abuck1220

i really can't believe that this is even being discussed outside of inane message board trade proposals. the whole thing is ridiculous. if you wanted an impact bat that would cost you millions of dollars, why not just throw the bank at giles and keep prior? or better yet, signed tejada when he was a FA? or signed jeff kent? or vlad? i was glad that the cubs didn't sign furcal, but now i'm starting to think that throwing 13 mil at furcal would have at least prevented this...i'd rather have furcal + prior than tejada + bedard. jeez.

that can't be true...everybody wants to play for dusty baker. everybody.

this is absurd. i really hope hendry is not that desperate. if only tejada had been available via free agency recently and the cubs could have gotten him W/O giving up their franchise pitcher.

on espn classic tonight they were posing questions such as 'is damon the best yankee signing of the past 25 years?' and 'where does damon rank among all time yankee cf greats?' first of all, damon isn't the best yankee signing in the past month...matsui's a better player. secondly, damon isn't even the best yankee cf of this decade...bernie williams was a stud for the first three years of the 2000's. no wonder everyone thinks soriano is so amazing...wear those pinstripes for even a minute and you're the next ____ (mantle, joe d, etc).

Lest we forget, you were the one who brought up that topic with this post. The back slappin started long before that post. like, for example, the time last season when you said you were opposed to the willis-clement trade because you KNEW willis would be good. of course, no one believed you, so that doesn't really count.

Guh? I sure would love to hear what Hendry thinks is a good trade that involves Prior. The one that brings us Bonds, Guerrero and Tejada I guess? sad thing is, two of those guys have been free agents recently, and the cubs could have signed either one of them...without having to trade their good players. signing good free agents...something the cubs should look into.

any sentence that includes the phrase 'Brett Tomko would do' can't be taken seriously.

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/cs-051221rogers,1,7257490.column?coll=cs-cubs-headlines

phil rogers... you gotta be kidding me. zambrano, who is cheap, awesome and under the cubs control for a few more years PLUS the cubs top prospect for a guy who finished between dellucci and sweeney in OPS?

why would oakland want to sell off zito when they have the best team in the west, and one of the best teams in the AL? the cubs need a big bat more than they need a #3 starter.

if only these caravan stops and the convention itself were as well run and well organized as the i-cub fanfest. it's strange that i can get four HOFer's autographs and only have to wait in line 5-10 minutes to get them, but whether or not i get 1 of only 200 michael wuertz autographs is entirely dependent on some crazy lottery system.

Alou fell into laps in a way. There were two bidders, IIRC, Cubs and Yankees, the Yankees couldn't match the Cubs' offer and went after White instead. Plus, Alou wasn't a Hendry acquisition. oops...forgot about that.

Possibly. He'd fill the bill of a right-handed hitter who could come off the bench and start now and then. speed + defense + hustle + good attitude. what's not for hendry to like?

Anything you can share regarding Brian Giles? Was there no interest in him? Did Giles not want to play in Chicago? Did Hendry assume or have some sort of first hand knowledge Giles had no desire to leave San Diego? Any help on this would be appreciated. Giles would have been my first choice, but the Cubs felt all along that he'd stay in San Diego or get an unbelievable offer from the Yankees. i think it just woud have made me, and probably others, feel better if they would have at least made an effort to go after him, instead of just assuming he was staying in SD. i mean, that's just kind of lazy. at least then i would have felt like the cubs didn't think jacque jones was better than giles. "Lazy" probably isn't a fair assessment. That's one thing Hendry isn't. But all organizatons target certain players and concentrate on them. This off-season, the Cubs felt they would spend money on Furcal and also try to land Pierre. I'm sure Giles' age worked against him coming to Wrigley, too, but that's just my speculation. yeah, i guess it wouldn't be fair to say that he was lazy in pursuing giles since he had apparently had no interest whatsoever in him. of course, i could think of a few words to describe hendry's decision that giles wasn't a good fit for the team. it's strange that giles' age was a concern for the cubs when alou's wasn't when they signed him. you'd think that one of these times when hendry arbitrarily picks a direction for the team (clubhouse chemistry! speed! defense!) he would accidentally stumble upon on base percentage or scoring a bunch of runs.

Co stanza that's what i like about hendry...never afraid to just up and decide that something's to his liking. maybe he decided he liked hairston the same day he decided he liked guys who can catch the ball.

Anything you can share regarding Brian Giles? Was there no interest in him? Did Giles not want to play in Chicago? Did Hendry assume or have some sort of first hand knowledge Giles had no desire to leave San Diego? Any help on this would be appreciated. Giles would have been my first choice, but the Cubs felt all along that he'd stay in San Diego or get an unbelievable offer from the Yankees. i think it just woud have made me, and probably others, feel better if they would have at least made an effort to go after him, instead of just assuming he was staying in SD. i mean, that's just kind of lazy. at least then i would have felt like the cubs didn't think jacque jones was better than giles.

well, now i know to not feel sorry for cubs' starters when they lose games 2-1.

given that hendry botched rf, i think the cubs need to do their best to package murton to get somebody like abreu. i could have lived with murton-bradley-wilkerson or even murton-pierre-wilkerson, but jones throws the whole thing off. you need more out of your corner OF's than murton and jones can give you. trade for abreu and base what you do w/ pierre on how pie does in AAA this year.

ok, who's that #3 starter going to be?

I disagree. This team will win or lose with its pitching. Walker isn't a big enough difference maker on offense so if he can be used to acquire a quality starter, the Cubs need to trade him. The Cubs rotation is littered with question marks. We need another starter. I disagree. The dropoff from Walker to Neifi is a very big one. I just can't see Walker netting us a starter that's any better that what we already have(Williams). Walker is not a difference maker on offense and I'm not saying Walker alone will net a pitcher. He should be packaged or the Cubs should look to sign a FA. Neifi at the bottom of the lineup (if it comes to that) isn't the worst thing in the world. if you're signing a FA pitcher, then why do you have to trade walker? it's not like he's taking up a huge chunk of the payroll. and it's not neifi at the bottom of the order that's the bad thing (and it's worth noting that he probably won't be at the bottom of any lineup dusty fills out), it's neifi in a lineup that includes 3-4 other below average guys.

I disagree. This team will win or lose with its pitching. Walker isn't a big enough difference maker on offense so if he can be used to acquire a quality starter, the Cubs need to trade him. The Cubs rotation is littered with question marks. We need another starter. in my mind, the difference between walker and neifi is bigger than the difference between williams and whatever starter walker will be dealt for. if you get another starter for walker, you are looking at the potential of being below average offensively at lf, cf, rf, ss and 2b. marquis, zito, whoever isn't going to make a difference with an offense that includes cedeno, murton, jones and neifi. pierre neifi lee ramirez jones barrett murton cedeno do you realize how bad that offense could potentially be?

So he didn't sign? are you talking about corey? i'm guessing olney was talking about a trade. patterson would be crazy to not sign, wouldn't he? Oh wait, now I get it. I thought Damon hadn't signed and had until Tuesday to decide, but you're saying that was the tactic the Yanks used. right. i thought you were asking if corey accepted the cubs' offer for a contract...

So he didn't sign? are you talking about corey? i'm guessing olney was talking about a trade. patterson would be crazy to not sign, wouldn't he?

i'm going to be real pissed if walker is traded for a starting pitcher. whether 'speedy' hendry believes it or not, the offense is the problem, and the cubs already have prior, z, maddux, williams, rusch, wood, and hill. the thing is, i think the injury excuse is so front and center in speedy's mind that i can see him wanting to be like 11 deep in the rotation.

buster olney on espnews just said that the yanks gave damon a tuesday deadline, and that if he didn't give them an answer they were going to explore other options. corey patterson was the only name he mentioned. that seems kinda odd.