CubfaninCA

That's true, if you draft well, which the Cubs don't do. Who's the last good position player they've developed?? Mark Grace??

Perhaps he thinks the bar has been set too high the past couple of years?? I'd prefer him saying "championship caliber team," but considering how these guys are a pretty poor situational team, especially w/ 2 out, I'll settle w/ "very competitive." Jmo but I think this team thinks it's snake bitten, with all the injuries, and Baker doesn't help matters talking about bad luck, billy goats, etc. Hence why there needs to be a major overhaul. Bring some winners in.

Cubs get Castillo & Perez Marlins get Walker & Mitre Dodgers get Jerome Williams and Lowell Marlins get major salary relief and can hang onto Delgado. Walker's a nice replacement for Castill as well. Dodgers get a cheap, young starter, move a disgruntled player and hope that Lowell turns it around. This is all contingent on the Cubs getting Millwood though.

If Baker pencils in Murton as a 1 or 2 hitter next year, it should be considered a miracle.

I would just make 3 separate trades: (1) If we're taking on $28M worth of contracts over a 2 year duration off Florida's hands, then we should be able to get away with giving up just medium prospects - Leicester/Wellemeyer/Mitre type. (2) Trade Lowell to LA for Odalis Perez. (3) (optional) Trade Perez to Baltimore (or anybody in the AL). Hoops Yep, sounds like LA isn't too pleased w/ Perez. I think the Cubs would have to attach more than Lowell to get Perez though. Moving Perez to the AL would be a good move.

Would Pie be better off platooning w/ Hairston?? If Walker's @ 2b, Nomar's in LF and Pie's in CF, they better bring back Hairston.

Too bad you don't own the Tribune Company. Why would Giles sign on to play CF?

Good to see they'll look into adding Millwood. Hopefully, one of the AL East teams doesn't offer him something ridiculous. Am assuming Burnett will get an outrageous offer from either NY, Boston or Baltimore... If they get Millwood, they should package Jerome Williams w/ Patterson and try to get a bat. Try to bring back Rusch as a long relief/6th starter. Need to have someone ready for when Wood gets hurt. If Nomar wants to come back so bad, he can sign a Walker like deal, and play RF. I'd much rather have Murton in LF than Nomar.

They didn't do this last year or the year before??? Surprising.

Thank you. They need one more real good arm. They were one real good arm short almost all year. Can't count on Wood to last more than 15 games. If it means replacing Williams in the rotation w/ someone like Millwood then so be it.

So Patterson, DuBois, Murton, Wellemeyer, Hill and Mitre weren't enough for either Hudson or Mulder? Since Beane's a Moneyballer like many on this board, seems as if he'd take a package of 4 of this 6. (Yes I know Patterson's the anti-moneyballer).

If Carpenter has a Prior-ish year, Houston & Philly might be on their heels. If the Cubs had Carpenter, he'd still be on the DL like he was prior to St. Louis. Sometimes teams are just lucky. Sorry I can't present a formula to better explain this.

The rumor in the Sun Times was Patterson and Walker for Giles. I don't see anyway that gets the deal done, but who knows? My guess is that the Braves would want a pitcher in there as well. Marte is projected to be as good as any prospect in the minors. The kid is supposedly one talented hitter. At Richmond this year, he hit 275/372/506. Prior to this season, I read more than one publication that labeled him the best hitting prospect in the minors. The Braves likely will move him to left unless they can convince Chipper to make the move back there to open a space for him. I don't see the Braves needing Murton for this reason, as well. Hmmmmm.. How's their minor league pitching look?? How deep are they?? Smoltz is 38, Hampton's hurt again and Ramirez has struggled this year.... Hudson's real solid, Sosa's blown it up this year and Davies is supposed to be real good correct?? Would they have much interest in Jerome Williams?? I wonder if they'd take Kerry Wood. Mazzone could probably make him a Cy Young winner. If Wood's smart, huge IF, he'd waive his no-trade clause. The Braves, I doubt, would have any interest in Kerry Wood's contract. They're already paying Smoltz and Hudson a nice chunk of change. They might have some interest in Williams. I could also see them being interested in Mitre or Hill as well. Smoltz signed for 2 year and 20 million last offseason right?? Kerry would be a nice replacement for Smoltz in a few years. If Chipper was willing to move to LF, there could be a blockbuster. 1-100 chance of that though.

My question is how did Card pitching become so much better than the Cubs. They're up .75 in ERA on them, and lead the majors. The Cub rotation was far superior in 2003 and looked A LOT better on paper last year and this year. The Cards probably take it all this year cause they acquired guys like Carpenter, Mulder, Suppan, Marquis, and Isringhausen. If Hendry was clairvoyant like some, he could have dealt Patterson, Hill & Mitre for Mulder. No loss whatsoever. Ok, I'll answer my own question. Prior & Wood has some bad luck again this year. They, along w/ Z, are the key's to this team. Blame obp all you want, but Prior, Wood & Z are the straws that stir the drink.

I seem to remember reading (some New York rag) that Minaya was so pleased with Floyd's performance during their run at the wild card that he wouldn't think of trading him this off-season. So it may take a LOT to grab him from the Mets. If they're after Manny, can see Floyd being dealt and the Cubs getting in there as a 3rd team.

The rumor in the Sun Times was Patterson and Walker for Giles. I don't see anyway that gets the deal done, but who knows? My guess is that the Braves would want a pitcher in there as well. Marte is projected to be as good as any prospect in the minors. The kid is supposedly one talented hitter. At Richmond this year, he hit 275/372/506. Prior to this season, I read more than one publication that labeled him the best hitting prospect in the minors. The Braves likely will move him to left unless they can convince Chipper to make the move back there to open a space for him. I don't see the Braves needing Murton for this reason, as well. Hmmmmm.. How's their minor league pitching look?? How deep are they?? Smoltz is 38, Hampton's hurt again and Ramirez has struggled this year.... Hudson's real solid, Sosa's blown it up this year and Davies is supposed to be real good correct?? Would they have much interest in Jerome Williams?? I wonder if they'd take Kerry Wood. Mazzone could probably make him a Cy Young winner. If Wood's smart, huge IF, he'd waive his no-trade clause.

Has Hendry had the money to get the top guy?? Will the Trib even allow him?? Iirc he wasn't playing w/ much budget prior to 2002. They were paying Hundley, Gonzo, Alou & Sosa to name a few. He made a real nice pick up in Remlinger, and the Hundley for Grudz & Karros trade was pretty nice. Prior to 2003, they had a little more money w/ Hundley gone and he went out and got Hawkins, Walker and Maddux. I recall most people being pretty fired up. Last year he put a good amount of money into Nomar. Again I recall a lot of people being pretty fired up. I don't think they'll go after any FA who wants more than 4 years. The Trib's scared for some reason. However, I can see him making 3 or 4 signings for guys like Furcal and Millwood. Hopefully, it doesn't turn out like the year we got George Bell, Danny Jackson and Mike Morgan. :cry: EDIT: Can't believe I forget the Great Walker. I think Hendry will be doing great if he signs Furcal and Millwood. I have suggested in many posts that the Cubs ought to resign Walker, Rusch, and maybe Nomar (depending on Furcal signing). Using Walker, Rusch/Williams, Patterson, Mitre, Hill, Welly, and some of our other prospects ought to fill an OF position and a veteran reliever. A player like Lofton will come cheaply and be a stopgap until Pie is ready. 1B....Lee 2B.... Cedeno SS....Furcal or Nomar (Low base with high incentive contract) 3B ...Aram LF....Murton CF.... Lofton RF.... ??? (player acquired in trade mentioned above) C.... Barrett with Blanco as sub SP.... Prior, Zambrano, Wood, Maddux, Millwood/Rusch/Williams Bullpen....Wuertz, Ohman, Novoa, ???? (veteran acquired in trade above), Hill/Welly/Mitre/VanBuren/other prospects. Closer..... Dempster Bench....??????? I'm not convinced that roster is head and shoulder better than our current one. Lofton is a gamble, to say the least. Furcal is highly overrated and nomar is an injury risk. If Williams or Rusch is our #5, I'll vomit. It's not that a lot fo these guys aren't good, but that the additions to our current roster contain a TON of question marks. Lots of "maybes" would ahe to come through for that roster to be good. There aren't enough dependable bullpen arms, isn't a #5 and only a mediocre #4, questionable offense or injury) at short, potentially good players (but also potential ly players who could struggle in their first full years) at second and left, and an old guy in center who's having one resurgent year...a very Cubs-Circa-1990 type of signing. We have a TON of free money. I would hope that hendry uses it to land 1 or 2 truly IMPACT players via either trade or FA rather than a bunch of "bargains with question marks" like those additions seem to be. What's wrong w/ Williams as a #5?

Has Hendry had the money to get the top guy?? Will the Trib even allow him?? Iirc he wasn't playing w/ much budget prior to 2002. They were paying Hundley, Gonzo, Alou & Sosa to name a few. He made a real nice pick up in Remlinger, and the Hundley for Grudz & Karros trade was pretty nice. Prior to 2003, they had a little more money w/ Hundley gone and he went out and got Hawkins, Walker and Maddux. I recall most people being pretty fired up. Last year he put a good amount of money into Nomar. Again I recall a lot of people being pretty fired up. I don't think they'll go after any FA who wants more than 4 years. The Trib's scared for some reason. However, I can see him making 3 or 4 signings for guys like Furcal and Millwood. Hopefully, it doesn't turn out like the year we got George Bell, Danny Jackson and Mike Morgan. :cry: EDIT: Can't believe I forget the Great Walker. I think Hendry will be doing great if he signs Furcal and Millwood. I have suggested in many posts that the Cubs ought to resign Walker, Rusch, and maybe Nomar (depending on Furcal signing). Using Walker, Rusch/Williams, Patterson, Mitre, Hill, Welly, and some of our other prospects ought to fill an OF position and a veteran reliever. A player like Lofton will come cheaply and be a stopgap until Pie is ready. 1B....Lee 2B.... Cedeno SS....Furcal or Nomar (Low base with high incentive contract) 3B ...Aram LF....Murton CF.... Lofton RF.... ??? (player acquired in trade mentioned above) C.... Barrett with Blanco as sub SP.... Prior, Zambrano, Wood, Maddux, Millwood/Rusch/Williams Bullpen....Wuertz, Ohman, Novoa, ???? (veteran acquired in trade above), Hill/Welly/Mitre/VanBuren/other prospects. Closer..... Dempster Bench....??????? I think we'll see the most offseason activity from the Cubs in quite some time. Cannot remember when they've had this much budget space. Lofton, Furcal and Millwood would be real nice pickups. My guess is that Hendry tries to acquire a left-handed cleanup man to put between Lee & ARam. I said this ad naseum here, but I think he'll explore getting Floyd. Walker, Patterson and Jerome Williams can all be used as trade bait. I'd rather see them let Nomar walk. He's too unreliable. Furcal, Lofton, Lee, Floyd, ARam, Murton, Barret and Cedeno should be able to put a good number of runs on the board.

:x Kent would have been a huge difference maker for us in the last 3 years. Hendry missed him twice. Then again, you all already know that. Yep. Would have made a huge difference w/ him batting 4th. Burnitz would have been alright if he batted 7th, but he has killed the Cubs batting 4th and 5th.

Going into the season Walker & Nomar >>> Grudz and Eckstein. If the Cubs had Taguchi and Rodriguez they'd probably play like crap just like Womack did. Yes the Cards hit the ball quite better than the Cubs, but they're pitching is A LOT better. Perhaps Hendry should have got Mulder or Hudson from Oakland.

Has Hendry had the money to get the top guy?? Will the Trib even allow him?? Iirc he wasn't playing w/ much budget prior to 2002. They were paying Hundley, Gonzo, Alou & Sosa to name a few. He made a real nice pick up in Remlinger, and the Hundley for Grudz & Karros trade was pretty nice. Prior to 2003, they had a little more money w/ Hundley gone and he went out and got Hawkins and Maddux. I recall most people being pretty fired up. Last year he put a good amount of money into Nomar. Again I recall a lot of people being pretty fired up. I don't think they'll go after any FA who wants more than 4 years. The Trib's scared for some reason. However, I can see him making 3 or 4 signings for guys like Furcal and Millwood. Hopefully, it doesn't turn out like the year we got George Bell, Danny Jackson and Mike Morgan. :cry: We'll see CfiCA. It's his scouts job not to pick up clunkers like the free agents you mentioned even though Bell did bring in a ringer if I remember correctly. I thought the Nomar deal was a good deal for both parties at the time and I also liked the Remmy and Hawkins signings but as Tim mentioned before Hendry missed the boat to get creative and get the players that put you over the top not help you tread water. Well, neither Sosa or Vlad were going to play LF and seems Vlad wanted to go west. He nearly signed w/ LA. Also, didn't Tejada sign a Trib unfriendly 6 year deal. I think people are pointing the fingers in the wrong direction? However, Hendry could have tried to get Kent or Pedro last season. Of all the free agents available, Pedro would have made the biggest impact this year.

I'm glad I read the whole post. I really wish I had some confidence in his creativity, but I have none. So trading little for Lee, ARam and Grudz, and getting Barrett, Nomar and Walker = no creativity?? It's not like Hendry inherited much hitting when he took over in the summer of 2002. He had a piece of garbage, Hundley, 2 declining sluggers, Sosa and Alou. Choi, Hill & Patterson were pegged for 1b, 2b and cf. Things could be a lot worse.

Has Hendry had the money to get the top guy?? Will the Trib even allow him?? Iirc he wasn't playing w/ much budget prior to 2002. They were paying Hundley, Gonzo, Alou & Sosa to name a few. He made a real nice pick up in Remlinger, and the Hundley for Grudz & Karros trade was pretty nice. Prior to 2003, they had a little more money w/ Hundley gone and he went out and got Hawkins, Walker and Maddux. I recall most people being pretty fired up. Last year he put a good amount of money into Nomar. Again I recall a lot of people being pretty fired up. I don't think they'll go after any FA who wants more than 4 years. The Trib's scared for some reason. However, I can see him making 3 or 4 signings for guys like Furcal and Millwood. Hopefully, it doesn't turn out like the year we got George Bell, Danny Jackson and Mike Morgan. :cry: EDIT: Can't believe I forget the Great Walker.

So then what is it going to take to sign him? If its a 4-year deal, I do it. Giles at 38 will probably still be pretty good. At 39, he could fall of some, but if I have to pay for a 4th year to get the first 3, I do it. If its getting a proven lead-off hitter, I sign Lofton as soon as possible to show him we're serious. As far as trading for his brother Marcus, I like that idea as well, but I'm uneducated as to what the Braves would ask in return. If they are unloading his contract to help resign Furcal, then it should be a little easier to get him, but still, I would imagine, a hefty asking price. The Braves don't seem to be dummies when it comes to making deals. Plus, I'm not certain how badly they will need to save money given the amount of rookies that are currently filling out their line-up. The Braves have Wilson Betemit to take over SS in case Furcal leaves and they have Pete Orr who could take over 2B if Giles is traded. It all depends on who they value more, whether they truly believe that either Betemit or Orr are ready, and what their asking price is for Marcus. Come on, Jim. You've pulled off miracles before. First with Hundley, then with Ramirez and next with Lee. Get us the Giles brothers and Lofton. Maybe they'd take Walker & Murton?? However, I'm not sure how good this Marte is projected to be. They may go w/ him in LF. Doesn't sound like Chipper likes the OF. Looks like they can go LaRoche @ 1b, Walker @ 2b, Betemit @ SS, Chipper @ 3b, Murton in LF, Jones in cf, Francouer in rf, and Estrada @ c. Perhaps move #1 should be get Marcus Giles. Then sign Furcal. (Doesn't seem like there will be a huge market for him. Am not sure if him & M. Giles are buddies or not). Then sign Millwood. Get Marcus Giles, Furcal and Milwood and Brian may see the Cubs as serious. Since the Trib doesn't need to spend huge money on the pen, they should have enough cash for this.

He does have me worried. I'm not nearly as confident as many others seem to be that this is something temporary. I've been losing confidence per outing. I don't recall him dominating for quite some time now. I don't follow this team as closely as some.... Is his velocity down some this year?? I know he's not hitting his spots like he had been in the past. I hate throwing this out there, but I'm a cynic so can't help it. I recall someone saying a few years ago that Prior was on steroids. Can someone assure me this isn't so. I haven't noticed a substantial weight loss. Nothing wrong with Prior's stuff. He has the same velocity and movement. He does lead the entire majors in K/9's for starters at 10.15. He is also 7th in the majors in BAA at .227. His stuff is fine, he just seems to be be struggling with his control at times. Seeing as how there is such a difference in his stats pre/post the broken elbow I don't know if you can blame "steroids". So basically his mechanics have been out of whack since the injury. Hopefully this doesn't become a mental block. Most likely it won't. Hopefully not, cause him and Zambrano are the key's to this team.