Backtobanks

We have all been ranting and raving about the Cubs, but let's be realistic about the second half of this season and 2007. The Cubs aren't going to trade everyone and rebuild for the next 3 years. 1. Hendry, Baker, Rothschild, and Spier will return. Not sure about Clines and Sarge. 2. The nucleus of the team will be: 1b - D.Lee, 3b - Aram (unless there is a blockbuster trade for Cabrera or Arod), SS - Cedeno (unless a deal for Tejada), C - Barrett, OF - Murton (unless a Cabrera trade), Pie Midseason trades - Walker, possibly Jones, Pierre if possible otherwise he will leave as a free agent. 3. Starting Pitchers - Zambrano, Prior, Marshall, Guzman, Wood/ Williams. Midseason trades - Maddux if he agrees otherwise won't be re-signed, Wood will leave after the season, Hill, Rusch, prospects. 4. Relief Pitching - Eyre, Howry, Dempster. Ohman, Wuertz, Novoa all available for the right deal. Midseason trade - Williamson. 2007 will have Pie in the OF, possibly a Murton/Jones platoon, Carlos Lee or Cabrera in LF, probably Womack (ugh) backed by Theriot/Patterson at 2B, a new backup catcher, and a possible free agent starting pitcher. Wood won't be dealt at midseason because of health issues, but if he returns strong, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Cubs re-sign him to a contract loaded with incentives.

You think we're bad, look at KC.

The city, the fans, the media, and the boss are all sick of Arod.

I started a thread awhile ago about hindsight being 20/20. I loved Nomar, but he had no position to play on the Cubs and an injury history that matches Wood's. There was no reason to think that DLee would break his wrist and miss 2 months. I rooted for Corey while almost everyone in Chicago ripped him and said he needed to go. Look at the posts from last year and tell me that the Cubs should have kept Corey in Chicago. Everything about the Cubs stinks right now including Hendry, Baker, the coaches, the position players, the pitching staff, and the bench. Congratulations to Nomar and Corey, but if I were a betting man, I would bet on Nomar being on the DL at least one more time and Corey regressing to his career averages before the year is over.

Back in the old days when we used to have a chance at contending, I used to wonder about the interleague schedule. Why is it that the Cubs had to play the Sox while the Cards gotto play the Royals. If those days of contention ever return, I think the schedule makers ought to even things out a little bit.

I was watching and listening to the same reports and was ready to start the same thread. My idea is Aram plus ???? for Arod plus cash. Maybe there would be more players involved on both sides and hopefully some cash coming to the Cubs. Alright all of you would-be GMs, fill in the blanks.

I don't have any first-hand information, but with everything that is covered up in sports, a reputation like AJ's has to have a bunch of facts attached to it. When sportswriters across the country call him one of the most hated players in baseball, there has to be a reason. When other players consistently call him a jerk and an a**, there has to be a reason. Mariotti said it best when he compared him to Eddie Haskell.

Rich Hill is fantastic at Iowa. We have a lot of guys who are good in the minors.

Personally, if I had a choice I would rather have Girardi.

If A.J. is "despised", what does that make Barrett? Oswalt, Dave Roberts and now the sucker punch. Say what you want about the Sox. They've got a ring. And I'd take Ozzie over Dusty any day of the week. And why did the Sox get "rewarded"? Let me think....because they earned it. Like every other team that wins the World Series. I gave the Sox their props for winning last year, but that doesn't make Ozzie a great manager. The Sox have the best team in baseball and should be winning. Let's see how wonderful Ozzie is when the Sox aren't a contending team.

Have you noticed that poor innocent AJ wants it all to be over and to get on with his life, but has appeared nonstop on every TV and radio show since the incident. In each case, he talks about how innocent he is and they negative impact all of this is having on his life. Barrett sums it up in this morning's Tribune....... he (AJ) just wants to keep instigating and stirring the pot until they play the Cubs again. What a jerk!

The "house cleaning" you seek will never happen. Wishing for the Cubs to lose is...well....I don't understand it at all. What will you do when they extend Dusty Baker? Sean marshall had a rough game yesterday. That's all. Nolasco pitched a good game. Nothing more. I agree that there's no reason to root against the Cubs because they aren't going to fire Baker or clean house. As for Nolasco pitching a good game, everyone pitches a good game against the weak-hitting Cubs. If our starting pitcher pitches a fantastic game (no more than 1 run in the 9 innings), then we have a chance for a win. As soon as the other team scores 3 runs, it looks like the Cubs quit.

For all the heat that Hendry has taken on this board (some deserved and some not deserved), he does deserve some credit for not overpaying Furcal, trading too much for Huff and/or Lugo, not signing Preston Wilson, not giving away Walker, etc.

On "Around The Horn", Mariotti called him the Eddie Haskell of baseball. Perfect description for those of you who remember "Leave It To Beaver".

When all is said and done, Bonds probably would have been considered in the top 5-7 ballplayers ever without steroids. He now may end up the most infamous ballplayer ever.

I didn't know there were any more of you optimists around. I hope you're right, but I have trouble believing this team can sweep anybody.

Well at least the Cubs are playing someone at their own level......AA ball.

It's kind of hard to get walks when you don't take any pitches. There was a streak in the middle innings where Contreras threw something like 8 pitches, 6 pitches, and 9 pitches. This is a great strategy for facing a pitcher that is only good for about 100 pitches an outing.

i thought len or hawk had said that, odd as it was, there were no pre-game warnings after z hit iguchi. Whoa, I completely missed something today. I took a little nap during the game, and have no clue that any of this happened. Details? basically aj hit a solo shot off of z, and he must have said something to carlos while rounding the bases because carlos started yelling in the direction of either aj/sox bench/joey cora @ 3rd while doing the whole two fingers in his eyes then two fingers towards his eyes like 'look at me' thing. then aj, after crossing the plate, kissed his hand and pointed to the sky ala carlos, and ozzie ran out to say something, who knows what. it was funny because for a second, carlos settled down after it quite well, it made me think that ozzie may have better control over the cubs than baker does. ha. Wow, thanks. I had no clue that happened. Anyone have a video link? AJ is a complete a**. The Sox need to find something else for comedy. The "imitating Cubs celebration" shtick got old about the 2nd time Jose Valentin did Sammy's kiss thing. With all there is to make fun of, they can certainly find something better than imitating Z. To emphasize that AJ is an a**, he came up with some "personal" (affecting someone in his family) meaning for his pointing to the sky and then told the media that it was none of there business. AJ, be a man and admit that you we're mimicking Zambrano instead of pretending that there's a personal situation at home.

Here's hoping Ozzie gets a fine or suspension for running onto the field today. Talk about Barrett or AJ instigating things, how about a hot-headed manager that comes running onto the field when there's no reason to.

There aren't too many other players that are worth trading. I think Wood is more valuable to the team than he is as trade bait (at least until he proves he's healthy.) Maddux and Walker are the only guys who might get you something in return.

Are you watching the same team that I am? The Cubs need Lee ANDBarrett and about 3 more bats to be mediocre.

You might as well call up Coats and play him and Theriot. They might be able to provide enough to win 2 games a week.

I think Barrett has become my favorite Cub. He seems to be the only one out there with the cajones to try to get the team fired up. It's a shame Wood or Zambrano weren't pitching because they would have beaned the next batter. Unfortunately, it's hard to fire up a bunch of .200 hitters against the World Champs.

What everybody seems to see in Rich Hill. I've been proposing that the trade his sorry rear end to someone since spring training. This spring Hendry basically called him untouchable. Other teams seemed (past tense) to want him. He throws a big curve that he never that is never in the strike zone, a mediocre fastball that everyone sits on, and he's 27 years old. He averages 1 1/2 strikeouts per inning in the minors where batters can't hit a curveball, don't know the strike zone, and apparently can't hit his mediocre fastball. Package him in a deal to a team with a real pitching coach and maybe he will be a star, but I have yet to see anything from him.