Backtobanks

With Hendry looking at Westbrook/Lee, Meche, Lilly, Bautista, etc., I wonder if he is looking at a blockbuster trade. With Derosa signed, it looks like Izturis (wishful thinking) or Cedeno is expendable along with most of last years young pitching (Marshall, Mateo, Ryu, Marmol, Guzman, etc.). Depending on the trade partner, we've kicked around the idea of JJones, Barrett, Novoa, Dempster, and Eyre. I would like to hold onto Howry, Ohman, and Wuertz though. It looks to like Hendry could put together a pretty attractive package depending on the other club's needs.

I agree with most of what you said. If you sit by and wait to sign Derosa, he might be signed by someone else and then everyone would jump on Hendry for not signing "someone like Derosa". Maybe Hendry is looking at Meche, Lilly, etc. because he knows that Schmidt and Zito are definitely going to the East or West coast and he doesn't want to risk losing out on some starting pitchers. Too many of us just criticize without knowing all of what might be going on behind the scenes. A perfect example was Brian Giles last year. Everyone jumped all over Hendry about Giles, but then it became obvious that he had no intention of leaving San Diego.

After signing Derosa, I don't think the Cubs are going after any more 2B. I agree that trading Izturis would be great, but Hendry seems to like him (at least in the press).

Today's Tribune mentions that some GMs are thinking that Tampa Bay may keep Crawford and shop Baldelli. Baldelli would be a great fix in CF for the Cubs for the next decade. Tampa is short of pitchers, so send them a multitude of young pitchers or whatever they need/want.

Today's Tribune mentions that GMs are starting to think that Tampa Bay will keep Crawford and possibly shop Baldelli. Rocco would look good in CF at Wrigley Field for many years to come. Offer Tampa a multitude of young pitchers or basically whatever they want/need.

"Unless, of course, Hendry is trying to fly below the radar" Personally, I think that is what Hendry is trying to do. As for Zito and Schmidt, I would be very interested until the bids get into the 5-6 year or $100 million range.

It's not fair to compare Derosa to Soriano, but Derosa is one year older and got a 3 year contract while Soriano is looking for 6-7 years.

I'm amazed that everyone gets all excited about what these agents "leak" to the press. Agents "report" that 10-12 teams are looking at their client, #4 & #5 starters are going to average $10 million per year, and stars want $100+ million over 6-7 years. I think the only player that might warrant a 6-7 year contract is Cabrera. Certainly no pitcher should be signed for more than 4 years. The reason these agents make so much money is because they can really lay it on thick. The reason these agents make so much money is because they can really make a lot of money for their clients. They aren't paid for talk, they are paid for results. But it all starts with talk. When a GM believes that 10-12 teams are looking at a player or that somebody else is going to pay $100 million, then they rush into a "great" deal at $70 million.

O yes yes ye sysey sysyseyes!!!! There is a god! I would hope that these GMs can see that CLee is basically a DH. He might have 2 more years in LF.

I'm amazed that everyone gets all excited about what these agents "leak" to the press. Agents "report" that 10-12 teams are looking at their client, #4 & #5 starters are going to average $10 million per year, and stars want $100+ million over 6-7 years. I think the only player that might warrant a 6-7 year contract is Cabrera. Certainly no pitcher should be signed for more than 4 years. The reason these agents make so much money is because they can really lay it on thick.

I couldn't disagree more. Hendry signed Ramirez to an extension for a really great price leaving more money for the Cubs to get the other players they need. He also brought on board a 5th starter option who could be pretty good for just 1.5 guaranteed and brought back Kerry for only 1.75 guaranteed when he could have easily gotten more by going elsewhere. That's definitely doing something. I couldn't agree more. He has a very long way to go and he doesn't deserve any praise until he returns the Cubs to the postseason. Clearly the most important part of the off season is yet to come. The current Cubs are the same Cubs that stunk the past two years. He didn't bring a 5th starter onboard, Miller was already here. And he could just as easily be useless as he could be pretty good. Hendry kept the team together so far. Big deal. He needs to make the team a lot better. He has not done that yet. People are getting excited about the 2006 team returning. I don't get it. He's positioned the team so that it can get better, but it has not yet gotten better. So if he signs Schmidt, Zito, Soriano, CLee, and trades for ARod, Cabrera, and Tejada, he doesn't deserve any praise until the Cubs go to the postseason. He has done just about all that could be expected of him in 3 weeks. He's not finished ( by a long shot), but I think he will deserve praise if he builds a team that looks like it will be very competitive in the NL Central. Each step along the way will generate praise or criticism, but to dismiss everything he does until the Cubs actually go to the post-season isn't fair. The manager, coaches, and players also have some responsibility in getting to the post-season.

After those transactions, the Cubs would still need 2 starters and 2 bats.

I think it would take a lot more than that to get Cabrera or Dontrelle. None of those guys are can't miss prospects. I would guess it would take at least one A prospect to get either of them. Maybe not, but I just see the Angels be willing to trade some of their prospects (which are much better than ours) to get Cabrera. Especially after missing out on ARam. I don't think Dontrelle was a can't miss prospect when the Cubs traded him.

Using a worst case scenario is as irrational as using the best case scenario. If you go into the season assuming the worst, then you have to fill all 25 positions because Zambrano's arm will fall off, Lee will be injured the whole year, ARam will break his leg hustling down the line, etc. I think you can expect a reasonable amount of production from established players and if they meet or exceed that production, you will probably have a winning year. If they fall below the reasonable expectations, then you will have a bad year.

He has a lot to do yet, but I think he deserves a lot of credit for accomplishing so much in three weeks. He has dumped Baker and hired Piniella, signed ARam, Miller, and Wood, bid on Matsuzaka, apparently dumped Pierre, and seems to be actively involved with discussions for other FAs and trade possibilities.

How about all of the posters who were jumping all over Hendry? I think a whole bunch of people need to apologize for the things they were saying about Hendry.

As bad as Hendry is, thank God some of you aren't the GM. Trade Zambrano????? He is one of the best pitchers in baseball and he's very young. We can trade him for some prospects that might make it to the majors someday as #4 starters.

With earlier rumors of the Tigers trading Bonderman, I'm surprized the Yanks didn't try for Bonderman rather than prospects.

If Hendry signs the right guys, makes a few trades, and gets lucky enough for the Cubs to have a reasonably healthy year, then he will be a genius. Look at Kenny Williams on the South Side. He was the saddest excuse as a GM and had many people calling him dumb. Now he's considered a top-notch GM. Sports is a totally fickle business. For you Bear fans, Rex Grossman has gone from being an MVP candidate to being horrible in a few weeks. Lovie Smith has gone from a savior and a genuis to a fool for not replacing Grossman in the same time span.

Sheffield is a great hitter and run producer, but coming off of a wrist injury at 38 years old and signing him to a 2-year extension beyond this year could be a dangerous proposition.

I've been a Cub fan for all of my 59 years and I'm sick of losing too, but you do have to be somewhat rational about these salaries. Paying a total of $100 million for Matsuzaka is totally unrational. Signing him and not being able to afford others to fill the numerous holes on the Cubs just doesn't make sense. Everything I've read sounds like he is very good, but let's not forget he hasn't proven himself in the majors yet. As I stated before, that kind of money can fill 2-3 holes on the Cubs with players who have a proven track record.

might as well go cheap. Just sign guys who were good five years ago, or who never were good (Abraham Nunez, Tony Womack) and watch the results roll in! You beat me to the punch. Why go high end when they continue to go reasonably cheap and win the division every year? Is it LaRussa, lousy competition, or a combination of both?

Link. I'd much rather have Igawa if the winning bid was actually 38-45 million. I can't fathom paying up to 95 million for 5 years of one player. Especially an untested one at that. Agreed. AMEN! For that much money you can sign someone like Schmidt AND a #4 or #5 starter and at least have some idea of what you're getting for the money.

Wait until the Cubs sign him.

You can compared him to other free agents. It's just stupid to only compare him to free agents. You have to compare him to everybody. He's makes more than the average players but does not produce more than the average player. You can't compare him to everybody in salary. "Everybody" includes a ton of players that are rookies making the league minimum, benchwarmers that make a million or less, and many other pre-arbitration young players that are under salary control by their teams. If you want to compare salaries, compare him to players who are not rookies or pre-arbitration AND STARTING ON A REGULAR BASIS. I would guess that his salary is probably below or in-line with those players.