jersey cubs fan

Honestly, I like Lee, and would normally have no interest in dealing him. But, for a chance at those two, you have to try. Besides, I imagine Lee might like playing in LA under Torre. Not saying he'd go, just saying I could see why he might consider it... I like him as well. However, he's replacable, and I believe a bit overrated.

This story is so weird, it would really blow a hole in my theory.

I'd be all for trading Lee, if it wasn't for the no-trade clause. In order to pull off a Lee trade, I think it would have to be quick and painless. Cut the cord and make the trade without any time for public discourse. But the no-trade guarantees he won't go quietly or quickly, and at that point things could get ugly.

A great Rf (or OF in general regardless of position) is easier to come by than a great SS, though. There's really no reason a team with a $100M payroll should end up with Burnitz/ Jones/ Hollandsworth, etc in their OF. And the RF numbers, weren't horrible. But they were middle of the pack, and boosted by players like Ward and Pagan having astronomical numbers in RF. Even Floyd was better in RF than he was in all other situations by a long shot (LF, PH, DH). I think the point was that we didn't need a great SS, we could get the same marginal additional production by acquiring a decent SS as by acquiring a really good RF. Yes, they probably could have gotten better improvement by just getting a decent SS, to replace the pathetic one. RF was middle of the pack, but it was the leader of the middle of the pack. And I find it hard to believe that some combination of Murton, Jones, DeRosa would struggle to match the 794 OPS next year. Murton playing 150 games would probably beat that number. The second best RF OPS in the NL was just 843 last year. They were 235 OPS points from moving up to 2nd at SS. There was much, much, much more room for improvement at SS. Choosing to focus your attention on RF is choosing to take the hardest road to improvement. In the end, you can end up with a great lineup, if done correctly. But it's just another example of Hendry's lack of efficiency. He's probably going to end up spending a lot of money and talent to wind up with minimal improvement at RF.

Going into the offseason, the positions most in need of improvement were SS, CF, C and RF. RF improvement was needed the least, as they weren't that bad there last year, and their in house option was the best of the 4 positions. SS was the worst, considering their in house option stinks. CF was close, but given the fact that their best young player, Pie, is there, and that they had Jones as a fallback, it was relatively stable. C was horrible last year, but Soto, even if he comes nowhere near his 2007 numbers (which I assume will be the case) would most certainly provide enough production for the position to be fine. The only way to get better by focusing on RF is by actually getting a great RF, or getting a very good RF and then trading Murton & others for an improvement at SS. You could say they've painted themselves into a corner, but there's still a chance to come out with a masterpiece.

Take Dontrelle's $8m off their hands. Hill and Gallagher slot into their 2008 rotation, include Pie or Colvin. If you have Soriano in left and Cabrera in right, you don't need much production out of CF for the next few years. It's no guarantee to get outbid. Not everybody is anxious to give up huge amounts of talent, and pay the longterm extension Cabrera will want and does deserve. It can't hurt to get in the discussion.

The better question is how many opportunities have there actually been? Prior, Zambrano, Hill, and Marmol. What other young talent has come up from the farm and shown 'sell high' value? The list is slim, and if Hendry had moved Pior or Zambrano, or moves Hill or Marmol, it would trigger a wrath-storm. I wouldn't freak if Hendry trades Hill or Marmol, as long as he gets an elite player in return.

I'm not sure why it would be unbelievable for a Tampa radio station to scoop the Chicago radio stations for such a trade.

Although, thats going to be just as much of Sorianos fault as it is Crawfords. Perhaps. But not necessarily. Soriano had an OPS+ of 123 this year, while Crawford was 117. Given their ages, it wouldn't be a stretch to see Soriano plateau around 123 (very productive but not high enough to justify his salary) with Crawford eclipsing that mark as soon as 2008. It wouldn't take a hell of a lot to have that happen. And while Soriano would be overpaid for that production, Crawford would look relatively cheap.

He just turned 26. Guys who are currently just 26 tend to become a little more than what they have been before that age. I would guess he could easily morph into a 25-30 HR hitter, given his age, and he could very easily surpass 30 once or twice in his career. His OBP is AVG driven, and that's his biggest weakness. I'm not sure why anybody would flinch at trading "anything of high value". I wouldn't throw the farm at him, no way. Cabrera is the type of franchise player you throw the farm at. But there's nothing wrong with giving up considerable value for a guy like Crawford.

it was roughly around the same time he was a 26 year old that was pretty damn good at playing baseball His career high OPS is 830. Is that "damn good baseball"? I'm not as high on him as many others, but you have to take into account he's done what he's done by age 25. If you were to take a look at his comparable players through age 25 on baseballreference.com, you'd be impressed (Raines, Yaz and Clemente included). I would say he's been pretty darn good, at least. OPS+ of 105 at age 22, and it's only gone up. He's got some flaws that would probably keep him from ever becoming truly great, but he should be a really solid bet to produce very nice numbers for the next 5-8 years. He'll probably be outproducing Soriano within a couple years at most.

As long as those pieces are large, I agree. But one or two pieces that are nothing but role players won't help put this team where it needs to be.

it still burns when I read that [Eddie Murphy using his nerdy white voice as a doctor]So you're saying there's a burning sensation when you urinate?[/nerdy doctor voice] [Murphy using deep big black man voice]No Doc. Fire shoot out my di...[/deep voice]

I don't really care about HOF type things, but man, the NHL really blew it with this. There were some big names going in, and I didn't hear a thing about it until after it happened.

I'm not exactly sure which thread you think this would fit well in.

The last thing this team needs is to use up resources going after more bullpen arms.

I really have a hard time seeing how having him learn the OF will increase the odds they give him a fair chance at SS.

Rowand will be overpaid because he can play CF. If you put him in RF you are wasting much of the value. And if he does revert back to mediocrity, his numbers would be somewhat tolerable in center, but a big problem in right. He's not a good fit for this team, as it stands.

No strong opinion. Terribly inconsistent. When he's on, he's as good as it gets for CF. When he's off, he sucks. I'm not at all confident in him maintaining his production over the next 4-5 years. Don't think he'd be a wise investment for the Cubs.

It's great in theory, but when push comes to shove, it'll be interesting to see what they actually do. Without any real improvement at SS, and RF unlikely to be significantly better than it was last year, I wonder how long they will actually tolerate substandard production out of CF. It's easy to live with an all glove prospect when the rest of the lineup is clicking. The problem is the Cubs lineup is unlikely to click. Hendry's words in November about CF being about defense aren't going to placate rabid fans in May if Pie is hitting .250 and the team is getting beat because they still can't score enough runs.

I think that a large percentage of bogus radio rumors posted on here are a result of people hearing 2 names and then reporting somebody is saying they are being traded for somebody. If you are going to post a rumor you hear on the radio, I think you should be sure exactly what you heard or else expect to have people question your credibility.

I believe Hendry's quote was something like, "He could play all three outfield positions for any major league team." I imagine he'd be a RF with the Cubs, if he signed, because Hendry seems pretty adament about giving Pie CF. Then again, Soriano was slated to play all 3 spots at one point last year.

Thats irresponsible reporting if they report Monroe is the head of any trade package. Most media types would report such a trade using the major league names, even if the prospects involved were the much bigger parts to the puzzle. And most fans would view such a trade as a major leaguer and some prospects.

He sounded more like a guy who isn't really trying to improve the team, and doesn't intend to start trying any time soon to me. I think ultimately, that's what his efforst will lead to. But he seemed to really emphasize going with a "different type of player" in RF and settling for mediocrity in CF and SS. To me, that means the only way this team is going to improve is if they go big in RF, really big. The only way RF will be significantly improved from last year is if they go get a true impact bat, like Cabrera, or maybe Burrell.

Hendry's golf course interview on CSN looked to me like a guy ready to put all his eggs in the RF basket to improve this lineup. And the only way to improve it enough to withstand things like Theriot, Infante, Pie and Fuld playing a lot, will be a player like Miguel Cabrera. Anything less than that and we're looking at another mediocre lineup. If the pitching staff even takes the smallest step back, 85 wins might not even be possible with that roster.