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I really wasn't interested in Lugo for CF. He only made sense if he was replacing Izturis, and even then he was probably too expensive an option for what he provides.

Because the Rockies need pitching and they have corner OFs all over the place. Jeff Baker lit the ball up in his short stint. Atkins may have to move to the OF shortly when Stewart comes up. The Rockies want a young CF and pitching to go along with Francis. If they can get that for Hawpe, they will trade him. Then why would they want Jones if they have corner OFs who are ready? And if they need pitching why are they trying to deal Jennings? They are dealing Jennings because he is a free agent after this year, and is a long shot to re-sign with Colorado and less of a shot to do so at an affordable price for them. I have never said they want Jones. The rumored deal was Jones, and it has not been accepted so it can be deduced that they don't want Jones.

Because the Rockies need pitching and they have corner OFs all over the place. Jeff Baker lit the ball up in his short stint. Atkins may have to move to the OF shortly when Stewart comes up. The Rockies want a young CF and pitching to go along with Francis. If they can get that for Hawpe, they will trade him.

Honestly, I think at the deadline. I think the needs of teams are larger the closer it gets to the end of the season. You don't see a lot of big name prospects changing teams in the offseason. It's at the deadline when teams are desperate to make a push and know their team isn't good enough as it is. I think most teams without payroll issues and absolute black holes on their starting roster and rotation are ok with competing with what they have now. Once the games are played, teams will know what their needs are and if they are contenders or not.

Jennings is overrated on this board. He is not that good of a pitcher in my book. You could probably get the same production out of Jason Marquis. Marquis is very similiar to Jennings in his style of pitching. Jennings is 28, was statistically the 7th best pitcher in the NL last year (better than Schmidt, btw), had a career year in allowing hits, hits for extra bases, walk rate, and K/BB. Marquis is not as likely to give you the same production. He's had similar years to Jennings 2006, but Jennings has never been as bad as Marquis in the other years.

Church isn't really young, but I guess it could work. BTW, my sleeper deal for this offseason is Hawpe to Pittsburgh for Maholm and Duffy.

Uh, Colon makes $14M in 2007, and isn't gonna be throwing a ball til January. Unless the Angels eat about $12M of that deal, it's a bad idea. Colon is a longshot to throw 140 innings this year. I'd say he's a long shot to throw half of that.

Nobody is claiming he is a guy that GMs should be knocking down their doors and giving their top prospects for. Fact is, he's shown he can be a good hitter (.892 OPS last year in nearly 200 ABs) and made just the minimum last year. But it is also a fact that he is 28 and has never been a full-time major leaguer. At worst, he's the LH Jason Michaels....great 4th OF, possibly a solid 3rd OF. At best, he's a productive hitter in his prime in his pre-free agency years.

He can ask for whatever he wants. But everyone knows Church isn't one of the organization's favorite players. And nobody will trade much for a guy that has never played a full season in the MLB.

I really don't want Lilly for 4-years. 3 I'd accept. 2 would be great.

Church would be a great addition. He'd be a great 4th OF as the team currently stands, but be solid insurance in case Jones is traded. If the Cubs brought in Church, I'd probably play Soriano at 2B and platoon DeRosa in the OF with Jones and Church.

Good post. The order in which I evaluate the pitching talent available this offseason is: Schmidt, Jennings, Westbrook, Padilla, Suppan, Lilly, Meche, Batista I don't have an issue with Lilly if he's considered a 4th or 5th starter and they still plan on getting one of the top 3 in that list, preferably Schmidt. If Hendry is grooming him as his big signing, the pitching staff is in big trouble. I completely agree. I think 1 of the first 3 is imperative. All have the potential to be very good starters. The top 2 were among the NLs top 10 pitchers in 2005.

Ian Scott was horrible yesterday. Constantly got his shoulders turned by the O-line. He's been decent this year, but not so much recently. I've been impressed with Tank, though. Harris is probably the least replaceable part of the defense. Another DB out could be disasterous.

I think they would contend, but I don't think you can go into the playoffs with that team and realistically think they could win it all. Of course, you could have said the same thing about the Cards this past season, and that Cubs team is better "on paper" than the 06 Cards.

I'd trade Guzman. I would not trade Gallagher for Jennings. I agree with Tim, that Angel may break out this year, but I really like Jennings and odds are against Angel, no matter what I think about him. Gallagher is real close and could easily be a part of the rotation for good in 2008, if not sooner. I would do Guzman and Marshall at the most, if they wanted 2 pitching prospects.

I say keep Grossman out there. I also think that if you are gonna completely dumb down the offense and put only short passes in there, then you might as well go to Griese. That is more of Griese's strength than Grossman's. If you are gonna limit the offense, might as go with the guy who is limited in talent.

I told everybody at work that UCLA was gonna win. I was completely joking, but now I look like a genius.

Lofton is interesting. I think the best thing would be to bring him in and bat him leadoff, moving Soriano to the middle of the order.....but I don't think that would happen. I think he would bat 2, behind Alfonso. Really would be a great option as a #2 hitter. Problem is, you still have a middle of the order bat batting leadoff, and Lofton is hitting 2nd, replacing a middle of the order bat in Jones. For Lofton to make sense, the Cubs have to upgrade at SS.

Maybe Joe Blanton of Oakland. Matt Clement seems to fit that mold, an expensive as it may be. Other guys could fit the mold are Aaron Cook, Steve Trachsel, Kris Benson, Jake Westbrook (<---yes, yes, I know Shapiro's comment, but he IS available, wheter Shapiro admits it or not) Jon Lieber, I believe those are kind of names Rosenthal is that fit into the "back end of the rotation.." So given that...which is better: Schmidt and one of Meche/Marquis/Westbrook or Lilly and Jennings? I'm surprised that with all the potential combinations, there doesn't seem to be anyone (but me) with Westbrook *and* Jennings as their first choice. Trade for 'em both, and pass on the overpriced FAs. For Jennings, build something around Jones and a young pitcher For Westbrook, give Marshall, Ohman, Dempster. Try and add Pagan for Michaels. That permits maximum flexibility and minimum commitment for 2008 and beyond. Use 2007 to evaluate both, along with alternatives like Guzman, Gallagher, Veal, Marmol, etc. Depending on how things play out, this time next year you're working to re-sign one or both (along with Miller), or moving them aside to make room for a kid or two. Lilly, Meche, etc. you're stuck with longterm regardless of how they and others perform. That's what I think too. Meche, Lilly, and even Padilla and Schmidt give you the potential to be in a really crappy contract in 2008-2010. Westbrook and Jennings are both FAs, but the Cubs would have exclusive negotiating rights with either if they wanted them back. There's really nothing wrong with a short-term deal for a pitcher. Granted, it does depend what you would have to give up for them, but I'd give up more to get them than a 1-year rental hitter. Short-term deals with pitchers are actually a GOOD thing.

I'm gonna make an assumption that Nixon would only be an option if the Cubs traded Jones and got a CF and Trot was platooning in LF with Murton......i.e. similar to the rumors we've heard about Floyd. Well then, my interest in Nixon would be similar to that of my interest in Floyd. I'd honestly rather have Jacque Jones back. Jones is the youngest at 32 (Nixon 33, Floyd 34). Jones has a pretty friendly contract, and the way the offseason has been going, I don't see Floyd or Nixon signing for anything lower than equal to Jones' 5.5M. Also, Nixon and Floyd are coming off of seasons with OPS's of .767 and .731 respectively. Even if Jones reverts back to career norms, his career OPS is better than what Floyd and Nixon did in 2005. Both are huge injury risks, coming off of sub 120 game seasons (just 97 games out of Floyd). Jones is a safe bet to play 140. None of the 3 hit vs. LHPs, so you still have a platoon OF either way. I'd much rather take my chances with Jones' friendly contract, ability to stay healthy, age and upside. I'm holding out hope that Perry can combine Jones' 2005 power breakout season with his 2004, where he walked at an acceptable rate.

They're the same uniforms that the Reds have worn most of my lifetime, but with different lettering. From Pete Rose era to Eric Davis. Great idea to go back to them.

Jones: Injured Brownlie: Injured Blasko: Injured Hagerty: Injured Petrick: Injured Christensen: Injured The only one without a major injury on that list is Ryu. All those players had good stuff and put up good numbers at some point in their minor league career (except maybe Brownlie). At the time, I don't think it was a stretch to say that each of them were good pitching prospects. Ryu did have a major injury. Missed about a year and a half, and still hasn't regained full velocity.

Hughes to the minors for 1 last year. I don't think they care too much about Pavano. Mussina, Willis, Wang, Johnson and Igawa could be an excellent rotation.

Yeah, Tejada definitely hasn't fallen off yet. I'd love to go after him. My biggest problems with that though would be the cost in players to get him and the fact that he, Ramirez and Soriano are really all similar hitters. Of course, they are all good. But I would like that caliber of bat in a player that walks a little more and perhaps bats LH. Drew comes to mind, as usual. But, no, I would not complain 1 bit about Tejada, probably regardless of what the Cubs would give up to get him.

yeah, and again it looks like I have the toughest schedule in the league. We only play half the teams twice, and I always end up playing the top teams twice. IMB you hate me don't you. No, if you really did, you would just have me play your team like 14 times.