ChiCubsFan

Can't blame them for not going higher than that.

I would absolutely love Bonderman. He'd be better than any option available. The only downside is that you have to give up talent to get him. I don't know what they'd be looking for, but I'd give them a lot.

Nobody is taking back Glendon unless we eat the whole contract. I believe Izturis and JJ can be moved. I believe you could get Burrell (especially if they land Soriano) without giving up Barrett.

The numbers do not support this. Jones OPS last year was .062 points higher than Giles, for nearly half the cost. The OPS+ for Giles was only slightly less than Jones, but it was still less. Granted Jones had a career year, but Giles downward trend is consistent and notable. He is no more likely to reverse the trend than Jones is to repeat his 2006 year. So Giles is far from a 'significant upgrade' over Jones, when his production is likely to equal Jones going forward at twice the price no less. But OPS doesn't tell the whole story. OPS favors high slugging players. Giles OBP is going to be at least .030 points higher, probably much more. That's a very big margin. Also, Giles moving to a new team and into a better hitter's park, could possibly return his numbers closer to his '05 numbers. I'd say the increase in OBP and chance of him returning to his numbers before 2006 is worth the extra cost.

I have no problem with that whatsoever. Agreed. Article also said it was 75 million, not 73. Didn't the article say it was 73 but there was a 2 million buy out if they dont pick up the option? Could be wrong and making that up...

The only problem with the Petco theory is that his splits aren't that different this year: OBP and slugging .378/.384 at home .369/.410 on the road I'd attribute it to just more of a down year (as his splits were pretty large last year) but I have no idea if he would rebound from that. Even if he doesn't rebound, that .370+ OBP would be awfully nice. I think they would probably go for a JJ for Giles straight up trade too. Jay Payton as 4th outfielder? Not a horrible choice, but he probably wants more than I'd be willing to pay him. I'd really look into Ryan Church. He might cost too much, but he'd be a really nice 4th outfielder to have.

Not bad but you would absolutely need to get a solid 4th outfielder. Ryan Church, maybe?

I would rather have Drew. Well technically you could have both. Trade JJ for Giles and sign Drew for CF. Not sure if Giles is much better than JJ at this point in his career.

The first was mentioned in the ARam signing thread and the second in the Ted Lilly thread. I really hope we don't pay more than 6 mil for Ted Lilly. He said he wanted to pitch on the west coast though.

Lopez is garbage with the glove. He wasn't too bad in 2005. I havent actually watched him play enough to say why he was so much worse last year. I'll take your word on it though.

I agree about getting Lopez instead. He's younger, cheaper, similar productivity, and I don't think Vidro can stay healthy for a full year. I'd rather sign Durham than trade for Vidro. I would be interested in Kearns, Church, and Lopez though. If we get JD Drew, we need to get a solid 4th outfielder to protect ourselves if he gets injured.

I think it would take a lot more than that to get Cabrera or Dontrelle. None of those guys are can't miss prospects. I would guess it would take at least one A prospect to get either of them. Maybe not, but I just see the Angels be willing to trade some of their prospects (which are much better than ours) to get Cabrera. Especially after missing out on ARam.

I sure hope so. He's a perfect fit.

After considering it some more, Wells is a solid bat for CF (.900 OPS), but I'd rather just sign J.D. Drew. He doesn't provide the same defense and is more likely to get injured, but Drew is more productive and will cost less (in players and possibly in dollars too).

If you're trading Barrett, you have to use him to fill another hole (SS/2B/OF). Trading him and just getting back prospects, isn't worth it (unless you can spin those prospects to a team like the Marlins to get Cabrera). They way I figure it by trading away Barrett and Izturis it opens up the door to more realistically signing Julio Lugo to play SS. Then we can sign Greg Zaun or Bengie Molina to play Catcher. You could possibly then use some of the prospects recieved in that deal to trade for Tim Hudson. edit: the reason I say prospects is because Izturis brings down Barretts value quite a bit in my eye. But getting rid of Izturis is an imperative and the only way to do it is probably by packaging him with Barrett. I'm not too interested in Hudson, unless they eat a lot of that contract. I just think that if you're trading Barrett you need to get a big bat back. Use Barrett to get ARod (if he'll waive his NTC) or Vernon Wells. I'm sure you can convince another team in need of a shortstop to take Izturis for a prospect. I mean we gave up our biggest trading chip to get him, so he has to have some value in the strange baseball GM world.

If you're trading Barrett, you have to use him to fill another hole (SS/2B/OF). Trading him and just getting back prospects, isn't worth it (unless you can spin those prospects to a team like the Marlins to get Cabrera).

Trading Hill will create another hole in the rotation. It looks like we don't have much of a chance for Schmidt, Zito, or Matsuzaka, so we would need to overpay for the likes of Vicente Padilla and Ted Lilly just to fill our #2 and #3 spots. I don't really like that idea. I don't see them giving up ARod for just prospects either, so I don't really see it happening. In the GM Meetings thread, Hoops said a source of his said the Yanks were interested in Barrett. Prior, Marshall, Barrett, Eyre and Moore for ARod. If you get ARod, you could live with Blanco as the starting catcher. Hughes for Barrett. I could live with that. :D Hmm...man, I would love Hughes. Prior, Marshall, Barrett, Eyre, and Moore is a lot to give up for Arod. I wouldn't be so willing to trade Prior when his value is this low. I'd much rather do the deal without Prior and if necessary include another prospect. Maybe Pie, Barrett, Eyre, and Moore? Sign JD Drew, get some pitching, and then we're rolling. Then you can hopefully trade Izturis for anything and put Theriot/Cedeno at 2b.

Well you don't know what to expect from Igawa and Hill's season last year could have been a fluke. I'd also be worried about depending fully on Miller. Then again, as I've mentioned, I don't want to spend the money on Lilly or Padilla. Do whatever it takes to get one of the big 3 SP or trade for a starter. How much is Meche looking to make?

Trading Hill will create another hole in the rotation. It looks like we don't have much of a chance for Schmidt, Zito, or Matsuzaka, so we would need to overpay for the likes of Vicente Padilla and Ted Lilly just to fill our #2 and #3 spots. I don't really like that idea. I don't see them giving up ARod for just prospects either, so I don't really see it happening.

Agreed. Matsuzaka and Lilly are my top choices in each category. What in this thread has proved to you that Lilly is the top choice of the second tier starters, the high amount of fly balls and homeruns allowed, or the high walk rate? Personally, this thread helped cement my opinion that neither one of them is likely to live up to their contract, and both should probably be avoided like the plague. I couldn't agree more. Why burn 6-7mil on a pitcher who will do marginally better than someone like Marshall, Marmol, or Guzman. I don't want to rely on the kids and Miller and Prior, but I don't see a better choice. Hendry needs to do anything possible to sign one of the big 3 and hope that Hill continues the success he had last year and that Prior, Miller, Marmol, Marshall, and Guzman can hold down the 4th and 5th spots. I don't really see a better alternative. Edit: I don't know if this has been discussed, but if Wood makes a successful transition to the bullpen, is it conceivable that Dempster could make a return to the roation if needed? I'd prefer to trade him for some more salary relief, but I don't think it'll happen. With Wuertz, Eyre, Howry, Ohman, and Wood all in the pen, Dempster isn't really needed. Would Dempster be much worse than Lilly or Padilla? Maybe he would, I dont know. I just really don't want to pay anything over 6 million for Padilla or Lilly. Your really going to be steamed then when they burn 10 mil per on Padilla. I think Hendry will go out and over pay for some back end type of starting pitcher so he doesnt look like he didnt try to improve the rotation by adding someone. I think he will have a hard time convincing Schimdt or Zito to come to Chicago and he has to do something so he'll sign some mediocre talent. Yes, I would be. If he can't convince Zito or Schmidt to come, then trade for a starter. I'd rather give up a couple prospects for an actual solid starter then give a 4 year deal worth close to 10 mil to Vicente freaking Padilla. Honestly, if you can't get Zito or Schmidt, there really isn't any good option. I don't mind dishing out money to get a solid #1 or #2 starter. Does the 07 FA pitching look any better?

Well their situations are all different. Also with Aram off the board, the Angels can throw all that money to make sure they get Soriano. And of course, sighing over ONLY making 14 million dollars in one year is insane.

I think CLee, Drew, Durham, and a top starter would be amazing. I'm not overly interested in Lee (and it looks like Houston is his likely destination) but if he'd take a discount to return to the Windy City and seek his revenge against the South Siders I'd do it. Of course, that depends on the ability to trade Jacque Jones, which I'm sure can be done. If Todd Hundley was traded with 2 years left on his contract, so can JJ. Imagine this lineup: 2b-Durham LF-Murton CF-Drew 1B-Lee 3B-Aram RF-CLee C-Barrett SS-Izturis The outfield defense would be pretty bad and Izturis still isn't gone, but that lineup would produce a ton of runs. Either way, I just hope Hendry strikes quick and adds Drew and a stud starter. Then I'd hope for another bat and another starter. I can't wait to see how this ends up.

Agreed. Matsuzaka and Lilly are my top choices in each category. What in this thread has proved to you that Lilly is the top choice of the second tier starters, the high amount of fly balls and homeruns allowed, or the high walk rate? Personally, this thread helped cement my opinion that neither one of them is likely to live up to their contract, and both should probably be avoided like the plague. I couldn't agree more. Why burn 6-7mil on a pitcher who will do marginally better than someone like Marshall, Marmol, or Guzman. I don't want to rely on the kids and Miller and Prior, but I don't see a better choice. Hendry needs to do anything possible to sign one of the big 3 and hope that Hill continues the success he had last year and that Prior, Miller, Marmol, Marshall, and Guzman can hold down the 4th and 5th spots. I don't really see a better alternative. Edit: I don't know if this has been discussed, but if Wood makes a successful transition to the bullpen, is it conceivable that Dempster could make a return to the roation if needed? I'd prefer to trade him for some more salary relief, but I don't think it'll happen. With Wuertz, Eyre, Howry, Ohman, and Wood all in the pen, Dempster isn't really needed. Would Dempster be much worse than Lilly or Padilla? Maybe he would, I dont know. I just really don't want to pay anything over 6 million for Padilla or Lilly.

That's probably a good thing he wants to stay on the West Coast.

Please get J.D. Drew!