Sammy Sofa

If he's cheap, awesome. If it was distracting Jim when he should be bidding for Daisuke and re-signing Aramis, not so awesome.

When did they sound good? Because I totally slept through that. I feel like they've just gone from "making me nervous" to "making me panic."

The rumored hang up is that Aramis wants 5/75? Good sweet Lord, Hendry, what's the hold up? We can dish small but juicy contracts to guys like Rusch and Neifi, give too long contracts to someone like Jacque and gobble up financial black holes like Izturs, but we can't spend it on someone who legitimately and repeatedly produces for the team in a big way? If he gets away, short of a miracle or two, I'm giving up on this team until it's sold and/or Hendry gets fired.

Is she from Glen Ellyn, IL or Glen Ellen, California? Illinois. I got them mixed up and thought the Cali one known for the wine was "Ellyn." Whoops. I grew up there - in illinois that is. were you a yorkie? For better or for worse, no. My mom went to Glenbard West and my dad went to Mary Queen of Heaven and then York...I was born in Elmhurst, but my parents and I moved out here to DC once I was 2 and my dad signed up with the CIA. I've always been raised with the Chicago area as my home, no matter where we were living around the world, and we always made it back at least a couple times a year. I'm finally moving to Chicago itself this September to finish up my long delayed schooling at DePaul.

Is she from Glen Ellyn, IL or Glen Ellen, California? Illinois. I got them mixed up and thought the Cali one known for the wine was "Ellyn." Whoops.

No? You do realize how bad the Cubs' starting pitching was last year, right?

With my mom being a sweetly corny woman and from Glen Ellen, Glenallen was definitely someone who was a favorite Cub around the house for a while.

Or we pay attention to a thread that's completely different!

I think Hendry and the Cubs want him to stay, and he'll likely end up with at least 14 million for 5 years, probably with a NTC for most of that. That said, however, part of me can't help but worry Hendry and the Cubs will screw this up and he gets away.

I agree. Focus on getting to the Super Bowl despite any losses. A perfect season should be considered a bonus and I personally think it was becoming the focus, including for too many guys on the team. I hope this fires them up for the road trip.

Unless he can be spun off to get ARod. I have little doubt that Yankees would jump on Willis and a reliever for him. They're all about the "name" pitching.

Thanks for the updates, Bruce. I really appreciate you keeping us updated with what you know or think is going on...helps calm a lot of my fears!

Still not enough. Maybe if that releiver was Wuertz or Aardsma plus Gallagher and Marmol or Mateo, then MAYBE you get it done. And if they got Willis I would prefer them to then spin him off to the Yankees for ARod, if possible.

at this point, if bonds can take us to the playoffs, he can burn an american flag while doing it for all i care. No. I don't want to get off topic, but thats way wrong. It was just a bit of obvious hyperbole.

And eskimos.

So what do you tell your son about Sosa?

$14 million? Seeyuh, Barry. I wouldn't pay more than $9 million plus incentives, and even that is pushing it.

how is he half a player? He's the offensive half. That's the half they desperately need. This team isn't hurting defesnively thanks to Hendry's "catch the ball" passion.

Lee was out most of the season. Why focus on only two months of that time? In fact, Lee played the first half of April, so really you're talking about one and a half months of the season and using that to dismiss the need for the Cubs to hold on to their most productive offensive player over the last three years because all you "remember is him dogging it and slacking." Sound reasoning. Ramirez in 2006: April: 71 ABs; .197/.321/.394 (Derrek Lee had 44 ABs) May: 109 ABs; .266/.296/.495 (Lee had zero ABs) June: 105 ABs; .276/.325/.476 (Lee had 22 ABs) July: 96 ABs; .344/.414/.750 (Lee had 53 ABs) August: 111 ABs; .333/.400/640 (Lee with 12 ABs) September: 98 ABs; .306/.346/.551 (Lee had 44 ABs) Ramirez was VERY productive. He played in the most games of his career and he improved greatly on defense. Oh, I guess he's just a "second tier" guy though because of the few grounders he didn't bust ass down the line on. IMO he is a 2nd tier guy because when the cubs needed him, he was invisable....according to some in sports radio, he even asked to be moved down in the line up.... maybe he has been the most productive offensive player in the last 3 years, but remind me, what did the cubs win in 2004, 2005, and 2006?? i want all the players to play 100% him included.... Why you ignoring how incredibly good he was later in the year when the rest of the team was still horrible? It's not like they magically got better...Aramis had a slow start, and nobody is going to deny that. But you're presenting it like the team being bad was only a temporary thing and by the time Aramis blew up they had gotten better. They hadn't. They were the same awful team they were at the beginning of the year. So how did he not "step up" in June, July, Agust and September?

You're right, Wood is no dummy. He KNOWS he isn't going to get a BIG deal, and most likely will only get a incentive laden contract. So if you are going to settle for that kind of contract, why not stick to the ONLY organization. KW loves the city, loves the org (I don't know why, but he does), so like ARam, KW will be back in Chicago. He may "love" it here, but the man no doubt also "loves" getting the extra million or two that making himself a free agent will probably net him from the Cubs. I'm not holding this against him...it's just what ballplayers do. Maximize your payday.

Just to play devil's advocate, you don't know how DLee would have performed if ARam broke his wrist and had to miss the same time that DLee did. And frankly losing either of those two players this year would have been a HUGE blow since the rest of the team wasn't very good. ARam can only control the hitting aspect. ARam wasn't responsible for the Cubs having the 24th best ERA in the year or for the Cubs giving up the fifth most runs in the league. Nobody was producing, that includes pitchers as well, early in the year when DLee went down. i agree....Aram will get the big dollars, i just wish he would not dogg it when he doesnt feel like it....i want him to try hard, like D-Lee in 2005, even though the cubs were stinking it up, he still was the best out there, and i cant say i feel the same about Aram....when then going got tough, he played lazy....IMO How does that make any sense? As the year went on and the Cubs got worse, Aramis clearly got much, MUCH better.

So, because you say I can't use that against Hendry, I can't? Okay. How foolish of me to think that the GM of a major league baseball team can't lock down the necessary players to keep the team competitive for years to come. How foolish of me not to realize EVERY other single player in MLB has an opt out clause. That contract was signed quite some time ago. Hendry has had plenty of time to work out a new arrangement to avoid having Aramis opt out of this deal when he did. Aramis is no longer the property of the Chicago Cubs. He's free to sign wherever he wants. He's free to sign for however much he wants. Hendry basically just put himself in a position to pay top dollar for a free agent that he had under his own control. I can understand paying top dollar to lure a free agent away from another team, like Vlady or Beltran a few years back. It's totally different being one of 30 teams making an offer in comparison to working out an arrangement before the 29 other teams have a chance to outbid you. I'll be absolutely shocked if Aramis is wearing a Cub uniform in 2007. The ball is definitely in Aramis' court now. But, no one can sit there and tell me that the ball was never in Hendry's court and have me believe it. Bringing back Hendry back for another year is already starting to spell disaster. Please for the love of God somebody get this lazy fat pos GM out of here already. He's terrible! So if Hendry hadn't been extended or had been fired after this last season, Aramis wouldn't have opted out? I don't understand how this situation is any more of a "disaster" under him or any other possible GM at this moment. I don't believe for a second Aramis would have accepted any offer before he could opt out short of something insanely huge.

My dad and I noticed the same thing. Questions about his production or not, his impact as a Latin American player cannot be ignored.

Does this really surprise anyone? Who honestly expected him not to exercise the opt out clause to try and get as big a pay day as possible? Aramis isn't stupid...he knows he's an in-demand player that can command top dollar, and opting out will ensure he gets it, either from the Cubs or some other team. He's just playing the cards he has. If the Cubs want to keep him, they pay up...it's that simple. Yes, the opt out option wasn't the greatest idea, but hey, that was then, this is now. Aramis opting out isn't a surprise at all. I would have been stunned if the Cubs locked him up without him opting out.

Wood may like it here, but he's no dummy. Making himself technically a free agent is basically him ensuring he gets as much money from the Cubs as possible if they want to keep him. I think he can still be had for relatively cheap, but if it's for more than $3-4 million dollars a year plus incentives, no thanks. I wouldn't want more than 2 years, with 1 being the ideal option.