Little Slide Rooter

I knew about Jackson but not Beliveau. Nice. I'd have to think that this makes them more likely to protect him from the rule 5 if there was a question before.

Baseball seasons under way, someday we'll go all the way. http://www.19cbaseball.com/images/cap-anson-baseball-card.jpg I blame him. He was a bad man.

Sorry to hijack the thread here, but what is everyones predictions on the Cubs minor league player and pitcher of the year? Brett Jackson would be my choice, but Rebel Ridling, Greg Rohan, Richard Jones, and Justin Bour all put up some impressive numbers, although they arent considered real prospects. As for pitcher, I can't think of anyone that really stands out. This was somewhat of a lost year for McNutt, due in part to injury, and Whitenack was looking like a world beater until he went down. Searle, Antigua, Rhee, and Struck are possibilities, but assuming that it can be a reliever, I'd have to think that Beliveau was the overall most impressive pitcher in the system.

Should the Cubs have the mentality that we should immediately settle because we might get outbid? Assuming we don't decrease payroll (which all of this is based on anyway), we'll have as much as or more than anyone else to spend this offseason. It's certainly no sure thing that we'll get 2 of the top 3 free agents on the market, but I don't think we should throw in the towel without an effort either. Settle? Aramis is the best 3rd baseman in the league and you want to let him walk hoping that some platoon can almost produce at his level and the Cubs can sign 2 of the 3 best FA. Keep Aramis and get Fielder. Have the new GM kiss and make up with Z so they don't have to pay him to play somewhere else and use some minor league chips to get a fifth starter. We don't need a 5th starter. If you're thinking to give up a few minor league chips for a "5th starter", chances are what we end up with isn't any better, probably worse than Cashner and Wells. From the get go, our problem wasn't that we didn't have good back of the rotation guys, it's just that we had a very bad backup plan in case of injury and we ended up sending out Casey Coleman, James Russell, Doug Davis, Ramon Ortiz, and Rodrigo Lopez. Say what you will about keeping Carlos Silva, but he probably would have been just as bad. What we need is a front end starter.

Wouldn't the Houston/Texas rivalry be enough to tide them over? Certainly Milwaukee would have seen it similarly. It was that Milwaukee/Chicago instant rivalry that surely was very attractive. And it's worked out exceptionally well. Were the Brewers and White Sox ever considered rivals? I know the Brewers and Twins were.

I wonder if any of the other guys ever take offense to those 2 refering to themselves as the 1-2 punch. True as it may be, it's kind of like when Jordan used to refer to his supporting cast.

I always thought he was more of a general dousche than mean. Ducky Medwick, Carl Mays, and Cap Anson, now those were some mean bastards. I didn't even know that Chase Utley was considered "mean". And Bradley and Big Z are more crazy than they are mean.

When talking about the WAR stat, there is often debate over who could be considered the replacement player. I think that s far as pitchers go, Casey Coleman is as close as it gets.

Assuming they went on to win the World Series, I'd like him very much.

Maybe you can repair in time to realise that all I'm suggesting is that we try to get a little something for nothing. It's not like I suggested we trade Starlin Castro for some obscure kid from the Ham Fighters. No such team as the Ham Fighters. Then the Ham has already won. Yeah, yeah, I know, Nippon Ham is the owners, and Fighters are the team name.

Maybe you can repair in time to realise that all I'm suggesting is that we try to get a little something for nothing. It's not like I suggested we trade Starlin Castro for some obscure kid from the Ham Fighters.

No, I'm saying your Japanese trade idea is bad and you should feel bad for suggesting it. I don't see why. LaHair isn't going to have any big league trade value, and he has little value to us in AAA if they chosen Colvin over him. If it were a cash transaction, we'd get, what something like a mil, which I think is what we got for Hoffpauir. I think that if we were to get a player or 2 instead that would be of greater value. BUT THE PLAYER IN RETURN WILL BE WORSE THAN LAHAIR BY YOUR OWN ADMISSION. I never said that.

No, I'm saying your Japanese trade idea is bad and you should feel bad for suggesting it. I don't see why. LaHair isn't going to have any big league trade value, and he has little value to us in AAA if they chosen Colvin over him. If it were a cash transaction, we'd get, what something like a mil, which I think is what we got for Hoffpauir. I think that if we were to get a player or 2 instead that would be of greater value.

Bryan LaHair for Yu Darvish. Seriously though, I brought this up when Scales went to Japan, but would there ever be a scenerio in which there could be player trades with Japan or other nations rather than just cash. It would be an interesting scenerio, as there are a lot of Bryan LaHairs out there who could fare better in Japan than they ever would in the US. Obviously, they wouldn't want to send over their top young players, but some fringe guys who would be interested in coming over. A player exchange program if you will. So not a star like Bryan LaHair would be, but a fringe guy. Guys like LaHair have a pretty good track record in the land of the rising run. Right, so you don't want to aim too high and ask for someone at his level in return. Somebody worse than Bryan LaHair please. I'm not sure what you're getting it, but it sounds like you're trying to goad me into saying that LaHair has more value than we all know that he has. No Japanese team is going to send over their top talent for him,even if he would likely be able to be a very good contributer for him. To us, maybe he's a 24th-25th man, and they probably know very well that we don't send them over our players with any value to us, and that he's spare parts.

Bryan LaHair for Yu Darvish. Seriously though, I brought this up when Scales went to Japan, but would there ever be a scenerio in which there could be player trades with Japan or other nations rather than just cash. It would be an interesting scenerio, as there are a lot of Bryan LaHairs out there who could fare better in Japan than they ever would in the US. Obviously, they wouldn't want to send over their top young players, but some fringe guys who would be interested in coming over. A player exchange program if you will. So not a star like Bryan LaHair would be, but a fringe guy. Guys like LaHair have a pretty good track record in the land of the rising run.

Obviously the $20 million is to help pay Zambrano, not in addition to paying his whole contract. If all of those pitchers are better than Zambrano, why are they "looking at every available starter" this offseason? Finally Morrison has been in their doghouse for much of the season and he has been the name mentioned as compensation for Guillen coming to the Marlins. If they're going to trade Morrison, I would think the better deal would be a crazy latin pitcher good for 200 innings rather than a crazy latin manager. The Marlins arent going to give them Morrison just for Guillen, but they might send them Gavin Floyd and Guillen for Morrison and a few prospects.

I like that we get all of our games vs. The Phillies out of the way nice and early, and depending on what happens in the offseason, they're the only team that really worries me.

All I know is that Carlos Pena and Aramis Ramirez are both type Bs(still not sure whay Aramis is a B while Placido Polanco and Jeff Keppinger are As), so arbitration could land us a few draft picks if the both skip town.

I definitely do not like the middle part of that scenario. Yeah, overpaying for Pujols, having to root for LaRussa, and banking on a guy who relied on guys magically having career years and winning the WS with an 83 win team is not #1 on my wish list. Maybe he can bring Dave Duncan and the magic pixie dust.

Bryan LaHair for Yu Darvish. Seriously though, I brought this up when Scales went to Japan, but would there ever be a scenerio in which there could be player trades with Japan or other nations rather than just cash. It would be an interesting scenerio, as there are a lot of Bryan LaHairs out there who could fare better in Japan than they ever would in the US. Obviously, they wouldn't want to send over their top young players, but some fringe guys who would be interested in coming over. A player exchange program if you will.

This must take the record for shortest GT ever.

I have a hard time seeing how this team competes in 2012 without Ramirez in the lineup. The drop off from Ramirez to the next best available 3B in the free agent market is enormous. Nick Punto or Jose Lopez won't cut it. It's possible someone like Vitters steps up in the next year or two, but there's absolutely no guarantee Vitters will even stick in the majors. Plus, trading for a 3B would be a dicey proposition, considering how much a team would likely have to pay for someone like David Wright or even Maicer Izturis. If the Cubs could trade for a good 3B and/or upgrade at another position (2B or RF) in addition to landing Pujols or Fielder, I'd consider letting Ramirez walk. Otherwise, retaining Ramirez needs to be a priority for the Cubs in the offseason. If the options are Nick Punto and Jose Lopez, you stick with Flaherty, LeMahieu, or even Vitters. The 3B market is weak enough that Wilson Betemit could land something like a 3/25 deal, and I hope to God that we're not the ones giving it to him.

He is still 28 and doesn't turn 30 until next season is over. Not being a good hitter (which isn't even entirely true) doesn't stop this team from carrying Koyie Hill, Jeff Baker, and Blake DeWitt all on one team. All those guys suck at defense too so that's not an excuse. Lahair is a 1B. Those guys are versatile and/or play premium positions. And I don't think they all suck at defense either. I don't have a problem with the concept of such a player on the bench. But it can't be at the expense of anybody else that matters. Baker and DeWitt should be non tenders because we have cheaper and younger versions of them with higher ceilings in LeMahieu and Flaherty.

Zach Rosscup was looking great when he was healthy. He shouldn get some serious consideration. Also, any idea how long it will take Whitenack to return to action?

We tried him as a starter, it didn't work out so well. Then again, between when he first came up and this year, he wasn't working out so well as a reliever, so who knows.