CUBZ99

. If Kerry needs surgery, they should ask him to wait and put him in the bullpen until they are mathematically eliminated this year. After that he can have the surgery and be ready by spring training next year.

Because they are terrible, like I explained in the original post. I'm not expecting top flight stuff for Williamson, just not the garbage we ended up getting. If the roles were reversed and the Cubs were in contention and had just given up 2 of their top 20 prospects for a pitcher with equivalent numbers to Williamson people would be ripping Hendry. Hendry has been shopping Williamson for a while now and if there was a better deal out there I am sure he would have taken it. To assume a strong market exists for a middle reliever that has an era over 5.00 and a questionable elbow is quite a reach. Those guys are top 30 prospects because San Diego's system is a joke. They're terrible, and if we had given up players with their numbers and their careers to get a reliever for a pennant chase, everyone would've been plenty fine with it because no one would miss Todd Blackford and Carlos Perez. that system may be garbage Tiger but you'd have no idea... Nate-- Please give us the scoop on the Santo kid's stuff. I saw on another board that Santo has been hitting 95-98 regularly this year and has started to pull it together over his last few starts.

I'm not a roast Hendry for everything poster. I think the other side of the coin is those who continuously back Hendry regardless of how horrible his moves are. As far as you comment about rushing to judgment, perhaps you should take a look at their statistics. It is not even close to a stretch to say that up until this point in their career they have been horrible. I respect Nathan's opinion regarding Santo and that may be the only thing that makes me think maybe the trade is not as bad as it looks on paper. But I would be interested to hear him give more info than just his W-L stats, hits, Ks, vs. Peoria.

Because they are terrible, like I explained in the original post. I'm not expecting top flight stuff for Williamson, just not the garbage we ended up getting. If the roles were reversed and the Cubs were in contention and had just given up 2 of their top 20 prospects for a pitcher with equivalent numbers to Williamson people would be ripping Hendry. Hendry has been shopping Williamson for a while now and if there was a better deal out there I am sure he would have taken it. To assume a strong market exists for a middle reliever that has an era over 5.00 and a questionable elbow is quite a reach. Those guys are top 30 prospects because San Diego's system is a joke. They're terrible, and if we had given up players with their numbers and their careers to get a reliever for a pennant chase, everyone would've been plenty fine with it because no one would miss Todd Blackford and Carlos Perez. Hendry has been on the record stating that Williamson was heavily sought after. If that is the case, why give up the guy a week before the trade deadline for a couple of pitchers who can't throw strikes? Its not like the Cubs need to save money by making the deal. That could have just as well kept Williamson for the remainder of the season or held fast until the trade deadline, when teams get more desperate for help.

I would assume they will have Rotschild straighten them out fairly soon.

Doesn't look like much. Is Joel related to Ron Santo? We didn't give up much. He didn't pitch well and will be a free agent at the end of the year. Not going to get much for him. Hendry said Williamson was highly sought after and he was not going to give away players without getting quality in return. :lol:

Doesn't look like much. Is Joel related to Ron Santo?

Hard to comment without seeing who the prospects are. But I can't wait to hear Williamson's comments regarding Baker now that he is on his way out the door.

perhaps you should investigate the facts before coming to a conclusion. per Bruce Miles in the Herald 7/22/06 : "Contenders may call about pitcher Greg Maddux, who does indeed have a no-trade clause in his contract, contrary to information put out previously." How does that change his evaluation? The Cubs are playing a game of semantics. Maddux says "if they ask me I may consider waiving my NTC", Cubs say "if he asks us we will consider trading him." Maddux has made it clear that he will waive his NTC, so if all the Cubs are worried about is bad PR by asking Maddux to waive his NTC, that would be pretty pathetic. When your a 20 below .500 team you shouldn't be worried about hurting somebody's feelings or looking bad to the media (the Cubs already do a good job at that). You should be worried about improving your team any way possible, so that next year you don't remain the laughing stock of MLB.

Theriot looked weak in the field and at the plate. I don't blame Hendry for using Neifi over Theriot. I am not on the Theriot bandwagon. He looks to me to be nothing more than a utility/AAAA player. He very well may be, but the Cubs are not benefiting any by not giving him a chance to show whether he can adjust to major league pitching or not. Last I checked his numbers in AAA were pretty impressive (although no power). With his age taken into consideration, they will have to make a decision soon as to whether he can be a cheap utitility type player or he is nothing more than AAA roster filler.

Gregg Jefferies

It would not suprise me one bit, if Hendry held on to Maddux and tried to sign him to a one year $8-10M deal at the end of the season.

Theriot's second stint in the big leagues was pretty short. I have to wonder what is going through Jim Hendry's head at this point. The team is 20 games under .500 this late in the season, and he is more than happy to be fielding a team including Rusch, Neifi, Pagan, Nevin, Novoa, etc.

The coaches have to take some responsibility for the development. Sure, it's on the back end, but they still have to do something. I agree, but the position prospects coming out of the system right now are more suited for bench support. They should do a better job at identifying talent and slotting that talent in a role they can succeed in.

This is the first time I have seen Ohman's name come up as being shopped. http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/sports_columnists/article/0,1299,DRMN_83_4860206,00.html

I agree with most of this. He looks really frustrated out there. I agree as well. Wouldn't it be nice, if just once one of our rookie hitters improved as they got more playing time, rather than regress. It's very hard not to point fingers at the coaching staff when the youngsters come up and look more lost than when they first arrived. Isn't it the coaching staff's job to do something to remove that lost look on a rookies face? BINGO!!! Post of the CENTURY! You got to have a youngster that can play before you put the blame on the coaching staff. Niefi-lite had what.... 1 - 2good years in the minors? Lets face it, the Cubs can't develop position players very well.

What makes Veal such a dominating pitcher? Does he have Overpowering fastball, deceptive delivery???

Niefi-light was never projected to be a Sandberg/Sosa type player. I agree the Cubs should let him try to work his way out of it, but if he doesn't improve drastically over the last few months of the season, Hendry has got to acquire a real SS for next season.

Tell me again how many years Cedeno has played? Not even one you say? And how many years has Neifi sucked complete balls? Enough to qualify as the worst hitter of all time? Thanks. Did you care to dispute anything in the post or just take another shot at Neifi? Sure the year is not over yet, but Cedeno is sucking worse than an average year by Neifi. A feat that many have said could never happen. There is no way that Hendry can go into next year with a $95+ payroll and Neifi and Neifi-light at SS.

Hey Ronnie, get off your high horse and calm down a bit. I get my opinion and you get your's . . . that's what makes this country great, eh? And skipping out early on his last game as a Cub was not MR. Sosa's only sin. I could list them all here, but I think you might impune my integrity again :roll: I think the one of us on a "high horse" is the one who feels the need to rip a Hall of Fame player for saying he wants to play baseball again. Far too many Cub fans seek every opportunity to rip Sosa and will do so regardless of what Sammy does. It's old and tired. Don't be so sensative. By pointing out that you're argument was basically "he's a tool cause I say so and it's plain and simple" I was hardly impuning your intergrity. I was pointing out how absurd your argumnent is. Its not just Cub's fans and why are you suprised that Sammy gets so much grief? It is widely speculated that he was juicing up while playing, he was caught cheating, and alot of his teammates couldn't stand him.

That should make Bruce's day. :lol:

There goes the couldn't be much worse than Niefi logic. Cedeno's numbers this year are below Neifi's career avg's. And most people on this board have argued that Neifi is one of the worst hitters ever. I'm hoping that he finds his stroke again, and gets his overall game together.

Any chance that MLB miscalculated the Cubs season record to this point?

I was going off this: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/schedules Hopefully Rusch doesn't start ever again. Prior is slated to start Friday, which will give Marshall the start on Saturday.

Boers and Bernstein are saying that Jacque Jones sought out Paul Sullivan to yell at him over Sullivan's article in the newspaper. Interestingly, during the time Jones was berating Sullivan, Dusty walked right by and let it continue. :? This is getting worse than the Stone fiasco. How long will it be before Hendry takes control of the team?