VanceJergins

Who would be our closer until Wood gets used to pitching every day? Howry? Probably Howry. I have a really good feeling about Wuertz as a closer though.

There's already a thread and a locked thread about this.

I think in any trade for an established pitcher, we are going to have send a top prospect back. And if they take Dempster, I think they are doing us a favor. So I would say Veal or Gallagher for sure, and then a project like Guzman or Marshall. Remember, Hendry really isn't on our side anymore. He has a one-year time horizon. There's no way we'd give up star potential along with our closer and a young pitcher with decent production and decent potential for an average starter.

That sure seems like a lot, but then again Manny is pretty danged awesome. I would hate to give up Veal and Gallagher, and Murton is my favorite player so I'd hate for him to go too. They should offer Jones, Eyre, Gallagher, Pie, Moore, or something like that.

Completely off topic here, but your avatar reminds me of a picture of a friend of mine that played baseball at Purdue. He was a left-handed hitter, and there was a photo of him with a beautiful followthrough on a swing. You could also see the catcher, getting ready to throw the ball back to the pitcher since it was a swing and a miss. We had to crop out the catcher so we could use the picture in the media guide. I only mention it since you're clearly on the followthrough of your swing, but you can still see the ball around your ankles. You should have someone Photoshop it out. :) Or have someone photoshop more in! I'm not sure if that was a foul ball or a swinging strike. I'm leaning toward it being a foul ball. That would have to be a hell of a changeup or breaking pitch for me to already be following through and the ball still be in front of me like that. That's a swinging strike...you're the coaches kid, arent you?

Consensus seems to be he might be able to squeek out 1-2 years in CF, but he's gonna end up in RF. And Hendry seems very happy with an outfield of the future of Soriano, Murton, and Pie. I'd be happy with that outfield too, but Kemp seems to have much more patience and power than Pie. But if Pie pans out to be a pretty good player, Murton/Pie/Soriano seems pretty good.

you start jones over soriano? would that make a-sor the most expensive bench player ever? Very silly move. Besides that, why bat DeRosa in the 2 hole? RF - Soriano 1B - Lee CF - Drew LF - ManRam 3B - ARam C - Barrett SS - Lugo 2B - DeRosa The general principle is to get your best hitters the most plate appearances per season. Even at that, this lineup still works within the conventional mold. Speed at the top of the lineup in Soriano and DLee's deceptive speed. Lefty/Righty breakups. Even the catcher batting near the bottom of the order! Plus you have the added benefit of Soriano and Lee getting more PA per season than Lugo and DeRosa... which speaks for itself. Why not put Soriano at 2B and keep Murton on LF, and get ARod for SS? 2B: Soriano CF: Drew 1B: Lee RF: M. Ramirez SS: ARod 3B: A. Ramirez LF: Murton C: Barrett Trade Jones and Izturis for the rights to Matsuzaka, sign Schmidt, and we're set. Zambrano Matsuzaka Schmidt Prior Hill I'm 97% sure this will be our opening day roster.

I dont know if this possibility has been discussed yet, but apparently the Dodgers are still looking for another outfielder for some reason. They seem to value crappy outfielders over good young outfielders, so do you think they'd be dumb enough to trade Kemp for Jones? That Kemp fella seems like a sure fire great player and I would love to see him in CF for the next 10 years (if he can play CF).

Hendry put down what you're doing and get him. NOW. Again, I ask-why do you think we're on Manny's list to actually be traded to? Here's the list that I've gleaned from all the reports-the report last month said that it was 10-12 teams long. Giants Padres Dodgers Mets Rangers Orioles Indians Angels Those are 8 of the teams, which only leaves 2-4 teams left. I certainly don't think it's a huge possibility that the Cubs are one of those teams. It's possible, but not very likely IMO. Even if Hendry wanted him, he might not be able to get him if he does not want to come. Why do you think that? What evidence have you that you have not shared? And what is a "huge possibility" exactly? So you're saying there's a chance... Well, anything's possible :D From looking at the 22 teams left though, I just don't think the Cubs would be one of the frontrunners left. I think we would have had at least discussions with the Red Sox, even if those discussions went nowhere (like they are reporting with other teams). My guess is that the teams that are left on his list really have very little interest or capability to add on salary, which is why they have not been mentioned while the other 8 have. My last point is the media-if they knew the Cubs were on Manny's list, they would love to spread that news because it would gather more interest. The fact that it hasn't while most of the list has not been very secretive is probably a sign that they are not there. Maybe the writers just assume we arent interested because we signed Soriano. I really doubt we get him, but I'm not going to rule it out because ESPN hasnt confirmed that we're interested.

Fingers crossed. I'd be excited if the Cubs won the bidding. It's about time they enter the Japanese market. It'd also be one less rotation hole to fill! I like the attitude that Igawa appears to have. He and Z would be fun to watch. On an unrelated note, Vinestal, who is that in your avatar? That would be Mark DeRosa, Ive taken up being his 1 man fan club sense everyone else seems to hate him. I like him and will continue to unless he gives me good reason not to.

Any word on this fellow?

Pena doesnt hit lefties very well. Last year is an anomaly compared to the rest of his career, which has a pretty favorable platoon split. I just looked at last year and made an assumption. Shame on me, thanks for the correction.

Pena doesnt hit lefties very well.

I dont think anyone thinks that if Prior is healthy he'll be the 4th or 5th best starter. Its just that most dont feel confident penciling him in as the #2 starter. But I agree, if he's healthy he'll be really good.

Yeah, I'm going to have to call shenanigans on this one.

I havent seen any other sites mention it....I'm going to guess its somebody making stuff up.

Hopefully Hendry is feeling generous and agrees to take one off their hands. But the experts at the dodgers.com message board will disagree with this analysis, comparing Pierre to a young Kenny Lofton. Sure, at Pierre's age Lofton was putting up an OBP in the .400's and SLG in the upper .400's, but Pierre gets almost as many stolen bases. And as the following quote from poster bjinla points out, Pierre's game is more than meaningless stats like OPS: Do you want to start the slow clap or should I?

You forgot FJM's response: Haha, that makes me happy.

1B: .266/.337/.437/.774 SS: .246/.275/.324/.598 LF: .280/.346/.428/.774 Oh man, those SS numbers make me want to throw up all over myself. I really hope we can get a decent player there this year.

It's not that I agree. But attention has to be drawn to this. Well played. Guzman has the potential (still) to be lights-out awesome. Even when he was struggling this year in the majors, his stuff was filthy, and he occasionally looked absolutely dominant. Unfortunately, it was usually only for a couple pitches at a time. Given that he's basically coming off 2 years worth of injury, I'm willing to forgive that inconsistency for the moment. Let's hope he stays healthy and straightens things out this season in the minors - and maybe get a spot in the rotation part way through the year. I agree that Guzman is cooked, he hasn't even been prepared. His fastball is straight as an arrow w/ no movement. IIRC the games I watched him pitch - the majority of his fastballs were being fouled off, then eventually basehits. Basically, every hitter was seeing the ball and finally catching up to it. Pitch count = high in the early innings which lead to short outing. He has no command of his curve. I'd trade him in a heartbeat. Overated. His value is at an all time low right now. We're not the only ones who saw him struggle. There's more of a chance he turns it around than we get something valuable for him.

What would it take to get Kearns and have him platoon with Jones in CF? That could be a great platoon. Kearns against lhp in 152 AB's: .336/.434/.605 with 9 hrs. Jones against rhp in 396 AB's: .303/.358/.528 with 21 hrs. Jones actually seems to have some patience against righties. I think getting a righty to platoon with Jones would be our best bet cause there arent a whole lot of realistic options to upgrade offensively. If we could also grab Lugo, our lineup could be very solid: Soriano Murton Lee Ramirez Jones/Kearns Barrett Lugo DeRosa

Hehehehe. Yes I know that I was doing that to show how much I hate that stupid #*!$. DING DING DING DING DING!! Come again?

Lugo is a much larger upgrade over Izturis than guys like Meche, Batista, and Marquis would be over Guzman/Marshall/Mateo/Marmol. Why wouldn't we want to spend the money where it would help us most? I don't know why people keep talking about Guzman like he is a rotation possibility. Has he looked anything like a ML starter at any point in the past couple years? Not that I've seen. I hope I am proven wrong, but I think the Gooz is cooked. Last year was his first full year back after being injured for awhile...I'll give him this season before I count him out.

DING DING DING DING DING!!! Kearns will probably only make about 2 million next year, and Church under 1.

Link. From what I can ascertain, Muskat is not a very good "beat writer". Rarely has she come up with insider knowledge regarding the direction the Cubs are going to take. It looks like she is taking info from various other sources and turning them into her own analysis. True. And according to Bruce, she's not very high on the list of writers that have access to Hendry.