ChiCubsFan

I don't think he's really saying its irrelevant, but I think the point he was trying to make is that for 2 years Miggy and Jones had nearly identical stats. One player we all are crying about that we got and the other we are considering giving up a number one starter who is in his mid 20s.

Good post and point. The only thing that people can use against that is that Miggy plays SS (a generally weak-hitting position) and Jones plays corner outfield (a generally strong-hitting position). Thats why when you compare Miggy to other SS he destroys them but Jones is probably below league average when compared to corner outfielders. Still, no way I'd trade Prior for Miguel Tejada. No way.

A change is necessary if we wanna make the playoffs.

Or ARod Not if they didn't pick up any money. Prior is still cheap and Arod is gonna cost you a ton of cash. He's definitely a more valuable player and if salaries were equal I'd take Arod.

I'm with you on that. I'd also consider a Prior for ARod if they picked up a SIGNIFICANT portion of his salary and he was willing to move back to SS.

I like the positive attitudes of some people. Yes, Jim Hendry did not make the ideal moves. There really wasn't much out there though, to be honest. Brian Giles would have been nice for RF but whos to say he had any desire to play for the Cubs. Was there any other big FA we should have gotten that we didnt? You cant say he should have traded for Tejada or traded for Abreu because we don't know what the Orioles/Phillies would have wanted in return. Milton Bradley would have been nice but he does come with some bagage and we dont really know what the Dodger would have wanted from the Cubs for him. I think Hendry should have given Jones a 1 or 2 year deal if he wanted to go that route instead of a 3 year deal, but Hendry did improve this team from last year. I think winning 90-95 games is realistic. Not saying it will happen, but we do have a talented team that can easy reach that mark. Yes, we do need some things to fall our way but so does every other team. I think we have just a good of chance as anybody to win the NL Central.

Anything that limits the playing time of jones would be great. That said, if we got White it would be Murton's playtime being cut down instead of Jones. Grr, i hate this organization.

I think we're still an Abreu, Tejada, and healthy Wood away from being considered WS favorites right now. I did say possibly, not that it matters. The point is that we are contenders. You can't argue that adding Abreu and only really losing Williams (from the Pie, Williams, Novoa, Wuertz trade somebody suggested) doesnt make us contenders.

You have no idea what Hendry will or won't do, unless you have some personal relationship with Jim that I'm unaware of? Dealing Pie in a package for a player like Abreu should be a no-brainer. I know I'm going to get killed for this, but so be it. Why are we anxious to trade a 20 year old centerfielder who scouts well and put up a .903 OPS in Double-A at age 20 for a 32 year old rightfielder who couldn't get his OPS over .900 last season playing in one of the best offensive parks in the National League, posted a .787 OPS after the All-Star break, and is due $30 million over the next two seasons? And not only him, but other valuable players, too? Goodness gracious. I agree. I also don't think the Cubs would give up 4 young players to get him. The loss of Pie, Williams, Nova, and Wuertz (as someone suggested) would hurt the Cubs more in the long run. On the other hand, I see the Lidge deal as more of an equal value trade. Lidge will be 30 next year. Well Abreu will be a solid players for quite a few more years. Novoa and Wuertz are easily replaceable and Williams has the ceiling of a 3rd starter so he's not hard to replace either. Also, who really cares about the long run at this point? It's been almost 100 years. Adding Abreu to this team instantly makes us a world series contender and possibly the favorites (not that it matters). I don't see how you don't make that trade.

You have no idea what Hendry will or won't do, unless you have some personal relationship with Jim that I'm unaware of? Dealing Pie in a package for a player like Abreu should be a no-brainer. I know I'm going to get killed for this, but so be it. Why are we anxious to trade a 20 year old centerfielder who scouts well and put up a .903 OPS in Double-A at age 20 for a 32 year old rightfielder who couldn't get his OPS over .900 last season playing in one of the best offensive parks in the National League, posted a .787 OPS after the All-Star break, and is due $30 million over the next two seasons? And not only him, but other valuable players, too? Goodness gracious. There's quite a few reasons. Pie is not a sure thing. Sure he's put up some good minor league numbers and as you said, scouts well, but everyone remembers the Corey Pattersons, Hee Seop Chois, and other Cubs prospects who were supposed to be cant-miss prospects and turned into nothing great. If you can get stud value for Pie, you did it. And yes, Abreu IS a stud. He's had only 1 year since 1998 with an OBP below .400 (in 2001 he only posted a .393 OBP). He also has had a slugging at .468 or better every year since 1998. Is that not enough? He has also stolen 19 or more bases every year since 98. (Just for the record, I dont think his stolen bases are much of an asset b/c he gets caught a lot, but his overall speed on the bases and in the field are nice to have). He also has a very good arm and pretty good defense in the outfield. Basically he walks like crazy, gets a lot of extra base hits, and plays good defense. I'd trade an unknown and unproven player like Pie in a heartbeat. Also, the money isn't much of a factor because we have a lot of leftover money to spend. Basically Pie for Abreu is a no-brainer in my eyes.

God, no. Please no!

What's NT stand for?

Just let Wilson play right. No need for a platoon if he's going to outproduce the partner. Or sign the habitual stop-gap (Sanders). At this stage, both Gibbons and Wilson are scheduled to start in RF for both clubs. If the Cubs really did talk to Baltimore about Tejada would it be possible that they could swing a "Minor" deal involving Gibbons? I don't understand why anyone would want Gibbons. He's got some power but not enough in my eyes to make up for that career .315 OBP.

Wow, I think Wilson would actually be a solid option. I thought 2004 was his only good year until I looked up his stats and discovered he was even better than 2004 in 2001 and 2003 and he wasn't too bad in 2002 or 2005 either. I don't think he'd be a bad option at all for a stopgap in RF until we can get an impact FA RF or trade for a real impact bat.

I heard he's been working out with a few Olympic sprinters and their trainer and he's lost some weight and in his words is the fastest he's ever been. I wouldn't mind him at 2b if Walker is dealt.

CF I would guess. By then Nomar could be hurt and Kent could be playing 1st with Izturis at 2nd. I hope that isn't the case though, because I really like Nomar.

To play 1st base? Hmmm...Nomar's main value comes from the fact that he gets above average production from the shortstop position. I really don't like this move by the Dodgers at all.

Wouldnt these just be two or three separate trades. The deal between SEA and BOS have no effect on our deal between SEA and PHI. I think this is highly unlikely, but interesting to consider.

Exactly. If anything, it's the Cubs that should be sellers, not the Brewers. They finished ahead of us last year, and this year, I think the Wisconsin Diaspora ends--I'm predicting Milwaukee for the playoffs. Only question is whether their pitching will be deep enough. Lineup looks terrific, with Lee, Clark, Jenkins, Fielder, Weeks, Hardy, Hall and Miller. That lineup is much better balanced than the Cubs. If they could just bring in one more quality starter, watch the heck out. C.Lee>Murton Clark~Pierre Jenkins>whoever plays RF Fielder< Weeks~Walker Hardy~Cedeno Hall< Miller I fail to see how much greater and balanced that lineup is. I'd say they are about both equal. Long term it may be better, but for the 2006 season their offense is, at best, equal to ours. As for their pitching: Sheets Davis Capuano~Maddux Ohka~Williams Bush The bullpens look about too. I just don't see how great this Brewers team is and how horrible the Cubs are. They look about equal at best. Of course having Dusty alone loses us a few games, but I don't see much separation between the two teams talent. Healthy Sheets > Zambrano Davis < Healthy Prior Capuano > Maddux Ohka ~ Williams Bush ~ Rusch/Wood I have to give the edge to Milwaukee. I also like Turnbow more than Dempster. Maddux is one hell of a pitching coach for Milwaukee. You really think Sheets is better than Zambrano? Zambrano has better numbers over his career and has proven to be a horse. Sheets has not, and thats why I gave the advantage to Zambrano. Capuano's ERA was pretty bad in 2003 and 2004 and last year he posted a 3.99 ERA with a 1.38 WHIP and Maddux's was 4.24 ERA with a 1.22 WHIP. If Capuano is better it isn't by all that much. Bush was alright last year (4.49 ERA) but I'd say a combination of a healthy Wood and Rusch when Wood is hurt will outproduce Dave Bush. I admit I haven't seen much of Turnbow and he did put up solid numbers last year, but so did Dempster in the closer role. They both have a lot to prove in my eyes and thats why I said they are about the same.

Exactly. If anything, it's the Cubs that should be sellers, not the Brewers. They finished ahead of us last year, and this year, I think the Wisconsin Diaspora ends--I'm predicting Milwaukee for the playoffs. Only question is whether their pitching will be deep enough. Lineup looks terrific, with Lee, Clark, Jenkins, Fielder, Weeks, Hardy, Hall and Miller. That lineup is much better balanced than the Cubs. If they could just bring in one more quality starter, watch the heck out. C.Lee>Murton Clark~Pierre Jenkins>whoever plays RF Fielder< Weeks~Walker Hardy~Cedeno Hall< Miller I fail to see how much greater and balanced that lineup is. I'd say they are about both equal. Long term it may be better, but for the 2006 season their offense is, at best, equal to ours. As for their pitching: Sheets Davis Capuano~Maddux Ohka~Williams Bush The bullpens look about too. I just don't see how great this Brewers team is and how horrible the Cubs are. They look about equal at best. Of course having Dusty alone loses us a few games, but I don't see much separation between the two teams talent.

Darn you Michael Barrett! Cut him!

or, we could just enjoy being average. Its not Skiles' fault that the personnel on this team is not better than a low playoff seed. This team will NEVER win anything unless they have a big (6'5 or up) guard because that's where this team gets destroyed. Rip Hamilton Paul Pierce Dwyane Wade Larry Hughes (or LeBron) Michael Redd Gilbert Arenas Guys like this always just torch the Bulls because we don't pose legitimate matchups with these guys. They can shoot over the top of us with ease and as good of shooters as these guys are, it absolutely kills us. I would love to see this team put together a package for either Pierce or Ron Artest. Probably would start with Ben Gordon and Tim Thomas for both those packages. Those guys would be invaluable for this team for next season. Enjoy the Knicks very high pick and draft a legit big man (Aldridge) and be ready for a run in the East next year. Aldridge Sweets Deng Artest/Pierce Hinrich That could be good enough to win the East. Well these guys you name get their points against everyone so I'm not too concerned about it. Rip Hamilton-22.3PPG Paul Pierce-26.5PPG Dwyane Wade-26.7PPG LeBron James-30.7PPG Michael Redd-25.3PPG Gilbert Arenas-27.7PPG They did do a good job containing Wade and holding him to only 14 points. I realize we've allowed Pierce and Arenas to already go for 40+. I think what we need is a consistent scorer and/or a big man who can score and defend. We have a lot of guys who can shoot lights out one minute and then not be able to hit anything the next minute so we tend to go through a lot of bad runs during games. I think a consistent go-to guy would help out this team a lot (Paul Pierce).

I did :)

No. I'm not trading my superstar first baseman unless I get a superstar in return or at least 3 VERY good players. And even if you assume DLee's season was a bit of a fluke he is still a VERY good hitter and one of the top defensive first basemen in the league. It's not so much that I think it's a fluke, it's that his value is higher than it has ever been, and likely higher than it will ever be. I think he'll probably be a 290 hitter for the rest of his career. BUT, we have some holes, and it's one way to fill them. Yeah, but not the best way or even a good way. I wouldnt want a 3-4-5 of my order to be Ramirez-Huff-Barrett or something like that. You need Lee. The only way I trade Lee to Tampa is if they send me back Young, Kazmir, Huff, Lugo, and Upton. They would never do that, but that's pretty much what it would take for me to trade away Derreck Lee.

No. I'm not trading my superstar first baseman unless I get a superstar in return or at least 3 VERY good players. And even if you assume DLee's season was a bit of a fluke he is still a VERY good hitter and one of the top defensive first basemen in the league.