SAMMYWHO

Scott Podsednik might be an interesting option next year. It's rumored he's not going to be back with the Sox next year. He's only thirty and is one of those "proven" leadoff hitters. On base of .341 would be acceptable. Here's his career line 586 2222 351 610 109 23 25 174 840 216 369 211 62 .341 .378 .275 Also Jenkins seems unhappy with the Brewers. His playing time is down and management seems unsure of his future with the club. He's on the downslide of his career but might be an interesting option depending on cost. He's 32 with a career line of 1088 3948 606 1101 262 20 188 636 1967 354 996 29 11 .349 .498 .279 Any thoughts?

I'm not sure where it was mentioned, but that' pretty intruiging to me. Sign someone like Molina, draft someone like Weiters, and you're looking at very nice scenario. That's the post I wanted for a response. What could we net for Barrett? I like Barrett and in my original post I said he's a great team member and brings offense to the table. I wanted to know what we could get for him and then I implied if we got a Vernon Wells for him we might be a better team.

Vance I'm not putting blame on anyone. I wanted to know what Barrett would net in a trade. As far as injuries are concerned I'm just trying to figure out all of these young guys getting hurt. I can understand a couple (Wood and Prior) but all of these is absolutely ridiculous.

You know who else has been around at least the past two years? Rothschild and Baker. If you want to improve the pitching staff, get better pitchers or at least a better pitching coach. Getting a new catcher isn't going to make pitchers stay healthy and really shouldn't help them improve any more than a good pitching coach would. I'm not saying they're not part of the problem too. I'm just trying to make some sense of all these injuries. How many more years do we have to go through this injury excuse. Let's try to fix the problem somebody.

I didn't mean to move Barrett to a different position. I just think possibly we could net another offensive weapon that plays a different position. One of the only common factors in the last two years is Barrett. All of these injuries is unbelievable. Everybody wants to shake it up and I'm just taking someone who's valuable to most teams and wondering what we'd get for him. Who knows maybe nobody would want him. Let's face it, Wood and Prior are not the only one's who have been hurt. All these young guys, Rusch, Eyre, almost every pitcher has been hurt. It's unbelievable.

That's the only reason you'd do it. Maybe upgrade short, 2nd or the outfield. We possibly could get a number 2 starter back I would think.

I would really like to know what we could realistically get for Barrett in a trade. I would like to see how well this team would do under a defensive catcher. I'm not sure how well a Blanco/Soto combo would do but I think that is the stem of our problem. I really am losing faith in how Barrett has handled this staff. I think he's a great team guy, helps the community, helps the Cubs with his bat, all that stuff but I want the Cubs to go back to a catcher who does what catchers are supposed to do. Any thoughts?

I'm sorry if this has been mentioned already but is it possible Hendry could have encouraged a Pierre trade with Colorado. I think he was a scout with Florida during that time.

I'm pretty sure Walker's off the block.

The best at bat is fighting off the pitcher's pitch until he gives you your pitch. I agree with Sulley in that Pods waits for his pitch because he knows what he can and cannot handle but you can't always assume the ump won't call the borderline pitch a strike. It's a tough situation in that I think Cubs batters just have to battle a little smarter. Pick their pitch like Sulley said and drive it. Like Pierre for example, if he would pull a ball once a week it would help him in the long run make the defense defend the whole field.

Maybe this should be in transactions but I think he should be traded like yesterday. I would call up KC and see if I could get Reggie Sanders and platoon him with Jacque. Any other ideas?

Jim Edmonds should spend a little more time checking his bat. There might be a whole in it. I forgot his number in history but he's in the top five for strikeouts since 2000. By the way, that's his "prime" years.

I wish the big Z would stop nibbling at the corners and just challenge somebody to hit his stuff. Geez, remind the guy he's got eight defenders around him. Just my two cents.

That takes care of that. I was one of the few to hate to see him go. I don't want to bring up the debate of why he left but I was upset he was so open about playing everywhere after he was gone. I thought that was the reason he left. Couldn't handle short and we didn't need him at 3rd. I still believe he'll make a heck of a good SUPER SUB.

I know alot of people will say he's often hurt like he is right now but he will be coming back soon and we will need his bat in our lineup. CBS Sportsline Rumor Mill speculated the Dodgers need a left fielder or a starter. I heard the Dodgers coaching staff thought Nomar took to 1st base really well. How about Rich Hill straight up for Nomar. I know Rich is tearing up AAA but I'm just not seeing the light to when he joins the big club. This trade obviously depends on when Nomar is off the DL. Okay, I'm ready to be torn apart and I apologize to other threads if this has been mentioned.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=crasnick_jerry&id=2366349 Now if only Pierre could talk Chone into Wrigley!!!

Yes, I know the list is complete garbage. I just thought it would strike up a good discussion. I didn't realize we had a feisty Neifi backer in the house. I still think (without counting) the Cubs have the most players on that list that played for them the last couple years. Must be that top notch scouting system we have.

Thought this link was interesting. Worst players that get regular playing time. Neifi, Jacque and Mabry also were picked. Burnitz, Sammy and Nomar were some of the ex Cubs. Check it out. http://www.sportsline.com/mlb/fantasy/story/9265254

We do need to win now. If the Cubs went out and won the World Series this year or next year, would we really care if Giles turned into a Luis Gonzalez production wise outfielder for his final year? If it appeared he was going to turn into that type of player, couldn't the Cubs have picked up 5m or so of his final year and shipped him back to San Diego? We don't know if he would have signed with the Cubs. At 13-15m a year for 3 years, I think he would have. No team offered him that much. He signed so quickly with San Diego because if he didn't, he wouldn't have been able to go back if the Padres didn't offer arbitration, which I doubt they would have. They came up with that offer at or near the final days that he could still return to the Padres or wait until May 1. The offers entertained didn't appear to me to be any better than what San Diego finally matched. I don't blame him for staying if the club you are now with in the town you'd prefer to be in is basically offering up the same deals that have been offered elsewhere. Sure, he could have gambled that some team would have coughed up 13m eventually, but since no one had done it yet, why risk not being able to resign with the Padres? Surely, it was a gamble to pay top dollar for Giles considering he'd be 35-37 over the life of the contract. But, Moises Alou didn't completely disappoint (some were more enamored with him than others) over the life of his contract, and he was also 35, 36 and 37 during that contract. Heck, he was even better at age 38 last year. I totally disagree with you about the Padres not offering arbitration. They would be fools not to. I'm not even going to look it up but he's without a doubt a class A free agent. If they didn't sign him they'd at least want a 1st possibly a 2nd round draft pick. I speculate, he has his money and doesn't want to leave his family for half of the season on the road. I wouldn't move my family either from San Diego. Would you? You live there. As far as Alou is concerned, yes the Cubs gambled and it turned out good, but I could give you a hundred guys that teams gambled on and got burnt.

A 3 year deal for Giles would have ended during his 37th year on Earth, not 38. He'll be 35 in January. That makes him 35 in 2006, 36 in 2007 and 37 in 2008. I could care less how he plays when he's 38. Thanks for the correction, still at 13 million a big gamble. And that's if he'd even sign for 3/39.

Walker has been banged up throughout his career. What makes you think nobody would be happy? I realize the risk that he wouldn't fulfill the last year of a 3 year deal. But this is a team that needs to win now. Giles makes their lineup so much better right now. This isn't a lazy and inconsistent Alou with inflated Enron numbers we're talking about. Giles has been a consistently great player year after year. You're right Goony in that we need to win now. I'll agree Giles is a way better option than J Jones but I myself and others would argue that at the end of his contract he wouldn't be worth it. No one knows how much he'll regress, nobody knows if he'd even sign a 3 yr deal with the Cubs but I'll also argue with anybody on the topic that unless your a fly on the wall in Mr. Hendry's office you have no idea what it would take to get Giles away from San Diego. If it's the weather or family or whatever the reason he signed with the Padres for so cheap, nobody knows. I'll agree the push for him to sign with the Cubs wasn't Hendry's best effort but who knows why Giles didn't test the market a little more.

Hendry's in a lose/lose situation. Sign Giles now for a contract similar to 3/39 and watch him regress at the end when he's 38. No one would be happy. I like Giles but to me he'll be like Larry Walker when he's 38 and he's not worth 13 mil.

Or Milton Bradley

Why is that? I wasn't aware that Pierre had a no trade clause. He's probably thinking the old sign and trade thing. Technically we haven't signed Pierre yet. Even after we sign Pierre, we can still trade him. Not that we would. Do you know the rule on that Jeff? I would be curious to know about sign and trade with players in the MLB. I was told most other sports can do it but not in the MLB. Thanks in advance.

Why is that? I wasn't aware that Pierre had a no trade clause. He's probably thinking the old sign and trade thing. Technically we haven't signed Pierre yet.