Elrhino

Is it too much to ask that Prior stay healthy too? Yeah, I suppose it is.

Here's an article from Newsday where Floyd says his first choice is to play for the Cubs, and his doctors have told him that he'll be ready by spring training. http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/mets/ny-spmets224986504nov22,0,7419542.story?coll=ny-mets-print

Another perspective is that forgetting about 2007 and reloading for 2008 is increasingly looking like it would have been the smart thing to do. We could have sat on the sidelines watching the desperate win-now teams saddle themselves with these crippling albatross contracts. That's assuming that the 2008 spending will be any different, which it probably won't.

Yep, amazing what happens when your job is on the line. That's why the MacPhail resignation was so critical to the future of this franchise ... there was no accountability in this organization with him as President. Wrigley sold out every game. The Tribune made money and the "baseball people" circled the wagons and further cemented their groupthink, knowing the president was one of them.

Sign Schmidt and trade for Jennings or Westbrook, but just say NO to giving Lilly/Meche/Padilla $8-$10 per.

Sweet Jebus, if Hendry's backup plan was signing Lee and bringing in Lugo to play center, $135 million is looking like the steal of the century.

Yeah, I'm sure they're still laughing after they were able to steal Hee Seop Choi for only Derek Lee.

At 35 years of age, there is no way I would give him 3 years ... discount price or not. And at that age, I don't think he's a lock to put up his typical career numbers. No more than I thought Brian Giles was a lock last offseason when people wanted to throw $10 million/per at him.

Can someone please explain to me what is so special about Lugo? I'm sorry, Lugo's production would sucik for a CF (I think he's very overrated as a middle infielder), and I don't want to see Jones or Murton moved to accomodate him. I know he's board persona non-grata, for whatever that's worth, but getting a .820 OPS/20+ HR corner outfielder to replace Jones for $4.5 million or less in this offseason market is not going to be as easy as some think

i dont think anyone is overating pie. the fact is that he is only 21 and has the tools to be a great offensive player (from all accounts his d is already great) and has only a partial season in aaa. to trade him now would be a huge risk imo. corey was rushed and mis-coached when he got to the majors. i think 2 years at iowa if they can sign dave roberts will make all the difference in the world to his development. i can see a gold glove cf who hits .280 with 20 hr's, steals 50 bases and has an ops of .850 in the majors just as easily as i can see cp #2. When I see predictions like 50 stolen bases, I do think he's being overrated. What's that based on? He had 17 last year (with 11 CS) in 560 at bats. i think that i will rely on people that see these guys every day and do this for a living: http://www.baseballevolution.com/previews/agreenberg.html http://scout.scout.com/a.z?s=251&p=8&c=1&nid=2485461 An evaluation of Adam Greenberg and an Scout.com page. Impressive.

I'm not thrilled with the contract, but I can't really say how bad it is until I see what others sign for and how DeRosa is used. Its obvious that the Cubs were going to sign a 2nd baseman, and I really didn't have a preference. Durham's the best out there, but I have a feeling he's going to get 7-8 million and I think that's could be a really bad contract as well. And, sorry, I'm not a big Theriot believer given that he has absolutely no track record in the minors to suggest last year was sustainable. I will say this for DeRosa since I live in Texas and followed him closely with the Rangers ... 2005 he was still not 100% after blowing out his ACL in Sept. 2004. Last year was the first year in a while he had been 100%, so I can't really say how much of an anamoly it was. He had a good BABIP in 2006, but a poor one in 2004 & 2005.

i dont think anyone is overating pie. the fact is that he is only 21 and has the tools to be a great offensive player (from all accounts his d is already great) and has only a partial season in aaa. to trade him now would be a huge risk imo. corey was rushed and mis-coached when he got to the majors. i think 2 years at iowa if they can sign dave roberts will make all the difference in the world to his development. i can see a gold glove cf who hits .280 with 20 hr's, steals 50 bases and has an ops of .850 in the majors just as easily as i can see cp #2. When I see predictions like 50 stolen bases, I do think he's being overrated. What's that based on? He had 17 last year (with 11 CS) in 560 at bats.

Its hard to take the cat calls for improved OBP seriously when Cub fans continuously overrate free swinging toolsy guys like Pie and Patterson. Some fans would continuously criticize the organization to no end for OBP (justifiably), and then turn around and defend Corey and his .280 OBP to the death. Why is Pie untouchable? He was the #27 rated BA prospect last year, and after this year he probably dropped considerably. He was still terrible at plate discipline and pitch selection the 2nd half of the season, the only thing that changed is he started making contact. Sorry, I see him as Preston Wilson with a little less power. I think his value will drop considerably as he gets older and the luster off "he's only 21" wears off.

If I had any trepidation towards Jennings it would be that he only has 1 year left on this contract, and I would only do the deal if I felt pretty strongly that I could get Z or Jennings to sign an extension this offseason. Having them both hit the FA market at the same time is a bad thing.

If I were the Cubs, I would be very interested in trading for Jennings over the Padillas and Lilly tier of FA's. The Rockies are said to be interested in a CF and Pitching. If the Cubs are interested in Soriano to play CF, as reported, Pie might become expendable.

The numbers do not support this. Jones OPS last year was .062 points higher than Giles, for nearly half the cost. The OPS+ for Giles was only slightly less than Jones, but it was still less. Granted Jones had a career year, but Giles downward trend is consistent and notable. He is no more likely to reverse the trend than Jones is to repeat his 2006 year. So Giles is far from a 'significant upgrade' over Jones, when his production is likely to equal Jones going forward at twice the price no less. But OPS doesn't tell the whole story. OPS favors high slugging players. Giles OBP is going to be at least .030 points higher, probably much more. That's a very big margin. Also, Giles moving to a new team and into a better hitter's park, could possibly return his numbers closer to his '05 numbers. I'd say the increase in OBP and chance of him returning to his numbers before 2006 is worth the extra cost. I really don't have much input on the Jones/Giles debate, but here's the problem I have with this and have always had with this and have never had explained. in a 700 plate appearance season, the 'very big margin' that you are talking about translates into 21 additional times on base throughout the season (.375 v .345 obps) is 21 times where the guy who gets on base and theoretically has a chance to score really better if he has 10 fewer HRs were scoring is not a theory but reality? I agree that obp gets under billing in OPS, but I don't think its so vastly more important as it has been made out to be. I agree. Sorry, the 30 extra points of OBP is not worth the difference in power, age and salary.

I'll have to go with Leo Mazzone's opinion over Rotoworlds. He obviously he thinks he can turn Wright back to what he was with the Braves.

When someone has a slider that nasty you almost have to wonder if its almost inevitable with the kind of torque required of the elbow to make the ball snap like that.

I remember the Cubs passing on Jim Thome because Hee Seop Choi was waiting in the wings. Perhaps they remember that as well. I also remember a lot of fans up in arms when we traded Lee and gave up Hee Seop, claiming we just took on salary for what will one day be equal production at the same position. Uhh .... not quite.

Just because he's a fan favorite doesn't mean it's not true.

The Cubs currently have .. oh .. I would say 4, possibly 5 if ARam leaves, everyday starting lineup upgrades that have higher priority than finding Jones a platoon partner. But of course if you hate Jacque Jones and only begrudgenly give him even the most backhanded of compliments I could see why this issue needs to be addressed within hours of Piniella's the hiring.

Bobby Cox is a control freak too, but unlike Buck its just never been attatched to him as a negative modus operandi because he's always won.

I'll say one thing about Hendry ... between Sisco, Choi, Cruz and Hill he's got a pretty good handle on which of our prospects are the most overrated. Everyone talks about him not selling high, but he certainly sold high when it comes to Choi and Hill.

Aybar is a toolsy player with a lot of speed, an atrocious OBP and a horrific BB/K ratio. In other words, there's probably a lot of truth to this rumor.

I agree, and he's going to start in RF for the Rangers tommorrow night. Personally, it sucks because I was holding out hope that the Brewers would resign Lee and Cruz would've been expendible in a potential Maddux trade.