Soul

My understanding is, Walker's defensive metrics are among the worst in the league.

I know what you mean. Unfortunately, it will be so difficult to quantify. My guess is nobody will be able to tell if late-season injuries/falloff were due to the WBC. Maybe if there's a huge statistical difference, but I don't see it. More likely, fans will suspect the WBC contributed to their favorite player dropping off, but nobody will be able to show a definite relationship.

The Twins are a candidate because their owner wouldn't oppose it. He's 90 years old and his family is growing tired of dealing with the Minnesota legislature. So you're saying because he's 90 he no longer has the intellect to grasp the concept of selling?

The 84 playoffs would surely have killed him if he hadn't died when he did. ](*,) Almost killed me and I was just a kid.

:shock: I guess to break a curse, somebody has to die. If the Cubs make a W.S. game 7: watch the game from home! :lol:

Same guy who did "Go Cubs Go" apparently :) Cute song. Made me think of my Dad----who died having never seen a Cubs Championship. A fate which I suspect we will all share.

That's great. I can't wait until August when he starts to pitch well 8)

Wait a minute. So Williams should win the World Series and get no credit for it? The man made the moves, and they paid off. Good for him.

I would like to see if Pierre has anything left before signing him to a multi-year deal. Makes more sense to me if we treat him as a 1-yr experiment unless he proves he's worth more. But, this is Hendry. So sign him to a 5-year, $40million deal right now

The Yanks gave Contreras away for a bag of beans, and now the White Sox are on the verge of turning him into Abreu? :shock: If that happens, Kenny Williams is officially a genius. There would be no possible way to argue against it. I can't believe he would be able to pull this off. Is everyone sure this is the actual deal that has been discussed? Did someone hit the Phillies with the stupid stick or something?

Has anyone heard a single *valid* reason why Todd Walker is on the trading block all the time? How can a cheap, productive player who appears to exhibit a goodly amount of clubhouse leadership be unwanted when there's nothing but junk behind him? Makes no sense to me whatsoever. I could see if we had a great player to start, and Walker was just going to sit the bench for $2.5 million. But that's not the case. He's clearly head & shoulders above any other 2nd baseman on this roster. As a starter, that salary is pretty cheap. Hendry & Walker must have gotten into a screaming match one day or something. That's the only thing I can think of.

I don't mean to nitpick, Soul, but in 2004 Aramis didn't really miss any extended time beyond 5-6 games straight games due to injury, and in 2003 he was pretty healthy for both Pittsburgh and us. 2001-158 games 2002-142 games 2003-159 games 2004-145 games 2005-123 games It's not like he's a china doll. If he's worked on his flexibility and lower body this winter, you shouldn't see any nagging injuries this year. No, I totally agree. And he's still young, too. Alot of times a young ballplayer will pick up the offseason discipline as his career progresses. There's definitely alot to look forward to with ARam as long as he plays his cards right. I remember 2004, and he did play. But I remember many of those games he was in pretty bad shape. He tried to tough it out which is a good sign as well. I just want to see the kid take the next step and become the perennial superstar he has the talent to be. I think it's time for him to make that move. He's too young to be this slow, too-----men in their late 20's need not become slow pokes no matter what they do for a living.

The Padres made it really easy on Mike. "Hey, basically play whenever you want and we'll give you $2million." Who could refuse that? Plus, he gets to go back to So. Cal. Let's face it, San Diego is a much better place to live than NY.

The 2004 team was clearly the best team he put together. 04' & 05' the Cubs were decimated with injuries & teams like the Astros & Cards, had very healthy pitching staffs. Health/depth will be the main determining factor on how good the Cubs will be in 06'. Right now, there is no depth in the outfield. Maybe he still plans on addressing that before they head into Spring Training. If not, the outfield is going to be a major concern for the 2nd year in a row. Might be a little late now, BBB. Not much left to pick from I fear. TBCF: Everything comes back on the GM in one way or another. Even injuries. Especially when you string multiple seasons of injury-plagued baseball together. At some point, a good GM would look at health as a factor in his decisions and bring in ballplayers and staff to ensure more players are healthy. Hey----look at a ballclub like the Bears. Injured for years. Then they finally address the issue and wind up with a healthy playoff team. You can't control every injury that takes place, but you can control the overall picture in order to minimize the potential for injury. So, while I agree injuries are unpredictable in the short term, over the longterm a GM must have a successful plan in place to minimize their impact. And Hendry hasn't done that. Can you site examples where JH has ignored or hasn't had a long term plan on minimizing injuries? BTW, JH has readily admitted that LY was not successful & he didn't get the job done & wouldn't use injuries as an excuse for that. In my opinion, he has taken more ownership of the failure of the 05' Cubs than Dusty. It's more a matter of whether people can site specific examples of how Hendry has improved the injury situation. The totality of the DL lists, taken over the course of 2 seasons, are the proof that the Cubs have been an injury-plagued ballclub long term. I've gone through this over & over with fellow Bear fans as well. Injury after injury, year after year........and fan after fan insisting it's just a fluke. Then the club gets serious about it, hires some people with a proven record of success, and the situation dramatically improves. I've seen no such hire (or hires) from Hendry yet. I'm telling you. This club is not serious about player health. Not as serious as our rivals, anyway. I haven't heard much of anything but platitudes from Hendry these days. But if you say he's taken more blame for the '05 failure than Baker I have no reason to doubt you. Injuries are a big part of those failures, though. And I'd like to hear what the concrete, detailed plan is to minimize those going forward. I don't think there is one other than just hoping they don't happen again. That's not a plan, it's a prayer.

Well he drafted a couple position players that turned out OK. That sounds like a welcome change to me.

The 2004 team was clearly the best team he put together. 04' & 05' the Cubs were decimated with injuries & teams like the Astros & Cards, had very healthy pitching staffs. Health/depth will be the main determining factor on how good the Cubs will be in 06'. Right now, there is no depth in the outfield. Maybe he still plans on addressing that before they head into Spring Training. If not, the outfield is going to be a major concern for the 2nd year in a row. Might be a little late now, BBB. Not much left to pick from I fear. TBCF: Everything comes back on the GM in one way or another. Even injuries. Especially when you string multiple seasons of injury-plagued baseball together. At some point, a good GM would look at health as a factor in his decisions and bring in ballplayers and staff to ensure more players are healthy. Hey----look at a ballclub like the Bears. Injured for years. Then they finally address the issue and wind up with a healthy playoff team. You can't control every injury that takes place, but you can control the overall picture in order to minimize the potential for injury. So, while I agree injuries are unpredictable in the short term, over the longterm a GM must have a successful plan in place to minimize their impact. And Hendry hasn't done that.

This is basically the exact same thing we did with Dempster. Signed a guy who had, at some point in his career, pitched well and was dirt cheap and rehabbing. This is a good signing. A million dollars to the Cubs is akin to buying a soda from a vending machine for most of us. Would you drop $1 into a vending machine if you were really thristy but unsure of what would come out? Of course you would. Even if it was something undrinkable---you could just toss it and lose minimal $$$. Well----the Cubs are really, really thirsty for pitching. Especially starters. Pretty much no risk, and possible reward. Can't beat that.

Where are you going? He must have already left :) Anywhoo......fast forward to July/August and I wonder if NSA will be feeling so unlucky to be away from Cubs baseball. ;)

Jim Hendry: how could such a promising GM go down the tubes so quickly? Truly sad. I want the 2003 Hendry back. This other guy is a joke. :evil:

Ramirez is obviously a great hitter. That just makes it all the more disappointing when you see him go down year after year. I hope he's ready to turn it around this year (health-wise---I always thought the talent was there). Woody has to be a constant source of frustration for every Cub fan. The guy basically threw away one of the most promising careers in the history of major league baseball because he didn't commit himself in the offseason to keeping his body in top shape, and his mechanics seamless. Now he has chronic back problems (which he tried to alleviate last year by losing some weight----hopefully it isn't too late), and might not ever correct his mechanics. CPatt: what might have been. When every person in the City knows what needs to be corrected, and you STILL won't take action, then there really is no choice but to say goodbye. On a positive note, Derek Lee is always in top shape from day 1. Maybe some of these other guys should take a page from his daily workout routines. Hopefully they are. It's a 12 month job, not 6.

Why did I think his numbers were better than this?

I don't even see much risk for 76-79 wins. I think 80-86 is the highly probable range, with 87-92 quite possible, with an outside shot at 93+. I think Philly is at a big risk for decline if they don't find some starting pitching. The Mets are going to be better than last year's 83 win team. I think all those other teams, plus Milwaukee will compete with the Cubs. And SF might be there as well if Bonds plays a full healthy season. I'm a little more optimistic than that but not much. I would say 83-88 highly probable. I do think St. Louis is closer to 90 than 100 this year though and Houston finally drops back to .500. Still some time yet and I want to see who rolls into Spring Training with injuries (i.e. not ready to play baseball physically). I'm not seeing much of a plan with this ballclub. Are we building through free agency? The draft/minors? Both? Neither? The ship seems a bit adrift from my point of view. Certain players are not impressive in their offseason dedication, too. That's troubling. Right now I'm looking at .500.........3rd or 4th place depending on whether the Brewers continue their build and what happens with the Stros. Who are you referring to? Barrett, Jones and Pierre seem to be working very hard and word was that the starting pitchers looked to be in excellent shape for that time of year at the convention. Not saying you are wrong, just wondering what you are basing this on since I have not seen any such reports. I thought everyone knew who I was referring to, sorry. Ramirez seems to come into camp fatter each year. He's still good, don't get me wrong. But he's young----as he gets older that will begin to catch up with him. Wood never works on his mechanics, comes in the same injury-prone player despite the fact that everyone and their brother knows his motion is poor. Before the trade, CPatt was a total dud, doing nothing to improve and completely unwilling to change/work. These are fairly well documented. I thought it was accepted knowledge.

But for all the Braves success, they can't close the deal. Meanwhile, the Marlins win no division titles but two World Series :lol: I'd rather be the Marlins.

Yes, there's a need for drastic change in Tampa. And a name change isn't it. But by all means: worry about what the team is named instead of who plays and manages the games. The Yankees and BoSox absolutely adore this franchise. :wink:

I'm glad you think so (and you're not alone). Honestly I don't see it. I hope you're right. Looks pretty shaky to me right now, kind of like last year.