CubfaninCA

I'm going to go out on a limb and bet he'll miss 4-5 starts minimum. Maybe I'm off on this, but I swear that every time Wood goes down the Cubs lose the next 2 or 3. It is quite a punch to the gut. Wood should give the Trib $8 million of his pay, so the Cubs can sign a future replacement. That's a pretty far cut considering he's earned about $10k this year.

Getting Pierre would be a classic Trib/Hendry move. I hope they get him and sign him to a 3-4 year deal. He could be pressing this year cause it's his contract year. Thus is performance hasn't been as good as past seasons. He's only 27, so perhaps he can become a .370 obp guy. If the Cubs eventually have Pierre and Pie in the OF, they'd save lots of runs through the season. Not much will get by them. Anyone like the idea of Patterson for Pierre?? Perhaps Mota could get thrown into a larger trade??

Just par for the course w/ this guy. He better be making some good investments w/ his money, cause he may never sniff $10 million again after 2006. (I think that's when his contract expires). Maybe someone like the Mets will offer to extend his contract for another season in offseason and the Cubs can deal him for Cliff Floyd. Getting another year added could be a real wise move for Wood considering all his health problems. Perhaps he'd waive the no trade clause then. Hope so.

I want an leadoff man who has an obp of .450. Seriously, with Boston trying to resign him and the Yankees and LA in the market for CF, the Trib will probably back off. I'd be happy w/ Pierre and signing Giles. Hendry just needs to put some pieces around Lee and ARam. Also, aren't Giles and Pierre pretty durable?? That's a rarity w/ this team.

If Baker keeps him out of the 1 or 2 spot in the order, I'd like to have him. Having an above obp isn't that big of thing if you bat him 5th. I want a guy who will drive in the 1, 2, 3 and 4 hitters, and Soriano hits for power. Having three 40 home run guys would be nice. Too bad none of them bats left handed.

Maybe he's starting to catch up to his obp average over the past 3 years, which iirc is .357. It's nothing spectacular, but he does bring the dimension of speed, and seems like quite a defensive upgrade over Hairston. Would be nice to catch some lightning in the bottle ala Kenny Lofton 03. :)

I think that's a little harsh. Hendry's the same guy who got the Cubs a potential Triple Crown Winner and their first legit 3b since Santo, who also happens to be an all star. If the Moneyballers and misers had their way, Choi would still be whiffing away at 1b. AT LEAST HE'D WALK THOUGH! I think Hendry had to give Wood the benefit of the doubt and another year. Wood has pretty much proved he'll never get over the hump. I guess is that 95% of this board would have ripped apart Hendry if he dealt off Wood before this season. Me included. Altogether Hendry has given Baker the pieces to win. Baker needs alot more pieces though. If Baker had Steinbrenner as owner, maybe he could win it all. There's enough money to make up for his hard-headed philosophy.

Patterson has to take some blame. He was totally out it, but I see you're point about Baker. Patterson's a phenomenal talent, who may never break through.

Are you kidding us? You list those names and not one name from the bullpen? What Cub team have you been watching? There was little expectations for the bullpen as usual. The only one w/ expectations, Hawkins, was dealt. Some, if not most, figured JoBo was done w/out the juice. Remlinger was on his last leg last year. I'm not going to blame a bunch of no-name kids for this team's failure. It falls on the injury prone "stars", the "manager" and Mr. Great Expectations, Patterson.

I nearly threw Maddux in there, but at least he shows up every 5 days and has produced some. Also, his $6 million isn't a budget killer given his performance. He could kill this team next year though, if he's uppped to $9 million.

That pretty much summarizes why this team isn't 10-15 over .500. Some still want to complain about the Sosa deal/fiasco, which put the organization in a financial bind this year. However, those same people would have probably really griped if the Cubs just let Sosa walk 4 years ago. Baker has finally given in and is putting people who actually get on base in front of the potential Triple Crown Winner. However, the Neifi/Patterson experiment killed this team. Also, there's a plethora of other errors. But at least the guy's changing some. Maybe his job isn't so safe now. Nomar he can't even play for a month. If he asks for more than $2 million next year, he should be chased out of Chicago. You have to be kidding me. With Wood it's just the same ol, same ol. The Cubs essentially threw $18 million or so down the toilet this year w/ Nomar and Wood. Patterson I can emphasize w/ some. I think Baker hasn't helped him along much. However, he hasn't come close to living up to expectations.

Biggest problem w/ getting Harang is that Wood will most likely block a trade to Cincy since he has a no trade clause. Since Kerry has a home in Arizona, perhaps he'll accept a trade to a west coast team. Maybe the Cubs can pull a deal w/ the Anaheim Angels in the winter or the Dodgers. I hope so. That $10 million can be spent on guys who actually play on a consistent basis.

I never was a pitcher. Was a fielder, so I don't know much about mechanics. Was more of a basketball player actually... Anyway, is Wood just stubborn or is it that he doesn't have the intelligence to learn proper mechanics. I've seen this written before about his mechanics. Wood never struck me as the sharpest knife. Maybe three years at USC w/ Prior would have helped him. :) I seriously doubt that Wood is capable of hanging with Prior (much less Gerut! The guy's apparently some kind of brainiac) academically. I didn't see, nor did I hear today's game (fortunately!) - but from what I've read here, it sounds like Kerry started missing his spots early and getting behind on the hitters. He's a guy who likes to dominate and has done so (again, when he's on and healthy) since he was a young teenager - so my theory is that when he started losing ground, he panicked, resorted to some old bad habits (poor mechanics), and got himself into more trouble game-wise and most probably another stint on the DL. Everyone is sick of this euphemism called shoulder stiffness - at least, the fans sure as heck are. If Kerry is going to succeed in any major league club for any sustainted length of time, he has got to keep his head and stick with the game plan even during those times that he for some reason cannot pitch his "A" game. I mean, Greg Maddux has gotten shelled plenty in the last two seasons we've seen him pitch, yet thus far (crossing fingers) he still manages to bring the big game when the team needs it (he stepped up the first half considerably from his usual form when Wood and Prior went down this season), and has been putting up 15-win seasons (yeah, I know, but it's still an impressive stat) seemingly forever. I'm sure Rothschild has been talking to him; I'm sure Maddux has said a few words; and I'm sure Kerry is sick of hearing it. But the guy's got to learn that while he does have dominating stuff, he has to rein things in -- he's not some freak of nature like Randy Johnson or Roger Clemens. Kid K of the 20 Ks is gone, but the man who's left has the POTENTIAL to be a good pitcher... IF HE USES HIS BRAIN. Otherwise, we have a less-violent, $10 million Farnsworth on our hands. I think that's a real good analysis, especially the part about Farnsworth. Kerry just sounds like a stubborn Texan. Lots of those around. :)

This same scenario has played out too many times w/ this guy. Odds are 2/5 that Wood won't be pitching by next week. If Wood was a horse, I wouldn't even place him in my superfecta. Perhaps this is harsh, but dude makes $10 million a year. Seems like he's too lazy intellectually to fix his problem. I hope one of Hendry's main reasons in signing Maddux wasn't to straighten out Wood.

Your post is my exact setiments. how about getting him healthy and win five games then trade him to boston for Matt "never been on the DL "Clement. Oh that right many on this board thought I was nut for being an advocate for a durable inning eating potentially Cy Young awarding pitcher. I'll settle for Dunn also I was one who was glad to see Clement go. He was never consistent w/ the Cubs. Great one game. So so the next and awful the next. Iirc he got $8 mil. per year and that was too much. I don't think Clement will keep it up. I have to give Hendry props for getting Jerome Williams. Williams may not be stellar, but it seems he can eat some innings ate least. Hendry hasn't been perfect, but I give him a solid B overall.

It's no surprise whatsoever that Farns would come back to Chicago and implode. Dude needed a change of scenery. What the Moneyballers refuse to do is add psychology to their baseball formulas. Baseball players are not robots. Also, I think the Cubs considered Farns more or less an idiot, and wanted his influence out.

I never was a pitcher. Was a fielder, so I don't know much about mechanics. Was more of a basketball player actually... Anyway, is Wood just stubborn or is it that he doesn't have the intelligence to learn proper mechanics. I've seen this written before about his mechanics. Wood never struck me as the sharpest knife. Maybe three years at USC w/ Prior would have helped him. :)

Sheesh he can't even stay healthy enough to deal him. I gave up on him after his last injury. He's damaged goods. Thankfully they got Rusch, who I was hoping they'd deal off. Would love to see Hendry get Burnett along w/ Dunn. Not sure if he has enough to offer though. Then deal Wood off in the offseason, as more or less a salary dump. Pick up some good prospects, whatever. Kerry's probably not worth much, if anything. I hope Kerry makes me eat this post, but I highly doubt it.

Baseball's situational????????????????? :)

They lost another today and perhaps their luck is running out. It's amazing they're 14 over still and have been outscored by their opponents this year. How would Bill James explain this?? :) I'm glad to see Washington slowing down, because I think catching Atlanta would be very difficult. Cox is so much better than Dusty it's not even funny.

Hairston > Sosa

I'd like to have him but.... Since NY's in the wild card race and needs more offense, it would probably take quite a bit to pickup Floyd.. With LA falling off the face of the earth, the Cubs chances of getting Dunn are getting better.

Omg! I didn't realize Thome was having such a poor year. Even Giambi's outproducing him. Seems the Phils will have to eat some of his deal. Jmo but stay away. Thome = Nomar. Basically, money thrown down the toilet.

It doesn't look like Thome has much range. Lee's one of the few 1b's in the league I could see playing outfield.

Who plays 2b and cf for the Cubs?? I'm guessing Hairston in cf. Neifi at 2b?? :(