CUBZ99

I don't see why Greenburg wasn't even given a shot to win the 5th OF spot. Couple questions: Why is Soto still protected? Also, who is Jose Reyes and why in the world would they protect him?

The Trib article on the Eyre signing mentions that now the Cubs can pencil in Rusch as the 5th man in the rotation and can no longer have to pursuit another starter.

I actually like Neifi. If Dusty would only have enough common sense to hit him 7th or 8th there would be no problem.

Why? because he came over from San Fran? I don't follow the logic. I thought his agent said one of the reasons Eyre liked the Cubs so much was Dusty. I think the money probably helps too.

As I pointed out in the other thread, the final payroll for 2005 was $102MM; the Cubs are raising ticket prices (again) in 2006 and installing yet more seats at Wrigley; the White Sox are the defending world champions. Taken together, I believe the payroll will be more like $105MM. As for specific players above, Walker will almost certainly be traded, reducing your amount by $2.5MM. Jerry Hairston Jr. is not listed, but I think the Cubs will keep him; they control him now, and he's unlikely to get anything other than a trivial raise (if that) in arbitration. The Cubs need two bench outfielders, I think one will be Adam Greenberg, the other will be someone new, with power, that can play some 1B. In the end, I think Walker does get traded for a setup man. Add all that up, and I guesstimate you're looking at $30MM to spend on just three players: a new starting CF, a new starting RF, and a new starting SS or 2B. I think it's safe to say $30MM is MORE than enough money to get that done. $30 M after Eyre?

I can't believe everyone is overlooking the obvious good news that the Eyre signing brings: Dusty is here to stay for a while. :pukel:

Try calling Hendry [expletive] and Neifi Dusty's boy toy and you will be applauded and welcomed with open arms. You better watch it :shock: :lol:

I wish I was negoiating with Hendry for my last job. Eyre isn't a terrible signing, but that is a terrible contract for a middle reliver who is 33. After he signed Rusch, and Perez are you surprised? He is going to waste that 30mil signing mediocre-medium talent. Great Job! Seriously, what has happened to Hendry? He just got taken. I hope that one of those years is an option year.

:shock: $11M over 3 years?? I know I said I like him, but he is not that good. :D

I disagree, but if you like it better elsewhere then I hope you enjoy it. CPatt20, I think your just reinforcing the point he was making in his post. How can you even make a statement that a guy that puts up a stat line of 2.63 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and a .200 BAA "isn't good and/or is overpaid for what he brings." (1) your statement that he isn't good, is incredibly disingenuous. You don't put up those type of number if your not "good". Sure he has not put those numbers up every year, but HAS shown he is capable of putting them up. By making such statements you only reinforce the point he was making. (2) Nobody has a clue what Eyre is going to make if he signs with the Cubs so its impossible to say if they overpay.

if you've already got an arm in the bullpen that will give lefties fits (at $350k, mind you), is it really financially wise to get another lefty to perform mostly redundant functions at $3 million for 3 seasons? Yes, you already have 1 lefty cheap, now you add another good lefty and amazingly you have 2 LHP in the bullpen that can get lefties out.

Do you think the Cubs could get Neifi to restructure his contract, so that the Cubs could sign AGone from the Marlins?

Eyre may be one of the best available, I don't have the time or desire to check. That doesn't change the fact that he had a career year, and he likely will be no better than average in the coming years. Giving him 3 years and/or several million dollars per year is madness. If we're going to get a setup man, sign Ryan or make a trade for someone that's actually good(Linebrink, Betancourt, Riske, Romero, etc). Ryan doesn't want to be a setup guy and likely will command 2 to 3 times what Eyre will. In regard to the others, I'm sure that Hendry has a better idea than you and I, who is available and who is not and what it would take to get them. Good LH relief pitchers are not in abundance, as witness by the amount of teams that wanted to sign Eyre. Is he a great signing? Maybe not, but at least Hendry has identified getting another lefty in the bullpen as a need and actually getting a guy that had some success last year. If you want to gamble on Eyre repeating his numbers, then give him a year and maybe a million after you've tried to fix your other holes. They're throwing 3 years 10 million out there, that's absolute madness. No justification for that at all. So you are reporting that it is 3 years $10? I don't see how you can claim that his numbers are bad if you haven't seen them. Over the last three years lefties are hitting .200 against him. He is a veteran, he throws strikes and he gets people out. Can't do much better than that from the bullpen. The addition of Eyre gives the Cubs 2 LH arms in the bullpen that will give lefties fits. If you need more justification than that, perhaps you are not dealing in reality?

Eyre may be one of the best available, I don't have the time or desire to check. That doesn't change the fact that he had a career year, and he likely will be no better than average in the coming years. Giving him 3 years and/or several million dollars per year is madness. If we're going to get a setup man, sign Ryan or make a trade for someone that's actually good(Linebrink, Betancourt, Riske, Romero, etc). Ryan doesn't want to be a setup guy and likely will command 2 to 3 times what Eyre will. In regard to the others, I'm sure that Hendry has a better idea than you and I, who is available and who is not and what it would take to get them. Good LH relief pitchers are not in abundance, as witness by the amount of teams that wanted to sign Eyre. Is he a great signing? Maybe not, but at least Hendry has identified getting another lefty in the bullpen as a need and actually getting a guy that had some success last year.

I think there is a little bit of over reaction right now. The Cubs needed another LH reliever for the pen and Eyre was one of the best ones available this year. With Dempster, Williamson, Ohman, Eyre, Rusch, and possibly one of Novoa, Wuertz, JVB or Hill the Cubs actually have a decent bullpen with some depth in case of injury. It also leaves Hendry with incredible flexibility in regard to trades. Has anybody figured out how much was spent on the bullpen last year as compared to how it is shaping up now? Seems to me that they will be fairly similar and I'm assuming most people would at the very least consider Eyre an improvement over Remlinger.

From the Minor Leaugue forum: Premium Link Link Stats (I think through last Sunday) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- BATEADOR AVE JJ VB CA H BA H2 H3 HR CI BB SO SH SF GP BR OR SLG OBP ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- CEDENO RONNY (TIGR) .237 10 38 4 9 11 2 0 0 2 2 7 0 1 1 0 1.289.286 GREENBERG ADAM (CARI).289 26 90 16 26 40 6 1 2 12 8 24 1 1 2 2 3.444.356 The titles are in Spanish, but you can figure it out. Ronny got a later start, but has played regularly since he did start. Ouch, I hope that he is just rusty due to taking the last few weeks of the season off. BTW is Greenburg protected from the Rule 5 draft this year? Would be nice to see the Cubs give him a shot to win the 4th or 5th OF spot this year in Spring Training.

Such as? And how many ABs did they get in Chicago? The Cubs haven't had any recent call ups that deserved a shot. At least Hendry and Hughes seem to be able to evaluate minor league talent. Too bad they can't evaluate the talent before they draft. if they're so good at evaluating talent, we'd have productive young position players in Wrigley more than once every blue moon. It is not like they are wasting draft picks or not making use of the minor league system. If you look at the roster the top two offensive players are a direct result of the farm system. Choi -- Lee, and Hill and Bruback -- Ramirez. Also, you have 4/5 of your starting rotation all products of the farm system. Not too shabby. I always love how people like to point to Lee and Aramis as instances where Hendry used the farm hands to make a smart trade. Nothing could be furthrer from the truth. Aramis was a hurt palyer comming off a terrible year with a very poor attitude when he came to Chicago in a salary dump move. Lee fell to Hendry b/c Baltimore couldn't work out a long term contract for Lee and Florida was desperate to move his salary. The only instance I can think of where Hendry made a smart trade was with Nomar and he had his hand held by Theo. So Hendry didn't make the trade for Aramis and DLee?? I think your confused, because those trades were made, and Hendry made them.

Because I don't think anybody believes that Nomar can still play a passable shortstop. Nomar at SS >>>>>>>>>> AGon II or Neifi. Offensively yes, defensively not so much. Whatever he lacks defensively he can make up for with his bat. As much as I like Nomar, I think his days at SS are over.

Any speculation (or hopes) as to who the PTBNL will be?

Such as? And how many ABs did they get in Chicago? The Cubs haven't had any recent call ups that deserved a shot. At least Hendry and Hughes seem to be able to evaluate minor league talent. Too bad they can't evaluate the talent before they draft. if they're so good at evaluating talent, we'd have productive young position players in Wrigley more than once every blue moon. It is not like they are wasting draft picks or not making use of the minor league system. If you look at the roster the top two offensive players are a direct result of the farm system. Choi -- Lee, and Hill and Bruback -- Ramirez. Also, you have 4/5 of your starting rotation all products of the farm system. Not too shabby.

Such as? And how many ABs did they get in Chicago? The Cubs haven't had any recent call ups that deserved a shot. At least Hendry and Hughes seem to be able to evaluate minor league talent. Cedeno didn't deserve a shot? This is ridiculous. The reasoning goes, player X doesn't deserve a shot but he could start next year, but the vet will start in front of player X b/c he doesn't have the ABs to tell if he is a sure thing or not. Nice and circular. Cedeno was hurt at the end of the season, which prevented even speculating about whether Cedeno would have played. Has anybody seen his numbers in Winter ball so far? I hope that if Hendry takes a chance with Cedeno, he has a plan B available (Beside Neifi)

Such as? And how many ABs did they get in Chicago? The Cubs haven't had any recent call ups that deserved a shot. At least Hendry and Hughes seem to be able to evaluate minor league talent.

That's the most ridiculous thing I've read all day. Wilkerson as a bench player...OML....that's funny as hell. he only hits .250 OBP is not the only thing that makes a good leadoff or nuber 2 hitter. He needs a low number of strikeouts, a decent batting average in the 275, and a good OBP. Wilkerson only achieves one of the three. Lets say you have Wilkerson batting second and Furcal batting first. Would you want someone who strikes out 150 times a year batting behind Furcal. Would we not complain about his inability to advance the runner? I'd rather have a guy who bats 285 with a 330 OBP with a low number of strikeouts batting second. The reason being that he would be more likely to advance the runner. I think we are overvalueing OBP because of how bad the top of our order was last year. We can't forget their are other things than OBP involved in making a good top of the order hitter. I also said in a later post that I may have exaggerated just a bit and that I just believe Wilkerson is not the best fit for our offense. The fact is Wilkerson is the perfect fit for this team. He's a left-handed bat that gets on base. If we sign Furcal, he won't be needed to hit lead-off. We also wouldn't need him to hit second either. Walker, Murton, or Cedeno could hit in that spot. Wilkerson would be ideal in the fifth or sixth spot in the order. If we don't sign Furcal and fail to get another hitter capable of hitting lead-off, Wilkerson isn't a poor option to do that. Not making outs is the most important thing a hitter can do, and Wilkerson does that better than most of the other options the Cubs have considered. Lets not get carried away. Wilkerson gets on base at a decent clip, but also strikes out a ton, has little speed and has a lower BA than Neifi Perez. He is a decent option, if the Cubs can't land Pierre or Furcal, or even if the Cubs land both Pierre and Furcal. If the Cubs land Furcal, Wilkerson is a better fit than Pierre. In fact, Wilkerson is a better fit than Pierre regardless of any other moves. I'm not complaining if they pick up any of the players you listed.

That's the most ridiculous thing I've read all day. Wilkerson as a bench player...OML....that's funny as hell. he only hits .250 OBP is not the only thing that makes a good leadoff or nuber 2 hitter. He needs a low number of strikeouts, a decent batting average in the 275, and a good OBP. Wilkerson only achieves one of the three. Lets say you have Wilkerson batting second and Furcal batting first. Would you want someone who strikes out 150 times a year batting behind Furcal. Would we not complain about his inability to advance the runner? I'd rather have a guy who bats 285 with a 330 OBP with a low number of strikeouts batting second. The reason being that he would be more likely to advance the runner. I think we are overvalueing OBP because of how bad the top of our order was last year. We can't forget their are other things than OBP involved in making a good top of the order hitter. I also said in a later post that I may have exaggerated just a bit and that I just believe Wilkerson is not the best fit for our offense. Strikeouts as a whole are overrated, but even if they are this evil, they are most tolerable in a leadoff hitter. Guess who's going to come up the most with no one on base? The leadoff hitter. Therefore, how they make an out would be less relevant. Also, AVG is less important in a leadoff hitter relative to OBP. Since they don't come up with runners on as often, it doesn't matter as much if they reach base via a hit or walk. If you'd rather have a .285/.330 low K hitter hitting 2nd than Wilkerson's .250/.350 100+ K's(lest we forget that Wilkerson has OBP's in '02-'04 of .370, .380, .374) then you are going to score fewer runs. That's all there is to it. Sorry, don't buy into the idea that a strikeout is just as bad as any other out. Sure you could argue that "at least its better than a Double play". But when you strikeout there is Zero chance of anything productive coming out of the AB (unless the catcher drops the ball). Having said that -- you are correct in your assumptions about Wilkerson. Last year 112 of his Strikeouts came with nobody on base and his OBP with Runners on and RISP was pretty impressive.

That's the most ridiculous thing I've read all day. Wilkerson as a bench player...OML....that's funny as hell. he only hits .250 OBP is not the only thing that makes a good leadoff or nuber 2 hitter. He needs a low number of strikeouts, a decent batting average in the 275, and a good OBP. Wilkerson only achieves one of the three. Lets say you have Wilkerson batting second and Furcal batting first. Would you want someone who strikes out 150 times a year batting behind Furcal. Would we not complain about his inability to advance the runner? I'd rather have a guy who bats 285 with a 330 OBP with a low number of strikeouts batting second. The reason being that he would be more likely to advance the runner. I think we are overvalueing OBP because of how bad the top of our order was last year. We can't forget their are other things than OBP involved in making a good top of the order hitter. I also said in a later post that I may have exaggerated just a bit and that I just believe Wilkerson is not the best fit for our offense. The fact is Wilkerson is the perfect fit for this team. He's a left-handed bat that gets on base. If we sign Furcal, he won't be needed to hit lead-off. We also wouldn't need him to hit second either. Walker, Murton, or Cedeno could hit in that spot. Wilkerson would be ideal in the fifth or sixth spot in the order. If we don't sign Furcal and fail to get another hitter capable of hitting lead-off, Wilkerson isn't a poor option to do that. Not making outs is the most important thing a hitter can do, and Wilkerson does that better than most of the other options the Cubs have considered. Lets not get carried away. Wilkerson gets on base at a decent clip, but also strikes out a ton, has little speed and has a lower BA than Neifi Perez. He is a decent option, if the Cubs can't land Pierre or Furcal, or even if the Cubs land both Pierre and Furcal.