Bgbird68

I'm sure a lot of Cub fans were thinking this at the end of last year...., "I could see the Cubs winning the Series if they can somehow sign Eyre, Howry, Jacque Jones and trade for Pierre". I thought once the "Sammy money" was off the books, the Cubs would be major players this offseason? Tribco is going to pocket a LOT of money this offseason. Same old, same old.

http://1060west.blogspot.com/2005/12/embarassment-of-riches.html

The Cubs don't have a 100 million dollar payroll.

http://www.dailyherald.com/sports/cubs.asp "The Cubs have at least two unspecified trade proposals on the table." Let the speculation begin............

http://www.dailyherald.com/sports/cubs.asp This better not happen.

Am I the only one here who would rather see Pie in a trade rather than Cedeno? I just have a gut feeling that Cedeno will be a better ballplayer. I don't know why or have any stats to back it up, just a feeling.

I have a feeling the Cubs will be acquiring Mench.

I like how he says "his" teams aren't bad fundamentally, but the Cubs historically have been. Does this mean he is not managing the team? Is there a Dusty look a like on the bench during the year? Has there ever been a weirder guy as a Cub manager? How anyone can defend this guy is amazing.

To counter my last post there is this: http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/cs-051205cubs,1,974000.story?coll=cs-cubs-headlines From this article, it looks like Pierre is "top priority" if the Devil Ray deal isn't done. Mods you can lock this. Someone else posted this link Sorry.. I'm just going to sit back and watch what happens.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/marlins/content/sports/epaper/2005/12/06/a5c_marlinsnotes_1206.html

Actually, what the Marlins are doing is the right thing in my opinion. Assuming that they figured that once they dealt enough players to get under what they could spend, they realized they were not going to be a competitive team for a couple of years. Is it better then to hold on to players who will not be with you when you are competitive again or is it better to deal those as well in order to get you more pieces to help you when you do plan to be competitive? I think the second option is what you should do and it is exactly what the Marlins are doing. Secondly, they have chosen the best time to do such a "fire sale". With the weak FA class, their trading chips have more value than they would in a year when teams could fix their problems via free agency. Third is losing 100 games that much worse than losing 88-90 in the grand sceme of things? Finally, before someone injects that they are alienating their fan base, the Marlins haven't had much of a fan base to begin with and it's doubtful that they will stay in South Florida. It's better to have a strong young nucleus to compete with and for your new fan base to grow with when you move to a new locale than to hang on to some players just because they're popular with the 5,000 fans who happen to come to your games. I totally agree. And I'll say that they will rebuild and win another title before the Cubs. (I know....what a reach).

I actually laughed out loud when I read that. Classic line.

Rosenthal on the Fox site said that Ponson has quit drinking and lost weight. Would he be worth a flier? I haven't seen him pitch in a while so I'm not really sure what to expect.

can be waived

3 yrs/ 40 mil

http://www.latimes.com/sports/baseball/mlb/dodgers/la-spw-dodgers3dec03,1,2798857.story?coll=la-headlines-sports&ctrack=1&cset=true Wow, that's going to be hard to turn down.

Agreed. I don't want Finley.

The Cubs can't make an offer to the Marlins for Pierre and Castillo? If Castillo gets traded to anyone else, Hendry dropped the ball. Cedeno and Castillo would be great, but I think the Marlins would probably want Cedeno in a trade. I hope that Texas deal just goes away. That is wayyy too much for those two.

http://www.670thescore.com/includes/news_items/1/580/dustybaker.mp3 This is good for a laugh.....or a cry......or a violent tossing of your computer speakers.

I just talked to Neifi and he said even with no Raffy there's nothing to worry about.

Just curious on people's opinions of the two. Who would you rather the Cubs acquire?

the "good times"? Oh come on, just because it ended badly doesn't mean you didn't have a good time at all. Try and tell me that wasn't one of the best summer's and falls of your life until Game 5. Any "good times" I had that year were wiped out by the choke. Much worse for me than '84.

I hope this isn't true. That's wayyyy too much for Soriano and Mench. How about trade for Lugo, put Cedeno at second and sign Giles?

? If a team has consistently failed and the team has similar characteristics year after year and yet continues to fail, how could the characteristics not factor into causing the failure?

the "good times"?