JudasIscariotTheBird

Neifi Perez was playing in the World Baseball Classic. He hit a grand slam to win the a game in the 9th, but tripped over second base and tore his groin. Baker and Joe Morgan and two random people ran onto the field and carried him away on one of those things that royalty in Rome would travel around in. I woke up and immediately started laughing. What if that really happened...ah, to dream.

It actually wasn't the entire article but I get your point. Main points... 1) Mark Prior for Bobby Abreu. Will not happen. 2) "the only pitchers the Cubs are interested in trading are relievers or prospects. " 3) "minimal interest in Aubrey Huff to fill their right-field vacancy" 4) another quote - According to one team that inquired about Pie, the Cubs "don't have very many untouchables -- but he's one." I don't know how the Cubs can hope for a good OF bat w\o moving Pie but we shall see. Would you believe you could trade: Hundley Hawkins A.Gone Brendan Harris/Francis Beltran Bobby Hill Choi And get significant to all star production back for many of them? Hendry has a good track record of trading. But none of those players were the quality of Abreu at the time of the deal. Lee and Ramirez had still just shown glimpses of what they've become. Nomar was an injury problem with 2 months left on his contract. Karros and Grudz were bad, and I sure hope Hendry isn't targeting players of that caliber. I don't see an Abreu or Dunn deal happening without dealing Pie and/or Hill. But I agree that the Cubs could easily get guys like Wilkerson, Bradley, and other names that have been mentioned. WHAT!?! The most impressive off all of his trades: Hundley for Grudz and Karros and CASH!?! Karros and Grudz were bad? From what I remember, Grudz was surprisingly good, and Karros was mildly effective when used in a platoon. I mean, the trade was an absolute flecing all on its own, but Hendry had to rub it in and get cash with the deal. I still can't believe it. The day it was made I laugh/cried myself to sleep. Also, didn't we net Murton in the trade that got us Nomar? Every single trade that Hendry has made has been gold, unless there is one that I'm forgetting. ...now, just about every single signing that Hendry has made has been abysmal.

exactly. the price for kearns in no way inhibits Hendry from pulling off a blockbuster. I agree. If that original deal to get Kearns is true (who knows) then you aren't trading away a lot of high prized talent to get him. Worst case scenario, you have Murton and Kearns as your corner outfielders. That's not good, but it's better than what they have now (and at least has a chance to be productive). The other evaluator is whether Kearns can net you in trade more or less than Mitre and Nolasco would have netted. Personally, I think Kearns has more value than Mitre and Nolasco. Would the A's trade Mark Kotsay to the Cubs for Kearns? Would they trade Kotsay to the Cubs for Mitre and Nolasco? Not necessarily advocating a Kearns/Kotsay trade. I just know the A's want a power righty bat and Kotsay is a CF that can lead off. But, of the two trade proposals, I would imagine the A's would be more tempted with Kearns. That makes the trade even more worth it. I agree with you about the relative trade value of Kearns and Nolasco+Mitre, but I don't think Kearns is a Beane-guy. He Ks way too much. I'm willing to bet Beane doesn't care too much if Kearns ks. How's that? He means that Beene is smart. You CAN'T K too much if you have a good OPS. That's one of the 10 commandments of 'Moneyball'. Does anyone here care about Dunn's K's? Sosa's when he it 66 HR and hit for average? Now, if Kearns (or anyone) K's a bunch and doesn't get on base...then he just sucks. K's or no.

All these three ways with the Mets and Rangers rip off the Mets REALLY hard. There is absolutely no reason for them to make those trades.

I don't think anyone really KNOWS what his plan is. Who saw the Choi - Lee trade coming? Garciaparra? The repeated flecing of Pittsburg. And the mother of all trades: Hundley for Karros, Grudz, and CASH. (That trade nearly single-handedly sent us to the World series) Now, he does vastly over-pay for worthless players like Neifi, overpays decent middle relief, cannot manage a roster for ANYTHING, and stresses all the wrong tools...so, knowing this, why would anyone know what he is going to do or is planning to do. His moves are either so horendously poor, or outrageously great, that no on can see them coming. Looking at past deeds, I just hope he is involved in more trades than in the FA market.

I was pretty awestruck when the two British students that transfered into my department were baseball fans. I asked them if they were going to go to any MLS games, and they made faces like they bit into a lemon, and mentioned wanting going to Rockies games. I had no idea England even knew what baseball was.

I am not a big Pierre or Soriano fan, but depending on the pitcher, I probably wouldn't be all that upset. Neifi can be the 8th hitter on a team with a very good lineup and solid pitching, but that is all he can be. Who would backup at SS? Macias? Heh. No idea, but if Neifi got injured...wouldn't it be a fun problem to solve? To add to my question....I don't think we could get all those players without losing Pie. Is it still a happy offseason without him in the wings? I still say yes. I mean, the team would be UNQUESTIONABLY better or equal at every position than last year, except for Garciaparra over Neifi at short....I really don't understand why we paid so much for Neifi when Nomar probably wouldn't have cost much more. I'm getting off topic here, but does anyone else here think that Angel Guzman has a shot of making some noise next year if (/when) someone does down? I do, but then again, I liked Cruz over Zambrano way back when.

If trading away Cedano, Walker and pitching and starting Neifi at short meant that we picked up Abreu, Pierre, and Soriano, and signed a mid to high tier SP, would you be happy about the offseason or upset? I think I'd be a happy, even though it meants we put almost all of our chips on winning next season.

I found that out on a Frontier Airlines flight. ...been traveling lately?

I feel that way myself, to be honest. How about both? Cedeno is clearly equal if NOT better then Nefti with the Glove, either at SS or 2B, and his bat--still questionable---is better then Nefti. I believe Furcal/Cedeno would have a higher value then Walker/Cedeno. In all due respect, Cedeno is still an unproven major league ball player. It's not fair to compare Neifi/Cedeno, when Cedeno's sample size is so small. Maybe that's your opinion, but it's not proven to be accurate yet. I tend to agree, Cedeno, has a chance to better than Neifi in those areas. However, it's still only a prediction of what Cedeno's production will be. ...you aren't even trying to pretend you aren't Dusty Baker.

I want a manager that is simply not a moron, and can make me laugh. That's all I want. Not a "mastermind". Not a "player's manager". For those reasons, I want one of the two: "Sneaky" Valentine or "Stolen Base" Lloyd. They preformed what are possibly the funniest feats managers have ever accomplished in a game. McClendon got into a VERY heated arguement with the first base ump, and was thrown out of the game. In a fit of rage and hillariousness, he picked up first base, and literally stole it, taking it into the club house with him while still screaming his lungs out at the ump. Second place goes to Bobby V, for a game the Mets played against the Cubs. I can't even remember why he got tossed, but he did, and left to the club house...only to come back to the bench wearing a fake glasses/mustache combo thing that you might see a little kid wear that was dressing up as a spy for Hollowween. He sat there at the edge of the bench with one hand over his face, giving calls to the other coaches. It was priceless. He would have gotten away with it too, but the WGN cameras spotted him, and he was later fined for it. I really want one of these two great men.

Dusty IS a no win situation.

We all know that Zambrano going to be the closest thing to human perfection to walk the Earth in this Century, so if he wants to play some soccer, then it is the right decision. End of story...I wonder if he has more chops than Nomar. I guess he talks himself up to Mia a lot.

The previous post made all great statments. Dawson is my all time favorite Cub, but I admit he is very boarderline for the hall. The two big things he has going for him are that he is one of the only 4 players in the 300HR/300SB club (with Bonds, Bonds and Mays) and has an MVP under his belt (for a last place team no less)

Let's say that suddenly you were in charge of the Cubs. How would you run things for the duration of the season and this off season? First moves: trade Holly, Neifi, Macias, Burtitz for ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, and even pick up the rest of their contracts for the year. Going to be stuck with Baker for the rest of this season, so I'd all but force him to play the youngins. Oh, and although I love Die Hard, he's no where to be seen either. I'd maybe put out a contract (the kind involving the mafia) on Baker. Heck, I'd rather let Darren manage. Seriously. I would just tell Darren what to do, and he'd probably listen. Cedeno starts at short. Walker is resigned and will start at second. The trade I'd go after most would be for Soriano. Then Walker becomes the Uber pinch hitter. I'd like that a lot. If it involves moving Wood, then I would also try to get Zito, but that's stretching it. No Garciapara, no Neifi. I'm not sure how Maddox's contract is structured, but if it is a team option, he's gone too. This team has more than enough young arms that even when they FAIL, wouldn't be producing at a much lower clip than Maddox. Van Buren, Pinto, Hill, Williams, Angel (if he ever gets healthy) and others, take your pick. If Wood is gone and Zito isn't landed, I'd go for Millwood. Now, if the price is right for Damon, then that's a no brainer, but its going to be a bidding war, and I'd just assume having Giles. I'd go after him fairly agressively. If there is no Soriano, then maybe two good bats would be picked up on the FA market in the OF. Otherwise, Pie gets his shot, Murton gets his shot, and if Patterson is looking good in ST, then he and Pie fight it out. If both succeed, then Patterson get's traded when he actually has value. Hairston becomes the utility man (like a super-Macias, but that isn't saying much). Then the only other FA signing would be for a closer. Wagner (if he wants to play) or BJ Ryan (or both...he's a FA right?) would be the guys. The Cubs would have MORE than enough money for these moves. Only two/three signings. I really don't think these moves (apart from outsting Baker) are unrealistic, and I'd get them done. Who's with me?

This is maybe the silliest thing I've read on here in a long time. The main way to refute Vizquel is to remind him that you can't catch the ball with your feet.

Guys, lets put this into perspective. I'm living here in Colorado. There was ZERO hope here before the season even started. NONE. Even the optimists were like, "Well, at least we have Helton, maybe he'll win the batting crown or something." But then after three months, he was hitting around .245 (on my fantasy team of course) Remember when the Cubs WERE the Rockies? I don't want that back for anything. I don't want a 0-13 start to the season. I don't want Mel Rojas. We are just going to have to get used to a different kind of disappointment as Cub fans. We are going to have good teams for the next decade, I believe, and we probably aren't going to get to the playoffs but two or three times in that span. Get used to it. Just remember where we came from. By the way, the Cubs-Rockies series that I'll be attending next week is going to be downright ridiculous. I'm pretty sure there will be two suicides per game from the crowd.

Just wondering, does anyone remember Zambrano's first few stints in the majors? Would go down in flames all of a sudden in one inning just like Hill now. Just thought I'd mention that.

Those camoflauge thingys that the Padres wore every once in a while were just plain gross. The Pirates had some dumb ones in the 80's too, but nothing that could touch the Astros.

Well, since Pro wrestling is make believe and I'm an ex college wrestler, I figured I'd put in my expertise as to what happened. Farns shot a double leg, but didn't really have much balance. Affledt used what is called a wizzer to stay on top of farns and kept his legs back. If that scrum hadn't ensued, farns might have been in some trouble...sussecptable to a choke or some blows to the head...but as big of a meat head as he is, I'm sure he would have just shrugged it off.

this was suposed to be in the arod thread...mods help?

After talking to my Venezuelan friend this summer, they could have a pretty tough team as well. Abreu, Maggs and Caberra, Mora, Izturis and Santana and Zambadass pitching lights out. They could compete.