goonys evil twin

This whole Soriano thing doesn't make sense to me. If they view the need to get rid of walker due to his defense how do they think Soriano is going to improve it? I know it's been gone over time and time again but hearing that Soriano has come up again just scares me that it might come true!! Would Bradley be acceptable as a RF? The Cubs rarely make sense. I'm sure it has more to do with speed and tools than defense. Pierre isn't a good defender, but they apparantly had him #2 on their wish list. Either Hendry's "catch the ball" comment was a lie or he thinks speed is the most important factor when catching a ball.

Strikeouts and AVG don't tell me much. RBI from a leadoff hitter are generally low. Put that same guy 5th or 6th and the RBI will increase.

With what is here right now? Yeah, I think that's about it. With what I think is going to happen going forward? Pierre Neifi Lee Aram Jones/Burnitz/Encarnacion/Wilson Barrett Murton Cedeno With what I'd like to see happen? Pierre Walker Lee Ramirez Abreu Murton Barrett Cedeno

But Jim wants guys who can catch the ball. His idea of an upgrade is different from mine. I see him trading Walker for a mediocre corner OF, and then settling for subpar production from 2B.

If he fills it with the type of player he's likely to settle for, he won't have much of an option.

With unimpressive numbers already in CF, likely nothing more than average numbers in RF, and a very questionable middle infield situation, I think they unfortunately have to leave that option out there. Murton is no guarantee to even approach an 800 OPS. He could easily go 750-775. I'd be fine with a $350,000 kid putting up that number in LF, just like I'd be fine with a $350,000 Cedeno putting up 700 at SS. Many of the RF options are risk for sub 800, and Pierre is a lock for sub 800. I'm not willing to risk that across the board mediocrity from your OF, when it's not going to be offset elsewhere. If Walker is traded and they go with Neifi starting, then the problem just increases.

The only way Neifi does not bat 2nd is if Walker is still around. I am starting to believe that Ronny will be the everyday SS, and I think he'll probably get the chance at #2 because he's RH. Walker will be bumped down to #6 to get in that "run producing spot" that Dusty likes him in. I've heard a lot of speculation that Dusty will go with a RH bat in the 2 hole since he has a LH leadoff man. But how does that square up with the fact that Lee is the likely 3 hitter and is RH? It would either be LLR or LRR. I can't see him taking a RH hitter just because he's a RH hitter.

You don't think they could have gotten more than a bottom of the rotation pitcher for him? I'm not a Casey fan, but the guy can hit. He's the closest thing in baseball today to Mark Grace Jr. Casey was a highly mediocre 1B. He plays in a hitters park, in a division with mutiple hitters parks, and he hits like a second baseman. I wouldn't think there's much of a market for such a player.

I kind of agree with this. I would maybe try to get a RH and LH OF, and then platoon the two of them with Murton. I like Murton, and I'm happy with him starting, as I am with Cedeno. But when you go with such unguaranteed production as those two, you have to get guaranteed production elsewhere. Now that Pierre is in CF, that position won't make up for any setback from the kids. Knowing that Pierre is a likely fill-in for Cedeno, or even the starting 2B, the Cubs don't have room to screw around in the OF, they need production. I'd go big, or go after platoon guys who can handle either RH or LH pitchers.

Actually they didn't shut him down early. After deciding he would need surgery, they delayed it so he could throw meaningless bullpen innings, putting at risk his timetable for 2006.

I don't think Philly would take it. Wood won't be ready for opening day, or at least nobody would have assurances that he would be. That greatly reduces trade value. Wood probably wouln't waive his no trade unless Philly at least picked up the team option, which further devalues him in a trade. Now, I think there's a chance that you could talk them into it if you sweetened the pot, say including Williams to cover for Wood for now. But then the Cubs are down to 2 good pitchers, one 5th starter and one bad starter.

Bradley and Wilkerson would have been great additions for CF, but it's much less enticing in RF, especially now with Pierre in center. Huff and Pierre in the OF has potential disaster written all over it.

Depends. If a Cubs prospect fails the physical and Hendry gives up another good one, you'll see a lot of the same. If Pierre fails his physical and the trade falls through, I'll be happy.

I think that's completely illogical actually. Dusty has been dying for speed. Dusty wants his guys to run, he just never thought he had guys that could. Dusty has been openly pissed at guys like Hairston and Patterson for not running enough. The Cubs have been hard after a "speedy leadoff hitter" at least partially (and I suspect mostly) because they want more stolen bases. McKeon cut back on the running from Torberg, but I highly doubt Baker will cut it back even further.

Having Mark Grace at 1B and nobody at other spots to offset his lack of power certainly did hurt the Cubs. You can make due with less than ideal hitters at certain positions, but you have to offset it with better than normal hitters at other positions. And again, my motive in this discussion is to make the Cubs the best they can be. Part of that is making the offense as good as it can be. I don't think Pierre comes close to making this offense what it should be, considering the resources available to create it. I don't think he makes them bad by any means. My complaint is that this is more of a "compete within the division" move than "let's win 95 games a year for the next 3-4 years and play into late October every season". I see no reason why the Cubs can't go for the latter.

Many people don't want Pierre on the team at all, why would extending him make things better? Pie isn't a RF. RF is an impact bat position, unless of course you have studs at positions that don't normally have studs, but that is not the case with the Cubs, and not likely to be in the near future. If things work out Pie will be a good hitting CF in 2007. If he ever becomes productive enough to be a RF, that won't happen until his 26/27/28 year old seasons, 2010 and beyond.

I though McKeon actually greatly reduced the number of steal attempts after he replaced the old guy (Torberg?). Florida ran all the time and stunk in 2002 and early 2003. They still weren't good runners in 2004 and 2005, but they did it a whole lot less, creating fewer outs, and that helped the team. And Dusty isn't exactly known to be a great guesser of the other team's strategy. He's run at very inopportune times himself. So it's not like coming here will negate that "unluckiness" of having a manager call for a SB at a bad time. It really doesn't matter whose "fault" it is, what matter is the result. And the result of Pierre running is far too often an out. For instance, people who like to talk up the value of a steal tend to speak very highly of the importance of a stolen base in the pennant race or playoffs, when you just need that 1 run. And they usually bring up the Roberts steal in NY. But in that instance, everybody knew Roberts was going, and he still made it. He was a good base stealer (during those three years where he was any good). He was also a pinch runner. If you want stolen bases in clutch situations when everybody knows you're going why not call Bacon up from the minors? The two things he does well are draw walks and steal bases. Fill your regular lineup with the best hitters you can find (not the fastest guy or the most powerful or the most left handed or the most closely resembling a stereotypical "classic" leadoff hitter, just the best you can find) and then let your bench be filled by the one dimensional guys who do one thing well.

But will he still get 400+ at bats? Will he hit 2nd? Will he be an everyday guy if Walker is traded? Neifi is still probably considered the backup leadoff man. That's a bad thing.

If the Pierre trade is true, then whoever the hell ends up playing RF better be a really good hitter. Right now the lineup is incredibly suspect (and of course the biggest hole on the team is still a hole). The pitching is still in great doubt, with Wood sidelined and Glendon Rusch unfortunately slotted into a spot. You can win with a less than stellar offense, but you have to have league leading pitching, and the Cubs aren't close to being there yet. Considering the overinflated cost of pitching, and the lack of available pitchers, I don't see them improving this pitching staff that is now filled with 3 #5 starters. So they absolutely have to go big in RF, and this is when it's acceptable to overpay. Overpaying for mediocrity does you no good, overpaying for great production is different.

I tried to pick players we have a realistic shot of getting. From all reports I've heard, the Cubs aren't a match for Mr. Abreu. For the same reason, Adam Dunn isn't on the list. Personally I think it's unrealistic to say these guys should be left off the list or insinuate the Cubs can't get them.

3m for a 4th outfielder sounds like it's right in Hendry's ballpark. He's paying Neifi 2.5m to "supposedly" be a back up middle infielder. $3m for a backup OF isn't bad at all. If you're Pittsburgh you don't want to do it, but with a $100m payroll it's not bad. The problem is how good that 4th OF is. If they get Mench, I could see Corey used as a partial platoon player for Murton or Mench.

I don't see any team signing Pierre prior to arbitration deadline next year, and I don't see any reason why you would want to offer him arbitration You're assuming he doesn't rebound. If he rebounds, don't they look at 3 year averages to determine FA type? Also, with next year's FA crop you could probably offer him arbitration and he'd likely decline. With any sort of good year he'd command a decent price on the open market. Also, isn't the CBA up next december? I thought it was 2 years, and 2004 was the fluke year. 2005 was in-line with his career norms (career OPS+ of 87, 2005 was 84). They better get a stud RF, or all is for not. But I see a guy like Jones coming here to make up for Pierre's lack of glove.

Seemed is a dangerous word. I didn't get worried facing him because he's not a good baseball player. Unfortunately a lot of the havoc he causes is ruining a potential inning by getting thrown out trying to steal when he does actually reach base.

I don't see any team signing Pierre prior to arbitration deadline next year, and I don't see any reason why you would want to offer him arbitration

I think your positives and negatives are completely bogus. The Cubs acquired a leadoff man and CF who isn't good. He's got a career OPS+ of 87, compared to Corey's 81. Odds are he will be at best, he'll be only partially better than Corey this year. And since we already overpaid, you can't list as a positive that they didn't overpay by an even wider margin. That's like saying positive with the Neifi signing is that we didn't sign AGonz as well or pay Neifi $5m a year. As for the negatives, the Cubs have a bad leadoff man right now, who isn't any good with the glove. We better just hope that this deal isn't being reported accurately yet, and that Hendry can find it in himself to get a stud RF, because the offense is still not good.