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Backtobanks

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Everything posted by Backtobanks

  1. Backtobanks
    The #1 priority for Hendry has to be signing ARam to an extension. If the Cubs lose ARam, Hendry might as well kiss his job goodbye because there is no way he could fill all of the holes during the offseason.
  2. Backtobanks
    What would that put the payroll at? I don't know what the payroll would be, but stories I have read hint that the Red Sox might have to eat half of Manny's salary for the next 2 years in order to trade him.
  3. Backtobanks
    The Angels have expressed interest in A-Rod. The asking price is assumed to be Ervin Santana, Scot Shields, Chone Figgins and a top prospect. What can the Cubs offer that would closely resemble the talent the Angels would need to give up for A-Rod? The conversation would probably have to include Zambrano, which would immediately kill the deal for me. I could handle a package of Hill, Howry, Moore (or better yet, Izturis), and Pie for ARod, but I don't think that would be as enticing as the Angels package. On the other hand, I doubt the Angels would make that deal, so I don't know if we'd be competing against such a strong package. And why would the Yankees trade a franchise player for 3 relative unknowns and an old reliever? The Angels package looks much better. pure speculation, but I don't think tha Halos do that deal, so I don't think that is a package we have to compete with. We view ARod as a franchise player, but they sure don't act as if he is in NY. As far as the part about the aging reliever, since when has age ever scared the Yanks? They did want Howry last year... Let's hope the Angels do make that deal because that would reduce the number of suitors for ARam.
  4. Backtobanks
    Careful or you will hear from the stats junkies who will find some statistic to downplay his offense. No, you won't. What you will find is some solid evidence suggesting it'd be foolish to expect him to achieve those feats again. There's no reason to be optimistic that he's capable of repeating this years success. It's a fluke and it's out of line with his last few years. But even if he doesn't achieve those feats again, his career averages would be a huge upgrade at 2B or CF for the 2007 Cubs. True, but if he does regress to his career averages, would he be worth the huge contract we'd have to give him? I've stated before that I don't think Hendry will win a bidding war for Soriano and I don't think he's worth the money he's going to get. Personally, I have trouble believing about 80% of the players are worth what they get.
  5. Backtobanks
    The Tribune's story on the White Sox pointed out that the Cubs and the Sox have the same record since the All-Star break. As all of us life-long Cub fans know, the secret to the Cubs being successful is for all of the other teams to regress. It's so much easier than trying to improve your own team.
  6. Backtobanks
    Careful or you will hear from the stats junkies who will find some statistic to downplay his offense. No, you won't. What you will find is some solid evidence suggesting it'd be foolish to expect him to achieve those feats again. There's no reason to be optimistic that he's capable of repeating this years success. It's a fluke and it's out of line with his last few years. But even if he doesn't achieve those feats again, his career averages would be a huge upgrade at 2B or CF for the 2007 Cubs.
  7. Backtobanks
    well, his offensive game isn't perfect. up until this year, his obp was not great. for his pricetag, there should be some worries. I am not sure why you think that players are all good or all bad - most have their strengths and weaknesses and both should be considered in making a player evaluation. what is the problem with that? you are offended by people considering a player's weaknesses as well as strengths? I don't get it. I don't think anyone was saying his offensive game is perfect, but adding the first player in history with 40/40/40 at 2B or CF would be an unbelievable upgrade. My original point is that as soon as a name is mentioned, somebody starts digging up stats to argue a point. The point is Soriano, imperfect as he may be, would look great somewhere in the Cubs' lineup. Personally, I still don't think Hendry is going to outbid other teams for Soriano.
  8. Backtobanks
    Vernon Wells or Andruw Jones in center would like mighty nice with Soranio and Schmidt in the fold. Shouldn't the title of this thread have a question mark at the end of it.
  9. Backtobanks
    Careful or you will hear from the stats junkies who will find some statistic to downplay his offense.
  10. Backtobanks
    There may be doubts about him playing CF, but there aren't any doubts about his ability to play 2B.....he's terrible. Considering the fact that he did okay in LF, I might think his defense in CF can't be much worse than his defense at 2B.
  11. Backtobanks
    Hendry was right. It will only take about 5 moves to bring the team back to contention. 1. sign Schmidt 2. Sign Craig Wilson 3. Sign Ray Durham 4. Pull off a trade for an impact bat (i.e. Tejada or Andruw Jones for a package of Cedeno plus young pitching plus ????) 5. re-sign Wood & Aram (I'm counting this as one move)
  12. Backtobanks
    He is currently 30, and will be 31 this coming January. His next contract probably takes him from 31-35. That is his real age, right? Thanks gooney. I think the Ramirez situation is going to hurt the Cubs big tiem this free agent season unless they have already agreed to a deal. If Ramirez takes his time over the 15 days after the WS it could hamper the moves the Cubs would take and put them behind the 8 ball and we all know they don't exactly great plans to begin with. I think Hendry will wrap him up quickly for the reason you mentioned above. Both sides seem satisfied with ARam in Chicago, so I think ARam will get an extension rather quickly.
  13. Backtobanks
    I think Hendry will make Pierre an offer, but I think he will get better offers elsewhere. Whether Pierre takes the Cubs lower offer will be up to him, but I wouldn't be surprized if Hendry is thinking of CF as a place to get some power (Soriano or Andruw Jones) to make up for the lower power numbers in LF, SS, and 2B.
  14. Backtobanks
    Why should everyone expect other teams to stand still. That's like saying if the Cards, Reds, Astros, Brewers, and Pirates stink up the joint, the Cubs might make the playoffs. The Sox had a chance to make a deal at midseason and chose not to.
  15. Backtobanks
    It's pretty hard to compare something like runs scored when Posednik plays for a team with an outstanding offense (with a DH) and Pierre plays for a team with a pitiful offense. Put Konerko, Thome, and Dye in the Cubs' lineup and Pierre would have more runs scored. Also, there has been talk of going after Soriano for CF.
  16. Backtobanks
    This is one of those cases where it shows that statistics shouldn't overrule common sense.
  17. Backtobanks
    A lot of the talk about Soriano is that the Cubs want him for CF. I have trouble believing that he could ever be a disappointment offensively in CF. Now defensively is another story.
  18. Backtobanks
    He can be pretty supportive especially when he knows he's not going to be their manager much longer.
  19. Backtobanks
    1B - DLee 2B - Durham SS - Izturis 3b - ARam LF - Murton CF - A. Jones RF - Jones/Craig Wilson C - Barrett SP - Zambrano SP - Schmidt SP - Hill SP - Prior SP - Miller/Marshall/Guzman/Mateo Bullpen - Wuertz, Howry, Eyre, Ohman, Aardsma Closer - Wood (Howry) Bench - Moore, Theriot, Pagan, C. Wilson, Soto Cedeno, Marshall/Guzman/Marmol/Mateo, plus ???? traded for Andruw Jones. Dempster & Novoa traded separately for ?????
  20. Backtobanks
    I don't understand what they did wrong? The pitching staff went south. Who knew that Buerhle would crumble? Agreed -- IMO KW did a great job making a good team even better on paper this past off-season, but what looked good on paper did not materialize on the field. Maybe the starters threw too many innings last year and just didn't have anything left for this year, maybe the drive to win another championship isn't as strong as it is to win the first, or maybe it just goes to show how many things have to go your way to win it all.... 2005 White Sox = very lucky, 2006 White Sox = not so much luck. BTW -- not saying luck is the only reason they won last year. You have to be a good team for luck to even matter in the equation. Both the White Sox and Red Sox did nothing at the trade deadline and they will both be watching the playoffs this year. Every writer was telling KW to go out and get a starter, but he was confident in his club and it backfired.
  21. Backtobanks
    Womack was on fire earlier this year too. There's a simple solution, carry Theriot as a utility IF next year and when he gets a chance to play, see if he offers the same spark he is offering now. If he hits and gets on base, let him play until he shows he can't be a starter. If the Cubs were in contention now, they would be crazy to take him out of the lineup. Expect him to be a utility IF and anything beyond that is a plus.
  22. Backtobanks
    The best thing about the White Sox not making the playoffs is that Kenny Williams and Ozzie Guillen have lost their "genius" status. It should be an interesting offseason on both sides of town. I can't believe the Sox are going to retool the whole team since they will have 90+ wins this year.
  23. Backtobanks
    I think the Cubs need to sign a top FA pitcher (Schmidt). I think there are cheaper FA position players that could help the Cubs (Durham, C. Wilson). I think the impact bat is going to have to come from a trade.
  24. Backtobanks
    *Cue the drum roll!!* I like Jacque in the sense that he appears to give his all. I just wish he would try and have the ability of say, Abreu. That said, we knew what we getting here, and like some other folks said, he's a decent complimentary player if surrounded by studs and hitting 7th. How many players play at 100% and have the ability of someone like Abreu? Players like Abreu are probably in the top 5 - 10% in the league. Unfortunately, when a player reaches "superstar" status often they don't need to show the 100% effort anymore. That's why Jeter is so respected by everyone.
  25. Backtobanks
    And Cedeno. Right? ...................Right? I would love to have an "eating crow" thread for Cedeno next year, but I'm afraid that all of this talk about FA 2B and getting an impact bat that Ronny will lose out on his shot or he will be traded. I'm not sure the new manager is going to go with Cedeno and Izturis in the same lineup. I'd love for the Cubs to trade Izturis and put Cedeno back at SS, but Hendry's first reaction to getting Izturis seems like he's sold on him.
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