bobbyd20

How come Ramirez can't get into shape enough to play 150 games a year? To me he's just lazy, production be damned. The guy's making $14 million a year and he can't get his body in good enough shape to last an entire baseball season. What a joke.

Did they close all the bars in Des Moines?

Lance Dickson?

Jim Hendry would disagree.

full no trade clause too Don't forget the player option for year 3

i'd have to say no unless we also get a pre-cancer Big Cat um, are we forgetting we need a catcher in return? Kirt Manwaring plz Maybe we could get Neifi back too. He saved us in '04 (or was it '05) and we could use a little saving right about now.

I'd say that MacPhail will fit right in at Baltimore. He perfected the piecemeal philosophy while in Chicago.

Carlos Gomez or Fernando Martinez don't appeal to you? :D Yeah, I know, that's unrealistic. I'm hoping the Cubs could get this guy, this guy, or this guy in a deal. A B-level pitching prospect would be fine by me. I didn't check out your links, but if any of those guys have two arms and a pulse, I'll take 'em.

I had a friend was a big baseball player back in high school He could throw that speedball by you Make you look like a fool boy Saw him the other night at this roadside bar I was walking in, he was walking out We went back inside sat down had a few drinks but all he kept talking about was Glory days well they'll pass you by Glory days in the wink of a young girl's eye Glory days, glory days I once threw 174 pitches in a sophomore game in high school. My arm was never the same after that. To this day, I blame my sophomore baseball coach for ruining my major league career. :wink: Now I think I'm going down to the well tonight and I'm going to drink till I get my fill And I hope when I get old I don't sit around thinking about it but I probably will Yeah, just sitting back trying to recapture a little of the glory of, well time slips away and leaves you with nothing mister but boring stories of glory days Glory days yeah goin back Glory days aw he ain't never had Glory days, glory days

Here's a list (not necessarily all inclusive) of the things Hendry did to put together this season's ball club. An outfield made up of 4 left fielders and 1 second basemen. A patchwork pitching staff relying on 2 veteran pitchers with .500 career records to be #2 and #3 Starting the season with a #5 pitcher who can't hit 90 MPH following arm surgery...for a guy who is supposed to be a power pitcher No true leadoff hitter on the ballclub No every day second basemen or shortstop A suspect bullpen with an average (at best) closer A catcher that is a major defensive liability An ace pitcher who is about as emotionally fragile as the average 15 year old girl Long term contracts (some with no trade clauses) for mediocre veterans at all positions (infield, outfield, starting pitching, relief pitching) A farm system that seems to be unable to produce position players A bench with 2 guys who need to be playing in the American League (Ward, Floyd) A team baseball IQ that is roughly equivalent to the average little league team A 65 year old manager who appears to be about 10 years past his prime (when the reigning manager of the year and former cub was available) Some of these moves would be acceptable as short-term solutions for a general manager that just took over. But Hendry's been with the organization far too long to put together such a crappy roster. Hendry can't be fired soon enough in my opinion. I sure as the world don't want him in charge of the fire sale that needs to take place over the next couple of months. What are the chances at him actually being able to identify the right prospects to ask for in trades?

A guy that couldn't find a job until just weeks before spring training is hitting fourth in our lineup? How much more of the Jim Hendry show must we endure?

There's just some pitchers that you know are going to shut the Cubs down. Unfortunately, it's usually the guy making his first major league start or someone sporting a 7.02 ERA. Today, I just had a feeling the Byng-Hyun Kim was going to shut us down.

The best part was that he wouldn't pony up an extra few million for Furcal, yet had no problem giving over 5 million to Glendon Rush and Neifi Perez...pricless. But you forgot, Neifi saved us.

Find me a free agent contract where Hendry didn't pay more than the going rate or for too many years. Eyre Howry Ohman Jones Lilly Marquis Macias Womack Perez Maddux Floyd Pierre (I know this was a trade, but still gave up far more than necessary for the production Pierre provided) etc. etc. etc. Plus, he couldn't even execute a salary dump correctly last season. He traded Maddux and took on a $4 million no-hit shortstop with a history of injuries. I would have rather had a couple of "B" level prospects or seen Maddux finish out the season with the Cubs.

A question about NTCs...do they prohibit the front office from trading the player to ANY club at all, or do they just limit the choices of teams that the player can be traded to? A full NTC means that the player has to approve any deal that is made in order for it to go through. Some players, like Scott Eyre, have limited NTC, where they can block trades to up to 10 teams. Hendry gave Scott Eyre a fricken no trade clause? That tells me everything I need to know about his talent evaluation skills.

I worked with a guy one summer that said he pitched right handed during the first game of a double header in high school and then left handed in the second game. I didn't see the tape of it or anything but I have no reason to doubt his story. This guy was a freak of an athlete as he could high jump 6'7+ and also played Division I football.

NTC or not, I can't imagine that anyone wants Eyre, considering that he sucks and has an albatross of a contract. Just one of many albatross contract's on this roster. Was it Eyre that I heard on ESPN1000 say that his agent didn't even offer a counter offer to Hendry's contract proposal? Way to know the market Jimbo.

At least we have Jones signed through '08 :wink:

If the Cubs history with ability to diagnose injuries and the timetable for return holds to form, I expect an announcement next week that Prior's right arm has been amputated. The Cubs will then issue a press release stating that Prior will be expected back in 4 to 6 weeks.

As long as Hendry is in charge, I see minimal chance of the Cubs front office figuring out what they hell they are doing.

We should have only signed Jones to a one-year deal back in the winter of '06.

I haven't seen every game, but to me Floyd is swinging a better stick than Jones. I understand and agree with splitting up the lefties, I'd just use Floyd in the 3 or 4 spot (depending on where you hit Lee) instead of Jones. I'm just not a Jones fan. I never understood why he saw so many at-bats last season and wanted to trade him in the off season. That at-bat today in the 6th was absolutely brutal.

I thought our inability to fill out a lineup card correctly would disappear with the firing of Dusty. Apparently, I was wrong.

It's pretty hard to compare something like runs scored when Posednik plays for a team with an outstanding offense (with a DH) and Pierre plays for a team with a pitiful offense. Put Konerko, Thome, and Dye in the Cubs' lineup and Pierre would have more runs scored. Also, there has been talk of going after Soriano for CF. I wasn't comparing Pierre and Podsednik to see who has had a better season. I just was trying to give a basis for comparison to show how mediocre Pierre has been this year and show that despite this very ordinary season, the Cubs are willing to offer him a multi-year deal. Couldn't Matt Murton equal these numbers in the leadoff slot at a fraction of the cost?

Pierre's production this season (second consecutive year below career average) is basically the same as Scott Podsednik, despite getting 150 more at-bats. Pierre - 658 at bats, .288 avg, .328 OBP, 80 runs scored, 45 extra base hits, +34 stolen bases/caught stealing, terrible defensively Pods - 502 at bats, .261 avg, .333 OBP, 84 runs scored, 35 extra base hits, +22 stolen bases/caught stealing, bad enough defensive that Macoviac plays center It's fairly well-known that the White Sox are looking to replace Podsednik in the off-season while the Cubs are probably going to offer Pierre something in the 3 years, $18 to $21 million range. Is this the difference between the two franchises? One continually looking for ways to improve, while the other content to settle for medicrity (at best). It seems to me that the Cubs are ready to continue their philosophy of overpaying for mediocrity into the '07 season...and it makes me sick to my stomach to follow this team.