RockTheIvy

I would love to see Bradley in CF. He is a good offensive player, and an excellent one when compared to other CFers. I think it is difficult though to make good judgements about his personality. IMO, bring him aboard. He got into with a fan, who threw something at him. I would do the same thing if someone chucked something at me. Also, this clubhouse stuff has a lot to do with Jeff Kent, who as far as I can tell, can easily rub people the wrong way. I know he had a battle with the Indians manager (was it Wedge?) anyone care to share what that was about? I would love to have Bradley. The concern though for me if we sign him is who will DUSTY bat leadoff? Maybe trade for Castillo?

Yeah really. I mean Furcal is very good but is he that much better than Jimmy Rollins or Edgar Renteria? I just don't understand some of these agents sometimes. Well, since you asked: Furcal: 03: 292/352/443/25 steals (93 percent success) 04: 279/345/414/29 steals (83 percent success) 05: 284/348/429/46 steals (82 percent success) Rollins: 03: 263/320/387/20 steals (63 percent success) 04: 289/348/455/30 steals (77 percent success) 05: 290/338/431/41 steals (87 percent success) Renteria: 03: 330/394/480/34 steals (83 percent success) 04: 287/327/401/17 steals (61 percent success) 05: 276/335/385/9 steals (69 percent success) First, Renteria is mired in an awful decline. That signing is only going to get worse and worse for Boston. Second, Rollins and Furcal are amazingly similar players -- Rollins' numbers are encouraging (for Phillies fans, I guess) because he still appears to be improving, while Furcal has been pretty consistent. I'd probably give the edge to Furcal since he gets on base more, and we all know that's what a leadoff man should really be doing. Rollins got a 5 year/$40 million deal, so Furcal is probably worth (in market value, at least) a bit more than that. You're right he is better, I agree. But let's look at another SS: Tejada: 2003: .278/.336/.472 2004: .311/.360/.534 2005: .304/.349/.515 In 2005 Tejada made 10mil and change. He is slated to make 12 million the next 3 seasons I believe. My point is that Furcal is more like Rollins and Renteria (better, but not better like Tejada), and is not deserving of an extra year at 10 mil per, which is only 2 million short of Tejada. I think the lines of Rollins, Renteria and Furcal, with the exception of their SBs, could easily be produced by Cedeno, and for far less.

RTI just quoted you cause I love your sig " Thats just great the cops have your address" - " No they don't I listed it as 1060 West Addison!" Love it. My thought on center field would be to trade Patterson for Bradley or if we pick up a big bat for right keep Corey in center and batting 8th and hope it works out. If not trade for a stopgap cf at the deadline or bring up Pie. http://img370.imageshack.us/img370/5880/wrigley4je.jpg

Yeah really. I mean Furcal is very good but is he that much better than Jimmy Rollins or Edgar Renteria? I just don't understand some of these agents sometimes.

Yeah here's the link for that: http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/cs-051112cubs,1,7925414.story?coll=cs-home-headlines

Am I the only one who thinks Hill at best will pan out to be a setup man? He has a knee-buckling curve, a mediocre fastball, and not much else. A good reliever can get by on those, but not a starter. A starter would have to have a good 3rd pitch to go to with his underwhelming fastball to have sustained success, but Hill doesn't. No I agree. Hill seems like a one-trick pony. Hopefully others don't see him that way, so he can net us some impact players if he is traded.

Well, if they want him to play RF, then no. Giles is soooo much better and won't cost the Cubs any players. Wilkerson is cheaper but it can't be a money thing, not with the amount the Cubs have to spend this year. But would an outfield of Wilkerson, Giles and Murton be sound defensively? Do the Cubs pitchers throw enough groundballs and Ks to make their limited defensive range less noticeable? With that outfield trio would we still have enough for Furcal? Or would you resign Nomar?

Good point vance. If he is going after Wilkerson, does that mean he actually realizes that the Cubs need more OBP? The only reason I ask is because there are other OF who will post similar slugging %s, but very few who will walk as many times as Wilkerson. Is Hendry smarter than I think he is?

Good point. That being said, is there any thought to putting Murton in CF? Any idea how he would handle it? I imagine he has about the same amount of speed as Wilkerson? Just curious.

Good point, Moose. I think people overlook that a main reason Beane looked at OBP when evaluating a player was that it was so undervalued, and ignored in favor of average. That does not mean guys that hit .300 are necessarily bad, it just means that there were players that were being misevaluated (Bellhorns, Hattebergs etc) and he took advantage of it. I think I read somewhere that they believe defense is the new OBP? But i could be making that up.

I agree with you. I mean how do they write these things? Did Gammo just overhear Hendry ask Bowden about this then leave and write his column, completely ignoring what Bowden said? If they are trying to move Wilkerson, or just entertaining offers, you gotta believe there are more competetive offers.

Hahaha, yeah Ft. Bliss is called that because...? I agree, Wilkerson would be nice but the outfield could be improved, hopefully not with Dunn, because, while the OBP might be nice, the 300ks might get annoying.

I think having Wilkerson would be fantastic, but do you think they are looking at him as a CF or as a RF? Furcal Murton Lee Giles/Abreu etc Ramirez Wilkerson Barett Cedeno Wow.

Great post!!!

Wow I would love to have Wilkerson. How is his CF defense? I know he has spent some time there? Imagine if we got him for CF and another impact bat for right? Whoaaaah now we're cookin with grease!

I like the way you are thinking, RTI. I think Lofton is worth a good long look. And clearly Pierre's career OBP, base-stealing ability and defensive range are worth acquiring for the right price. But the player with the most upside in this group is Milton Bradley. If the Cubs are able to sign Furcal and plug him in the lead-off spot, Murton could easily hit 2nd, if Baker can see the light, and Bradley could hit down in the order. There is one person missing from your list, however. Corey Patterson. I still think, unless Hendry can get something good for him, the Cubs are better off holding on to him and working with him to get him back on track. Then they can trade him, move him over to RF or do whatever they want with him, but trading him now seems like a panic move. With Patterson on the 25-man roster, I believe the best move would be to acquire Bradley. Apparently, he can be had for less than Pierre and the Cubs would have both Patterson and Bradley. If Bradley's attitude gets in the way, which it shouldn't with Baker as manager, then the Cubs have Corey as a back-up plan. Corey coming off the bench gives them a great defensive replacement late in a game and a left-handed bat with some pop as a pinch hitter. I don't think his lack of contact would make for an ideal pinch hitter, but if he improves his ability to recognize a pitch and make contact over the winter, this combo could be the best option due to both player's upside and the fact that with Patterson on the roster, Bradley would know his leash is short. But if Patterson is traded, it will likely be for Pierre, so I guess the topic on the table is do people think that Pierre/Hairston would be clearly better than Lofton/Patterson? And does the combo of Bradley/Patterson beat all of the above. I like that plan, assuming we don't trade Patterson to fill another gap. Bradley is the best offensive option too. I think an added bonus in that idea is that it makes Hairston a super sub, which would hopefully eliminate the idea of Macias returning.

Hendry just called and said he doesn't understand why so many organizations have affiliations with Bill Pecota. He wasn't that good. http://www.baseball-reference.com/p/pecotbi01.shtml

But would you rather have two years of Abreu or 4 years of Giles, who is almost certainly going to decline? as has been said many times before, it depends on what abreu would cost prospect wise. i dont see hendry giving up murton, pie or hill for anyone at this point. giles will only cost $$ (assuming he even wants to play for the cubs). Nah you are right, I was just saying that I personally would rather have Giles and that Abreu is probably worth his 15 million considering what Giles will probably make.

Yeah sure thing!

But would you rather have two years of Abreu or 4 years of Giles, who is almost certainly going to decline?

Whoa. The line for Corey bashing usually forms right behind me, but this is a bit much. The fact that he is going at all should tell you something about his "mindset." He's a professional athlete for goodness sakes. I'm sure he doesn't enjoy being awful at the plate. Let him go work on it, show up early for spring training- again, and let the winter play out. At least there is an effort to improve. Playing a 1/2 season of winter ball doesn't tell me anything positive about his mindset. It says he will do just enough to get his critics and Hendry off his back, but not as much as a player who really wants to reach his potential would. And I'd hope he doesn't enjoy being awful at the plate, but if I were in his shoes when asked by reporters if I'd consider winter ball, I'd enthusiastically respond with a: "YES! I'm having a very poor year and I have disappointed Cubs fans and the team, but I know I can do better. I plan on getting better by playing the game when most MLB players aren't: in winter ball." "But my game isn't the only thing I need to improve on. I'm also going to adjust my attitude, because there were times when I just didn't care about the game. Remember my 'It's just a game' comment? I'm going to work on my intelligence too." To clarify, though certain beat writers reported that Corey uttered the "it's just a game" comment, it was later confirmed that Corey actually said "it's just the game." Big difference. Carry on. I'm aware of that, but believe that his quote was "corrected" as a cover up. I think the first interpretation is correct because it's certainly consistent with his attitude. Oh, dear Lord. Corey's got enough issues on his own without people making things up. Did I make up the fact that Corey said baseball was just a game? Did I make up the fact that Corey only wants to play 1/2 of Winter ball? I think those two decisions allow the fan some insight to the mindset/desire/attitude of CP. Who is this Corey Patterson you speak of? Is he even a real player? I don't understand your point made in your post, but your avatar interests me. Could you explain to me what happened in that picture? I know I've heard the story but don't remember many details. Yeah sure. My post was a lame joke making fun of the jabs you were receiving. Sorry it stunk, but you have to try sometimes. My avatar is a picture of Rick Monday rescuing the Flag from some anti-American nuts who were trying to light it on fire during a game at Dodger stadium. The game was on April 25th, 1976. I have always thought that was an underrated moment in Cubs history.

I guess a good way to look at it is to discuss what we are looking for from our CF. If we need a leadoff hitter, I think the best options are: Trade for Pierre Sign Lofton If we nab a leadoff hitter at a different position (eg 2B or SS) then I think the list expands a bit. I would like one of the following: Milton Bradley Preston Wilson Mike Cameron (assuming the eyes come back).

Go Crusaders of Holy Cross! 14 Seed or Bust!

Or the phantom station (was it out of AZ?) that said Pudge had signed with the Cubs.

I dunno if I would trade Murton because it would just create another hole in the OF, but I would easily trade Rich "Here come's my Curveball are you ready" Hill for a guy who is a career .303/.411/.512 hitter, who has walked 100 times each of the last 8 years and steals bases at an excellent clip. 15 million a year is a lot of money, but I think that Abreu is worth it and is a better option than Giles, given that he is a few years younger.