Blueheart05

Really? My cousin's, nextdoor neighbor's, cat sitter, thought she saw it too. :P

If this is true, it's probably not cool that we leaked it? Oh nevermind, I'm on pins and needles I want to know!

Ronny is murding the pitching in Venzeula this Winter. I'd say he is going to be able to fill SS if need be. He started slowly but he has caught fire. I still feel he will start at 2B (unless a trade occurs) if Furcal signs. It doesn't matter that he hasn't planned the position this winter he's young and can adapt to change. I really don't want him at 2B. I'd actually rather have Walker or even Soriano. He could be a very usefull SS but I think he loses a lot of value if you move him to 2B. Well, IF the Cubs have Furcal, and you want Ronnie to see the light of day, it will be at 2B. I doubt Walker will be on the open day roster and Soriano is just not necessary (and his defense is MIA).. I want Ronnie to start too but the least complicated current senario is at 2B. We'll see how things workout tomorrow Don't you think that could hurt the offense? That's just another position that would most likely give us a below .800 OPS. I would feel more comfortable with some more offense coming from 2B. I think Ronny should be traded if we sign Furcal. Actually, I'm not opposed to Cedeno being traded although, I would like to see him play as a Cub. If the right deal became available he's expendable. To answer your OPS question, no, I don't think it would hurt to have another guy in the lineup with a sub .800 OPS. It's misleading. I hate to bring this up because there are several winning formulas but the White Sox won a WS with only two starters (Konerko & Dye) and only three total players (including Thomas) with an OPS above .800. A team can win with low offensive numbers. Timely hitting, base stealing, and taking a walk are far more important.

Why is Cedeno at SS and Walker at 2B more complicated? After all, those are their natural positions, and we already have both under lock and key for 2006. It's more complicated because Hendry appears to be looking to trade Walker (and possibly Cedeno if the right deal came along). He wants guys with range who can "catch the ball." That doesn't describe Walker. I like Todd but if I had my druthers we would have someone else playing 2B.

Ronny is murding the pitching in Venzeula this Winter. I'd say he is going to be able to fill SS if need be. He started slowly but he has caught fire. I still feel he will start at 2B (unless a trade occurs) if Furcal signs. It doesn't matter that he hasn't planned the position this winter he's young and can adapt to change. I really don't want him at 2B. I'd actually rather have Walker or even Soriano. He could be a very usefull SS but I think he loses a lot of value if you move him to 2B. Well, IF the Cubs have Furcal, and you want Ronnie to see the light of day, it will be at 2B. I doubt Walker will be on the open day roster and Soriano is just not necessary (and his defense is MIA).. I want Ronnie to start too but the least complicated current senario is at 2B. We'll see how things workout tomorrow

Ronny is murding the pitching in Venzeula this Winter. I'd say he is going to be able to fill SS if need be. For the record, he's hitting .357/.396/.429 in 98 at-bats in Venezuela. All batting average, sadly. Come on Ronny, more patience, more power. Oh, as long as he can hit .320 in the majors we'll be fine .320 is a lot to ask.

Ronny is murding the pitching in Venzeula this Winter. I'd say he is going to be able to fill SS if need be. He started slowly but he has caught fire. I still feel he will start at 2B (unless a trade occurs) if Furcal signs. It doesn't matter that he hasn't planned the position this winter he's young and can adapt to change.

Is BJ Ryan "worth" a 5 year 47 MM contract? Is Beltran worth the contract he received last year? You can add any name to that list and someone will say no. A baseball player's worth is based on the contract he can garner. If Furcal signs with a team for 13MM a year that will be his worth.

Player values have appreciated greatly since Sammy was paid 13MM by the Cubs and I whether or not the money could be spent better elsewhere is subjective. If in fact Hendry gets him for that price, and he has a repeat of his 2005 numbers, the Cubs will be happy because that is what they are paying for (actually, they are paying for a culmination of his last three years).

I don't know if Furcal is a typical example, or how much of that had to do with the Braves' lineup and its construction. A few other example. Juan Pierre had 719 plate appearances last year. 292 saw him lead-off an inning. Leading off an inning he had a .336 on-base percentage. That meant just 13.630% of his plate appearances saw him lead off the inning in front of the heart of the order. Furcal is better than Pierre as a base stealer and, arguably, in all facets of the game.

Nixon is Plan Z Surely we can do better than him. What's wrong with Nixon? If a .366 OBP and .855 OPS aren't quality enough, you're shooting way too high. Nixon is a solid option for RF. Because I was hoping for a guy with a more powerful bat.

Sorry I didn't finsih my thought. He doesn't steal effetively enough to warrent the attempts so..... Don't overvalue the benefit of a leadoff hitter. I'm not overvaluing him as a leadoff hitter. He can get on base and steal as the third hitter in an inning just as easily as he can to start off an inning. I am curious why you say he doesn't steal effectively? Last year he stole 46 and was caught 10 times, in 2004 he stole 29 out of 35, and the year before that it was 25 out of 27. I don't know the league SB averages but that seems like a high precentage to me.

He most certianly does not fill any need. Walker can lead off just fine Cedeno can cover SS just fine The Cubs current needs: 1. OBP 2. OBP 3. RF 4. OBP 5. Left handed bat 6. Someone to tell Hendry to release Macias 7. CF There is no way anyone can convicne me that Furcal is a 10 million dollars worth of upgrade over Cedeno (who BTW, is having a fantastic season in Winter ball) or a 7.5 million dollar upgrade over Neifi. Help me to understand, how is Furcal that good? 1. Walker is never going to hit leadoff with Dusty Baker managing the Cubs, so why keep complaining about it over and over? 2. Furcal has been one of the top leadoff hitters in the NL for the last two years and is in the prime of his career. 3. Name 1 available FA SS with a better OBP than Furcal? It is true that we could argue about the importance of having a bonifide leadoff hitter all night on the board, but Hendry seems to think, and imo rightly so, that a leadoff hitter is a current need on the team. The Cubs need to do something to upgrade the offense and like it or not Furcal is one of the few offensive FA upgrades available who may want to come to Chicago. I reject your assumption. Furcal's OBP is not that good and his defense is over-rated. He doesn't steal bases so who give a frog's but about his speed. Miguel Tejada only made 10 million last year and he is actually worth the money. He most certainly steals bases. 46 last year.

Nomar. (Career-wise, at least.) In all fairness, Nomar will probably nolonger be a SS.

See here

Possibly, or it could be that the Phillies would demand more from the Cubs (or any other NL team).

If that is the case then then can have Pinto and Williams for Abreu. The Cubs can take on all his salary and still get to keep Pie. He may be on his way to the O's for Bedard and ???

Thanks, this is being talked about here

Absolutely agree. Think about this folks: 5 years and $45M for a guy, who has never achieved an OPS over .795, and who's OBP has not been above .352 in the last 4 seasons. This is just not smart. Ronny at shortstop. Trade for the biggest RF bat you can possibly get, throw all the trade chips at him. I'm thinking Abreu-size. Walker at 2B. Plug CF. Bradley when the Dodgers non-tender would do. Barrett, Lee, Ramirez and Murton to fill it out. I fully endorse this idea even if it means the Cubs have to trade Pinto and Pie to get Abreu. Abreu actually fills two needs for this team. Pie and Pinto won't get it done. They're going to want Prior or Zambrano. I don't know about that. They are not going to get an established ML #1 for Abreu. I've even read some reports that suggest he is available for much less. Really? The rumor I read said that they wanted a "top of the rotation" starter. So, that's not necessarily just a 1 but they probably expect nothing less than a number 3.

We're probably looking at: - trading Walker for Bradley - trading Corey and a prospect for Mench - signing Lofton or trading for Roberts as 4th OF insurance - signing Bill Mueller to play 2B - signing another starting pitcher (Weaver, Byrd) knowing Kerry and Maddux are gone after 2006 The wild cards here could be expanding the Bradley deal to include Lowe, or making a big deal with Arizona for an OF (Shawn Green or Luis Gonzalez) and Javier Vazquez, or the Giants for Pedro Feliz and Jason Schmidt. The Cubs would then have the option of moving Lowe, Vazquez or Schmidt to Philly for Bobby Abreu, if he his actually being shopped by Pat Gillick for a front-line starter. I am actually a fan of getting Mueller for 2B. But would that be in line with the defensive upgrades Hendry has been wanting? FYI, the Cardinals have offered Mueller a contract already. He'll probably hjump at it because grudz seems to be seeking 3 years elsewhere.

Nixon is Plan Z Surely we can do better than him.

Yes but lugo is also ATL's plan B.

Nah, I'm sure the agent would be apposed to getting a higher offer at the last minute. :lol: cha ching edit: I'm sure he WOULD NOT be opposed.

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Pierre isn't a lock (lots of other teams are after him as well) and frankly, Furcal is a better leadoff man and defensive player. The Cubs have gone too far to take the offer off the table. I HIGHLY doubt we have a legitimate shot to get Pierre. Supposedly, Florida wanted alot more from the NL teams than the AL teams in the Castillo deal. I think the Pierre deal will be handled in the same manner. Not to mention that Rotoworld is now reporting that the Marlins have asked the Yankees to give up Robinson Cano if they want Pierre. Just imagine what they would expect from the Cubs.