Backtobanks

We gave up Pie and Hill, both of whom were two minutes from being released, and we didn't get Brian Roberts. We should have added Sam Fuld to the package and they might have added Markakis as a throw-in.

-Not vastly overpay for a guy who can't stay on the field. -Not overpay for Aaron Miles. -Actually get something in return for DeRosa -Not overpay for Aaron Heilman -Not overpay for Kevin Gregg -Not fail to offer Wood arbitration and lose a first round pick -Not obsess over "getting more left handed" and end up signing a bunch of crappy hitters -because of it -Not give Ryan Dempster a ridiculous contract -Not turn a solid bench into an atrocious bench Any of those would have been nice If Wood accepted arbitration then Hendry would have vastly overpaid for a player who can't stay on the field. (#1 and #6) Aaron Miles was offered $600 K less by the Cards, so apparently he was at market value. Dempster was given a contract based on a great season (just like many other FA pitchers) and would have been signed by another team thus making a big hole in the rotation. Overpaying for Gregg? That's yet to be seen. Overpaying for Heilman? Reyes and Santana for Heilman is overpaying, Cedeno and Olson is questionable because Cedeno and Olson were of no use to the Cubs in 2009. The DeRosa deal got quantity over quality (granted), but I still think it added the depth to go after Peavy (we'll see). As for becoming more left-handed, he signed 2 switch hitters to replace a righty and a lefty. Oops, I forgot the gigantic move coming - signing an old lefty backup catcher for an old righty backup catcher. Finally, I will agree that the new bench sucks.

Yeah because it's a sure thing that Cedeno will be the All Star SS and Olson will win 20 games while Pie will lead the AL in hitting.

There was discussion about Lou not wanting to go into the season with only one backup IF. I would like to see Hairston included in a Peavy deal as our new jack-of-all-trades.

I don't see how Hendry has earned the right to be given the benefit of the doubt this offseason. Also, whether ot nor he makes other moves doesn't really excuse some of the other dumb things he's done. Getting as little as he did for DeRosa is basd. Giving Miles the contract he did is bad. Giving Bradley what he didis bad. Trading Cedeno and Olson for Heilman is bad. Those are bad moves, regardless of what follows them. What he got for DeRosa was pitching prospects which presumably will lead to Peavy. Who knows how the contracts to Miles and Bradley will work out? Waiting for their prices to go down might have resulted in them signing with another team and then posters would jump all over Hendry for not signing them. On the surface, the Cedeno + Olsen for Heilman deal doesn't look great, but Olson's strongest traits were that he had an option left and it was rumored that the Padres wanted him in a Peavy deal. He has been a terrible major league pitcher. I'm not defending any of the moves Hendry has made, but none of us are fully aware of what's happening financially with the Cubs and other clubs and what kinds of discussions are going on with other GMs. That's why I said we need to wait and see what the final roster looks like. Why are you presuming the guys they got from Cleveland are going in a Peavy trade? Stephens is one of the rumored names in a Peavy deal, but if none of them go to SD they still add to the minor league depth to replace pitching prospects that would be in the deal.

I don't see how Hendry has earned the right to be given the benefit of the doubt this offseason. Also, whether ot nor he makes other moves doesn't really excuse some of the other dumb things he's done. Getting as little as he did for DeRosa is basd. Giving Miles the contract he did is bad. Giving Bradley what he didis bad. Trading Cedeno and Olson for Heilman is bad. Those are bad moves, regardless of what follows them. What he got for DeRosa was pitching prospects which presumably will lead to Peavy. Who knows how the contracts to Miles and Bradley will work out? Waiting for their prices to go down might have resulted in them signing with another team and then posters would jump all over Hendry for not signing them. On the surface, the Cedeno + Olsen for Heilman deal doesn't look great, but Olson's strongest traits were that he had an option left and it was rumored that the Padres wanted him in a Peavy deal. He has been a terrible major league pitcher. I'm not defending any of the moves Hendry has made, but none of us are fully aware of what's happening financially with the Cubs and other clubs and what kinds of discussions are going on with other GMs. That's why I said we need to wait and see what the final roster looks like.

Let's all relax until the dust settles. If anyone thinks Hendry is through trading, they aren't paying attention. I'm sure that if Hendry trades for Peavy without including Marshall or Vitters some of you will jump all over him for giving up 5 prospects.

I know that none of them have accepted the rumored deals, but what I have read are numbers like Sheets (2/18), Dunn (5 million per year), and Abreu (1/6). All of them have issues (injury, defense, age), but they could bring in some fans and produce decent to very good results. Obviously, you would have to really check out Sheets medical problems, but you're talking less money than Marquis. Dunn and Abreu could end up with less than a middle IF.

Unless there is something in Sheets' medical file that really stands out, some team is going to get a real bargain by signing him. It is amazing that some of these desperate teams aren't taking a chance on these guys (Sheets, Manny, Dunn, Abreu, etc.) at these rumored numbers. Some of these guys might sign for a 1-year deal with incentives with a second year option at a ridiculously low price.

He's going to be way too expensive for us. Wiggington will be too expensive and will go some place where he has a better chance of playing time. He certainly would look good on our bench though.

I would love to have Peavy, but getting Sheets for 2/$22 million with a club option for a 3rd year might be better than getting Peavy, assuming Sheets can pass a physical. Trade Cedeno and Wuertz for Heilman. Rotation: Zambrano (30+ starts) Dempster (30+ starts) Lilly (30+ starts) Harden (20+ starts) Sheets (20+ starts) Marshall (10-20 starts) Heilman (10-20 starts) Other possibilities- Gaudin, Shark, prospects Looks like we would have it covered assuming no major injuries.

Because the Padres have even worse constraints than fan pressure. They have an owner mandate to lower payroll to a point that demands Peavy be dealt, and Peavy and his agent have essentially made the Cubs his only possible destination. Ben Sheets is not a great alternative to Jake Peavy. Comparing Peavy to Sheets is a no-brainer, but comparing Peavy to Sheets, Vitters, Hart, Marshall, and an extra $30-40 million over the next few years isn't quite as obvious.

You can't add these guys to whoever we trade for Peavy. If you're going to do that you would have to say Stevens, Hart, Marshall, Olsen, Derosa, Marquis, and Wood for Peavy, Viscaino, Gregg, the minor league pitcher we got from the O's, and the other two pitchers we got from Cleveland

Vitters is still very young and a few years away from the majors. It never hurts to have the depth to have options in the future. If ARam is still very productive, maybe Vitters might be taught a different position.

Even without assuming a Peavy trade, this makes the Cubs better. They got probably as much value out of Pie as they possibly could have. Now, you're probably right. But if Lou had given Pie a real shot last year, maybe we're pretty happy with our OF and don't need to sign Bradley. Maybe his 10mil goes better elsewhere. Lou bungled the situation and refused to ever give Pie a shot. Hendry did the best he could with that... I'll grant him this is about as good a trade as we were gonna get at this point. Your saying "I wouldn't have minded this trade so much" led me to believe you hated the trade. When in reality, you hated that the trade had to be made in the first place. Which are 2 different things. Also, I wouldn't blame Piniella. Hendry is the one who kept getting him crutches in case Pie didn't kill the ball. Lou went to those crutches after 2 games, but Hendry put them there in the first place. Here we go again, don't blame Lou....blame Hendry. I've posted often that one weakness of Hendry is that he lets the manager dictate to him instead of vice versa and he doesn't interfere with the manager's on-field decisions. Hendry has a long track record of pushing for youth and allowing them to play, while Lou is great with young players who produce immediately. If they don't produce immediately they are sent down or replaced with veterans that Lou has asked for. Pie's lack of playing time can be blamed on many things (lack of success, contending team, Lou's reluctance to use him, etc.), but not on Hendry or the fact that Hendry tried to obtain depth in CF (Johnson, Edmonds, etc.).

My big hope is that somehow Hendry can get Peavy without giving up Vitters.

Brewers 85-90 wins Reds 82-88 wins Cubs 81-87 wins Cards 76-81 wins Astros 72- 77 wins Pirates 65-70 wins The Brewers are not in the 85-90 win range. Yeah, for all of the "Cubs are worse than last year" discussion, what are the Brewers after losing Sabathia and Sheets?

It's amazing how everyone thinks Lou is awesome for leading us to back-to-back division championships, but the GM that put those two teams together is a doughnut-eating idiot.

He's a 37-year old extremely limited defensive player that can't come close to producing the numbers necessary at the positions he's stuck at, 3B and 1B. Teams just aren't throwing money to garbage guys like Aurillia this year. The demand for major league names to fill spots just isn't that high. Why pay a veteran $800,000 to take up at bats that a $400,000 kid who might have a future can do it? In normal times the kid is the better option, in uncertain economic times when tickets haven't even gone on sale yet it's even more of an obvious option. The problem is that we don't have a "kid" that can back up 1B and 3B and hit off the bench.

I agree about the Peavy deal and have been posting that opinion everywhere. If you follow the steps below, a trade seems likely. 1. The Padres can't afford him. 2. Peavy wants out and will only waive his NTC to one team (Cubs). 3. The Cubs have roster problems with Pie, Hill, Cedeno. 4. The DeRosa trade got more quantity than quality to add prospect pitching depth. 5. The rumors have the Padres wanting more young pitching.

I think you are absolutely wrong there. Hendry would be keeping Pie and probably would be giving him a better shot at winning a starting job. I am a fan of Hendry, but one of his faults is that he lets the managers dictate to him instead of vice versa. As I posted before, Lou is okay with young players as long as they produce immediately. If they don't, they're banished forever.

Yeah, he's a goner. Once Lou loses faith in you it's over. For all of the praise Lou gets about playing young players (compared to Dusty), he reverts back to vets if the young player doesn't produce immediately. I think Hendry would have given him a real shot, but Hendry listens to his managers' requests (sometimes too much).

Maybe with three weak classes coming up, other deserving players (Dawson, Blyleven, etc.) may get in.

To fit Peavy into the budget.

Trade is more likely, same way we got most of our good bats now. As I've posted before, a trade is more likely because of an overcrowded roster (Pie, Wuertz, Hart, Ascanio, Vicaino, Cedeno, Wells, etc.).