Splendid Splinter

Yeah he does have the highest upside out of all of those guys mentioned for 4th OF. Just so everyone knows.... he doesn't have mitochondrial disorder, they found out this past offseason ('08 offseason) that he has a form of channelopathy, which is less serious and more treatable. Channelopathy is basically a protein irregularity. I don't know if he can still play back to back games yet so if Cubs got him, it means Fuld would get some starts as well if Soriano/Byrd/Fukudome were hurt for a period of time for Rocco can get some rest. I checked his game logs and it looks like he didn't start games 2 days in a row (started 34 games total last year), but he would start 1 game then the next day he could come in to pinch hit, pinch hit then finish the game, or be a def sub towards the end. I like Baldelli, but I'm sure he'll have to play more than 41 games last year (not counting his DH games and pinch hit but actually played on the field) and I'm not sure if he can handle unless his treatment is working out quite well nowadays that he can play back to back games without problems... If he can do that, then I'm all for Baldelli. Also... I'm wondering what type of money all of these guys are asking for as well. That could easily help out on who to choose for the 4th OF. I would like to see the 4th OF as someone who can at least play some form of defense out there cuz if Fukudome is on the bench for a LHP... you're looking at an OF of Soriano/Byrd/4th OF... If it's Gomes/Dye, it'll be very ugly out there... I can't imagine how awful Gomes/Dye would be out there in RF for the Cubs... At least Nady/Baldelli can somewhat hold their own... well Baldelli can and Nady is just a touch better than Gomes/Dye... Gomes/Dye is good for their power which Cubs haven't had that on the bench since Ward '07 or HR power like Glenallen Hill back in the late 90s... If it was up to me, I sign Russell Branyan since he can sub at 1B/3B/LF/RF (he only made 1.4 mil last year so he can be had for cheap), release Hoff, and get a cheap RH power bat like Gomes (or anyone really) where you wouldn't have to worry about him playing defense much. Then the bench would be Branyan/Fontenot/Hill/Fuld/RH power bat... then again... it's IMO and wishful thinking.

Take it as you want... but CHONE has Baker worth 5.3 mil in 2010 with a line of .255/.320/.421 with exactly average D... CHONE has Fontenot with 6.1 mil with a line of .260/.329/.397 with better D than Baker... Another way is that Fontenot was worth 1.8 mil last year so it shouldnt take much to get 3 mil production from those 2. not saying those $ value should be taking seriously but just something to put out there...

What do you mean "assuming health". Sheets might be a better bet to give you 220 innings of great ball, and even at his best Harden may only give you 150 innings of better ball. But there's no assumptions with these guys' health other than it will always be in doubt. Totally agree there. Sheets would be able to give you more innings when completely healthy, but if he was asking if both had the same amount of IPs being completely healthy... then it's close for some people. IMO I have to go with Harden then and it's not even close because if he was to be completely healthy then that means he would be able to use all of his pitches as well and I see him doing what he did with the Cubs in '08 over a full season. But again... it's hard to beat Sheets's 2004 season.

All Decade Team C - Michael Barrett 2006 1B - Derrek Lee 2005 2B - Mark Bellhorn 2003 3B - Aramis Ramirez 2004 SS - Ricky Gutierrez 2000 LF - Rondell White 2001 CF - Jim Edmonds 2008 RF - Sammy Sosa 2001 UT - Mark DeRosa 2008 C - Geovany Soto 2008 1B - Fred McGriff 2001 OF - Alfonso Soriano 2007 MI - Ryan Theriot 2006 SP - Mark Prior 2003 SP - Carlos Zambrano 2004 SP - Ryan Dempster 2008 SP - Ted Lilly 2009 SP - Kerry Wood 2003 6th SP - Rich Harden 2008 RP - Carlos Marmol 2007 RP - Tim Worrell 2000 RP - Kent Mercker 2004 RP - LaTroy Hawkins 2004 RP - Todd Van Poppel 2001 RP - Joe Borowski 2003 Anti- Decade Team: C - Joe Girardi 2002 1B - Eric Karros 2003 2B - Neifi Perez 2006 3B - Willie Greene 2000 SS - Ronny Cedeno 2006 LF - Roosevelt Brown 2002 CF - Corey Patterson 2005 RF - Troy O'Leary 2003 UT - Jose Macias 2004 C - Paul Bako 2004 1B - John Mabry 2006 OF - Tom Goodwin 2004 IF - Aaron Miles 2009 SP - Jason Bere 2002 SP - Shawn Estes 2003 SP - Carlos Marmol 2006 SP - Sean Marshall 2006 SP - Ruben Quevedo 2000 RP - Kyle Farnsworth 2000 RP - Felix Heredia 2001 RP - Jeff Fassero 2002 RP - Antonio Alfonseca 2003 RP - Glendon Rusch 2006 RP - Jeff Samardzija 2009 RP/SP - Angel Guzman 2006

For pitching... I know people are saying like Sheets or Bedard and give them an incentive laden deal... here's another idea: What about Jon Garland? He's nothing special, but he would make the rotation better at the back end and provides that inning eater pitcher like Marquis was except Garland is a touch better than Marquis... Also I don't think it would cost much to get him. I'm thinking like 1 yr for 5-6 mil should do it. Maybe even less, but I doubt it. Just throwing it out there... Another option: Mark Mulder for a minor league contract and hope for the best... haha As for hitters not mentioned yet... there's always Rocco Baldelli. Others: Aubrey Huff/Fernando Tatis/Eric Hinske...

Maybe not totally free, but Seattle gave the Cubs some money along with Silva. That money basically helped Hendry sign Byrd so you can put some of that money in towards that 3yrs/15 mil contract. What I was saying is that Cubs got 5 or 6 mil from Seattle in the Silva/Bradley deal. Byrd first year of his contract is 3 mil so essentially you can say Byrd first year with the Cubs is free. (I mean they still pay him 3 mil, but they can use the Seattle's money instead of their own... you understand what I'm saying?)

Yes, that does make it more valuable, but as I'm looking at this Cubs team... they need someone who is a little more SLG heavy to produce runs. Cubs got enough guys who can draw walks (even with bad years with several guys last year, they still ended up 6th in BBs and 1st in '08). Not really disagreeing with you here. I agree with everything you said there and the only improvement they made is they're better defensively in the OF. IMO, Byrd is a better fit for the Cubs than another CF or OF who is OBP heavy. It's not like there were a lot of other options out there. Anyway, how you actually make improvements with this team with this year's crop of FAs??? Don't say keeping Bradley either... while most of us wanted him to stay (myself included) and repair the relationship, you knew he wasn't going to be there. Also with the extra money from Seattle, Cubs basically got Byrd for free this year. So basically the Bradley deal was Bradley for Silva and 6 mil which I forgot how much they get this year that turned into Byrd so they barely spend more money to replace Bradley and a throw in with Silva who could turn around into a servicable pitcher (I'm not holding my breath on that though). We'll see what other tricks Hendry has left in his sleeve for this offseason. Although if I was Ricketts, I would've cleaned house in that organization basically right away (while keeping a few key guys who are actually good at their job) and fire Hendry the moment the sale was approved.

Chone has him at .281/.345/.448 (4 RAA). That's probably your best guess. So basically... He's gonna have the same OPS roughly as Fukudome last year with a tad better defense at CF. Who wouldn't take that? I'm in the same boat as most posters here. I like the $ per year, just wished it was 2 years instead of 3, but at worst he'll be a very good 4th OF at the end of his contract. Side Note: This is also my very first post. It's about time I join NSBB.