Backtobanks

Blah blah blah blah. Amen! If he didn't extend Grabow, people would be complaining that Hendry left them short a lefty in the bullpen.

I can't see Zambrano going anywhere unless we get back a decent starting pitcher plus a starting SS/2B. Zambrano, with all of his antics and underachieving, is still a major cog in the rotation.

That's exactly correct. They didn't get lucky in the sense that they had a lot guys that played out of reasonable expectations (Jim Edmonds excluded). They just stayed healthy and most everyone played up to expectations. How often does that happen in any given year for any team? But that is exactly how Hendry plays it every year and it seems to me to be the thinking of many people in this thread. I like TT's post about incremental changes and I think that's the only way things will get better. It looks like the farm may be starting to produce some position prospects, so maybe things will get better soon. If not the Cubs are going to be worse next year than they are this year. But back to what to do this off-season with Z. If the Cubs can get great value for Z, make a trade. My thinking is that they can't due mostly to his NTC and backloaded contract. Every team has to deal with injuries, but when the injuries become excessive like the Cubs and Mets, the results show up in the standings. As I've stated before, healthy players next year will lead to a contending team. 4-6 week stints on the DL for Pujols and Carpenter/Wainwright would make the Cards look mediocre too. As for playing up to expectations, players like DLee, Ramirez, Bradley, Lilly, Harden, Zambrano, and Soriano (when healthy) have a pretty good track record to count on and expecting "typical" years out of them shouldn't be considered a "fluke".

I'm 62 and I'm in no mood for rebuilding. The other thing to remember is that rebuilding doesn't guarantee a championship team in 3-4 (or more) years. I'm frustrated, but it's a lot more enjoyable to watch an 85-90 win team than to watch some of the teams I suffered with through the 50's and 60's. The best thing about those teams was you could get tickets without scalpers and virtual waiting rooms.

I don't know why people don't think that 2008 wasn't a fluke season where everything went right for the Cubs. This is a good team that's built to be mediocre unless everything goes according to plan. It's not a great team. Also, to backtobanks the Yankees have twice the payroll of the Cubs and are built to weather injuries, as we've seen. Quit being ridiculous. Why would you think 2008 was a fluke? The Cubs had won the division in recent years and were favorites to be in contention. As for 2009, the team is a good team that became mediocre because of a ton of injuries and a few below-expectations seasons. As I stated before, most of the injuries were not to the players with an "injury-prone" label. As for the payroll, I don't understand what that has to do with the injury issue. The Mets have a gigantic payroll, but couldn't overcome a ton of injuries. Your original post used the "wrong side of 30" argument and my point that the Yankees have 12 players over 30 on their roster disproved your argument, so who's being ridiculous? Assuming Soriano is 100% and they don't get hit by a ton of "freakish" injuries, the 2010 Cubs will be picked at or near the top of the NL Central.

You have a "chicken or the egg" situation since you can't rebuild unless you can trade the guys with the NTC. Do you really think that Lee or Ramirez are going to believe a "threat" that the team is going to rebuild. Ricketts has spent almost a billion dollars on the team and now he's going to blow it up. :pig: :pig: :pig:

That's the big problem, there aren't many tradable players on the team. Lee, Ramirez, Zambrano, etc. have NTC, which complicates any kind of deal. Trying to trade Bradley and Dempster would mean eating most of their contracts and accepting very little in return. I would think that Fukudome and Theriot don't have too much trade value, which leaves us with Wells, Guzman, Marmol, etc. who are the youth we need to rebuild the team.

You can crap in one hand a wish in the other and see which one gets filled up faster. This team will always have injuries to contend with, especially with guys on the wrong side of 30. That's the thing, Hendry plans for the best and hopes the worst doesn't happen. He should plan for the worst and hope the best happens. You just can't go into a season with a bunch of guys on the wrong side of 30. Just ask the Yankees with Posada (38), ARod (34), Jeter (35), Damon (35), Matsui (35), Pettitte (37), Burnett (32), Rivera (39), Marte (34), Hairston (33), Molina (34), and Hinske (32). They're on a pace to win 103 games. Are you saying Hendry ought to prepare for the fact that Ramirez was going to dislocate his shoulder or Dempster would break his toe on the dugout rail. Hendry was prepared for the players with known injury histories (Harden and Bradley) with Johnson (broken foot from foul ball), Wells, Marshall, and Gorzelanny. No GM can go into a season expecting his "starting" lineup to be on the field 7-8 times (out of 162 games) and be prepared for that situation. Just ask the other NY team about that.

While we would all love to make some gigantic deal, basically we need to get healthy. A healthy Soriano and Ramirez, a rebound year from Soto, and re-signing Harden and Grabow puts us at or near the top in the NL Central (if not the whole NL). I know some of you don't believe you can count on health from Soriano and Ramirez, but I do. It is obvious that Soriano has been hurting for a big part of the season. It would be interesting to see what the Cards would do without Pujols from 60-70 games.

From FoxSports: Let's see what Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com has for us in his latest Full Count video... The free agent market for starting pitching doesn't look very enticing, but the trade market could be intriguing. Toronto will almost certainly field offers for Roy Halladay again, the Cubs could trade Carlos Zambrano, and the Braves could deal Javy Vazquez if they decide to keep Tim Hudson.

He's the latest in "Pick the one player to blame for 2009" contest. As I've stated before, he's nowhere near the biggest problem on the Cubs. Some of the suggestions of Lilly, Theriot, plus 2-3 prospects for Reyes are ridiculous. Theriot plus 1-2 prospects for Reyes is reasonable, but adding our most consistent pitcher is incredible.

When the Cubs have their regular lineup healthy (which hasn't been often in the past year), you can't tell me that Aram, DLee, Soriano, Bradley, and Soto (circa 2008) can't support a .290 singles hitter in the lineup.

Yes please :D but seriously, I overstated theriot is not garbage but he is a mediocrity. A serious contender can't have a mediocrity out there unless they have a really elite player at another position. Khalil Greene - just what we need, another head case. As for your quote about serious contenders, every team has at least one "mediocre" guy in the lineup and the vast majority of those guys don't have stats anywhere near Theriot's.

For the Theriot-bashers (fromMLBTR): Free Agent Market: Shortstops By Tim Dierkes [september 9 at 3:52pm CST] Today let's take a look at the free agent market for shortstops. Marco Scutaro is the OBP leader at .377. He's racked up 83 walks in 639 plate appearances. After him we get down to Omar Vizquel and Miguel Tejada in the .330 range. Scott Boras client Alex Cora was at .371 in limited duty last year, but he's down to .320 in '09. Good luck finding power - you've got Tejada with a .435 SLG, and then Scutaro at .409. Defense is crucial at shortstop. UZR/150 likes Jack Wilson (club option), Alex Gonzalez (club option), Scutaro, and Adam Everett (of course). In his top ten heading into the season, the Fielding Bible's John Dewan ranked Wilson, Everett, Omar Vizquel, and John McDonald in his top ten. Felipe Lopez last spent significant time at shortstop in 2007; it'd be a big gamble to use him there consistently. If you're looking for youth, Lopez, Bobby Crosby and Khalil Greene will be 30 years old next season. Scutaro, Orlando Cabrera, and Lopez project as Type A free agents. Wilson and Tejada project as Bs. Given his contributions on offense and defense, Scutaro is the prize of the free agent shortstop class. Taking into account the better FA shortstops are type A, I don't see anybody there to get excited about. I guess we're going to have to go for a trade. :-k

Because he's not good? And yes he not the biggest issue with the team currently but he's still the same guy who everyone wanted gone last year and the year before that and it's not like he's gotten markedly better. Hot garbage is...well...still garbage. Who are you going to replace him with? Will giving up 3-4 players to get someone like Reyes and pay him a ton of money make the Cubs into WS winners? Theriot is a role player that fits pretty well in the Cubs framework. He's not a guy who can carry the team alone for a few weeks, but how many shortstops can? He was the everyday SS on a 97 win team last year and would have done the same this year if some of his team mates could have stayed off the DL, produced as expected, and used their bats to hit baseballs instead of Gatoraide machines. Being the starting SS on a 97 win team is meaningless in and of itself. Theriot took a step back this year. And going on 30, typically a bad age for middle infielders especially mediocre ones like Theriot isn't a good thing. He's mediocrity personified. So answer my question: Who are you going to replace him with? After answering that question, tell me the impact on the team of trading players to get a replacement and then paying the replacement big dollars. Basically my point when I said he's not even close to being the biggest problem on this team.

Too bad a deal with the Brewers isnt likely because I think that Theriot and either Marshall or Gorzalanny for JJ Hardy would be a good deal for both sides. Making that deal would have us chasing the Cards and the Brewers.

Because he's not good? And yes he not the biggest issue with the team currently but he's still the same guy who everyone wanted gone last year and the year before that and it's not like he's gotten markedly better. Hot garbage is...well...still garbage. Who are you going to replace him with? Will giving up 3-4 players to get someone like Reyes and pay him a ton of money make the Cubs into WS winners? Theriot is a role player that fits pretty well in the Cubs framework. He's not a guy who can carry the team alone for a few weeks, but how many shortstops can? He was the everyday SS on a 97 win team last year and would have done the same this year if some of his team mates could have stayed off the DL, produced as expected, and used their bats to hit baseballs instead of Gatoraide machines.

Correct This is 50% right. Theriot is cheap. Why the sudden hatred towards Theriot? Looking at the 2009 Cubs with injuries, payroll issues, and mental health problems and you guys want to gang up on Theriot? I can think of at least 10 guys on the roster that I have issues with before I would get to Theriot.

I really can't see what Hendry can do to really change this team. DLee, Theriot, ARam, Soriano, Fukudome, and Soto will be back as starters. Bradley probably (and should) be back because he's more valuable than anything you could get in return. Signing Figgins (or trading for someone like Reyes) will cost a ton in $$$ and/or players and I'm not sure how much will be added to the payroll to a team that's already bogged down by expensive, long-term contracts. I'm sure Hendry will try to do something, but the bottom line is a healthy Soriano and Aram, a circa-2008 Soto, and re-signing Harden and Grabow will do more than Figgins or Reyes. Starting the year with Wells in the rotation, Fox as super-sub, Baker at 2B, Grabow in the bullpen, Marshall and Gorzelanny available as spot starters puts the team miles ahead of this year.

That's obviously something they want to check out before hand with doctors and specialist and such, but since he had the surgery done I think he'll get back to 100%, especially considering his age. As far as package goes, that depends on the Mets. I doubt that Minaya tries to sell him off for strictly non-major leaguers, so you could see guys like Lilly, Dempster, Bradley, or obviously Theriot involved, and prospects above A ball like Cashner, Jackson, and Castro could be included as well. Personally, I'd try to sell high with Lilly and see if he and Theriot could get us most of the way to Reyes. Great so we upgrade at SS, lose our most consistent pitcher, send some very good prospects, and still don't have a 2B. If we don't re-sign Harden and trade Lilly, there goes our rotation strength.

No way Figgins comes even close to getting that much. He may not get that much, but there will be a lot of teams bidding for him. Figgins is going to cost too much in $ and Reyes will cost too much in terms of players.

Personally, I think the cost of Figgins or Reyes is going to be far too much.

Are you paying attention at all? How has Bradley had pitiful production? When you build a team of 30-something players with injury histories, you have to expect injuries will be a problem. I think the Cubs expected more than 12 HR and 37 RBI from Bradley. Maybe his production isn't pitiful, but it is less than what was expected. Aside from the Mets, I don't think any team was affected more than the Cubs. Not all of the players that missed significant time were over 30 (Zambrano, Soto) or had injury histories (DLee, Dempster, Ramirez, Johnson).

That's sort of the point Hendry tried to make. In a backhanded way, his answer to the whole interview was, "these guys all played like [expletive] and there's no reason they should have." He asked Mac where he picked the Cubs to finish before the season. He said first, of course, and Hendry said everyone loved the team in the winter. So, basically, don't blame him. Problem is, and Mac pointed this out, a lot of us did have concerns about this team. The Bradley signing (which a lot of folks here and elsewhere loved), Gregg, etc. Part of what you hinted at is true: Hendry built a team that was the overwhelming choice to win the NL Central and possibly the NL championship. He can't be absolved of all blame, but nobody expected the injuries that crippled this team all year and the pitiful production generated by Soto, Fontenot, Bradley, and Soriano. Was there any reason to think that these 4 players wouldn't have at least 30 more HRs and 80 more RBIs? If those 4 players produced at 85% of what their career numbers show, the Cubs would be up there with the Cards. To put it another way, I would say that only DLee, Fukudome, Theriot, Fox, Wells, Guzman, and Lilly had decent (or better than expected) years. That means 72% of the roster had below-average years.

the white sox chance at making the playoffs is like 5% at best. might as well dump your assets and get something for them. plus we're not idiots; we get mad if someone like harden is non-tendered because he's clearly worth $5M and we wouldn't get mad if we had jim thome and non-tendered him rather than guarantee him $11M for one year. You have posted often enough to know that some posters will find fault with anything that Hendry does or doesn't do. This disappointing season has enough blame to share, but some people can't get past Hendry. Look at how many posts basically say we would be in the World Series if only Hendry didn't trade DeRosa and sign Miles. While we can all agree that wasn't a great decision, the problems on this team go much deeper than that. As I've pointed out before, Hendry's job sure looks easy on this side of a keyboard and with the benefit of hindsight. Give Hendry his fair share of the blame, but don't forget Soto, Marmol, Fontenot, Soriano, Bradley, Miles, Gregg, Zambrano, injuries, and Piniella when spreading the blame.