apete6

If payroll is really "frozen", they simply don't have the $$$ for that kind of signing New Chicagosports.com article says that Hendry has enough payroll to sign a fifth starter and names Lowe and Pettite as possibilities. Sheets would be a terrific pickup though. Marshall would still get some big innings between Harden and Sheets. If we have money for a starter, why didn't we just keep DeRosa and not sign Miles? Is getting Mike freaking Fontenot more at bats more important than keeping DeRosa? This one is still a head scratcher unless we are using the Indians prospects as part of a Peavy deal or as replacement for guys we trade for Peavy. Strange stuff.

Pedro Martinez?

I would love Beimel as well and I agree with Samardzija and Hoffpauir. Unfortunately, I think Uncle Lou always wants 12 pitchers and the Hoff is going to get the shaft.

Rumor has it, some 12 year old kid who will name himself manager.

I made a Poll about this. You can give Hendry any grade from A+ to F. Check it out in the "Polls" section.

What is everyone's opinion? Here is my feeling on what Hendry/Lou will do as of today (1/6): OF (5): Soriano, Johnson, Fukudome, Bradley, Gathright IF (6): Ramirez, Theriot, Fontenot, Miles, Lee, Cedeno C: (2) Soto, Bako (allegedly close to signing) P (12): Zambrano, Dempster, Lilly, Harden, Marshall, Gregg, Marmol, Vizcaino, Cotts, Gaudin, Guzman, Wuertz Either traded for minor leaguers or released: Pie, Rich Hill Starting season in AAA: Samardzija (starting there), Ascanio, Hart, Koyie Hill, Hoffpauir Obviously, it would be great if we could somehow get something of value for Pie and Rich Hill, but all signs point to that not happening. Could you imagine the player we could have gotten 2 years ago for a package of Pie, Hill, and Cedeno? Now its possible that none of them are on the team and we get nothing for them (if we sign Aurilia to take Cedeno's spot). The signing of Gathright just continues to amaze me with its stupidity. Pie is just as good, if not better in the field, has more power, and can probably hit for the same average/OBP. Gathright may be a bit faster and is definitely more seasoned when it comes to stealing bases. Lou could use Samardzija out of the pen, but my feeling is that they would like him to start eventually, so they will let him start in AAA. If he does well starting, he could come up and take Marshall's spot in the rotation and move Marshall back to the pen (or to take over for Harden when he eventually gets injured). Ideally, we trade Pie to Baltimore for Olsen and then package Olsen and anything else we need to not on the major league club for Peavy, but that doesn't seem to be in the works. Anyone else's thoughts?

Given his payroll, scouting/player development budget, and other selling points/resources (stadium, city, lack of other facilities, tradition, etc...), what grade would you give Jim Hendry?

I agree. It seems he caught the Texas lightning in a bottle. He'll be fairly productive when he's healthy, but probably not nearly as good as he was last year. Anyone else sick to their stomachs knowing that we now have approximately $70 million tied up in Fukudome & Bradley for the next 3 years? Due to contracts, our offense will remain nearly exactly the same for the next 3 years. It better be good again.

Burrell will outproduce Bradley for both of those seasons. Too bad he hits RH and wasn't an option for the Cubs, although with his OF defense, Adam Dunn would have been a better fit. Great signing by the Rays. This should be a good sign for their fans that they will spend some money to improve a good team. Lets hope they are repaid at the box office this year.

Which is why Greggs contract and Fuentes' contract are completely unrelated. Gregg will get paid based on option being picked up, age, performance, and similar players, while Fuentes is getting paid by FA market standards. Surely, you can see the difference. Which brings me back to the original poster who asked "And we're paying Kevin Gregg $5 million why?" It was a poor attempt to make Greggs acquisition look worse by comparing his salary to a high priced free agent. Lastly, Gregg will not go to arbitration and will sign a contract in the range of $3.4 to $3.8 that will be the middle ground of the arb proposals by agent and team. So, trading Jose Ceda for Kevin Gregg and likely paying him $3.5-$5 million to probably suck for 1 year is better than resigning Kerry Wood to 2/$20 or Brian Fuentes to 2/$17.5 and keeping Ceda?

Assuming Bradley is the last main part of the offseason puzzle, how do you feel? I voted "Bad" Our bullpen, bench, and 2nd base situations are now worse. Our rotation and CF situation will likely be worse and same at very best case. Our RF production will likely improve a bit until Bradley gets hurt. We lost 2 good clubhouse guys in DeRosa and Wood and brought in a guy with some baggage in Bradley. Gathright, Miles, Gregg, and Bako are simply not guys who bring anything to the table, especially for a team that has World Series aspirations. I can honestly say that we have made 0 moves that will forsure make the Cubs a better team in 2009 than they were in 2008. Obviously we could trade for Peavy and make the whole situation better, but that doesn't seem likely to happen. Consider me upset unless that happens.

Have you watched Dempster pitch? He's so much better than those guys. I don't understand the people who don't think that Dempster is good. Watch his stuff; it's filthy! He was mis-cast as a reliever and still wasn't terrible. He will continue to put up 15+ win seasons for the Cubs. Wow, a "use your eyes" AND using wins as a measurement in the same post. That was a gritty post.

Who's paying Gregg $5 mil? The Cubs. Sorry, since I don't work for the organization I guess I can't refer to them as "we". Jim Hendry has done a terrible job allocating his resources this offseason.

2 years/$17.5 million. 9 million vesting option for a 3rd year based off of games finished. And we're paying Kevin Gregg $5 million why?

If this is just a salary dump, couldn't we have gotten a better return for DeRosa?

Not to be Debbie Downer, but what if these moves aren't leading to a bigger move, but only to lower payroll under management directive? We would have a starting outfield of Soriano, Johnson, Fukudome and a starting infield of Ramirez, Theriot, Fontenot, and Lee. That's not winning a World Series.

This is short-sighted and naive. There's nothing wrong with acquiring another middle infielder to back up Fontenot to allow DeRosa is traded. The problem is if we're making moves to save money and get some prospects, why in the world are we spending five million on a one million dollar player? Alex Cintron and Luis Rivas aren't noticeably worse in a backup role and will probably be getting minor league deals. I agree 100%. These are the types of signings that end up precluding a bigger signing later. For $1.5 million over the next 2 years, you could get the same production that Miles is going to give you for $5 million. Do that at 2 or 3 positions (backup catcher, middle relief) and you've just cost yourself a decent player at a more important position.

What if we get Peavy for the DeRosa prospects, and no one very valuable to the major league team and go into the season with this roster? OF: Soriano, Johnson, Fukudome, Gathright, Bradley IF: Ramirez, Theriot, Fontenot, Miles, Lee, another bad backup IF C: Soto, Koyie Hill SP: Peavy, Dempster, Zambrano, Lilly, Marshall RP: Gregg, Marmol, Samardzija, Wuertz, Cotts, Guzman, Vizcaino Gone in trades would be: Marquis, Pie, Cedeno, DeRosa, minor leaguers from Cleveland, and a few other lower level guys from Cubs. Harden? See last post on pg. 4. I forgot him. Move marshall to BP and get rid of Wuertz/Guzman.

I'd be interested in seeing your stats to back up that 10-12 win regression. And it is a little hard to make any such definitive statements until you see the final team they bring to spring training. Considering we were a 90 or so win team that managed to win 97 games last season I don't have to do much. Basically, all I have to say is that Ryan Dempster's ERA needs to go up a run and that Milton Bradley isn't Carlos Beltran and Grady Sizemore and I've covered my three wins or so. I'd put the Cubs right around 88 true level, right around 90 adjusted for the NLC. Wasn't their pythag right at 97 last year? Or are you using projected 2009 numbers?

Ya, no kidding, me too. Nothing like rooting for the 2 teams with the longest droughts, too!

What if we get Peavy for the DeRosa prospects, and no one very valuable to the major league team and go into the season with this roster? OF: Soriano, Johnson, Fukudome, Gathright, Bradley IF: Ramirez, Theriot, Fontenot, Miles, Lee, another bad backup IF C: Soto, Koyie Hill SP: Peavy, Dempster, Zambrano, Lilly, Marshall RP: Gregg, Marmol, Samardzija, Wuertz, Cotts, Guzman, Vizcaino Gone in trades would be: Marquis, Pie, Cedeno, DeRosa, minor leaguers from Cleveland, and a few other lower level guys from Cubs. Ha, I forgot Harden. Put him on there, move Marshall to bullpen and get rid of Wuertz or Guzman.

What if we get Peavy for the DeRosa prospects, and no one very valuable to the major league team and go into the season with this roster? OF: Soriano, Johnson, Fukudome, Gathright, Bradley IF: Ramirez, Theriot, Fontenot, Miles, Lee, another bad backup IF C: Soto, Koyie Hill SP: Peavy, Dempster, Zambrano, Lilly, Marshall RP: Gregg, Marmol, Samardzija, Wuertz, Cotts, Guzman, Vizcaino Gone in trades would be: Marquis, Pie, Cedeno, DeRosa, minor leaguers from Cleveland, and a few other lower level guys from Cubs.

Or Shin Soo Choo

If AJ Burnett got 5/82.5 or whatever, then I don't think we overpayed because the Yankees would have gone close to that with Dempster. Burnett is more talented and has a better track record as a starter, but he's also very injury prone. Dempster had the TJS, but other than that, he's been relatively healthy. If he keeps up his workout program, I would imagine he's probably worth the money over the life of the contract.

While Soriano's contract doesn't look as bad as it did when he signed it, its still bad and a very high $ amount. Only a few teams could even afford to pick it up for nothing, let alone getting a prospect or two in return. Angels--already have a lot of OFs and Manny would be a better guy anyway for less money. Yankees--they've already played that game and have already spent a ton of money Mets--no real need Nationals--he burned them before, so probably not Orioles--maybe, but Angelos probably wouldn't have any of it Red Sox--no need White Sox--no need Giants--maybe, but you're not getting a good prospect from them Dodgers--best chance if they don't resign Manny, but you're not getting Kemp or someone like that for him Phillies--no need In addition, even if one of those teams could afford it, Soriano would have to approve it, which he likely wouldn't.