jmajew

It's possible, but it also depends on how willing Lugo would be to play 2B. I am not gonna lie. The fact that this trade may signal Hendry has given up on Cedeno is what scares me the most.

Is it possible that Hendry has soured on Cedeno and is planning on starting Izturis at short next year and sign someone to play 2nd say Julio Lugo?

That's pretty funny considering we have a professional scout as a member of the forum. I place a very, very large emphasis on scouting -- even more than I used to, in fact. However, completely ignoring actual production in the big leagues is a huge mistake, as well. Well I apologize if I offended you. I just feel that putting such a huge emphasis on a players stats when he was only between teh ages of 21-24 in the big leagues is also a mistake. He was in over his head. I personally believe he can resort back to that form of 330 OBP maybe i'm wrong but only time will tell. If he can do that then I will be ecstatic because of how good his defense is.

WE NEED PEOPLE WHO CAN ACTUALLY GET ON BASE. You can get that from other positions. If Izturis returns to his 04 form his 330 OBP will be just fine from the 7 spot. If we can hopefully sign Carlos Lee or Soriano this offseason we will be set. Pierre, Barrett, Lee, Soriano/Lee, Ramirez, Jones/Murton, Izturis, Cedeno. What makes you think his "form" is the 330? Could it be all of the other seasons where he has been much worse? I think that was an anomoly, not something to be expected. His minor league OBP was 311, and it's 295 in the majors. Fine i'm an idiot and all of you are right. There is more to baseball than stats. All of these GMs that rely on stats have not won a World Series, besides Epstein but he is different from teh rest of them because of his extremely high payroll. There is no possible way a guy can go from being a genious back in 2003 to a complete moron now. This is all hyporcitical. your views are intriguing to me and i would like to subscribe to your newsletter. Thanks for the sarcasm. It just seems that everyone on this board puts very little emphasis on the art of scouting.

WE NEED PEOPLE WHO CAN ACTUALLY GET ON BASE. You can get that from other positions. If Izturis returns to his 04 form his 330 OBP will be just fine from the 7 spot. If we can hopefully sign Carlos Lee or Soriano this offseason we will be set. Pierre, Barrett, Lee, Soriano/Lee, Ramirez, Jones/Murton, Izturis, Cedeno. What makes you think his "form" is the 330? Could it be all of the other seasons where he has been much worse? I think that was an anomoly, not something to be expected. His minor league OBP was 311, and it's 295 in the majors. Fine i'm an idiot and all of you are right. There is more to baseball than stats. All of these GMs that rely on stats have not won a World Series, besides Epstein but he is different from teh rest of them because of his extremely high payroll. There is no possible way a guy can go from being a genious back in 2003 to a complete moron now. This is all hyporcitical.

WE NEED PEOPLE WHO CAN ACTUALLY GET ON BASE. You can get that from other positions. If Izturis returns to his 04 form his 330 OBP will be just fine from the 7 spot. If we can hopefully sign Carlos Lee or Soriano this offseason we will be set. Pierre, Barrett, Lee, Soriano/Lee, Ramirez, Jones/Murton, Izturis, Cedeno. What makes you think Hendry will do ANYTHING to get OBP at any position? Huh? I don't know. But the fact that no one can predict the future is reason enough to be optimistic. YOu can't assume that something is going to happen a certain way. We need to patiently wait till the offseason and see what he does. If he does go out and get Lee or Soriano this will have been a great deal. So sit back and relax and hope for the best. There is no reason to be negative.

WE NEED PEOPLE WHO CAN ACTUALLY GET ON BASE. You can get that from other positions. If Izturis returns to his 04 form his 330 OBP will be just fine from the 7 spot. If we can hopefully sign Carlos Lee or Soriano this offseason we will be set. Pierre, Barrett, Lee, Soriano/Lee, Ramirez, Jones/Murton, Izturis, Cedeno.

I honestly dont mind this deal. Having a gold glove shortstop in Izturis and having a SS playing second in Cedeno can only help our young pitchers. Our defense up the middle will be spectacular. Going to LA for Maddux is a good thing. I hope he plays great the rest of the year in that pitchers park. I'd love to see maddux go out on top or atleast pitching respectably. I will say this why couldn't we have worked out a three way deal that would have landed us Lugo from the D-rays. I would have been much happier with that deal.

If Randy Moss can take a few routes off here and there then certainly ARAM can dog it around teh bases every once in a while. (Sarcasm).

Jeremi Gonzalez, Oliver Perez... Have you notice no one has mentioned Corey Patterson as a bust. Is he one?

Why don't the Cubs just trade for the entire Philly outfield for Aramis, Pierre, Rich Hill, and Jerome Williams. Walker, Barrett, Abreu, Lee, Burrell, Hillenbrand (now that he was released), Rowand, Cedeno. Just a thought.

I disagree that the lineup order would improve this team much. Wow Thanks for the insight. OBP off all of those spots in the lineup with current players and splits included. Pierre (320), Barrett (399), Lee (396), Aramis (324), Jones/Murton (372), Walker (356), Jones/Murton (287), Cedeno (280). no need for the sarcasm just because your argument has been proven wrong by dozens of people who do nothing but analyze baseball. You didn't prove anything. You just made a statement as if it was a fact. That was the reason for the sarcasm. Every year certain managers are hailed for putting their players in a position where they can best succeed. Dusty Baker does not do that. That was my point with the lineup. If you put players in a role they can best succeed in the team will be better. Batting Murton 5 or 6 and expecting big numbers is lunacy. He is not ready for that type of role. AT this point in his career he is a 2 hitter or a 7 hitter. Cedeno is nothing more than an 8 hitter. With Corey Patterson forcing him to bat leadoff was not helping him to succeed. By arranging a lineup in a certain fashion you put your players in a better position to succeed. If players are comfortable with their roles they will play better. That is why Bobby Cox is so good. Just for the record I forgot how terrible the Cubs offense was statistically speaking this year. But moving up to 29th in the league in runs scored when we are like 20 or so runs behind is a big difference and would probably have added a few more wins to our total. Then add in a healthy DLee it is reasonable to assume we could have been around 25-20 in offensive production. Which is a huge improvement and would have put us about 5-10 games below 500 right now. That is a maked improvement

I disagree that the lineup order would improve this team much. Wow Thanks for the insight. OBP off all of those spots in the lineup with current players and splits included. Pierre (320), Barrett (399), Lee (396), Aramis (324), Jones/Murton (372), Walker (356), Jones/Murton (287), Cedeno (280).

I thought this was fascinating simply for the fact that maybe Dusty has realized how valuable a guy with an OBP of 390 is in front of guys like Lee and Ramirez. They need guys on base in front of them in order to drive in runs. Barrett by the way is the perfect number 2 hitter, even better than Walker (Who should bat sixth). Pierre, Barrett, Lee, Aramis, Jones/Murton(situational), Walker, Jones/Murton, Cedeno. To be honest I don't think this Cubs offense is as bad as its numbers say. If Dusty were to use players in good spots for them this offense should be in the middle of the pack. Assuming Lee was healthy all year. Anyone agree or disagree?

First, the cubs should trade Aramis and Maddux to the Dodgers for Chad Billingsley, Andy Laroche, and Ceasar Izturis. Second, trade Bob howry and Izturis for Ryan Freel. Off season re-sign Wood to fill howry's role and also resign Pierre. Then you sign Carlos Lee and Barry Zito/Jason Schmidt/Mark Mulder/Chris Young. With these moves the Cubs will once again have a chance to compete. Lineup Pierre, Freel, DLee, CLee, LaRoche, Barrett, Jones/Murton/Pie, Cedeno Bench Walker, Nefi, Jones/Murton/Pie, Blanco, Theriot Rotation Zambrano, Zito, Prior, Billinglsey, Marshall Pen Dempster, Wood, Eyre, Rusch, Novoa, Wuertz.

Zambrano Zito Prior Wood marshall Jeff Weaver You can reasonably assume Zambrano, Zito, Marshall, and Weaver could all make 30 starts. Then hopefully one of either Prior or Wood can make 30. Then if the other one makes 15 starts you can take it away from Marshall and Weaver.

We have the third worst record in all of baseball. We stink. While it is possible for the Cubs to play better, it's ridiculous to assume that the other teams in the league will play bad enough for the Cubs to pass them. I have never said it was going to happen. I'm just saying it is possible teams have done it before. I assume the Cubs will continue to stink, but that is only an assumption, sometimes they can be wrong. Hence the reason they are not called facts. I also assume Hendry will resign Baker. And I definitely hope that assumption is not right.

We are 14 games back right now. We need to pick up 5 games a month for the rest of the season. That is possible. It is not very likely but it is possible. In order to win the wild card we have to make up 4 games a month. When you look at things a little bit at a time they seem a bit more possible. Where is the harm in waiting 2 more weeks? Someone please tell me that. Will those 2 weeks cause Murton to stink for the rest of his career? Its not like i'm saying to bench him for the entire season. When the Cubs no longer have a chance, say we are still 12 and 14 games out at the allstar break then you put back in murton. But of the cubs are 10 and 11. Wait two more weeks. IF we fall back to 12 and 14 then put in Murton. But for two weeks, assuming we still play horribly, it is not the end of the world.

I have no problem with playing Nevin in LF until the all-star break. I'm still hoping the cubs can win 11 out of 14 here. And if they do they still have a slim chance of making the playoffs. However, if they go 7 and 7 then it doesn't make a big enough difference to play Nevin in Left and you have to let Murton play. Maybe i'm just dreaming, but I see no reason not to hope for the best until the All-star break. If we cannot make a run then throw in the towel but not yet.

Nope. I didn't say a guy with an .860 OPS was a bad player. But, an .860 OPS from 1b is not top of the line production. It's closer to average production. In 2003 Lee's OPS was 979 away and 790 at home. The werid thing is that in 2002 it was the exact opposite he was 916 at home and 831 away. Just thought that was kind of interesting adn i'd through that out there. When you include how good lee's defense and baserunning were with his 860 OPS the Cubs were still getting a very good player who was just entering his prime. I believe the prime years for athletes is 28-32. As I had stated before I'd always be willing to trade a proven player for prospects. Yes it was a salary dump, I completely understand that.

Derrek Lee was a possibility back in the 03-04 offseason. Florida was trying to move him for pennies on the dollar. A few teams showed some interest, but not enough to take on his entire contract. Derrek Lee was an average offensive 1b prior to his 2005 season with the Cubs. When the Cubs traded Choi and Nannini for Lee prior to the '04 season, I don't think anyone here could visualize Lee putting up the '05 season that he did. It was a total salary dump from the Marlins side of this deal. Hendry got a steal of a deal, as Lee not only made it a totally lopsided trade, but he went from an overpaid, mediocre 1b to an underpaid all star 1b in 2005. Do you consider a player with an OPS over 860 a bad player. Because in only one year since 2000 has Lee been below that and that was 2001. He always had a high OBP, always had atleast decnet power (since 2000 only one year below 28 homers), and you have to add in the facts he is great defensively and he is a great baserunner. DLee was always a very good player. He was just always under appreciated. Your example of the DLee trade is the perfect reason not to trade Aram for a prospect. You never trade a proven potential all star commodity for prospects, unless it is a complete salary dump. You could end up getting the shaft. Especially when the proven commodity is just turning 28. Yes, Aramis has his flaws but so does every player. That is what makes building a team so difficult. You need to find players who help to minimize their teamates flaws. You know Aramis has minimal range at third so you get a shortstop that has a lot. You don't put three sub standard defensive outfielders all in the same outfield. It can only lead to problems. You can live with one bad defensive corner outfielder if you have a great centerfielder. I know this gets annoying but i'm going to show you my perfect team for next year...that is reasonably possible for the Cubs to achieve. This is just to show how you need to build a team of players that compliment one another. 2b Walker C Barrett 1B Lee 3B Ramirez CF Hunter LF Jones/Murton SS Cedeno RF Pie You can count on Walker and Barrett both to have OBP around 350 or better. Then you can expect DLees to be around 400 and Arams aroudn 350 and then Hunter aroudn 330. Jones/Murton will be about 360 when they are platooned. This Cubs team really doesn't need a lot of work on the offensive end. They just need to sign the right player. By the way Barrett is the perfect 2 hitter. HE doesn't strike out much and he has a high OBP so he knows how to take pitches. Pitching it woudl be great to sign Zito and then go with Zambrano, Prior, Zito, Marshall, Maddux. The outfield will be much better defensively with Hunter and Pie that it shoudl help the pitching staff quite a bit. We may not have the speed that Pierre brings this year but Pie, Hunter, Lee, Cedeno, and Jones all have decent speed.

Has womack alreayd been sent down? If not my bet is it will be him. Nevin is way to valuable to be sent down. He is a great bat off the bench. If Womack has alreayd been sent down then it will probably be a pitcher because then it would mean we have 12 pitchers.

Our core is Aramis, Lee, Zambrano, Prior, Barrett, and Cedeno. However, only two of those are untradable; Zambrano and Lee. If the right deal comes along I would trade Aramis in a heartbeat, I think of all of those players he is the one that is easiest to replace. In order to get a player of Cedeno's caliber in free agency we'd have to pay Furcal money. Prior if healthy would get Halladay money and Barrett just has too much offensive potential for a catcher (IMO he'd make a great 2 hitter in the right lineup). Aramis can be replaced by many players. You could have resigned Nomar this past offseason and then used Aramis in a trade for a big time RF. I'm sure Manny and Abreu could both have been had. Wouldn't a lineup of Pierre, Walker, Lee, Manny/Abreu, Nomar, Barrett, Murton, Cedeno have looked nice. Some of you may say hindsight is 20/20 but I said this last november. The biggest mistake any team can make is to say certain players are untradable. Players have to be really special to be untradable (Zambrano, Lee, Pujols, Oswalt, Jeter) The best way to make a team better is by trading good players who are at an easier position to replace for players that may not be quite as good but who fill a position that is harder to replace. I know some of you may think this does not make sense, but I believe it will work.

So next year when we don't pick up wood's option what are we gonna use that money on? I'd like to see us use it on a starting pitcher who can pitch 200 innings. But my bet is Hendry will sign Soriano and put him at second and then resign Pierre. Does it ever seem like Hendry trully does have a plan. Every year he tries something new.

Wrong. Everything starts at the top. Hendry is an employee of the Cubs just like MacPhail and Baker. The Trib are the owners, who are in turn responsible for hiring the management for the ballclub, starting with MacPhail. I fail to see why so many cannot accept this. It's most certainly NOT a case of simply providing enough cash, and that's it. Anyone who has ever owned a corporation will tell you that. I think soul is right. If you hire someone to do a job and they don't do it they should be fired. The Tribune Company hired MacPhail to build a winning team and he hasn't so he should get fired. Macphail hired Hendry for the same reason and Hendry hired baker for the same reason. They should all be fired for not doing their jobs. It is that simple. Then again maybe they are doing their jobs because the team is still making money. Which in the end is all business is about. The question should be what is the intent of the Tribune company? Do make money or to build a winning team. Do they fork out the money just to make it look lke they want to win or do they do it because they trully do want to? I do not have the answer to that.