USSoccer

It would take a mathematical anomaly for the ages to have the teams ahead of us lose in exactly the right order and fashion PLUS us maybe lose 1 or 2 more games the rest of the way for us to win the WC. Before that last 8 game bender I thought that if we could be within 4 going into the last series with Houston we would have a shot. Now, even if we're 4 in back of Houston we might be 4 in back of another team. Is it even mathmatically possible for us to climb over all these teams? What are their schedules?

Wow, the Giants just got Blancowned

Well, that's good. Cedeno is out. He probably broke his hand. So much for him getting some AB's this September.

Is arbitration really that screwed up that Corey would earn at least a $1m raise this year? I know it's tough to cut a guy's salary, but Corey has had as close to a disaster season as you can get. If the Cubs offered $2.9m I can't see an arbiter siding with Patterson at 4. The right offer to Preston is about $2m. At the most you consider 2/10, but anything over $4m is a joke. He stinks. Is he better than what we have at the price we're paying it? Is paying Wilson 5-6m/yr worse than paying Damon 12m for 5 years?

Must you ruin my winter before it begins? Not my intention sir. But we know Hendry likes this guy, and he's a free agent, so we have to consider the possibility that Hendry will look at him. And, as I said in another thread, if Wilson accepted a 2 year deal in the $10-12M range AND Hendry addressed corner outfield with a guy like Giles, Dunn, Mench, etc..., I think it would work out fine. Just my opinion. There is plenty of money to sign Wilson and pay for a stud corner OF. Especially in light of the fact that it seems that Cedeno is going to be starting at either 2B or SS next year. If you look at it objectively, Wilson, even though he's not very good, would give us a production increase over what Corey would give us, and if he came at about 6-7m/year, it's not that much more than Corey would cost us. Given the lack of CF available, it might not be as bad of a move as it would have been in June... Not that much more? It'd likely be twice as much. But it's not as if we'd keep Corey, so twice as much as 3.5m is still not that bad. It's paying an extra 3-4m for at least twice the production and similar defense.

Must you ruin my winter before it begins? Not my intention sir. But we know Hendry likes this guy, and he's a free agent, so we have to consider the possibility that Hendry will look at him. And, as I said in another thread, if Wilson accepted a 2 year deal in the $10-12M range AND Hendry addressed corner outfield with a guy like Giles, Dunn, Mench, etc..., I think it would work out fine. Just my opinion. There is plenty of money to sign Wilson and pay for a stud corner OF. Especially in light of the fact that it seems that Cedeno is going to be starting at either 2B or SS next year. I could handle that if Baker can figure out how to do a lineup. I can just see Perez leading off next year. If Bkaer gets used to him enough in September maybe we could have Murton lead off....

Must you ruin my winter before it begins? Not my intention sir. But we know Hendry likes this guy, and he's a free agent, so we have to consider the possibility that Hendry will look at him. And, as I said in another thread, if Wilson accepted a 2 year deal in the $10-12M range AND Hendry addressed corner outfield with a guy like Giles, Dunn, Mench, etc..., I think it would work out fine. Just my opinion. There is plenty of money to sign Wilson and pay for a stud corner OF. Especially in light of the fact that it seems that Cedeno is going to be starting at either 2B or SS next year. If you look at it objectively, Wilson, even though he's not very good, would give us a production increase over what Corey would give us, and if he came at about 6-7m/year, it's not that much more than Corey would cost us. Given the lack of CF available, it might not be as bad of a move as it would have been in June...

For good, bad or ugly: Mr. Preston Wilson, your table is now ready. You really think so, Hoops?

I think I'm in between feelings on Corey. On the one hand, you look at his ML experience and it's hard for me to weigh the half season he put up in 2003 greater than the past 2 seasons of performance. We have a large enough sample size to be able to evaluate a 26 yr old. He's bad at the plate, and has regressed since 2003, knee injury notwithstanding. He's not as cheap as he used to be, and he's basically a black hole at the bottom of the lineup, way worse than Gonzalez or Miller/Bako were in 2003. On the other hand, he's above average defensively, Hairston is clearly not beloved by Baker, and we don't have another option in the minors that would be an acceptable everyday ML centerfielder. If I were the Cubs, I'd forget about the winter ball thing, let his mind reboot, and go into spring thinking he's the CF. If a deal comes along where you're offered value for him, AND you can find yourself an acceptable alternative for CF, pull the trigger. If he can put up .260/.310, I'd take it and run. If not, when Pie is ready sometime next summer, trade him for cents on the dollar. I'm no longer thinking Corey is a building block, but he has one last chance to prove he can be not a liability.

But the Cubs were in a much different position going into 2003. They figured on Choi being the 1B of the future, and thought they were gearing up for a serious run in 2004/5. Now that our window is closing more rapidly, Hendry might feel differently, especially if Philly picks up salary.

Why would DePo trade for Patterson? He's not as cheap as he used to be, and he'd be moving to an extreme pitchers park. The only thing he'd give LA is defense in CF, but LA needs offense. I think CPatt gets dumped onto a bad team for a mid tier prospect. I don't see us getting anything in value for him, unless Hendry can convince a team his half season in 2003 is more lkely than his 2 bad seasons following it.

Mora could spell Thome and ARam at 1st and 3rd, play some OF...Markakis would give us a legit OF prospect that's ML ready.

Depends on the stud and Thome's back. Nick Markakis and Melvin Mora. Mora...isn't he an O? Isn't Markakis an O?

Depends on the stud and Thome's back. Nick Markakis and Melvin Mora.

Do the Orioles have anyone that could upgrade the Cubs? Other than Tejada obviously, I doubt they're trading him and I can't think of anybody else on their team I would want. Erik Bedard, but Id want a lot more than that. Markakis (sp)?

Here's a thought: If you could work a deal for Lee out where you get a stud OF, do you make a play for Thome if the Phils pick up half the salary?

What's most dissapointing is that there's been no accountability for any of the mistakes, from anyone. Hendry won't be held accountable for his awful winter, Baker hasn't been held accountable by Hendry for numerous things, and many of the playwers aren't help accountable for poor execution and poor performance. I think the Cubs window is closing very, very fast. Bruce, thanks for the info. Your contributions are fantastic!

Bruce, did you chuckle a bit when he said it? Or just sit and look like this --> :shock: Being a beat reporter has to be tough. You have to hold a straight face when Baker says something like that.... :D

Brian Anderson plz Isn't Anderson on their 40 man already? I'm hoping for Gio Gonzalez, myself. I'm sure he is, since he was just up here last week. It was more wishful thinking. :D

Brian Anderson plz

What else do you judge a GM on other than the success of the team he put together? Am I supposed to praise Hendry for putting together a team with a good batting average (ignoring the lack of OBP)? Should I get excited that he managed to once again field a pitching staff that will lead the league in K's? I am very willing, and very able to make a solid argument about how poorly this team was put together, and how Hendry has failed. I've done it for 3 years on this board. The results speak for themselves. The only way to justify defending Hendry's moves is by ignoring results and living in fairy tale land. What were your moves again?? Keep Choi? Sign Beltran?? The way you carried on about the Choi trade should leave you w/ little authority. If I recall correctly, Goony was one of the few posters that was screaming about Hendry diong nothing back in late November and December. It was apparent to him, and others, that Hendry had no real plan save for dealing Sosa at all costs. He, and others, got ripped then, too, for not hvaing "faith" in Hendry, or being impatient. Looking at where we stand today, it's obvious that those who ripped the Cubs for doing nothing and making shortsighted decisions were dead on. What's worse, Hendry seemed to count on improved health, rather than better ballplayers, to carry us in 2005. That didn't work out so well. And if you're going to cite the Choi debate as a reason to disregard his posts, then you're going to have to disregard about half the posters here who were of the same mind.

The organization's philosiphy on just about everything seems to be in question right now. One thing to me that seems odd is that we have had a lot of injuries to P prospects. Christiansen, Guzman, Brownlie, Ryu, and...there was one other one, the guy that got picked by FL in Rule 5 but got returned. That's a lot of your top minor league talent there that's gone down to injuries. Are Cub pitchers being used right in the minors? Either way, I hope the first thing Hendry and Co. do this fall, the second the season ends, is hold a big club meeting where they try and figure out how to fix something that looked so promising 18 months ago. They need to get a fast start this winter and not pitter patter around like they did last winter until the only players left are the Burnitzes of the world. I jknow Hendry likes his patience, but there's a point where patience can work against you.

not that bad of a strategy considering your RBI guys are due next and you have a runner at 3rd with only one out. Inexcusable by both DLee and Burnitz to not drive home that run. They should've at least got 1 in the 1st. Terrible strategy considering that Hairston is already at second, and it's the second batter of the game. Why give away an out? They played for 1 and didn't even get that, it's terrible baseball on all fronts. Wasn't Don Baylor pilloried for bunting with the 2nd batter of the game? It's terrible strategy. It also shows what kind of confidence Baker has in Cedeno

It's sound reasoning to trade one player for 2 guys that fill holes. Also, as I pointed out, it frees up pitchers to be traded to fill even more holes, AND it's very likely that Lee with experience a signifigant regression back to the mean of his career numbers. I think trading Lee would be a sound risk, since we'd be selling high, he's going to regress next year and he's at a position where there are usually able replacements available. That said, I'm not going to be upset in the least if we resign him, as long as the contract is reasonable.

FWIW, I'd do Lee for Kotsay and Zito. Both Lee and Zito are 1 year away from FA, but you get yourself a CF with a good OBP, decent pop and solid defense. He can fill the leadoff slot for you and it means you don't have to bring in Damon or Furcal. With Zito, he would take the place of Williams, give the Cubs a dominant LHP, and free up Williams/Hill/Mitre for an offseason trade to fill either 1B, or an OF spot. Lee is very likely to regress in 2006, so it's not like trading Pujols. You can find productive 1B out there, via trade or FA (Todd Helton, anyone?)