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Backtobanks

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Everything posted by Backtobanks

  1. Backtobanks
    Which goes to show that at this time of the year, everything is in the rumor stage. Any team that needs a SS is a possible Furcal suitor, any team that needs pitching is a Burnett suitor, etc. I look forward to the winter meetings in December to get a better feel for what's going on with whom.
  2. Backtobanks
    What I meant was that we have 7 pages of discussion on whether Murton should be our starting LF next year and, with his stats, many other team's fans would consider it a given that he would be starting.
  3. Backtobanks
    Obviously not, since we are so far into the offseason and so many teams have made moves and Hendry is just screwing up left and right. :roll: Seems to me that are always going to be some people hoping for a bad offseason because they seem to get more enjoyment from ripping mistakes (real or perceived) by Hendry, Baker, etc. than they get when the team is succesful. First, let's wait to see if re-signing Perez actually happens before we use it as an arguement against Hendry. As for all of the moves that Hendry has screwed up, I agree with re-signing Rusch and Walker. I think that we need to wait until Hendry puts together the whole team before we can judge whether he had a successful offseason. For example, people will jump all over him if he doesn't sign Giles, but a month later trades for Abreau or Dunn and becomes a hero. Let's give him a chance to work on plan A, or plan B if plan A doesn't work out before we criticize him.
  4. Backtobanks
    Which SP would you think they would give up? Contreras would seem to be the most likely candidate. I can't see them trading the first 3 and I'm sure the Phils don't want Hernandez. Also, I'm sure the Sox won't trade McCarthy. If I was Kenny Williams, I'd look into Delgado from the Marlins.
  5. Backtobanks
    The only problem with your idea of getting Furcal and Giles and keeping Patterson (with Hairston as a sub) is can we get Giles and Furcal. We can afford them, but you never know about personal quirks (playng on West Coast, etc.). There will be a ton of offers for both of them and you have to worry about the length of some of the contract offers (5 years?).
  6. Backtobanks
    The most he would get would be a 4 year contract, but maybe a 5th year team option. Somebody would have to be pretty desparate to offer an injury-plagued pitcher 5 years.
  7. Backtobanks
    What worries me is Hendry wants to overpay average to below average players. Furcal, Preston Wilson, Encarnacion, Jacque Jones, Pierre, Rusch... Where did you see that Hendry wants to overpay for Preston Wilson, Encarnacion or Jacque Jones?? Also, why do you think that Rusch is not worth $3M a year? Hendry has a very bad habit of overpaying fringe talent. Neifi, Macias and to a lesser extend Blanco and Burnitz are excellent examples of this. He's pound wise, penny foolish. In regards to Rusch, the issue is that we have multiple internal options for the role Rusch will pay, and all of them are much, much cheaper. Plus, if Rusch isn't starting he's absolutely terrible. Name all of those "multiple internal options" for Rusch' role that are cheaper. Hill and Koronka stunk, Mitre and Welly stunk and are RH, and Williams shows promise, but he is our 5th RH pitcher. I think Rusch at $3 million is a good deal, he gives us a LH starter, a veteran swingman, and enough depth to use him or our younger pitchers as trade bait.
  8. Backtobanks
    No on this trade and probably any rumored trade with Zambrano in it. The Cubs need to use their money, spare parts (Walker, Rusch, Williams, Patterson, Mitre, Welly, etc.), and prospects to fill their holes. All of these rumored trades mentioning our "untouchables" (Lee, Prior, Zambrano, Ramirez, Pie, etc.) just fills one hole by opening a new hole. I'm confident that Hendry can fill the holes without breaking up the foundation of the team.
  9. Backtobanks
    If we get Furcal, what's the point in getting Pierre. Personally, I think they're both overrated, but we only need to get one of them to leadoff.
  10. Backtobanks
    Why is it that everyone has decided that Lee is going to regress from his stats this year? To trade Lee, I would want a comparable player (i.e. .300+ BA, 40+ HR, 100+ RBI, excellent defense, and prime of his career age). Now if there are any available players out there with those qualifications, we'll talk.
  11. Backtobanks
    As most of us have stated, signing Furcal is a plus, but he isn't worth $9 million per year for 4 years.
  12. Backtobanks
    The problem is that we have lots of candidates for #4 and #5 (Maddux, Rusch, Williams, etc.) and most of the people you mentioned aren't much better than what we have.
  13. Backtobanks
    Obviously, all things being equal, you opt for good clubhouse guys. That being said, you still take a jerk who can hit .300 with 40 HR over a good clubhouse guy who hits .250 with 14 HR.
  14. Backtobanks
    Between his no-trade contract, his fragile health, and his huge contract, no GM is going to trade for Wood, let alone give you someone like Ichiro or Dunn. If Wood was a free agent with his history of health problems and a desire for a big contract, someone might take a chance. To give up a star player and deal with all of the other stuff would be suicidal for any GM.
  15. Backtobanks
    I don't follow that at all. Can you explain? Unless you think his hole in his swing will open back up that doesn't make sense to me. My interpretation is that his improvements caused him to make better contact, therefore more singles turned into doubles. However, fixing his swing doesn't change the fact that he got more hits than he should have(his BABIP as well as in conjunction with his LD% show this). Since more of those "lucky" hits were for extra bases, his numbers will fall more precipitously when those aren't there next year, which I believe will be the case. I don't understand all of these new statistics, but I do understand that by fixing the hole in his swing he got way more hits and extra base hits. I don't think that the whole is coming back, so I don't understand why there should be this horrible regression. I guess the only way to find out is to see what kind of results he has this year. I suppose some of these statistics can be accurate, but I don't believe statistics can predict everything.
  16. Backtobanks
    They're in so much trouble that they will probably win the Central Division by only 10-12 games next year. Their policy of overspending for 1 player and hurting the overall team should hasn't seemed to hurt them the last few seasons. When last seen, the Cards were packing their cars after the Stros buried them. How did that Larry Walker deal work out for you? First of all, Cards is really stupid. Second of all, There's not one of us who wouldn't have wanted the Cards' success this year. The playoffs are a crapshoot, losing in them doesn't make you inferior, especially coming from a fan of a team who missed the playoffs. Thirdly, I'm pretty sure the Walker deal worked out fine for them. They got him for basically nothing, and at a discount, and now I don't think they have to pay his buyout since he retired. Sounds like a sweet deal to me. I second every part of this. BTW, I highly doubt Backtobanks is a Cards fan... :wink: He's just acknowledging, as most of us with a brain do, that the Cards have run their organization far better than the Cubs have the last few years (er, always). I certainly am not a Cards fan. I've been a Cubs fan since 1954 (hence the name) and I am acknowledging that I respect teams that are contenders year in and year out while the Cubs struggle with a larger budget and a bigger fan base. When all of the discussion about Giles started, I wrote that I could see him going to the Cards because he was the kind of player that would fit in with the team. I hope the rumors are false and if he is coming to the midwest, let's make it the Cubs.
  17. Backtobanks
    One of the reasons I thought re-signing Rusch was a great idea was that Rusch/Williams could be added to Walker, Patterson and our prospects to acquire the players we need to fill some of the holes on the team. I really don't expect Rusch to be on the Cubs for the whole 2 years of his contract. Veteran, left-handed starters making $3 million would be desirable to 12-15 teams at a trading deadline or during the next offseason.
  18. Backtobanks
    I've been posting on all of those "trade Lee while his value is high" threads that I thought that the idea of trading him was crazy. They insisted that he probably would regress to his career norms, but I thought that he has corrected a flaw in his batting style and wouldn't necessarily regress. Of course, I happen to think that Lee is such a "class" guy that the Cubs shouldn't replace him even at his career average.
  19. Backtobanks
    I think Griffey might be an interesting option if the Reds pick up a lot of his contract and they don't ask for too much in return. Griffey for 2/3 of a season still outproduces most OF. Of course, the Cubs had better have a decent reserve OF. Also, we couldn't have Griffey and Nomar on the same team (especially with Wood).
  20. Backtobanks
    I agree with you Vance. You have to look at the total result. I would take Furcal over Pierre, but taking into account Furcal might get $40 million over 4 years makes it questionable. Actually, neither one excites me very much. Trading for Lugo, M. Giles, or Castillo would be better and cheaper options.
  21. Backtobanks
    They're in so much trouble that they will probably win the Central Division by only 10-12 games next year. Their policy of overspending for 1 player and hurting the overall team should hasn't seemed to hurt them the last few seasons.
  22. Backtobanks
    It depends on what Hendry decides to do with the bullpen, with the rotation, the bench, and his current players. What if he extends Lee? How much will he set aside if Aramis opts out or if we need to swing a deadline deal? There should be enough to spend on both, but only if Hendry properly prioritizes the needs on the team. The Rusch contract may be proof that he still will overpay for bench/backup players that aren't worth it. I don't think signing Rusch to $6 million over 2 years is overpaying. The guy has proven that he can be a decent #5 starter and long reliever. I would bet somewhere in that 2 year period Rusch may be used as trade bait and I'll bet many teams would be interested in a veteran lefty making $3 million who can start and relieve.
  23. Backtobanks
    :evil: That's frickin ridiculous with the talent in our farm system and the holes we have left to plug. Well, until all of that talent in our farm system proves something at the major league level, you better have a backup plan (Rusch). Hill, Mitre, Koronka, and Welly weren't used much and sometimes weren't used in the right situations, but none of them have shown me very much. Guzman, Nolasko, Pinto, etc. have potential, but let's see how the perform at the major league level. If they show something, Rusch (a veteran lefty starter making $3 million) can easily be traded to at least 12-15 teams.
  24. Backtobanks
    Only Cub fans could ask whether Murton should be starting in LF next year. With what he has shown so far, people in NY would be proclaiming him the next superstar. Murton has done a great job in every situation he has been in, so why wouldn't he be the starting LF?
  25. Backtobanks
    Andruw would look good in CF. Trade for Lugo, Castillo, or M. Giles to go along with Cedeno in the infield. B. Giles would be incredible in RF if they could fit him in the budget, but if not, they would have a pretty solid lineup: Lugo, Castillo, or M. Giles Murton (or B. Giles) Lee Ramirez Jones Barrett RF? (or Murton) Cedeno With B. Giles, we lead the league in scoring. Without B. Giles, we have a very solid lineup capable of winning the Central Division.
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