Soriano12

Actually I think you'll find Riggleman to be more appreciated than you think by most fans, at least on this board. He had a bad team in 1998 that he got to the wild card (largely thanks to Sammy). It would be interesting to see what he could do with a team that had talent out of more than one great slugger and one amazing rookie pitcher.. FWIW...I liked Riggs. The opinion on him varies. I find it funny he got canned for a bad start, yet Dusty stayed when the team was pitiful in may/june.

I would give them Pierre for a mid-grade prospect under the condition that Juan must wear #43.

Where will Dusty rank amoung Cubs managers? Guys like Lebevere, Riggleman, Baylor are consistently looked down upon But did any have the cumulative talent Baker did in 4 years? The Tribune spent more $$$ in the Baker era than any other. Yes, some of it was foolishly spent and players got hurt. But thats just another excuse. Excuses are like a-holes, everyone's got one, and they all stink. Even yours Dusty.

very good points. I like to also add that they haven't had any huge productions from the farm system. Even big spenders like the yankees and redsox have some young guys that come up and give them play comparable to that off a veteran making around 10 mil a season. Yankees have Robinson Cano Red Sox have Papelbon and Lester Also don't forget the White Sox spent big in route to a World Series but their bullpen and possibly season was saved when Jenks filled in for Hermanson and pitched like a 5 time all star. The reality is that the Cubs have a salary cap(the Tribune budget) if payroll remains constant they will have 25 million freed up after this season. But don't forget they need to lock up Zambrano and will probably have to re-work Aram's deal(add 3-5 mil/season extra) Combine that with their intent to re-sign Pierre you are looking at 1 major FA at best this offeason. Don't get your hopes up. Because they don't have a bottomless supply of $$(and even if Hendry did he wouldn't know what to do with it) they need a shot in the arm from the minors(or one of the young pitchers up now) They need a position player that can come in and hit 30-35 HR's or a pitcher that can win 15-18 games. Both scenariors are long shots(but Rich Hill's stuff is so nasty at times I might put him down for winning 15 in 07).

The D-Rays have a brighter immediate future than the Cubs. Well see how their young talent matures at the major league level. They are stacked position player wise..I don't know what they have in terms of young pitching outside of Kashmir. I highly doubt they will be anything evermore than a .500 ballclub because they refuse to go out and spend some $$$ on veterans to get them to the next level.

Yes they were. Three weeks ago they were the favorite in the East.. Gotta disagree. The loss of Damon really hurt that team.

pairing the quote with the Lloyd Christmas pic http://home.utm.utoronto.ca/~a_yeung/carey.jpg for full effect. 8)

Dave Roberts and Jose Guillen. I could see that. Hendry loves to go dumpster diving in the offseason.

I don't think that's a fair comment. Outside of Tim, most people reacted with a "Dontrelle Who?" IIRC Willis was the lowest level prospect of the three involved in that deal, and still a very long way from the majors at the time. regardless....Willis has develeoped into one of the best young starters in the NL. 6 Fingers was a bust. Clement was serviceable for a while, ate innings etc.

I'm kinda ticked that Matt Clement has been stinking up the mound. I had to take "letting him go" off my list of Jim Hendry complaints.

I retract my Pie comment. I don't want Dusty Baker managing Pie. I don't want Dusy Baker talking to Pie. I don't want Dusty Baker looking at Pie.

In a perfect world they would play Pie everyday in RF during september and bench or trade Jacque Jones.

They have given it up IMO. Can't blame them. Their team was better last year, but still, wasn't even close to having the ability to get to the WS. They will re-tool this offseason with 2 big signings: Zito Soriono

yeah..he probably should been benched for the year. I heard he pleaded insanity..his defense..he is in the Devel Rays organizatin.

Some said the same thing about Paplelbon this spring. Tampa is as close as it gets to the minors anyways.

Lets not toss any bats Delmon

Except he wouldn't be on the market if he didn't sign that deal. If I'm not mistaken he would be looking at FA after the 07 season. So he would have been dealt in July of 07 to the Yankees/Red Sox and inked his new deal a few weeks later. Either way he took some terrible advice from an agent. You're mistaken. 2009 would have been his 1st FA year. Gotcha. Bay is gonna be one of baseball biggest bargains for a while...gotta give props to the Pit GM on that one.

I disagree. Obviously they need to sign or trade for at least one starter, but you can't win with the 8 position players they put into the lineup everyday. The Cubs have shown some promise in the young pitchers, but the offense continues to be pitiful. I wouldn't be surprized if Hendry gets an impact bat by packaging Cedeno and some of the pitching prospects. If Angelos ever realizes that his team is going nowhere, Tejada might be available. My hope is that the Marlins might trade Cabrera for a ton of prospects before he starts costing them too much money. The emphasis has been on the free agents (Lee & Soriano), but we don't know what names might be available in a trade during the off season. Cabrera is an interesting proposition. The Cubs and Marlins seem to have strange relationship. We get screwed on the Dontrelle Willis deal. They get screwed on the Derrek Lee deal. We get screwed on the Juan Pierre deal... So..they owe us....Cabrera in Wrigley...A man can dream.cant he. :D

Except he wouldn't be on the market if he didn't sign that deal. If I'm not mistaken he would be looking at FA after the 07 season. So he would have been dealt in July of 07 to the Yankees/Red Sox and inked his new deal a few weeks later. Either way he took some terrible advice from an agent.

I would trade Pie and any 2 pitcing prospects right now for Bay. btw..a year for now...Bay is gonna really regret that contract he signed. He would be looking at 12mil a seaosn easily on the market right now.

The last thing I'm interested in is how big of a name the manager has. I don't want the enthusiasm to be built on the name of the manager, that should be determined by the level of player acquisition Hendry embarks on this winter. I, for one, don't really care about tenure. Whether the next manager is here for 3 years or 10, all I care about is they win. Some managers come in and win one, then leave, as they either wear out their welcome or lose the desire. Joe Torre and Bobby Cox are the only real staples of the managerial business. Scioscia is close with his 6 years and level of success. I really have no interest in getting a guy like Bochy to be there every year and pretty much maintain a level of mediocrity that does little to inspire. Stability is overrated in sports if it doesn't come with success. I'd much rather have a short and volatile era than a long steady, and ultimately unsuccessful period. Agreed. Get me Davey Johnson who will piss everyone off in route to winning 2-3 penants. I'm not opposed to Girardi; however, once again let me state my candidates on order of preference. 1. Dierker 2. Johnson 3. Gonzalez I'd be happy with any of the three. After that, there's a number of names I might be ok with, but I'm not overly excited about. Girardi is in that group. Why would you want Gonzalez over Girardi? Just curious? Gonzalez has had success managing in the minors as well as working with major league teams. I'd hope some of Cox's philosophies would rub off on him as well. I've heard some of the things Girardi has said, and he's filled with a little too much CW for my liking. I'm not saying he'd be a bad choice, and he certainly has done much with little in Florida, but I'd prefer someone less inclined to use CW in their decisions. forgive my ignorance....cw?

Carlos Lee is a luxury at this point. The offseason should be focused on pitching, pitching, pitching, with some more pitching. If Murton continues to develop, combine that with a healthy Lee and Aram...add in a 2B that can get on base, plus a new offensive philosphy via a new manager...I think the offense will be much improved.

Agree. This is comical.

I have heard so many conflicting reports already. I read one rumor where supposedly a Cubs official said the Cubs are not even considering Joe. Sorry..for the little hijack here: This weekend I went to see Invincible. Anyways part of the movie details how Dick Vermeil changed the culture of the Eagles. The Cubs need a Dick Vermeil(minus the press conference crying.... our current manager provides plenty of that). We need a manager that will come in and ride every player on the roster, from rookie to veteran. Lets compare the next manager of the Cubs to cancer treatment. There is alot of cancer on the Cubs right now. Poor fundementals, Poor attitudes. We need a guy to come in and wipe that out. If it means taking ground balls for 4 hours every day so be it. If it means refusing to play players that don't take walks..so be it. In short..I view Girardi as a guy that can come in and clear up alot of crap.

I'd like to see Cedeno get the rest of the season off. Just my opinion.