Backtobanks

You mean for the 3 weeks that he has been healthy.

It would not be surprising since Dusty Baker has never seem enamored with Hairston Jr. as a starter. I am not sure what we could hope to get for Hairston Jr. though. The Orioles tried to trade Jerry Hairston Jr. for a few years before they finally dumped him in return for Sosa. Also it does appear that for better or for worse Felix Pie will make it to Chicago this season, since this is at least the third or fourth report I have read that stated that Pie would becoming up soon or already be here if not for injury. -Banghart You need to get rid of Hairston because that .400 OBP is clogging up the bases.

I look for Greenburg to be the future Todd Hollandsworth. A 4th OF/pinchhitter seems to be his future. I would love to be wrong and see him playing everyday and doing a good job at leadoff, but I doubt it.

I think the Cubs are really stuck between wanting to turn the page and deal Patterson and being scared to death that he will go somewhere and turn into the next Lou Brock. It might help Hendry's anxiety if Murton and Pie can show something or Patterson can be used in a deal to get a quality player.

I was watching a Comcast sports show and I don't remember which panelist said it, but pointed out that Corey never really dominated at any level since A ball. Maybe it was a case of being rushed and never learning what you need to learn in the minors, but there were periods when he would show some of that 5-tool potential.

Many of us aren't giving up, but we're being realistic. It is a wakeup call when you get swept by the Braves' AA team. I do have trouble with people who lose faith in Hendry though. I think Hendry will make the moves necessary to make sure we are somewhat competitive this year, but a force to be reckoned with for the next few years. The problem with the Cubs is that we haven't seen anything (or anybody) that we can count on except Lee and Aram. None of our starting pitchers have shown consistency. The bullpen has had it's ups and downs. Burnitz and Walker have been reasonably consistent, but the other 4 position players have been hit or miss. I really think that the only hope we have is for our prospects to really ignite a spark that has been lacking all season. Of course, that assumes Dusty will let them play.

I've said this before, I'd love to have Dunn on this team, but he's not the second coming of Babe Ruth. 6 players plus $5 million for Dunn is ridiculous.

Which is why trading Wood or Zambrano for an elite OF bat, and then signing AJ Burnett is not too far off the beaten path strategy-wise. Execution-wise is a whole other ballgame. Yeah, thats actually a very good idea. I'd much rather trade wood and keep zambrano, but im sure wood's trade value is nowhere near zambrano's. Hoops, who do you suppose we could get for one of them? I saw someone say mench and delucci or nix, but i dont think texas would give up mench and another ML outfielder for wood, maybe zambrano but not for wood. You might be able to get Mench for Wood straight up, but then again i thought wood doesn't want to go to the AL...and therefore he wouldnt waive his no trade to Texas You should trade from strength, we have pitching & Texas has hitting. Wood for Mench straight up. 2007 Of of Murton, Mench, Pie looks great to me.

Who knows, maybe Dusty learned something from Bobby Cox. Cox played his whole AA team and kicked our butts.

I think it would be a bigger headline to find someone who thinks the Cubs are contenders.

After watching half of today's early game, it has become obvious that the Cubs aren't going to catch the Cards or the Braves. This Braves team with a roster full of rookies is kicking our behinds on a daily basis. Also, don't forget that this Brave team is waiting for the return of Hampton & Hudson. I guess we can hope the Braves win their Division and some mediocre team ends up fighting for the WC. Let's quit kidding ourselves into thinking that one hitter or one relief pitcher is going to turn this club around. I agree with all of the other posts that Baker, Patterson, and Macias have to go. I think Mitre, Rusch, Patterson, Dubois, and prospects should get us young players who can help us in the next few years. If Hendry can make any deals that turn this year's club around with Baker as manager, he deserves the title "Executive of the Century."

Swinging at the first pitch is being aggresive and obviously they've scouted these pitchers to know that you should swing at the first good pitch. That is what Brenley was saying last night. Forget the fact that they were facing a converted relief pitcher who wasn't used to throwing a lot of pitches.

And for how much longer does Holly stay hot? Holly is an excellent 4th OF/PH. He gets hot for 2 weeks and then collapses. That's one of the big problems the Cubs have; playing Perez & Holly as regulars when they're bit players. As for Burnitz, overall I think he has done a decent job and probably better than most of us expected. Actually, looking at most of the "saviors" that are mentioned in the trade rumors, most of what I see are .250 - .270 hitters and pitchers with 5 plus ERA's. I guess the GMs are hoping one of these guys gets hot for the last few months of the season.

Add to that his stubborness. If you're willing to try Patterson and Perez at leadoff, bench Patterson for Hairston, try Rusch, Mitre, and Williams as the 5th starters, etc. then why don't you give Cedeno a real shot at SS and hitting #1 or #2. At this point, what do we have to lose.

We should use Mitre and Dubois to get something more valuable than an average SS, especially when we have a pretty good one already sitting on the bench. I guess you're right, but the problem is that he's sitting on the bench while the mediocre SS is playing and batting leadoff.

How about a Mitre and Dubois for Lugo? Maybe we can tweak the deal by adding some players and add Baez to the deal.

How about trading Patterson, Dubois, Mitre, and a pitching prospect for Crawford and Baez.

I'm about ready to really shake things up on this Cub team. I know it won't happen, but how about Wood (I know, no-trade contract) and Patterson for Mench plus some other player(s). I love Wood and all of the stuff he brings to the table, but I'm starting to think that he'll never get over the hump and be the 20-game winning dominant pitcher that everyone thinks he should be.

Why do I have the feeling that the Cards will get some OF hitting .250 and he will become a solid .290-.300 hitter for the next few years.

I doubt very much whether we could get Youklis and Ramirez for Mitre and Dempster. If we could, I would make that trade in a heartbeat. Also, you might be able to slide Cedeno over to 2nd when Walker leaves.

I asked that same question back on 6/23 and all of the responses were pretty negative about getting him.

If they have Welly and Mitre caliber prospects, they should be pitching them in the Majors. Their pitching is lousy. You do realize that Mitre (1.36 WHIP, .261 BAA, and 5.52 ERA) and Wellemeyer (1.42WHIP, .231 BAA, 4.74 ERA) don't look like top caliber players to a lot of teams. They may be players that might become that...and both have shown the ability to dominate, neither have done so. What about those two would make Texas think that they could help them enough this year to justify trading away a piece of their future? The Rangers rotation prior to Rogers injury and suspension was: Rogers (2. 46 ERA, 1.28 WHP, 253 BAA) PArk (5.50 ERA, 1.65 WHIP, 296 BAA) C. Young (3.33 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, .245 BAA) C. Wilson (7.15 ERA, 2.12 WHip, .715 BAA) R. Rodriguez (3.65 ERA, 1.22 Whip, .276 BAA) Mitre and Welly are better than Park and Wilson, but not any better than Young and Rodriguez. The Rangers released Drese who has performed at or near Mitre's level this year because of inconsistencies. On the farm they have Thomas Diamond (not quite ready) and lefty John Danks. They've shuttled Juan Dominguez back and forth and he's about Welly talent-wise. Welly and Mitre aren't going to be enough to get a key piece of their team. They might give us Delucci for one of them. Throw in both and an outfielder and we could have Hidalgo. We just don't have the player that would make them trade Mench. They don't want quanity, they'll want quality. Zambrano is the closest we have to what they're looking for. We wouldn't, nor shouldn't do that. That's why there isn't a match between the two teams to net Mench.[/quote I still think that Welly, Mitre, Rusch, & Williams would be #3, #4, & #5 starters on quite a few teams in the majors. The trade I mentioned would not necessarily help the Rangers this year (since they aren't going to win the Division this year anyhow), but would help in the next 2-4 years when some of their youngsters mature along with players like Welly & Mitre. Also, I would think there are some GMs who realize that Welly & Mitre have been shuffled from starting to relieving to the minors and back again. Put them in a consistent role and they might realize the potential that they show.

If they have Welly and Mitre caliber prospects, they should be pitching them in the Majors. Their pitching is lousy.

Well, let's tinker with the deal a little bit. Mitre, Dubois, & Welly for Mench & a prospect. I've stated in numerous threads that the Rangers aren't interested in moving Mench unless they get a can't miss stud pitcher. Volume will not overwhelm them. If we asked for Mench, they'd ask for Zambrano and the discussions end right there. The Rangers are quite obviously off their rockers then. As good as Mench is (and he's good enough for my fantasy team, 3 HR, woo!), he's not that good. He's also already 27. I didn't say the Rangers expect to get Zambrano for Mench. But they would want a young starter that has seen success at the major league level if they were to trade Mench. (They have no intentions of trading him.) The Cubs just don't match up there. Mitre hasn't seen enough success. Williams will have to prove he's found it again. Those players don't have the ceiling that the Rangers would want. Our farm hands aren't high enough ceiling or don't have enough experience. The Rangers would seek to look elsewhere. The plan the Rangers have were to be contenders in 2006 with the young core of Mench, Nix, Tex, Young, and Blaylock. They prefer to keep all five of those. They will look to develop pitchers from their system or sign others or trade without giving up one of those five. To trade one of those five you're going to have to blow them away with quality not quanity. Yeah - more and more on this bd. I see trade props. that are basically an all-you-can-eat buffet of former prospecs who we have soured on or who have been underwhelming as of late, for example, Mitre, Dubois, Welly, etc. [/b] But who knows what Mitre, Dubois, Welly, etc. could do in the right situation and given a starting job. They don't necessarily fit in the Cubs plans because we have 5 starting pitchers (or 6 or 7) and a manager who doesn't feel comfortable playing rookies. Also, the Cubs consider themselves contenders so they try to go with the proven players. If I were an opposing GM with a team built for the future, I would certainly look at a chance to get players like Mitre, Dubois, Welly, etc. As for who I would trade for these prospects, I would have to look at the strengths and needs of my team and what kind of Major League ready prospects my farm system has.

I would certainly inquire about Mench and offer a combination of players Mitre, Welly, Dubois, Kelton, Guzman, etc. If they start asking for Zambrano, then you say goodbye, but it doesn't hurt to ask.