RyneDawson

What's with all this Roberts talk again?? We didn't really need him last year, and we certainly don't need him this year. DeRosa put up better numbers than Roberts, and I'm sure Fontenot can do the same. We don't need a 2B. We have a ton of them. Lets just focus on Peavy or a RF (whom is not a 2B).

Yeah, but the article states that the Mets passed on that deal, cuz they want to include Heilman in other trades. That would be an amazing trade for us though, but Heilman wants to be a starter. I could only imagine that we only wanted Heilman so we could package him over for Peavy. Trade Marquis AND Ascanio for Heilman (mets need RP), trade Pie for Olson. Vitters, Heilman, Olson, and Cedeno for Peavy. There ya go, done deal, why do GM's think this is so difficult??? And we keep Marshall to be the 6th starter ONCE Harden, Peavy, or Z go down.

Believe it or not, the Angels were the one team I am worried about jumping in and getting Peavy. I wasn't worried witht he Dodgers, or the Braves, and certaintly not the Cards/Yanks/ and Astros. Because: 1: Angels are a competitive team. 2: They are in California, which means Peavy wouldn't have to move his family. The only downsize to the Angels is this, there is the DH. From all accounts of Peavy, much like CC, wants to stay in the NL becuase they like to hit. But I don't think he would let that stand in the way of getting out of San Diego. With that said, LAA hasn'y been seriously linked to Peavy all offseason, so right now I wouldn't get nervous about their involvement unless they strikeout on Tex, CC and brining back KRod. I don't see the Angels, or really anyone else getting in on Peavy until Sabathia, Burnett, Lowe, and Teixeira sign. Angels top priorities are Sabathia and Teix. Yankees are Sabathia, Burnett, and Lowe. Dodgers are Sabathia and Manny. I feel like these other teams want to fill their voids through free agency. So, Hendry needs to get this done quickly, before any of those other guys sign. Because if the Angels are stuck with nothing, then they might come after Peavy and blow us out of the water. BUT, it could be that Towers and Hendry both know that Peavy only will come to the Cubs, and that is why Hendry is taking his time, because they might already have a deal in place, and Hendry isn't worried about any other teams, and just wants to try and trade Marquis, and wait for new ownership.

Would Olson, Vitters, and Marshall be enough for Peavy?

Lee will not be traded. Nor will any of the other Cub starters. It will be something like Vitters for a team's top pitching prospect. Then we trade that pitching prospect, Marshall, Pie, and someone like Veal for Peavy.

Yeah but WHY pinch hit him for Fontenot in those spots? Why pinch hit him for Hoff or Edmonds?? Would you rather have Blanco up against a lefty than Fontenot, Hoff or Edmonds against a lefty? I wouldn't.

Yeah that was posted yesterday. Piniella saying that he doesn't need a pitcher was posted today. I hope Hendry gets him though.

Pinilla never pinch hit with Blanco until the roster were expanded b/c they only had 2 catchers on the 25 man roster. That's the thing.... We only did have 2 catchers, but he still pinch hit with Blanco! And I'm not saying that any fan off the street can come in and get respect from the players. But Baker got a ton of respect, and I'm sure any other manager in the majors can come to our team, get respect, and win. And as far as our bench having the best batting average.... what does that have to do with Piniella? They hit good because they are good.

You seem like you would have commanded a lot of respect from the players. I don't think respect won them any games either. Plus all managers should have respect from the players. It shouldn't be that hard.

Wrong. Absolutely wrong. You think we won all those games cuz of Lou being a great manager? The only thing he had to do was that whenever we had a lead, just put Marmol in to hold them. We won because we had great players. Lou didn't have much to do with it. I could have managed that team and gotten the same amount of victories. There are certainly legitimate issues to criticize Lou over. His use of the bench isn't one of them. No manager is perfect. None of them ever make the right call 100% of the time. The fact is however, the numbers suggest Lou did a better job then just about every other manager in the game last year at managing the bench. Just because you can think of a couple of occasions where his decisions didn't work out doesn't mean you're right. Numbers are numbers, facts are facts, and you're wrong. What numbers show that Lou managed the bench better than any other manager last year? Just cuz we had guys on the bench like Reed Johnson and Fontenot who were actually better than some of the starters like Fukudome? What numbers show that Lou did anything that any person with common sense wouldn't do?

I agree.

Wrong. Absolutely wrong. You think we won all those games cuz of Lou being a great manager? The only thing he had to do was that whenever we had a lead, just put Marmol in to hold them. We won because we had great players. Lou didn't have much to do with it. I could have managed that team and gotten the same amount of victories.

Exactly. Easily once or twice. I would say somewhere around 3-4. But that is still a lot. Just let the better hitter hit, no matter what the matchup is, and we wouldn't lose those 1-2 games. He overthinks way too much sometimes, and then most of the time he doesn't think at all.

How many times did we lose games this year because of Piniella's obsession with matchups? We have Micah Hoffpauir, Edmonds or Fontenot due up... but wait.... the other team brings in a lefty pitcher, oh no I forgot lefty batters can't hit lefty pitchers (even though were obsessed about getting a lefty batter for RF). So lets pinch hit Henry Blanco! Cuz he's a righty! Piniella needs to worry about getting "good" players instead of "experienced or lefty" players.

Why? Cuz he actually wants to get good players on this team instead of looking for "experience" or "left-handedness". If it was up to Piniella we would have a bunch of Mark Teahens, Brad Wilkersons, Latroy Hawkins, just cuz they are left handed or experienced. At least Hendry wants to try for guys like Peavy.

God I hate Piniella! Shut up, let Hendry manage the team. All we need is "an experienced" reliever?!!? Why not go sign Wil Ohman or Latroy Hawkins then? How bout a good reliever instead of one with experience. I hate the arguments Lou brings up when he says we need "experience" or a "left handed hitter". How bout just a good player? Giving Fontenot some tries at short is actually a good idea. But that still doesn't solve the RF situation. If we're not working on a trade for Peavy then we should be focused on a RF like Dunn or Bradley or someone good and not this Mark Teahen cr*p.

I actually thought Guillen was a good defensive RF. Or at least decent. I know he has a cannon for an arm.

How come no one has mentioned Jose Guillen? They have a very crowded OF and would love to get rid of his salary. He makes about 12 million a year for the next 2 years. We need a power hitting RF badly without spending a ton of money, AND we need to trade Jason Marquis and his 9 million $ salary. So if we somehow work out a trade with KC involving Marquis and Guillen then it's a win win. KC saves about 3 million bucks and gets a SP. We get a new RF for only about 3 million. Then we can hopefully have enough money to get Peavy. Man that would be nice, and it makes sense to me!

According to another board Levine was just on ESPN 1000 and said Bradley is the only RF Hendry is looking at. Gotta love that .436 OBP and .999 OPS. His injury history is somewhat discouraging, but with our depth we could afford to have him play in only 120-130 games. DO IT JIM!!! PLEASE! Make my day. Bradley, Furcal and Peavy are the guys that I want and I can live without Peavy if we can somehow get the other two :) You guys do realize that there are OTHER teams in the MLB as well don't you? The Cubs can't sign EVERY FA and trade for EVERY All-star. The Cubs are NOT gonna sign Rafael Furcal. He is a lot of teams' top priority, whereas he is our #4 or so priority. The most we'll do is sign a RF and trade for Peavy, and that is more than enough. The main focus right now should be trying to find a 3rd team to get Peavy to Chicago, and also look for a FA RF. I think Peavy is a real possibility, but I feel like since it hasn't been completed yet I only give it a 40% chance of happening. I would love to have Milton Bradley in RF. He is the best RF FA by far. Look at those numbers, they are ridiculous. And he can take a day off a week and start Fontenot. BUT I don't think the Cubs are gonna offer him enough because of his baggage (injuries/attitude). He won't pick the Cubs over a team like the Blue Jays whom I'm guessing since he will be their main priority will offer them a way bigger contract. Call me pessimistic but I don't see us getting Furcal or Bradley. Let's pray for Peavy though!

Yeah, a team like the Cardinals, Brewers, or Astros. They all could use 1,2, or even 3 starters.

http://www.forums.mlb.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?tsn=1&nav=messages&webtag=ml-cubs&tid=346826 On the Cubs forum some guy was saying he heard an interview with Towers on the radio, and he talked about how Hendry is basically the only GM he is working with to get a deal done for Peavy, but the Cubs pitching prospects are terrible and so that is why the Cubs need to get a 3rd team involved so that they can get the pitching.

Isn't he a Seattle writer? I remember him writing a lot last year when the Seattle and Bedard talks were goin on.

Atlanta already said they are out. They are moving on, and won't get Jake Peavy. I agree with the direction of your story though, but I think he'll end up on a different surprise team like LA. I can totally see the Dodgers come out of no where and steal him just like they did with Furcal from us. But it just depends on how much Towers really doesn't want to trade him within the division. I just don't get why no other teams are interested. Hendry needs to get this done as quickly as possible.

Donnie's source is probably Peavy's agent or Peavy's agent's wife or something like that. They probably told Donnie that Peavy won't go to the Braves and it looks like it is the Cubs. And I believe that is the truth, but it doesn't mean anything. Peavy can change his mind and end up in NY or something. Or if the Cubs offer isn't good enough then SD could decide to keep him. I just feel like the sooner this gets done the better. Cuz the longer we wait, the more likely someone can change their mind and have Peavy go somewhere else.

What if Hendry has an inside guy as well that knows that Peavy only wants to go to the Cubs, so that is why he has a low offer on the table for him. I hope Hendry doesn't lose out on Peavy cuz of him being too cheap. Give up something!!