CubfaninCA

A full time platoon w/ Jones would be great, but can't see it given the money & years. Perhaps they can get a guy who can face the lefties a third of the time though. Dusty does like to rest his guys. Jones can just come into the game in 7th or 8th as a defensive replacement.

Nice thread. Lots of issues tackled. Any rumor of Rondell White or is he staying in the AL?

Jones will be useful in 75% of the games and it will be nice to have a good glove in RF. He's not garbage or some "homeless home," but Hendry needs to find a right handed hitter who can replace Jones from time to time in RF. This signing isn't good, but the sky's not falling either. No need for hysteria. Definitely no need for hysteria. We weren't a contender before this acquisition, and we still aren't. Status quo. If the pitching holds up for a change, this team can contend. Prior, Z & Wood could be the best 1-2-3 in the game. As for status quo, Jones is better than some of the remaining options, Patterson, Burnitz and RoWhite. And last I heard LA turned down Reggie Sanders cause he wanted 3 and 18.

What did Sosa do the year they signed him to all that money?? 1.100 ops??? 60some homers?? The year the Cubs signed Sosa to that deal, they weren't in the playoffs. In 2003, they were. Giles at 15m would not have wiped out the entire budget. They would have had plenty of money and prospects to spare to upgrade any other positions. Also wasn't asking Hendry to give Giles a long term deal. How about a 15m signing bonus and 3/30m? I just want someone to ask Hendry in an open forum why he gave no evidence of showing any interest in Giles. I need to know the answer to that question. I'd like to hear the answer too, but bet it will be something like "Giles wanted to stay in SD pretty bad, blah, blah..." I highly doubt the Trib would give such a signing bonus or give him close to Sosa money. Sosa was also a major marketing draw, which Giles isn't. The walk doesn't sell much merchandise. :)

What does a 5 tool player have to do with a 3 starter. 5 tool players are much more rare than #3 starters. And what are examples of #3 starters the Cubs could get for Walker? Are you talking somebody like Kris Benson? A highly compensated pitcher with a dubious injury history and highly unimpressive results. Are we talking Trachsel? I think you got to be more specific than just the generic #3 starter, which can mean a lot of things. Walker gone means Neifi everyday, Neifi everyday in this already weakened lineup means the pitching would have to be absolutely outstanding if the Cubs want to win a lot. #3 starters are, by definition, not outstanding. And a 3/27m #3 starter (the recent going rate) doesn't come close to equaling the value of a 1/2.5m Walker at 2B, especially in this offense. Have to be a package deal cause Walker's not even worth a #3. I was just hypothetically speaking, but will look around and find someone who needs a 2b. Adam Eaton might have been nice. So you'd rather have Neifi and Adam Eaton over Walker and Jerome Williams? Do you realize just how bad Neifi Perez is? I think you're really undervaluing Walker. I said "might." I need to look @ Eaton's #'s, but am a little busy @ work & my computer crawls. Livan Hernandez & Derek Lowe come to mind as a couple "3's" who may be available. Of course, a 3rd team would need to be involved as LA & Washington have2b's already. I'd take Hernandez & Nefster over Williams and Walker. Of course, if Williams is out of the rotation that means Woods a starter. That's 1 helluva 1 through 4 (Z, Prior, Wood & Livan).... Williams > Eaton. Walker >>>>>>> Perez. Not much to think about. Hernandez + Neifi would be better than Williams and Walker, if only because Hernendez will eat a ton of innings, and is a better hitter than Neifi. I can agree w/ Walker >>> Neifi, IF Neifi's batting 2nd. But Nef has a superior glove & is an alright 8 hitter. Just need to find a 2 hitter to replace Walker's obp. Perhaps Cedeno?? It's getting pretty apparent that Hendry's putting the majority of his eggs into the pitching basket. Not a bad postseason strategy, but you need to get their first.

What did Sosa do the year they signed him to all that money?? 1.100 ops??? 60some homers??

What does a 5 tool player have to do with a 3 starter. 5 tool players are much more rare than #3 starters. And what are examples of #3 starters the Cubs could get for Walker? Are you talking somebody like Kris Benson? A highly compensated pitcher with a dubious injury history and highly unimpressive results. Are we talking Trachsel? I think you got to be more specific than just the generic #3 starter, which can mean a lot of things. Walker gone means Neifi everyday, Neifi everyday in this already weakened lineup means the pitching would have to be absolutely outstanding if the Cubs want to win a lot. #3 starters are, by definition, not outstanding. And a 3/27m #3 starter (the recent going rate) doesn't come close to equaling the value of a 1/2.5m Walker at 2B, especially in this offense. Have to be a package deal cause Walker's not even worth a #3. I was just hypothetically speaking, but will look around and find someone who needs a 2b. Adam Eaton might have been nice. So you'd rather have Neifi and Adam Eaton over Walker and Jerome Williams? Do you realize just how bad Neifi Perez is? I think you're really undervaluing Walker. I said "might." I need to look @ Eaton's #'s, but am a little busy @ work & my computer crawls. Livan Hernandez & Derek Lowe come to mind as a couple "3's" who may be available. Of course, a 3rd team would need to be involved as LA & Washington have2b's already. I'd take Hernandez & Nefster over Williams and Walker. Of course, if Williams is out of the rotation that means Woods a starter. That's 1 helluva 1 through 4 (Z, Prior, Wood & Livan)....

No way does Neifi start over Walker. It's not happening. And what does 5 tool player have to do with anything? Corey Patterson is a 5 tool player, do you think he should play 2nd? How can a guy who can't hit or take a pitch be considered 5 tool?? When you hear the term 5 tool player, taking a pitch is not one of the tools being referred to. Just trust me on that. Figured they factored that in by now. Dude can't hit for average or power, so there's two tools that are nowhere to be found.

What does a 5 tool player have to do with a 3 starter. 5 tool players are much more rare than #3 starters. And what are examples of #3 starters the Cubs could get for Walker? Are you talking somebody like Kris Benson? A highly compensated pitcher with a dubious injury history and highly unimpressive results. Are we talking Trachsel? I think you got to be more specific than just the generic #3 starter, which can mean a lot of things. Walker gone means Neifi everyday, Neifi everyday in this already weakened lineup means the pitching would have to be absolutely outstanding if the Cubs want to win a lot. #3 starters are, by definition, not outstanding. And a 3/27m #3 starter (the recent going rate) doesn't come close to equaling the value of a 1/2.5m Walker at 2B, especially in this offense. Have to be a package deal cause Walker's not even worth a #3. I was just hypothetically speaking, but will look around and find someone who needs a 2b. Adam Eaton might have been nice.

No way does Neifi start over Walker. It's not happening. And what does 5 tool player have to do with anything? Corey Patterson is a 5 tool player, do you think he should play 2nd? How can a guy who can't hit or take a pitch be considered 5 tool??

I was a little ticked they missed out on Castillo, but wonder what type of package would have been needed considering what was dealt for Pierre.

A #3 pitcher would make a bigger difference than Walker. I don't mind Walker in the lineup, but he's not a 5 tool player. He's not even close. As for Neifi, he's starting regardless of whether Walker's here or not. Walker's in the way of Cedeno, if anybody.

Jones will be useful in 75% of the games and it will be nice to have a good glove in RF. He's not garbage or some "homeless guy," but Hendry needs to find a right handed hitter who can replace Jones from time to time in RF. This signing isn't good, but the sky's not falling either. No need for hysteria.

It's fair enough to believe that Giles wanted to stay in SD. Maybe Giles' perceived interest in other teams was just to drive up SD's offer. It is very possible. I won't deny that. But, Chicago had more money to spend this offseason than just about every other team. Would Giles REALLY tell Hendry "don't bother" if his main interest is to drive up his price? Who offered Giles 3/45m? No one. Seeing how Hendry has signed someone who is almost an exact opposite of Giles in Jacque Jones, has traded for a speed guy (does Hendry even know what OBP is?) in Pierre, and has allowed Dusty to give Neifi the starting nod over Walker at 2nd base before Spring Training even starts tells me that Hendry and Dusty have completely differing philosophies on how to build a team, and Giles doesn't fit their mold of what would make this team better. That's a more telling feature than "Giles just wasn't interested in leaving San Diego". When Neifi or Jones bats 2nd, we will honestly know for sure that Hendry and Dusty value speed above everything else, including OBP. Well, Neifi isn't speedy. But, we do already know that Dusty would bat him 2nd. I'll just be done arguing about this. Nothing will change the fact that Jacque Jones is in RF instead of Giles. It's wishful thinking that has no chance of coming to fruition. The damage is done. I couldn't be anymore disappointed in this offseason. Maybe it's better that way. I really do spend way too much time obsessing over the Cubs. Given how the Trib allegedly drew a line on Furcal where do you think the line would have been drawn on Giles? Given the Trib & Hendry's lack of guts I can't see 3 & 45. Maybe 3 & 35. Big maybe tho.

What was New York's offer? I don't recall them actually making one. Their offer also would have been to play CF. More than likely, he would have been DHing rather than playing the field when they saw how bad defensively an outfield of Sheffield, Giles and Matsui would have been. I don't recall any offers that were far superior to what the Padres caved in and offered. It is my belief that because there were no superior offers, Giles signed with the Padres so that he wouldn't be put in a position where he couldn't return to the Padres until May 1 at the earliest if he decided no offers were worth leaving for. You are welcome to believe that Giles had no interest in leaving San Diego. Hendry's mad love for Furcal (as well as his belief that no team could or would match his offer) leads me to believe he honestly had no desire for Giles. He only wanted Furcal. Until I hear differently, that will stay my belief. Call it assinine if you want, but it's no more assinine than believing that Giles called up Hendry prior to the bidding process and said "Jim, I want nothing to do with Chicago, so don't bother bidding". It wouldn't have behooved Giles in the slightest to so something like that. Whether he wanted to leave San Diego or not, why on Earth would a player decrease his value to return by telling teams not to bid on his services? Because he doesn't want to play there? Ridiculous. Do you think Toronto would have been a more favorable place than Chicago? Opposite league than the one he has spent his entire career. Lesser chance than the Cubs to win the division or make playoffs. A different country. Etc.... Was it foolish of Toronto to make an offer for Giles? Nope. Why not take a chance he'll like your deal better? Would it have been foolish for the Cubs to make an offer? Okay, you say "how do you know the Cubs didn't?" Based on how offseason's go, you basically hear about nearly every rumor that gets bandied about. NO ONE heard a thing about the Cubs having any interest whatsoever in Brian Giles. NO ONE! What we did hear is that Hendry claimed "I don't want to get into a bidding war for Giles". That's what we do know. He didn't want to get into a bidding war for the most obvious choice to fill the RF vacancy, the left handed power bat in the heart of the order that was available on the market. Yet, he didn't mind getting into a bidding war for Furcal and Jacque Jones. He didn't mind overpaying for Pierre. He basically overpaid every single player that has been added to this team this offseason, but he didn't want to overpay for the guy who could have helped this team more than any other player on the market? Nice! I hope this question gets asked at convention and the caravan. I really want to know the truth about whether Giles was even given an afterthought. I will be all ears for that question. From Brian Giles point of view: Why would he want to pack up and move his entire family to another city if no one is willing to cough up more money than the team he's currently playing for is willing to offer? If you answer nothing else, please provide the New York Yankee offer and prove that they did indeed offer much more than the Padres did. Didn't NY offer 3 & 33?? Also, he was in talks w/ LA, but I'm not sure what they offered, but given their recent opening of the pocketbooks he probably could have got a nice payday. Surely, he could have held out for more given the nutty market. It's jmo that 3 & 30 was a reasonable middle-road for him and he ended the process. The Cubs were in a race w/ lots of horses, most of them bigger horses, and they bowed out early. I don't like their standard lack of courage, but I think they made the right call in this instance.

Giles hit the market for a while cause he didn't want to settle 3 & 21 (SD's initial offer iirc). With the way money's being thrown around this offseason, 3 & 30 is a bargain. I think it's safe to say that he could have got a lot more, but the guy just really loves San Diego & gave them a hometown discount.

At least Jones will provide something when they face righties & the majority of good pitchers in the NL are right handed (Clemens, Oswalt, Carpenter, Smoltz, Hudson, and I"ll throw in Suppan & Marquis because I'm obsessed w/ the Cards). Of course, the Cubs will get owned by soft tossing lefties as usual. :x

What did you want in CF and RF instead? Lets be realistic too and not throw out sign Giles for 3 years or get Abreu for a few prospects and Williams. let's stop pretending that giles was unrealistic. you keep saying this but you fail every time to produce any sort of reasoning behind your logic other than "his family lives in san diego". The fact that he resigned w/ SD early in the FA process for an amount that was less than NY's initial offer is pretty convincing. Discussing the merits of Giles signing w /the Cubs on a daily basis was just a waste of time. Wasn't happening and it didn't.

Hendry traded for Lee, Ramirez and Nomar. Granted, the other moves he's made have mostly been sheer idiocy, but he has brought in the big names. But he won't here. He's gotta be on drugs or something for as bad as he's been lately. None of them were stars @ the time though. Yes, Lee & ARam later became stars, but @ the time ARam was a guy w/ lots of potential but some question marks. Lee was putting up nice numbers, but nothing spectacular. Nomar was hurt too much to still be considered a star. Hendry's best attribute is making moves for 2nd & 3rd tier guys, who turn out to be better than expected. (See Lee, Barrett and ARam).

Bet they don't get Tejada. The Cubs rarely trade for or pickup stars. Hendry has yet to get one. If Mark Prior 2003 doesn't return and if Wood's hurt again, Hendry should be ready for his pink slip by September.

Aubrey Huff? Cliff Floyd? Wilkerson? Nixon? Bradley? So you were ready to give up Hill for Huff? Floyd may not even be available. As for Wilkerson, apparently, the Washington GM really values Soriano. Who could the Cubs have matched with? Nixon (See Floyd) As for Bradley, it sounds like Coletti didn't want to deal w/ the Cubs and the Cubs would have had to give up a real good prospect for him. I wanted either Vlad, Sheffield or Ichiro, but just cause the Cubs want someone doesn't mean another team will throw them in the Cubs lap. From what I heard, the Mets told the Cubs that Floyd was not available. You are right, the Red Sox have an OF shortage and likely wouldn't have dealt Nixon even before Damon left. Bowden wanted Cedeno for Wilkerson, and you summed up the Bradley problem. I had my hopes up for Floyd... I'll grind my axe some if Hendry can't get Tejada. Sounds like the Cubs might have the right package of players for Tejada. Hendry's been real good @ picking up second and third tier players (Lee, ARam, Nomar, Barret, Lawton & Lofton), but has never picked up a star. Of course, Lee & ARam became stars later on tho.

Lest we forget, you were the one who brought up that topic with this post. The back slappin started long before that post.

Aubrey Huff? Cliff Floyd? Wilkerson? Nixon? Bradley? So you were ready to give up Hill for Huff? Floyd may not even be available. As for Wilkerson, apparently, the Washington GM really values Soriano. Who could the Cubs have matched with? Nixon (See Floyd) As for Bradley, it sounds like Coletti didn't want to deal w/ the Cubs and the Cubs would have had to give up a real good prospect for him. I wanted either Vlad, Sheffield or Ichiro, but just cause the Cubs want someone doesn't mean another team will throw them in the Cubs lap.

Hats off to all those who predicted the Cubs flopping down the stretch, but lets not get too carreid away w/ the back slappin cause for every right prediction there's a long list of wrong predictions too. People don't like it when Choi floppin, DuBois flopping, Giles to SD, etc. is thrown in their face. Also, it's not "contrarian" or "insane" to think the Cubs had a shot @ the playoffs w/ 53 games to go.

Ridiculous.