Backtobanks

There's no way another team is going to pick up the rest of that contract, even if he looks like he's fixed. Getting a team to pick up half of that contract would be miraculous.

Wait... you want to improve the offense by removing our player with the highest OBP and OPS? Geo has been nothing short of fabulous so far this season (not that many people are noticing that). I meant getting a backup C/bat (i.e. - someone like Doutmit), not replacing Soto.

That's a gigantic assumption at this point. Treating the bullpen as the team's most pressing need right now would be a waste. The bullpen is not the most pressing need right now, but there aren't many impact bats available (especially at whatever positions we have an opening). Obviously, we have to assume that players like ARam, Theriot, Tracy, etc. are going to get at least near their career norms or else the season will be over. The offense has been terrible, but one strong relief appearance at the right time might have given us a few more wins.

The "experts" (aka idiots) weigh in: From Jon Heyman of SI: Heyman received indications that Tom Gorzelanny will remain in the Cubs' rotation when Ted Lilly returns Saturday. That would mean Carlos Zambrano, Ryan Dempster, Randy Wells, or Carlos Silva heads to the bullpen. Given his past experience in the Cubs' pen, Heyman finds Dempster the most logical choice. I respectfully disagree, as Dempster is the Cubs' best starter. I'd make Silva the long man and continue to scour the trade and free agent markets for relief help. Promoting Andrew Cashner merits consideration, if the Cubs don't think a temporary move back to relief would stunt his development.

this is exactly the sort of trade i don't want. Trading something valuable to add a bullpen arm to a crap team. The Cubs are in a win-now situation, so any trade they make will be giving up young players for what they need now. One obvious need is the bullpen. As for "trading something valuable", Gorzelanny doesn't have a role once Lilly comes back, Colvin seems to be destined to be a 4th OF in the ML, and the three pitching prospects are just that - prospects. If we got Bell, we might not be a "crap team" (assuming the offense comes around).

With Lilly coming back, the obvious choice to trade is Gorzelanny. How about Gorzelanny + Colvin + Berg/Stevens/Caridad for Scott Hairston + Heath Bell Padres get younger and cheaper. Cubs get versatile veteran OF plus big-time relief help.

The question is where do you put another bat unless you're trading a starting position player. We've talked about 2B, but what kind of impact bats play 2B? If it's an OF, then you have to trade an OF unless you send Colvin down to the minors and try to platoon Soriano, Byrd Fukudome, and the new player. Catcher might be a possibility (if a bat is available), but they like Hill's defense. :-k

I think that would be inhumane. =D>

Maybe it's time to accept that only played 7% of the season has been played. Maybe we will end up being a middle of the pack team in a bad division, but I'd prefer to play 35-40 games before making any kind of statements about the wasted season. We're closer to 1st place than the Dodgers, Angels, Mariners, Rangers, White Sox, and Red Sox at this point in the season and many of those teams were picked to win their divisions.

Even with the awful year last year, Soriano's 2009 was better than 2 of the past 3 years for Wells. Soriano has posted OPS' of .726, .876 and .897 the past three years. Wells has posted OPS' of .711, .840 and .706. Wells has had two really good seasons (.909 OPS in 2003 and .899 OPS in 2006) that have really helped his career numbers. Besides those two years, he's been a .760-.800 OPS guy. I'd rather take the chance that Soriano – the significantly better hitter throughout his career – rebounds from one bad year than that Wells rebounds from 2 out of 3 bad years. Went to today's game and watched Soriano really butcher plays out in LF. He may rebound offensively, but his defense is just brutal.

As much as I would love to have Gonzalez, the price will be way too high because of all the competition for his services. I'm sure DLee will re-sign, but it seems that I've seen Pena's name mentioned in rumor sites.

Wells- .281/.330/.472/.802 - 26 HR - 95 RBI Cameron-.250/.340/.448/.788 - 23 HR - 82 RBI Hunter- .274/.330/.472/.802 - 26 HR - 95 RBI Damon- .288/.355/.438/.793 - 16HR - 76 RBI Edmonds- .284/.377/.527/.904 - 32 HR - 99 RBI Beltran- .283/.360/.496/.856 - 28 HR - 107 RBI I'm not sure what numbers you are looking at, but Wells' numbers matched Hunter's and are better than Cameron and Damon. That puts him in the middle of those 6 players. BTW, Wells did win 3 Gold Gloves which would certainly put him ahead of Damon. Again I'm not defending Wells, I'm just pointing out that he's had a decent career.

We'll see if Silva can keep pitching decently. It's not a surprise to me that Byrd has been doing well, but Silva I did not expect. It's so early though, I'm still bracing for bad Silva to show up. Plain and Simple: Cubs win in the Byrd for Bradley trade (using Mariner money). Anything positive out of Silva makes it really one sided. I never knew a full season was worth seven games. That's a new one. I never said that it was. Byrd will outproduce Bradley's 2009 season unless he's injured for most of the season. Add in the defense and the better attitude and we have the best of the deal. I will admit that Byrd won't compare to Bradley in negative stories and youtube videos. As I posted before, anything positive out of Silva will be a plus.

We'll see if Silva can keep pitching decently. It's not a surprise to me that Byrd has been doing well, but Silva I did not expect. It's so early though, I'm still bracing for bad Silva to show up. Plain and Simple: Cubs win in the Byrd for Bradley trade (using Mariner money). Anything positive out of Silva makes it really one sided.

If Wells couldn't play LF, we could put Byrd in LF and Wells in CF. Lots of options in the OF with Byrd able to play all 3 positions, Colvin (3), Fukudome (2), Wells (2), and Nady (2). We still only marginally (at best) get better after the trade and yet are paying more money. I don't see the value in it. You know what you have in Soriano, but Wells is the unknown (after wrist surgery). I'm not saying it would be a great trade, but at least Wells will get within 10 feet of the wall. Obviously putting "Soriano" and "great trade" in the same sentence is ridiculous. Has the wrist been bothering him his entire career? Because, if I recall correctly, he's only really had one really good season. If you're convinced Soriano will be awful for the duration of the contract, this trade could make sense for us. But I'm not convinced of that. Wells has had good numbers when compared to the other CFs. Again I'm not saying he's the second coming of Willie Mays, but he's had a decent career. Wells- .281/.330/.472/.802 - 26 HR - 95 RBI Cameron-.250/.340/.448/.788 - 23 HR - 82 RBI Hunter- .274/.330/.472/.802 - 26 HR - 95 RBI Damon- .288/.355/.438/.793 - 16HR - 76 RBI Edmonds- .284/.377/.527/.904 - 32 HR - 99 RBI Beltran- .283/.360/.496/.856 - 28 HR - 107 RBI

If Wells couldn't play LF, we could put Byrd in LF and Wells in CF. Lots of options in the OF with Byrd able to play all 3 positions, Colvin (3), Fukudome (2), Wells (2), and Nady (2). We still only marginally (at best) get better after the trade and yet are paying more money. I don't see the value in it. You know what you have in Soriano, but Wells is the unknown (after wrist surgery). I'm not saying it would be a great trade, but at least Wells will get within 10 feet of the wall. Obviously putting "Soriano" and "great trade" in the same sentence is ridiculous.

They're both signed through 2014 or eternity whichever lasts longer. :-)) For what it's worth: Soriano LF UZR/150: 5.7 Wells RF UZR/150: 6.8 (-5.7 in CF, he's never played left) I'd rather keep Soriano. No since in adding a player who's unlikely to be an improvement and take on extra money. If Wells couldn't play LF, we could put Byrd in LF and Wells in CF. Lots of options in the OF with Byrd able to play all 3 positions, Colvin (3), Fukudome (2), Wells (2), and Nady (2).

Since the Cubs have been looking at Frasor, would you expand the deal (if both players agreed because of NTCs) to include Wells for Soriano. Something along the lines of: Wells, Frasor, plus $4.5 million for Soriano plus Caridad/Berg/etc. plus another prospect (not Vitters, Castro, Casner, etc.) The $4.5 million is about half the difference between the money owed on the two contracts. Pros for Cubs: Wells would be a upgrade defensively in LF. Frasor would help the bullpen. Cubs would save money this year ($5.5 million). Cons for Cubs: Adding the worst contract in baseball for 4 more years after this season. Pros for the Jays: Saving some money and adding prospects. Cons for the Jays: Picking up a bad contract (but better than Wells'). Trading a valuable trade chip before the deadline. Obviously, the deal would have to wait until Wells and the Blue Jays cool off. I guess this kind of deal would hinge on which prospects to be included and whether the players would waive their NTC.

i think he has some anger issues AND he's bat poop crazy I hope all of the posters who wanted to just keep Bradley and act like nothing happened can see that it wasn't possible.

We have a collection of pretty crappy offensive players for the most part in the lineup. With the guys who actually have some semblance of talent (Lee, Ramirez, Byrd, Colvin) he's done a reasonably good job. All four of those guys have looked the part at the plate even if the results aren't coming yet for some. Nady has been good thus far too. Can't blame Rudy for all the ABs we're giving to guys like Theriot, Fontenot and Koyie Hill (and even the first two of those got their hits tonight). I'm a big fan of Jaramillo, but to give him credit for what Lee and ARam have done in the first 4 games is ridiculous. As for Byrd and Colvin, let's wait a month or two before we talk about any kind of difference he's made this year. I do get a kick out of lumping Colvin with the guys who have some semblance of talent while Theriot is lumped with the players lacking talent.

Soriano is the epitome of a streaky hitter. He does have a bad approach and mechanics and when you put those together with the leg injury for much of the season you get the kind of year he had in 2009. I don't expect 40 HR, but I do expect a rebound season with his age factored in.

I don't get this reasoning. There's no reason why we should see a large improvement in hitting. It's possible, but I wouldn't count on it. The default position for Cubs' lineups is weak. They have several weaknesses still, and their best hitters are old. Discounting a lack of production last year due to injuries to oft-injured players is no way to justify the statement that the offense should be better. The middle infield is weak. Catcher is a big question. Soto is no lock to make a significant step forward, and the backup C is as bad a hitter as you can find in baseball. Marlon Byrd was a huge bust until arriving in Texas in his last 20's. , and he took a step back in his third season there when he played his most time. The bench is not particularly strong. There's one guy who can be considered an asset, but he's coming off major surgery. Everybody but Aramis Ramirez is capable of playing a full season while being fairly unproductive. They've all done it at various points of their careers, and not just in weird age 23 seasons or anything like that. They've got a bunch of 33/34 year old players who don't have a consistent track record of tremendous success. Expecting those players to be better simply because they were at some point earlier in their career is delusional. It might happen. But there's a really good chance it does not happen. There's no "should" about it when it comes to major improvements in the offense. Jaramillo might not be a miracle worker, but he certainly could help players like Fontenot, Soto, Baker, Soriano, and Colvin assuming they will listen to him and follow his advice. An improvement by Soto and Fontenot/Baker with the exchange of Bradley for Byrd along with some health from ARam and Soriano would be a tremendous improvement in the offense.

First, I would think he might be a middle-rounder, because nobody is going to waste a #1-3 round pick on him. As Jersey posted, 2 years at the minimum ($400,000) before a chance to earn decent money at 30 years old. Also, don't forget most NFL money isn't guaranteed. Personally, I would think he would need to catch on with a semi-pro or arena football team and impress somebody enough to give him a decent contract. I think he will stick to baseball.

He might end up being a starting corner OF in the majors, but first he would need to prove it before trading our starters to give him the job. Explain to me how you can prove you are a starting corner OF in the majors when you are always on the bench because of someone else having the starting job? Like I said before posts like this are dumb. There is no way to know if someone is good enough to be a starter unless you have him start a significant period of time. Some guys do great in small doses in platoons but then wear down and suck when playing everyday. Some guys are the opposite. Either way you don't know what will happen until he starts. Your philosophy is great if you are the Padres, Royals, or Padres, but not when you play in a major market and have a contending team.

His contract only runs through 2011, and he only makes a couple million a year right now. Once his contract is up, and assuming the Cubs don't pick up options, I believe he will be arbitration eligible only, and not a free agent (unless turning down the options automatically makes him a free agent). So, after 2011, he'll be in his mid 20's and potentially done with baseball, or at least done making big money in baseball. If he works at it he could get a 5-6 year NFL career and double what he's made so far in baseball. So he will be 27 years old and not having played football for 5 years, he's going to get into football shape and find some GM to sign him and pay him big money have have a 5-6 year NFL career. :pig: :pig: :pig: