pie because he hasn't been particularly productive. Patterson was very good for a season and was decent for another couple of seasons. Not up to expectations by any means, but much better than "anything" which was your standard. Your point was that the farm didn't develop anything outside of Castro. That's completely incorrect and those players show it. And it's futile to debate the availability of any of those players because there's no way we can know for sure. But that's not the point you made. You said the farm system has sucked and it hasn't. Okay, I may have overstated by saying anything. Your list included less than fifteen players and covered a significant amount of time. That is far from impressive. How would you compare the Cubs minor league system in terms of production of major league players with that of other franchises? I think you could produce a better list for most organizations. I haven't gone through and produced similar lists but feel underwhelmed by the list you produced. If I'm wrong, sorry.

You're forgetting: Soto Theriot Wells Cruz Marmol Marshall Zambrano Wood Patterson And that's not counting guys like Nolasco, Justin Speier, Eric Hinske and others who were developed by us but were productive elsewhere. The farm system has developed primarily pitchers, but it has been productive over Hendry's tenure. Wood was prior to Hendry. Zambrano was before Hendry was gm. Patterson and Pie were #1 prospects that Hendry didn't trade, but were misses. The rest, outside of Cruz, weren't highly thought of while in the minors and could all have been had in a trade if any team had wanted them.

I think you guys are giving Hendry too much credit. It's not like the Cubs are loaded with homegrown talent either. Hendry hasn't traded a prospect that has done well elsewhere because the system has stunk and none were developed. Hendry has resisted trading his top prospect and so far Castro is the only one who has amounted to anything. I won't give him credit for Prior because he was a no-brainer that wasn't developed within the system and he wasn't the GM when Prior was drafted.

I have Chris Carpenter behind Archer, McNutt and Jackson primarily because of his injury history. Multiple surgeries and he even missed most of April with shoulder problems. With a cleaner bill of health, he'd probably still behind Archer and McNutt. His stuff is as good as theirs but he doesn't have their command or consistency. Thanks for your response. Is there any chance that he can become more consistent? (Beyond sure anything can happen.) He walks too many, but he does seem to keep the ball in the park.

I think it is more than just smart to start him in the minors, it's almost an imperative. If he finishes 2010 in the majors he's looking at maybe a 105 inning season, and no starts since May. I would not be all that comfortable putting him in the rotation next April. As it stands now, barring injury, there isn't a spot in the rotation for Cashner. I would bet however, that he will be in the bullpen next year because he can help the big league club there. If Hendry does truly survive this season, I have to believe that he starts next season on the hot seat, and if there isn't significant progress made from the get go, he's gone. With that scenario in mind Cashner will be with the major league club trying to help Jim keep his job.

Carpenter's post All-Star surge is making his numbers look very respectable. He hasn't wowed like Archer and McNutt have this year, but he seems to be having a pretty good season. Has his stock fallen or have other players just jumped ahead of him? If memory serves, he didn't seem to move up in posters' midseason Top 10 lists after players ahead of him were promoted to the bigs. Would his recent success change this for any of you minor league experts?

In regards to the Padres extending Gonzalez. While the Padres certainly may have the money available to do this, it has been shown to be a bad way to build a team when one player is making 33% or more of their payroll. That may not make the Padres flinch, but it will cripple them for the length of the contract.

I can't believe the Pads would demand DeWitt but he could go. They could also be interested in Archer, Cashner, BJackson, Lee, Vitters, and maybe Wells. So DeWitt, Wells, Vitters and Archer/Cashner?

That's a tough call. The 2006 team probably had more god awful players, but they also had prime or near prime Zambrano, Lee and Ramirez plus some other useful players. They had a questionable pitching staff but a number of quality arms, some of which disappeared or changed roles. And of course they also had a nearly unprecedented ability to take on more payroll in that offseason. So the quality of the roster was probably overall a little worse, but with a much better position to add to the team. I'm not talking about ability to add to the team. I'm talking on a pure talent level. When somebody says we need to add 2 top-line starters, a top tier 1B and good bullpen arms, all while nobody declines in order to be contender, that tells me they think this team is far worse off than '06. Ok I have re-read my original post and I used a poor choice of expression when relating my thoughts. I should have stated that in order for the Cubs to be considered a pennant favorite they would need to add three top tier talents. I believe the Cubs could contend by adding Gonzalez and Lee, but I wouldn't see them as prohibitive favorites. However, I didn't say anything about nobody declining. It should be expected that a number of Cubs will decline. I would expect at least two of Colvin, Soto, Byrd, Soriano, and Silva to decline.

Agreed, but I can't think of four "solid moves" that could be made. Gonzalez and Lee would be two. But it would take at least one more player of that magnitude and perhaps two to turn this team around. I don't think the Cubs would have the cash or the prospects to pull another one off. You think the Cubs are 2 MVP candidates AND 2 Cy Young candidates away from being a contender? I think they are that far from being a preseason favorite for the pennant. If they want to contend in the division, I think they would need more than Gonzalez and Lee. I don't think it would have to be one or two players the caliber of Lee and Gonzalez but improvement.

Oh I don't doubt that for a second. My guess is something like adding a veteran reliever, getting rid of Zambrano and Fukudome, resigning Lilly, and then finding a platoon partner for Hoffpauir at 1st. That team would make this year's team look good.

Agreed, but I can't think of four "solid moves" that could be made. Gonzalez and Lee would be two. But it would take at least one more player of that magnitude and perhaps two to turn this team around. I don't think the Cubs would have the cash or the prospects to pull another one off. Hendry would probably catergorize moving Z and Fukudome and saving a couple million per year as "solid moves".

I have 29 guesses. Let's hear them. :D

ESPN is saying Dunn was claimed. Any guesses to who may have submitted the claim?

Would it be possible to save $5 million on Fukudome next year? Use Lee, Lilly, Nady, Theriot and Fukudome money (approx $36 million) to buy Dunn, Lee and still provide raises to Byrd, Marmol, Marshall, and Soto. Would that be enough?

Have you been witness to this season? Don't ask logical questions, you'll end up with a flat forehead.

I agree with you. The idea that a vote of confidence is even needed, means that the team has underperformed. If the team continues to underperform or gets worse, then change will be made. This gm, he is a changin.