So we're trading Zambrano, Lee, and Derosa for salary relief to get Peavy and then we're going to sign Tex for $200 million. #-o #-o #-o Once again, nobody said we should trade all those guys so we could get Peavy. DeRosa and Lee were single ideas and the only person who mentioned Zambrano was pretty much saying it tongue in cheek I'm not so sure that you can speak for other posters. After reading the unbridled passion that some posters have for Peavy, I'm not sure some people wouldn't trade a few of these guys. My point is that this trade is very similar to the Roberts talk last year: we would love to have him, but we don't absolutely need him. That's especially true if you are going to impact the starting lineup or gut the farm system to get him. When posters talk about trading Lee or DeRosa with no clue as to who would replace them, that's irrational. This is a team that won 97 games last year. Show me who is saying that we should trade all those guys. No clue who owuld replace them? Actually it has been discussed pretty openly who would replace those guys. Yet again though, noboy is saying we should trade all those guys. They were individual ideas on trading indivudal players. You're being irrational by saying that people want to trade all of them when in reality nobody is saying that. And yeah, this team won 97 games. That was last year. We're building a team for this year. A lot of things will change. We aren't going to get Edmonds freakish summer production. It's highly unlikely Dempster will have an ERA under 3 again. It's unlikely that DeRosa will put up an .857 OPS, Fontenot will put up a .900+ OPS, etc, etc. A lot can change. Really I'm just worried about the rotation. That might sound ridiculous, but think about it. Harden is pretty much a lock to miss significant time, and what is Dempster goes back to being Dempster? It's very possible. Then where are we? Zambano and a bunch of 4-4.50 ERA starters. That worries me. While I agree that Harden will probably miss some starts, I don't think Dempster is going to regress as much as many posters do. Granted he might not have the numbers that he had last year, but I think he will be decent. Zambrano and Lilly should post numbers similar to last year. Unless he's traded, Marshall is a solid replacement for Harden and the #5 spot. As for Marquis, I would assume he will be traded, but the biggest knock on Marquis in the #5 spot is his salary. He's not great, but comparing him to other #5 starters shows that he's not bad (just overpaid). I don't think there's any reason to think DeRosa will regress because his numbers have been consistent ever since he's been a regular. I think the offense will be okay assuming we get a LH RF to platoon with DeRosa and Johnson. Without knowing what deals are going to be made in the next few months, I would expect the Cubs to be over 90 wins and NL Central Champs. All of us would love to add Peavy, but he's a luxury and not a necessity.