Backtobanks

that would lead to some really mediocre players getting in. Yeah, mediocre like Santo, Rice, Hodges, Wills, Kaat as opposed to players like Mazeroski and Ozzie Smith. Some of the names mentioned in these posts could be enough for the veterans committee to put in 2 per year for the next 3 or 4 years.

They need to change the voting system. I think they need to make it more like the NFL. For the regular voting make it the top three vote getters with a minimum of 60% of the votes cast. With the veterans, the top two vote getters get in period.

I know you weren't honestly comparing the talents of Carlos Delgado with Jason Marquis. Florida is well versed at spinning off talented players for prospects. The Cubs are not, even though they SHOULD be, considering the amount of times they finished in the bottom half of their division. I would have taken George Kottaras off of the Padres hands for Maddux. Ethier, Kemp, Loney, Guzman, Delwyn Young, Andy LaRoche, Scott Elbert, etc..... The Dodgers played hardball with Hendry one too many times, and Hendry let Colletti walk all over him again on the Maddux deal. Simply amazing. Let us count the ways: 1) Outbid Hendry on Furcal, the only player Hendry wanted that offseason. 2) Signed Nomar, who Hendry had basically kicked to the curb. Nomar went on to have a stud-like year. 3) Cubs need for an outfielder like Milton Bradley had Dusty flying out to LA to meet with Bradley personally. Colletti traded him to Oakland instead. 4) Maddux for Izturis. 5) Signed Kenny Lofton, who would have been better than Pierre at nearly half the price. And I'm sure Hendry would have taken any of those guys too. The problem is they weren't offered. As for signing Nomar, the Cubs didn't have a position for him contrary to everyone's opinion that he could have played RF. Can you imagine Nomar's sidearm throws from RF?

I would think Hill would start the season in the rotation. If he continued pitching poorly, he might get yanked at the end of April. A bad spring in the Arizona spring training league usually doesn't mean much, especially for a pitcher.

He not only is one of the most underrated players, but until this season he was one of the most underpaid. Every so often one of these players comes around and I can never figure out why all of the GMs can't see his value.

Only diehard Cub fans could understand the importance of this thread by the title. Can you imagine some foreigner wondering why we get excited about a pitcher throwing off of a mound. The foreigner would probably think that future posts would include "Murton catches flyball" and "DLee hits a fair ball in batting practice".

He's done alright with landing A-Ram and D-Lee for a pile of junk. Sure, he's had his share of bad moves as well, but he has secured four players who are likely all-stars this year (D-Lee, A-Ram, Soriano and Barrett. He gets way too much credit for Aramis and Lee. Both were salary dumps. Luckily, Hendry had the necessary parts and budget to fit both guys in. No one wanted Derrek Lee the year before Hendry traded for him. Baltimore was the most interested, but Florida wouldn't pick up part of the salary, and a deal never happened. Aramis was about to get expensive for Pittsburgh, and they were dumping anyone making any decent money that year. These were not big coos on Hendry's part. I'm happy the Cubs were the team that landed these two players, and I'm even more thrilled that it cost very little in talent to get them, but those guys would have been traded to someone regardless. Why is it that some posters can't give credit where credit is due? If Hendry misses out on someone, people jump all over him. I don't understand why some GMs are considered geniuses for making a good deal, while Hendry is considered "lucky" for picking up two great players for very little in return.

Today's Tribune quoted Kenny Williams as saying that the Sox are going to let Buerhle, Iguchi, and Dye become free agents at the end of this season. The way Reinsdorf and Williams pinch pennies means that it's highly unlikely that Buerhle and Dye would be back and possibly Iguchi as well. In my opinion, Iguchi has been one of the unsung heroes of the past few years. They would still have some good young pitching for 2008, but I'm not sure who would provide much offense if they lose Dye and Iguchi and with Thome getting older.

As much as I love Zambrano I would do that trade in a heartbeat. Get a guy with potential as good as Zambrano in Santana, and get two studs in Wood or Aybar and Adenhart. Well worth giving him up and getting these guys to fill spots all over the field. I hope Jim wouldn't pass that up. I don't think the Angels would give up that much though. I agree on the Angels deal, but I would say no to the other deals mentioned. I also agree that the Angels wouldn't offer that much for Zambrano.

I really don't understand the value in letting him play everyday in AAA. He's not going to be learning anything new there. If anything he can benefit from a different coaching staff in the bigs, and seeing major league pitching. I want what's best for the major league team. And at this point, they'd have to go outside the organization to find any better option than Cedeno for a backup MI position, and that will cost them. There's no justification to spend to find a guy that in all likelihood won't be any better than Cedeno in that role. I think Cedeno can regain some confidence that he lost last year. Also, I've heard that major league coaches aren't the best at teaching, whereas the minor league coaches might be better teachers. Finally, Cedeno is not the kind of player that can come off the bench (or at least didn't look like it last year). I think Cedeno will be better served at AAA until the Cubs decide to bring him up as an everyday replacement at SS.

No pitcher is worth $18 million/7 years. Unfortunately this is where the market has taken them.

Absolutely right. Ryu had no future with the Cubs and these two players probably have very little future with the Cubs too.

Bingo. And Hill still looking at least something like 2nd half Hill. And Miller reverting back to a competitive form. And Lilly adjusting well to the NL as AL pitchers often do. I'm not saying some, if any, of these guys can "replace" Z straight up, but if a couple of these "what if's" happen it makes not having him far from a catastrophe. A healthy Prior can replace Zambrano immediately. The kind of numbers Prior put up before his string of injuries had ace of the staff written all over him. Of course, a healthy Prior plus Zambrano is a much better option.

Some interesting points in the discussion. It sure would be nice to see Prior come back completely to reduce the fears of Zambrano leaving. As for waiting until the trade deadline, I can't see the Cubs being out of contention by July in the weak NL Central. I do think Zambrano is playing hardball right now and he might settle for a slight home town discount. He certainly has nothing to lose by playing hardball right now. Just add this to the list of items on the "Hendry can't win" list. He's damned if he signs him and damned if he doesn't.

They hold it in a phone booth.

With many "experts" saying good things about the Indians this year, I realized the White Sox could very well end up in 4th place in their division. There's no reason to think the Twins or Tigers ought to regress very much and the Indians might overtake the White Sox. I despise the Sox, but I must admit they would probably have the best 4th place team in baseball.

I keep thinking that Jones alone has some value, but there are plenty of candidates to put in a package with him......Marshall(or another young pitcher), Eyre, Novoa, etc.

With Guerrero, GMJR, and Garrett Anderson, I'm not sure why they would need Jones.

Nope. Worse, actually. He never was much of a hitter, but obviously he can't be that bad since he has had a regular job in the majors for a long time.

Nope. Worse, actually. If you say so. I will give you the fact he was bad with the bat, but his defensive abilities and the way he called a game is one of the reason the cubs made the playoffs that year. I dont consider him to be that bad of a player. Rothschild calls the game. If this is true, why does everyone criticize Barrett's game-calling ability?

Who said crappy lefties can pitch forever? Apparently it's not true.

Prior needs one more towel drill to be the all time leader.

That's a good point. I can throw 50 pitches off of a mound and I'm 59 years old with a bad shoulder and bad knees, so it is important to know what kind of pitches he's making.

I would consider it depending on a lot of ifs: 1. If Prior returns and pitches like a #1 starter. 2. If Hill continues his 2nd half dominance. 3. If Lilly shows he can be a good middle of the rotation starter. 4. If Marquis/Miller show they are capable of being a #4 starter. 5. If our young pitching (Guzman, Marshall, Gallagher, etc.) shows that they are ready to be in the majors. 6. If Izturis is as clueless with the bat as most of us think he is.

Maybe he's just trying to make another $15 million. The real idiots are the Giants for giving him that much. They were the only bidders for Bonds and now they're not even sure they want him. I wonder what would have happened if the Giants offered him $2-3 million and nobody else jumped in.