RockTheIvy

I'd agree with you, if I thought that Pie was close to major league ready. I would like to see Pie spend all of next year in the minors, and then see if he is ready to start '07 in the majors, if not, he could be a call up. Pie has all the tools to be a great baseball player, he just needs more seasoning. That being said, Preston Wilson is not a bad CF offensively. I think a one year deal, similar to the Burnitz deal, with an option in 07, might work out for the Cubs. If, as Hoops and Cuse have said, the Cubs get a serious impact bat for RF (of the Giles/Abreu type, not the Jaque Jones type). As far as Cpatt, I wish he could play up to his talent level in Chicago, but I just don't think it is going to happen. I think, if you are JH, you have to improve CF and under no circumstances could you march out the same player who just had an absolutely miserable season. Also, something to remember, Patterson is no longer that cheap. I don't have the exact figures, but he might make 2 million this year through arbitration. That would be very similar to a Neifi! contract, and would be seriously ugly if he performed like last year. My personal CF wish is Mike Cameron. But I know Hendry has a crush on Preston, and, as long as he plays CF, I think I could live with him.

Castilla for Lawrence? Hello? :lol:

Yeah good point, I didn't really talk much about Geld in my original post. I would say it depends on how valued Wilson is, but I would go nowhere north of 3-4 million.

He's not a CF though. Fantastic head of hair though, FWIW. I thought he cut the mullet. Hey, it can grow back. :lol:

He's not a CF though. Fantastic head of hair though, FWIW.

Let me get a few words off, then you can open up on me. :lol: But would Preston Wilson be all that bad as a CF option? In LF or RF, he would be terrible, and offensively, I do not think he is anything special. Last season he put up a line of .260/.325/.467 (half in Coors, half in RFK). That line isn't terrible for a CF. Assuming we nab Furcal and bat him leadoff, and we snag a real baseball player for RF (e.g. Giles or Abreu), I think I could live with Wilson, as long as he is our CF. Personally I would rather have Cameron, but we know about Hendry's love for this guy. A lineup of: Furcal Murton Lee Abreu/Giles/Matsui Ramirez Barrett Wilson Cedeno wouldn't be perfect, but it would certainly be an improvement at every outfield position over last year. Of course JH will probably sign him for RF, and I'll wanna kill myself.

Kill the messenger! :lol: I kid I kid. That is terrible news though, and I really hope you are wrong.

Alou is older and had a shattered leg at one point in his life. Guys are 2B for a reason, and it's just not that simple to switch to the OF. Walker's range and glove are suspect at 2B; I can't even fathom how much his defense would cost us. Singles would be doubles, and he would likely not get to many balls that other OF's would normally get to. Also, the Cubs have a really promising LF that makes the league minimum that hit well over .300 in 150 major league AB's. I think he'd be the best LF option. :D Plus Twalk showed us his noodle arm at 2B. How many outfield assists would he have? We might have to use the double cut-off man from the Tom Emanski commercials. You mean the Johnny Damon "I once had a guy tag and score from second base on my arm" cutoff man plan? :D Hell, let's get Damon for CF, and Walker for RF! They could have contests on who could reach the infield on a fly! We could even trade for Pierre, and have to worst armed OF in history. We'd almost have to play with the softball 4th OF just to be a roving cutoff man, and our pitchers would have PC's in the 160's just to avoid guys making contact with the ball. ShortCF?! Ladies and gentlemen we have a winnAr!

Alou is older and had a shattered leg at one point in his life. Guys are 2B for a reason, and it's just not that simple to switch to the OF. Walker's range and glove are suspect at 2B; I can't even fathom how much his defense would cost us. Singles would be doubles, and he would likely not get to many balls that other OF's would normally get to. Also, the Cubs have a really promising LF that makes the league minimum that hit well over .300 in 150 major league AB's. I think he'd be the best LF option. :D Plus Twalk showed us his noodle arm at 2B. How many outfield assists would he have? We might have to use the double cut-off man from the Tom Emanski commercials. You mean the Johnny Damon "I once had a guy tag and score from second base on my arm" cutoff man plan? :D Hell, let's get Damon for CF, and Walker for RF! They could have contests on who could reach the infield on a fly!

Alou is older and had a shattered leg at one point in his life. Guys are 2B for a reason, and it's just not that simple to switch to the OF. Walker's range and glove are suspect at 2B; I can't even fathom how much his defense would cost us. Singles would be doubles, and he would likely not get to many balls that other OF's would normally get to. Also, the Cubs have a really promising LF that makes the league minimum that hit well over .300 in 150 major league AB's. I think he'd be the best LF option. :D Plus Twalk showed us his noodle arm at 2B. How many outfield assists would he have? We might have to use the double cut-off man from the Tom Emanski commercials.

Free Agency means getting stuck with bad contracts. 5 years for Burnett? 4/40 for Furcal? 4 years for Giles? Those aren't attractive options. I'd imagine Hendry is more likely to trade to fill the hole in RF and overpay for Furcal than to burden us with crappy contracts (2 players via FA) for 20% of the payroll for the next 4+ years. That just isn't good business. Aaaaaaadamn Dunn or Bobby Abreu. Woot!

Jeter and his stupid fist pumps. Oh and Mark Guthrie.

I read SOSH a good amount too. I have to say, they have some of the most elitist and aloof posters around. Oftentimes they make very good points, but it is mostly a severe case of monday-morning quarterbacking. IMO, Epstein deserves the credit he gets for helping to sculpt the team that won the WS in 04. However, he gets by pretty easy (at least in the national media/mindset) for some deals that are rather suspect (Clement, Varitek for the next 3 years, Renteria, not resigning Pedro, even the Schilling contract to some extent). I think "Lucky" is an idiot. He was largely responsible for the A-Rod snafu two years ago, and I think he was jealous of the attention that Epstein was getting.

At least Neifi! had a good empty batting average, not a terrible empty one.

Pfft. Not me. He can take his .220 average and his double play ball dropping, Game 6 costing ass and stay the hell away. Aww c'mon man. The homers were nice, eh? :lol:

I'm gonna have to say I disagree with you. They can add Furcal, get Lofton for 1 year for cheap (who will probably have a very good season) and still afford a great RF through trade if not FA. Furcal is strong DF, steals tons of bases, and gives us that constant threat on the bases that people keep saying "shakes up" pitchers. We NEED that next year. We do not have anybody waiting in the wings to give us that next year at SS. Lofton is actually very likely to be much worse next season. He was very lucky due to his high BABIP, and at his age and past performance in that department he's likely to come crashing down production-wise. I don't really subscribe to the philosophy that speedy baserunners "shake up" pitchers. I haven't really seen any evidence to support it. Therefore, I think it's far from a NEED. Ronny cedeno is waiting in the wings at SS, and while I don't wish for him to be our starter quite yet, he's certainly capable of stealing a base or two and potentially putting up solid SS production. That's the difference between you and me. I think we out to go for it NOW (you know while we still have zambrono and prior relatively cheap compared to their production).. Furcal gives us a positive boost at SS immediately, making us stronger immediately. And increases our chances at the playoffs, immediately. Yet you want to be patient and do what? Sign Nomar and take a chance he doesn't get injured in the first month? Have Neifi keep it warm for Cedeno so that when Cedeno is finally ready, Dusty doesn't play him? I'm sorry, I think the Cubs should be trying to win the World Series NOW. We are not building for the future. We are ready, and we only need a FEW peices and some luck (wood). I never said not to go after Furcal. I'm not necessarily opposed to getting him, but I wouldn't make him my top priority. I was only responding to your insinuation that we didn't have anyone waiting to play SS. No I didn't say that. I insinuated that we don't have any body who can offer Furcal's production next year (highlighted in bold). . We don't have someone who can possibly steal 30-50 bases and provide that constant speed threat. Furcal is a significant upgrade over Cedeno at SS. And I think we should go out and get high calibur players while we still have a strong "core". I think Furcal's OBP from the leadoff spot is more important than his speed.

I'm gonna have to say I disagree with you. They can add Furcal, get Lofton for 1 year for cheap (who will probably have a very good season) and still afford a great RF through trade if not FA. Furcal is strong DF, steals tons of bases, and gives us that constant threat on the bases that people keep saying "shakes up" pitchers. We NEED that next year. We do not have anybody waiting in the wings to give us that next year at SS. Lofton is actually very likely to be much worse next season. He was very lucky due to his high BABIP, and at his age and past performance in that department he's likely to come crashing down production-wise. I don't really subscribe to the philosophy that speedy baserunners "shake up" pitchers. I haven't really seen any evidence to support it. Therefore, I think it's far from a NEED. Ronny cedeno is waiting in the wings at SS, and while I don't wish for him to be our starter quite yet, he's certainly capable of stealing a base or two and potentially putting up solid SS production. I like Cedeno. But I would be very upset if he is the starter next season. We have plenty of money and need a short stop. So let's get the best one available, and that's Furcal.

It's funny how Neifi can make you long for AGonz. Heck, I'd rather have Alex on the bench than Neifi. At least Alex has power. I think it also shows just how bad Neifi! is. When you would rather see KGonz on the bench. If the Cubs signed Neifi! to the league minimum, and used him in late inning situations, for his defense (like the Red Sox did with Pokey Reese) I wouldn't have a problem. But Dusty will use him every other day, bat him second and significantly hurt our chances. I don't have the numbers nearby, but does anyone know if Neifi! is even that good of a fielder anymore? My problem with Hendry, is that, as you have said, is that he loves to overpay for mediocrity. After a while though, they add up, so 3 million for Rusch here, another 2 for Neifi! there, all of a sudden you've spent a lot of money on garbage.

I long for Alex S. Gonzalez.

Plus, if I'm the Cards, I dump Suppan and go hard after Burnett. They will have plenty of offense already, so why not replace Morris and Suppan with Burnett and Reyes?

If we are done with starting pitching then we better really use this cash and make a fantastic offense.

Plus, on days when Z pitches, you could use Ronny. I have to imagine having Furcal and Cedeno in the infield will help Z out tremendously.

Plus, it would keep Neifi! away.

From Rotoworld: Any ideas who the eight teams are? Phillies Mets Red Sox Yankees Orioles ...Cubs?

Burroughs was horrible last year (250/318/299) - our favorite whipping boy Neifi had him by 85 ops points. I knew Burroughs was bad, but I always thought they were sticking with him waiting for that "breakout" season. But yeaeh, a 617 OPS from your 3rd baseman :shock: ? Yikes.