jtownie

Unless the Cubs have really changed their philosophy they will do what they normally do and wait until he is fully off the cliff and then run him out of town while picking up most of what's left of his contract.

In the Trib they are reporting that Wood signed to a 1-year deal as well. That's a busy weekend. http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/cs-061112cubssignings,1,1078782.story?coll=cs-home-headlines

I think you could apply that to just about every sports peson that has reported on the negiogiations.

Crede over ARod is crazy.

Conveniently both his free agent contract years. So did he conveniently get plunked last year? Interpret as you wish, this guy can turn it on or off like a light switch. He's that talented. I don't believe in clutch, but this guy's as non-clutch as ARod's portrayed to be. His knees are damaged goods. I don't see him even coming close to 3/4 of a season if he plays centerfield. That's a legit concern. But Scott Rolen has had multiple managers question his heart, and he's missed big chunks of time to injuries, likewise, Edmonds had a lot of "punk" type qualities to him as a youngster, and he's missed a lot of time for the past 5 years. It's still a good idea to employ such talented players if you get the chance. The guy has outproduced Soriano over the course of career with the injuries. Even if you get him for 130 games he is more than likely going to add more value than most guys over 162 games. the key is making sure you have a good bench guy. Like a Craig Wilson or someone that isn't going to give negative production over the course of 30-40 games. Chances are he comes for less money and years than most guys on the FA and will out-produce them in 3/4 of a season.

Even if he doesn't suffer as much as Nomar, the notion that the broken bones wouldn't affect Lee was already proven incorrect when he tried to come back this year. It had a much greater effect on his 2006 than many people were willing to assume, both in terms of time missed and how productive he'd be upon return. Nomar was only 28 when he returned, and seemingly still had some upside. Lee is already 31. Anyway, I just think it's important to remember, when discussing Ramirez, that we can't just assume he's nothing more than the 2nd best hitter on the Cubs. He could easily be the best hitter on the team, as he has for 2 of the past 3 years. We can't dismiss Ramirez leaving by saying Lee was the true face of the franchise or franchise player. Lee isn't Pujols. He hung tough with Albert for one season, but he's not the rock solid stud anchoring the lineup that the Cubs need, this is why it's all the more important to have multiple very good hitters. And that means keeping Ramirez, getting Lee healthy and acquiring new guys. You can't just replace Ramirez with a new guy and count on enough improvement to make this team better. Not that I'm saying anything new or anything. I agree with you. My point was simply that Lee's injury being bones and not tendons gives him better probability of returning as a power-hitter. I'm not saying he's going to return to 2005 form or even be the best hitter on the team. I do believe Ramirez is the best hitter on the team. I just wanted to point out that Lee has a better chance of being completely healed for 2007 and not feel any effects with only broken bones than he would had he torn a tendon.

The odds of that happening are remote. Yeah, no kidding. The Lee issue has really moved to the backburner in discussions, but going into last season, he wasn't a real good bet to repeat 2005. Now, a year older, after a terrible injury for a hitter that ruined an entire season (even though people maintained it was largely harmless and he'd recover quickly), we might be looking at a guy who puts up a sub 900 OPS in 2007. Quality numbers, but not superstar numbers. His OPS+ was 177 in 2005, the next highest number in his career was 135, at age 27. If he's much below his 2005 numbers, the acquisitions will have to be that much better, just to improve upon the weak 2005/2006 offense. If Lee puts up his 2004 line of .278/.356/.504 next season I'd be somewhat suprised. His 2005 was so far out of line, and he's past the age where we can expect him to sustain that kind of production. But his improvement was due to some adjustments, not a fluke. While he won't post 2005 type numbers again, I can't see him regressing to his pre-2005 numbers, at least not in the next year or two. I think a .290/.375/.550 line is quite realistic. Wrist injuries can be tricky to come back from. Nomar never recovered from his. Didn't Nomar tear some tendons though? Lee broke bones and luckily didn't tear any tendons.

How close do you want to be? If you just want to be downtown just go on hotwire.com. I stayed in a 5-star hotel one weekend for $80. Otherwise if you want to stay up on Lincoln Park there are some Days Inns that have just been remodeled and are close to the Brown line which in turn will take you to the Hilton via the Loop.

Or because a good portion of those that live south of the Chicago Metro area are Cardinal fans.

I think if the Cubs trade for Wells that Soriano no longer becomes a target, which would mean to me that they don't want to spend the type of money Soriano will command.

It sure is comparable. It's not the same, but clearly comparable. If you guaranteed Ramirez 4/48 last February, are you telling me there's no way he thinks about it because he's guaranteed 2/22? Ramirez was a free agent to be last offseason, and the prudent thing would have been to starting talking turkey then, not waiting until the last minute. Hendry never realized Ramirez was going to exercise the option. He relied on his faith that Ramirez wanted to stay a Cub as a means to keep the cost down. Hendry could have found out what it was going to cost to keep Ramirez and decided whether or not to pursue a trade in the season if the cubs were bad....which they were. I wonder if the fans will ever find out if Ramirez truly had a no-trade clause.

No, I don't expect any changes. I got along with Andy MacPhail really well. As I've said many times, he's an interesting, well-read and personable guy. I really like him. Jim is Jim. He's great with the media and will stay the same. John McDonough is terrific. As the marketing chief, he dealt with many different types of people. He's also very, very good with the media. I won't miss Dusty. As interesting as he was as a guy, he never seemed to warm up to the beat writers or Chicago in general. I hear Lou Piniella gets along great with his beat writers, and he's saying the right things about Chicago. So I'm looking forward to how things are going to be. What about his approach as GM? Is he more inclined to go after OBP guys now or is his view of how to build a baseball team closer to what we have seen over the past few years; guys who can catch the ball and have speed? OBP will be on the table at this year's organizational meetings. I do know Pierre's low OBP got the Cubs' attention, and that's some progress. That's just....awesome! Wow! Thanks for taking the time here. One question I have always wondered is if Hendry's views of baseball are a product of his manager or if he actually runs the team with his own views as the focal point of his choices. I'm sure it's a combination but I often wonder if he puts his own views first.

No, I don't expect any changes. I got along with Andy MacPhail really well. As I've said many times, he's an interesting, well-read and personable guy. I really like him. Jim is Jim. He's great with the media and will stay the same. John McDonough is terrific. As the marketing chief, he dealt with many different types of people. He's also very, very good with the media. I won't miss Dusty. As interesting as he was as a guy, he never seemed to warm up to the beat writers or Chicago in general. I hear Lou Piniella gets along great with his beat writers, and he's saying the right things about Chicago. So I'm looking forward to how things are going to be. What about his approach as GM? Is he more inclined to go after OBP guys now or is his view of how to build a baseball team closer to what we have seen over the past few years; guys who can catch the ball and have speed?

Could EPatt potentially play CF or will he end up a corner OF?

Hendry and Dombrowski supposedly have a good working relationship, so I could see a Detroit/Cubs trade. Your deal certainly gives them quantity, but not necessarily the quality bat they are probably thinking about. I'm guessing Bonderman for Tejada plus other pieces might be attractive to both teams. That deal will allow Detroit to move Guillen to 1B While I think tejada for Bonderman makes the most sense and would be a great deal for both teams, isn't Detroit more hung-up on getting a LH bat?

Switch Cabrera and ARod. I'd much rather have Cabrera.

I wouldn't mind seeing the Cubs go after Iwamura for 2B if he can handle the position. I'm not sure how Japanese stats translate to the ML level but I think he could provide above-average to great production at 2B.

I see a 4 yr deal as well with either a buyout or vesting options for 2 additional years making it potentially worth 6 years. ARam and his agent are squeezing Hendry in a vice grip. But it's Hendry's fault for handing them the vice grip.

Does he want us to throw in Zambrano as well just for kicks? He wanted Zambrano for ARod, but is now willing to take back 2 young arms instead. The guy's name wouldn't happen to be Brian Cashman would it?

I would think that if the Cubs are pursuing ARod they would make explicitly clear that he would be used as a SS. I'm not discounting your post Bluescale just adding my two cents as to how i would think the situation would be handled logically.

Well according to Ken Rosenthal the labor deal will not eliminate draft-pick compensation but that there will modifications. I wonder if it will involve draft picks being tadeable and only certain higher level FA earning a team compensation picks.

30 mill is a lot. I'm not certain I'd be willing to do that. Given the likely cost of the other two top FA starters and the usual discount a japanese player takes in his first contract, I might do 20 mill. Does 1908 or anyone have a clue on what would happen if there where Identical bids? I would be willing to go as high 25 million if it didn't hamper the Cubs efforts in other areas. I'd prefer Schimdt but I know he's going to get 4 years from someone and I'd prefer not to go that long. He stated that whomever bid first would win in the event of two equal bids.

It should also increase the trade activity during the season as teams who fear they will lose their FA for nothing will be willing to trade them to contenders. it could also help the future FA obtain larger extensions by their teams because they will have a lot more leverage due to lack of compensation.

Difference is...the Cards signed Carpenter on the cheap, with the hope that once he got healthy he would reward them for their patience; which he has. Meche, IMO, will not be cheap to sign. Quite frankly, he won't be worth the bills he might get. Meche still has injury concerns as well. I'm not saying he won't get over-paid this off-season but with the Yanks SP debacle with overpaying Pavano and Wright I have to believe a lot of teams will be hesitant to overpay for Meche.

Would he kiss him on the forehead afterwards?