Backtobanks

Agreed. I look at his motion and think he's a Tommy John surgery waiting to happen. As opposed to Mark "Perfect Mechanics" Prior.

I do think the Cubs will end up trading Jones, but not in a deal for Abreu. I'm sure the Phillies would want all young prospects for rebuilding purposes. Taking Jones and his $5 million contract would run counter to rebuilding and dumping salary.

I'd really much rather make a play for Cabrera. I would rather go after Cabrera too, but if they're both going to be traded, I would hope we would get one of them.

Foxsports says that it seems to be a foregone conclusion that Willis will be traded by the deadline. The article mentions the Cubs by saying they could offer a package starting with Pie. Pie, Guzman/Hill, plus Novoa for Willis?

If Pie progresses the way we all hope he will, I think Jones will be gone after this year. It is still early, but I think Hendry likes what Pierre brings to the table and is sold on Murton being a solid major league OF for many years. I don't think anyone will view going after Abreu is an admission of a mistake by Hendry. Abreu was not available for the right price when Jones was signed. Jones was the best option (according to Hendry) for RF, but times and situations change according to the standings and the calendar.

Piazza needs the pitcher as a relay on throws to 2nd base. I saw him throw to 2nd on 2 bounces.

Burntitz was not adequate, and I have a feeling Jones won't be either. Look at the Cards' corner OFs: Encarcion, Bigbie, Taguchi, and Rodriquez. I don't see anyone there that i would consider better than "adequate". The Astros have Lane in RF......adequate at best. While I'm not defending Jones (or Burnitz), an "adequate" RF is okay if you have enough balance in other positions and decent pitching. Burnitz was not the reason the Cubs had a lousy season last year and Jones won't be the deciding factor in the Cubs success (or lack of it) this year.

The Astros aren't exactly the 1927 Yankees when it comes to offense. Let's wait a couple of months before we put Mitre in the "Dontrelle Willis" category. I do think that Mitre can be a decent #3 or #4 starter though.

I still don't understand how our young players are question marks while teams like the Brewers have all future stars. Murton looks like the real thing and Cedeno has been successful at every level. Jones makes too much money, but is an "adequate" OF.

Wait 'til you see game 2... Cabrera's not fast enough, he'd clog up the bases (lol).

After watching the first game, who needs Cabrera?

Posted: Fri Mar 31, 2006 8:14 am Post subject: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- soapy wrote: According to Sullivan , Baker will have Cedeno on a short leash. Why am I not surprised he's so anxious to get his boy Neifi in there? I'm a big Cedeno fan, but let's be honest. Cedeno should have the starting job and be given every opportunity to continue in that role, but I don't think the Cubs' offense is strong enough to cover Cedeno if he continues hitting .200 for two more months. I am the first to criticize Baker, but Cedeno needs to prove he belongs as the starter at some point in the first month or so. Another problem is that it looks like Cedeno has carried his offensive woes out to the field with him. Poor hitting combined with poor defense will certainly put him on the bench. Let's just hope that Cedeno gets it together and that this discussion will be moot.

I'm a big Cedeno fan, but let's be honest. Cedeno should have the starting job and be given every opportunity to continue in that role, but I don't think the Cubs' offense is strong enough to cover Cedeno if he continues hitting .200 for two more months. I am the first to criticize Baker, but Cedeno needs to prove he belongs as the starter at some point in the first month or so. Another problem is that it looks like Cedeno has carried his offensive woes out to the field with him. Poor hitting combined with poor defense will certainly put him on the bench. Let's just hope that Cedeno gets it together and that this discussion will be moot.

I agree, nobody wants to admit that their top prospect isn't as good as someone else's. Using the Cubs as an example, all we heard was that Pie is the face of the future for the Cubs and now we're going to trade him for another prospect. I would think any major league team would only trade their top prospect for an established major league star.

I'm with you, but only if I can get some good tickets as a partial owner.

I was one of the people who thought the Brewers would be decent last year, now that everyone is piled on the bandwagon, I don't think they're ready yet. Weeks and Fielder will experience growing pains. They are bad defensively. Hardy won't be as good as his 2nd half numbers, but not as bad as his first half. Lee's a great RBI man, but doesn't get on base like a 3-4 hitter should. Jenkins had a great 2nd half too, but won't hit as well in 06. I think they are seriously in danger of seeing decreased production across the board offensively with the exception of 2B and possibly SS. If Ben Sheets can't start 30 times for them, they are in bad shape. As I originally stated, the Cubs, Cards, and Brewers all have question marks, but they are the top 3 teams in the division. The Brewers are counting on some talented youngsters, but they are youngsters. They got a career year out of Brady Clark and I think it's questionable that he will repeat that success. If he doesn't, Lee's RBI total goes down significantly. I do find it interesting that so many sportswriters will assume that every other team's question marks will succeed while the Cubs' question marks will fail. After this spring, I don't think of Murton as questionable. I think Jones in RF will be adequate. Hopefully Pierre will return to his career averages, but his "lousy" year in 2005 will be a vast improvement over last year's leadoff men. I do agree that spring training didn't solidify Cedeno as a "sure thing", but I do have confidence that he will be a solid SS and an improvement over 2005. As usual, the one unknown is the injury situation, which does seem to haunt the Cubs more than other teams.

The Cards have lost talent, the Astros has lost a ton of talent, the Reds have no pitching, and the Pirates are the Pirates. The Cards should be favorites, while the Brewers are the team on the rise. The Cubs have some question marks, but so do the Brewers and the Cards. The Cubs should end up 2nd or 3rd with a shot at 1st if a few things go well. I think some sportswriters write stupid things to get people discussing their column. Apparently it worked.

I don't think the Cubs will have a "building" or "rebuilding" year anytime in the forseeable future. With the budget at $100 million, the success of the White Sox, and attendance at 3 million, the Cubs will continue to at least give the impression that they are competitive.

I still don't understand why Hill is considered so valuable.

STL will get him and he'll end up playing regularly and hitting .300.

Selig was at Saturday's game and discussed the success of the Wild Card. He pictures 20 teams still in the hunt by Labor Day because of the Wild Card. Having said that, it's difficult saying how many teams would be "sellers" in July.

Wow, talk about pessimism. If Konerko gets injured, Buerhle's arm falls off, Posednik breaks his leg, Garland and Dye regress, Thome and Contreras realize how old they are, and Williams trades Garland and Garcia for Jeff Fassero, the White Sox could be in trouble too.

I don't know what's going to happen with Baker, but I think MacPhail thinks the world of Hendry and wouldn't replace him. Of course, if the Tribune ended up selling the Cubs to someone like Mark Cuban, all bets are off on retaining MacPhail, Hendry, and Baker.

People can critcize Soriano for lots of reasons (money, defense, attitude, etc.), but to say that Soriano is only a "marginal improvement offensively" over Walker is ridiculous. I like Walker, but he has to fight for a starting job every year while Soriano is making All-Star teams. Offensively, Soriano is Jeff Kent with speed.

He won't have to worry about crashing into the OF wall because he will be traded as soon as Bowden can get enough to save face. I don't understand why people are surprised that he backed down and went out to play LF, since he isn't stupid enough to lose $10 million and his free agent year. If I were an AL GM, I would be interested in trying to get him as a DH.