USSoccer

Yep. Jimenez would be playing everyday and Cedeno would be sitting on the bench. I love what Cedeno has the potential to become, but he's about as unknown of a commodity as anyone on the Cubs roster. The first sign of struggle, Jose Macias (or whoever the veteran flavor of the day happens to be) to the rescue. It's one thing when guys like Cedeno get sat in favor of the likes of Perez or Macias. It would be another if he sat in favor of Jimenez, who actually has value and would be an asset to the team. It's unfair to compare D'Angelo to Neifi. I'm not comparing Jimenez to Neifi. I didn't even mention Neifi. My point is that Baker wouldn't give Cedeno the time he needs to prove he is WAY better than Neifi, Macias, Jimenez or whoever else might be considered for a back up job behind him. The first sign of struggle, he'll be on the bench. I'm in the bring back Nomar camp, and I believe Nomar is way better than all the above names. Quite possibly better than all of them combined. I agree that Nomar should be brought back.

He missed time in the middle of 2004, IIRC, but came back after maybe 3 or 4 weeks.

Prior wasn't shut down at the end of 2004. He pitched the Sunday game that Dempster and Hawkins blew in the 9th, and Mercker blew in the 10th. He then lost 2-1 in extras after a Austin Kearns game tying HR.

Yep. Jimenez would be playing everyday and Cedeno would be sitting on the bench. I love what Cedeno has the potential to become, but he's about as unknown of a commodity as anyone on the Cubs roster. The first sign of struggle, Jose Macias (or whoever the veteran flavor of the day happens to be) to the rescue. It's one thing when guys like Cedeno get sat in favor of the likes of Perez or Macias. It would be another if he sat in favor of Jimenez, who actually has value and would be an asset to the team. It's unfair to compare D'Angelo to Neifi.

BTW, per the termsof Matsui's contract the Yankees can't even offer him Arbitration, so he needs to be signed by whatever that deadline is (Dec. 7th?). If I'm Hendry, I bid on him if only to drive his cost up. Dump him in RF if you get him.

The only scenario I can see either player not in New York pinstripes is if the Yankees try and move ARod to the Red Sox for Manny, which I seriously doubt would ever happen. Then again, there were rumors of Boston's interest in Giles, which would be odd since they have 2 corner OF's under contract right now (Nixon and Manny). So you never know...

I think I'm with you here, 'Cuse. I want to see Hendry bring in one veteran reliever, but apart from whoever that is I expect good things out of Wuertz, Novoa and Ohman. Sooner our later our vaunted young arms need to give us some production. Of course, as you noted, it would be nice for Baker to not nuke these guys by July 1st, as he did with Wuertz, Farnsworth and Borowski....

I'd do it.

I don't think that deal stands a snowball's chance in hell of getting done. The Yankees are going to want a name player to give up Arod. Only if Stein and his cabal are calling the shots. If Cashman is, well, ARod is not the most popular Yankee, and he knows that they need some young, cheap pitching. I think it's a deal that could be considered. When it involves marquis players, Stein is always calling the shots. His health is failing him, though, and perhaps the 5 title-less years might be enough to get him to let his GM do his job.

I don't think that deal stands a snowball's chance in hell of getting done. The Yankees are going to want a name player to give up Arod. Only if Stein and his cabal are calling the shots. If Cashman is, well, ARod is not the most popular Yankee, and he knows that they need some young, cheap pitching. I think it's a deal that could be considered.

I would not trade ARam to get ARod, but I would offer the following: Patterson Pinto or Nolasco Williams Walker (pick up option and trade him) and I'd take back ARod Gordon If Cashman is running things in NY, that deal has a chance. Cashman is a smart enough GM to know that he needs young, cheap pitching. Williams and one of Pinto/Nolasco would be very tempting. Hill could be offered as well. Patterson would play a defensive CF for them that they really need, and Walker would be an upgrade for them over Cano, who they could use as a utility IF. If Steinbrenner/Michaels are running things this winter, though, it would take ARam, and I don't want ARod badly enough to give up Aramis.

Maybe this will finally be the offseason where the Steinbrenner/Michaels faction in Tampa lets Cashman do his job without meddling. If Cashman is calling the shots, expect a retooling. If Steinbrenner is, expect them to get rid of one of their corner OF's, by either letting Matsui walk (doubtful) or trading Sheffield (possible), and trading Arod for Manny, straight up. Then they'll sign Burnett and BJ Ryan.

I guess then the question is... Why? Head case. See yesterday and Mitch Williams for more. Judging a pitcher on one outing and not the overall numbers is a very ridiculous thing to do. However, one look at his career postseason numbers will show that is he a gutless choking dog when you need him most. Sample.Size. I could do that with Greg Maddux; He isn't all that great in October, does that diminish the pitcher he was?

Maybe Hendry has a younger (possibly better) guy on his radar in a trade..... hopefully would be nice if he could pull off another Choi for Lee. Patterson for Burrell? Patterson for Hunter? Patterson would be the third player in any of those trades. His trade value is about as low as it could get without him getting in a shootout with NYC Cops because he was dealing crack from the head of the Statue of Liberty. And if we want one of our beat guys to print it, why don't we just ask Bruce Miles to toss the name into an article? Something like "Many Cub fans have their eyes on Brian Giles", or something like that.

Did he have a 5 run lead?? This was Bartmanish. 2 of those runs weren't Farnsworth's fault, and as I pointed out, questionable calls cost Farns. Finally, the crap LF wall helped out Berkman's GS, as in any other park it would have been just a double.

Mariano Rivera has choked away W.S. clinching saves in 2001, and ALCS clinching saves twice in 2004. Does this mean he's a bad reliever? Eckersley gave up a home run to a gimped out, old, bad Kirk Gibson in a W.S. save situation. Is he bad? Also, keep in mind that the Braves got hosed on 2 calls that inning, one of which was an inning ending DP that wasn't because supposedly Franco's foot came off the bag. One of those calls falls differently and Farns gets out of the 8th. I know Farns rubbed people the wrong way because of some off the field issues, but stats show he was always very reliable until Baker/Baylor ran him into the ground, usually around July.

I wouldn't mind, but the Cubs are too chemistry conscious to take a flyer on him.

See sig for what I think of trades based on chemistry concerns.

RP- With respect to Mark Prior, his injuries were almost all freak injuries. It's not as if running into Marcus Giles or getting hit in the elbow by a line drive are his fault. Likewise, the one DL stint for Prior in 2004 can likely be attributed to gross overuse in 2003, which can be laid at the feet of the decision makers in the organization. Ditto for Kerry Wood, except with Wood you wouldn't want to move him to the pen since his salary is too high for a setup man, and his problem is mechanical. After 2006, if he still isn't healthy, or misses signifigant time with another arm injury, he should be shown the door, as he is a great pitcher, but spends too much time on the shelf to be useful to the Cubs. As far as Oneri Flieta or Jim Hendry go, they may look at me like I'm crazy, but given the Cubs track record with P prospects and arm injuries, I'd be entitled to look at them the exact same way. Christiansen, Ryu, Wood, Guzman, Brownlie, Hagarty and several others have all had serious arm injuries while with this club. Sure, you expect that to happen to some of your prospects, but patterns show up when the injury list grows. So they can look at me crazy, but it's not unreasonable to suggest something different to get someone with that much talent to contribute in some way to the 2006 Cubs. And again, I'm not bashing Guzman. I want him to do well, but I disagree with you that having his start is the only way for his talent to help the Cubs.

Just for the record, unless we're getting ARod or Cabrera, I would not trade Aramis. He's a star. I'd sooner trade Lee.

How similar were the situations? How many options did Liriano have left? How old is he? I just don't know enough about his situation to be able to compare the two.

RP- I've seen him pitch, albieit on television and not in person, and I've seen his talent. He's a great talent. However, his talent means nothing unless he stays healthy, and the Cubs need to explore every option possible in order to keep him healthy. Certainly he hasn't been able to avoid injury while being a starter. If it means having him use only 2 pitches in the pen, then go for it. You cannot wait forever to see if this will be the season that Angel stays healthy. You can only really wait one more year, and even that's questionable. Believe me, I'm on his bandwagon, if that means I want him to contribute positively to the 2006 Chicago Cubs. However, based on his past injury history, I have to question how the organization has approached his role. Maybe 4 pitches is too much for his arm. Maybe he's just one of those guys that can only handle a certain amount of wear and tear. I hope he's in good shape, and I'd rather him be a starter, if all things were equal. But there should be real questions about his durability as a starting pitcher. Past injuries, as Gonny said, are the best predictor of future injuries. I know you see more of the prospects than I do, certainly, and I'll defer to your knowledge about the shape Angel is in, but I'm just too skeptical of his history to be counting on him as a starter.

The trouble is that he's not likely to have much trade value, and even if he did, it would mean he was healthy and then the Cubs would be insane to trade him. I'm not saying Angel isn't talented, because he is. The debate (in my mind) is how we can best use Angel and his talents. IMO, assuming he can be a starter is taking a real risk, because he's had a history of arm issues. Putting him in the pen would be a different, possibly lower stress way to get him contributing to the ML team. It wouldn't hurt to try something different.

Nebraska

So does that mean this was his first year on the 40 man roster? I'm almost positive he was on the 40 man in 2003, wasn't he?