goonys evil twin

It's more amazing that 99% make mention of Neifi Perez I haven't read anything about Neifi in quite a while. That was the first. As for Dusty, well, it's just amazing to me how incredibly obvious his flaws are to everybody but Andy and Hendry. :lol:

There's plenty of doubt. He's as much a Yankee as he is a Cub. The guy currently is a Yankee, that right there should instill some doubt.

The contract, and the GM's ability to sell that contract are always the most important thing.

If family/location is the big concern, how could Boston, Houston or STL be ahead of the Cubs? They win? But what does that have to do with family? Nobody has bid on anybody yet. Only SD can talk to Giles. Nobody is ahead of anybody else. The Cubs can get him if they want him. It's insane to talk about the impossibility of signing him.

If family/location is the big concern, how could Boston, Houston or STL be ahead of the Cubs?

I'm unsure where I stand on Joe. He seemed to have a nose for the game back when he played and former catchers seem to do fairly well for themselves when they become managers. Tack that onto his involvement in the Chicago community and how fondly some Cubs fans remember him and you have a nice situation for a homecoming. But, at the same time, I don't know what to expect with him. Does he know what OBP is? How about managing a bullpen, is he any good at that? Would he be willing to surround himself with effective coaches who would be willing to coach? Would he be against playing rookies over established veterans? I'm 50/50 on whether or not I want him here. Ever since he said he saw something was wrong with one of the Cubs pitchers during a game (maybe Lieber), but didn't feel the need to say anything until after an injury, I don't trust him with a pitching staff.

You know what they say about people who assume... I'm pretty certain they didn't do this last year.

OK, now I know you don't know anything about pizza. Makes me understand.

Why no concern with Chipper's fragile body? If durability and the perception that laziness leads to the injuries causes you to want to deal Ramirez, how can then turn around and acquire a guy coming off 2 straight injury marred seasons (who happens to cost much more than the guy you'd be replacing)? That's a concern too. Just want to get 3 (both Giles & Chipper) for 2 (ARam & Walker or CPatt). People who think the Cubs have any shot @ B. Giles w/out some major change are dreaming. Am kinda doubtful the Cubs could get M. Giles w/out giving up a major asset. Thus my proposed deal. The only way that Giles is a pipedream is if Hendry doesn't go hard after him. Anybody can be had.

Why no concern with Chipper's fragile body? If durability and the perception that laziness leads to the injuries causes you to want to deal Ramirez, how can then turn around and acquire a guy coming off 2 straight injury marred seasons (who happens to cost much more than the guy you'd be replacing)? Not only that, but (correct me if I'm wrong) I believe he had multiple injuries this season. If I remember correctly, he had a foot issue AND some problems with his throwing arm (shoulder, I think). A move to first base may be in the cards for Chipper within the next few years if his arm continues to bother him. I think that shoulder has been a concern for a couple years.

that's crazy talk I'll readily admit it's not the very best, but it is very good, and with all the locations, very accessible for travelers.

I always have a tough time defining what a tier 1 and tier 2 player is. I think there's less than 10 superstar position players in the game. There's probably another 10-20 perenial all star types who keep putting up good numbers. I don't consider Johnny Damon to be in either group. I think of him as a good player to have on your team, but not a difference maker. If he's asking for 5/50, I think that's way too much for what he brings to the table (which is good, but not great OBP, some pop, decent speed and above average defense). But he's not great at any one part of the game. Looking at the "similar batters" category on his baseball reference page, it's tough to be impressed. To date, he's probably been more or less fairly compensated, maybe a little overpaid making $7-8m per. But high salaries peaked earlier this decade, when your big time studs were getting $17m (aside from Jeter and Arod) and the 10-15 range was for other studs like Piazza, Tejada or Guerrero. Remember, though, he's past his peak performance years. If you sign him now, you're signing for what he did before, and frankly he didn't do that much. I wouldn't think about $10m per, no matter how many years. 3-5 years at $6m per might accurately reflect what he will give you, while 4/32 would be at the highest peak. And even there I'm not interested in the guy.

Why no concern with Chipper's fragile body? If durability and the perception that laziness leads to the injuries causes you to want to deal Ramirez, how can then turn around and acquire a guy coming off 2 straight injury marred seasons (who happens to cost much more than the guy you'd be replacing)?

I'm really, really hoping that Murton and Cedeno are in front of him in the line. I'm then hoping that the Cubs decide that three rookies would be more than Johnnie B. could handle at one time in the starting lineup. Imagine if Hendry saw all the rookies playing fro Atlanta and decided that was who he was going to imitate for 2006? But Atlanta didn't set out to go with all those rookies. They had to fallback to a lot of them due to injuries. Pie shouldn't see Wrigley in 2006. There's too much at risk. If there is remarkable improvement, and somebody goes down midseason, then maybe he gets the call. But right now, he's got no business moving up.

I wouldn't even think about that trade. But Giles is better than Walker. He's faster. Better defensively. Walker has better power and patience. I'd say it's a push. They're avg/obp/slg lines have been pretty similar the past two years. Go back three years and Giles takes the cake. Going forward I have to think Giles will stay up over the 800 mark much longer. I'd take Giles over Walker without question.

I wouldn't even think about that trade. But Giles is better than Walker.

Exactly. If I invest $10m over multiple years in a player I want Top 3 production from his position in the league, for the length of the contract. Damon won't deliver that. Give me a list of ten players who have in the last 10 years produced in the top 3 for his position every single year of the contract and had a top 5 salary for the position. Good luck. Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez come immediatly to mind. What about Miguel Tejada? Pujols has been top 3 with a top 5 salary ever since he resigned. Helton's been right around there. This seems like a rather odd exercise.

He's not high on my list. I'm afraid he's too tied to the Donny Buntball school of baseball.

Plus the related concern of durability, as well. This is why I wish the Cubs would overpay for a left handed hitting 1st/3rd baseman that can play a corner OF for the bench. Is there one out there like that? Yeah Tim, I think the durability is tied to the conditioning. I'd like to see if Toronto is trying to dump Hinske's $4m salary. He'd be a solid backup for 3rd and 1st, as well as a potent bench bat. He's a little pricey, but it's not a longterm contract, and the one thing the Cubs have in their favor this offseason is payroll room.

I'm really hoping for a couple kids to get bench jobs. I see a few of them doing as well as some $800,000 veteran. But I think I'd like to see a good outing by Sing vault him into valuable trade chip this winter. The Cubs need to make moves, and the more assets the better.

At least it wasn't a flight to NYC, they might ahve killed themselves when they realized what real pizza smelled like I do that all the time. The crew and the passengers get so jealous.

Wow, what the hell are you even talking about. Seriously. Do me a favor and don't ever talk to me again on this board. Don't quote me and then make wild accusations with no substance, don't put words in my mouth. Don't ever respond to anything I write.

????? Yeah, that's a fairly odd statement. Just went through the thread and was waiting to see if anybody commented on that line. The guy has 120 K the past two years, each time putting up a 900+ OPS. Only Vladdy had a higher OPS/lower K total. Now, part of that low K total is due to missed games, but even if he played a full season he would have had a very acceptable number. People's hatred for the K skews their analysis of a player all to often. He could stand to walk a little more often, but you can't complain about Aramis's production. The only legit knock on him is his conditioning, which can, and must, improve.

I'm not sure how this turned into a debate between Dempster and Hawkins. I don't get the "you can get someone else" theory. The Cubs have pretty much proven they aren't good at just getting somebody else. They spent a year and a half trying to get somebody else, and that was just a year removed from spending a decade trying to find somebody else. $2m on Jobo was a managable risk. At $5m, they don't have the luxury of living through failure. This isn't a "if he fails, no big deal" sort of thing. They are tied into Dempster now, and he must deliver. He had good numbers as a reliever this year. But those numbers are not guaranteed in the future, given his history.

If that's the case, it's always going to be that way. You don't know what the cost of a skybox in Boston will cost in 25 years. You don't know what the cost of any ticket will be in 25 years. What they'd have to do is sit down and negotiate the sale based on their own numbers. There's absolutely no reason whatsoever that they couldn't sell in the middle of these improvements. It's like selling a condo mid-construction. If the buyer has confidence the job will get done, he'll offer a price, if the seller likes the price, he'll take it.