goonys evil twin

What would the Cubs do about pitching? It seems to me the only way you purposefully go into a season with Zambrano, Prior, Maddux, Williams and Rusch is if you are almost certain Wood will be back and ready to push Rusch out sooner rather than later. You couldn't go into the season thinking Rusch was a good option to start the whole year. And this would basically leave you with one in house fall back option, Hill. So you'd have to trade or sign another guy.

That is so not true, and such a pathetic argument. If Hendry made this team good, he wouldn't be ripped apart. If Hendry made sensible moves that addressed the biggest holes on this team, he wouldn't be ripped apart. Unfortunately, Hendry put together a team that sucked, and hasn't done much to make it better, and he did it all a lot of money. Management of any business should be ripped for spending top dollar for below average results. You would rip apart generals who had a very expensive army that was no better than half the rest of the armies in the world. You would rip apart an auto maker that was among the most expensive but wasn't as good as more than half the rest of the automakers. You would rip apart a pizza shop that produced a very expensive pizza that didn't taste good. It's either that, or you accept mediocrity. And if you are a sports fan, it doesn't make much sense to accept mediocrity.

What killed the offense was a lack of OBP almost everywhere, which was due to a lack of walks. It was not solely because of the 1 and 2 spots, no matter what Hendry tries to sell you this offseason. They sucked in the 4 or 5 spot (whichever one Burnitz was hitting from), and were an awful bottom of the order team as well. And they had absolutely no bench. They were a team full of 6 and 7 hitters.

He is extremely old, he does not put up the numbers to justify a corner OF spot, he is incapable of playing anywhere close to everyday. Isn't anymore productive than Jones. If you want him for your 4th OF, you could do worse. But if you are considering him for RF, you should check into an institution.

I'd do a Williamson/Dempster type deal on Miller.

Sounds like somebody I'd rather see move to the NL, just not the Cubs.

I'm not sure he threw it at him. I thought he threw it in disgust for having been caught by Urlacher, his nemesis, again. And it just happened to be in his general direction. But then again, the KC player got a bogus 15 yard penalty for something similar the day before.

Why not keep her 900 miles away from you, hire somebody to hang out with her and get her pickles and ice cream at 3 am, then go to a new city with a whole new set of groupies? Really, if I was in Wood's position, I'd let the Cubs shop me quietly. And if they kept it quiet, I'd let them trade me if the other team was either my ideal location to work and/or they offered me a sweet contract extension. I wouldn't want to deal with 2 months of questions from the media about whether or not I was going, so keeping it quiet would be a must.

Hate to say, but I get it. I get it because JJones is the quintessential Jim Hendry move. He's mediocre, but "looks" the part. He's a LH bat, and that matters more than whether or not he is a good bat (see Estes and Rusch for the LHP equivalent). Jones catches the ball, for what that's worth. He has hit .300 in his life, which is a stat Hendry will talk up if he signs him. And he's slugged .500 at one point. Jim will ignore, or gloss over, the fact that Jones had his peak year at 27, when most everybody has their peak year, because this team relies on 30-33 year olds bucking the trend of history and catching lightning in a bottle to have a better than expected year. Simply stated, Jones fits the profile sent down from central casting, and this team doesn't have the guts to go for the potential oscar winner who might not fit the studio's idea of who should fill the role.

He hired Dusty. And the only out of nowhere injury was Prior's elbow this season. The team won only 89 games in 2004 (11th highest total) and 79 (17th highest) in 2005. They did so with a top 5 payroll each season. I would say it's pretty clear the negatives outweighed the positives. I agree about 2005, but it is hard to complain about the team Hendry put together in 2004. That was easily the most talented team in the NL that year going into the season. Injuries and Dusty are to blame for 2004. 2005 is a different story, however. Frankly I'm sick of excuses. He hired Dusty. You can't give Hendry slack by passing the blame onto Dusty. We knew what he was going to bring. Prior was injured before the season. Joe Bo was injured before the season. He started the year with an above average Lee at 1B, an above average Grudz at 2nd, a crappy Gonzo at short, solid but unspectaculiar Ramirez at third, aging and underperforming Alou in left, rehabbing Patterson in center. Aging and declining Sosa in right. Alou, Ramirez, Barrett and Rusch all outperformed expectations. The only real "surprise" injury was Wood's. Every team deals with injuries. STL missed Rolen for much of 2005, and were still great. The Cubs didn't lose because of luck.

He hired Dusty. And the only out of nowhere injury was Prior's elbow this season. The team won only 89 games in 2004 (11th highest total) and 79 (17th highest) in 2005. They did so with a top 5 payroll each season. I would say it's pretty clear the negatives outweighed the positives.

I disagree. I thought that team was flawed, and hoped if everything went well that they had a chance to win 92 games. As it turns out, Alou had his best season as a Cub, which I did not expect, because he was not living up to his contract before then. Prior was hurt before spring training even began. So he knew there were pitching issues. I never thought Dusty was good, so I can fault Hendry for hiring him in the first place (which I did at the time). DLee 2004 was nothing compared to DLee circa 2005, he was a slightly above average offensive first baseman. Michael Barrett hit so much better than any reasonable expectation of him. Any team that went into a season with AGonz at shortstop, Grudz the regular 2B, a rehabbing CPatt in CF and the until then awful Michael Barrett at catcher was not stacked. The 2003 team won only because the pitching was so freaking dominant and the competition was so mediocre. 2004 saw the addition of Maddux, whom I was not excited about. Glendon Rusch had a fluke half season. If you give him a break because Wood was suprisingly injured, what about a demerit for getting lucky with Rusch, or a resurgent year out of Alou, or a Willis was a deal breaker for Florida. They insisted on him. And while I didn't foresee the DTrain to get rolling as quickly as it did, many people certainly saw that he was capable of doing what he did. He wasn't some 2 bit prospect throw-in who came out of nowhere. He was great before being traded.

I did? I don't think I did. I said I didn't like this Pierre deal and that the Willis deal was indeed his work. And then I was accused of bad mouthing anything Jim did just because I didn't like him or something. I don't like what he's done overall as GM, no matter how good or bad any individual deal make or may not look.

I wouldn't deal Abreu. But Philly is open to it. And if ownership made me trade Abreu, that is the type of deal I'd look into. Then I'd try and sign Millwood (or before Nomar signed I would have tried him for 3B). Actually, I'd try and get guys like Wuertz, Novoa, Ohman or Williamson added in to the deal, because my bullpen situation would be crap. Of course, I'd talk about wanting a #1 pitcher and would ask for Zambrano and Prior first, but I'd realized that's a stupid proposal with no legs. I'd think about adding a guy like Zito, but realize he'd leave in a year anyway, and Oakland isn't going to take on Bobby's contract. Then I'd talk to every other team and ask about their best pitchers, but quickly realize that teams aren't trading their best pitchers. I'd consider rekindling talks with the White Sox, but since I think Garland is way overrated right now, and looking to cash in on a contract I have no interest in giving him, I stay away, since he's not really much better than Jerome Williams, but is older and more expensive. I'd ask for McCarthy instead, but I'd also want a bat, and if I could get a 3B that would be great, but Crede isn't really better than Bell. So, maybe I consider Dye. But then I realize that the CWS really don't have much payroll flexibility to take on Abreu right now. So then I start talking to teams that do have payroll flexibility. The Yankees don't matchup. I'm not trading Bobby to the Mets or Braves. Boston is a possibility, but do I really think Clement, with his high walk rate and HR allowed is going to live up to his contract? Although Nixon would be a nice player to platoon with Michaels. I think long and hard about that deal. The one drawback is neither player would be in my longterm plans for the team. But it might also fascilitate a Manny to the Mets move, which would not be good for my NL East title hopes. Anaheim isn't trading for Abreu, Seattle might, but I doubt it. Suddenly Houston, STL and the Cubs become candidates. But what do they each have to offer? None of the starting pitchers really stands out from the others (Marquis, Backe, Williams are very similar middle of the rotation starters). Houston can offer a nice package, but their owner doesn't like paying big money, and with dollars already tied into aging stars, does he want Abreu on the downside of his career? They have a bunch of their own good young players who need raises this year. If they offer Backe, Lidge and Ensberg, I'll do it in a heartbeat, but I don't think they will, especially since they need to replace pitching themselves. STL has 3 great position players and a bunch of interchangable role players, none of which interest me. I'm sure they could put together a package of players, but I'm not sure it'll be all that special of a group. So then Hendry offers me Williams, Mitre, Nolasco, Pinto and Harvey. None of those guys will star for me in 2006, but I'm also paying very little money for them. Williams and Mitre are already in my rotation, given how weak it is right now. Nolasco and Pinto give me a chance to have a couple guys throughout their arbitration years, reducing my need to overspend on pitchers who don't want to be in Philly without big money. And Harvey is just a little sweetener that will make this easier to sell to the fans (you guys remember what we promised from Howard? Well, we expect the same from this guy in a couple years, he's younger than Howard was at this stage of his development.) Now, I'm not blown away by that deal. But, considering I want to deal Abreu and change directions with this organization, and assuming nobody else comes out of nowhere and offers more than expected, this has to be one of the top 2-3 deals I can consider. Of course, this can't happen, because the Cubs already settled on their supposed OF upgrade by dealing those guys.

Because you've been led to believe 1 or more of the OF are on their way out of town. Or they just offered more money than everybody else.

add in a bucket of chicken wings and half the people here things it should land Abreu. Add Williams and Harvey and I think it gets you Abreu. Unfortunately, you're not the Phil's GM. Everything I read said they want a #1 SP for Abreu. Nowhere in that list of names is anything above a #3 SP maybe. A) They aren't getting a #1, Williams stacks up with almost every pitcher who has even been rumored, much less ones that are realistic possiblities. B) If Philly trades Abreu, it's because the new GM is trying to change from the old GM's approach, and that is because the ownership group is sick of paying a lot of money for a team that quickly lost the interest of the fans and didn't bring them any postseason revenue. Abreu would be traded because he's no longer in their plans for the future, at his age and salary level, and with their OF position, as is. They will have a really tough time signing top notch pitchers for that ballpark unless they pay much more than anybody else, and #1 starters are not available via trade. They need pitching depth, possibly more than they need just 1 really good pitcher, and they want payroll flexibility in the next couple seasons.

Well, reality tells us that the Cubs aren't a very good team, but they are a very expensive team. So, when you add up all the "piles" of his deals, the results do not at all tilt in his favor, because the team he built isn't good. That's what matters, and that is what makes me think the way I do about Hendry's moves, on the whole.

add in a bucket of chicken wings and half the people here things it should land Abreu. Add Williams and Harvey and I think it gets you Abreu.

That is meaningless to me. Everybody reported that Hendry was the one who put together that deal. It was a Hendry deal all the way.

The Cubs offense isn't that bad, the only problem they had was too many strikeouts. All they need to do is put the ball in play more this year so they can strikeout less often. And to do that they should bunt more, or just choke up and slap at the first thing that is close to the strikezone. As much as it hurts to say it, the White Sox showed us how to win, HRs don't help as much as stolen bases, hustle and bunting. With Neifi and Pierre already there to add this element, all they need is somebody like Eric Young in RF to round out the lineup. Also, is Shawn Estes available, he won a lot of games before and is left handed, he's so much better than that stupidhead Wood (more like straw than Wood - get it, his ligaments are weak, and he isn't tough like real wood is and I don't even think he wants to get better mechanics, just like that bum Patterson who is happy striking out and doesn't want to learn to play better, wait, what was I talking about?) --Edward K., Indianapolis, Ind.

I'm pretty sure they do draft 90% pitchers, didn't they draft about 10 straight this year? 80% isn't going to happen, but Rusch is already in the rotation, and he is that bad, so they do have rotation issues.

He's always had horrible control...over six walks per nine innings in each of his first two seasons (over 5.6 BB/9 IP for his MLB career). His strikeout rate has dropped off considerably, and he susceptable to the longball. He's simply not a good pitcher at all. Nuff said then. He might be an interesting arm out of the bullpen. At most I'd sign Ishii for the minimum, but really I wouldn't want to go more than an NRI. The Cubs, for one, don't need anymore pitchers with control issues. The Yankees should try to sign him though, they can afford the mistake, and have a need for arms.

If that's the criteria than they'll probably have 5 servicable (uninjured) outfielders on opening day as well. That doesn't mean they'll be any good, just like Rusch or Maddux being healthy in April doesn't mean they'll be any good in April.

Not true. It's not just Willis, it's the idea of trading good young prospects for mediocre veterans. I have no problem trading away prospects, even if they end up really good in a couple years. But when you do it, you better trade for really good veterans, and Pierre is not really good.

You really think if Holla was hitting 270 or better he would have come out of the lineup? He was terrible and Baker kept him in there and there is no doubt in my mind that Baker will do the same with Mabry, especially if the Cubs do not aquire a left bat for right. Dusty says a lot of things but he usually goes back to doing the things he is comfortable with and that's playing the vets. I have little doubt that Baker will properly limit Mabry's PA, but I don't think 450 is realistic. Anything over 200, though, is too much.