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Backtobanks

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  1. Or how about just moving Theriot to the leadoff spot, Fukudome bats 2nd, and Soriano bats 5th.
  2. Between the fans and AM's overvalueing their players worth and the speed at which AM moves, I would think the deal might be done by 2010.
  3. I think the certainty of that statement is very much in doubt. If I were the Dodgers I would take my chances on the 25-year-old who is hitting .267 (career .250) over the 27-year-old who is hitting .211 (career .202). I guess you can argue that Zobrist has some numbers that are better, but neither one has shown that they can hit major league pitching consistently. I would take my chances on Cedeno being 2 years younger with slightly better numbers. Zobrist 2008 - .211, .273, .437, .709 Career - .202, .242, .308, .505 Cedeno 2008 - .267, .336, .348, .684 Career - .250, .287, .349, .636
  4. If the Cubs are interested in adding a right-handed power bat off the bench, Jeff Kent might be available. Source: Rays eye Dodgers Kent The Tampa Bay Rays are looking at a possible trade for Dodgers 2B Jeff Kent, according to American League sources. The Dodgers have had scouts in Tampa the past few days checking out SS Ben Zobrist who is expendable for the Rays. Kent had 10 HR's and 43 RBI's for the Dodgers, entering play last night. -- Fox Sports Radio Cedeno is certainly a better option than Zobrist for the Dodgers. Please notice the "if" at the beginning of the post.
  5. I think a good, cheap pickup that would seem to fit the Cubs' needs is Rich Aurilia. Versatile, righty veteran with some pop left in his bat and shouldn't cost more than a AA prospect.
  6. yea, he has a .759 OPS vs righties this year(.472 vs LHP). Definately a guy you want to stay away from. I also wouldn't go after burnett if i were hendry, simply because you already got Harden. Why add what is basically another Jason Marquis(burnett: 4.84 ERA, 1.448 WHIP, Marquis: 4.44 ERA, 1.430 WHIP)? I would think Rios and Ryan would cost a lot to get, but those are the only two i can think of who the cubs would be interested in. It would be great to go after Rios. Not sure how much the Jays would want, but I suppose Pie, Marshall, and Cedeno might get their interest.
  7. He can and will if he learns to hit major league pitching. Unfortunately that isn't a "given".
  8. KC gets Pie, Cedeno, and Marshall Cubs get Dejesus, Mahay, and German Dejesus can play all 3 OF positions and takes over in CF next year. Mahay gives us another lefty in the bullpen. German takes over Cedeno's role as backup miiddle IF. KC gets starting SS, future CF, starting pitcher, and saves money.
  9. I can't see how the Pirates would be will to trade Wilson and Bay (McLouth is untouchable) without getting a ton of top prospects plus Cedeno. The Dodgers have been reluctant to pull the trigger on other deals, so I don't know if they would be willing to toss in some top pitching prospects. I would think it would be something like: Dodgers get Wilson (From Pirates) and ???? (from Cubs) Pirates get Marshall & Cedeno (from Cubs) and Kemp (from LA) Cubs get Bay (from Pirates) and Hu (from LA) Also, we get into the "shifting Fukudome to CF controversy" again.
  10. Do you think the pitching-starved, offensive-rich Tigers would think about this trade? Marquis, Wuertz, + Cedeno for Carlos Guillen or Marcus Thames
  11. Sexson can't hit while play regularly, so I doubt he could do much as a pinch hitter. I forgot to include Blake as an option, but my first choice would be Rivera. He's young enough that he could help next year or bring something when used as trade bait. I would assume Hendry (and Lou) would rather go with the older guys (Millar or Aurilia) because they've been through it before.
  12. After yesterday, we need a long reliever in case/for when Marquis gets pounded? Thats my best guess. Marshall Marshall, Lieber, Gaudin, and Wuertz would all be candidates.
  13. I was trying to find RH power help for the bench and came up with these names: Millar (O's), Rivera (Angels), and Aurilia (Giants). Millar adds a lot to the clubhouse and the bench, but getting MacPhail to agree on a reasonable price might not be worth it. Rivera is still young and is starting to come out of his slump with some additional playing time. I'm not sure what the Angels would ask for him. Aurilia might be an interesting addition because he should be cheap and his numbers aren't bad. Of course the best option is Milton Bradley (switch hitter), but I think Hendry is afraid of what would happen in the dugout (and clubhouse) with Bradley. Hendry realizes that the Cubs have a good thing going and while Bradley would probably help on the field, he might mess up the team chemistry that has carried them this far.
  14. Not exactly the big bopper we're looking for, but probably could be acquired for very little (Marquis or prospect?). Twins dealing Cuddyer? With the emergence of Denard Span in right field, it will be interesting whether the Twins put Michael Cuddyer on the trading block and try to remove $8 million per season from the payroll for the next three years. -- Pioneer Press According to Cot's he's owed: 08.......$5 million 09.......$6.75 million 10.........$8.5 million 11.........$$10.5 million (Club option....$1 million buyout) 29 years old, righty, can play RF, LF, and 3B. Career avgs. 18 HR, 79 RBI, .269, .344, .442, .786
  15. Sorry, but that sort of thinking, in and of itself, is very high risk. You cannot simply ignore the longterm ramifications just because some people have a 100 year itch. Yes, they are trying to win now, as well they should. But in doing so they've put themselves in an interesting situation for the future. The next owner is going to have to approve substantial increases in payroll, otherwise they are going to lose Dempster and Wood, and will need to rely on Harden staying healthy next year. They will once again have fewer trading chips to find what they need, and will have fewer internal options, including nobody on the roster who could reasonably fill-in for Fukudome or Soriano if they go down (a job Murton could have filled). They still have Wuertz, Eyre, Cedeno, Fontenot, Marshall, Pie, Hill, Veal, etc. as trading chips. I would think that they ought to be able to get what they need with a package from that group.
  16. Weak Division? In the last 5 seasons, when we haven't won the division (2004, 2005, 2006), a team from the NL Central has played in the World Series. The Central's the best division in baseball this year. You can't really blame Hendry for 2004 either... you definitely can for 2005/2006 though. That really doesn't mean all that much. Doesn't mean the division was strong those years. It may have been (in 2004, it certainly was), but the fact that the teams from the division made the World Series doesn't mean the division was strong.That said, the NL Central is certainly a very strong division right now compared to others. How do you determine the division is strong? What other criteria can you use? The All Star game (an exhibition game)? Best record (with unbalanced schedule)? East Coast media bias? The bottom line is that the winner of the WS is the best team and the loser in the WS is the 2nd best team.
  17. I would think the Cubs might make another deal because they still have some desirable trade chips: Wuertz Eyre (possibly) Cedeno Marquis Marshall (possibly) Pie Hill
  18. Yeah, and I don't agree with him at all when he says the Cubs are taking a bigger risk than the Brewers. For one thing, We'll still have Z and Harden next year. Sheets and Sabathia are both goners (CC for sure, probably Sheets), and they gave up LaPorta, who was the likely replacement for Fielder when Prince leaves (though they still have Gamel, but I like LaPorta more). Gallagher is good, but none of the other players the Cubs gave up have any future on the team, nor were they elite prospects. Put it this way: if the worst were to happen and the Cubs implode down the stretch, we're still in fine shape going into 2009. If the same happens to the Brewers, they will have suffered a net loss (LaPorta and the PTBNL). Though if the Brewers did nothing they likely enter 2009 with Gallardo as their ace, but they still would have had their top ML ready prospect. Even if Harden were to suffer a catastrophic injury tomorrow, the Cubs wouldn't be out that much. Especially after the Cubs sign Sabathia as a free agent this winter. Zambrano Sabathia Harden Dempster Lilly \:D/ \:D/ \:D/ \:D/ \:D/ \:D/ \:D/ \:D/ \:D/ \:D/ \:D/ \:D/ \:D/ \:D/
  19. indeed. hopefully we won't be changing our tunes come october. In this year of presidential politics, NSBB has a lot more flip-floppers than the Republicans or Democrats. I've been a supporter of Hendry since the begining and for all of the jokes and personal insults, I think he is constantly working on making the Cubs better. His biggest weaknesses are a tendency to overpay certain players and to trust his managers (esp. Baker) too much. All of us (myself included) "armchair GMs" forget that it takes 2 teams to make a trade. There should be no reason to "change our tunes come October" because Hendry has done what he has had to do to get us to October (assemble the best team in baseball). If injuries happen or players fail, don't put the blame on Hendry.
  20. I may be wrong, but it really sounds like Bruce is sugarcoating things. We have the talent, but we don't match up? Yeah, in other words, we don't have jack. I don't think is sugarcoating anything. Some teams may want positional prospects while we may have an overabundance of pitching prospects or vice versa. A lot of times teams don't match up even though they might have valuable trading chips.
  21. I agree with the poster who said Hendry ought to ask for a 72-hour window to talk extension before parting with Cedeno, Gallagher, Vitters, plus one more top prospect.
  22. The problem with all of the talk of getting Sabathia and even if he leaves you get 2 draft picks is that 2 draft picks is a crapshoot at best for any team (not just the Cubs). It might be 3 or 4 years before you have any idea whether one or both draft picks will be major leaguers. So I'm not saying you don't make the deal, just realize that getting 2 draft picks is not a great reason to trade away somebody like Gallagher. As I posted earlier, if there was some guarantee that we could sign Sabathia to an extension, then full speed ahead.
  23. And I hope Hendry jumps in hard and fast!! I have no doubt Hendry will make a play. Whether it will be enough, I don't know. I am convinced that Jim will do what he can. I am too. Hopefully we can find a good third trading partner, because I think that's what will be necessary. I saw an article the other day that suggested the Dodgers trade a middle relief pitcher or a prospect (both with a live arm) for Juan Rivera of the Angels (who like hard throwing prospects). Perhaps Ceda for Rivera and then flip Rivera to the Indians as part of the Sabathia deal.
  24. yeah but sabathia is probably going to be asking for $20M a year. if you do that you've got about $60M next year going to 4 starters, and beyond then you've got nearly $50M a year going to 3 starters. tack on $13M for lee, $12M for fukudome, $15M for ARam and about $17M for soriano - that's $108M and you still need a bullpen, 2 more starters, 4 more position players and a bench. unless you're the yankees, this is not doable. I'd do the deal even if he's a 3 month rental. The problem is that there would be no guarantee of signing Sabathia to an extension after giving up Gallagher. I'm not sure Sabathia as a 2-3 month rental is worth Gallagher plus others. Gallagher looks to be an important part of the rotation for this year and in the future.
  25. Murton? Who is this Murton guy you speak of?
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