Backtobanks

Why does everyone keep saying we have Jones for 3 years. Jones has a three year contract and can (and probably will) be traded after this year. Hendry had to give him a three year contract to match the contracts being offered, but there's no guarantee he will be a Cub for 3 years. If Pie is ready next year, Jones will be traded or platooned.

The Cubs don't eat salary. They were adamently opposed to the idea until the Sosa situation came up. Unfortunately, the Cubs like Jones. Hendry likes Jones. He's not going to trade him. He didn't sign him with any intention to trade him. Jones could repeat his mediocre career stats every year and Hendry would be ecstatic. He wanted an athletic RF, not a productive one. Hendry needed a RF this year and had to give Jones a 3-year deal to match other offers. If Pie is ready next year, he will be the athletic and productive RF that Hendry wants and Jones will be traded. As much as Hendry likes Jones, he is gaga over Pie.

Part of the appeal of people wanting Jones is that he didn't cost anything in players to acquire. Just because a couple teams were rumored to be interested in Jones doesn't guarantee any sort of market for him later.[/quote] I think there will be a market for him. His salary isn't that bad and if Pie is ready, the Cubs could trade him for prospects. As a last resort, the Cubs could eat a little bit of his salary.

I really don't know how anyone can pick the Astros to do much. With Clemens and Bagwell as question marks, the rest of their team getting older, and their offensive deficencies, I just don't see them as much of a threat in the NL Central.

Perception is probably reality on this one B to B! Regardless of what the numbers and sabermetrics may actually show, there is surely a perception among GMs around the league that from July through October Jose Contreras was the best pitcher in baseball. carlos zambrano, a pitcher half his age, who had a better second half AND first half, and has for the last 3 years, would disagree with their assessment. I have to agree with Hoops. He didn't say Contreras was the best, he said there was a perception he was the best. Look no further than Steve Phillips for somebody who puts far greater emphasis on win totals down the stretch than actual pitching performance. I'd bet Phillips would take Contreras over Zambrano (who he has constantly bad mouthed as immature, unstable and unproven). A lot of GMs still come from the conventional wisdom crowd. That explains why Phillips isn't a GM anymore.

I keep reading about teams ready to trade a superstar for a #1 or #2 starter and they talk to the White Sox about Contreras. I don't get it. I might understand if they asked for Garland or Garcia, but Contreras????? Maybe we ought to offer the Phillies Rusch or Maddox for Abreu.

The January issue of Vineline has a story about him. After reading the article, it seems that he is in good health and hasn't changed a bit. He is still the eternal optimist and breaks into song every chance he gets. What a wonderful attitude and a great person.

As you can see by my screen name, Ernie was my first favorite player. Being a southside Cub fan in 1954, Ernie was one of the few bright spots in my early days of fandom. I'm not exactly over the hill, but I do miss the days of watching Banks, Santo, Williams, etc. competing against Mays, Aaron, Clemente, Musial, Spahn, Koufax, etc. Also, I miss the days of going to the ballpark and buying a ticket from the ticket window, not from a scalper. Seeing that skinny shortstop (and later 1B), with those quick wrists, hitting all those HRs and listening to Brickhouse's call of homerun #500 will always be one of my biggest thrills. Happy Birthday Ernie and many more to come.

God forbid it would be a move that would hurt the team. I wonder where Mike is going to play when he's not catching? I read that he will catch, play some 1B, and DH during interleague games. Assuming he stays healthy, he ought to get quite a few ABs.

I agree with some of you who say that Kearns isn't very much different from Corey Patterson. I would like to have Kearns as a platoon 4th OF, but I don't think he's worth Williams. Offer them Welly plus Koronka. Good luck to the Reds if they think they can get a good starter for Kearns.

He could never get lefthanded hitter out. That wasn't his area. He was a relief pitcher that should be used against right handers. You should have told Baker that.

Los Angeles Daily News If he sits out '06, he'll be sitting out '07, '08, '09... But you never know, he might get $10 million as a 37-year-old catcher in 2010. Bengie's not thinking too good.

Wow, people actually complimenting JH.

Could that spectacular prospect be Pie or Cedeno now that the Red Sox are apparently going in another direction as SS? I predict Cedeno will be as good as Lugo within a year or two.

Just goes to show what I have said all along: these "experts" don't know any more than the rest of us. Football analysts go through the games and end up picking the favorite. Look at their records using the point spread and you will see that most of them end up at or below .500. In baseball it's easy to see who the best teams are, but all it takes is a few key injuries to change everything. The 2006 Cubs will be competitive if they remain healthy. I believe that Hendry has had a competitive team for the last few years barring injuries and stupid personnel choices by the manager.

I don't think that Lofton, at this stage of his career, is equal to Pierre. I think Jones is going to be okay in RF and surpise a lot of people.

Yea, that's a whole lot of money for 2 second basemen.

It sounds like the call was by Vince Lloyd with Jack Brickhouse's famous "Hey Hey" in the background. Thanks for the audio, it brings back lots of good memories.

To me he sounds correct not bitter. JH has upgraded the team on paper. But how much? Not much if you ask me. Pierre is an upgrade, but a slight upgrade Pierre as a leadoff man is a huge upgrade over Patterson. Jones is not an upgrade We don't know what we will get from Murton, but probably not enough power numbers to make a difference You're right about Murton, but he has hit everywhere he has been and his numbers last year project to 20-25 HRs over a whole season. Cedeno will hit but not walk much Walker will never make it out of ST JH Jr and Neifie will split time at 2nd. Lee will likely regress Lee worked hard to close a hole in his swing. If he has corrected it, why would he necessarily have to regress? Also, with better hitters in front of him, he may have many more RBIs. Will Aramis be healthy all year? The starting pitching remains a question mark with Wood on the shelf I don't think it is as bad as many people are making it out to be. I look for Williams to develop into a solid starter. The bullpen is upgraded, at least on paper. Bullpens are one of the hardest ascpects of a team to upgrade given the volitile nature of the bullpen from year to year.. Overall, I'd say about a .500 club. Certianly not what I was hoping for. I think they will be over .500, but the question is whether they can get to 90 wins and will the Cards come down to the 90-win plateau.

I agree. If the Cubs stay close until midseason, they have the money to go out and bring in an expensive free-agent-to-be. Throwing $13-14 million per year at Furcal or $11 million per year at Millwood would have hampered their efforts for midseason and the next few years. Health is still the one wildcard that will determine whether this team wins 75 games or 90 games. Also, I don't think Hendry is done dealing this offseason. Sometimes the best deals are the ones you don't make. Personally, I'm very happy that players like Williams, Cedeno, and Murton are on this team and not being packaged to get some over-30 year old player making $15-25 million per year.

I think they did better than a "D". They needed a leadoff man and 2 veterans in the bullpen and filled those 3 roles. They needed to improve speed and defense and they did. I wish they would have done better in RF, but a lot of what the Cubs have needed in the last few years is health. With another deal or two and health, the Cubs will be very competitive in 2006.

There's no way the Brewers can win 95 games. That being said, the Cards are still the favorites and the Cubs need them to come down to the 90-win plateau. The Cubs and the Cards have a chance of winning 90 games, but not the Astros or Brewers and certainly not the Pirates or Reds.

Will they take a personal check?

Cedeno is nowhere near a guarantee to give you that. Lugo is much better than bad. He can be pretty good, not great, or close to great. He's above average. But he probably doesn't have a lot of time left at above average, because it doesn't take long for average-to-above-average middle infielders to lose their value. I stated earlier in this post: Cedeno will not only give you a good season this year, he will match Furcal's best numbers in 2-3 years thereby being much better than Lugo. The only reason to trade for Lugo is to guarantee a spot on the bench for Perez.

Compare Macias to other team's 25th man and he's not as bad as everyone makes him out to be, but compare him to every other team's 10th position player (the way Baker used him) and he's horrible. I will agree that Hendry's biggest fault is not firing Baker or at least insisting that Baker play certain players.