Blueheart05

FWIW, Vegas has the Cubs ahead of the Cards to win the NL.

I don't think it was him being exhausted, so much as him losing focus. He noted that he lost focus after we clinched the division. I was very paranoid and figured he was just convering him really ending the season poorly... but then the postseason came, and he had a 2.14 ERA in 21 IP. I'll respectfull disagree and argue this: you're undervaluing the addition of Rolen. We're going from Nunez to Rolen. While Nunez had a career year, his OPS was only .704! Rolen's career OPS is something like .890. Even if he doesn't do what he did in 2004, he's undeniably a significant upgrade over Nunez. The Cardinals have no idea what kind of production Rolen will provide. He's rehabbing a shoulder which may affect his swing. Rolen is a question mark until he proves otherwise.

This proves in my mind that the Cardinals were after Jones for the same money (as was reported but denied by many at Cards Talk). JJ himself, in his interview with Waddle, said the Cards were one of the teams that made him a offer. I missed that, thanks!

This proves in my mind that the Cardinals were after Jones for the same money (as was reported but denied by many at Cards Talk).

I would not do this deal.

Julian Tavarez - 5.10 post-ASB ERA; Looper will replace him and likely will do a better job, especially since our defense is so groundball-friendly. Ray King - 4.80 post-ASB ERA; Rincon sucked last year, but career-wise, lefties have hit something like .217 off of him. La Russa had so little faith in Ray last year that he didn't use him one time in the playoffs. (part of that had to do with King's dad passing away late in the season, but that doesn't explain a -complete- lack of use the entire playoffs) Reggie Sanders - .866 OPS last year. He's going to be missed. However, had he come back, he would not have repeated that production. A Bigbie/Byrnes platoon could work very well. Eric Byrnes is a player I would really like to see... Bigbie has been surprisingly efficient over righties over his career. Cal Eldred - Gone, but he'll be replaced by Brad Thompson, who did very well last year. Mark Grudzielanek - .741 OPS in '05. His defense will be missed... You don't pay a player $3 million+ to play great defense while being a mediocre offensive talent... unless you're Jim Hendry. (*cough* Jacques Jones *cough*). Matt Morris - 4.72 ERA and 4.11 ERA in 2004 and 2005, respectively. What's the big loss, again? Sure, he could pan out... but would you rather take a $8-9 million risk, or a $1 million risk? While Ponson can't be a Matt Morris caliber pitcher (assuming they were both healthy), it's a much, much "safer" risk to take. Besides, Anthony Reyes was waiting in the wings to replace Morris. See ya, thanks for the memories. Al Reyes - lost to surgery. This one will hurt, but it was out of our control. John Mabry - .188 post-ASB batting average. See ya! He can play everywhere, but he struggled with injuries last year and it looks like he has lost bat speed. I really like Mabes, but it was time to let him move on. Abraham Nunez - .704 OPS in a career year. He plays a slick defense at third base and can also play second... but, uh, take your money and run. Larry Walker - 315 at-bats on the season. Useless come playoff times. Walker's 2004 season was fantastic... but, quite frankly, his time in the league is done. He would've been a great addition to a lineup had he stayed healthy, but he missed so much that there isn't a huge a loss in production as most think. Is Albert Pujols still on this team? Yep. Scott Rolen? Uh-huh. In fact, that's like adding Rolen to this team. What about Jim Edmonds? Still there. Mark Mulder? Yep. Chris Carpenter? Of course! The nucleus of this team is still here. If you want to dwell on who we lost, then have at it. But if you really examing the situation, a lot of departures does not mean we'll be saying goodbye to a lot of wins. No, this team may not be a lock for the playoffs next year. However, the losses to the team are no where near as dramatic as some think. I'm not sure why you're so confident about Rolen; You have no real idea what he's going to provide coming back from injury. That would be like me being confident that Kerry Wood will make 35 starts. I just don't see the Cardinals as the runaway winner this year. Of course, its possible that another bat or impact pitcher will be signed but right now I see a lot more questions throughout the lineup and pitching staff.

lol, Mike Harkey? Didn't he win 10 games one year for the Cubs?

If they don't work out the Cardinals are not a strong team and may not win the divisison or go to the playoffs. I'm sorry but I don't see how the moves made, thus far, have improved the team over last year's squad. I don't even think their equal (and that's not being said out of Cubs' bias). I'm trying to be objective.

Nobody cut him. Sorry. Why some teams chose to end their contractual relationship with him. Is that better or do I get homework tonight? I just think it's dishonest, unfair and leading to phrase it like "cutting him" "cut their ties", "got rid of". Guys get traded or are allowed to walk all the time. Minnesota "cut their ties" with David Ortiz because they were cheap bastards. All sorts of supposedly good guys have been on loads of teams. The story on Walker is he's good, but not special. He's a good hitting 2B, but not good on defense. I'd say he's about average, some will say below average. His value is in his cost/production. His production comes cheap. At 3/15 he'd be overpaid, just like Grudz wasn't worth such a contract, and Jones isn't worth it. If we're going to be honest please don't call the Twins cheap. They are a small market team and they couldn't afford to give him what he would have earned through arbitration. Ortiz understood the move.

Yes, this team's fortunes rely heavily on the starting pitchers. Wood, Prior and Zambrano have to be great. But they shouldn't make it any harder on them by weakending the lineup any further. Another 5th starter isn't going to help this team. I'm not talking about getting another 5th starter. A true third starter (with Wood out) would be ideal. Williams/Rusch/Maddux (with Hill as the fall back) is scary to me. I like Williams but relying on him to be the 3rd guy isn't a good thing. Rusch is a 5th starter and Maddog is 4/5 depending on the other guys. Teams can win with weak offenses and great pitching. Walker isn't Tejada so if he can be used to better the rotation I'm all for it.

I disagree. This team will win or lose with its pitching. Walker isn't a big enough difference maker on offense so if he can be used to acquire a quality starter, the Cubs need to trade him. The Cubs rotation is littered with question marks. We need another starter. I disagree. The dropoff from Walker to Neifi is a very big one. I just can't see Walker netting us a starter that's any better that what we already have(Williams). Walker is not a difference maker on offense and I'm not saying Walker alone will net a pitcher. He should be packaged or the Cubs should look to sign a FA. Neifi at the bottom of the lineup (if it comes to that) isn't the worst thing in the world.

I disagree. This team will win or lose with its pitching. Walker isn't a big enough difference maker on offense so if he can be used to acquire a quality starter, the Cubs need to trade him. The Cubs rotation is littered with question marks. We need another starter.

No, I don't think it will be lower.

The more I think about it, I'm pretty sure that he'll bat second. Didn't the Twind use him as their leadoff hitter (or am I thinking about someone else?) Anyway, bank on Jones in the 2nd or 4th slot. :P

You know why crazy things like this happen for the Cards? Because they make a lot of moves like this and some of them pay off. If a crazy thing "like that" happens I'll eat Sidney's hat. How about an ERA of 4.10 and 180 innings? Could you eat a Cubs hat? :lol: That by itself isn't much of an accomplishment (however, I think his ERA will be in 5.00 range). The Cards basically have to hope that Carp continues to dominate, Mulder is steady, and Soupcan gives them number three numbers. I think this means Marquis will be traded and Reyes is unknown. The Cardinals rotation has more questions this year than in recent years.

LOL, I don't buy that one bit. He's a project; low risk with the potential to be high reward but it's been a long time since he produced anything of quality.

http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/insider/columns/story?columnist=neyer_rob&id=2267243 In fairness, it was Carrie Muskat that said he was patient not Hendry. I pointed that out lastnight.

Agreed

Hmmm, this is a transaction? :lol:

That is not correct. Prior's ERA on July 1 was 2.86 (whereas, Maddux's ERA was 5.02) and Maddux was worse than Prior in the second half of the season. Don't forget that Prior was out for part of a month after being hit by a line drive. All things considered, he pitched well but he often didn't have the stamina to pitch deep into games.

Looks like Joe was non tendered afterall.

I disagree. The 2003 team didn't get good until after the Break and even with the upgrades they were just barely good enough for the postseason.. That team got confident at the end and played beyond its talents (not that I wouldn't take that out of a WS winner but that's not talent). 2004 was a much better team but they underachieved

Woah, woah, woah... I think JJ sucks. The Cubs 06 are just highly underrated on here right now. I agree that Jones sucks, and I also agree that people are being ridiculously pessimistic. I am not a blue Kool-aid drinker, but a lot of people here are reminding me of lemmings right now. Four keys for the Cubs in 06: 1) Prior pitches atleast 180 innings 2) DLee has a .950ish OPS 3) Demp is still a solid closer. 4) They keep Walker If those 3 things happen the Cubs will be very very good. If all those things don't happen? They will still be pretty solid. Well, if Prior's average again, the season's over. If Prior & Wood return to 2003 form, the 2 year reign of the Cards is over. Was Prior average last year? I'd say he was above average but didn't get enough starts and innings. Anyway, without good pitching this team is toast.

LOL, yeah right. :lol: :lol:

Not necessarily. Pie is only 20 so if he stays in the minors for three years he might be better off. Haing said that, Jones can still be traded if the Cubs choose to go with Pie in RF in the future. Hendry is hinting at wanting to lock up Pierre longterm at some point.