WrigleyField 22

Based on going through our current 40 man, I see 30 players that should be returning. This doesn't count trades that could occur that could be 2-1 or 3-1, but Hendry might not be smart enough to rid himself of guys who should be gotten rid of (ie-Bynum,Novoa), so we'll say it evens out at 30. That leaves 10 open spots. If we need 2-3 SP, a new 2B and CF at the least(SS,RF?), plus maybe 2 new FA bench players, that would put us at 7 new additions leaving 3 spots for new additions to the 40man among the minor leaguers. We'll say it could be as little as 2 and as many as 5-6. So lets see your list of 5-6(or more) to protect, ranked in order: 1-Jake Fox 2-Randy Wells 3-Lincoln Holdzkom 4-Mike Fontenot 5-Billy Petrick 6-Rocky Cherry 7-Clay Rapada 8-Carmen Pignatiello

I think I would rank the scoutingwiki as a major need. Out of all the things that people could already have a lot of access to the boards, scouting is probably the hardest to come by. Stats, Contracts, and Transactions are constantly being presented through the message board already by posters. At some point I guess it would be cool to have a collabrative effort to put all these things together in a database, but at this point there is a lot of info on those things everyday. I'd rank it as 1-scouting 2-blogs 3/4-stats/contracts (can't decide) 5-players 6-transactions All these ideas sound pretty exciting.

Peter must be pretty sure to just mention this so non-chalantly. Baseball will be gone in 10 years if this happens I think you are confusing MacPhails ability to put together a championship team with his adminisrative and business capabilities. By all accounts he has actually done well with that, no?

Make a new one. Keep posting it. Colored ink aint cheap :( Even if the Cards were swept in 4, I'd spend a few hundred bucks on colored ink.

I don't think Patterson ever showed the kind of progression Pie has shown in the minors (from what I can remember). Another key is to make sure the Cubs don't try to turn him into something he's not, like they did with Patterson. I agree that there should be some caution used to avoid "rushing" him, but I think there are some differences between he and Corey. Patterson's minor league career: .320 .358 .592 20 yrs old in A 475 ABs .261 .338 .491 21 yrs old in AA 444 ABs .253 .308 .387 22 yrs old in AAA 367 ABs Felix Pie .321 .385 .569 17 yrs old in Rk 218 ABs, also 8ABs in A- .285 .346 .388 18 yrs old in A 505 ABs .301 .364 .448 19 yrs old in A+ 415 ABs .304 .349 .554 20 yrs old in AA 240 ABs .283 .341 .451 21 yrs old in AAA 559 ABs So Pie has put up better numbers at a younger age, but they have also been much more conservative, never skipping a level and never getting called up to the bigs. Maybe Patterson would have shown the second half ressurgance Pie showed if the Cubs hadn't pulled him up so soon during his year in AAA. I'd be curious to see Pie's numbers after 367 ABs this year. My opinion: Pie would be fine as the number 8 hitter in a good lineup. That means Isturiz isn't back, top of the order guys are .350+ OBP guys, and number 6 and 7 are Barrett and Jones, with Lee and Aramis 3,4 and Murton 1 or 2. So that means finding a 2B and SS, one middle of the order, one top of the order. Keep in mind even if he can't get on base to save his life, and gets caught stealing like its his job, he should provide great defense in CF.

As expected my Tigers sign got torn down in less than 24 hours. I am stuck in Cubs fan hell. They(cardinals) are everywhere.

aaaah i have to listen to a whole school celebrate this victory... I've been yelling go Tigers on my floor.

Then he will throw a side-session the week after. Followed by a simulated game. You forgot the towel drill

Maybe $25 if they REALLY want him. $18 if they maybe want him. . For 25 bucks i'll pay the bid myself. Heck I'll throw in another $10

A-rod. I'm pretty sure it's all been speculation at this point (particularly, the inclusion of Hill), but it does make some sense, so it's worth considering. Wouldn't the Yankees likely be able to get a better package for ARod from another team? I'm going to go out on a limb and state that Hill and spare parts wont' do it. Hill simply is not a proven top of the rotation SP, and that is what the Yankees will likely demand, IMO. To address the topic presented in this thread, the Cubs would probably pull the trigger on a Hill centered trade for Arod if this were offerred....and then sign 2 FA SPs There aren't really that many teams that can absorb A-Rod's $23 million salary this year. I guarantee that other teams could offer more in terms of players, but their payroll just won't support it. Texas is picking up a sizable chunk of that contract. New York is paying 16 per year, I believe. Add to the fact that the Yankees might be willing to pick up some of the tab, many teams could afford him (money wise at least)

Interestingly enough, when he had his terrible 2003, the deal was so backloaded he wasn't even costing them much. He made $2.5M. (base $1M plus signing bonus) Also I'm sure a lot of casual fans are looking at his 2006 and thinking: he cant even hit .260 with 30HR and 100RBI (.258 29 95). He's also top 20 in strikeouts (ignore the fact he's top 15 in BB)

He is set to make $13M and $14M the next two years. I would want the Phillies to eat at least $7M on the deal (3,4) so we pay him $10M a year. If we are trading Jacque for him, it comes out to be only $6M/$5M more each year. Defense is my only concern. Murton or Burrel would have to handle RF.

Even if we don't end up with any of these guys, I'm glad we are at least showing an intrest in Asia.

I would take either one of Mark Prior's 2004 or 2005 seasons, including the IP, for $4 considering what pitchers get paid. If he can get to 2003 levels he obviously is a Cy Young type pitcher. 2004- 4.02 ERA 21GS 118.2 IP 48BB 139K 2005- 3.67 ERA 27GS 166.2 IP 59BB 188K And you never know theres still the potential to reach that 2003 level: 2003- 2.43 ERA 30GS 211.1 IP 50BB 245K Now if we could use him in a trade for ARod I would definately consider it, but you make it sound as if we should just cut him or trade for whatever we can get.

Has there been any further word whether or not Brenly is close to finding a managerial job? I believe San Francisco was thrown around before, is he still in the running there? If Brenly does find a job managing, who might you like to see replace him in the booth? I know Stone might be a popular choice, but I don't see that happening.

I want to say no more than you have of your own, or only a certain number more, but I'm not sure.

That's not right, since Texas is paying a bunch. According to http://www.mlb4u.com/profile.php?id=991 He is due 27M in 2007-2010. Rangers are paying 7, 8, 7, 6. So the Yanks are set to pay: 20, 19, 20, 21. Now there is also a bunch of deferred money. I'm not really sure how all that works out. According to Cot's the Yanks owe A-Rod $64mil over 4 years after 2006 (at 16/yr) . The rest is all on Texas. That's the $11mil in salary each year until 2010, plus all of the deferred money. They also add that he "may opt out after 2007 unless he gets an $8M/year raise or $1M more than MLB’s highest-paid player." The total of mlb4u's salary 04-10 paid by texas is only $43mil, not $67mil which they say. Thanks for clearing that up. If thats the case, it really wouldn't matter if the Yanks didn't pick up more than 5-10M for the length of the contract, coming out to only a few million a year.

I'm reading some now too where fans want Zambrano AND Ramirez, or another guy who wants Zambrano and Barrett... as backup catcher. Its bad enough they Yanks want an All-Star lineup, but they want a guy who just came off a year where he put up All Star numbers to be ON THE BENCH. A guy posted this rotation: Wang Zambrano Zito Hughes (?) Matsuzaka I'm not sure what happened to the $33M they owe Johnson ,Pavano, Wright, but I'm thinking they might be the delusional ones.

Has anyone seen or posted this? http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/story/461848p-388604c.html Bhuerle, Garcia, Vazquez don't interest them, but McCarthy does? Prior with his recent injury history isn't more desireable than Bhuerle, Vazquez, Garcia, is he? Prior's only advantage is his price tag.

How much money are the Yankees paying?

That's not right, since Texas is paying a bunch. According to http://www.mlb4u.com/profile.php?id=991 He is due 27M in 2007-2010. Rangers are paying 7, 8, 7, 6. So the Yanks are set to pay: 20, 19, 20, 21. Now there is also a bunch of deferred money. I'm not really sure how all that works out.

To complete my thoughts, here is what I would like while trying to be somewht realistic: Scott Moore Ryan Dempster Donald Veal Juan Mateo OR If they really want Prior, I bite(very reluctantly) Scott Moore Mark Prior Juan Mateo Jake Fox for Arod and 18M (0,6,6,6) So we pay Arod (20,13,14,15) If I wanted to be unrealistic: Dempster, Moore, Mateo, Fox, Wells for same as above.

Here's what I think. The Yankees want pitching. They would be willing to sacrifice the lineup some since its full of all stars. There are three good pitchers on the market. Yankees do not have unlimited money, despite what people believe. They don't need to repace ARods production at 3B. In fact I think they'd welcome just a cheap option. So heres some components I think it will take to get ARod: Yankees don't pick up any of his salary this year which would be $20M for us. If the payroll is indeed $115 we can afford it. If you assume they would like $15M to go towards a pitcher, they don't want any more than $5M back, so they would essentially also get Zito/Schmidt/etc in this deal and come out even. This could be Prior, Howry, Eyre, Jones, Dempster, Izturiz. Prior: Could help pitching or could just be hurt. Howry/Eyre: Great set-up man for Rivera Dempster: Could either fill a rotation spot or be a set-up man Jones:Plays LF Matsui DH, Cabrera 4th OF Izturis: Could play 3B, but his value is limited to SS Scott Moore could be a nice piece as a cheap replacement to 3B. Mateo/Marshall/Marmol/Guzman could compete for the end of the rotation, either next year or in the future. Gallagher/Veal could be thrown in as future deals. If you slide Damon over to LF and have Matsui DH, they might like Pie at CF, alhough they are likely to get similar offensive production from Cabrera. If they take Pie, they wont get Veal/Gallagher, so its Pie/Veal/Gallagher. So take one from each group: Prior/Dempster/Howry/Eyre/Jones/Izturis Scott Moore Mateo/Marshall/Marmol/Guzman Gallagher/Veal/Pie Certain guys might eliminate other possibilities. If they want Prior they don't get the Gallagher/Veal/Pie group. Maybe that group gets replaced with Fox(future C or DH), Fotenot/Theriot(bench guys replace Cairo)/mid-level pitchers(Wells/Shaver) If they want to dump someone like Wright/Pavano on us as part of the deal, they need to pay at least half the salary and we make some good players unavialable. Go ahead and mix and match as you please. Keep in mind if ARod wants to be united with Piniella he has to accept any trade and can pressure a deal to Chicago. If they Yanks get a young pitcher back, a young 3B, a set-up man and money to get Zito, as well as not picking up Mussina and resigning him cheaper: Mussina Zito Wang Johnson Wright/Pavano/young pitchers(including one of their own in Hughes) Plus their awesome lineup is only weakened in one spot, and they come out even on payroll. They probably have enough trade chips and money to modestly upgrade 3B from Moore if they want. Those are my thoughts. Keep in mind there is the potential for Steinbrenner to feel a lot of pressure to trade ARod, and Cubs fan know all to well what happens when you look desperate to drop a player.

You're too kind. You're right, I want them to pay half of his remaining salary. And we get Farsworth back. We'll give Les Walrond to compensate for their loss.

With Rumors of a 115 million dollar payroll its time to play again! Trade Juan Mateo, Ryan Dempster(5), Scott Moore, and Jake Fox for Alex Rodriguez. Yanks pay 18M(0,6,6,6) Next Four Years:(20,13,14,15) --Yanks save 15M to go after Zito/Matsuzaka, a cheap rotation option, a 3B prospect, C prospect to take over for Posada in a few years (or to DH), and a guy to set up Rivera or put in the rotation. So while it lacks a Prior or Pie, they make out well. If they want Izturiz for 3B, send him along too. Sign Jason Schmidt 3/38 (13,13,12) Extend Carlos Zambrano 5/65(9,12,14,15,15) Resign Aramiz Ramirez 4/52 (15,13,13,11) Resign Wade Miller 1/3 with incentives and 5M mutual option Sign Wood 1/2 with incentives and 6M option Sign Mark Loretta 2/6.5 (3.5,3) Sign Craig Wilson 3/13 (4,5,4) Sign Russel Branyan 2yr/2M. If his option is picked up trade Fotenot for Branyan. 1M C-Barett 4.4M 1B-Lee 13M 2B-Loretta 3.5M 3B-Ramirez 15M SS-Rodriguez 20M LF-Murton .4M CF-Pie .3M RF-Jones 4M/Wilson 4M SP-Zambrano 9M SP-Schmidt 13M SP-Hill .4M SP-Prior 4.5M SP-Wade Miller 3M RP-Bob Howry 4M RP-Scott Eyre 3.5M RP-Michael Wuertz .4M RP-Kerry Wood 2M RP-Will Ohman .95M RP-David Aardsma .3M Waiting in the Minors-Sean Marshall, Carlos Marmol(Iowa closer), Angel Guzman, Ryu, Roberto Novoa, Randy Wells, Chris Shaver,Adam Harben Sean Gallagher, Donald Veal. Some obviously could be used as throw ins. BN-Russel Branyan 1M BN-Cesar Izturis 4.15M BN-Ryan Theriot .3M BN-Angel Pagan.3M BN-Geovany Soto .3M Waiting in the Minors: Ronny Cedeno, Buck Coats, Freddie Bynum(he passes waivers), Brian Dopriak. Good thing we have a top pick! 111.7 M That leaves a little room for midseason aquisition, and I didn't even try to move Izturis. You could save a few million by throwing him in the AROD deal if the Yanks want him.