CubfaninCA

I give the offseason a C. Howry, Eyre & Pierre are nice additions, but Hendry has not pulled off a deal for a much needed impact player...

The decline of the team is due mostly to the pitching, but what is important to remember is that the team wasn't that good back then anyway. And the recent they weren't that good was because hitting held them back. Even with a top pitching staff each year they only accumulated the 4th and 6th highest win totals in the league. All of their success was due to pitching, even as limited as the success was. As unimpressive as that 2003 lineup was, it holds up against the current group. The 2003 OF was much much better than what the OF is right now. And they finished 9th in runs scored, just like the 2005 version, and probably close to what the 2006 version will be. So basically we're counting on a return to glory for the pitching staff, and even then the team is at the mercy of the competence of the competition, because 88/89 wins is no guarantee for anything. So being 1 game away from the World Series = not that good? Can you ever give this organization any credit?? That club was real good after the additions of Lofton & Ramirez. 88 win regular seasons aren't really good. If you want to settle for 88 win seasons, feel free, but don't push that crap off to me and call it really good. When this organization does what it should I will give them credit, thus far they have not. Classic. Figured people would disregard how well the team performed after the additions of Lofton & Ramirez. It was a .500 prior to them. Anything to keep from giving Hendry credit, I guess.... Man, you really got it out for me don't you. Big picture my friend. I don't care about their record over 50 games 3 years ago. Hendry has done a poor job overall. I got it out for erroneous analysis. The bottom line is that the Cubs were really good in September & October when it really mattered. That club wins 95 games minimum, if Lofton & ARam are with them all year in 03. Can you admit that Hendry did a great job in 03??

The decline of the team is due mostly to the pitching, but what is important to remember is that the team wasn't that good back then anyway. And the recent they weren't that good was because hitting held them back. Even with a top pitching staff each year they only accumulated the 4th and 6th highest win totals in the league. All of their success was due to pitching, even as limited as the success was. As unimpressive as that 2003 lineup was, it holds up against the current group. The 2003 OF was much much better than what the OF is right now. And they finished 9th in runs scored, just like the 2005 version, and probably close to what the 2006 version will be. So basically we're counting on a return to glory for the pitching staff, and even then the team is at the mercy of the competence of the competition, because 88/89 wins is no guarantee for anything. So being 1 game away from the World Series = not that good? Can you ever give this organization any credit?? That club was real good after the additions of Lofton & Ramirez. 88 win regular seasons aren't really good. If you want to settle for 88 win seasons, feel free, but don't push that crap off to me and call it really good. When this organization does what it should I will give them credit, thus far they have not. Classic. Figured people would disregard how well the team performed after the additions of Lofton & Ramirez. It was a .500 prior to them. Anything to keep from giving Hendry credit, I guess....

Hidalgo would be a very good bench option and plays very good defense. He would make a great 4th outfielder. He would make a decent platoon option for Jones (he doesn't have tradition LR splits, but hits lefties better than Jones), but also a very easy excuse for Dusty to bench Murton. He'd automatically become the best bench player, which doesn't say much considering how bad the bench is right now. Now I can buy Hidalgo over Murton. Grissom over Murton's still quite far-fetched, imo....

The decline of the team is due mostly to the pitching, but what is important to remember is that the team wasn't that good back then anyway. And the recent they weren't that good was because hitting held them back. Even with a top pitching staff each year they only accumulated the 4th and 6th highest win totals in the league. All of their success was due to pitching, even as limited as the success was. As unimpressive as that 2003 lineup was, it holds up against the current group. The 2003 OF was much much better than what the OF is right now. And they finished 9th in runs scored, just like the 2005 version, and probably close to what the 2006 version will be. So basically we're counting on a return to glory for the pitching staff, and even then the team is at the mercy of the competence of the competition, because 88/89 wins is no guarantee for anything. So being 1 game away from the World Series = not that good? Can you ever give this organization any credit?? That club was real good after the additions of Lofton & Ramirez.

You think Kerry would have been ticked off if they shut him down w/ 50 too go?? Too bad Kerry has a heart.... I guess....

This is where you'd need a follow-up. Okay, so he said you couldn't do more damage, but given the likelihood that Wood will not be ready for opening day, would you not have been better off having him get the surgery a month earlier and starting his rehab earlier? And even though the doctor said he wouldn't suffer anymore damager, wouldn't common sense tell you that a pitching injury could be made worse by pitching? And given your terrible track record of having pitchers stay healthy, and get back to healthy after injuries, don't you think that taking the cautious approach with this one, would have been the wise approach? Common sense vs. Medical School & years of medical experience. Hmm Answer: Why does a $100 million team give up with 50 games to go. Wood pitched quite well out of the pen. He pitched 12 innings out of the pen before he had to go under the knife. The Cubs were 5 games out of the WC and behind 6 other teams when he started pitching in relief. How many teams have came back from 5 down w/ 50some to go? The problem w/ all this wishful thinking is that Wood didn't want to be shutdown. Considering he's one of the top talents on the team who has been w/ the club for about the longest time, if not longest, aaaand they were in the wildcard hunt, it was best to let him pitch....

This is where you'd need a follow-up. Okay, so he said you couldn't do more damage, but given the likelihood that Wood will not be ready for opening day, would you not have been better off having him get the surgery a month earlier and starting his rehab earlier? And even though the doctor said he wouldn't suffer anymore damager, wouldn't common sense tell you that a pitching injury could be made worse by pitching? And given your terrible track record of having pitchers stay healthy, and get back to healthy after injuries, don't you think that taking the cautious approach with this one, would have been the wise approach? Common sense vs. Medical School & years of medical experience. Hmm Answer: Why does a $100 million team give up with 50 games to go. Wood pitched quite well out of the pen.

Kinda odd that Rusch has supposedly moved ahead of Williams when Williams started ahead of him last year. Am assuming that Hendry would really like to package Williams in a trade...

Why didn't they ask for Lee & Prior too. Idiot organization.

Last time I looked, 48th out of 50 states. But, it might be 49th. :shock: BigbadB went to school in Illinois. :D Iirc 41st out of 50. The deep south fills out the bottom half. A lot of kids in CA don't speak English as their first language. :) The state has a great higher ed system tho.

they'll want the entire farm for huff.

18 homers and .770 ops. I bet he misses 40 games. He'll catch the Nomar Wood bug.

Could they be cutting payroll? They're going to fill Wrigley regardless.

So you're saying we should have given Corey another chance, then. Corey had more than an off year. Jock's ops was much better than .602.

Too bad Anaheim's a smart organization and wouldn't deal Kennedy straight up for Walker.

Maybe can spin some prospects off to Tampa in a 3 way deal using Walker.

They have new ownership and a new GM. I don't think the book is out on them yet. Good to know. Can they send us Huff too then. :)

Tampa has to be one of the most difficult teams to deal with. Are they asking for Prior?

Absolutely.

Gone. Someone already mentioned that Aramis is the one with the most tenure of all position players now. Wow. That sort of turnover doesn't exactly breed success... Thank you Ed Lynch. Well, do you think continuity helps? Obviously, if you have a team of scrubs, it doesn't, but don't you think it's a little odd that the longest tenured everyday player on a major market team with a top 10 farm system has been here for 2.5 years? I'm a big believer in continuity. Hendry's far from great, but he acquired Lee, ARam, Barrett and Murton, who are all guys who could be everyday players in Chicago for another 5 years. Lynch makes Hendry look pretty good in comparison.

Gone. Someone already mentioned that Aramis is the one with the most tenure of all position players now. Wow. That sort of turnover doesn't exactly breed success... Thank you Ed Lynch.

I would say he has a chance to be decent in Baltimore but not in Chicago. And why is that? Isn't it possible that Patterson, could benefit from a change of scenery in the similar fashion Barrett did? With Barrett, did the Cubs hitting instructors get the credit for turning him into one of the better offensive catchers? Same could be said about Derrek Lee and Ramirez. Getting the boo birds off his rearend will help a lot. It's one thing to be booed by the opposition's fans... Another when it's your own.

Let him be a backup OF. He's security if Pierre gets hurt, then if he gets hot you can spin him at the deadline. Like USS brought up, we hardly got anything for him, so it's not a huge deal if that deal isn't there next offseason, and there's a decent likelihood it will be. Keeping Corey would have been an inhuman, not to mention a media fiasco. I agree 100%. I was half-hoping the Cubs would either (a) keep CPatt as a $3M AAA player or (b) trade him for some other team's underachieving "talent" who also needs a change of scenery, or © make CPatt the last piece of a larger trade for an impact bat. That said, I don't have a big problem with this trade as long as the Cubs aren't paying Corey's salary (did I miss something or has this fact been reported yet??) I actually like the upside of this Spears kid from what I've read about him ... scrappy players tend to fly under the radar. Spears sounds like the type of guy people around here have been pining for. Someone w/ plate discipline is a nice change.

Good for him. I'd be glad he's doing well. Ditto. The kid needs a change of scenery. The last thing he needs are a bunch of fans anxiously waiting to boo him.