WrigleyField 22

My only hope after the trade was that Izturis would come in and suck so bad, Hendry would consider a trade in the offseason. Now that he's been injured Hendry has to let him proove himself next year. By the way, not only can Hendry not get a prospect from Maddux, from one of the deepest farm systems in the league, but he can't even find someone healthy.

I agree completely. not if it was the same three pitchers or similar quality. I would love to have wells in cf for $6 million or so even if only for a year. If they are of the Pinto/Mitre quality it wouldn't be as bad, but still would suck. If we give up someone as good as Nolasco he better be signing a nice extension. If we are talking about Marshall/Guzman/Mateo/Marmol, I would probably only give one, and then let them have their picks of whatever second teir guys they want.

It would suck If we had to give up three young pitchers for Wells considering we did that for Pierre last year. No way we should trade for him unless an extenstion is signed.

God it's funny being billionare's isn't it? Ok this 3 million will just shove into last year. OK! There we go. Now we have more money this year. I don't know if the Trib is going to think like that. Remember trib gives hendry his money. . I wanna say Hendry answered a question to that effect at a Cubs Convention a while ago. So if Hendry said our payroll was X amount of dollars going into a year hes already counting the potential buyouts. If they aren't used the Trib keeps the money, and I know they like that! Can anyone confirm hearing/remembering this? Maybe my memory is just bad.

I'm pretty sure its been discussed in the past that buyouts are allocated into the previous season. Stop worrying about Wood's 3Mil. Whatever deal we work out with him will count towards next years payroll, nothing more, nothing less.

Didn't he "settle" for Dallas? They were nothing when he took over.

Can they sell them within the next few weeks so the new owner has time to clean house before the offseason?

I don't even remember who we got for him... who was it?

Change for the better IMO.

If this is assuming you sign Soriano to be a CF he should't be leading off. He should hit 4 or 5. Now I guess some managers might still stick him there sice he's fast, but ideally we would have a top of the order spot open. If thats the case, Loretta, Durham, or Giles are good fits.

Have you seen Wells's stats? Fluke season alert. Thats what I thought at first too. And while his numbers are no doubt up, he has been pretty good in previous years, especially for a CF. He doesn't belong at the top of the order, thats for sure. One important thing to keep in mind. If we are spending a lot for a FA picher and to upgrade 2B, we need a cheap option fo CF. He will only make 5.6M in 2007. Dending on who that 2B is, 5.6 is probably cheap enough to keep some payroll flexibility in filling out the rest of the lineup. As long as we aren't givin up too much in a trade for someone who may be a one year rental, it may be worh it.

I just recieved the assignment for my next English paper: Defend Hilary Clinton as 2008 Presidential Candiate...

And Les Walrond. Well played. Ryu kidding? I Juan Jim to Rusch Glendon out the door, and Mabry I'll buy tickets again. Howry we gonna compete? That's Rich. Ohman. cut it out guys your killing me!!! :lol: I guess we'll just have to grin and Barrett when Hendry goes Dempster diving for low-priced free agents this offseason. Maybe you all can help out here: http://www.progressiveboink.com/dugout/archive/dugout8-6-06.html (make sure to sctoll down)

If Hendry could sign Hunter for only one year, he would be a fine stopgap tp Pie as long as he hit lower in the order 6 or 7. He provides great defense and pretty good slugging for a CF. His OBP is avg. He has put up a .800 OPS three of the last 5 seasons, a 4th season he was within .12 pts. All that being said, I can't imagine him signing a one year deal so there really isn't any circumstance in which I would want Hunter on this team.

I definately agree Pujols deserves it more. I could understand the Beltran arguement some, but they lost me on the Cabrera agrument a bit. Cabrera is more valuable to the Marlins because if they lost him they would suck, whereas the Phillies would be fine without Howard? Maybe a better way to look at it would be this: Who would improve the Marlins more, Howard or Cabrera? Now if you still ultimately came to the decison that Cabrera was more valuable because of defensive position etc. fine, but don't hand it over to Cabrera over Howard because his team is 22 pts shy in OPS.

:roll: Even if we can sign a big FA pitcher and hitter, we probably still have 2 weak spots in the lineup, and without a healthy effectve Prior we have 3 rookie/young pitchers, who have potential, but are no guarantee to contribute enough towards a competative team. We can not count on is health, but we sure better hope for it.

I'd rather get him some at bats at AAA. If he responds well you can pull him up, show off his talents at the big league level and sell high.

They're only bad names because your so used to similar players becoming Dusty's favorites and starting over better players. Most of these players have some value if they are utilized corectly.

Jason Marquis is a goo fit for an already contender looking for a back of the rotation guy. I don't think he has much to offer for the Cubs.

Which wouldn't be too far off Eckstein's career OBP/SLG of .351/.362. Hmm... I didn't realize his career slugging was that low. I was thinking he was a consistent .360 .400 guy. Scrap that. All three are similar.

If Aramis leaves the team needs to be blown up. Barrett and Lee could net plenty of good prospects. Zambrano could as well, but you could decide to hold onto him as he is still young. Jones and Izturis, if you eat a little salary could each net a high risk pitcher who has stuff, but not the numbers. Actually I'm bored and think I will do a "what if Ramirez leaves-blow up scenarion soon".

Adam Kennedy- A number 8 hitter and 2B. He is on the wrong side of 30. He can probably find a place to compete for the 2B job with someone else similar. Has been used primarily against righties this year with decent numbers so a platoon role somewhere is a possibility. He probably would become a fan favorite because of the casual fans view that he is "scrappy" Gary Matthews Jr.- He has had a big year and some team will overpay for him because of it. In reality he is probably more of a 4th OF. Trot Nixon- Another guy who could be solid in a platoon role vs righties. Will probably see a paycut from his 7.5M. May want a starting role and could get it. Mark Redman- AN ALL STAR PITCHER! ok ok it was with the Royals. He is nota good pitcher, but some team will value a lefty to stick in the back of the rotation enough to give him a chance and a couple million bucks. Preston Wilson- His only good numbers have really only come from the benefit of playing in Colorado. If theres a team who is trying to break in a young OF and needs a backup plan who can fill any OF spot, hes the guy.

I think the Eckstein comparison has been used a lot. I don't think thats right. The comparison I do see, and I don't think it has been mentioned, is Adam Kennedy. He has a career line of .280 .332 .398 .730. I think Theriot can do a little better with OBP but with a drop in SLG, something like .345 .375.

Well the past two seasons he has had 201 and 207 IP. He's sitting at 187 now. If he doesn't get it, it will be darn close. Yes, his ERA sucks this year, but the past two years were 4.13 and 3.71 His SO:BB ratio isn't drastically worse than last year. His HR #s are up a little. Maybe "solid" was the wrong word choice. It is a gamble, and isn't a certainty, but theres a decent enough chance he can get that ERA back around 4, that he can get a decent deal. Remember he just turned 28 this August, so as far as FAs go, he is young.

Jeff Supan- Some team looking for some stability at the back end of the rotation will sign him. That team could be the Cards who decide to keep him Jason Marquis- A solid bet to pitch 200 innings with a ERA around 4. Because of a down year he could come cheap to the Cards, or whatever teams wants him. Torii Hunter- His value is mostly in his defense. Should provide a OBP of around .330 and good SLG for a CF. Combined with solid D that should get him a few years. He is getting older and playing less games so that might knock down the price. Mark Bellhorn- If he could get his BA up around .250 he would be a great asset to any bench. Based on the past two years, he wont do that. I think he'll get plenty of teams willing to give him a look in Spring Training, but nothing gauranteed. Sean Casey- His OBP is pretty BA dependent, but he has never had a problem keeping that BA up so his OBP is always respectable. His power numbers are pretty bad for a 1B, he's seen only 2 years of solid SLG this milenium, one back in 2000. Still some team who values BA and needs a cheap option for 1B should give him a decent deal. For the sake of the Cubs we'll hope Lee doesn't have to retire or that team could be us. Also Hendry would like him since he doesn't strike out. David Dellucci - Coming off two good seasons and third pretty good one. A very good option as 4th OF. Will find his share of starts and get into a lot of games as PH. If a team gets desperate he might find a place with a good shot to start.