don_kessinger_was_good

My votes as of today: 1. Karen Carpenter 2. Zambrano 3. Brandon Webb 4. Matt Cain 5. Derek Lowe Zambrano has the advantage that he's second in the league in BAA, leads the league in K's, has now hit 200 IP, is second in the league in wins, and easily leads the league in HR's by a pitcher :-) Karen OTOH is not far behind with a 226 BAA to Z's 212, is tied with Z in wins, comfortably leads the league in WHIP at 1.04 (BBs kill Carlos), also has 200+ IP, leads the league in ERA, 3 shutouts and 4 CGs, and--in a not-so trivial matter--is the staff ace of a division winning ballclub. Webb's numbers are almost as good as Karen's and he leads the league in wins, it's only the 248 BAA that bothers me some with him. Tough call, but I give it to the Deadbird.

Soriano should hit 5th if he was on the Cubs, period. He drives the ball too much to be wasted near the top of the order. He steals bases, fine--let him steal them from the 5 spot. Michael Barrett and Jock Jones will thank him for the RBI opportunities. No, it is much MORE important to have Soriano's bat protecting Ramirez. Not that I have any delusions the Cubs will actually acquire Fonzie, but it's fun to think it out.

Jenkins is finished, fuhgedaboudit. Pods is no upgrade to Pierre. I want 360 OBP minimum from my leadoff guy. Ryan Freel might be a good choice if we can swing a trade with the Reds.

For fielding position players, the Cubs #1A and #1B priorities this offseason (must do one or the other) are: 1A. Sign Soriano, or 1B. Trade for Tejada. Either guy solves the Cubs' desperate need for a productive bat in the 5 spot to support Lee and Ramirez. Put Murton at 2, Barrett and Jones at 6 and 7 (either order), put Izturis/Theriot at 8. Now all you need is a high OBP guy for leadoff not named Juan Pierre, and said guy can be either a CF (preferably) or possibly a RF (move Jones to CF). Let's say that guy is someone like Ryan Freel perhaps. What's wrong with this lineup, other than the lack of LH hitters? 1. Freel 2. Murton 3. Lee 4. Ramirez 5. Tejada/Soriano 6. Barrett/Jones 7. Jones/Barett 8. Izturis/Theriot Bring back Hank as the backup catcher, Pagan as the spare OF, Izturis/Theriot is the backup middle IF. All you need is a lefty pinch hitter that can play some 3B, and a power hitter for the bench that can play some 1B (Restovich?) Bullpen should be good so long as Dempster is moved out of the closer's role. Sign Zito and the Cubs would look strong for 2007. All it would take is writing two big checks to Soriano and Zito, and a modest trade for someone like Freel. And also note--if Pierre is let go, that's an extra $6.5MM in the Cubs' pocket to go towards Soriano and Zito. With $5MM in Maddux minus Izturis money, $10MM in Wood minus his buyout money, $3MM from Williamson and Miller, and Neifi's $3MM is back in the pot too. Tell me how we cannot afford both Zito AND Soriano? We HAVE the money.

The Orioles should blow up their team, start from scratch, and trade us Miggy Tejada and Nick Markakis this offseason. I will send them Ron Ce, Jock, Mary Prior and Dempster. Surely, they'll take that offer. :-) Seriously, I wonder how we could get those two guys, would plug two holes in a major way.

Unlike a high-profile field manager making $4MM a year, the GM is relatively anonymous to most casual fans. And he ain't making no $4MM, even for both years of his contract combined. Someone needs to answer for turning a team five outs from the pennant into a last place, 100-loss team in just three short years, with a near-$100MM payroll; and the "woe is me" injury excuse isn't going to cut it. I say there is a 1 in 3 chance the Cubs do a complete house-cleaning immediately after the season ends, and Hendry gets the boot like Lynch before him. Needless to say, I would support this move 110% and twice on Sundays.

Frank Castillo. Ricky Gutierrez also played some for the 04 Sox, though I don't know if he was on the post-season roster.

Jones is due just $5MM in 07 and $4MM in 08. Some team will look at his 25 HR and 75 RBI this year just as Hendry does, see the salary, and be interested in Jones--book it. The question is whether we get a new GM that recognizes the Cubs could and should do a lot better than Jock for a corner OF.

I think Murton's going to hit for more power than Grace. He's currently got a ground ball / fly ball ratio of 2.47 for his major league career. As he adjusts that ratio, I think he has enough bat speed to hit 30 HR a season. Why does everyone want to keep pressing Murton to be a HR hitter? There's nothing wrong with being a 15 HR, 75 RBI guy if you can post a 300 BA and a 370 OBP. Not everyone can hit 3-4-5 in the order: in fact, only three can :-) Get the needed slugger on this team at a different position, 2B or RF or CF. As is, I think Murton is an ideal #2 or #6 hitter, either work for him (if we had a manager smart enough to recognize that).

Gordon is gonna stay at third. Hell he is better defensively than Teahan right now. I would imaigne Mark learns to play a little bit of 2b and becomes pretty valueable. What the heck where the Dbacks thinking? If they would have picked Gordon instead of Upton they would have some kind of team for next year. What I've heard is they have no intention of trying Teahan at 2B (though I think they should try), they are targeting him for corner OF. There was an article in the Star about the imminent Gordon/Teahan situation last week. Gordon will be the 3B, period.

As someone who has watched him play at least 7 times this year in person and a couple other on tv. It is still horrible. But, man can he hit. Agreed. Gordon is a sure thing, I think he's the #1 prospect in all of baseball. But I've heard several scouts actually say they like Butler BETTER, how about that? The kid is an offensive juggernaut, think Carlos Beltran Part II and you'll have an idea of what Butler brings to the table. His defense is, well, not good, but with a kid that does everything else so well, no one will care. And he's young, there's time to improve to marginally acceptable defense yet. Add in Hochevar, Huber, maybe Greinke and Buckner. And of course, Teahan, Shealy (love him) and DeJesus, all in KC already. There is actually some genuine hope for the future here, come 2008 the Royals should be back. They desperately need pitching help, and something needs to be done about Berroa (Ronny Cedeno-esque bad) and John Buck. But there is promise here....

Hill is really putting it together, he looks great out there every outing. Shoot, since August 1st he's been the best pitcher on the team, and by a comfortable margin. I still like Marmol long-term an awful lot, and I agree with others--the Cubs MUST, no matter the $$, get a bona-fide 1/2 veteran starter this offseason. If they do... Zambrano, Zito (say), Hill, Marmol or Marshall or Mateo, Prior or a veteran 4/5 starter (eg, Lilly or Suppan or Redman). That would be sweet, particularly if Wood is healthy enough to be a late inning reliever for us. Move Dempster to middle relief/setup, and we are looking pretty good in the pitching department. Kudos also to David Aardsma, who like Hill, seems to be figuring it out this time around in the majors. Maybe he'll stick this time.

IIRC, it was Sosa for Soriano, Nick Johnson, Ricky Ledee, and I think Ted Lilly. Just imagine if we had pulled that off. Yeah, just imagine--you'd be plenty upset. Sosa almost got the team in the playoffs in 01, and he was our biggest bat in the 03 run. He also put up some mighty fine numbers in 02 and wasn't bad in 04 even, at least until the last month and a half or so. Meanwhile, Soriano has been hot and cold, Nick Johnson is always hurt, Ricky Ledee is a deadbeat, and Ted Lilly is a dime-a-dozen #4 starter. Sometimes, the best trades are the ones not made after all....

I predicted in February this Cubs bunch would win 75 games. I was clearly overexuberant. :evil:

Blow the whole thing up. Seriously. Even Z is available in my book. This team is a complete disaster.

Regarding Prior--I would add that the Cubs SHOULD offer him the maximum 20% paycut in arbitration for 2007. Prior gave the Cubs nothing for his 2006 pay, he should be happy with 80% of it in 2007 and show he still has something to offer. From the Cubs perspective then, you're basically eating about $3MM for 2007 as a call option on Prior returning to being an effective pitcher. I WILL say that if is fragile, unreliable, and ineffective again in 2007 though, that's it, ceiling or not. He needs to put up, and right out of the gate.

Joe Girardi for manager and Steve Stone for GM, please. Time to get the clowns out of the Cubs' management hierarchy.

Bynum == Dusty's New Neifi

I always liked Riggs, but he ruined Shooter, he was never the same.

Which means of course, the Cubs will sign him long-term. This being the Cubs and all.

Girardi please.

The Cubs are the most ignorant, moronic organization in baseball. Does anyone here HONESTLY expect them to do the intelligent thing and offer Pierre arbitration? Of course not. Hendry has become as bad a GM as Himes. He'll sign Pierre to a grotesque contract because "he has the money", because Pierre "is a proven, veteran leadoff man", because "speed doesn't slump", blah blah blah. I hate every dip that has even an ounce of sayso in this organization, it is so MADDENING!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes yes, trade for Tejada please. Strongly prefer him, all factors considered, to Soriano and definitely, to C. Lee.

Again, Theriot has no power, but I see an OBP over .350 both of those years, compared to Cedeno's abysmal .270. And Theriot has been a better basestealer too, no? (Sorry, can't find his minor league SB stats)

He plays SS very well, actually. Exactly. Tell me what Theriot has NOT shown in his brief time in the big leagues that doesn't suggest he deserves a nice long look at SS in September, especially with Izturis on the DL. We know what Cedeno has to offer at this point. If you were a smart organization (and we know the Cubs are not), wouldn't you want to know if Theriot can be your utility middle infielder in 2007--at the major league minimum salary, no less?? Compared to Cedeno, looks to me like Theriot is a better hitter, a much better baserunner, and a steadier defensive player, too. He has no power, but then, neither does Cedeno. I just don't understand the Cubs. Play the kid and find out what he's got.