Backtobanks

I still can't see Hendry outbidding others for Soriano. The rumors about his asking price are $75 million over 5 years which I can't see Hendry offering either the money or the years.

The title "Bynum for manager" sounds like a good idea to me. A perfect swap, Bynum would probably be a better manager than Dusty and Dusty could probably outhit Bynum.

Has anyone noticed that Henry Blanco has gotten his BA up to .259? That is pretty remarkable considering he was hitting below .100 for quite a while. I guess nobody will confuse him for Johnny Bench, but his average is pretty good for a backup catcher (especially when you consider his defense).

I agree with most of the posters that Soriano at 2B would be great, but not to replace Murton. Actually, I can't see Hendry outbidding everybody for Soriano. I think the Tribune's free agent money should go to ARam, a starting pitcher (Schmidt), and some cheaper free agents (Durham and Craig Wilson). The impact bat (Tejada, Andruw Jones, etc.) can come in a trade using Cedeno and a couple of young pitchers as bait.

I think that Cabrera is about the only player that you can name who won't get a 20-page discussion on the pros and cons of a trade. I shouldn't speak so soon because if by some miracle Hendry got Cabrera, the Hendry bashers would be complaining about how much he gave up for him.

I agree that the Cubs are one of the biggest disappointments, but I don't think much was expected outside of the Chicago media and fans. I think the national media were probably expecting a 4th or 5th place finish in the weak NL Central. Most "experts" certainly picked the Cards, Brewers, and Astros (if Clemens returned) ahead of the Cubs, with the Reds and Cubs fighting for 4th place.

We all know how bad and disappointing the Cubs have been this year, but there are certainly some other major disappointments this year in baseball. Starting in the NL Central, Milwaukee might be the biggest disappointment. There were a lot of writers who picked the Brewers to win the Central and they certainly were the pick for the up and coming team in baseball. In the AL Central, the Indians would certainly have to be the biggest disappointment after coming close to the White Sox last year. Obviously, the Red Sox are a disappointment, but they're still playing .532 ball in a "down" year. As for teams like the Blue Jays, Orioles, Angels, Astros, and Phillies, I don't think the expectations were as high as some of the other teams I named.

I think all of you are being very optimistic about the package to get Young. Unless Hicks thinks as much of Izturis as Hendry does, Izturis plus Marshall plus a mid level pitching prospect would get a quick "no".

Yeah, I'm aware that Zito's perceived value is that high, but Sulley was saying it was justified. it's justified because his kind do not become available every day, you know. i don't see any other pitchers besides schmidt and mussina that we can add to our rotation that really add anything that our rookies can't. Agreed, add into that the switch to the much easier national League and i think you can see why Zito would be a huge get for us. I think Zito will end up in NY (Mets or Yankees), but the switch to the NL may not be as easy as people think. Zito won't know any of the hitters in the NL. I'd like to get Schmidt because he has shown what he can do in the NL.

He may not win the MVP, but his stats certainly look like he played a full season.

The Cubs will never go for option 2. Hendry is going to "give back" $30 million and save it for 2008. I have said all along that I don't think the Cubs are going to be hopeless in 2007. If Prior returns to the rotation as a decent pitcher (not necessarily an ace) and Hendry can sign Schmidt, I think the rotation will be okay. I think Hendry has to pull off a blockbuster deal for a power hitter in a non-traditional spot (CF, 2B, or SS) so that Murton can play everyday in RF. I'm thinking of a deal for Tejada or Andruw Jones for a few young pitchers packaged with Cedeno. Cheaper free agents that can help the Cubs with power are Durham and Craig Wilson. I'm hoping they will sign Wood to a low base-high incentive contract as a reliever. They could definately compete especially in the NL Central. 1B - DLee SP- Zambrano 2B - Durham or Izturis SP - Schmidt SS - Tejada or Izturis Sp - Prior 3B - ARam SP - Hill LF - Murton SP - Marshall/Miller/Mateo/Guzman CF - Pierre or Andruw Jones RF - J. Jones/Craig Wilson platoon C - Barrett Closer- Wood/Eyre/Howry/Wuertz Dempster- traded The only free agents signed would be ARam, Schmidt, & Craig Wilson for sure. (Durham is a maybe depending on Tejada or Andruw Jones acquistion) One impact trade to acquire either Andruw Jones or Tejada.

Another thought on getting power from a non-power position might be getting Andruw Jones to play CF and then you can leave Murton in LF.

A reasonably cheap FA solution might be Durham at 2B and Craig Wilson in a platoon with Jones. I'm starting to have my doubts about Cedeno, but he might be a good addition to some of our young pitchers as a trade package. I do think there is a good possibility that Pierre will be back unless his demands are totally unrealistic.

I think LF has been targeted because it is traditionally a power position and the Cubs need some more power in the lineup. I think Murton is a rising star and will have a long and solid career ahead of him. If the Cubs could find the power they need at a non-traditional power position (Tejada, Soriano, etc.) then they would feel more comfortable with Murton playing full time in LF. Although a trade of Jones looks unlikely, a power-hitting RF would serve the same purpose.

The PTNL in the Nevin deal is reported to be AA pitcher Alan Harben according to Ben Maller. Harben hasn't officially been announced because he has to pass through waivers.

As opposed to Dempster?

"I think it takes more than an arm and a bat to take us from 25 under to contending. I don't think people realize how bad this roster is top-to-bottom with only about 4-6 bright spots. Of our entire roster, there are only really a few position players who aren't drags on our ability to score, and most have some large caveats next to their names: Lee (returning from injury, and it's possible he'll never be the 2005 Lee again even if healthy, because that's hard to do). Ramirez (won't do squat the first month of any season) Barret- good offensive catcher, no real issues there. Everyone else is easily replaceable/forgetable at the moment, or just not good. On the pitching staff, you have Zambrano and Eyre who are the only real definite solid pitchers we can count on. howry isn't a major problem either. everyone else is questionable at best. I'm sorry, but no team with only 5-6 guys you can expect to be solidly above average is goign ot cotnend by adding a pitcher and a big bat, I don't care how weak the division or league is, because our competition isn't exactly going to be standing pat this offseason either. This roster is fundamentally flawed on a pretty serious level, and the fact that we've (Hendry) created this mess in a two-year stretch of weak-at-best overall free agent crops is devastating. I don't know that there are going to be enough good free agents to build a real contender even if we got everyone we wanted and didn't have to worry about moving the dregs of our own roster in the process. Jim Hendry has dug a deep and daunting hole for this team. This roster should have been blown up over a month ago to collect trading chips and free up roster spots. Instead, we added commitments in guys like Izturis, and added few, if any, actual prospects. So now, we're forced to spend money on a thin FA class, or trade some of the very few blue-chip prospects we haven't already fettered away on stiffs like Pierre." Nobody likes to hear excuses, but injuries have killed this team the last 2 years. One free agent pitcher (Schmidt or Zito) and one impact bat obtained in a trade along with some long overdue luck in the health area could make this team a contender in the NL Central. The Cubs have been terrible, but how many teams could lose the equivalent of Prior, Wood, DLee, Nomar, etc. and stay in contention. I agree that there needs to be a much better off season by Hendry, but it won't matter much who he acquires if 2 of your top 3 starters and your best hitter go down for most of the season.

With Sullivan's revamp, you had better hope that they stay healthy. With Sheffield, Mussina, Durham, and Lowell in addition to Prior and Wood on the team, we might lead the league in players going to the DL.

Sullivan must be re-signing Baker with that lineup. Bringing in Durham, Mussina, Lowell, etc. makes the team's average age about 35. What happened to the youth movement? Also, he's assuming that these older free agents will be glad to come here on a one or two year contract and hold a spot for a prospect. That's probably not going to happen. Finally, Dempster in the rotation is scary.

Nobody is going to trade for him until he proves he's healthy. By then the season will be over and he will be a free agent.

We both know that is the current problem. He hasn't bounced back well from the surgery and is not close to performing as he did with Houston. I believe the Cubs front office is probably handling this appropriately. Let the younger guys play until/if Miller gets enough of his "stuff" and endurance back to be able to battle in the major leagues. I do believe we'll see him before the season ends. That sounds great except you only have 1 month to make a decision on Miller, while you have this month plus all of spring training to make decisions on the young guys.

Today's Tribune discusses the return of Sean Marshall and how the Cubs will have trouble finding room in the rotation for Wade Miller. Personally, I think the Cubs ought to give a long look at Miller during September. If Miller can be somewhat effective, he could be a cheap bottom-of-the-rotation pitcher for next year. Hoping for a free agent signing and a return to form from Prior would leave the Cubs with only one rookie in the rotation and 2-3 others for depth. Also, the young pitchers who aren't in the regular rotation could be part of a trade package to acquire an impact bat. The article states Marmol will go to the bullpen with Miller, Mateo, and Guzman fighting for the 2 rotation spots behind Zambrano, Hill, and Marshall.

Dusty won't be leaving until after the season, but the way it's going it could be announced during the post-game wrap up for the last game. I'm sure it will be announced (mutual decision) within 48 hours after the last game.

I happen to think that the loss of Lee cost the Cubs closer to 10 games than 4 games, but the bottom line is the Cubs would be a 5th place team with or without Lee. The one intangible in all of this is that with Lee in the lineup, there's less of a chance that Dusty can mess with the lineup.

I blame Dusty for not seeing the obvious. Dempster was really laboring after 40 pitches and should have been taken out. I don't really care about any individual's ego, in a close game you should have a pitcher warmed up in case your closer gets in trouble. Dempster has been shakey for the last few appearances and Dusty couldn't predict what was going to happen. I saw it coming a mile away.