Jehrico

Not a bad idea...and I trust Lou to use platoon players in the right situation far more than I ever did Dusty, who had no concept of the idea.

Plus, they are moving into a spanking new stadium. Nobody is going to outbid them on anyone this year. Esp after finally not making the playoffs this year.

After having read that the Marlins are looking for a big package for Hermida I've resigned myself to the fact that the Cubs are going to be unable to trade for him. It's too bad for, he perfectly fits the mold of what Lou wants next season - young, athletic and a LHB - I don't doubt he'd have a big season playing half his game in Wrigley. That leaves FA options of Bradley, Abreu and Ibanez, Bradley, I believe, is the best choice followed by Abreu and Ibanez - I hope we don't see him in RF next season, why do I keeping thinking this is who Hendry' going to ink? Also need to figure that whoever Hendry does sign should be someone that will not cost him any picks. I'd bet the Yankees would offer arbitration for Abreu. Bradley and Ibanez, probably will not be offered arby. Tx is stupid if they don't offer Bradley arbitration. This was his first healthy year in a long time, no way he goes for a one-year deal.

Huh? How is Peavy our number 1 target? Our number 1 target from day 1 has been a left handed hitting 3/4/5 hitter. Who is an athlete and has at least 1 Q and 1 V in his name. And can catch the ball Okay, I'm stupid. Who the heck are you guys talking about? Omar Vizquel? They are talking about Hendry's odd obsession with narrowing down targets to specific parameters, ala left hand hitting speed guys, etc. oic...how ironic that Vizquel happens to be a perfect match for the mold, except for the fact that he's old and sucks (which leads me to believe if Theriot goes in a Peavy deal, Hendry will target Vizquel after loosing out again on Furcal).

Huh? How is Peavy our number 1 target? Our number 1 target from day 1 has been a left handed hitting 3/4/5 hitter. Who is an athlete and has at least 1 Q and 1 V in his name. And can catch the ball Okay, I'm stupid. Who the heck are you guys talking about? Omar Vizquel?

I'm going to doubt Harden would accept that move. I'm going to doubt Harden would have any choice other than sitting out. Yeah, we know it didn't work for Jason Marquis. Baseball players only do what they are told to do. Please, it's major league baseball. If a starting pitcher approaching free agency does not want to pitch in the bullpen, you can be damn sure he will fight any potential move to the bullpen and 99% of the time he's going to win that battle (even if it means losing the war). The player will win the battle 0% of the time. The ball is completely in the team's court. It's up to the team to determine if they want to make it a battle. If you think otherwise, ask Fonzie how well his protest to not play OF went, or Brett Myers when they first moved him to closer. A player is going to play where he's told. If the team wants to stand their ground, they can suspend him and not pay him if he refuses.

Would he? I doubt it. I don't think the union gets involved in pressuring players to sign with one team over another. If I were a player and they were trying to pressure me into signing with a team I didn't really want to sign with because they offered a little more than someone else regardless of my own family and personal concerns, I'd take great offense to that. That would be incredibly inappropriate on the part of the union.

If Wood wants a multi-year deal at big money, we absolutely should not resign him. Letting him go is absolutely the right move given what he is almost certain to command. Millions and millions of dollars to relievers FTL. Aside from the fact that I feel that Wood would be one guy you should be willing to pay his ducats to, regardless, you can't tell me that there was no way to figure something out. There was no way to figure something out. Yeah there was.

Marmol is much more valuable working in the flexible set-up role. Of course he is. But you can bet the farm he'll be closing. That's not much of a bet at this point.

If Marmol gets traded for Peavy, the deal had better be Marmol and inconsequential throw-ins for Peavy, and not much else. Marmol isn't getting traded. Letting Kerry go pretty much cements that, IMO. I agree, I was just commenting on his worth in the event Hendry did get stupid and move him. I agree, it was simply a thought based on what seems to be a needless trade for Gregg and the lack of a dominant closer option for SD. Call me a typical over-optimistic Cubs fan, but I really think Gregg is going to get flipped. Let's not forget how GMs way overvalue the save stat, and Gregg had about 30 of them last year.Of course, Hendry could be one of those GMs that way overvalues the save stat. I'm trying to pretend that's not a possibility...now I'm going to resume putting my hands over my ears while screaming "I can't hear you!" I don't think he does. Nothing really says to me that he overvalues saves as a stat. He cut Borowski after it became clear he was not going to go back to his 2003 numbers, he's letting Wood walk, he allowed Dempster to move back to the rotation. Hawkins, Eyre, and Howry were never really closers, only set-up men. One of his first moves in 2002 was trading Tom Gordon. Despite rumors that he would go after Jose Mesa among other used-to-be-good closers he has never done it. He's been hesitant to say that Marmol will be the closer, as his value as a goto guy is more important than just ending games. Nothing there really says he likes saves. Don't forget the last closer Hendry got from Florida in a trade...I don't know if it's a case that he doesn't overvalue it as he isn't afraid to look inhouse for help.

Cards. Easily.

Is he claiming the guy in the taped footage was someone else? I hope they throw the book at him. Unfortunately, they'd probaby miss and hit an innocent bystander in the courtroom. No, the judge gets to throws the book. Not Castillo.

kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk

*Gazes into crystal ball* I see the image of a pitcher...his name is Tommy John. His arm is in a sling. He does not look pleased. After hurting his arm sliding into second during an interleague game. Hank Whinebrenner orders the destruction of every NL ballpark.

Do we offer Howry arbitration now just to be greedy with the draft picks? Even if he accepts, what will he cost? Around $4 mill. Worth the risk of getting 2 more 1st rounders. No one is going to sign Howry if they're going to lose their first rounder, which would force Howry to accept our offer of arbitration. Hell, he might decide he wants to come back and would accept it without trying to go elsewhere if we offered it to him. Not worth the risk, no way...

If Marmol gets traded for Peavy, the deal had better be Marmol and inconsequential throw-ins for Peavy, and not much else. Marmol isn't getting traded. Letting Kerry go pretty much cements that, IMO. I agree, I was just commenting on his worth in the event Hendry did get stupid and move him. I agree, it was simply a thought based on what seems to be a needless trade for Gregg and the lack of a dominant closer option for SD. Call me a typical over-optimistic Cubs fan, but I really think Gregg is going to get flipped. Let's not forget how GMs way overvalue the save stat, and Gregg had about 30 of them last year.Of course, Hendry could be one of those GMs that way overvalues the save stat. I'm trying to pretend that's not a possibility...now I'm going to resume putting my hands over my ears while screaming "I can't hear you!"

If Marmol gets traded for Peavy, the deal had better be Marmol and inconsequential throw-ins for Peavy, and not much else. Marmol isn't getting traded. Letting Kerry go pretty much cements that, IMO. I agree, I was just commenting on his worth in the event Hendry did get stupid and move him. I agree, it was simply a thought based on what seems to be a needless trade for Gregg and the lack of a dominant closer option for SD. Call me a typical over-optimistic Cubs fan, but I really think Gregg is going to get flipped. Let's not forget how GMs way overvalue the save stat, and Gregg had about 30 of them last year.

If Marmol gets traded for Peavy, the deal had better be Marmol and inconsequential throw-ins for Peavy, and not much else. Marmol isn't getting traded. Letting Kerry go pretty much cements that, IMO. I agree, I was just commenting on his worth in the event Hendry did get stupid and move him.

Kerry is going to get really good offers. I think it is pretty much a given. Maybe so. I just can't stand seeing the door shut without at least leaving it open, even if you know it's inevitable. Wood Irrationality.

If Marmol gets traded for Peavy, the deal had better be Marmol and inconsequential throw-ins for Peavy, and not much else.

I'm hoping we'll at least offer arbitration and get two picks. I'm not happy with the way the door was shut on this. I would have rather seen Hendry do something along the lines of offer him a 1 year deal, and tell him it's on the table if he doesn't get the multiyear from another team that he wants, so he can have another healthy year and increase his value. Or even a token 3 year deal. Whatever, we should have left something respectful on the table while allowing him to see what's out there for him.

I'm pissed. Jimbo has alot of making up to do this offseason already, especially if he expects Kevin Freaking Gregg to fill the hole. Here's to hoping Gregg is just someone the Padres were interested in.

I would have given Swisher one more year.

Dolan kind of sounds like a big whiner. He's basically complaining about a rumor not dying on an internet message board. Not only that, but a CUBS internet message board. Consider what it takes to be a Cubs fan to begin with, it's amazing how someone can complain about possibly overzealous optimism on a freaking message board. I've never really read Desipio much (not because I thought it was bad or anything, I just never took the time to do it), but that entry gave me the impression that his blog is pretty petty.

I think he's saying what he needs to say to help the ownership get him shipped to where he wants to go, rather than sticking around for another year on a crappy team before getting inevitably traded anyways. That said, I could see how he might think Atlanta could be in a position to contend in '10 or '11 (with a couple of good moves and a little bit of luck), and be interested in going there. Kind of like '91.