cubsfan26

I think thats why people are overreacting so much, because they think their done. I don't believe that at all, since we still have some money left to get a pitcher. We probably have too many middle relievers right now(I think Wuertz or Vizcaino are gone), and probably could another bench player. With the Cubs in such a win now mode, do you really think he would have Marshall as the 5th starter, with Heilman/Gaudin as insurance for Harden? I don't see it, and even Crane Kenney said yesterday that Jim and Randy still had alot of work to do before the season starts. I think thats depends on Clayton Kershaw, if he pitches like a stud and does a good job replacing Lowe it's possible. But I think losing Lowe is a big loss, especially since they might replace him with Randy Wolf or a lesser pitcher. Otherwise a rotation of Billingsley, Kuroda, F/A, Kershaw and Vargas or old hurt Schmidt doesn't scare me. Mcdonald could be a rotation option to I guess.

This is funny, I'm willing to wager the Cubs win 90 games or more next year. People can overreact all they want some of these moves, but I doubt were finshed yet. Even with the current roster as is, were still one of the best teams in the NL. Nobody in the NL besides the Phillies scare me right now, and we still have more talent and depth then most teams. If we add another SP, and good bench player for depth I'll actually be ok with this offseason.

. So it's either 1y at 8.75m or 2y at 16.25m. Seems like kind of a lot for Garland. I guess he has the best potential out of Wolf, Odalis Perez and Braden Looper.

We know the Padres liked Olson and offered Khalil Greene for him. But that doesn't mean the Padres love Olson or anything like that. When you factor in what the Padres ended up getting for Greene, Olson would have been a good trade for them. But thinking Olson was a main piece in a deal, is also kinda guessing. Sean Marshall probably has more value then Olson, and Gaudin probably has simliar. I don't see how Olson is this great piece that needs to be on the team to get Peavy. Of course following rumors all offseason we would think so. But nobody knows for sure if Pie for Olson trade was made for a Peavy deal.

It won't be as pretty(less strike outs, more walks), but the results will be simliar. Wood allowed 24 runs last year in 66, Gregg allowed 26 in 68 IP in 08. Gregg allowed 33 in 84 IP in 07 and 24 in 62 IP in 06. So even if Gregg allows 29 runs in 68 innings next year, you're really telling me it's a big drop off? Gregg was also tougher to hit, and teams hit for less power off him. I know everybody loves Wood, but I don't see how this is a huge drop off. Were talking about a relief pitcher here. It's common sense, if you have a elite reliever, you don't just save him for the 9th. Unless the guy has a physical issue, or you have a elite reliever pitching in front of him. If it's the bottom of the 8th, Gregg walks a guy and there's two and with two outs, Marmol is coming into the game alot of the time. Pitching a bunch of 5 out saves, will probably be still less work then he had the last two years.

I have, he with Kevin Hart, Vitters and Olson were the main names I heard. I heard alot of teams like Archer arm as well, and have called Hendry about him already. So maybe Vitters, Marshall, Stevens, Hart, Castillo(Padres like him to) and Archer gets us Peavy still. Because most of the convo lately is people complaining about Hendry making moves that didn't make us better next year. Now he trades for a guy with good stuff, who has been good 3 of the last 4 years, and people think it's the worst move ever. Adding Heilman makes the Cubs better next year. Olson was minor league depth, who was unlikely to pitch well for us next year. Chad Gaudin is probably a better option starting next year.

Huh? Not really Wood usually started the 9th inning with nobody on base last year. He wasn't in a ton of high leverage situations, there won't be a huge difference between him and Gregg results wise. Even if Marmol is the closer, he will be having a ton of 4 or 5 out saves. He would just be pitching the 8th and 9th innings instead of the 7th and 8th inning. The guy will still be used like a weapon, that won't change. But the overall depth of the pen is much better, and could keep from having to use Marmol everyday(which could help him from sucking for two weeks like last year). Most of last season the Cubs had two relievers they can count on. I think odds are we can have 3-4 good relievers we can count on next year. Because they believe those resources had more value then they really did. Ok well then their replacing DeRosa with 150-200 more AB's from Fontenot.

Heilman stuff is better then Olson, Heilman is older and a free agent at the end of the year. But I'm not concerned about his pitching last season I just think it was a bad year. The funny thing about this trade is this move actually makes us better for 09. Heilman will most likely give the Cubs more then Cedeno or Olson would have next year. Cedeno had very little value, and Olson had some but not alot. Neither guy were in the long term plans for the Cubs. Everyone is just pissed at this move, because they don't think we can get Peavy now. The trade itself isn't really as horrible as people are making it out to be, and it improved the club. Many here have been overrating Cedeno value for a while, and Olson value wasn't good enough alone to get a good player. I would have rather have kept Olson, and see if he could have pitched well in the minors and had any success in the majors to increase his value. But I don't think this trade puts us out of the Peavy deal at all. I don't see how a potential 3-4 starter(at best), who has been awful in the majors would do that. Gaudin value is probably higher or pretty equal to what Olson has.

It still depends on what else they do, Heilman makes their bullpen better. I would say right now that Gaudin, Guzman, Vizcaino, Wuertz, Heilman, Gregg and Marmol is a better pen then we had last year. Trading one of those relievers seems likely, and we still have money and prospects to get another SP. Adding a SP better then Marquis, having a better bullpen, and swapping DeRosa/Edmonds for Bradley/Fontenot or Miles makes me still believe that this team is better. Everyone just has their heart set on Peavy, but I'll really take any pitcher on a one year deal better then Marquis and be happy.

Ronny Cedeno has very little value, the Cubs would be lucky to get a mediocre minor league reliever for him. I knew from day one that the Cubs weren't gonna get Cedeno for Heilman straight up. Olson obviously is the guy with the value in this trade, but I don't think he has a ton of value either. People are just pissed off because they thought Olson was part of a Peavy deal. But nobody ever said we had to have Olson to get Peavy.

Not being done yet is not an excuse for wasting valuable commodities in the meantime. The roster is never finished, people will excuse the april roster by saying he left room to make moves during the season. This is just, inefficient. What valuable commodities? Just because some Cubs fans think these guys have value doesn't mean they do. I know that Heilman actually has pretty good value around the league as well. Teams have been trying to trade for him for years from the Mets. This Peavy deal can still get done without Olson, but we would probably need to trade Marshall or get a third team in involved. All I'm saying is lets see what happens. People can say they dislike this trade, thats fine. But ranting about this is an awful offseason, and Hendry is nuts, is just stupid. The offseason isn't done yet, and lets see what the finsh product is. If at the end of spring training we start the season with this current roster, then I'll be right with you guys. But I don't think were close to done yet.

Yet if we still trade for Jake Peavy this offseason would be great. Stop overreacting and relax people lets see what the roster looks like in April. Hendry has a plan, and right now the roster looks like a mess, but he's not done yet. Just because reports in the media say we need Olson to get Peavy, doesn't mean we do. Hendry isn't done yet.

Maybe the Padres wanted Marshall, instead of Olson. So the Cubs flipped Olson to make Heilman their long guy instead. So they can use Marshall in the trade. Otherwise thats all I got, but i caution people lets see what the team looks like on opening day before we freak out. Even Crane Kenney said yesterday that the Cubs still had alot of work to do before opening day.

More playing time for Mike Fontenot

Maybe Hendry can swap Wuertz or Vizcaino for a LH reliever still. Right now our pen seems very full if Heilman ends up being a 7th inning reliever for us. I'm guessing 7th inning isn't really his role. He might be more of a swingman long reliever type. Yeah I guess it depends on what else we do, if Hendry adds another starter without trading Marshall. Then I think Heilman might be stuck in a late inning role still. I thought I remember reading somewhere that the Cubs felt Heilman was the final piece to the pen or something.

Maybe Hendry can swap Wuertz or Vizcaino for a LH reliever still. Right now our pen seems very full if Heilman ends up being a 7th inning reliever for us.

Awesome, depending on how that minor league pitcher is.

Thats kinda interesting it sounds like the Tribune and Ricketts already have a deal in place now. They just need approvals from the bankruptcy court and MLB. http://chicagocubsonline.com/archives/2009/01/newsrumors12809.php#more

I just wish Zambrano can be a pretty good pitcher for 6 months ago. If you look at his numbers April though early August last year, and he's a Cy Young contender. Then in August and September he was awful besides a few starts. Zambrano was awful in April of 07, and awful in August 07, besides that he was great. The old Zambrano wouldn't have these horrible off months, sure he would have some bad months, but high 4 or 5 era months, not 6-8 era months. Personally I don't buy into this Zambrano decline stuff, I know the stats. But I think the guy is young enough, and still has the stuff to have a great season. If he never gets his head on straight for 6 months.

I agree, Soriano has said he would be willing to hit elsewhere the last two years. He said he rather leadoff, but would do whatever the Cubs wanted to do. Lou is the one who wants Soriano to leadoff, since he has hit better there over his career, and he doesn't feel we really have a better option there. Soriano missed about 10-13 games with leg issues, the other 40 games were due to that freak HBP injury. After issues with his leg in the cold weather in April, his legs were fine for the rest of the year. If Soriano legs are healthy, and he plays 140 plus games he could easily steal 30 plus bases still. As for Theriot I think he can be the base stealer he was in 06 and 07. If Lou just leaves him alone, and lets him pick his spots he can be a 22 of 26 or 24 of 29 SB guy IMO. Lou ran him like 15-17 times the first 5 weeks of the season or so, trying to make him a 40 SB type guy, which Theriot isn't.

The Yankees spent alot of money this offseason, and added some good players. But I think it's debateable on how much better they really are. Mike Mussina 08 20-9, 3.37 era CC Sabathia 08 17-10, 2.70 era *Sabathia might have a hard time matching Mussina numbers pitching in the AL East. Jason Giambi-08 247/373/876 Mark Teixeria-08 308/410/962 *Upgrade, but possibly not a huge upgrade Bob Abreu-08 296/371/843 Nick Swisher-08 219/332/743 *Possible downgrade Having Wang for another 17 starts, and AJ Burnett will help, and they should be better. But I don't think they went from a third place team last year to being unstoppable or even the favorites in the AL East this year.

And this would accomplish... a right-handed hitter that could come off the bench and hit the ball out of the infield. a 3b/1b backup, which the cubs feel they need. so a couple things, i guess. A better question would be why would Wigginton wanna come to the Cubs after hitting 285/350/876 with 23 HR last year? He's not gonna play everyday, and would probably cost as much or more then DeRosa. Wigginton is a everyday player, he's not gonna want to come off the bench. Thats a role for someone like Rich Aurilia or Kevin Millar who are towards the end of their careers.

Who, aside from Milwaukee, has taken a step back? Did Cincy, Houston, Pitt or STL really lose anybody? Well the Astros did lose Ty Wigginton who was a 285/350/876 hitter last year. I also wouldn't discount Randy Wolf 6-2, 3.57 era in 12 starts for them last year. They replaced those guys with Aaron Bonne and old Mike Hampton. The Pirates might not have taken a step back, but they haven't really taken a step forward especially when you consider they had Bay and Nady for half of last season. Pretty much the same for the Reds, but they don't have Griffey/Dunn for half the season this year. The Cardinals did lose Looper and Miles did give them good production last year. Even with Greene possibly be being better next year, plus I doubt Wellemeyer or Ludwick are as good next year.

Is that even possible? You wouldn't think so, but look at the NL teams especially the contending ones and there wasn't much improvement at all. The Dodgers lost Lowe and Manny as of right now. The Brewers lost Sabathia, Torres and Sheets as of right now(added just Hoffman). The Phillies swapped Burrell for Ibanez, Utley could miss the first month or two, and Romero is suspended for the first 50 games I believe. The Diamondbacks lost Hudson, Dunn, Johnson, Cruz, Lyon and only added Felipe Lopez. The Reds added Willy Taveras? The Cardinals only added Khalil Greene, Trever Miller, but lost Looper and Miles. The Astros lost Randy Wolf, Ty Wigginton and replaced them with Mike Hampton and Aaron Boone. The Rockies traded away Holliday, the Marlins traded away players, and that Nationals/Pirates/Giants still suck. So other then the Braves and possibly the Mets, nobody has really done much in the NL. Of course the Yankees, Indians, Rays and A's have improved in the AL, but thats still not really alot of teams. There's still alot of free agents out there, but as of right now I don't see how these teams have gotten better. So the Cubs have had a solid offseason all things considered, and I still think we will add another player or two. I think the Cubs have taken a small step back as of right now. They're probably going to win the division still, but I don't see how the offseason has been solid. There's been significant movement, but not a lot of improvment. Well sometimes half the battle is to stay a good team, and we don't really know how these moves will work out yet. Plus With the way that team choked in the playoffs the last two years, I don't think it was a bad idea to shake some things up a bit. We could have brought back the same team, and not had the same success due to health or players decline. If Wood misses 2 or 3 months next year and Gregg does well that looks like a very good move. If Fontenot/Miles platoon comes close to matching DeRosa production, that looks like a smart move. If Bradley has a 870-900 OPS and plays in 110 games or more, that looks like a good move. If Jason Marquis blows up, like he did in 06 in a free agent year, that looks like a smart move. In all honestly it's pretty hard to improve a 97 win team, I'm happy being at a simliar level again. Especially when most of the other teams have gotten worse. So when you consider were still one of the better teams in the NL, and there's still a big gap between the Cubs and the rest of the division. I gotta say it was still a pretty solid offseason. Yes on paper we might have taken a small step back, but most of the NL has, especially in our division. I think Peavy would make us better then the 08 Cubs on paper, but I think it's kinda dramtic to say if we don't get Peavy the offseason is horrible, but if we do get him it was a great offseason.

That could tell you that the Cubs made the move because they wanted Fontenot to get 400 plus AB's next year. For that to happen next year Bradley would have to miss most of the season, and if the Cubs thought that was gonna happen they wouldn't have signed him. Keep in mind Fontenot only got so many AB's at 2b last year because Soriano only played in 109 games due to that freak HBP injury. IF Bradley some how plays in 110-120 games(like the Cubs believe he will), Fontenot wouldn't have gotten that many more AB's unless he was playing SS and 3rd. Personally I don't think Fontenot would have done well at those postions, Lou tried him at SS and 3rd in spring last year, and never used him their during the season.