cubsfan26

I dunno if I should post this here, but it's pretty funny. http://www.truveo.com/Monobrow/id/3124664854

Lou is gonna want a guy off the bench who could hit the ball out of the park. If Hoffpauir isn't on the team, they will bring some veteran hitter with power to take his spot. I think Hoffpauir will be kept on the team though, just as long as he doesn't stink this spring.

1B-Derrek Lee 2b-Mike Fontenot SS-Ryan Theriot 3b- Aramis Ramirez C- Geovany Soto LF-Alfonso Soriano Cf- Kosuke Fukudome RF- Milton Bradley *Line-up could go many different ways Of-Reed Johnson If-Aaron Miles C- Paul Bako??? If/Of- Micah Hoffpauir Of-Joey Gathright 1. Carlos Zambrano 2. Rich Harden 3. Ryan Dempster 4. Ted Lilly 5. ??? trade or F/A 1. Sean Marshall(he or Gaudin will start if we don't add a pitcher) 2. Neal Cotts 3. Mike Wuertz or Luis Vizcaino(one guy gets traded) 4. Angel Guzman or Jeff Samardzija(one will be starting in minors) 5. Chad Gaudin 6. Kevin Gregg or Carlos Marmol 1. Carlos Marmol or Kevin Gregg Knowing Hendry I still say we add a SP, and will either trade Pie, Cedeno, and a reliever(Wuertz, Hart or Vizcaino) with other prospects to get that pitcher. Or trade those guys for prospects and try to restock the farm for potential midseason moves. I dunno about you guys, but on paper this team looks pretty damn good.

http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090106&content_id=3734267&vkey=news_chc&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc

Thats if you look at it that way. You could also look at as 2.8m of Marquis backloaded salary that we owed him for 07-08 anyways. With how relievers are so up and down and with Vizcaino still having good stuff, I also think it's better then a small possibility. Vizcaino claims his struggles were due to him being hurt, and not being used enough late in the year. If you take away the first two games of the season when he was probably pitching hurt(1.1 IP), and the final three weeks of the season(5.2 IP). The guys numbers are 4.03 era, 42 SO, 8 BB, 236 batting average against in 38 innings. I'm not trying to make excuses for the guy, and he still sucked last year. I'm just saying there some signs of hope that this guy could rebound next year.

Hendry got creamed for signing that deal, and even though Marquis is still slighty overpaid. This deal actually worked out quite well for us, and better then anyone would have probably expected. Marquis ended up going 23-18 with a 4.43 era in 61 starts. He was a strong 4-5 starter, and helped get us into the playoffs for two years. But I don't have any problem trading him, because the Cubs now have younger and cheaper options who can do what he does.

So they save $4.875 on this one, but are down one starter and up one more mediocre reliever. Exactly. Marquis has never been lights out, but I have a feeling fans will regret this trade later this season. I am going to wait to see who the 5th starter is and how he does before I will see if I may regret the trade. I don't see us regretting trading Marquis at all, plus 5m is alot to save and will to more then half of Bradley salary. I still think we will add another starter, but even if they don't. Chad Gaudin or Sean Marshall can both do what Marquis does. Vizcaino isn't great, but he still has good stuff. I wouldn't be surprised at all if he has a decent year next season and is a solid 6-7 inning reliever for us.

I read yesturday that the Cubs are only sending 800,000 to the Rockies, so I dunno if the 1m number is corrent. But it doesn't really matter. The Cubs are also only one the hook for 3.5m for Vizcaino this season, since his 500,000 buyout probably will go against next year payroll.

http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090106&content_id=3734267&vkey=news_chc&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc It's now offical

I actually always liked Pavano, and wouldn't have mind if the Cubs signed him to a minor league deal. But there's no way I'd give him 1.5m for 09.

Wow people are seriously actually debating if Hendry should go or not? Just a few months ago Hendry signed an extension and most Cubs fans were happy with the move(besides JeffH). Now just a few months later he makes a few moves that people don't agree with and now a few people think he needs to go? How about you see how these moves work out first? Especially when Hendry has made moves over the last two years, that many thought were bad, and they end up working out great. You would think after all the crow he has made people eat over the last two years, he would get the benefit of the doubt more often. But oh yeah, but back to back division titles and making the playoffs three times in six years shouldn't matter, because we spend money. I'm sorry but thats a bunch of crap, alot of teams spend money and weren't nearly as good as us. Just because a guy has money to spend, he shouldn't get any less credit. If spending money equals great success then tell that to fans of the Mets, Dodgers, Mariners, White Sox Tigers and others. Last year he put together one of the best teams in the NL, and right now the current team he has put together is also very good. So I don't see the problem here, the Cubs are still very good and should be right back in the playoffs next year, and with a little luck will go further. Honestly a thread like this doesn't belong on a board of his quality, this type of reactionary crap should be on a board like Cubs.com. I shouldn't be totally surprised though because this board has always been tougher on Hendry compared to others.

It's gonna take more then three bad months before I call Fukudome a bust. Lets see how he does next season, before we make any judgements. As for the rest of this garbage well ](*,) ](*,) #-o

For whatever reason guys like Ibanez and Bradley were the outfielders who got the most interest this offseason. Guys like Burrell, Dunn and Abreu have been kinda put on the back burners. Dunn and Abreu will probably have to sign for 8-10m per season as well. Even though Abreu is still asking for 3y at 48. http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ge-bradley010509&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

Kaplan changed his story in less then 5 hours. Unless he means the Cubs chances are 10 percent right now, and that could increase with a new owner, otherwise he totally flip flopped what he said earlier. I wonder if the Cubs have interest in Andy Pettitte. He's a guy I can see Hendry going after, and recall reading on a Cardinals board early in the offseason that Pettitte has met with the Cards and Cubs. It looks like he's not going back to the Yankees, and the Astros have no money. So maybe he will go to the Rangers, but he could decide to go to another contender in 09.

When are we going to get some good news this off season? I hope by using the word "obtain" you mean acquire by trade because I really don't see any affordable starting pitchers that would be an upgrade over Marshall. It's not necessarily about being an upgrade over Marshall, it's about allowing him to be in the bullpen and back up Harden. Plus I think there are a couple options through FA that are better than Marshall. Besides Sheets and Lowe? The way that Hendry had to dump Marquis and DeRosa in order to afford Bradley, I don't think the Cubs will have enough money to sign either one. Yeah not until we know who the new owner is at least.

I could see the Cubs looking at Ben Sheets, Derek Lowe, Oliver Perez, or Jon Garland. I know Garland and Perez weren't much better then Marquis, but both guys have potential to have better seasons next year. We could also possibly trade for another pitcher, with all the spare parts we still have. I still don't see us adding anymore players until we know who the new owner is gonna be though.

I agree, but Bruce Levine has mentioned the same thing. I wouldn't be surprised if the Cubs feel they can make a Peavy deal, if the new owner signs off on it. Putting Stevens(maybe one of the other prospects) in the deal might allow them not to have to trade Marshall or Guzman. But I still think we would have to get a third team to ship Pie to for a SP. There's no current talks going on but, I think the Cubs feel they can still get Peavy.

Thats very good news, and very smart move by Hendry.

I'm fully expecting the "Theriot shouldn't have the most AB's on the team" comment, but what is wrong with a .387 OBP guy (85 runs) leading off? Could be worse. There's always something to complain about, I'd save it for something more worthwhile than Theriot. He's not a .387 OBP guy just because he did it one year. I don't expect him to loop enough singles to right to keep that OBP as high. He's 29 now, and no longer the base runner he was once rumored to be. His double plays and outs on the basepaths are enough of a drag to significantly offset the one thing he does okay, which was getting on base last year. I'd bet he's be closer to his 2007 or career averages than what he OBPd in 2008. No offense, but you probably said Theriot had no shot a 350 OBP a year ago, let alone a 387 one. The guy has been a good average/OBP hitter his last few seasons in the minors, and hit in the majors besides 07. So lets see what happens, he wouldn't be the first guy to overachieve and have a good career. Personally I feel he will drop off some, but I still feel he will be a high 280s, low 290s 350-360s OBP guy. With how consistent Theriot was last year it's hard for me to feel it was a complete fluke. But I expect his baserunning to be better next year, personally I blame Lou for running him so much early in the season and trying to make Theriot something he's not. If Theriot picks his spots, he can be a 21 outta 25 or 25 of 30 type base stealer in the big leagues. Lou sending Theriot 16 times in the first month and half of the season was way too much.

It could end up that way if Lee is hitting like he did last year. But I think the Cubs will at least go into the season with Lee batting third, and expect him to have a better season.

I really doubt they group two of the three lefties at the bottom of the lineup. Yeah Theriot might be moved down to 7th or 8th, with either Fontenot or Fukudome hitting 2nd. But I guess it all depends on how the guys are hitting at the time. If Fukudome hits like he did the first three months of last year, he would be a ideal number 2 hitter.

He might get a vesting option for a 4th year, or could get a raise in salary if he plays say over 150 games or something like that.

Good move, I'm curious to hear what Hendry has to say about Bradley health reports and what test they did with him last month. Bradley pretty much gets the same contract that Raul Ibanez got last month.

I'm convinced that DeRosa won't be a 850's OPS guy next year, and I think Fontenot/Miles platoon will come close to matching DeRosa 09 numbers. Keep in mind Mike Fontenot is a career 850s OPS hitter against RH pitching in the majors, and Aaron Miles has put up a OBP of 378,368 and 377 against LH pitching the last three years. A Fontenot/Miles platoon as a good chance of being pretty productive.That 3.3m saved from getting rid of DeRosa allows us to sign Milton Bradley. If we don't trade Marquis and DeRosa I don't see how we can afford Bradley. So big picture is Bradley, Fontenot/Miles, Marshall over DeRosa and Marquis in 09. Rich Aurilia isn't signed with the Cubs, so don't get worked up over that rumor or pencil him in the line-up or payroll. I never understood why fans get themselves so worked up over rumors, that most likely never happen. Hopefully Pie, and one of those prospects we got for DeRosa will help get us Peavy or another good player. The offseason isn't over yet, and Hendry still has a few things to do. Even when the Marquis deal is offical and Bradley is offically signed, I doubt the roster is set.

I think people are getting WAY too worked up over this rumor, and honestly it's sad to see what people are saying about Hendry. Didn't we hear Aurilia rumors back at the Winter Meetings and Bruce Miles said they were false? With Kaplan being the source I need another source before I believe this. Kaplan gets alot of his rumors or information from talking to agents. In this case I wouldn't be surprised if that agent was using Kaplan to get Aurilia name out there. With having Miles around to play 3b, and Hoffpauir as a option at 1b and in the outfield. I really don't think Aurilia fits on the roster unless they plan on trading Hoffpauir or Aurilia wants to sign a very very cheap deal to play with the Cubs.