jtownie

Quality post! i feel the same way in that there is ahuge question to answer for SS. Personally I really want to know in what direction is hendry going to aim. If he can bring in two high-OPS corner OFs I feel much better just giving SS to Cedeno. This appears to be one of the toughest off-seasons Hendry has had because there are so questions marks. There don't appear to be any easy answers either.

Now that's just ridiculous. Walker is more than capable of hitting leadoff. And he's more than capable of reaching home with less than 3 hits after him. That's just absurd talk that completely belittles the rest of your message. I'm not impressed with Furcal because he's not very good. He's fine, but he's no $8 million difference maker. He's a career .346 OBP player, and that's acceptable, but hardly impressive. He's also got a drinking problem, that, unlike Kyle Farnsworth, has actually gotten him in serious legal trouble. If Furcal is your primary offensive improvement in the offseason, you will still be severaly lacking on offense. The OF must be addressed. The Cubs have options at SS, but they don't have anything for the OF. I agree with Goony here. We have to look at how much value we are getting for what price. Is there a huge difference between Cedeno and Furcal...at least a 7.5M dollar difference? what I look at is Burnitz could make 7 mil next year if we pick up his option. Whereas Giles could make around 10.5 or 11. I think that extra 4 mil is worth way more than giving 7.5 mil more for a SS. We just need to be smart with the money we are paying... The Cubs attention needs to be primarily focused on the OF and bullpen imo. We need a more productive bat in RF and we need to decide if we are going to keep Murton or explore a trade for a more productive LF.

I think our SS and 2B are contingent on what Hendry has planned for the OF. If he can sign Giles and make a trade for a big bat for LF then I have a firm belief Cedeno will be back playing SS. IF Walker isn't traded then I will believe that Hairston will be back as our everyday CF. Also, if I could make it happen I would really like Jose Valentin to replace Perez or Macias. He can play the infield positions and is much better with the bat. But I wonder if he would take a bench role at a significantly reduced rate.

And this is why Stone will never be a major league GM. As was mentioned, Cedeno is a SS, and his value is as a SS. That means you would be giving Furcal shortstop-type money to play 2B. There's really no point in overpaying for less production. I don't believe Stone suggested moving Furcal to 2B. It seems like something was lost in the translation. The idea is Furcal at SS and Cedeno at 2B. I could very happily live with that outcome, especially if the Cubs keep Hairston in reserve for the bench. Walker's money reduces Furcal's price tag by $2.75MM net (since Cedeno is league minimum), allowing even more money for addressing all three outfield positions, a starting pitcher, and two relievers. why not just put Hairston in CF?

If you don't spend the money on Furcal, what free agent do you spend it on? The Cubs have a ton of money to shell out this offseason. They can afford him and still pick up a pitcher or OF bat. They can also trade for an OF or pitcher but probably not a shortstop. play cedeno and walker, and then take that money and sign giles or whatever and then trade for two more outfielders too. im not particularly enamored with any outfielders on the roster/in the system. if pie's on the team, i will cry. I would like to see Murton at one of the corners. We need to get rid of Corey, enough is enough. Sign Giles if possible which means we would need another CF. Do we have any other options aside from Damon? Hasn't Murton been playing a little CF in AAA? Would this indicate that, if he plays well, the Cubs are thinking of having him play CF next year and moving Hairston to 2nd? Thus CPatt and Walker both not being on the team next year?

I'd be interested in seeing how many walks the Cubs average in a win versus a loss. Both by the hitters and pitchers.

Your analysis here really resonates with me for some reason. Nice job. Could it be because Tejada is making what 12million a year? That seems like a bargain. I still sit around and wonder why we didn't go after him harder.

Is it possible they would want to go after Ramon Hernandez this off-season? Then use Barrett as trade bait to fill other needs?

Heaven help us if he strikes out in his first at-bat. I have a feeling that Corey is going to help spark this team. Don't know why but I just have a really good feeling about today.

The right thing to do would be to ship Cedeno or Murton back to AAA for some playing time, which means they won't do that. Cedeno was sent down for Corey...per ESPN webpage.

Looks like we got Olivio Astacio for Remlinger.

What about Tom Kelly? I believe he may have retired but perhaps he has the itching to get back in the game.

that seemed to work...it's working in Media Player now so I wonder if having that Codec downloaded is making the difference. Now can you fix my Wireless card problem of not acquiring a Network Address when I am not at work....HAHA! Thanks for the heads up! I probably could, but then, I don't want you to get fired. :twisted: :D :lol: Well it just started doing it yesterday. It has been fine. Plus I am the only one in my group that lives in Chicago so I doubt they'll know. Congrats to Vance and thanks to Jon!

that seemed to work...it's working in Media Player now so I wonder if having that Codec downloaded is making the difference. Now can you fix my Wireless card problem of not acquiring a Network Address when I am not at work....HAHA! Thanks for the heads up!

I kinda doubt it, but if you want to see a clip, you can check back on page 2, where JonMDavis has the link to Vance's question and Ryno's answer. Anyone know why I can only hear it? I have the same problem. I found I have that problem with .avi files. Don't know what to do about it though. Have you tried playing it on Windows Media Player? Or realplayer perhaps? Just helping out. I've tried Window Media player but not Realplayer yet. If I find something out CPATT I'll post it here or PM you.

I kinda doubt it, but if you want to see a clip, you can check back on page 2, where JonMDavis has the link to Vance's question and Ryno's answer. Anyone know why I can only hear it?

Yeah I got all excited about going to the game and forgot about posting a trade. Congrats on the ball Roast!

Wouldn't that give us the best record in baseball? :P

Is it possible that Murton was traded and that's why he is out of the game or I am just waaaaay over-analyzing everything since the trading deadline is here?

Isn't there also the possibility that Hendry will open up some roster space with a trade or two that might happen this week? neither Nomar nor Williamson will be back before the trade deadline.

I'll be there same games!

Sometimes I think of how Houston left him available in the expansion draft and I laugh. Imagine if Houston had him in the lineup all these years... Imagine that they didn't let J Santana go in the Rule 5 draft either. They may have won a WS last year.

why do we need a lead-off hitter if we have one, named Jerr hairston. You said it yourself, didn't we just sweep Florida with him in the lineup? So if we have our lead off man, why not go after another big run producer named Adam Dunn?

Baserunning has very little to do with it compared to how often you get on base and how good the guys behind you are at getting on base. why do you put speedier guys on base in front of your 3-4-5 hitters? If you are on first and someone doubles, you may or may not score depending on how well you run the bases. you know what the odds on getting back to back hits from your 3-4 hitters is? it's 9%, assuming both are hitting .300. You don't put speedier guys in front of your 3-4-5, you put your high OBP guys in front of the 3-4-5. If they happen to be fast, it's a bonus. Dusty is proving this....patterson is fast but can't get on base, thus we don't score runs. But he sure can get back to the dugout faster than anyone.

Not sure where this question belongs but I was wondering if anyone knows if Left/Right splits are kept for minor league players. Just trying to find if they exist for Greenberg and Murton.