All things considered, I'd rather have Murton. He'll cost MUCH MUCH less and he's much younger. I don't see why you couldn't have both though. Murton's OBP in his first 2 years is .370. Very solid. In case you didn't look it up, he hit .319/.390/.522 (.911 OPS) after the all star break. Please explain how Pierre had a solid year? Since when is a .330 OBP (especially for a leadoff hitter) and a .717 OPS "solid"? JJ had a good year last year, but Murton's was better. I believe people give Murton a little more slack because he's young. Young players are often very inconsistent. And just so you know, Soriano's career OPS is only .004 points higher than Murton's. Murton is only going to get better and Soriano is only going to get worse. I understand what you mean..But who cares about money right now..We have tons of it..Its not mine or yours..Its the Trib's...Spend whatever the hell it takes for us to win the world series...If your a pitcher, who would you rather face, Soriano or Murton? wihtout a doubt, its Murton..You wanna have those batters that scare the crap out of pitchers...Fpr example DLee and Ramirez..I know Murton had the Great OBP and is patient..But wouldnt you rather have someone like Soriano with 40+ HR potential up in the bottom of the 9th with 2 outs and runners on to save the game?? If we can kepe Murton and get Soriano..thats fine.. Im just talking about the man love for Murton that he gets, even when he blows... Let's see... Most people support getting Arod/manny, don't think it's possible/practical. Wells would take a lot to get traded and isn't worth it given the numbers he'd put up. Murton wasn't as bad as you were claiming and he took a lot of criticism during the first half of the season.. money is very important, say "spend whatever the hell it takes" but THAT WON'T HAPPEN. there is a limit to the money they will spend. that is a reality, and it cannot be ignored. We don't worry about the money being spent driving the tribune into bankruptcy, we worry about the money being spent preventing the Cubs from being able to get the players they really need in the future.