Jump to content
North Side Baseball

Backtobanks

Old-Timey Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    7,315

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    1

 Content Type 

Profiles

Joomla Posts 1

Chicago Cubs Videos

Chicago Cubs Free Agent & Trade Rumors, Notes, & Tidbits

2026 Chicago Cubs Top Prospects Ranking

News

2023 Chicago Cubs Draft Picks

Guides & Resources

2024 Chicago Cubs Draft Picks

The Chicago Cubs Players Project

2025 Chicago Cubs Draft Pick Tracker

2026 Chicago Cubs Draft Pick Tracker

Blogs

Events

Forums

Store

Gallery

Everything posted by Backtobanks

  1. Backtobanks
    That's been my point all along. As a GM, sometimes you need a lot of luck instead of genius on the moves (and non-moves) you make. All you can do is try to build a winning team on paper and hope the players perform up to expectations.
  2. Backtobanks
    I'm not sure what the Pirates need, but how about a three way deal: Pirates sending Gorzalanny or Snell to the Braves Cubs send Marshall plus ??? to the Pirates Braves send Saltalamacchia to the Cubs
  3. Backtobanks
    Especially if he basically faces lefties only.
  4. Backtobanks
    It's easy to criticize, but much harder to offer solutions. So, what would you have done "at a fraction of the cost" to put the Cubs in the same position they are currently in? (If Marquis sucks with 6 wins and a .367 ERA, then there are one heck of a lot of terrible pitchers in the game today.) Asmodai Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2007 11:12 am Post subject: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ooooh wins! ooooh his era is a rising disaster. Perfect example of criticizing and not answering the question.
  5. Backtobanks
    Never say never. We'll take Sosa, Gagne, Young, and Lofton and give them Jones, Eyre, Izzy, and Bowen/Hill. Even Hendry might welcome Sammy back with that deal.
  6. Backtobanks
    As I've said many times before, Hendry is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. When he signs somebody, he overpaid. When he trades, he gave up too much. If he doesn't trade or sign somebody, then he's not doing anything. He has paid a ton of money for many players, but how can we be sure that wasn't the going rate. All we know are the rumors and speculation that we read as to how much a player is worth. Let's be honest, most players (and especially) free agents are vastly overpaid. Batters hitting .240 and pitchers who average 10 wins a year are the big names in the free agent and trade markets.
  7. Backtobanks
    He will get the praise he deserves from many posters when he makes a trade to bring in the one more bat they need and when he finally gets rid of Jones, Izzy, and Eyre. I've been saying all along that being a GM is a fickle business. Hendry was considered a real up and comer, but the last few years have hurt that reputation. If the Cubs do win the division, he will probably look good again. Look at Kenny Williams, who went from a joke to a genius and is back to being considered mediocre at best.
  8. Backtobanks
    the real question is "why would sammy have about 50 corked bats?" He takes lots of batting practice.
  9. Backtobanks
    But look who's second. :( Just our luck, we'll be playing lousy teams with left-handed call-ups pitching and we'll play .400 baseball.
  10. Backtobanks
    Noting against your trade idea, but I see no reason to mortage the future for KGJ. If the Cubs are taking on a good portion of the deferred salary they shouldn't have to give up much to get him. I'd be willing to give them their pick of two position prospects or one pitching prospect but they have to take Jones. But truely, I don't think the Cubs should trade for KGJ at all. He's having a good year, but one he's not likely to repeat ever again. The only "bad" years Griffey ever had involved injuries. The only difference in this year is that he's been healthy. As long as he stays healthy, this kind of production is what you expect out f KGJ. As for playing CF, I think he could handle it for the rest of this year and then slide over to RF. Also, split time in CF (KGJ/Pagan) and RF (KGJ/Floyd) for the rest of this year and give Pie the time he needs to develop.
  11. Backtobanks
    It's no more insane than $10+ million for .500 pitchers and $8-!2 million for mediocre hitters.
  12. Backtobanks
    Griffey would be a perfect fit in CF for the rest of this year and then slide over to RF when Pie is ready to play full time. That being said, the article mentions Chicago, but doesn't stipulate North Side or South Side. The Sox could certainly use him if they could afford him.
  13. Backtobanks
    Provide some scrutiny that disproves it. I don't know of any thinly built speedy guys like Ichiro whose game held up throughout their mid 30's. We're talking about a guy with little patience and very little power whose entire game is based on his ability to make contact and run to first. The closest comparable I can think of is Kenny Lofton, but he had more patience and more power. He has stuck around a while, but has been quite inconsistent. Lofton Otis Nixon Ricky Henderson Ozzie Smith Lou Brock Willie Wilson Brett Butler Davey Lopes Omar Vizquel The difference between Ichiro and most of the guys on the list is that Ichiro probably will end his career averaging over 200 hits per year. With the fact that he is Asian, I would think he will be a a 1st ballot Hall of Famer. Most of the guys on that list would need an admission ticket to get into the HOF.
  14. Backtobanks
    Provide some scrutiny that disproves it. I don't know of any thinly built speedy guys like Ichiro whose game held up throughout their mid 30's. We're talking about a guy with little patience and very little power whose entire game is based on his ability to make contact and run to first. The closest comparable I can think of is Kenny Lofton, but he had more patience and more power. He has stuck around a while, but has been quite inconsistent. I hope you're joking by comparing Lofton to Ichiro. He might lose a step in the next few years, but I think Ichiro will be an "above-average" player into his 40s if he chooses to continue playing. As others have stated, his marketing value is and will continue to be extremely high. Also, I remember hearing that he can really put on a power hitting show in batting practice when he wants to. Ther's no reason to think that his great hand-eye coordination and bat control will diminish significantly.
  15. Backtobanks
    What I've been seeing in names being mentioned, I don't think Hendry can do anything that won't piss off a ton of people. Most of the big names are rentals and people will be pissed if he gives up young players. If he doesn't make a big deal, people will be pissed because he didn't make a big deal. I'm not defending Hendry, but I can see the critics lining up and ready to pounce on July 31st no matter what happens. I think the only way he can please everyone would be to trade Jones, Izzy, and Eyre for Arod plus cash and then resign Arod to an extension at $1 million per year for the next 5 years. I don't know if that is true. But the fact of the matter is that it is Hendry himself who painted the Cubs into this corner. So no matter what happens I think the criticism can be justified. Deep inside of me I'd like to see Hendry trade Z for A-Rod straight up. I don't think Z will be in a Cub uniform next year and Z has a lot of miles on a young arm. He's the bait that can actually bring in what the Cubs desprately need, more bats. I know it won't happen though. That would be tempting, but I just don't have faith in any of our other pitchers to step up to being the ace of the staff. If there was some way to be sure that Zambrano wasn't going to resign, I'd be all over the deal.
  16. Backtobanks
    Hendry gets killed for buying high, for not spending enough, for signing cr*p hoping to catch lightning in a bottle, for trading away future superstars for junk, for hanging on to guys too long, for letting prospects rot, for pushing thier development too fast... If Hendry has done it, he gets killed for it, not always for nothing. Well said! I have mentioned and read possible trade targets and/or deals and everyone of them gets attacked by about half of the posters. Imagine if you were the GM and trying to make the real deals instead of all of us pretending to be the GM. This year looks to be a very bad year to try to make an impact deal at the trading deadline, especially for a right-handed bat.
  17. Backtobanks
    Why would the Phillies do that deal? Cause they irrationally hate Pat Burrell even more than they irrationally hated Bobby Abreu. I'm not a huge fan of picking up Burrell as long as Soriano's gonna stay in LF, but Burrell is essentially the Phillies's Jacque Jones, he's gonna get dealt for virtually nothing and the Phils are gonna pick up most of his salary. The deal mentioned would be the only way I would want Burrell. Burrell is Dave Kingman with a bat and Jose Conseco with the glove.
  18. Backtobanks
    What I've been seeing in names being mentioned, I don't think Hendry can do anything that won't piss off a ton of people. Most of the big names are rentals and people will be pissed if he gives up young players. If he doesn't make a big deal, people will be pissed because he didn't make a big deal. I'm not defending Hendry, but I can see the critics lining up and ready to pounce on July 31st no matter what happens. I think the only way he can please everyone would be to trade Jones, Izzy, and Eyre for Arod plus cash and then resign Arod to an extension at $1 million per year for the next 5 years.
  19. Backtobanks
    After looking for a right-handed bat among the available players, the bigger names (Burrell, Dye, Andruw Jones, Hunter, etc.) all seem to be very expensive in terms of players and contract. I think there are some secondary bats that could serve the purpose. Three names that come to mind are Gomes (Rays need pitching), Thames (Tigers need middle relief), and Cruz (Padres need bench help). While none of these players are in the Arod category, each of them could be very valuable as a role player.
  20. Backtobanks
    Because it's Philly and they will end up being sellers and the fact that they have 2 guys ready to take over CF after Rowand.
  21. Backtobanks
    I'm not sure about that. Of course it depends on who the prospect is. All of the Buerhle rumors had "experts" speculating on Williams only getting a team's top prospect for him. I think it's worth looking into because he's a better fit and much less expensive than many other free agent rentals.
  22. Backtobanks
    I've been a big fan of Aaron Rowand since he played for the Sox and have proposed trying to get him for the Cubs only to be shot down by some posters. It is obvious that Pie isn't ready to play everyday CF for a contending team, especially with offensive holes at other positions. Picking up Rowand solves the CF problem and helps us against lefties. I would think he would be cheaper than many of the names being tossed around. At the end of the season, check on Pie's progress and decide to keep him or let him go for two draft picks. Maybe a pitching prospect and Eyre for Rowand. The Phillies already have Victorino and Bourn ready to replace him.
  23. Backtobanks
    Bowden and Williams can make outrageous demands for their free agents because it's still early. Let's see what they'll accept on July 31st.
  24. Backtobanks
    I don't think he'll be traded. I do think Contreras is as good as gone. Contreras won't get much in return. I think the White Sox were really in a bad way because of Buerhle's popularity in Chicago, but he was their biggest hope to get 1-2 top prospects from another team. With Reinsdorf as owner, I can't see the Sox making too big a splash in the free agent market. The future doesn't look good with three teams better than them in their division and two of the teams are much younger.
  25. Backtobanks
    I think this trade would be worth giving up Murton, but I don't see hendry doing it. Still this would work well. I can't see the Pirates trading him. As others have stated, he's reasonably young, cheap, and productive.
×
×
  • Create New...