Clogged Basepaths

Do we really need speed? No, we don't. Especially at what Pierre is going to cost us (money and prospects). By missing out on Castillo, the best answer for leadoff is now Walker. That holds for almost any trade scenario at this point. SP + Wilkerson + Bradley = better team next year I shudder to think what will actually happen though.

Gut feeling: Not getting Furcal becomes a blessing in disguise. Yep. Fill those needs through trades Jimmy, it's your best suit anyway.

Maybe everybody else is on AIM? ...chuckle

I can't see this actually stopping Hendry from dealing with LA. It's not like the Dodgers did anything unsavory (stupid maybe, but nothing that wasn't within what typically happens). I think that, if anything, this increases the liklihood that we deal with the Dodgers as they have yet another large contract on their books and might want to move some of that $. Mr. Bradley, your table is ready.

I would really rather we spent the $10 million a year on Burnett - even though he's KWood II in waiting. The upside of Burnett vs. Furcal's upside makes it a no brainer. The last year or two is probably as good as it's going to get. There is very few places to go but down for him, especially with his reliance upon speed (for defense and sbs).

Neither am I. I've wanted Cedeno to be SS since the offseason began. I don't think Furcal was worth $10M per year -- let alone $13M. Completely agree. The only thing that is keeping me from being legitimately 'happy' about this is that we have possibly the anti-OBP waiting in the wings at SS. I purged my brain of the #'s he pulled last year as far as ABs per BB goes, because knowing them made it impossible to live.

New plan: Get a good defensive SS and a 2B who provides offense and OBP. What did you say? We already have both of those needs already taken care of? For a total of less than $3 mill? Who would've thought? Time for Bradley and Wilkerson. Sign another starter (stealing Burnett from Cardinals would be pretty good I think).

Ha, yep.

So - provided this paper has a "real" source - who do we spend that $10 mill/yr on now? A starter? MORE middle relief? Rubby Perez? I say, punt.

The Angels "Plan" is to have a great bullpen and Vladimir Guerrero. Interesting part about that, we need to make their pitching coach our new Manager (Bud Black). They manage to get by with ALL righties in the bullpen. How the hell do you do that!? Who faces the lefties? Do they just walk all of them? I'm confused now, need to lay down.

Just say jebus, that makes everyone happy. WWHD (what would homer do) He'd say jebus, that's what.

I have a feeling everyone will be much happier and calmer after those deals shake out. Calmer than you.

Plus another $2.5MM when Walker is inevitably traded. Now you're at $27.5MM. And that assumes $100MM, when I think $105MM is probably more like it. After all, they ended up last year at $102MM counting Sosa's salary. Let's just say a rough $30MM is still available to spend. That's a lot of dough, and could easily fetch for example, Giles + Furcal + Pierre + another reliever. The money is there. Yep, not like we like seeing them waste money on Neifi, but it's not going to preclude him from acquiring a good player, or 2 good players.

Exactly. This is why such redundancy is necessary. Dusty will slot a few (or more?) guys into slots that aren't 'correct' and we need guys left to fill the spots those guys should've filled in the first place. Go Cubs!

Oh, I agree with you. By why can't they not go through this lame propoganda. "Hey, we need pitching" Also, if we got Jesse Crain for TWalk, certain things might happen in certain regions of my body that would be considered the lower hemisphere.

Fine, trade them some useless pitchers for Wilson Betemit. Works for me.

Greasing the wheels for a TWalk trade...got to love the random propoganda they come up with for why they need to get rid of good players.

Howry. Most definitely. I wouldn't mind picking up Dotel on a Dempster/Williamson-like contract if we get the chance. I completely agree with you. You can never underestimate the fun taunting that will come when the Cubs ride 2 former sox to a record BETTER than the brewers! That'll show 'em about smartball!

Because of Hendry's blind loyalty, his most glaring weakness as a GM with every move he makes. Because he's loyal, he rewards loyalty for the most part, and it may cause his ship to sink. Hendry should have gotten rid of Baker in September when he refused to play call ups. I definitely fault Hendry for not asserting more control there. For all we know, Hendry wanted to fire Baker. We do not know for sure, it could be another Beltran type situation - where he could convince his bosses to eat the $ this year, but he doesn't feel like putting his neck on the line. Not saying it's right, but it wouldn't surprise me. Also, I'm hopelessly drawn into thinking about the Dodgers "stealing" Dusty away from us now with their new GM. I'm sure this has been discussed ad naseu, but I can't stop happily dreaming about it.

What is the general consensus on the righty setup man that Hendry should pursue to couple with Eyre? Let's leave out Dotel due to uncertainty if he'll pitch this year. Looper? Howry?

I disagree with this statement. Clearly, the Remlinger signing didn't work out. He was good and performed well under pressure in '03, but then his age set in and so did injuries. He never performed well after that. Giving a three year deal to a 37 year old is clearly a risky move. LaTroy was worth the money spent on him...as a set up man. He had great stuff and got the job done...as a set up guy. He didn't have the mindset to be a closer, and he admitted it. Yet, he was used that way and his failures as a closer is how we remember him most. However, the money spent on him was well worth it by virtue of the Giants giving up someone like Williams to get him. In his time with the Cubs, Hawkins posted a 2.76 ERA and his strong performances far outweighed in sheer volume his weak performances. So it is inaccurate and unfair to him and Jim Hendry to say that his was a bad signing. Eyre is 33 at the time of this signing. Remlinger was 4 years older. Eyre's struggles during the early part of his career were in large part due to undiagnosed attention deficit disorder. Since being diagnosed and properly treated, his career has turned around. Here is what STATS, Inc. had to say about him after the 2004 season... I don't think he is being paid like a "great" reliever. Check B.J. Ryan's contract for that. But he is being paid like a reliable, veteran reliever who is more than just a lefty-specialist. After taking a closer look at his stats, they support that he is exactly that. Holy cow dude, did you just compile all my posts? The Latroy point kills me, because nobody seems to know/care that it really wasn't a bad idea. The remlinger signing - was just being duped by Leo Mazzone. It's happened to everyone seemingly, they never think it was JUST Leo, but it turns out that usually it was. The other thing, 3.6 mill a year (if that indeed is what it is) is not that much for your 2nd best reliever at this point. I would still LOVE for us to get BJ Ryan, but I can already imagine 20 pages of disbelief at paying a RP $7 mill+ a year. If things work out right, Williamson will be our second best reliever. If he's healthy, he's way better than Eyre. A lot of people shy away from his high ERA in his limited outings this year, but I read on BP (and was encouraged) that he suffered from a woeful .444 BABIP against. That's purty durn unlucky. Totally. I was considering Williamson 3rd best, but only because of durability/injury concerns. And there is no way around those concerns with our current manager. The fact that Williamson will be devoured by August knocks him down in my mind.

When did we get him back? :shock: :wink: hahaha, for some reason I just don't want to forget that name. Something about acquiring the "top talent" at any position not guaranteeing success. Sometimes getting the '2nd' or '3rd' best guy (as perceived at the time) works out just fine.

I disagree with this statement. Clearly, the Remlinger signing didn't work out. He was good and performed well under pressure in '03, but then his age set in and so did injuries. He never performed well after that. Giving a three year deal to a 37 year old is clearly a risky move. LaTroy was worth the money spent on him...as a set up man. He had great stuff and got the job done...as a set up guy. He didn't have the mindset to be a closer, and he admitted it. Yet, he was used that way and his failures as a closer is how we remember him most. However, the money spent on him was well worth it by virtue of the Giants giving up someone like Williams to get him. In his time with the Cubs, Hawkins posted a 2.76 ERA and his strong performances far outweighed in sheer volume his weak performances. So it is inaccurate and unfair to him and Jim Hendry to say that his was a bad signing. Eyre is 33 at the time of this signing. Remlinger was 4 years older. Eyre's struggles during the early part of his career were in large part due to undiagnosed attention deficit disorder. Since being diagnosed and properly treated, his career has turned around. Here is what STATS, Inc. had to say about him after the 2004 season... I don't think he is being paid like a "great" reliever. Check B.J. Ryan's contract for that. But he is being paid like a reliable, veteran reliever who is more than just a lefty-specialist. After taking a closer look at his stats, they support that he is exactly that. Holy cow dude, did you just compile all my posts? The Latroy point kills me, because nobody seems to know/care that it really wasn't a bad idea. The remlinger signing - was just being duped by Leo Mazzone. It's happened to everyone seemingly, they never think it was JUST Leo, but it turns out that usually it was. The other thing, 3.6 mill a year (if that indeed is what it is) is not that much for your 2nd best reliever at this point. I would still LOVE for us to get BJ Ryan, but I can already imagine 20 pages of disbelief at paying a RP $7 mill+ a year.

In my mind, the pen looks like this CL - Dempster L Setup - Eyre R Setup - To be determined Pool of guys to be eaten alive by pitching 11 days in a row, and then 11 days between appearances regardless of score: Williamson, Wuertz, Mel Rojas, Novoa, Ohman, Koronka, JVB, Hill?, Rusch? At this point, I'd be pretty happy with Howry or Looper, and then a TJ special for Dotel. He couldn't possibly chew through all those arms in one season could he? Sounds like a challenge to me.

fyi, he signed a 2 yr. deal with a 3rd yr. option. $ has not been confirmed yet. yeah, it's even worse than a 3 year deal. it's a 2 year deal with a PLAYER option for the third. BAAAAAAAAAAAAARGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH And the anger spewed forth, and it was good. And the peasants rejoiced.