RichHillIsABeast

I like this signing. I'm not too crazy about the 28MM, but 20MM would certainly be ok with me. Marquis has a lot of upside, even if he did suck last season. Presumably the problems he had last season are very fixable. If so we got a guy who can put up a 3.75 ERA and give us 200 innings for less than market value. Worst case we get another 6.00 ERA season, which won't be enough to keep him on this team with guys in the minors pressing for time. We might have to eat some cash to DFA him or trade him for a used jockstrap, but it's worth the risk, IMO. edit: wrong name, moran!

the problem is, there's probably no way hill pitches like he did in the 2nd half. BOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

You can always move starting pitching. Lilly, Miller, and Marquis aren't going to be blocking anyone that really deserves a spot. We'll have to eat $$ to move these guys. I just can't believe the market for mediocre pitchers will stay this high. Baseball is making more money than ever. Even the Royals have cash to throw down a hole. I don't see that changing. We have a new labor agreement, so it's not like there's going to be a strike that keeps people from the ballparks.

You can always move starting pitching. Lilly, Miller, and Marquis aren't going to be blocking anyone that really deserves a spot.

I think the reason we put out the money this offseason is b/c we are trying to develop our own players. We didn't trade away the cream of our crop for one year rental starting pitching. Our farm system will get better. We got Wilken! It's going to take a few years before his picks reach the majors. In the meantime guys like Pie, Veal, Gallagher, EPatt, Pawelek will either make it or they won't.

even the site admin It may not be as bad as a #1 and 4 #5's but it is pretty close We have a: #1 - Z - Can we even re-sign him now? no #2 a # 3 Ted Lilly a #4 Rich Hill 2 ?'s - Miller and Prior and a guy pretty close to useless Marquis If Rich Hill is a 4, sign me up for a rotation full of 4s.

LOL. Are you taking a list of posters who don't like the Marquis signing, then(should Marquis actually pitch decent in 2007) call them out in every thread like this: "OMG Dude, you send Marquis would suck in Dec, but now he is good man! Dude you have to eat some major crow man! just eat the crow " Nope. I'm just pointing out that saying the rotation is worse off than last season isn't going to be true. Those that are negative right now will be pleasantly surprised. Lilly and Marquis will be fine. Hill will pitch well. Z is a beast. Maybe we'll get a nice surprise from Prior or Miller or one of the many rookies with potential.

Seriously, who uses those sort of arguments to criticize Hendry's offseason? Disgruntled Cubs Fan for one. There are plenty of other village idiots that chime in with that nonsense whenever they see a move they don't like. It's getting old. Attack the post, not the poster. And we do try to limit usage of such terms. No problem.

And what quality arms did you want? Schmidt didn't take a competitive offer from the Cards, the WS champions. What makes you think he would have come to the Cubs? We weren't even a finalist for his services. He wanted to stay on the west coast. Hendry decided to pay for arms instead of trading for them. We're going to need our farm system to start producing. It can't produce if you keep trading away the cream of the crop. I'm not down with trading the likes of Pie for a #2 starter (at best) in Jennings. What FA did Hendry not get that you would have been willing to pay for? Drew? If Wood and Prior taught us anything, it's not to count on injury prone players. Not many trades have gone down this offseason. Why is that? It's not b/c Hendry is stupid or Hendry is fat or Hendry eats too many donuts, blah blah blah. So are we in agreement that he didn't really improve the rotation? The two arms he added, Lilly and Marquis, most likely aren't going to keep up the collective ERA when compared to the pitchers that were already on the team last year (some of whom are you and will improve). If you're going to spend $60 million on a pair of pitchers, they should really help you out. The OBP will see it's biggest increase with the return of a healthy Lee. Soriano, DeRossa, and Izturis won't be responsible for a significant improve to the team's OBP. At least not to the extent that they needed. Relying on mediocrity is no better than relying on good to great players with a history of injuries. Has Hendry had the resources to make better moves? Absolutely. You can speculate on who was or was not available and which teams were or were not willing to trade until you're blue in the face. But the bottom line is that at this point, Hendry really hasn't made the team that much better, in my opinion. At least your crow is going to be enjoyable.

Find a post where I called Hendry "Fat" in a direct critismism to his offseason moves. In fact I liked this offseason, up until Marquis. I'm not wasting time looking for your posts. Sure you liked the offseason, after ARam and Soriano came to town. Before that you were bashing Hendry left and right calling him all sorts of ridiculous names. In the future I'll just ignore your posts. We'll both be happier.

Seriously, who uses those sort of arguments to criticize Hendry's offseason? Disgruntled Cubs Fan for one. There are plenty of other village idiots that chime in with that nonsense whenever they see a move they don't like. It's getting old.

And what quality arms did you want? Schmidt didn't take a competitive offer from the Cards, the WS champions. What makes you think he would have come to the Cubs? We weren't even a finalist for his services. He wanted to stay on the west coast. Hendry decided to pay for arms instead of trading for them. We're going to need our farm system to start producing. It can't produce if you keep trading away the cream of the crop. I'm not down with trading the likes of Pie for a #2 starter (at best) in Jennings. What FA did Hendry not get that you would have been willing to pay for? Drew? If Wood and Prior taught us anything, it's not to count on injury prone players. Not many trades have gone down this offseason. Why is that? It's not b/c Hendry is stupid or Hendry is fat or Hendry eats too many donuts, blah blah blah.

Prior threw up a 7.21 ERA last season. Marquis had a horrible year. Judging him based on that one year is silly. He's shown the ability to pitch far above his current contract in the not so distant past. I'll trust the scouts over statistical projections and internet GMs in this case. Prior had 9 starts, Marquis 33. Prior was injured, Marquis was reportedly not. There are extenuating circumstances to the lines both put up last season. It's that simple. Prior was injured. Marquis had mechanical flaws that his PC couldn't spot. Marquis had a manager who threw him under the bus, leaving him out there to get shelled when he was having a bad day just to save his precious bullpen. This stuff doesn't happen in a vacuum. Just looking at a guys stats is ridiculous.

Prior threw up a 7.21 ERA last season. Marquis had a horrible year. Judging him based on that one year is silly. He's shown the ability to pitch far above his current contract in the not so distant past. I'll trust the scouts over statistical projections and internet GMs in this case.

Riccardi isn't the best ppl person. It doesn't surprise me that he rubbed someone wrong in a crowd filled with Type A personalities.

That would be a really nice problem to have.

Vernon Wells No way that happens. Jones is no beast. Marshall and Mateo might bring a fourth OF type (ie Ryan Church). A mid-high range prospect? Pie? Wells is a rental they know they won't be able to keep. And personally, I wouldn't make that deal. The difference between Jones and Wells isn't Marshall+Mateo+mid level prospect I agree that it would be a bad deal for us, but Wells perceived value around baseball might surprise you. When he rejects the Blue Jays extension attempt, we'll hear about some of the trade offers. It'll take more than Jones, Marshall, Mateo, and Pie to land him.

This is an ok signing. Marquis is a lot better than his numbers last season indicate. I'd expect 180+ IP, 4.25 ERA with some decent offense for a pitcher. That extra offense will come in handy with Soriano batting leadoff.

Vernon Wells No way that happens. Jones is no beast. Marshall and Mateo might bring a fourth OF type (ie Ryan Church). A mid-high range prospect? Pie?

Yeah, that is pretty awesome. Pierre was good for something, even if it was in the offseason. :lol:

Wilken is the man. I think we'll have a top tier farm system in less than 4 years, assuming we don't trade away a bunch of talent. I really like the Colvin pick.

Me too.

Excellent idea! Not really. DeRosa doesn't have the range to play SS full time. I like Giles a lot. I'd have preferred him to DeRosa, but 2B is filled and DeRosa isn't getting moved to SS.

I'm denigtrating them based on the results. Everybody in baseball is a "good baseball man". There doesn't seem to be much recognition in the community that some of these guys have to be bad at their job, in comparison to others, because this is a competitive win or lose environment. This isn't a case of 3 fast food restaurants competing with 3 distinctly different markets, where everybody can come out winners because the ultimate goal is to make money. They can all make money. And baseball men can all find baseball players. But what counts is wins and losses. And while it's possible to win the Hughes/Hendry way, it's quite difficult. These guys have their fingerprints all over the Cubs, and the Cubs suck. Guys like Hughes and Hendry are good for scouting, they are not good for management decisions. They are good for advicing, then enacting. They know what they know, and they may well it know. But they are terrible and putting the whole thing together and creating a smooth running efficient and effective machine. Not every good soldier is meant to be an officer. Not every good employee is mean to be boss. Not every good writer can become an effective publisher. The Cubs are, by far, the most inefficiently run organization in the league. They still have a chance to succeed, based solely on the economies of scale. The size of their revenues keep them afloat in a market where they would otherwise not be able to compete. The failings are because of the way these men think about the game of baseball. It's too bad Hughes doesn't post over here b/c then you couldn't get away with your crap. Attack the post and not the poster, right? If he/she doesn't post here, then feel free to run your mouth about them.

Where are you going to get a number 2? I'm not in favor of signing Marquis, but a front-line starter is pretty much out of the question. Why not Zito? The money the Cubs would throw at Zito should be reserved for Zambrano, who is going to cost a small mint to keep around. right now, just thinking what Big Z would ask for on the open market is scaring me. 6 years and $102M is my guess. And that would be a bargain. Zito is likely to get that being a #2 starter. Z is a legit ace. Aces don't hit the open market very often anymore. They don't get traded often either. so what do you think Zito end up with? At least 6/102MM. This market is flush with cash. Zambrano would get more next season.