Backtobanks

The Cubs could hire a dozen Asian personal assistants for Fukudome at a lot less money than paying Matsui.

If I was confident that Hendry had the ability to land a decent RF, I might not be making nearly as much noise. I'm glad Jones is gone, but at the same time I wouldn't have minded him as a 4th outfielder if Murton could have been packaged in a deal to improve elsewhere, and as protection for Pie if Pie poops the bed. If I'm the GM, Jones is my insurance policy if I can't get Crawford or Fukudome. Once I have an upgrade in RF locked up, THEN I consider trading him, and only when I feel like I'm getting value in return. Only a day after Jones was traded, Minnesota traded us a PTBNL for Craig Monroe, the right handed version of Jacque Jones. Monroe is set to make nearly as much as Jones in 2008, and the Cubs aren't giving Minnesota any salary relief. Granted, Jones came from Minnesota, and they may not want him back. But, if you are a major league team in need of a cheap outfielder, you really aren't throwing yourself under the bus to trade for Jacque Jones. There will be many teams this offseason trying to position themselves for cheap outfield help like Corey Patterson, Geoff Jenkins, Shawn Green and Luis Gonzalez. Those teams that aren't willing to pay the price or the years to grab what's left of the lousy free agent class towards the end of this offseason might have been willing to cough up a half way decent prospect for Jones. To trade him for the likes of Omar Infante is assinine. With the addition of Infante, the Cubs have now had every crappy utility middle infielder in baseball in the last 10 years. The list is actually quite scary. If that's the best he could get for Jones, then he was better off just keeping him. I'm certainly not convinced that the 2.5-3m savings of not having Jones will be spent wisely. If Prior and Wood are both back and Fukudome is in RF, I'll give Hendry a flyer. But, it will never change the fact Hendry gave Jones away for next to nothing. I would bet that if Wood and Prior were both back and Fukudome is in RF, Hendry would get ripped by the bashers for bringing back two unhealthy pitchers (for too much money) and spending way too much for an unproven RF.

I agree. Anytime there is a hint of a rumor, people have to rant about what a bad decision it would be. After a few minutes to analyze the situation, it isn't as terrible as some are making it out to be. Obviously, Jenkins shouldn't be Hendry's first option, but he's not a bad choice as a reasonably-priced, 3rd-option, platoon player.

I hope the starting pitchers have better records than his projections. With those optimistic offensive numbers the starters ought to have better records.

Take Dontrelle's $8m off their hands. Hill and Gallagher slot into their 2008 rotation, include Pie or Colvin. If you have Soriano in left and Cabrera in right, you don't need much production out of CF for the next few years. It's no guarantee to get outbid. Not everybody is anxious to give up huge amounts of talent, and pay the longterm extension Cabrera will want and does deserve. It can't hurt to get in the discussion. If you have Miggy in RF, you better keep Pie to cover CF and RF.

We match up well with the Rays because they need middle IF and pitching. Maybe we can make a deal without including Hill. Marshall, Cedeno, Theriot/Infante, Veal, and Patterson for Crawford. Marshall steps into their rotation with Veal to follow in a year or two. Cedeno, Theriot/Infante and Patterson take care of the middle IF and utility sub. With their OF prospects, this trade could help them contend by 2009 - 2010.

He'd be great at $20 million for 3 years. Unfortunately, he thinks he's worth $60 - $80 million over 4 - 5 years.

Whatever free agent signings Hendry has up his sleeve, it is obvious he is going to have to make a trade or two because of the "trade bait" on the roster. I would think players like Marshall, Cedeno, Patterson, Fontenot, and Ohman are done as Cubs. Also, I would think Theriot/Infante, Murton, DeRosa, and Marquis are possible trade candidates. Using these players (plus prospects), build a realistic deal (or two) that helps the Cubs.

Brinoch wrote: "I think it'll be important to grade Hendry's body of work for this offseason as a whole, rather than one piece at a time. If trading Jones for Infante means that the Cubs can truly upgrade the offense, then I'm all in favor of it. I still that Hendry's put too much money into marginal deals (See: Blanco, Henry and Marquis, Jason), but it's nice to see him dump Jones, all things considered." Brinoch, I don't know what kind of Cub fan you are coming up with logic and rationality at a time like this. Cub fans must react to every transaction (or rumor) made or not made by Hendry immediately. What kind of world would this be if we waited to see the final result before reacting. Anarchy!

Now that is a scary idea. You would have a stalemate because one group of fans wouldn't like the deal. What if the vote was 2501 - 2499? As others have pointed out, you can't decide if this is a good deal unless you know what other transactions are planned. If the Cubs sign Fukudome (using some of Jones's money) and make a deal for to upgrade at SS usng Cedeno or Theriot as trade bait, suddenly you have an upgrade at SS and RF with a decent utility man (Infante).

Hendry isn't the only GM overspending on relief pitchers. Romero was resigned @ $12 million over 3 years.

Known user as opposed to the 150 other unknown users.

Get a grip. This is a rumor or speculation probably started on some message board. Before we jump all over Hendry, let's see what he does or at least get the rumor from some reliable source.

Kenny shouldn't have given Konerko a NTC (limited) and then he could have traded him at the deadline this year. Also, he could float his name now to teams needing a 1B. There were rumors about Crede being available before his back gave out completely because Fields was doing well in the minors. As for Contreras, he is owed $20 million over the next 2 years because Kenny gave him a 3-year contract in 2006. If he would have signed him for 1 or 2 years, he wouldn't have the problem. Also, I would think someone would take Contreras if the Sox picked up $12 - $14 million.

Kenny is certainly trying: he offered Ryan Sweeny to the Astros for Chad Qualls. Gee, I wonder why the Astros turned that down. :lol:

Heyman lists us as one of the chief pursuers, but I just don't see it happening. Not unless you are going to give up Hill, Pie, Marmol, Cedeno, and Gallagher. Probably the same package for Cabrera. Thanks, but no thanks.

The Angels were offering 3 of their top prospects before KW resigned Konerko. Dye was not untradeable and he certainly would be tradeable now if he doesn't have a NTC. Williams was probably asking too much at the deadline. Buehrle is still young and good which is why you could get a boat load of young players for him. Right now people are lining up to get the likes of Silva as a free agent, so what do you think a decent team would give up for a #1 starter like Buerhle? He could have traded Crede before his back got serious, but Crede will still have some value now. Contreras can be traded for a lower prospect, with the WS picking up some of his contract......addition by subtraction. Same with Uribe last year.

Kenny is regressing back into the joke of a GM that he was before he got lucky and became a "genius". He's busy resigning all the players that finished a distant 4th in their division and expecting the 2008 WS to compete. Before resigning Uribe, he was looking at Visquel and Eckstein. The White Sox could be a dynamic young team with a chance of competing in 2009 if he would have traded (or trade this offseason) Dye, Contreras, Konerko, Garland, Uribe, Crede, and Buerhle. Can you imagine the prospects he could load up on if he offered Buerhle? How many top prospects could he have gotten for Konerko from the Angels? Dye and Garland ought to net you 2 top prospects each. Instead they are a bad team with all of their resigned players a year older.

While I agree that ARod seems like a better deal, there's no way to predict ARod will be an elite 3B for the whole contract. Also, Soriano strikes me as the type of player who could be reasonably productive for quite a few years, so you shouldn't say Soriano will fall apart at 35, but ARod will be phenomenal until he's 42.

No use arguing with Hendry bashers. He's damned if he does and damned if he doesn't.

Keppinger is a improvement to Theriot/Cedeno is akin to saying a unicorns is a upgrade over leprechauns Okay, so we insist on Gonzalez instead of Keppinger. Actually, the White Sox should look into a straight Garland for Hamilton plus Gonzalez. That would solve two of their problems (CF & SS).

In today's Tribune, Phil Rogers speculates that any of Hamilton, Freel, or Hopper could be available in the Red's quest to add a #2 starter or additional relief pitchers. The Marlins are said to want pitching depth to go with their young offensive team. How about: Cubs trade: Jones (Marlins sought him earlier for CF), Marshall, Veal to Marlins and Ohman to the Reds. Marlins send Dontrelle Willis to the Reds. Reds send Hamilton and Gonzalez/Keppinger to the Cubs. Marlins get a starting CF, a young lefty starter, and a future lefty starter. Reds get a lefty starter and reliever. Cubs get a left-handed bat to play or platoon (with Murton) in RF or to take over CF if Pie fails and an upgrade at SS. Perhaps with some tweaking this might work out.

Let's hope it's someone else's rotation.

I'm a big Murton fan, but it does look like he is going to be the odd man out again. Package Murton with Marshall/Gallagher plus another prospect and you should get something interesting from certain teams.

I would do that in a heart beat. What is the deal with all of you jumping at the chance to give away Hill, Marmol, and Gallagher? Why in the hell would you give away our best young pitching? [-X probably because people are trying to make realistic trade proposals, rather than throwing a bunch of trash we don't want and pretending it would be enough to get a very good player in return I'm not so sure your definition of "realistic" fits this forum. If you listen to Hendry, watch his actions, and realize who has no trade contracts, the hundreds of posts mentioning the Cubs getting ARod, Cabrera, or Santana are "unrealistic" because Hendry's words or actions have stated that he isn't going to spend the $300+ million to get ARod and players like Pie and Hill (untouchables) would have to be included for Cabrera or Santana. All of us like to speculate and offer our opinions on free agents and trades, but it comes down to Hendry's opinion is the one that counts.