mcgoobs

Wall Street Journal is saying that the bidding could be wrapped up this week. Link

I believe Bruce Miles said that Hendry can't go after Peavy until the ownership situation is resolved, so I would imagine the trigger for restarting talks will be the finalization of the sale of the team, not the completion of the Marquis trade.

Article in the San Diego Union Tribune that's full of conjecture but has one quote from Moorad:

if this is supposedly a detractor for Bradley. I have some words for you. You are doing it wrong. It was done to address the point made earlier - which was in my nested quote - that Bradley last year was first in OBP, first in OPS. No denying that if he is able to replicate his road numbers that will be a great addition, but we shouldn't expect him to replicate last year's overall numbers.

He greatly enjoyed hitting in Arlington. Home: .358/.466/.679/1.145 Away: .290/.410/.462/.872

So there's a 15% chance Edmonds comes back again?

I think the issue is that the Cubs are maxed out on payroll, under the current ownership (or lack thereof). The optimistic view would be that one of the reasons Hendry made the DeRosa trade was to stockpile pitching prospects that Towers' approved of, and once the ownership situation is squared away Hendry now has the pieces in place to pull the trigger on a Peavy deal.

I've never thought of Paul Bako as a backup catcher as much as Maddux's choice for catcher.

I think this has been mentioned (can't recall where among the four various transaction threads that are being regularly updated now), but any talk about how this team that we have is worse than the one we finished the season with should come with the caveat that even if Hendry returned the same team on paper, this team should project to do worse. The regression that should have been expected from Dempster, Harden, the very productive Johnson/Edmonds platoon, DeRosa, Fontenot, and the injuries that will happen but that we can't predict likely would have taken us below 97 wins anyways. The only positions where we could have predicted better performance are marginal compared to the dropoffs listed: having Soriano play more than 109 games, having Lee hit for a shade more power. Whatever moves Hendry is making should be viewed with the context that the team from last year would have had production dropoffs from at least 2 positions and 2 starting pitchers. The saving grace in all this is that the NL Central looks weak next year with the Brewers losing their two best starting pitchers so it wouldn't be surprising to see a repeat of 2007 when <90 wins yields a division crown. FYI in the prediction for better performance in 2009 I'm leaving out Fukudome just because he's too much of a wildcard given the lack of MLB history there.

:roll: :banghead: Im not sure where there getting the Miles for leadoff theory. His career .289 avg. looks good for a leadoff hitter, but the career .329 OPB leaves much to be desired, especially for a spot whose job it is just to get on base. Sullivan has Miles starting over Fontenot, and has Gathright as our starting CF, instead of Fukudome/Johnson platoon. Looks like he wrote his article after one too many champagnes last night.

The Pedro deal wasn't really bad at all when he was signed. He was still 33 and really good. He was ridiculously good in his first year with the Mets and then the injuries started. You couldn't really have predicted that his body would have broken down that much that quickly. The Red Sox predicted it. That's why they didn't want to give him more than 3 years.

Platoon Edmonds/Sosa to combine two of the more polarizing players in Cubs history to produce a 1.000 OPS.

Link

Echo the point about being a Yankees fan. The only saving grace they have is to say "26 world championships" anytime someone tries to give them grief. What does the Yankees lineup look like now after the Texiera deal? Damon Jeter Rodriguez Texiera Nady Matsui Posada Cano Cabrera Good lineup - maybe great if Cano returns to form and Posada, Jeter and Damon return to their performance 3-5 years back - but not something that any Yankees fans should assume will guarantee them a spot in the playoffs.

That's a rich contract for someone who clearly benefitted from pitching in Dodger Stadium. ERA/WHIP listed 2008 Away: 4.42/1.39 2008 Home: 2.30/0.93 2007 Away: 4.19/1.31 2007 Home: 3.51/1.22 2006 Away: 4.13/1.35 2006 Home: 3.18/1.19

To be frank, I think the reaction is more a result of how low on Hendry's priority list going after Garrett Anderson should be. He's no longer a good player. In three out of the past four years his OPS+ has been below 100, he's never OBP'd above .350, his defense has been declining over the past years, and he turns 38 this year. There's numerous better options for outfielders that Hendry should prioritize over Garrett Anderson.

Yep, but likely by the MLB and not directly by the BoSox. My understanding is sales from merchandise belongs to the MLB, not the specific teams, and the proceeds from all merchandise is split evenly among all teams.

Looks like they borrowed the aesthetics from Basketball Reference (or they both borrowed from the same source). The Kid The Round Mound of Rebound

I think at this point Hendry should sit down with Marquis and make him the following offer: The Cubs will pay him $3 MM per year for the next three years, as long as he doesn't pitch for us. His previous contract is voided and he effectively becomes a free agent. If he's signed by another team, the Cubs will continue to pay his $3 MM annual salary. Apparently this would free up enough money to allow the Cubs to sign Peavy, Bradley, Lowe, Pujols, Halladay, and that guy in Bases Loaded for NES who had 61 home runs.

In seven years of minor and major league ball, encompassing nearly 3000 PAs, Joey Gathright has hit 2 home runs. 2! Just to put that in perspective, that's 1 less home run than Mitch Williams hit, in almost 3000 fewer PAs.

I've seen his name thrown around with some people saying the Cubs should make a run at him. Based on his numbers, I can't see why. He's a 31 year old with a 96 career OPS+ who's asking for more than $10 MM per year. Unless I'm missing something on his defense, I can't see why we wouldn't keep Theriot at 1/20th of the cost.

What's the latest on Glavine and Smoltz? Glavine I would imagine is a lock for the HOF now that he has 300 wins, and Smoltz has a pretty strong candidacy as well. It would be cool if all three went in together five years from now.

1999, age 40, Rickey Nelson Henley Henderson posted a line of .315/.423/.466, giving him an OPS of 127 in 526 PAs. Awesome.

They signed him as their fourth outfielder.

That game was won because Soto called it in a very sexy manner.