cubsfan26

It depends on what we would be paying Aurilia, if we sign him to a 1y at 800,000 deal he would cost around the same as Cedeno. I rather not sign Aurilia, but I don't he's horrible either. Aurilia still can crush LH pitching, so if you limit his AB's against RH pitching he could be a effective bench player for you. I still would be surprised if we sign Aurilia though. The only way I think he comes here is because he wants to win. I doubt Hendry will give him more money then other teams will. The Giants reportly want him back as insurance at 1b and 3b, so I can see them offering him more money then the Cubs would.

I doubt LoDuca will get much money(he was released by the Nationals last year). There's a reason why Henry Blanco isn't coming back and thats because he cost too much. If we sign LoDuca I doubt he would get much more then Bako would have. Both guys will probably end up signing for 600,000-800,000 next year.

Hudson is probably gonna be hurt most of the season. Lowe is now their number 1, followed by Jurrjens or Vazquez. They signed Kenshin Kawakami to be their number 4 starter. They will let Jo Jo Reyes, Campillo and Morton battle for the 5th spot, with Hanson being the long shot.

Exactly, anybody who thinks otherwise is just overreacting or complaining to complain. The Cubs aren't stupid they know Mark DeRosa is alot better then Aaron Miles. Mark DeRosa hit 275/367/842 against RH pitching(also hit well in the playoffs), so it's not like his bat was killing us against RH pitching. Miles was brought in to help Fontenot and back up other infield postions. He wasn't brought in to play everyday, or replace DeRosa. The Cubs decided to go with Fontenot/Miles over DeRosa, and save money to use towards Bradley and another SP.

You're just thinking negative, and thinking the Cubs are stupid. Why would they not play a guy who's a career 300/379/853 hitter against RH pitching in 404 AB's? Plus it's not like Fontenot is in Lou doghouse, Lou really likes Fontenot.

http://chicagocubsonline.com/archives/2009/01/cubrumors11009.php#more I hope the Wolf stuff isn't true, I know Hendry has always liked him and he has simliar stuff to Lilly. But Wolf is really inconsistent, and his health is also a issue. Last season was the first time since 2003 that he made over 30 starts. From 05-07 Wolf made 12-18 starts and was pretty bad. There seems like a good amount of interest in Wolf as well, so he won't come cheap. So hopefully potential ownership doesn't get in the way of us getting Peavy.

I wouldn't add soon to be 31 year old Ryan Ludwick to part of a young core, especially since it's no sure thing he repeats last seasons numbers. Plus Rick Ankiel is a free agent at the end of the season, you can't really count on him as part of the core yet. So then if Wallace or Rasmus end up being a bust, then that core really isn't that impressive. So you can giggle over the Cubs young core of players. But I don't think Soto, Marmol, Zambrano(same age as Wainwright), and Vitters in the future is all that much worse then what the Cardinals have going. The big difference of course is the Cards have Albert Pujols and the Cubs don't.

Because Hendry still wants to add a SP, and has even came out and said that a few times. Our payroll is still at 137-140m with Gregg getting arbitration, and if we keep Cedeno/Wuertz. Getting rid of Cedeno, Wuertz or Vizcaino could shed 2m or so though. If Hendry didn't plan on making more moves, I don't think he would have backloaded his salary to 7m.

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/1369181,CST-SPT-cub09.article So break down is 7m in 2009(including 2m signing bonus) 11m in 2010(including 2m signing bonus) 12m in 2011(with 2m buyout if Bradley health is a serious problem) So if Bradley is hurt a ton the next two years, we're risking 2y at 20m.

I'm still curious to see the offical contract details. But it's good to see that Bradley will only cost 7m towards next year payroll. Right now after trading Marquis/DeRosa, and adding Miles/Bradley. I see our payroll at around 133.5m. Adding Gregg salary to that at around 4.5-5m. Puts our payroll at around 138m next year. If we keep Wuertz/Cedeno it would put us at 140m or so. Trading Wuertz, Pie, Cedeno could take 2.5m or so off the books. We also could try to trade Vizcaino even if we have to eat 1.5m or so of his salary. My point is if we can get the payroll at around 148m or so next year we can fit Peavy in the budget.

It all depends on how much Bradley is hurt. I personally don't think 20-25 games of Hoffpauir starting in right with Gathright playing defense late in the game, and 10-15 games of Johnson in CF with Fukudome moving over to RF against LH pitching. Is really all that much of a downgrade when you factor in DeRosa production is likely to drop off. But I guess it all depends on how good you feel Hoffpauir can be even in limited playing time. Of thats when we either pick up a veteran off the scrap heap like Edmonds last year or make a trade for a guy. But I'm comfortable with the options we have for now. Considering how well Hoffpauir has hit in Triple A the last three years, and how well he hit in 33 games(77 AB's) in the majors last year. I know going with young guys often scares people, but the options we have aren't bad. I wouldn't be totally surprised if we bring in a veteran who could play 1b/OF either. A guy I can see them maybe going after is Eric Hinske, if they can get him really cheap. But I can see Hoffpauir being that type of player in the big leagues.

I don't think you realize he's making fun of you. If we have 5-7 star players hit the DL next year, it's gonna take alot more then Mark DeRosa to make things better. Especially when you consider DeRosa is most likely gonna have a drop off in production. But this team has enough depth to make up for injuries. Just as long as were not really unlucky, but very few teams are.

Fontenot is no DeRosa, period. Fontenot doesn't have to be DeRosa, he just needs to keep hitting like he has against RH pitching for another 150 AB's or so.

If that happens, not even the great Mark DeRosa could save us. Last seasons numbers would disagree with you. But Johnson wouldn't really get anymore AB's. Hoffpauir might get 60-70 more AB's, depending on Bradleys health. But Soriano playing and having 579-600 plus AB's makes up for at least half of Fontenot AB's in 2008. So like I said people are making this move out to be much worse then it really is.

Ok? Do you really seriously think Lou will have a bench with no guys that can hit the ball out of the park. Plus if Hoffpauir isn't on the team who's our back up 1b? If anything that tells me Hoffpauir has a pretty good chance to make the team. Unless of course we still add someone this offseason. Miles will be getting more then 150 AB's, but the other 150-200 will be taken from Ronny Cedeno. But I don't think you realize that Fontenot only got the amount of AB's he did last year, due to Soriano missing so many games with the freak HBP injury. That made DeRosa have 100-125 more AB's in the outfield then he would normally have. Put it this way, if Fontenot gets 400 AB's at 2b, were is Miles gonna get all his AB's at? Unless Miles is backing up at SS/3b, pinch hitting, so he's pretty much taking most of Cedeno AB's. DeRosa being able to play outfield and replace Soriano for a long peroid of time was the only reason why Fontenot got so many AB's last year. So it's not ridiculous, it's common sense to know that Fontenot and our outfielders will be taking up most of the AB's next year. Thats unless the Cubs decide to start using Miles in the outfield, but I hope there not that stupid.

How so? They got rid of a valuable versatile bat and replaced the versatility with Aaron Miles. What he said gave no indication that he forgot about Fontenot. Because most of DeRosa AB's are going to go to Fontenot, Bradley, Hoffpauir, Johnson and Soriano. He makes it sound like were replacing DeRosa with Aaron Miles. If you put it that way then that does sound terrible. If he realized how good Fontenot was, and that he will be getting most of the playing time. He would realize that losing DeRosa isn't as bad as the media is making it out to be. Seriously Mike Fontenot has hit 300/379/853 in 404 AB's against RH pitching the last two years. Even if he's not that good those stats tell me he's likely to be pretty good still.

Yet another person that forgets Mike Fontenot is on the roster. Aaron Miles might take 150 AB's of DeRosa AB's and most of those will likely be against LH pitching. The rest of DeRosa AB's will be made up by Bradley, Hoffpauir, Johnson, and a more healthy Soriano in 09. Aaron Miles is going to take more AB's from Ronny Cedeno then anybody. But I guess it takes up too research for these people to realize this. Chris Deluca also wrote a stupid story today about how Miles isn't a everyday player and will be at 2b.(*,)

can't expect anything less from CSN. Its everything. The score just tlost its feed too. Cubs.com still had it going. I like what I heard from Milton today.

It sounds like Bradley really wanted to come here since day one.

This is a good but I dunno if it really upgrades the Brewers bullpen all that much. Salomon Torres was pretty good for them for most of last season, even though he ran out of gas late in the year. I guess it all depends on what Hoffman shows up next year. But at age 41 and leaving Petco, you would think his numbers wouldn't be as good next year. The Brewers bullpen still looks very bad right now with Riske, Villanueva/McClung, Stetter, Tom Coffey and maybe Mark DiFelice. You would think their still planning on adding another reliever or two.

Smoltz might not play either, he's coming off another shoulder surgery, and is 42. Risking 5.5m on Smoltz and I'm sure a few million on Baldelli is risky. But when you have money to spend, and have a good farm. You can take these risk without it really hurting you much. Neither of moves should give Cubs fans any reason to bash Hendry. Infact if Hendry spent 8m on these two guys, most fans would probably be pissed off right now. Most people just complain to complain, if the moves Hendry made this offseason work out, people will love them. Just like they did in the past few seasons, after hating them at first.

Haha, Edgar Renteria, Julio Lugo, Matt Clement, Jason Vartiek, JD Drew(maybe Mike Lowell new deal) and even Curt Schilling last season say hello. I'm not saying Hendry is a better GM then Theo Epstein, because Theo is better. But the reason I really think he's a better GM, is because the Red Sox have gotten great production from their farm system, and the Cubs haven't. But if you wanna compare them on bad contracts given out or overpaying players, it's alot closer then people realize. Keeper you really need to bring these posts to the Cubs.com board.

Gallardo, Parra, Bush, Suppan and Capuano/McClung right now. But they will probably still add another starter though. They been rumored to have alot of interest in Braden Looper. As for Hoffman, I would rather have him go to the Dodgers then Brewers, but I don't think he helps them all that much.

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/jan/07/padres-towers-no-money-for-hoffman/?padres This is the first time in a while, I have felt pretty good about a potential Peavy deal. The fact that Hendry basically has his roster in place, and has spare parts like Pie, Cedeno, Stevens or Wuertz or Guzman or Hart around. Add those guys with Vitters, Castillo, Atkins and others with a third team getting involved we might be able to get something done. Hendry/Towers are pretty good friends, and other then adding a SP pitcher, and getting ride of some spare parts, Hendry offseason is basically done. Making a Peavy deal could get both things done at once. I'm also starting to wonder what the Phillies were really gonna trade to get DeRosa(maybe it wasn't Happ). It's possible that they were planning on giving up simliar talent we got from the Indians, and trading DeRosa was just to get his salary off the books. The fact that we have our RF now, got DeRosa/Marquis salary off the books, and got guys like Gathright/Miles for the bench. That puts us in a better postion to get a Peavy deal done. Depending on how much Bradley salary is backloaded or not, the Cubs payroll is current around the 140m range. Maybe they can get the Padres to take 2m of Vizcaino salary, and trade Wuertz to clear 3-3.5m of more salary. I still think we will have to wait until we know who the knew owner is, but hopefully that comes next week sometime.

I'm not surprised at all that there aren't current talks with the Cubs and Padres. The Cubs can't add him until they get a new owner, so they will wait until then to ask about Peavy.