Neuby

This sundays Trib Phil Rogers mentions that Ron Jackson is a strong canadidate for Hitting coach and that Gary Gaetti is another possibility. Gaetti? Why?

I see a 4 yr deal as well with either a buyout or vesting options for 2 additional years making it potentially worth 6 years. ARam and his agent are squeezing Hendry in a vice grip. But it's Hendry's fault for handing them the vice grip. I thought it's been reported that MacPhail was the one that gave him the out clause that caused all this trouble.

If his offseason work with Jacques Jones is any indication of his teaching skills I would pass. J/K I would be more than happy to get Gwyn as a hitting coach.

I don't thing signing a guy like Miller will Hinder Hendry making a run at two major starters. I think Miller and Prior are both looked as anything you get from there next year is a plus.

I thought Garcia's velocity was way down toward the end of this year and 05 playoff push was showing up this season.

My ipod died today and the Cards are going to win it. I am looking for reasons to live and right now I can't find any.

I don't see the logic in the Jays bidding all that money and then not signing the guy just to keep him away from there rivals. Wouldn't it make sense just to drop that money into there own team and improve it?

I would rather spend that kind of cash on Craig Wilson. He's a younger, better health, Strong arm,can play first and be your third string catcher. Alou will get a DH job somewhere.

Who made the comment after the 2005 season that he liked players who can catch the ball? I rest my case. Hendry wanted to get some guys that can catch the ball is there something wrong with that? Maybe you guys are reading way too much into that comment. Hendry has stated this offseason he wants to get more starting pitching. Does that mean he doesn't also want to add some impact bats.

right now the only strength the Cubs having head to this offseason is there bullpen and you guys want to weaken it? If are rotation was worth anything last year the bullpen would have been a lot better. Eyre Howry Dempster Wood Ohman Wuertz looks pretty filthy to me. Sure its an exspensive pen but with a payroll of 115 million and so many other weakness I'd rather stand pat in the bullpen unless you can something useful for Dempster and not just another bad contract.

I'd take a shot on Sheffield if we could move Jones somehow. I don't want if it means he's one of two impact bats brought in this season. Sheffield has always been known for having one of the fastest bats in the majors how this wrist injury plays out will be a big factor if he is ever to be productive again.

If Boras is going to be asking steep dollar amounts for Jones next deal I could see the Braves moving Jones. With all the talk of brining back Glavine and Maddux I would think they would need to clear some payroll.

I wish there was a spot on this staff for a guy like Kirk Gibson another guy that lights a fire under his players.

30 mill is a lot. I'm not certain I'd be willing to do that. Given the likely cost of the other two top FA starters and the usual discount a japanese player takes in his first contract, I might do 20 mill. Does 1908 or anyone have a clue on what would happen if there where Identical bids? I would be willing to go as high 25 million if it didn't hamper the Cubs efforts in other areas. I'd prefer Schimdt but I know he's going to get 4 years from someone and I'd prefer not to go that long.

I would not mind Burrell because I don't think it would take much in terms of talent to get him. Jones and Nova for Burrell and Cash. It upgrades right field without dipping into the money has to improve other area's.

Funny all these hack Journalists must have followed Aramis from Pittsburgh.

Please Peolpe everyone bashes Hendry for counting on Wood then they want to ship guys like Dempster and Eyre out of town so we can count on having Wood healthy. Having Wood healthy must be a luxury.

Be prepared for the Anti-Stone people. I also enjoy Stone but we are the minority on this board. I like him as an announcer, but hate him as a decision maker. I lost a lot of respect for him with the way he went out. Why because morons like Kent Mercker and Dusty Baker ran him out of town I would be bitter too if the Cubs choose a loogy over one of the best colorman in the buisness.

Let's hope that heater comes back.

The Cubs have one major advantage Arod has a no trade clause will want nothing more than to be reunited with Lou Piniella. Chicago is also a shorter Jet ride to Miami.

I think the Cubs and Piniella know they need Prior and I don't see him being included in a deal for Arod. Jones Dempster Pie Marmol Cubs- Arod?

i have a feeling there is going to be a lot of peolpe proven wrong next season by Dempster when excels again with regular work. He is a converted starter who rusted away last season after a good first run as a closer and doing well as a reliver. Wuertz Eyre Howry Wood Dempster crazy good. Spending $20M on the bullpen is a serious misapplication of funds unless your overall budget looms around $200M. Basically, I can't find any way to believe that a bullpen represents more than 15% of any good team's value. Take the standard breakdown of the contributions into offense, defense, starting pitching & bullpen. How many you score is roughly 50% of the game (I've read some decent arguments that it represents slightly less than that, though). That leaves 50% to split amongst the pitching and the defense (components of preventing runs, of course). Let's be generous and say that pitching accounts for 40% of the 50%. The question that remains is the allocation of value between starting pitching and relief. Now, on a pure innings basis, starting pitching in baseball these days accounts for around 2/3 of the innings (a touch more than that, last I looked). So a straight division of the pitching value would put the relief core at 13%. Some would argue that number should be higher because dollars allocated to late inning relief can be used in higher leverage situations. But I would argue the opposite. ** warning -- gut feel, unsubstantiated claim alert ** My guess is that teams post a really good winning percentage in general if they 1) score first and 2) hold a two run or better lead coming out of the sixth inning. In other words, my claim is that more games are won and lost in the first six innings than in the last three. I wish I had more time to delve into this claim to find whether it is true or if I'm off on my thinking here. But to get back to the original point, there's no way I'd spend more than 10-13% of my budget on relief unless I was getting a WHOLE bunch of really cheap, really good production somewhere else. But another reason I wouldn't blow that percentage on the pen is that I think that's one of the easiest areas of the team to get some quality, cheap production. Oh yeah, and big money relievers are among the most unpredictable investments in the game. Pitchers in general are the most unpredictable things in the game. If the Cubs payroll next season reaches 115 million which seems likely to happen next season they shouldn't have a problem filling holes with the money left. Murton and Hill most likely will be part of next seasons team and are good vaules. Barrett is also a steal at his current salary. The Cubs next season have a chance to have a dominating bullpen along with a very strong rotation. Zambrano Schimdt/Zito/DM Hill Miller Prior Too me it doesn't matter where you spend the money as long as you get results. Last year Howry and Eyre got results and thats why so many teams came calling July 31 looking to see if the Cubs where willing to deal. Dempster was almost perfect his first stint as a closer and has the stuff to rebound next year when he should be seeing regular work. Wood is a huge luxury to have next year if he can prove he's healthy out of the pen.

i have a feeling there is going to be a lot of peolpe proven wrong next season by Dempster when excels again with regular work. He is a converted starter who rusted away last season after a good first run as a closer and doing well as a reliver. Wuertz Eyre Howry Wood Dempster crazy good.

Boras' speciality is playing one team off another to escalate the price. How's he going to do that in this instance? Isn't his other specialty driving up the price by saying his draft picks will just wait until next year? In Japan a player in general shows more respect for there team and the Lions need the posting money they are going to get for DM so I can't see him letting Boras tell him to wait until next year.

$115M dollar payroll is a dream come true and should make for a fun offseason. Piniella might not be the boards choice for a manager but it shows there serious about winning. Hopefully Rusch will retire giving Hendry even more flexability. After Hendry gets Ramirez and Wood done let the free agent shopping begin!!!!!