TXCubsFan

Johan Santana wasn't exactly crippled by being kept in the pen by the Twins as a rule 5 pick. I think its premature to say that this year in the pen has stunted his development. Given the success he had against major league hitting, one could argue that this experience really helped Andy get closer to his potential. Good point about Santana, but I still don't think Sisco has the makeup to make the transition to a top-notch starter while in the majors.

Trading Walker and Burnitz might give Hendry a chance to trade Mitre or Aardsma as well to meet some of the Cubs' pressing needs.

The Cubs could have done better by Corey, but in the end, Corey wasn't willing to do what it took to learn the game. Perhaps he will do better on a different team.

It's to the point that I could care less if Walker goes as well. SHip him off for a prospect and play Hairston next year. If we swap Walker's production for Hairston, we will take a step down in secondbase production for 2006. I wonder if Garciaparra is ready to try 2B in 2006. A troika of Cedeno at SS, Nomar at 2B and Neifi! as backup would work well. Ronny could gradually break into the bigs, and you could rest Nomar to keep him healthy. Besides, having Nomar at 2B would give time for EPatt to develop. In theory you may be right. May. However, if Neifi is on this roster, he'll be staring somewhere as long as Dusty is managing. It's foolish to think otherwise. True, that is a real risk with Dusty. But perhaps with a different manager...

Is it still legal to sell players? I would rather get $1 million in cash plus the buyout for Burnitz than some mid-level propect. $1.5 is the difference between a Macias and a 2 million dollar bench bat (Branyan or someone with a big bat). Usually GMs include an organizational minor league player as a fig leaf in those deals.

It's to the point that I could care less if Walker goes as well. SHip him off for a prospect and play Hairston next year. If we swap Walker's production for Hairston, we will take a step down in secondbase production for 2006. I wonder if Garciaparra is ready to try 2B in 2006. A troika of Cedeno at SS, Nomar at 2B and Neifi! as backup would work well. Ronny could gradually break into the bigs, and you could rest Nomar to keep him healthy. Besides, having Nomar at 2B would give time for EPatt to develop.

This just proves what an excellent job the Cubs have done in bringing prospects to the major leagues. What it proves is that the KC Royals have such a screwed up organization that they would destroy the chances of a talent like Sisco of developing into a #1 or #2 starter. I still don't understand why at midseason they didn't make a deal with the Cubs, trading a middle reliever for the rights to Sisco. KC then could have sent him down and developed him as a starter for the future. Sisco didn't pitch above A ball as a starter, and this year hiding at the back of the bullpen will cripple his development. I'm betting Hendry got caught flatfooted because he didn't think a team would be so stupid to pull a stunt like this. And Sisco is going to be stuck on a pathetic KC team for years to come, and as a reliever at that! In a year or two I'll bet Sisco is going to envy Rich Hill.

What was wrong with giving Ohman a shot? He is a better pitcher than Bartosh. I didn't see anything in Bartosh from the beg., I saw a flat 90 MPH FB and an avg. breaking pitch, there wasn't anything there worth trading for. I thought Hendry overpaid for another situational lefty. Bay projects as a 4/5, but that is a higher ceiling than Bartosh. But does Bay project higher than Nolasco? I don't think so. With Prior, Zambrano, and Williams as starters, and Wood, Guzman, Hill, and Nolasco as potential starters by the time Bay would arrive, what would his chances of making the Cubs starting rotation be anyway? At some point Hendry has to trust the drafting and development team he has installed to keep the pipeline of young pitching prospects flowing. Trading a player like Bay is part of maintaining a balanced portfolio of players for the present and future.

Holla will NOT be with the Cubs in 2006.

Nolasco has done a nice job at West Tenn this year and, unlike so many other Cubs pitching prospects, has not succumbed to a serious injury. He has three pitches, which seems to make him a good starting prospect. Nolasco seems like a great back-of-the-rotation pitcher who can give a team innings. Should the Cubs groom him for a spot in the 2007 major league rotation or use him for trade bait for other needs?

I don't think he can be called up yet. I believe a player must remain down for at least 10 days after being sent down (unless the rosters expand before then). There is an exception that a player can be called up before 10 days to replace an injured player, but I don't know if that extends to replacing a traded player. My guess would be that Grieve comes up now and Murton returns when the rosters expand on Sept. 1.Neither of us were right. Die Hard was called up. Makes sense; the Cubs need a 3B more than an OF. Murton will be at Wrigley next week.

On Sosa, from BP: http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=4374

Holliman has signed. http://story.scout.com/a.z?s=228&p=2&c=426350

This is why Andy's job is safe, and his thinking is key. I truly believe that Andy really wants to win with the Cubs. And I think the Tribune is very willing to do what is reasonably necessary to win. The problem lies with the old school mentality of the baseball decision makers. They are all about giving responsibility to good baseball people. And in this sport, "baseball people" is a euphemism for members of the good ole boy network. There is no new thinking amongst baseball people, because the primary focus of baseball people is the past. Stick with conventional wisdom, and you won't be led astray. This safe mindset generally keeps you away from 90 loss seasons. But when you take no chances you generally are incapable of 100 win seasons. At this point, the only hope the Cubs have to win under this regime is for Hendry to realize his mistakes and change his ways. Of course that is possible, it's just not very likely. It's either that, or luck. And no Cubs fan is dumb enough to count on luck. I was thinking about the players that Hendry has brought in. Lee, Walker and Ramirez are the types of high OBP, high OPS players that any of the moneyball teams would love to have. Lawton- if you look at his career numbers- used to get on base. Barrett doesn't but he's a catcher and that's a take what you can get situation. The free swingers were either already here (Patterson) or the best available options (Nomar, Burnitz). Which begs the question: is Hendry more progressive than we think or did he luck into those acquisitions? Best post on this thread. good point. I think his minor league acquisitions - Murton and Moore - lead me to believe that he is paying more attention to OBP than is generally acknowledged.

:shock: =D> Couldn't have said it better myself. =D>

Sure it does. We need 12 pitchers and Murton makes the least amount of money. Actually, we need Holla, because the Cubs need a hitter who can consistently strike out from the left side of the plate. #-o

Were you once a Cincinnati Bengals fan? :D

If he's hitting the low 90s with his fastball, we have our fifth starter next year! :D BTW, John Sickels implied he was attending the game today. Perhaps he'll have a report at his minor league website.

It would be greatly appreciated. Enjoy the game. Ditto! :D

I think that Hendry's coming around to the concept of having a high OBP at the top of the lineup. I would bet the biggest problem with Dunn is the Reds' GM. :D

What's the word on Brownlie's velocity?

This batting order by June 1, 2006: Lawton/Murton LF (platoon) Cedeno SS Patterson RF (assuming he can return to form) Lee 1B Ramirez 3B Soriano 2B Pie CF Barrett C Starters Prior Zambrano Wood Guzman/Hill Williams Pen: Ohman Novoa Hill/Guzman Williamson Wuertz/Brownlie Dempster, closer Bench: 1B/3B veteran that can hit to rest DLee and Aram SS/2B veteran that can field Greenburg, OF Blanco, C ?? Trade Mad Dog to SD for prospects. I'm assuming Neifi and Rusch would sign elsewhere to be starters. May want to alternate Hill and Guzman in the 4th spot to be sure not to overwork Guzman in his first full year. (I'm assuming by June 1 of next year Hill will have developed a third pitch)

=D>

I'm going to offer a dissent on the prevailing "Hendry is bad news" line here for the following reasons: 1. The lynchpins of the 2003 team - Wood, Patterson, Borowski, and Sosa - have cratered or at least may never return to previous form. Sosa is now off the juice. JoBo has reverted to pre-2002 form. Wood has been stubborn on his mechanics. Patterson has turned into Jerome Walton. All of this is hardly Hendry's fault. 2. Hendry has been smart avoiding overpriced, excessively long contracts for everyday players. The free agent market last year was awful. Way overpriced. A good GM avoids that market. Wasn't it Phil Rogers complaining that the Cubs should have signed Thome? How would you like the Cubs to have that albatross of a contract on our hands? 3. Hendry has been excellent at tactical trading, which is appropriate when you think you're close to being a winner. This team is clearly not a winning ballclub anymore. Let's see what Hendry does this offseason now that he has the time, money, and prospects to make some strategic decisions. 4. Hendry has been learning from his mistakes. No big contracts to middle relievers. Getting minor leaguers who control the strike zone (Murton, Moore). I will wait until next spring to see how the Cubs will be transformed before I jump on the "Out with Hendry" bandwagon.

Nomar said they haven't bought a home in the Chicago area :oops: