mul21

General Manager, but we whiffed on that one. Nearly as predictable as wrigley23.

For a guy who lives in St. Louis and hasn't had a chance to watch many games, any particular reason the run D has been so much better this year? Is it just because they've had leads and the other teams have had to pass or is it actually good?

I think this has to be pretty close to accurate. While they may not be under a "get rid of him at all costs" type order, it seems pretty clear they are looking to shed payroll and get back what they can. Given what appears to be a limited number of options in terms of teams that are willing to trade for him and where he's willing to go, you may end up getting a bargain if you trade for him. I also think that taking Greene lessens what you have to give up because of his poor production last year vs. his current cost. There's no way you're going to have to give up more in the deal to get Greene if you take on his entire salary.

This really doesnt sound realistic. Theyd essentially never be able to afford another free agent. Are they deep enough at 1B to afford losing Fielder at the moment? I knew LaPorta was the heir apparent at 1B as talk was they were going to trade Prince in his contract year. How close is Gamel? I'm assuming he's just not going to be able to stick anywhere but 1st. If he's a realistic possibility for this year I could see them doing it. Go with a mix of guys until you call him up to delay arby a year and then you stick him in there.

That could be, although he does recruit better than people think. The big ten hasn't really had too many great teams lately. I would say since he has been in the conference the only great teams were the '05 Illini and '05 MSU. We beat him three times that year and I think MSU split with him. So even then he went 1-4 against teams with a lot better talent than him. please tell me you just forgot about the '07 Ohio State team That team wasn't even close to great during the Big 10 season. They had a bunch of young guys and got hot at the end of the year with a bunch of individual talent. Kind of like Michigan with the Fab Five, not a great team during the season but turned it on at the right time.

Ah, apparently there is such a thing as "too much pitching". No, but there is such a thing as "finite resources". It's not even a resources thing. They've got plenty of money, their owner just doesn't like to spend a lot of it. They aren't Cubs, Bosox, or Yankees loaded, but they certainly aren't hurting for cash even with funding the new stadium.

Just heard on the radio that Lute Olson is stepping down at Arizona as reported by Dickie V.

Yeah, I'd rather part with Dempster than Wood. It's easier to replace a bullpen arm than a starter. Also, I don't understand all of the posters who think Dempster's year was a fluke. It's not a guarantee that he will be as effective in 2009 as he was in 2008, but he was our most consistent starter last year. Dempster was a highly regarded prospect as a starter before becoming a reliever. He wasn't a prospect, he was a starting major league pitcher that wasn't good. Semantics. And it's not that he wasn't highly regarded or didn't have good stuff; he always has. He just figured out how to locate his pitches better and more often found the strike zone. Fixing that one thing took him from a 4.5 ish ERA guy who walked a bunch of hitters to what he did last year. Did he still over achieve a bit last year? Yeah, more than likely, but I still think you'll see a guy with a 3.5-3.6 ERA next year rather than the 4.5 he's had in the past.

Yeah, he reiterated this on his radio show this afternoon. He basically said what you've got here, that they had one conversation, didn't have anything to agree on and it was over.

Lets not forget Marmol wasn't on the team for most of the first two months of the season, and wasn't moved to a late inning reliever for a few weeks after he got called up. Because if I remember right, our bullpen was giving away alot of close games early in the season, and having Marmol could have easily been a 3-4 game swing. Plus Barrett defense, Izturis sucking, and Wade Miller sucking also set us back early in the season. So in my opinion the team that we saw the last three months of the season was better then a 85 win team, and was just set back because of it's start. Of course guys like Jacque Jones, Bob Howry, Scott Eyre and a few others played better. But alot of the teams improvement also came from adding Marmol, Marshall, and a few other things. Yeah, I was more referring to the usage of Izturis and Theriot, the stabilization of the pen, and just the overall usage patterns of different players. Not the players learning to play together or anything bizarre like that.

Anybody else get burned by not starting LenDale White?

OL defensive player (preferably a DE) WR In my mind are the top 3 needs. There is a lot of talent of high end OL talent that will be gone before the Bears pick and I'm afraid that Angelo won't go OL two straight years in the first round even though it's a deep position in the 2009 draft and the biggest need for the Bears. I'll be happy as long as they get an OL in one of the first two rounds. Their biggest need on the OL right now (assuming Williams comes back healthy) is at guard. How often do you really see a guard taken in the 1st round of the draft? Even the guys who end up being great OGs are taken in rounds 2-4. You can get good value there, so unless you're getting another tackle, I see no reason to go OL in round 1.

They certainly count, but I think you have to take into account the new management crew in place and the time it took them to figure out the team they had. They finished 85-77 and were 7 (?) games under .500 in early June. That means they played 15 games over the last 4 months of the season. Or about a .570 winning %, which is solid for MLB.

And more ability and a better contract. Drew makes Mark Prior look like Cal Ripken. Actually, it's more like the other way around. But like somebody else said, how healthy has Soriano been the last 2 years.

Yep, awful news that the 1st Cubs GM to bring the team to consistent respectability would get an extension. Worst. News. Ever. Not saying I agree with everything he does or even his overall philosophy, but, hey, we could have Ed Wade or Ned Colletti. Hmmmm....consistent respectability. That's quite a standard of success. Hendry has basically been given an open checkbook since he started and the Cubs have one playoff series win to show for it. If "consistent respectability" is what Cub fans are looking for then I guess Hendry has done a great job. Not true. I think it's become pretty clear that MacPhail kept the purse strings much tighter than Hendry would have like while he was still around, as is evidenced by the signing of Soriano the 1st off season Andy was gone.

Yep, awful news that the 1st Cubs GM to bring the team to consistent respectability would get an extension. Worst. News. Ever. Not saying I agree with everything he does or even his overall philosophy, but, hey, we could have Ed Wade or Ned Colletti.

If he starts he will start in the majors if he isn't good enough he will be in the bullpen. We just aren't simply going to throw a very good relief pitcher to the minors just so he can be a starter. A good starting pitcher>>>>> A mediocre starting pitcher>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Middle relief=A bad starting pitcher. He has much more value as a starter. Whether he can start and maintain his "stuff" is an open question. If the Cubs think he can start they will put him in AAA. I don't know what Wood will ask for but I'm guessing the Cubs will pay it. I think it will be described as a "fair" deal. You got to think like Piniella. Do you throw one of your best bullpen guys in the minors for the simple reason you want him to start? Or do you give him a shot to start in the majors if he isn't there yet keep him as a RP because he is one of your best. I highly doubt the Cubs are going to be willing to go without one of their best RP because he is in the minors starting. We called him up from the minors last year when he was starting and doing well I see no reason to think we will let him sit in the minors again next year. Um, yeah, no club has ever given a young pitcher an audition as a reliever before returning him to starting duty the next year. He has so much more value as a starter in the future that it would be idiotic to just say, well, he did a good job relieving, let's just leave him there. You get him more experience in the minors to develop his secondary pitchers and then you have a guy who can give you 200+ effective innings a year instead of 80. Yes, they did it with Marmol, but he's a guy with a funky delivery who may be a huge injury risk. He also doesn't have the repertoire that Shark does.

What about a Lee for Cano package? Cano or Derosa could be moved to 1B and the other plays 2B(This could also create some opportunities for Hoffpauir to get playing time in RF/1B), or we could sign Texiera (highly unlikely), or make a trade for a 1B Overbay, Huff? I also would wonder if there is any truth to the idea of picking up Harden's option and then trading him what about a Harden for Cano package? We already have a couple second basemen who are better than Cano. He's over hyped by the NY media just like Jeter has been forever. I want nothing to do with him. I don't know that there is anything the Yankees have I'd be interested in other than their young arms. Anybody with better MiL knowledge have suggestions?

uh, yeah, you owned him in that trade in my eyes.

Ryan Theriot's value is sky high? I love how you comment on one portion of posts and leave everything else completely untouched. Or maybe my perception is affected by your never ending negativity. And yes, sky high for him, AKA as much value as he's ever going to have.

What happens to Marquis and his $9+ million? Bradley can barely play a corner OF position at this point, let alone be your everyday guy in CF. It's definitely a quandry as to what should get done in the off season, and while I don't give a whole lot of credence to the LH bat thing, it would be nice to add a Texeira or Beltran type bat if for no other reason than to get Lee out of the 3 spot with all the ground balls he's hitting now. Even though it's not realistic, I'd like to see Lee, Soriano, and Marquis sent packing and bring in Manny and Texeira. That would give you a Manny, Tex, Aram 3-4-5 and free up some cash to bring back Demp or sign Lowe.

I like Tim's thought of looking at Tex in the OF, either corner is fine with me and move Soriano if necessary. Honestly, if that was to happen, I'd put him at the 3 and go Tex, Ram, and then Lee. I know Lou and Hendry both have a man crush on Riot, but they really should try to move him while his value is sky high. I don't know if I'm crazy about Furcal with the recent injury history, but that along with Cedeno would be a couple of options. Edmonds was great this year but I'm reluctant to bring him back. And if you do, you almost have to send Pie somewhere to get something for him before he has zero value to anybody. Starting pitching right now I guess you have Z, Harden, Lilly, Marquis, Marshall, the ghost of Rich Hill, Shark and some other assorted arms to choose from. I like the idea of Lowe. He seems to take the ball every 5th day and wouldn't have HR issues even being in Wrigley. I think you get him and if you can send Marquis somewhere you do that and free up cash to bring back Demp if he's willing to sign a 3 year deal. The big question I have is what gets done with Fukudome? Does he figure it out, does he go back to Japan? Does he stay here and keep sucking? I think that is something that has to be decided before any of the other pieces can be put into place.

It's not the matchup itself that's the difference it's how each team would use their RH'ers that made the difference. STL would challenge them inside and would pay for it, LA stayed away and the Cubs wet their pants trying to pull HRs into LF. In my mind, this is the biggest key. The few hard hit balls the Cubs did have in the series were all to the opposite field or up the middle. They never made the adjustment to dink and dunk to the opposite field to get a rally going.

Has any team other than the 06 Cardinals gotten as many good bounces and as much crappy defense played against them? I mean really, they are getting evry break that they possibly can. That still doesn't change the fact the Cubs have completely sucked thus far.

They don't need to blow it up. They need to send Fuku back to Japan, sign Manny and hit him 3rd. The you set the lineup like this: Theriot/Johnson DeRosa Manny Aramis DLee Soriano Soto Pie/Theriot Soriano quits whining and plays RF and hits 6th. Not that I'm a Soriano hater or think he's been a problem thus far, but that's just the best usage for him if they were to sign Manny.