MeatampPotatoesMan

Thank you, but I prefer it my way.

i'm so jealous right now. :D

Hey, it's better than being AAAArdsma. What's with the Ks, Murton?

plz use against all RHP That's the best news I've heard all spring. No Jones in the 2-hole!

That might be ok as Walker's gone next year anyway and we probably won't have the money to keep williamson if he's lights out anyway (or room with Dempster, Eyre, and Howry).

:lol: when I saw this was a 20+ page thread, I assumed there had to be something more than the original report, so I read the whole thing... sucker! :lol: I just joined and I got sucked into reading the whole thing, too. Some of you guys are pretty sensitive. ain't dat the troof. I'm proud to say that all my posts in this thread were drama free. :lol:

I'm not sure exactly what this means, but I think I completely disagree. There is a whole lot of room for improvement. The bench still stinks, for one, and the OF is unacceptable. Now, there may not be much likelihood for significant improvement, but there is certainly room for improvement. My point was that the only guys likely to lose their jobs are Murton and Cedeno, not that this team couldn't be improved (especially our crappy OF). For example, we're not going to upgrade RF however much that would help us out as Jones just inked his 3 year deal. The positions we could use some improvement at are the ones that are locked up (CF, RF, bench). Hendry set up the roster so the only real improvement he can make is to replace one of the youngsters. I'd like to see the youngsters play, not get pushed aside or traded for an older and more expensive replacement with limited offensive upside. I'm as big of a fans of the youngsters as anybody. But I'm much more interested in the success of the Cubs than the development of any one kid. If he replaced Cedeno with Tejada, I wouldn't have a problem. If Abreu went to LF instead of Murton, I'm not going to be upset. And the bench is still in dire need of improvement, that can happen without bumping either of the kids. Tejada isn't going anywhere for less than a #2 starter. Abreu isn't getting moved for prospects either. It isn't simply replacing a youngster. you'd need to put a stud in their place to make it worthwhile ($ vs. performance issue), and that stud is going to change more of your roster than just the youngsters. Saying good-bye to Prior or Z is unacceptable in my eyes. The bench is the bench. Blanco and Mabry definitely aren't going anywhere. Hairston? Probably staying as Walker will be shown the door long before. Neifi isn't going anywhere after the 2 year contract. We're going to trade Walker or Williamson for some bench help? How does that help the team? Walker and Williamson plus prospects aren't going to bring us what we need.

I'm not sure exactly what this means, but I think I completely disagree. There is a whole lot of room for improvement. The bench still stinks, for one, and the OF is unacceptable. Now, there may not be much likelihood for significant improvement, but there is certainly room for improvement. My point was that the only guys likely to lose their jobs are Murton and Cedeno, not that this team couldn't be improved (especially our crappy OF). For example, we're not going to upgrade RF however much that would help us out as Jones just inked his 3 year deal. The positions we could use some improvement at are the ones that are locked up (CF, RF, bench). Hendry set up the roster so the only real improvement he can make is to replace one of the youngsters. I'd like to see the youngsters play, not get pushed aside or traded for an older and more expensive replacement with limited offensive upside.

We'll see how good that changeup is. A so-so changeup and his mediocre fastball won't cut it in the bigs as a starter, however good that hook is. I just hope his control is still there. Even w/o the changeup he could be a dominant LOOGY.

I agree much to my dismay (regarding the Cubs. I usually agree with goony). However, if the deal nets the Cubs a power stick in the OF I won't be disapointed. Even if that stick replaces Murton? I'm kind of upset by the trade talk. There isn't a whole lot of room for improvement on this team as set up other than to replace Murton or Cedeno. I don't see Williamson + Walker bringing us an improved offense. What power stick out there makes up for the loss of those two guys? Just one of those by themselves probably doesn't do anything but add payroll with whoever comes in.

A 2B? Why? Where did Hairston come from again? :lol: It's going to take premium ML talent to get Tejada, and not just a RP like Williamson. We're talking Prior or Z, which I find unacceptable.

Wilson doesn't suck, but 3/20 is stupid money for a defensive SS. Their payroll is under 40M still, right? 15%+ of your payroll on a defensive SS is a poor move.

ditto

He didn't even have to go slumpbusting before that game, either. Pure Grace.

Way to burn away the excess in a tight budget. Hendry is looking better and better (he still Sox).

great thread title.

Offensive help where? LF or SS? Awesome.

That is an extremely poor way of judging a prospect and his chances. Not to pronounce their careers over, but it worked pretty well for Hee Seop Choi, Bobby Hill, and Jason Dubois, none of whom did anything worth writing home about in their big league auditions and all of whom are now gone and not having much impact on their new teams. I don't know what else to say other than that ignoring a much larger sample in lieu of a small amount of playing time under wildly varying circumstances is very foolish. It may be a small sample size, but it's also the only true indicator of performance against that level of competition. AAA is very different from MLB. There are tons of AAAA players out there, who, just by looking at minor league numbers, you'd think are going to do very well in the bigs. Jeter's first exposure to the big leagues, .250 .294 .375 Arod's first year .204 .241 .204 Arod's second year .232 .264 .408 Mariano Rivera's first year 67 IP, 5.51 ERA Jason Giambi, .256 .364 .398 (looked a lot like Choi) It's foolish guys, really foolish. Otherwise you might have thought Cruz was going to be better than Maddux, or that Jerome Walton would have a better career than Jim Edmonds. Minor league numbers matter. I never said minor league numbers didn't matter, or scouting for that matter...just that small sample sizes aren't necessarily meaningless. It's just a part of the puzzle.

I think Lee is going to get more than Konerko money, which would make him more than slightly overpaid if he reverts to career norms. If he wants to cut us a discount along the lines of what Vance proposed, then I'd be pretty happy considering the crappy contracts doled out this offseason. We don't have to fear Lee pulling a Sosa on us. I just don't want him for 5+ years. 4 and an option would be ok.

That is an extremely poor way of judging a prospect and his chances. Not to pronounce their careers over, but it worked pretty well for Hee Seop Choi, Bobby Hill, and Jason Dubois, none of whom did anything worth writing home about in their big league auditions and all of whom are now gone and not having much impact on their new teams. I don't know what else to say other than that ignoring a much larger sample in lieu of a small amount of playing time under wildly varying circumstances is very foolish. It may be a small sample size, but it's also the only true indicator of performance against that level of competition. AAA is very different from MLB. There are tons of AAAA players out there, who, just by looking at minor league numbers, you'd think are going to do very well in the bigs.

i'd call it a win situation if he keeps close to those numbers of last year... That's the only scenario in which it is a win. What are the odds on that happening thoughout the life of his contract (or even the majority of the time)? That's a lot of money. Remember Adrian Beltre.

Hawkins's treatment was classless. I'd expect that bs from sox fans, but not us. He did choke away '04, along with help from the rest of the team, but no one deserves that level of treatment for blowing a few ballgames. I'm glad Hawkins was traded, if only for his own mental well-being. I can't believe he had nice things to say about Chicago to Jones after the abuse he took day in and day out from the Wrigley "faithfull."

Is Lee going to take less than 60M/5 (Konerko money)?

I was one of the fools who thought JoBo was going to be lights out in the 9th last season (for us).

I think that's a pretty weak interpretation of what he wrote. I didn't get anything of the sort out of that article. I didn't either. In fact, Will has made it known that he is a big Cubs fan and would like nothing more than to see the team do well and succeed. I think what bothered him most is that the Cubs wouldn't speak to him or about his "rumor" until he printed it. Then, after it created such a hubabaloo, they commented. The Cubs' media relations suck. It kind of upsets me that he printed that rumor under the infamous unnamed source. That source should be slapped, either for passing on bs or not having the Planters to put his name out there. You'd think Carroll would know how touchy this subject is before he printed the rumor.