USSoccer

Here's the thing, though-if we get the two "a" prospects like Loewen, Penn or Markakis, what's the point? Baker won't play them, and Hendry won't fire Baker, so we'd probably use whatever prospects we'd get to spin for Zito, or something. I'd rather have the prospects.

Some vitals on iamshack: Member there since June of 2005 with 137 posts. So it's not just some random troll, probably. I doubt it's true, though.

Markakis and Hayden Penn, then, it had better be.

Honestly, most people saw that Pierre trade coming a mile away. We all knew Jimmy boy coveted a solution to top of the order, speed, and CF. We also knew the Marlins were looking for pitching that was ML-ready (or close to it) and would be cheap for a reasonable length of time. Plus, sports writers are awesome at throwing crap at the wall 365 days a year. Thing is, the one time it actually sticks, you proclaim yourself a success and then everyone worships you for it. Not true. Other outlets, including WGN radio's Dave Kaplan claimed that Hendry did not have a trade in the works and hadn't talked to Florida regarding Pierre. Levine not only was one of the first people to report about a possible trade, but also named the players that were involved in the trade weeks before it happened. You call it luck, some might believe that he had inside knowledge. Ofman actually called the players involved about a month before it happened, not Levine. I think you got it mixed up. Levine reported the Pierre trade on November 15, 2005 and later named all of the possible players involved, which turned out to be the actual players involved. I'm 100% positive that the first time I heard the name Reynel Pinto involved in a Pierre trade, it came from Ofman's mouth. But no matter. Reporters-all of them-that try and break stories are hit and miss.

"Ohhhh noooooo!!" I was at the Brant Brown game; one of the most amazing games I've ever witnessed, partly because of the Sosa hysteria (he hit #64 and #65 that game) and partly because of the Brewers 7-run comeback and that play. I was in the left field bleachers and had a unique sightline on the hit. I'm not defending BB but that ball wasn't a can of corn ... it wasn't a frozen rope either, but it was hit hard and it was hooking. The sun was somewhat of a factor too. I remember looking up after seeing the ball hit the ground, watching the Brewers flying around the bases ... they were running on contact with two outs, so Brown had no chance to cut down the winning run. I think I saw a few Cub infielders on their knees in shock. I heard later that Brown was in tears when he entered the dugout. I really thought the Cubs were finished at that point; little did we know the huge favor Neifi! would do for us in the near future. Trivia q: who hit the ball to Brant Brown? ans: Cub killer Geoff Jenkins. Who scored the winning run? Jeromy Burnitz. Who got the win? Chad Fox. Also, more trivia: Brant Brown was a ninth-inning defensive replacement for Glenallen Hill, who was 0-5 that day. Best post-game quote from Shooter: "If they had a four-letter word for baseball, we'd probably be using it." (I'm not even sure what that was supposed to mean, but it sounds about right coming from Shooter's mouth.) Sosa actually hit 3 that day, IIRC> I was in the LF upper deck. He hit two out to RF and one to CF that never went more than 10 feet off the ground. Hardest hit baseball I've ever seen.

Honestly, most people saw that Pierre trade coming a mile away. We all knew Jimmy boy coveted a solution to top of the order, speed, and CF. We also knew the Marlins were looking for pitching that was ML-ready (or close to it) and would be cheap for a reasonable length of time. Plus, sports writers are awesome at throwing crap at the wall 365 days a year. Thing is, the one time it actually sticks, you proclaim yourself a success and then everyone worships you for it. Not true. Other outlets, including WGN radio's Dave Kaplan claimed that Hendry did not have a trade in the works and hadn't talked to Florida regarding Pierre. Levine not only was one of the first people to report about a possible trade, but also named the players that were involved in the trade weeks before it happened. You call it luck, some might believe that he had inside knowledge. Ofman actually called the players involved about a month before it happened, not Levine.

Exactly. The most credible people are the dorm room GMs with the most time and the most posts. Your fault for not realizing that. peace, guys. peace. :D

Seriously. I really need to hear someone talk about how Maddux needs to retire. He's not a plus in the rotation.

Good. Here's hoping he keeps backing down...although I like how Levine keeps citing all sorts of nonsense intagibles that Tejada has.

I don't know about that. Maddux got crushed a lot last season, and you can only expect it to get worse as he's another year older. He gave up a ton of home runs, and put us out of a lot of games early. I don't see it as that far out of the question. Estes was 8-11 with a 5.73 in 2003 He gave up 20 hr's. Maddux was 13-15 with a 4.24, and gave up 29. The only thing keeping his ERA from exploding is the fact that he doesn't walk guys, but that could easily change with age. It's really not that much of a stretch

Of course he would, and of course the convential wisdom of the majority of the beat writers would not call him out for it. I fully expect a cleanup hitting Jones to cost Ramirez a ton of RBI opportunities.

This pitching staff can be quite good with Zambrano and Prior at the top of their game, with or without Wood at his best. But take away Prior, and then Wood's status becomes an enormous obstacle. And if you throw in the fact that 2006 Greg Maddux has a chance to make Shawn Estes of 2003 look desirable going into 2006, and that's an even bigger obstacle.

The O's tend to be pretty slow about things plus there seems to be a lot of different offers on the table to evaluate. I think if a team backs out it'll be the O's but they are in a bind considering Tejada wants out. Which is another reason Hendry shouldn't give up Prior. It's their player that wants out; we should have more leverage than we're acting like.

The IF becomes a strenght, but then the pitching becomes a weakness. I'm not the one who said it would be the worst in my lifetime. But I'm much more likely to side with the person who makes that claim than the person who has no problem dealing Prior because he's only won 18 games once so far in his career. There's a really good chance that Prior will have the best career of anybody the Cubs developed in my lifetime outside of Maddux, and he wasn't traded. So it could end up being the worst trade. Let's say Tejada comes here, has a nice 2-3 years then settles into one of those guys living off his reputation (occasionally looking great but largely much less productive than his former self). During that time the Cubs pitching is highly questionable, Lee returns to normal and the team fails to make any postseason noice. Meanwhile, over the next 10 years Prior develops into a top 5 pitcher in the game, consistently posts a 3.50 ERA or lower, wins 12-20 games a year, and picks up a Cy Young. This set of circumstances is hardly far from possible, and would leave most Cubs fans absolutely disgusted by the results of the trade. The Cubs would have to win it all in 2006 or 2007 to make that trade seem justified, but their pitching would have taken such a big hit that their odds would be no better than if they just maintained status quo. There is a chance that this might happen. There is also a chance that Prior's arm falls off. It's obvious that most people on this board feel that the risk highly outweighs the reward. I just don't feel that the Cubs starting pitching is not as good as everyone makes it out to be. Hopefully I'm wrong. The best case scenario for the rotation is that Z becomes a clear #1, but then we don't really have a #2. Maddux and Rusch are #5's, Williams is a #4, and Bedard and Wood are #3's. Plus we lose one of our backup SP's in Hill, which means if Wood doesn't come back well, our rotation looks like this: Z Bedard Williams Maddux Rusch. Even if Wood comes back, Z Wood Bedard Williams Maddux is not that gfreat. That's a really suspect rotation. REALLY suspect. Instead of losing 3-2, we'll be losing 6-5.

If they really thought they needed a $9m #5 pitcher when they could have easily filled that role internally, or even through FA at a much cheaper cost, then that was a very, very bad decision.

They couldn't afford him in 2003 because of the ridiculous contract MacPhail gave to Sosa. Actually, they could afford him. He was a free agent at the end of the '03 season. Cubs management spent money on Grudz, Walker, Hawkins and Maddux to name a few. He also added Nomar at the trade deadline. By the way, Tejada made 7m in 2004 with that shiny, new deal. Affordable? Absolutely. Alex Gonzalez got 5.5m in 2004. Hendry was able to move Hundley and his 6m contract the previous year, so thinking there was no way they could move the guy who botched the ground ball in the NL Championship series is not reasonable. Alex had a lot more value than Hundley did. You can take it a couple steps farther and say that had the Cubs not traded Choi for Lee, they would have been able to afford both Gonzo and Tejada if Alex proved impossible to move, or, Hendry could have gone to the Trib to authorize extra money for Tejada instead of for Maddux. Given Gonzo's NLCS error, and Tejada's rep, it might have been an easier conversation than adding a $9m 5th starter. There were tons of ways Hendry could have added Tejada

Is there a way to flood Hendry with emails expressing our displeasure with his actions?

I don't think they have the payroll room to sign Weaver if they trade for Tejada.

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/13489985.htm Another good thing for the Cubs, as it eliminates a replacement for Prior, further giving Hendry pause

The more time passer the bigger the chance that IMO nothing will happen, especially if Millwood and Weaver sign somewhere before a trade happens. I don't think that Hendry trades Prior without having one of the FA pitchers available. I'm hoping the holiday gave Hendry time to actually think about this.

Wouldn't it be pretty darn sweet if we hear "the Cubs have just traded for Miguel Tejada" and it included a bunch of people that made all of us say "WHO???". I doubt it, but I did have a similar reaction to the Nomar deal. I knew who the players were, I just couldn't believe that's all it took to get Nomar AND Murton. I'm still holding onto that ray of sunshine that Hendry has been able to produce on occasion. He has a history of making the big trade while giving up little in return, and I just refuse to believe he will do something incredibly stupid now. And maybe I've been drinking too much tonight. given how disasterously poor our offseason has been, i'd say we Cubs fans are due a little good luck

He can't, and I'm one of his biggest fans. Well, okay, maybe he can be a marginal 2. He's got no shot at being a 1. Yeah but even for a dominate 3 let's say and a top 3 SS for a 1/2 pitcher? I think it would be worth it. Not when the top 3 SS will decline over the next 3 years, wheras the 1/2 pitcher is 3 years away from FA and still reaching his peak. This is the only post I've read in this thread. is that a good thing or a bad thing? :D

He can't, and I'm one of his biggest fans. Well, okay, maybe he can be a marginal 2. He's got no shot at being a 1. Yeah but even for a dominate 3 let's say and a top 3 SS for a 1/2 pitcher? I think it would be worth it. Not when the top 3 SS will decline over the next 3 years, wheras the 1/2 pitcher is 3 years away from FA and still reaching his peak.

He'll be awfully hard to trade if he's that bad.

They're either diabolically brilliant in trying to exploit Hendry's desperation, or incredibly stupid for looking a gift horse in the mouth and not taking the already lopsided deal and running.