CubfaninCA

Didn't Farns enjoy the nightlife way too much?? Inconsistent numbers were only part of his problem. Guys like Farnsworth aren't a good influence on other players. If he was clutch like Brad Lidge, Eric Gagne or Mariano Rivera, it would be different story cause the benefits would far outweigh the costs.

Dusty's just using the Score to stir the pot and clear the way for signing Bill Mueller. :)

Z and Prior are pretty much untouchable. Starting pitching is just too scarce and valuable. This year's playoffs illustrates that.

Youth to the Yankees is guys under 30. They aren't going to turn to prospects with potential, especially if they're trading one of the best players in the game. The Cubs will have to give up one of their big name players, at the least. MAYBE NY would take Wood, Pie, and another player for ARod. Doubtful though.

If the Cubs make the playoffs next year, would you feel comfortable w/ him as the closer?? Hypothetically speaking of course, cause he'll probably never be back.

Can anyone rattle off a list of relievers who have blown 5 run leads in the playoffs after the 7th inning?

If we sign Furcal, it will be a 4/36- 5/42 deal. How will that deal look four or five years down the road? Once again, we're mentioned as a suitor. Hendry has been known to get his targets. I have a strong feeling we'll end up with Furcal. Unfortunately, I believe that will be the totality of the splash we make and that our OF still will be uninspiring. He's young, so it would probably turn out alright. He can leadoff. Has great speed. A good glove and is in the top tier amongst shortstops in ops. Sometimes you have to build incrementally. Can't have everything overnight. The Cubs have the pitching to be right where the Angels, White Sox and Houston are now in 2006.

Now's a bad time to trade Prior, and I don't think the Yankees would take Prior for ARod straight up. Wood's a much better trade option given he's a free agent after 2006. My bet is that Prior has a big year next year. He's due for some good luck.

Gordon would be a good pickup. He could close games, if Dempster has to miss time due to injury. Always need a backup plan w/ this club.

If the Yankees offered Wood a 1 or 2 year extension to his contract, there may be a shot of him waiving his no trade. Have to agree w/ Tim, ARam and Wood for ARod. Maybe get another minor player from NY. Ramirez and Wood would be overpaying. Rodriguez is better than Ramirez, but he's also paid more and Ramirez is younger. Well, Wood's trade value isn't that high and he could walk in the free agency next offseason w/ the Cubs getting nothing back. Like I said the Cubs can ask for a minor player back from NY. Not really sure who though. Wood's value may not be that high, but Ramirez is. He is a hellova hitter at a reduced price compared to Rodriguez. There's no way you offer the two of those for only one player who really helps you. I would love to have Rodriguez, especially if he can still handle short. I would offer Ramirez for him, but reluctantly. I would not trade Prior for him, and likely not Zambrano either, but I would be tempted. Much depends on whether or not Rodriguez can play short. The best course of action if the Cubs want Rodriguez is to try to invlove a third team that would be looking to shed payroll. How about the Marlins? Cubs get Rodriguez. Yankees get Wood, Patterson, and Lowell. Marlins get Cedeno and Wellemeyer. In essence the Cubs give up Wood, Patterson, Cedeno, and Wellemeyer for Rodriguez. Of those players, only Wood and Cedeno have any real value to the Cubs. The Marlins get to shed Lowell's contract and pick up a cheap infield option as well as a reliever. The real value for the Marlins is the salary relief. The Yankees recieve Lowell to play third, though you'd have to sell them that Lowell can return to his previous form, Wood who could be a dominant starter for them and a defensive CF who could flourish as many LHed hitters do in Yankee stadium. This is a deal I could live with. I'd love to substitute another prospect for Cedeno, but would include him if the deal hinged upon it. The hardest part of this deal is convincing the Yankees that Lowell has value. Now a 3 way deal could work. My guess is that Damon either signs w/ Anaheim (less pressure to perform) or stays w/ Boston, so NY will need a CF. Flordia could give them Pierre. Lowell could be the 2nd coming of Scott Brosius. :) Perhaps they could get Delgado from Florida too??

The Yankees won't trade ARod to save money. They'll trade him because their starting pitching is suspect. Their pitching was alot better in the late 90's when they were winning it all.

Did you know: Jeter is a lifetime .314/.386/.461 hitter. For his career he's hit almost exactly that in the postseason (just slightly lower in AVG/OBP), in the divisional series he's been much better than that, but in LCS he's been much worse, and in the WS he's been a little worse. ARod is a lifetime .307/.385/.577 hitter. In the posteason overall he's .305/.401/.534 (less in the division series, better in the LCS). Choke, clutch, choke, clutch. They're fun words to use, but largely meaningless. What's his numbers as a Yankee?? Isn't that all that matters to The Boss?? He must have done well in Seattle.

I guess then the question is... Why? Head case. See yesterday and Mitch Williams for more. Judging a pitcher on one outing and not the overall numbers is a very ridiculous thing to do. If you read the thread, you'll see I go by more than one outing. If you actually did, and looked at his numbers as a whole, you can't really do anything but come to the conclusion that he would be the best reliever on the Cubs. Bar none. He had a bad 2004, and that's it. What numbers prior to 2005 tell you he would have saved 33 out of 35 games w/ the Cubs this year?? Talk about spinning out of control. He needed a change of scenery. Baseball players aren't robots.

If the Yankees offered Wood a 1 or 2 year extension to his contract, there may be a shot of him waiving his no trade. Have to agree w/ Tim, ARam and Wood for ARod. Maybe get another minor player from NY. Ramirez and Wood would be overpaying. Rodriguez is better than Ramirez, but he's also paid more and Ramirez is younger. Well, Wood's trade value isn't that high and he could walk in the free agency next offseason w/ the Cubs getting nothing back. Like I said the Cubs can ask for a minor player back from NY. Not really sure who though.

If the Cubs get ARod, they could sign Bill Mueller to play 3b. Isn't he a Dusty guy? Or they could just go w/ ARod @ 3b and sign Furcal for SS.

If the Yankees offered Wood a 1 or 2 year extension to his contract, there may be a shot of him waiving his no trade. Have to agree w/ Tim, ARam and Wood for ARod. Maybe get another minor player from NY.

Well, they tried moving Sheff and he threw a fit and isn't Matsui a free agent? ARod may want a trade. I was listening to ESPN this morning and they were talking about his poor playoff performance. I'm sure the NY media will absolutely hammer him. I usually poo poo the idea of the Cubs getting anyone w/ a deal longer than 5 years, but ARod's one of the few exceptions. He may be the most marketable player in the game. The Trib will probably have more interest in him than guys who they can't really market, such as Brian Giles and Abreu.

You're overpaying @ several spots. There's not enough teams bidding on Furcal, so he probably doesn't get $10 million. Maybe $8 million to start off with. Walker and Nomar on the bench?? Lofton for $4 million?? Maybe $2. Burnitz can come back for $7 dollars. I like Howry & Rusch in the pen though.

The Yankees 2 aces, Mussina and Randy Johnson, didn't look good in this series. Sure Chacon and Wang pitched well, but neither can be considered an ace. What will NY do in the offseason?? Count on Pavano and Wright to return to 100%?? Hope for a comeback by Mussina & Johnson?? Trade one of the their big hitters for a pitcher?? Sign both Burnett & Millwood??

I guess then the question is... Why? Head case. See yesterday and Mitch Williams for more. Judging a pitcher on one outing and not the overall numbers is a very ridiculous thing to do. If you read the thread, you'll see I go by more than one outing.

Hooray! RISP average! What's the mean? That's a significant reason for their success. They've hit in the clutch this year.

Good pitching and good defence. The Angels only commited 1 error in this series. Oh and they led the league in RISP average. Weren't the Cubs near the bottom??

The bottom line is the amount of hyperbole in this thread has been hilarious. You don't know what he would have done. Farns was a fantastic reliever for the Cubs in 03, and a big reason why they went anywhere. The Farns myopia's funny as well. So he wasn't fantastic in '03 and didn't play a major part in that year's success? He had a very good year as a setup man in 03, but thinking he would have done what Dempster did in Chicago this year is myopic.

Did he have a 5 run lead?? This was Bartmanish.

Weren't you all about signing Kent before? It wasn't chemistry that won games for those teams, it was great pitching. And in Boston's case, an amazing lineup with multiple great pitchers. Nomar was doing nothing for Boston, and he did nothing for the Cubs. Kent + Bradley is what a I posted. I have no problem w/ Kent alone. I think all 25 players on that Boston championship team would disagree with you and your numbers.