goonys evil twin

I don't know, if I was a Cards fan, and had enjoyed the history of success that STL has enjoyed, I'd be willing to wait and see how things turn out. They should be able to raise payroll a reasonable level each year, given the new revenues. I'm sure part of it was put into previous increases though.

Or it strengthens their need need for pitching depth instead of just 1 stud. Philly wasn't going to get anybody like Zambrano or Prior from any team for Abreu. There aren't many pitchers like them, and none are being shopped. What is more likely to happen is they will have to sign a free agent pitcher and acquire one or two via trade. They are looking at an opening day rotation of Myers, Lieber, Lidle, Tejeda and ????. I believe Wolf had TJS and can't be counted on at all this year. Tejeda is a good young pitcher with solid, but not spectacular numbers. Lidle sucks, going to his 6th team in 8 years, and will be 34 this season. Myers is a nice young pitcher, but no stud. And Lieber's best years are long past. As a bandbox team, I don't think they can count on top free agent pitchers coming their way, and they shouldn't be all that interested in trading for pitchers who can leave for free agency soon, because they will have to pay a premium to keep anybody. Instead, they should look to field a rotation of several 2-4 type starting pitchers, until they can develop one on their own and keep him for his full 6 pre free agency years before bolting. The whole theory of trading Abreu would be build to the future. The fans have given up on the group of guys that opened Citizens Bank Park, but they are still very enthusiastic for the young guys. And Philly fans can make it very difficult for a guy they don't want there (even if he's still very good - Rolen, Schmidt, etc). Bobby might be the proverbial "baby thrown out with the bathwater" and if that happens, the Cubs have to pounce, and in doing so, sell their young kids and ability to help Philly financially.

I don't know if they can specifically pick up that money, but they can send cash back. But it supposedly has to pass the commish's desk. And while he's let most financial transactions go by, he has a rejected a handful. This may have been easier to pull off if the Cubs got involed in the Thome deal as a middle man.

Thome was traded to the White Sox last month. And Philly is paying part of his salary. I heard they picked up $22m, or about half. Not sure how that is broken down, but it's a pretty significant amount. And the fact that they had to pick up that much of his deal, and still are desperate for pitching, makes me think that Abreu really will still be available. Burrell, Utley and Howard are the face of that organization. I think it's still a possibility.

What does it say about what the Phils are doing? I'm actually surprised they traded Padilla considering when healthy he is probably their best pitcher. I don't know exactly what it does say possibly rebuild a bit? who knows. I don't think Padilla was their best pitcher. He's basically and older Jerome Williams. None of his peripherals suggest he's bound to break out. He's got WHIP issues, a rather low K/9, and while he gives up more ground balls than fly balls, it's not a whole lot more and he is susceptible to the HR. Going from Philly to Texas isn't going to help things either. Myers and Lieber are better than Padilla, whose 14 win seasons in 2002 and 2003 will probably inflate his arbitration salary.

I don't believe it makes much sense to arbitrarily leave out Abreu. He could be available. The Phillies may be more willing to trade him than the Mets with Floyd, who they have said is not going anywhere. And I'm not convinced the Cubs couldn't get Drew either, depending on just what is going on there in LA. New GMs often like to shake up the old GMs work. Of the 10 you list, I'd have to take 2 at a time, a platoon. So, Huff/Kearns or Mench/Nixon. I really won't like the look of this team if they take only one of those guys and make no other improvements. But if I listed it I guess it would be Floyd, Bradley, Wilkerson, Huff, Green. If they don't go big, the Cubs do have the money and resources to get 2 more OF bats, and allow them to split the 1400 PA between those 2 and Murton. 2 other names I'd like to explore would be Jenkins, if MIL wants to dump his salary and he can be paired with a platoon mate (because he rocks RHP but doesn't play 155 games a year), and Jose Guillen (who is approaching free agency and is also not a 155 game a year player).

I like Wilson, but don't see him as a RF candidate, or somebody that fits Jim Hendry's ball catching demands.

No possible way. They will make more deals, the question is if they will be any good. I think Jones is the front runner for RF, and I could see Jones and Mench being the last two pieces of Hendry's offseason pie.

Letting Pierre walk after this year would be much better than giving him a 3 year $24-27 million deal that takes him into his early 30's when his one major skill, his speed, will be in decline.

He was well liked by the fans, had a brief moment stretch of time when he was pretty good and had bad luck, but he was no more than a 3rd starter, and a terribly unreliable 3rd starter at that. Basically, he doesn't compare to Tejada, which negates the downside of trading away a future star.

I think the pitching around theory is a myth. Lee had nobody behind him much of the year (Burnitz hit 4) and his numbers didn't suffer. Plus, when Neifi is starting you have your black hole, and if either Cedeno or Murton struggled in their first full years (very much a possibility) that could be another black hole. If RF is as bad as it was last year, that is a black hole.

The difference is Dontrelle was traded for Alfonseca (who sucked) and Clement (who Florida was dumping in a salary move and who never was that good for the Cubs). I'd gladly acquire Tejada if it meant giving up a guy who might have the success of Willis in a couple years. Zambrano is just as young, or younger than some of the possible pitchers the Cubs will trade (Guzman, Hill) and much more accomplished. He hasn't hit his peak yet. We're not trading 2005 Zambrano for 2005 Tejada, (which by the way, I would argue wouldn't have made the Cubs any better), and all these theoretical free agent pitchers are all significantly worse than Zambrano, and signficantly more expensive. The Cubs don't have anybody who comes close to Zambrano's quality in their system right now. Trade him and Cedeno for Tejada, then sign a free agent pitcher. You now have no money left over, and still no RF. Trade Walker for a mediocre RF, and you now have Neifi starting everyday at 2B, a weakened pitching staff, and no financial resources to fix the problems that will arise.

Power is one part of their game. Sandberg was at his best overall in the mid 80's, when he was in his mid 20's. His peak SLG was at age 30, but it's not like he didn't have power before. He had a resurgent year in the early 90's I believe, when he was 30. And while power increased, other parts of his game declined in his early 30's, like speed and defense. That's why it hurts MI more. 1B can stand there and not be hurt by a decline in speed. But a 32 year old SS can't do what he did at 26. I'm not saying a 32 year old SS can't have a career year. It happens now and then. But the point is the average player, star or not, hits his peak performance from 26-28, levels off then declines. By the way, Jeter has declined from his peak, which was probably earlier than most people. ARod, both younger and better than Jeter, probalby hit his peak at 24 and is still right around there at 29, but he has slowed a bit, and probably can't field at SS like he used to. Nomar started his decline in his late 20's. We're talking about guys at the elite status. They still stay very good as they start to decline, but they do decline. Ripkin was a bit of an up and down guy, after seemingly peaking in his early 20's, he had a couple of less than stellar seasons at 26 and 28 (surrounding a good year 27 season). But he "repeaked" at 30, and quickly fell off from there. Of course you can also look at Ernie Banks, who was fabulous from 25-29, still really good at 30, but then much less special every year after. Renteria, really good at 26, peaked at 27, hasn't come close to that since. Kent is a rare breed. He wasn't great in his mid 20s, he had his peak years in his early 30's, which is rare. Because it is so rare I wouldn't go after guys expecting it to happen. Kent is also a crappy defensive 2B and should be playing 1B, where his hitting is less of a novelty and more expected. Tejada will start to decline, soon. But he is elite and will still be very good for a few years. And I'd love to have him on my team. But not if it means trading a great pitcher who hasn't approached his peak, when pitching is also a concern on this team. Although I'm not as familar with the numbers, I believe pitchers' peaks are usually a little later than hitters, somewhere around 29.

Wrong, especially for middle infielders. Peak is 27. There is some variance in either direction, maybe 26 or 28 here and there. Regardless, Tejada has peaked, and will be getting worse in his 30's. He'll still be good, but not as good as he was before. I completely diagree with that assessment, especially since athletes take much better care of themselves than they have in years past. I would bet that MIFers in the upper echelon (such as Jeter and Kent, and historically, Ryno and Ozzie Smith, as examples) either maintained or increased their production as they entered their thirties (i.e., 30-34). Point is that Tejada cannot be judged against the statiscal trends of the Neifi Perezs of the world. he's head-and-shoulders above that level, and if he has 4 or 5 more seasons like the last few, is highley likely to be an HOFer. Disagree all you want, it's been proven time and time again. The rare exceptions, Bonds, only prove the rule. Tejada has already peaked, he's not going to get any better, and he will start to decline in his early 30s. Zambrano hasn't approached his peak.

Having Rusch in the rotation is not good, that's a hole. RF is the one empty position, but depending on how it is filled, it might not be the only hole on the team. A mediocre RF, and no significant upgrade elsewhere, would leave this team still very much lacking on offense, and a rotation with Rusch, Maddux and Williams likely all getting starts in April is not good enough to mask the failings of that lineup. i disagree. rusch will be an above average #5 imo. as far as the upgrades on offense, pierre in cf, a full season of murton, cedeno & walker are all upgrades from last year. The Cubs don't just need to improve upon last year's team. They need to drastically improve on last year's team. They didn't finish just out of the race, they were destroyed in the race. I don't know how people define average #5 starter, but Rusch would probably be the #4, technically, at least to start the season. And I'm talking about trying to make the Cubs great, not average or above average. Their lineup right now is bad. Add a mediocre RF and it's no better than average, and probably worse. The only way you can win with that kind of production is great pitching, and no team with Rusch starting 33 times could be considered to have great pitching. He's a terrible option for full time starter. He's okay as a swing man, but if he goes out there everyday he's very likely to give you another season of terrible results. Murton, given 700 PA, probably outperforms the LF class of 2005 (.265 .319 .418), but Dusty will find a way to let some crappy veteran get too much time out there, and Murton might have a bit of a sophomore slump. I wouldn't consider LF to be a guaranteed significant upgrade. Cedeno might be able to outproduce the SS class of 2005 (.274 .307 .369), but again, he could struggle a little in his first action, and Neifi will get lots of time there regardless, so the overall SS production is probably not going to be much better than last years. In CF, the Cubs were 16th in the NL in OPS last season, the Marlins were 15th. They aren't getting a huge lift with Juan coming here. He should be better than last year's CF group, and he could be better than he was last year. But he's not extremely productive. Take LF, CF and SS, and you'll be lucky to get 150 total OPS points of improvements, combined. You'll probably get more like 100. Hendry is apparantly trying to trade Walker so he can get a better glove there, sacrificing what little offensive help ARam and Lee have. Then you could easily lose some from OPS, 2B was at .291 .346 .442 last year (interestingly, better than LF, CF, RF). And you are going to lose some OPS from Lee. The question is how much. Take off 100 points and he's still 120 points above his career norm. Be nice and only take away 50, and he's still MVP caliber. Take those away from the other improvements (if they even end up being improvements) and you get marginal improvement over the 2005 team. If you fail to get a substantial improvement in RF, you run the risk of being as bad or worse than the 2005 offense. And the pitching staff is still a big question. I wouldn't want to make it worse by trying to depend on the unreliable Glendon Rusch to hold down a spot, and offset the still lagging offense, all season.

Technically I wouldn't call anybody untouchable. I'd trade Prior and Z "in the right deal", but that right deal isn't likely to come along. I'd trade Dempster in a heartbeat for a good player. I'd trade Lee or ARam in a deal where they can be replaced as well.

Wrong, especially for middle infielders. Peak is 27. There is some variance in either direction, maybe 26 or 28 here and there. Regardless, Tejada has peaked, and will be getting worse in his 30's. He'll still be good, but not as good as he was before.

The Cubs pitching is severely lacking in quality. This trade idea helps the offense, but hurts the pitching, and leaves very little room to make improvements elsewhere. Even in a trade for Tejada, the Cubs still need to get at least a decent bat for RF. Trade Z and others for Tejada, then sign a starting pitcher. The starting pitcher is going to be worse than Zambrano, probably much worse. Tejada is a really good player who I'd love to have on this team, but he's past his prime. Zambrano hasn't hit his. Tejada is very expensive, Zambrano is very cheap. Zambrano has been the only steady, healthy, effective starter on the roster the past 2 years. I think, at best, this trade makes the Cubs marginally better right now, but will make them worse as soon as 2007, with much fewer resources available then to make them better. But I also think that with the instability of the pitching staff already as bad as it is, this trade could make them worse in 2006. Another thing to consider is no other team that can consider a Tejada trade can offer anything close to Zambrano. San Diego isn't trading Peavy. Minnesota isn't going to give them Santana. Zambrano is in their class of pitchers. The only way a deal gets made that makes sense for the Cubs is if Baltimore truly does have to trade Tejada, and if their money grubbing owner would take back prospects for Miggy. Bottom line, I'd rather have Zambrano starting at pitcher and Cedeno starting at shortstop than Miggy starting at shortstop, Rusch getting 33 starts and paying some mediocre free agent pitcher a 4/40 contract to give the Cubs a 4.00 ERA or worse. The Cubs need more offense to this team and more starting pitching. They can't get rid of their best starting pitcher to help this team now.

He keeps his job because people read this article, talk about this article, make other people think about the article and ultimately they sell more papers and get more clicks on the website. It's no more ridiculous than half the stuff he has written over the years.

Teams generally don't trade top prospect for top prospect. And the Cubs, in the position they are in, should not be filling RF with a prospect. First of all, they don't have any top notch pitching prospects to trade for a top notch hitting prospect. What they have is numerous solid prospects who could help teams with a severe lack of arms. Their only high ceiling pitcher is Guzman, whose prospect status has been severely bruised by his injury problems. The Cubs are a team that needs to win now. They don't need more guys who might be decent over the next couple years but should be really good down the line. That have guys like that already. They need immediate production, and barring any monster shakeup trade for a guy like Tejada, the best spot to get it is in RF. Or, if they come up short on that one RF, they should get two corner OF and let Murton split time with both of them.

Pee Research? That's Alou's gig.

Rogers' job is to create controversy so his employer can sell more papers, or get more on-line views. Suggesting a reasonable trade idea isn't really all that interesting to much of the public. They buy papers and start talking about that article to radio hosts when the trade idea is more shocking than likely to help the ballclub. Watching this guy on that awful Comcast show with the other writers makes me believe he doesn't really believe have the stuff he says/writes, and spends much of his energy and focus on thinking of something that will get a reaction instead of something that makes good sense.

Maybe he's been voicing his concerns in private and feels he is being ignored. This could be a way of kicking the front office into gear. Baltimore isn't known to be a well managed organization, things have been going downhill since the mid-90s when they were once the top payroll franchise.

Having Rusch in the rotation is not good, that's a hole. RF is the one empty position, but depending on how it is filled, it might not be the only hole on the team. A mediocre RF, and no significant upgrade elsewhere, would leave this team still very much lacking on offense, and a rotation with Rusch, Maddux and Williams likely all getting starts in April is not good enough to mask the failings of that lineup.

Considering the Marlins goals (getting prospects and dumping payroll) they did a great job. Look, they knew they couldn't contend next year so they went all out with their dump. Why would get rid of only some guys and maybe be a .500 club? If your goal is to suck next year, you don't get props for achieving it.