Backtobanks

I'd be more worried if Lou or Hendry said it instead of Zambrano. The last time I looked Carlos wasn't in charge of personnel.

From MLBTR: Bruce Levine of ESPNChicago.com says that the Cubs have some interest in Luke Gregerson and/or Jason Frasor. I've heard Frasor's name tossed about before, but not Gregerson. Gregerson's numbers are pretty impressive and he's only 25 years old.

From Foxsports: The White Sox’s exact offer is not known, but right-hander Dan Hudson and catcher Tyler Flowers were two of the players discussed, according to sources. The Jays, seeking young, affordable talent, surely inquired about second baseman Gordon Beckham as well. There is no chance the White Sox would have parted with a budding star such as Beckham unless they were able to sign Halladay to a contract extension -- something that might have been out of reach, given the team’s payroll limitations. Then again, a one-year rental of Halladay would have made little sense. Williams, endlessly creative, surely had it all figured out. In the end, though, he never had a chance of assembling his dream rotation. Halladay only would go to certain teams, and the White Sox were not on his list. -Ken Rosenthal Like I said in the original post, KW is delusional if he thought he could get Halladay for a package centered around Flowers and Hudson.

From MLBTR: Chuck Garfien of CSNChicago.com spoke to White Sox GM Ken Williams, who said that he nearly pulled off a deal that would have possibly given the club the best rotation in the history of the game. Williams wouldn't name names, but Garfien believes that he was referring to Roy Halladay. Just who does KW think he has in his farm system that he was going to trade for Halladay. I guess a deal centered around Beckham and Danks might be a start.

Seems like the smarter decision to wait until ST to test the knee. Amen to that! Now that he's not a "lead-off man", he can concentrate on power instead of stolen bases. Not much reason to steal when you're the #5 or #6 hitter.

What's so amazing about a bunch of Cubs fans focuing primarily on the dumassedry that comes out of the Cubs GM's mouth while not paying particular attention to what another team's GM says? My point is that the Hendry-bashers need to open their eyes and ears and realize that most of the other GMs are making the same comments and moves that Hendry is making.

Before the economic crunch, the only justification to sign with the Yankees was money.

Meanwhile, Kenny Williams said the WS considered Jermaine Dye, "but our biggest need would be a left-handed bat". It's amazing that so many posters criticize Hendry for all of these "left-handed" comments when Williams is saying the same thing.

From MLBTR: The Yankees signed pitcher Chan Ho Park, according to Korean reports.

Well he had better prove he's healthy and can play like he did before the injury because $11 million is nothing to laugh at. I agree he will end up with some serious money and years, but there aren't many SS make $11 million per year. Hanley, Jeter, Furcal, Rollins could be getting there soon, ARod who is still the best SS on his team, Carlos Guillen signed his deal as a SS and has transitioned away. Michael Young did as well. It's not that hard to get $11m a year as a SS. Hanley will be getting there soon, while Jeter and Young (now playing 3B) are already there. Rollins and Furcal had bad years and may not ever get to $11 million. Guillen last played SS in 2007 and was making $5 million. Also, many of these contracts were signed when money was free-flowing and that's certainly not the case now. That being said, there's still less than 10% of the SS making $11 million, so it's not that easy to make $11 million as a SS. Less than 10% doesn't mean much, considering salaries are kept artificially low due to the 6-year control of players, and shortstopping is a young man's game. It's still a premier position, and if you can get to free agency before, say, 32, and are pretty good, you are going to get paid. That's true, but it also means that many SS start at a younger age (like Hanley and hopefully Castro), so they should be able to reach free agency well before they're 32.

Well he had better prove he's healthy and can play like he did before the injury because $11 million is nothing to laugh at. I agree he will end up with some serious money and years, but there aren't many SS make $11 million per year. Hanley, Jeter, Furcal, Rollins could be getting there soon, ARod who is still the best SS on his team, Carlos Guillen signed his deal as a SS and has transitioned away. Michael Young did as well. It's not that hard to get $11m a year as a SS. Hanley will be getting there soon, while Jeter and Young (now playing 3B) are already there. Rollins and Furcal had bad years and may not ever get to $11 million. Guillen last played SS in 2007 and was making $5 million. Also, many of these contracts were signed when money was free-flowing and that's certainly not the case now. That being said, there's still less than 10% of the SS making $11 million, so it's not that easy to make $11 million as a SS.

Well he had better prove he's healthy and can play like he did before the injury because $11 million is nothing to laugh at. I agree he will end up with some serious money and years, but there aren't many SS make $11 million per year.

From MLBTR: Jose Reyes tells Kevin Kernan of the New York Post that he wants to finish his career with the Mets. Reyes says he's not thinking about the $11MM option the Mets have for his services in 2011 "he's not thinking about the $11MM option" :pig: :pig: :pig: :lol: :lol: :lol:

While I agree that it seems that whatever can go wrong will go wrong for the Cubs, I can't see a 3rd or 4th place finish. Most everything went wrong last year and they finished over .500 and in 2nd place. Everything would have to go right for the Reds, Brewers, or Astros to finish ahead of the Cubs.

Okay, I believe Thomas was clean, but I still wouldn't be shocked if his name ever comes out.

And no results have been posted except for a few names that were leaked. Again, I'm not saying he used, I'm just saying that nobody knows anything about the results. That would be an incredibly bizarre scenario if he was demanding that he be tested each year will using anything he shouldn't have been. I think we'd be letting the paranoid and melodramatic attitude towards steroids in baseball reach new heights of ridiculousness if we act like such a sceanrio is likely. Again, I'm not saying he used anything, but all I'm saying is that in this age of cynicism nobody would be totally shocked if his (or anybody's name) is linked in the future. It reminds me of the 60's when all of the government lies about Viet Nam came out and we had years of not believing anything the government said.

And no results have been posted except for a few names that were leaked. Again, I'm not saying he used, I'm just saying that nobody knows anything about the results.

I'd rather have Byrd with his contract than 2 years of Damon.

In this age of cynicism, can we be sure Thomas (or anybody else) is absolutely clean? I'm not saying he used, but others have talked about Bagwell (who Tim mentioned). As for his "holier than thou" views, how many ultra-conservative, right-wing Republicans who speak out against gay rights have been exposed as closet homosexuals? The sad part of this whole steroid era is all of the suspicion about anybody with extraordinary stats.

I assume Hendry is waiting because their demands will fall as the time for spring training nears.

I'll go along with the consensus that they should be a contending team. I do expect rebound seasons from Soriano, Soto, Marmol, and Zambrano. I think Byrd will be a pleasant surprise and Baker/Fontenot will be a solid platoon at 2B. The back end of the rotation could be a slight problem, but the bullpen will be outstanding. Obviously, there's no way to predict injuries, but the usual suspects (Soriano and Ramirez) seem to be covered by Nady and Baker/Tracy. I do get upset with so many posters predicting a serious digression by DLee and Wells. DLee continues to impress after recovering from his wrist/hand injury and I see no reason to expect less than a solid near-.900 ops from him. As for Wells, he did get enough action that teams saw him more than once, so there's no reason to think he can't pitch like last year. 85-90 wins and make the playoffs. After that it's a crapshoot.

It's not inconceivable, but it's unlikely. We won't know whether Soriano or Soto are as bad as last year until at least midseason, so meanwhile you have to go with Theriot.

He probably won't make the HOF, but I can't believe he won't get enough votes to hang around for a few years.

From MLBTR: Nomar is "widely expected" to retire. If he does, he'd bow out at age 36 with a career line of .313/.361/.521. The injuries hampered him throughout his career, but the numbers look worthy.

The Cubs aren't a contending team. They are a high salary team that is mediocre. There are more questions on this year's team than any team since 2006. Lilly won't be back until May and may never be the pitcher he was in the first two years. Big Z has a lot of wear. Dempster needs to bounce back. Will Wells be as good as he was in first 10 starts? How may starts will Carlos Silva have? Lee is getting old, Aramis's shoulder is still a concern. Soriano has shown he can stay in a slump with the best of them. On and on. For the Cubs to contend this year everything will have to go right for them and they will still need some help. I guess you can look at the dark side of everything: 1. There's no reason to think that Lilly won't be the same pitcher he was for the last 2 years. 2. Zambrano has a lot of wear as opposed to Carpenter and Penny on the Cards? 3. Dempster has been pretty consistent with the exception of his time with the broken toe. 4. Can Wells repeat his success? Can Wainwright and Franklin repeat theirs? 5. Silva won't get many starts unless he earns them. 6. Lee had one of his best seasons ever and showed no signs of aging last year. 7. Ramirez came back and eventually returned to his old self. 8. Soriano was playing on one leg for quite awhile. I've said all along that the Cubs will probably be co-favorites with the Cards for the NL Central. The only teams that don't have many questions going into spring training are the Yankees and the Red Sox.