Wheelimus

But if things continue to get worse, I don't see him having any trouble with being traded, so long as it's to a top contender. If Roger stays in Texas, I could see the Yankees or Red Sox making a move for Maddux. Perhaps Maddux and Hairston for Cano? I'd have no problem paying their 2006 tabs to make it happen. For the Red Sox, I could see us landing Trot Nixon with a package starting with Maddux, once Coco Crisp is healthy.

Even if there's just a week where he's healthy enough to pinch hit, but not play a whole game, that's a bigtime upgrade to the team.

The Blue Jays are looking into Adam Kennedy, per Roto World. Supposadly offering Shea Hillenbrand. Any reason to look into what we could get for Todd Walker? If we're damn near close to being out of it already, and convinced Todd won't be back next year, why not try and get some value? The Blue Jays are hurting for middle infield help, and may not be able to wait until the Angels are willing to deal. Walker should be an upgrade over Kennedy even, who has a .727 OPS to Todd's .753, and I think Todd has a good chance to improve throughout the year. As for who could be had, well, we can start at who they were going to give for Kennedy, Shea Hillenbrand. He provides an .800 OPS or damn close to it. But he only plays 1st & 3rd. A bit late I think to bring in someone to just play until DLee is back. Hinske would probably be an option, but I don't think we'd have any use for him, even with him playing the outfield. Unless we think it would be an upgrade with him starting against righties. I don't. Frank Catalanotto is a good choice. Not sure if Walker would do it or what else we'd have to put in, but his .800 OPS would look nice on the team right now. The Jays have an excess of outfielders, especially if you include Hinske in that group. Offensively that's all I can see us having a shot at (and wanting a shot at, perhaps). Not sure of the Jays prospects. Pitching wise, they don't have a whole lot that we'd want or could get. So it looks like Hillenbrand or Catalanotto. Anyone interested?

So long as he sticks around beyond this year, oh yes you get him. This season he can platoon with both Jacque and Matt, and next year we'll see what happens. Maybe you shift Jacque to center, Craig to left, and just spend the money to bring in a top shelf right fielder. Hmm, that might not work, can Wilson play center while Murton starts for Jacque against lefties? :lol:

Anyone think there's a snowballs chance in hell that was just a random occurance? Lol, not only smashed, but smashed by 3 guys from our freaking system. Sorry, just observed that and it ticked me off...

I'd swap Hill for him at this point...

Please don't put me in the position of rooting against the Cubs to force a change Jim...

Sadly the decline seems to have started from the point that the geniuses running the team caled him out for being "too patient".

against righties, the man has a .900 OPS. I'll take that, it's the 11 games versus lefties that drag him down. All the blame lies on Hendry for not having sufficient outfield depth.

You laugh until the Cubs claim him for the position of "Mr. Wannabe Lightning In A Bottle 2006"

Eh, I gotta agree. At some point when a MRI or whatever says everything is put together right, and you're still a little sore, you just have to ask the doc for something to make it not sore. Can't be a baseball player if you can't play baseball.

Honestly I'm glad we didn't move Mark. For Tejada? Sorry, Ronny will do just fine. And remember, they wouldn't do it straight up. We'd have had to throw in someone worth something. For Bobby? Again, don't know if they'd have done it straight up. I don't know of anyone we could have gotten straight up for Mark Prior that I'd rather have a full season of them than what we'll get from Mark if he gets his season going and is healthy for the rest.

Bozo the clown would be better suited to finish out this joke of a season than Dusty. So, yeah, Maddux is an upgrade...

There is a difference though in my eyes. Rusch would probably only get guaranteed a minor league deal, but it would probably be significant enough to include incentives and an above the minimum base salary if he made the majors. Plus I'm not forseeing Rusch staying in the minors for more than a couple of weeks. He'd be signed by someone desperate for starting pitching, who would put him in the minors for a couple of starts to help him get his confidence back :lol: , and then unless he implodes put him in the rotation. I mean, Rusch is bad, but he isn't 7.89 ERA bad. He'd probably settle into a high 4 ERA innings eater. Whereas I do not see Bynum or Neifi getting anything other than a basic minor league deal, and if they get called up just the minimum.

Wonder what package it would take from us to get Robinson Cano. If in a few weeks we're really tanking and it's looking like it's time to just throw in the towel and build for next year, i'd imagine a package that starts with Todd Walker and Scott Williamson might get us somewhere.

Not really fair to say Rusch or Jones. Make no mistake, they would get nowhere near their respective contracts on any team but ours :x , but if they were released they'd be picked up off of the scrap heap pretty quick. I imagine Rusch would get a minor league deal with some team hoping to catch lightning in a bottle, Jones would get a big league contract and be in some other teams corner real quick. As for players we could release, today, and they would not receive anything beyond a minor league deal, I'd say Bynum and Perez fit that bill best.

So who wants to take bets on how long it takes Womack to make the team? 2 weeks I say...

I wouldn't be too sure, if he wants it and can still swing a bat, there will be a DH job for him next year somwhere in the AL.

I think it's pretty apparent at this point that Dusty needs to be going on the last train to Gonesville. But after you fire him, what do you do? What do we do with the guys who are here, and what do we do with the guys we aren't going to want next year? First off, we have to bring in a manager who understands they're just here to keep things from getting REALLY ugly, and may not be the new skipper. We need to really think this through, and find the manager who is going to take us to the next level. I vote Ryne Sandberg, hell to mend fences, even Mark Grace, lol. Or maybe even Brenly if he's willing, with the understanding he can return to the booth next year if he isn't the manager. Now, for the guys we have. We have to start changing things up. Get rid of the dead weight, move on so to speak. So here are the guys I'd build with, but a few may surprise. Jacque Jones - Yes, I'm going to say it. He's failing because he can't hit a lefty to save his life. Against righties, he's pulling .310/.344/.571. I'll take that against righties, especially with the free agent market the way it is. No, I take some of the guys I'm not keeping, and try to turn them into Bizzaro Jacque Jones. Guy who kills lefties. You do it right, and I'll take a .900 OPS out of right field. Matt Murton - The kid is having a hard time with righties, killing lefties. I'd try to find a 5th outfielder who could take a few of the harder assignments. Make sure the manager gets that it's just a handful of starts, just to give the kid a better chance to succeed. Michael Barrett - Can't beat the offense. Heh, keep working on the defense kid. Derrek Lee - Obvious Aramis Ramirez - Has got to get out of the funk though Ronny Cedeno - He's going to be real good. Let him work through it when he struggles Todd Walker - Prove you're ready to put out the best team you can in 2007, and sign him to a one year extension right now. Hell of a hitter Felix Pie - I know, in minors, but keep him and bring him up. His .806 OPS would look nice on the team right now, but maybe he flourishes in the bigs. Nurture him, keep him in close contact to the Iowa guys when able, bring him along to succeed and develop. Put him in center field. So, the rest of them, I put out word that they're available for trade, and if I don't get any takers, I DFA them and let them rot at Iowa. You'll get a fair return for Pierre, not what we gave but enough. Perez will be for a ball of balls to some team with a hole at sucky middle infielder. Might find a taker for Mabry, bag of balls maybe. Hairston might bring a little return. Got to try, and probably have to eat some cash. Take your medicine Jim... As for my pitchers, here's my keepers. Greg Maddux - Do it, take a chance. The Tribune maybe even gets some balls and says they won't count it against next years payroll limit, just to prove they're serious about winning. One year extension, good old 200 inning clause for another year if you must. Can't have enough good pitching. Carlos Zambrano - Yeah Mark Prior - He's got to heal, and he has to stay healthy. He's running out of chances Kerry Wood - You just can't give up the talent, especially if he's looking good. Everything in life is a gamble. Do you think a better bet is going to be on the market for a price we can afford? Work out a 1 year extension. Do something. Or if you don't, you start working now. Ask him what it takes to take a trade, probably his option next year being picked up. We may have to eat a little cash to get a good return. Do it. We need talent right now more than money. Wade Miller - At least see what he can do later this year to see if he's in your cards for 2007. Sean Marshall - I think he'll be good, bad starts nonewithstanding. Eyre/Howry/Williamson/Dempster. Extend Williamson. Prove you're serious about keeping the pen intact. Everyone else is fair game, put it out that you'll entertain all offers. Who knows, maybe a team freaks and overpays for Hill or Guzman because they think they're just rotting in the Chi-town wasteland. If it can improve the pathetic offense, take a chance. That's what I'd do :D Beyond that, think long and hard about how to play winning baseball in this era, and hire the guy who is best suited to run with it.

Yeah, his .800+ OPS every single year except for last wouldn't look good in the lineup right now :? I know he's hurt, but if he's voiding his minor league deal he must be close to coming back.

From Rotoworld Anyone up for giving him a go round at first base until DLee is back? Even when he does, Durazo would make a nice bat on the bench. Desperate times call for desperate measures...

1) Given the choice between the following two players Neifi Perez A Well Trained Chimpanzee Who do you start? 2) True or false: Walks clog the bases, and are a detriment to team performance. 3) You find yourself in the unlikely situation of having a left fielder who cannot hit left handed hitters to save his life. Your team has stupidly agreed to pay him a full time wage. Do you bite the bullet and platoon him anyway, or continue to set him up for failure to not make your bosses look like idiot? 4) What do you consider to be an acceptable on base percentage from your top 4 batting order spots, feel free to use a different threshold for each position. 5) Which is more important, basic baseball logic (such as bringing in a lefty to face a left handed hitter) or actual career performance on a player by player basis (as in, not using a guy as a LOOGY if he has reverse splits, aka gets righties out better) 6) It's the bottom of the first. Your leadoff hitter just slapped his way on base. Your #2 hitter is batting just under .300. Do you give him a chance to move the runner over without making an out, or do you go straight to the sacrifice bunt? 7) You wake up one morning and Jose Macias in on your 25 man roster. How quickly can you fix this problem? 8) You get a new job one morning and Freddy Bynum in on your 25 man roster. How quickly will you fix this problem? 9) Your team has just gone 1-13, failing to be competitive what so ever. Do you make excuses for your team to avoid bruising egos, or are you honest and explain the losing streak to be due to the teams failures? 10) You have a lefty in your rotation who you fear is incapable of getting little league hitters out. Somehow he has a 2 year, 5 million dollar contract. Do you designate him for assignment (eating the money) for the good of the team, or keep him in the bigs to justify his salary?

Face it guys, we weren't scoring a run in that game even if the spirit of The Babe took over Neifi's carcas...

Nice way of telling Zambrano "better toss a shutout kid" :(

This offense cannot rough up Juan Cruz... I think i'm gonna be sick...