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And his first game at Wrigley with the late HR. Good memory. Kinda like Tuffy Rhodes' 3 HR day. I yelled so loud when he hit that HR. yeah me too. Dude seemed like the real deal because every at bat was a good one. I came away from that game thinking that the cubs just signed that ichiro/matsui hybrid that he was advertised as. It really is too bad.

thats kind of what I figured.

I think the general idea is that we'll have somewhere around $35-45 million to spend after arb raises, etc. If we could get Fielder for $25 million and Wilson for $15, that falls right into the range of money we should have to spend. Wilson is 31, but he's largely been a reliever most of his career. He has less mileage than most 31 year old starters and should have a longer shelf life. Not to mention that really good pitchers nowadays seem to do alright in their early and even mid-30's. Wow. I did not know he was that old. I was thinking 28. what kind of contract do you think he will command? 4 - 5 years? No sure if I would be comfortable with them going that long. Why not? You seem to be missing half of what you bolded. Wegotwood98 bolded that. I get that he has been a reliever and that he has had less miles. but I would be much more comfortable with 3 years and options for 4 and 5.

I think the general idea is that we'll have somewhere around $35-45 million to spend after arb raises, etc. If we could get Fielder for $25 million and Wilson for $15, that falls right into the range of money we should have to spend. Wilson is 31, but he's largely been a reliever most of his career. He has less mileage than most 31 year old starters and should have a longer shelf life. Not to mention that really good pitchers nowadays seem to do alright in their early and even mid-30's. Wow. I did not know he was that old. I was thinking 28. what kind of contract do you think he will command? 4 - 5 years? No sure if I would be comfortable with them going that long.

I would move soto. He has had a lot of injuries in his short career and those can add up quickly for a catcher of his size. I really think he will have trouble staying healthy going forward. That said this is probably not the greatest time to move him though because his value is down. Hypothetically speaking though, i would keep castro, garza, and dempster.

how often in baseball does one team sign two of the top 3 free agents? Granted I know we have the money but it just doesnt seem to happen to anyone other than the yankees and redsox.

There's really no reason to blow this team up. The division is likely to be mediocre, at best, next year and there are some really big time FAs on the market this offseason. The only reason we should trade Aramis is if somebody blows us away, but if we do I think we can still have a chance to compete next year with the right moves. Who would you trade as part of blowing the team up? Who besides Ramirez would bring back top talent? I like the idea of dealing marshal and marmol because the cubs do a really good job of developing reliever types. Even if we end up getting guys that are in the 7 through 15 range of a teams top 15 prospects back I think it could be worth it. Reed Johnson should be traded but we shouldn't expect much more than what fukudome brought back. Bryd and Pena may bring back some better prospects it depends upon how much we pay though. If we do these moves get some decent possibly major league ready talent back and make some free agent acquisitions, and call some guys up we may have a pretty solid team going forward in my opinion at least. If ramirez is traded we have to hope that Flarehty turns out to be a stud or at least a really good platoon guy with baker. I think the phillies would give up quite a bit to get Ramirez more so than they were offering for pence. Probably their top pitching prospect and Brown. In that series against us Mayberry looked awesome but I think he is 27 already so he is probably not a target.

we already know from other reports that they have conceded to pay a rather large chunk of his salary. so reading this: certainly suggests that teams are passing on him. Again we don't know if they are asking for prospects, but I would think he would mention something about there not being a match rather then suggesting there is no interest in him. But like I said. its probably just paul sullivan rehashing what has already been said and not anything new.

this article seems to suggest otherwise: http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-0728-cubs-brewers-chicago--20110728,0,3036298.story but it is probably just Sullivan rewriting what others have said. Yeah, its not like Z is worthless. Plenty of teams would take him if a big chunk of salary were picked up. Its just that the cubs im sure want a good prospect in return for doing so. Hendry wants to have his cake and eat it too (Insert fat joke here).

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-0728-cubs-brewers-chicago--20110728,0,3036298.story If you scroll down to the bottom of this article it talks about Z and quade on the mound tonight. Apparently Z asked quade for one more hitter and he refused. But Dempster has asked for one more hitter and gotten it twice (IIRC) after his fight with Q. Was this just a showcase start that they didnt want to go bad? Or is Z getting the double standard here?

I do see your point, and I'm willing to concede that I am foolish to think nobody would just take Z. Fair enough. I think the main thing in this is we don't know how much of his contract the Cubs are offering to absorb. It's likely not much if they're getting refusals. Or they've just made him available and they targeting the Yankees because of someone they wanted in return and we've yet to hear who else might be willing to offer what. yeah, its hard to say without knowing for sure. I wouldn't be surprised if the yankees rejected it based on money or prospects or both. However I would be equally less surprised if it was a combination of those factors and their perception Z as a mediocre pitcher in a mediocre division. Its probably not just one or the other as multiple factors go into making a trade.

I'm always for picking up another team's former top prospect. Sometimes the change of scenery, coaches, or pressure makes all the difference in the world.

If the cubs target pitching, which I think they might, who plays first base? Baker, Colvin, or one of our minor league 1st baseman?

As far as the farm systems ranking, that says little about how few upper level pitchers we have. Many of our guys have regressed or been injured since the beginning of the year rankings. The point of this whole thread, I guess, is that we cant keep aram, upgrade pitching, and first base all in a single off season. We don't have the upper level pitching or the elite third base or first base prospect to make an impact in our areas of need. So we need to make some deals otherwise we are completely dependent upon free agency to which the cubs probably dont have or wont allocate that kind of money. So how else does the team get better? Its gotta be through trades. ANd the frustrating quotes from Hendry suggest that he will only be trading guys that wont yield the kind of return the team needs.

haha that song is crap. I never saw that line. that is crazy who says that. I know the song isnt going away. Oh well.

I'm fully in line with the soccer guy's statements. Make fun of ryan howard. awesome. At least it wont get old because we play the phillies only a few times a year. its not nearly a cheeseball as saying "They got the power, they got the speed / To be the best in the National League" when they are struggling against the worst team in the league and 19 games under.

i said its "a bit" ridiculous. but again much more so because the song content is so sappy.

Yeah but this song is much, much worse than those songs. and no one is complaining about people being happy when the cubs win. So stop framing your response that way. its about the song being bad and annoying.

we know you have been telling us for quite a while now. :roll: its not singing and dancing that is bad after a win, although it does seem a bit ridiculous to do so when you are 20 games under. But in general its awesome people can still have a good time when the team is so bad. But its really that the song is that bad. It is so poorly written, schmaltzy, and sappy, that it is hard to listen ever. Its just so cubs, and that is sickening. I was fine with jump not that I'm a Van Halen fan by any means but it was at least tolerable. And yes I hated the song at the beginning and really hoped it was going to be gone in 08 but it is still here.

There is one thing that is worse: a miserable cubs fan who thinks that they know literally everything about everything.

I never said he was a key player. He has value to the team because he's cheap and decent. We likely wouldn't get anything worthwhile for him in a trade, so that defeats the point. Our division has solid teams, but no great team. That's why we can compete next year. Also, the Cardinals and Brewers are likely losing their superstar first basemen. Well the Brewers are losing their first baseman, anyway. And the Brewers' farm system is completely dried up, and the Cardinals system isn't in much better shape. we have no one in AAA or AA aside from McNutt, Jackson, and Flarhety to speak of. Two of those three are blocked right now. pitching wise we are much less developed then these other teams. The reds have a top five system in all of baseball. The pirates arent far behind multiple position players and pitchers. The cardinals have shelby miller who is better than any prospect in our system. And Yes the brewers are depleted but guys like Peralta, Gamel and Rogers will contribute for them next year. Thornburg is a year away and looks like a future stud. We need pitching bad and our guys have either been hurt or are a couple years away. The best way to improve is to make trades from areas of depth.

Barney is having a nice season especially on defense. But he is nothing special. We have depth at middle infielder so there is no reason to keep him if some one wants him. The point isn't that we need him. The point is that he's a cheap, young player who isn't going to get us much in a trade. We'd just be trading him for no reason. He'll help the team much more by keeping him. There's no reason to give up on next season already with the payroll we have and the division we're in. really, you think barney is a key player to this team? guys like him, fontenot, and theriot are a dime a dozen. We have marwin gonzalez, and flarehety who can come up and probably outproduce him right now. other teams like the brewers, cardinals, and reds are stocked for years with their current players and farms system guys. they arent getting worse any time soon. The pirates even look like they can be good for quite a while. Exactly. We would hardly get anything for him in a trade. exactly so there is no reason to suggest that he is part of our "future" like hendry said. He never said he wanted to keep him because he was cheap. If someone inquires about him you let him go if you have guys in the minors that can out perform him now. Its addition by subtraction.

Barney is having a nice season especially on defense. But he is nothing special. We have depth at middle infielder so there is no reason to keep him if some one wants him. The point isn't that we need him. The point is that he's a cheap, young player who isn't going to get us much in a trade. We'd just be trading him for no reason. He'll help the team much more by keeping him. There's no reason to give up on next season already with the payroll we have and the division we're in. really, you think barney is a key player to this team? guys like him, fontenot, and theriot are a dime a dozen. We have marwin gonzalez, and flarehety who can come up and probably outproduce him right now. other teams like the brewers, cardinals, and reds are stocked for years with their current players and farms system guys. they arent getting worse any time soon. The pirates even look like they can be good for quite a while.

Barney is having a nice season especially on defense. But he is nothing special. We have depth at middle infielder so there is no reason to keep him if some one wants him. Get you head out of the "ideal" optimism, because if you think we can compete that is what you are suggesting then you are really out of touch. Such optimism has killed this team from Jim Hendry's end. How can we compete if they dont have the cash to pick up aram's option and chase Fielder of Pujols, and get a starter? If the quotes above suggest anything. its that the cubs will keep aram, pena, and add a starter. does that make us a contender next year? No [expletive] way. this team needs to make moves to get better. We have more players from our 08 swept in the playoffs team then the phillies have from their 08 world series team. what's wrong here?

nice guys finish last, like the cubs are trying to do this year. Its fun for drunk idiots from iowa and little kids. Go to disney world if you want that crap.