Backtobanks

If someone offered $60+ million for him and he took it, we would have to trade for Peavy because we would be short a starter. Instead trading for Peavy is a luxury and it will give us an unbelievable rotation.

Surely you realize that signing Miles is a precursor to everything else happening. Trading DeRosa gets us the prospects we need to trade for Peavy and someone has to replace DeRosa. Also, Wood's deal is for $20 million (over 2 years), so that would limit options for 2009 and 2010.

No. All quotes are direct quotes. Well, here we go again...... Yes. It sounds like the Cubs are ready to trade DeRosa to a third team for prospects. Some of the prospects will go to the Padres. Levine thinks Vizcaino may be moved as well, and that the salary saved from Marquis and DeRosa will allow the Cubs to get Peavy. He was saying something about Fukudome getting another shot in RF or something to that effect but I was distracted. Where are the Cubs going to put Bradley if Fukudome is in RF?

A duet of Ozzy Osbourne and Mike Ditka.

I've been suggesting for awhile that the Cubs trade Marquis, Pie, and Hill to the O's for Scott. We would save money on the deal and the lefty-righty platoon of Scott/Derosa/Johnson/Fukudome/Gathright/Fontenot in RF/CF/2B would provide plenty of options for Lou.

Kenny Williams is POed.

No reason to be so negative. First, the Cubs will certainly be the favorites to win the NL Central again. Second, it's not a permanent injunction on spending money. Finally, I'm sure the Cubs will find a taker for Marquis once things start moving again (after 1/05/09). To tell the truth, it might force a trade for a younger and/or cheaper RF (Scott, Hermida, etc.) that might pay off in the future. While Bradley can add a lot with the bat, his cost and injury history could end up a problem.

2 reasons: 1. The Cubs need a RF and they have money. 2. Dunn knows the secret to playing on the awful, dangerous, crater-full OF.......remain stationary and hope the ball is hit right at you.

So that means your opinion will change by the third game of the season.

How do you sacrifice walks by shortening your swing? :-k :-k

Kaplan commented on his defense:"He wants to play here in the worst way." :lol:

Interesting stuff, but I can't believe he would be worse than the other names being thrown around (Dunn, Abreu, Ibanez, and Bradley).

I'd be happy with the $10 million you passed up to play for a contender.

My order of preference would be: McLouth Hermida Scott Bradley Abreu The first two are long-term solutions, but the first three give the Cubs lots of wiggle room in the budget. Solving the RF problem for $1-$3 million for the next few years leaves money for other needs.

Not when posters around here were suggesting Soriano-Fukudome-Dunn/Ibanez/Abreu/Bradley.

I've posted dozens of times about trying to get him. We seem to have lots of "spare parts" (Pie, Cedeno, Wuertz, Colvin, Marquis (plus cash), Atkins, etc.)that might help the Pirates. Many posters want Hermida, but McLouth would be my first choice. The other advantage to getting McLouth (or Hermida) is that they are young and cheaper than the big name FAs.

How about some wild theorizing? Hendry thinks he'll still get Peavy (and Bradley), and thinks Pie will be in that deal, so he needed Gathright for pinch running, double switches, etc. Time will tell about getting Peavy, but the acquisition of Gathright certainly means Pie is going somewhere in a trade.

100% no. and if they did, it wouldnt be to us And if they would trade him to us, by the time AM decided to agree to the deal Markakis would be 38 years old and ready to retire.

If we can't get Bradley, I'd like to trade for a younger OF that can actually play a little defense and will be around for a few years. (Hermida, McLouth, DeJesus, etc.)

The best part of signing Sheets would be that we get to keep Marshall. With Sheets and Harden in the rotation, you had better have another starter available. It would also mean Gaudin, Wuertz, Guzman, etc. had better be ready for long middle relief stints.

With the financial problems that the owner has, something has to happen eventually. That doesn't mean the deal will happen with the Cubs, but Peavy will be traded.

In other words, if only Dunn made contact more often. I stand by my statement, DH was designed for hitters like Dunn. Put him in the lineup (not in the field) and he'll hit 40 HRs, strike out 200 times, walk about 100 times, and not much else. Putting him on the field diminishes any positive offensive numbers that he produces.

Talk about picking the lesser of two evils.

I don't want him at that price, but 2y at 18m with a vesting option, or 3y at 27m I might consider. I have a feeling Hendry will add incentives based on health or games played in his contract, and get him at 7-9m base salary. I think Bradley will be a high 800 OPS or low 900 OPS guy playing half his games in Wrigley. From MLBTR: Milton Bradley is weighing his options with the Cubs and Rays. Joe Maddon and the Rays may be a better fit than Lou Piniella and the Cubs. And spending time at DH would allow him to "protect his oft-injured body." But will the Rays meet Bradley's asking price when they can turn to Bobby Abreu, Jason Giambi, Garret Anderson, or Pat Burrell instead? Rosenthal adds that the Reds, Angels, and Nationals are also interested in Bradley. This report sounds like Bradley will be asking for more than Abreu, Giambi, Anderson, and Burrell. I agree with you that Bradley would be a good fit at the right price.

What the hell is this? So because they both strike out and hit home runs that means they're the same? Give me a break. Soriano swings at everything. Dunn swings at strikes. There is a huge difference. To imply that they are the same player offensively is pretty ignorant. Pitchers would have their way with him? I assume you're saying they would throw him junk and he'd hack at everything and get himself out like Soriano. That is simply not true, seeing as how he is a walk machine. Dunn strikes out because he swings hard, he doesn't strike out because he swings at junk. What a weak comparison. Incorrect, and that's already been proven false. Ha. Yeah, just keep talking about numbers that actually prove that he's a good hitter. "Yeah guy, just keep talking about Pujols' average, his slugging, his ability to put the ball in play, his patience, his ability to cure cancer. Blah blah blah. I know what I see with my eyes, and that guy is a bum" Either that or people here tend to choose the option of proof/logic instead of selective memory. As if you couldn't make yourself look any worse, you end your post with this Ricciardi gem. Seriously, did you just say that? What evidence do you have, other than what some loud,mputh GM said? By the way, did you know that a few days later Ricciardi admitted that he was just pissed at the callers and that he hadn't really heard anything about Dunn not loving the game? I guess not. So not only are you bringing up an irrelevant point, but it's completely inaccurate as well. Good job. You make a full post full of outdated and inaccurate assumptions and hyperbole, then you go and prove how little you know about a player by saying something like that. The bottom line is that if you don't want a guy because he has a poor average w/RISP, then you need to open your mind a little bit and actually learn about what is valuable. Nice post, you spent a lot more time crafting a post that will fall on deaf ears than I did. For reference, Cubsclapp, do you know who has a higher Career OPS+ than Sosa, Utley, Henderson, Yaz, Magz, and is tied or within 1 of Carew, Winfield, Clemente, Boggs, and Palmeiro? I'll give you a hint! He is huge, the most underrated player in baseball, and his name is Adam Dunn! I realize you probably think OPS+ is worthless, but this illustrates how much of a bargain Dunn would be for us. First let me say that I'm not a Dunn fan. That being said, some of you act like he's the second coming of Babe Ruth. Contrary to what many posters believe, most GMs aren't idiots, so when there's a lot of reluctance to signing Dunn there must be something to it. There was a thread quite awhile ago that argued whether Dunn was a great hitter. My point is that Dunn can be called a great slugger, but certainly not a great hitter (or player). Putting his name in the same sentence as players like Yaz, Clemente, and Winfield only supports how some statistics will prove anything you want them to prove. The DH was designed specifically for players like Dunn.