CubfaninCA

What, I'm not supposed to throw out figures now? This is a message board for cryin' out loud. What are we supposed to talk about? While Giles was my favorite direction this offseason, I didn't say it was the ONLY direction. I would have been fine with a combination of Wilkerson, Bradley, Michaels, Huff, Floyd, etc... Guys who can get on base at a healthy clip. Spread it around if need be. Don't give a guy 15m if you know you can get 3 or 4 guys with "good" OBP's rather than 1 awesome OBP. I really don't care. But, to fill your line up with Neifi Perez, Jacque Jones and Alfonso Soriano, the team is just falling into the same trap they always fall into. Lack of plate discipline and lack of OBP. Throw all you want, while I throw in the reality of the organization we're talking about. I still think they have a shot @ adding Huff, Gonzo or Floyd for LF.

Drew may become available, but the Cubs probably don't have the right mix of players. They'll probably want a proven hitter back, and Walker doesn't fit when they already have Kent. Also, they may want back a #3 pitcher. JWill isn't quite there yet.. Andd jmo agaaain, LA probably shops Odalis Perez and Lowe before Drew Of course, they probably need to lock up Weaver before shopping either.

Texas is the only hitter's park in that division. The NL Central is one of the best hitter's divisions in baseball. I don't think you'd see much of a drop in his production if he came to the Cubs. But, guys like Jacque Jones, Alfonso Soriano are guys that I have never felt were a good fit for the Cubs. The emphasis should be on adding players with a history of good OBP. Why management doesn't see this is beyond me. Don't 6 of the 8 positions have good obp? Give me more ops. No. Murton is unproven and could go either way in LF. Pierre is coming off a .330 OBP season. Jones can't get on base at all. Cedeno is unproven at SS. Walker won't be here, so that leaves Perez who can't get on base to save his life. Barrett is a career .320 OBP guy, and his .345 last year was good, but not great. Ramirez is pretty average driven in his OBP. Only Lee has a proven BB/PA. Well, if we're taking the glass half empty approach, Hendry better upgrade in LF. LF may have the biggest supply of hitters out there. Swing a deal for Floyd or Gonzo. Platoon Murton w/ Jock.

We do need to win now. If the Cubs went out and won the World Series this year or next year, would we really care if Giles turned into a Luis Gonzalez production wise outfielder for his final year? If it appeared he was going to turn into that type of player, couldn't the Cubs have picked up 5m or so of his final year and shipped him back to San Diego? We don't know if he would have signed with the Cubs. At 13-15m a year for 3 years, I think he would have. No team offered him that much. He signed so quickly with San Diego because if he didn't, he wouldn't have been able to go back if the Padres didn't offer arbitration, which I doubt they would have. They came up with that offer at or near the final days that he could still return to the Padres or wait until May 1. The offers entertained didn't appear to me to be any better than what San Diego finally matched. I don't blame him for staying if the club you are now with in the town you'd prefer to be in is basically offering up the same deals that have been offered elsewhere. Sure, he could have gambled that some team would have coughed up 13m eventually, but since no one had done it yet, why risk not being able to resign with the Padres? Surely, it was a gamble to pay top dollar for Giles considering he'd be 35-37 over the life of the contract. But, Moises Alou didn't completely disappoint (some were more enamored with him than others) over the life of his contract, and he was also 35, 36 and 37 during that contract. Heck, he was even better at age 38 last year. It's easy to throw out figures when you're not the guy whose butt's on the line if an aging player takes a major slide halfway through a $45 million contract. Just as you're definite Giles would have taken a 3 & 45, I'm definite Trib higher ups would have stopped such a deal dead in it's tracks. That's just a heck of a lot of money for an aging ballplayer.

Cardinal luck >>>>>>> Cub luck Eckstein will tear apart the league again, so Eck > Cedeno

Texas is the only hitter's park in that division. The NL Central is one of the best hitter's divisions in baseball. I don't think you'd see much of a drop in his production if he came to the Cubs. But, guys like Jacque Jones, Alfonso Soriano are guys that I have never felt were a good fit for the Cubs. The emphasis should be on adding players with a history of good OBP. Why management doesn't see this is beyond me. Don't 6 of the 8 positions have good obp? Give me more ops.

How he is not better? Better contract, better player. There's no chance that Jones will outproduce Sanders, none. It'll take some sort of fluke year from Jones that hasn't happened in about 3 years for him to get close to Sanders. I'd love to see how Jones was a better option. It doesn't exist. Defense doesn't make up that difference. Those 90some games Sanders played last year don't impress me whatsoever, and Cardinal numbers are as inflated as Coors numbers.

You would think so according to this site. I think Hendry's had an awful two years though, but I won't go as far as to call him "crappy". I've been very dissappointed with him the last two years. nobody has done less with as much payroll, i'm not judging hendry based on nothing here. he didn't significantly upgrade OBP and refuses to even acknowledge that it was a problem. I guess Pierre's no upgrade over Patterson or Neifi leading off??

I'd take a $10 million/year job in SoCal over a $12 million job in Chicago or NY. I'm insane tho. ;) i'd question whether any of us would know what we'd do if we lived in the dreamworld of professional sports. Cmon we'd all play for the Cubs for Walker money. ;) If it's any job besides sports, I'm in SoCal tho. If I grew up in SoCal, I'd stay here for sure and play for my favorite team as a kid. I'm taking a wild guess that Giles grew up a SD fan.

And you know I'm wrong how? The Cubs didn't try. They could have got him if they tried hard enough, the question is only how hard did they have to try. With this line of reasoning, the Cubs should never even try to bid for any free agent with ties to a warmer climate that has a local team. That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Well, the fact that he resigned w/ SD is pretty significant, and he ended the free agency process pretty early when he could have gotten more. Toronto's been wheelin and dealin this offseason. Surely, they would have thrown some big money @ Giles.

why did giles sign a huge contract with pittsburgh in the first place, then? Giles wasn't tearing up the league back then and who did SD have in RF?

um.... 1. not all players make their homes in the cities that they play in. they also spend half of their time on the road anyway, so it's not really a big deal to live in san diego and play somwhere else. 2. players accept more money all the time to change venues. JD Drew was born and raised in Georgia, yet accepted 55 mil to play in LA. maddux could have gone to san diego, but accepted more money to play for the cubs. it's absolutely insane to suggest that players aren't affected by money, especially today. 3. giles would be a cub at 3/39, believe it. 4. by your logic, it's a wonder why anyone would sign with the cubs, considering that there are much more climatically hospitable places to play. why doesn't hawaii have a team? last time i checked, baseball was played primarily in the summer. and even in april, you're going to have to travel somewhere cold to play--the padres don't have any more home games than the cubs. If I was from GA, I'd move as far west as possible too. :)

I'd take a $10 million/year job in SoCal over a $12 million job in Chicago or NY. I'm insane tho. ;)

San Diego almost lost him. There was a 2 week period when they pretty much stopped talking to each other. That's when you pounce. And guys move their families all the time, whether or not they are already rich. Ice cold Wrigley? It's freaking hot most of the season, and players don't have to live there in the offseason, their families don't even always follow them during the season. Some people value family over money and Giles got what he wanted from SD. It's ok to be wrong from time to time.

Jones beats the helloutta Burnitz or Patterson in RF. People set their sights way too high for RF given who was available, i.e. nobody good. i want your reasoning on why jones "beats the hell outta burnitz". Younger, better d and speed. Burnitz is bound for a .700 ops. Going forward he'll be better sure. I think what Sulley was getting at was that Jones isn't going to be much of an improvement over last year's Burnitz, which is what was being referenced with the improvement of the club. Ah. I'm just referring to 2006. As a betting man, I put my money on Jones outproducing Burnitz by 70 points in ops and Burnitz hitting the DL by June. Yes, Burnitz has been pretty durable through his career, but things change the closer you get to 40.

Bowden seems like the type of guy who really values someone like Soriano. Who could the Cubs have thrown @ Bowden to outbid TX?? Pie & Hill? Sanders is not a better option btw. As for Bradley, Oakland gave up a real good prospect & doesn't sound like Coletti wants to deal w/ the Cubs.

I think that is an absurd statement. Fans of a 100m payroll team can't be accused of setting their sights too high when there were RF available and the team had roughly $30m to spend, and a huge hole in RF. This is the same type of reasoning that fans should be happy with back to back +.500 seasons. The solutions play 2b, SS & LF. Luis Gonzalez, Floyd, Tejada & Soriano are more likley options than any good RFer. Move the Cubs to Long Beach & they could probably have both Kent & Giles right now. Location counts.

Jones beats the helloutta Burnitz or Patterson in RF. People set their sights way too high for RF given who was available, i.e. nobody good. i want your reasoning on why jones "beats the hell outta burnitz". Younger, better d and speed. Burnitz is bound for a .700 ops.

Jones beats the helloutta Burnitz or Patterson in RF. People set their sights way too high for RF given who was available, i.e. nobody good.

Pierre's not crap and was Prior really on the block? I'm not buying Levine's "report" hook, line and sinker. I'm buying pieces of Levine's report (Cubs interest in Tejada, and Orioles wanting pitching and Pie), but I have never believed Prior was offered up, especially so early in the negotiation. If he was, it should tell us a lot about Hendry's confidence in Wood and Guzman. I can buy that he'd give up Hill, Pie & Williams for Tejada. Dealing Prior makes no sense considering Hendry's philosophy. Unless there's a major rift w/ the organization.

Pierre's not crap and was Prior really on the block? I'm not buying Levine's "report" hook, line and sinker.

I agree. Especially if we don't have to break up the rotation. He's not the impact bat we want, but I think he can make an impact. The 1 & 2 hitters not getting on was a big problem, but Lee & ARam getting stranded by Burnitz was a big problem too.

You and I would. Unfortunately, it comes down to Colletti and Hendry. Jmo but it comes down to McCourt not wanting to take another beating from the LA media. They'll have to get a nice return if they deal off Kent. Jmo again, but Drew's more likely.

Agree w/ everything except 4. Kent's the guy they should have signed for 2005 cause he'll give you about 100 points more in ops and he's quite durable. Unfortunately, he's probably just another guy who preferred coming home to SoCal. Also, I don't see LA trading their best offensive player from last year away. McCourt spent a bunch of money on PR to help absorb the beating he's taken from the media. Apparently, the PR team told him to spend money. Too bad the Chicago media never crucifies the Cubs like the LA Times did to McCourt this past year.

Kent >> Walker