goonys evil twin

I wouldn't call it typical pessimism. Encarnacion fits the Hendry model to a T. Typical pessimism would be saying if the Cubs traded for Tejada he'd come here and suck, or if the Cards got JJones, he'd magically be awesome. And I do believe there have been rumors that the Cubs looked into trading for him in the past.

May 13, 2001, a Sunday.

I don't know, but I was in the STL airport at the time.

I'd have to believe the Sox have the edge simply because Tejada wants to play for a winner and the Cubs are perceived as possibly the most disappointing team of the past 2 years. Will Tejada have a say? I don't know his contract situation, does he have a NTC? Whoever trades for him will probably want him to waive his right to demand a trade (or become a free agent if denied) after the first year. So, while he can't stop a trade, he can make it easier or harder to go to one team or another. I'd give up a lot for him, but I'd insist on him waiving that right.

From DBacks site: Shawn graduated from Tustin (CA) High School in 1991 where he was a first-team selection on the USA Today All-USA High School team. I don't know when he moved out of Chicago, but it's a good bet he hasn't had much of a tie to the area since 1990, at least. I really don't see much incentive to going to the Cubs, unless they offer him more money, which wouldn't be all that wise.

If you bring in the seats closer to the field, there will be more homeruns. And since the Cubs have no LH power, but their opposition usually will, that would be a disadvantage to the Cubs. I'm thinking they need a giant piece of plexiglass in short right center. Then sell tickets to the blocked off area as lawn seating. The money and/or prospects meant to go toward the acquisition of a RF can go into pitching, and a 5th infielder to help catch the ball and prevent Ramirez from having to move more than a couple feet in either direction.

When dealing with a middle of the road payroll, I really think you have two choices. Be ultra conservative, try to maximize every dollar spent and every prospect you have, or be ultra aggressive and go for broke. The thing about the Sox is that even when those high risk high reward teams bombed, they never totally bombed. They've win 81 or more games for 6 straight seasons. Their worst three seasons this decade have been 79, 79 and 81 loss seasons. The Cubs worst three were 97, 95 and 83 loss seasons. The Cubs are the ones hitting bottom on the high risk moves. The Sox have been anywhere from average, to good, to great. The Cubs have been either good or bad. The Cubs payroll allows them to be conservative, but take high reward risks at the same time. They should be able to field an 81-85 win team every year, and mix in plenty of 90-95 win seasons, and the occasional 99 win season. There really is no excuse.

I don't think Green would waive his NTC to play in Chicago. From what I understand, he wants to stay in the Southwest. I thought Green was from around Chicago...or am I making that up? I thought he was only from Chicago in the sense that he was born there and lived there a couple years. He spent most of his life in southern California, went to high school and college in CA, and was considered a returning hero when he first went to LA.

I think that is only an issue if you go into these debates failing to consider the reality of the message board.

Maybe, but the thing is, they don't have to. The Cubs are the team in dire straits. The Sox are sitting pretty, and have already significantly improved their team this year. The Cubs are in the crapper, and have made minimal improvements. funny how last year when the season started most experts & fans thought the situation was exactly the opposite with the cubs favorites & the sox going nowhere. the season doesnt start for a long time and there are still free agents out there who can help the cubs and trades to be made. i cant see giving up on the season because of how the team looks on paper (especially not in december!). Who said anything about giving up on the season? The Cubs are desperate for improvement because they were bad last year and haven't done much this offseason. I never said they can't have a good season. Anything could happen. But if you want to improve your chances, you better do whatever you can to get better. And since the Cubs chances, as they stand now, are extremely low, they have to do more than most teams, especially the White Sox.

Oh please. If somebody doesn't want to believe every single report that is made available to the public, and draw reasonable conclusions, go ahead. If you want to give Hendry every benefit of the doubt and just assume he tried really hard to get Giles, or any of the Japanese players, feel free. But until you have a fraction of the support for your argument that I have for mine, don't try pretending I'm the one who is misrepresenting the issue. I never said it was a cold stone fact that Hendry didn't do this or that. The only facts are that he failed to get the player, and that he failed to field a great team. Whenever we talk about any of this stuff, cold hard facts are difficult to come by. If you don't want to talk about Cubs transactions because we don't have any hard facts about the situation, then don't talk about them. But don't go accusing me of passing off fiction as fact and pretending your some hero out to stop my evil ways.

That didn't go to show anybody anything. What is the point you are trying to make? Is there one, or are you just trying to start stuff with me, again?

This is all so ridiculous. It's not just the ring, what about the 99 win season. Hendry's 2003 team wasn't all that good, if they won the ring, and had the same regression once he started making moves, it would look bad. But the point is KW's teams haven't regressed, and he's done it with a much lesser payroll. The rules are different when you aren't a top 5 payroll. With all this absurd Kenny bashing, no GM should ever get any credit. Hendry's team has gotten worse over the past few years. Williams got better. Williams is doing a lot to make his team even better this offseason. Hendry has barely done anything. And Williams has done it all with much less of a payroll. If Jim Hendry gets "credit" for back to back over .500 seasons, why doesn't Williams get credit for 5 straight .500 or better seasons? Hendry gets ragged on because the Cubs have regressed, were sub .500, haven't done much to change things this offseason, and do it with a $100m payroll. William's teams hasn't regressed, have been .500 or better every year, had a great 99 win season, won the World Series, he's still doing a lot to make the 2006 team even better, and he's done it with much less payroll. Where is the basis for your argument again? If KW didn't do much to make his team better, then I better not see any of you jumping on the Hendry bandwagon if the Cubs pull out a 99 win WS championship season in 2006. I dislike Hendry because I don't share his beliefs in how to put together a team, but mostly because I don't like his results. I can admit that what I believe to be the best way to build a team is not the only way, or even truly the best way. Maybe I'm wrong. If you can build a winner doing things differently than I would, good for you, you deserve credit. Kenny has made individual trades that I may have not made. But he has put together a great team, that cannot be denied. So I can give him credit for a job well done. I'm not saying he's the best GM in the game, or that I want him to be the next GM of the Cubs. But he's done a much better job than Hendry, and he deserves credit for a job well done.

You read that whole post and that's the line you respond to? And you don't even respond, just leave a smartass line? Do we have to get into this fact or not a fact debate everytime signings are debated? The Cubs have not rumored to be serious in talks with any Japanese players in recent years. They haven't gotten any, while supposedly lesser GM's like Williams has. And the whole point of that Iguchi mention was to point out that with the Money saved from dealing the much overrated Carlos Lee, KW got Pods, Dye and Iguchi, who combine to make less money, while Dye alone is more productive. But if you want to ignore the actual debate and just harp on semantics, go right ahead.

Way to gloss over the points that don't support your theory. What about Iguchi, a Japanese player. Hendry and the Cubs haven't even thought about bringing in Japanese players. If you call the $8m Lee's line of .265/.324/.487 very good for a LF, then Iguchi's .278/.342/.438 at 2.3m from 2B is great. Iguchi, Pods and Dye combined to make less than Lee, while Dye (.274/.333/.512) outperformed Lee on his own. Like I said, individual deals can be debated forever. But they don't matter. What matters is the total package. Williams has done a much better job with the total package than Hendry, and he's done more to improve his team this offseason than Hendry, and he apparantly still has plenty of youth to both add to next years roster plus trade for more parts. And Kenny did all this with a payroll $25m below Hendry's. That right there is a huge fact that people like to pretend doesn't exist. Williams has to make due with an average payroll, he's had an above average team every year, and built a great one last year. Hendry has had a top 5 payroll every year, and has had either an above or below average team as a result, never greatness, and it doesn't look to be coming. Hendry's extra $25m can be used to bring in a sure thing corner OF and allow you not to take the downgrade from Lee to Pods. Hendry's extra money should be an asset. So far it has not been.

KW has used his prospects very wisely. He's used them in trades that made his team much better over the past couple years. Hendry hasn't done that. What people tend to forget is the Sox and Cubs were in very similar situations in 2003 and 2004. They were barely over .500. Hendry sat on his hands and tried to let nature take its course, hoping for development and health to improve the team. Williams traded for and signed better players. We can pick apart any individual deal all we want. But the individual deal does not matter. It's the whole package that matters, and Williams has clearly done a better job than Hendry in putting together the whole package. I hate the Pierre trade. But Hendry can make it work if he follows it up with deals that significantly improve the gaping hole in RF, solidifies the bench and settles the rotation.

Maybe, but the thing is, they don't have to. The Cubs are the team in dire straits. The Sox are sitting pretty, and have already significantly improved their team this year. The Cubs are in the crapper, and have made minimal improvements.

Garland and Dye for Abreu makes a ton of sense for the White Sox. A ton. McCarthy for Garland is no downgrade in the rotation, Abreu in RF is a huge upgrade. That lineup suddenly becomes a potential force.

Murton has a good chance to produce enough to justify his spot in LF. Cedeno has a good chance to produce enough to justifty his position at SS. Corey has almost no chance to produce enough to justify his spot in RF. I'm fine with keeping Corey, as a 4th OF (giving Murton and Pierre the occasional day off). But the lineup you listed is so incredibly weak and completely unjustified given a $100 million payroll.

He won't trade Garland and McCarthy. That would leave them thin in the pitching department.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with trading away prospects so you can contend for any 4-5 year period. That is especially true if you keep coming up with new prospects. If the White Sox seem to keep trading away top prospects, that just means they keep restocking their farm with top prospects. I would kill to have a GM make moves that help the team win the World Series, and I wouldn't care what prospects were lost in the process. It's not like the Sox have a barren cupboard, they do expect to start another top CF prospect out there next year, so this guy was a bit redundent. If the Cubs had Pie and another Pie, I'd trade one of them in a heartbeat.

Very possible. Beane and Hendry work pretty well together. Opposites attract.

Ponson or Javy? They did void Ponson's deal, but with the MLBPA, you never know what kind of fight they'll put up. I don't see a fit, unless the Cubs move either to a 3rd team, and only take on some salary. Would Atlanta want Javy back?

Looking at these numbers, what did we ever see in Nic? He was a 3rd round draft pick in 2000, put up weak numbers that year in Eugene. Didn't play in 2001 (is that right?). In 2002 (22) he was okay in AA in very limited duty and stunk in 2003. Felix put up far better numbers in AA at 20. And has the benefit of being a CF, while Nic was a corner OF.

I think you grossly undervalue Tejada. And completely ignore the situation the Cubs face. They are getting a crap RF regardless. It's either Jones/Encarnacion/Wilson + Tejada, or one of those guys without Tejada. If they can get Abreu, great. But I don't see them getting anybody of value for RF. And I don't see them getting any better player via trade with these guys in the future.