USSoccer

If he's Mench's platoon partner, then it's pretty good.

It is certainly not much of a drop, I don't have the stats in front of me but i'm pretty certain Walker gets on base at a better clip than Soriano and their defense is probably equal. And Soriano knocks in more runs, scores more runs and hits more homers. OBP is not the only thing in baseball, unless you bat 1st or 2nd. You need run producers to knock in the OBP guys. Even billy Beane acknowledges that. It's not a very good comparison. Soriano is more of a 6th hitter, where his SLG% and power numbers help the offense best. Walker is more of a 2 hole guy. Both are average at best defensively.

I think Furcal used the Cubs and Dodgers to milk extra cash out of Atlanta.

Excellent. If he signs with us, I owe everyone that actually believed it beforehand here a Coke. I'm serious. I'll mail everyone here a Coke if he signs here. That's a lot of cokes. Can I get a Cherry Coke if it happens? :lol: Ewww, coke. How about a Pepsi? See my above post. It has to be in groups of 12.

Excellent. If he signs with us, I owe everyone that actually believed it beforehand here a Coke. I'm serious. I'll mail everyone here a Coke if he signs here. That's a lot of cokes. Can I get a Cherry Coke if it happens? :lol: Only if 11 other people want a Cherry Coke. Make it a little easy on me.

If Texas wanted a Cubs pitcher in a trade, in order, it would probably go: Z Prior Williams Hill Wood Why would they trade players and take that kind of risk on Wood when they could trade the same players for a pitcher that's cheaper, will be there longer and is much less of an injury risk? Or, why wouldn't they throw money at Washburn or Weaver?

Excellent. If he signs with us, I owe everyone that actually believed it beforehand here a Coke. I'm serious. I'll mail everyone here a Coke if he signs here.

Well, it's not really that. It's that people talk about trading Wood like it's easy. First off, he's coming fof a shoulder surgery. He doesn't have all that much value right now. Why would you trade low like that? Also, ignoring the NTC is stupid and lazy journalism. His wife is from Waukegan, they're expecting their first child, so why would he waive it and move his family to Texas? That's what it is. I just look at it as a trade rumor . No need to take shots at Phil Rogers or the Score, they are simply doing the same thing many of us do on the board everyday, which is to speculate or discuss trade ideas. The idea of trading Wood to the Rangers is one that has been floating around for awhile, presumably because Wood is from Texas and Texas needs pitching. First, if you're going to speculate, do at least the bare minimum of research if you're hosting a radio show. That's what they are paid to do, and that's what should be expected of them. Next, just because Wood is from Texas and Texas needs pitching doesn't mean beans. Everyone needs pitching, and no one on our roster is from Chicago except for Hairston. Are there ill informed rumors about them? People have had it out for Wood for a few years in this town. I'm not shocked that people would pick up on such an obviously stupid rumor and run with it, but professionals should know better than to spout ignorant and poorly educated opinions. Sorry, but I don't see this rumor as being any worse than some of the other garbage reported this off season. It is not beyond the realm of possibility that the Cubs are shopping Wood. If Wood has a NTC, they would have to at least send him to a team they thought he would accept a trade to (which Texas is probably one of them). BTW is Wood's trade clause a full no trade or a partial no trade? As far as I know, it's a full NTC.

I don't know a single person on this site but I respect the views of everyone here. Maybe there are some who could do as well, maybe not. My question is. Why don't these people who could do better hold that position? Granted, keeping Macias and not protecting Sisco might not have been the best thing to do. I but also read many, many times that people on this site were saying that no way Sisco would stay at the major league level therefore we would be getting him back. Most here have more of an insight on baseball then I do. But second guessing the past is still second guessing. Because ML GM spots don't exactly get posted on Monster.com. No one here that I know of played baseball professionaly. Some of us played sports in college, but I for one played the wrong sport. Thus, opportunities for us to interview for GM spots are rare. I know JC got a call regarding the Boston position, but he didn't like Lucchino, and so he passed. Tim moved from California to avoid being contacted about the Dodgers position. Point is, it's an exclusive club of insiders. It's not that easy to break in, but just because it's exclusive doesn't mean the people in it are the end all, be all. A lot of them are pretty baseball stupid. Look at Steve Phillips. Look at how Kevin Towers handled trading Dave Roberts, and then overpaid to get him back. Look at Jim Bowden, O'Brien in Cinci, Baird in KC, Littlefield in Pittsburgh, etc, etc. Those GM's make consistently bad decisions that defy logic.

Well, it's not really that. It's that people talk about trading Wood like it's easy. First off, he's coming fof a shoulder surgery. He doesn't have all that much value right now. Why would you trade low like that? Also, ignoring the NTC is stupid and lazy journalism. His wife is from Waukegan, they're expecting their first child, so why would he waive it and move his family to Texas? That's what it is. I just look at it as a trade rumor . No need to take shots at Phil Rogers or the Score, they are simply doing the same thing many of us do on the board everyday, which is to speculate or discuss trade ideas. The idea of trading Wood to the Rangers is one that has been floating around for awhile, presumably because Wood is from Texas and Texas needs pitching. First, if you're going to speculate, do at least the bare minimum of research if you're hosting a radio show. That's what they are paid to do, and that's what should be expected of them. Next, just because Wood is from Texas and Texas needs pitching doesn't mean beans. Everyone needs pitching, and no one on our roster is from Chicago except for Hairston. Are there ill informed rumors about them? People have had it out for Wood for a few years in this town. I'm not shocked that people would pick up on such an obviously stupid rumor and run with it, but professionals should know better than to spout ignorant and poorly educated opinions.

What's George's source? Furcal's cat?

Wow. That's just stupid. How could the 3rd biggest media market have so many bad sports journalists? I wish Bruce Miles had his own show.

Well, it's not really that. It's that people talk about trading Wood like it's easy. First off, he's coming fof a shoulder surgery. He doesn't have all that much value right now. Why would you trade low like that? Also, ignoring the NTC is stupid and lazy journalism. His wife is from Waukegan, they're expecting their first child, so why would he waive it and move his family to Texas? That's what it is.

So have half the hosts on the Score. I just called The Score and when asked what my comment was going to be I told them that because of Wood's NTC the Cubs have to get his permission before a trade can be completed. The phone screener asked someone else in the room if Kerry had a NTC (insulting), then came back to me and said no he doesn't because he's not a 5-10 guy! I insisted that he did and that clown disconnected my line. I wish someone else would tell those fools the truth. Holmes and Cannelias are talking like the Cubs can ship Kerry out without his consent. :? :x Lou Canelis is a low rent loser. He's been fired numerous times. He hasn't even read the paper. Just a loser, but then again, he fits in with the score. Blueheart, just email them. Maybe then they'll bother to research their banter before putting it on to the air.

So have half the hosts on the Score.

More than likely it means the "Score" has been reading the Trib and it's a slow news day. They likely are re-reporting Rodger's column. ESPN 1000 is reporting that Rotoworld is reporting that the Score is reporting that Phil Rogers is reporting the Cubs may or may not have a deal to send Kerry Wood to Texas. We'll have more on this when we have more on this. Again, well played! This thread has been a comedy gold mine thus far.

More than likely it means the "Score" has been reading the Trib and it's a slow news day. They likely are re-reporting Rodger's column.

Well played, Wade. :D

I'd be shocked if that was anything more than lazy journalism by Rogers. There's not a Cub on the 25 man that has less value than the recently operated on Wood.

It doesn't matter if I, or anyone else here who is critical of the Cubs this winter has an inside track to the organization. You don't need a 30 yr career in baseball or a titled job position with the Cubs to know that protecting Jose Macias at the expense of better players left off the 40 man is dumb. You don't need a degree in economics to know that you don't overpay for something you have in abundance (utility IF and LHP). You don't just hand a giant contract extension to a player who's career BA is 100 points less than what he had in his most recent season. You don't have to be a doctor to know that, if Wood is behind schedule in ST, it's because of the indefensible decision to stick him in the bullpen for 3 weeks. Most importantly, you don't need to be a Major League General Manager to realize that the Cubs' failure last season was due in large part to the fact that they had the absolute worst OBP from their 1 and 2 hitters in the entire league, and maybe, just maybe, that should be addressed. The whole "You-Can't-Criticize-Cause-You-Don't-Know-Baseball-Cause You Aren't-Working-In-Baseball" angle is crap. You're telling me there aren't 20 posters here that couldn't be a better major league GM than some of the goofs that are currently major league GMs? I'm sorry. I'll argue this point with you until it kills Tim's bandwidth. It's a bad argument. It's a foolish argument and a losing point.

It's not like he had only 50 AB's in September to look at. He had 150 AB's from which to draw on. That's more than enough time for at least his own division to get the book on him. I'd personally try him hitting 2nd. It's not like he won't see good pitches, with Lee and ARam behind him. He has a good eye and good plate discipline. Those are traits that don't slump.

I haven't read a single thing that said he'd be ready. I've read that they hope he's ready, but they really don't know. I highly doubt he'll start on time in February. He probably won't be ready by opening day. Of course, they'll never admit their stupidity with the bullplen thing that is largely responsible for all the doubt. It's not hard to predict how this will go down. They'll need to "bring him along slowly". Long toss. Towel drills. Sim outings. He'll be babied to the nth degree, and then, lo and behold, it'll be the end of March and he'll be 3 weeks behind schedule, and you'll hear rumors of rehab assignments, extended ST, etc, etc. And of course, no one who interviews Hendry or Baker will bring up the idiotic bullpen experiemtn of 2005, which cost Wood about 3 weeks of unecessary time before surgery. If it's any different than that, I owe everyone who disagrees a coke.

Hendry is talking about an extension for DLee, so I don't even know why this topic keeps being brought up. There isn't a snowball's chance in hell of Lee being traded this offseason. people talk about the cubs winning the world series, and we all know that's never going to happen. Not if our General Manager continues his recent performance we're not. Guys, I fully understand the frustration about the Cubs. What I don't understand is the bashing of Hendry all the time. He's made good and bad moves. Just as all GM's do. We don't have that inside track of what he is being told to do or the boundries he has to work in. Some here have more insight/connections to the organization but no one knows exactly what goes on behind closed doors. If someone here has that information then they should be able to step in and take Hendry's job. Most people were all fired up about Dusty's hiring (including myself) now most want to run him out on a rail. I believe Dusty has taken this team to a higher, now its time to bring someone else in to finish the job. I admit that I can't spend the time that a lot of folks do researching and following baseball. But to bash a man like Hendry after some of the great things he has done seems wrong to me. Prior and Woods injuries weren't his fault, Sosa losing his edge wasn't his fault. I'm probably out of line about this. But if we were able to do a better job then Hendry, don't you think we would've been hired for the job? I'm not bashing you or anyone at all. I just think he's got a job to do like everyone else and has guidelines to follow. Even the owners have guidelines to follow and they have to dig into their own pocket to make the changes they want. Let the hanging begin!!! That argument is getting pretty tired and has no legs. I could list about 20 reasons now why Hendry isn't getting the job done as of 12/03/2005. Sure, that might change, and I really hope it does, but just because he holds the position doesn't mean he's doing a good job, or even his best job. The fact of the matter is that he's showing a complete lack of skill in certain alarming, simple areas. Managing the 40 man roster. Managing the 25 man roster. Economics. Identifying weaknesses. Filling said weaknesses. Getting the most out of your manager. Holding off on extensions for players who had years wildly out of line with their career norms. I can go on and on. He's made 4 really good moves as GM. That tells me he's not totally stupid. If he were totally stupid, people around here would be treating him like we have no other expectation. He can do better than he's showing.

Hendry and baker seem to need the MLB equivalent of security blankets. Oh like this? http://img476.imageshack.us/img476/2353/linusblanket3pw.jpg exactly!

Hendry and baker seem to need the MLB equivalent of security blankets.