CUBZ99

Ha good luck with that Ben. Yes, that is quite the wish list for a guy that hasn't pitched in a while and has a lengthy history of injuries. I can't see any team willing to go that high.

Yeah, 3.4 is ridiculous. I like Theriot, but I'm all for trading him this year if Castro is close to ready.

Great photo.

Hendry's update on the Sheets matter during the convention was spot on. During one of the Q&A's I heard on the radio, Hendry stated that almost every team would be interested in a pitcher like Sheets and that the Cubs were going to go watch him pitch. He also stated that nobody has seen Sheets pitch in over a year and that even with the workout today, it still wouldn't give teams any indication of whether Sheets would be able to handle a starting workload again. He said the Cubs would be taking a very cautious approach.

I like your optimism! :D

I asked this at the time Tim wrote his Theriot article, but I'll ask it again now. Does anyone have a link to the quotes that have gotten so many folks fired up? Because I don't ever recall reading anything particularly noteworthy. In fact I seem to recall that he responded more or less the way you said he should have. 1) It's really hard to link to radio shows Theriot was on or tv / radio interviews he did. 2) It's not the best source, but even his own teammates were giving Theriot a hard time during the convention about his wanting to discuss chemistry: source I think what he was asking you for, were specific quotes from Theriot and not generalized impressions of what other people thought. I listened to at least one panel with Theriot and didn't remember him mentioning team chemistry at all. Of course, I don't get offended every time some players mentions team chemistry, so maybe I missed it. Even though its difficult to link to those media, it would be easy enough to type out one of his quotes. But, back to my original point, why is every one so wrapped up on Theriot's supposed comments? Theriot doesn't impact management decisions on which players to acquire. Theriot wasn't the person that traded Bradley. For people that are upset over Bradley being demonized over alleged team character issues and claiming that he should have been kept, it would be odd for them to try to manufacture problems with Theriot and try to run him out of town for speaking his mind. I could understand the hatred if he played like A. Miles did last year, but for the money he is a fairly decent SS and cheap.

He sure got ribbed at the Convention on the radio interview I heard. Someone, Hendry or Flieta, pointed out to Theriot that Starlin Castro was looking pretty good coming into spring training. :-)) I think people are a little too sensitive regarding Theriot's comments, considering how benign they were.

Please tell us where Theriot says anything of the sort - that "the thing that decides wins and losses is the joy level in the clubhouse". Exactly, I think the Theriot hate is getting a little out of control. he isn't allowed to have an opinion regarding other players? I'm 100% positive that Jim Hendry isn't going to base his decision of whether to sign Sheets on whether Theriot thinks he is a good clubhouse guy or not.

Right. And it makes sense that guys can have their performances impacted by off-field happenings. Guys like Dempster and Lee delaing with serious health issues with their children, of course that's going to weigh heavily on them. Lower down on the scale I can see things in the clubhouse potentially playing over onto the field if they escalate to a serious degree. Again, along the lines of guys constantly at each others' throats (literally or metaphorically) or serious rifts amongst different players or groups of players or situations where it's essentially the players vs. the coaches or the manager could easily have a serious impact on how the season goes. That said, we've seen zero indication that this was the case here. In fact, in the few players who have spoken on the issue, particuarly Theriot, have gone out of their way to emphasized hoe everyone except one person get along great, so it's not like an issue of one guy somehow fracturing the team and making everyone fight with each other. The reason I dismiss the idea that "chemistry" had any serious impact last season is because from the insiders themselves it sounds nothing more than one guy not liking anyone else and basically everyone else not liking that guy. That's not a lack of chemistry. That's one guy as the odd man out. That still leaves the entire rest of the team to get along great, which supposedly they do and act as a team. Trying to imply that one sulky guy can destroy all of that to the point that guys are playing poorly and games are being lost is ridiculous. To be fair, it was one guy that reportedly made life miserable for the rest of the team. Also, the comments I have heard about Bradley all indicate that almost the entire team did not enjoy having him around. Yet, nobody was blaming Bradley's poor attitude for the Cubs failure to make the playoffs last year. Most if not all of the comments that I've read say that people are just happy or relieved to be rid of him, and they all qualified their statements by saying that he wasn't the problem in regard to why they didn't win more. I don't see a problem with the GM or the Owners trying to make the players happier during the season or making them more comfortable. They are redoing the locker room to give the players more space, they are hiring a chef to cater during games, etc. In regard to Bradley, the Cubs didn't win with him last year, and it wasn't like he was a major part of the team offense or defense. He put up decent numbers, which were nearly identical to the player they brought in to replace him. And Byrd plays CF, allowing Fukudome to return to RF hopefully upgrading the defense in the OF.

If he is Offensive Line coach I would be happy with that.

Thank god you're not our gm. Every other team in the league passes on a guy but people on this board still think hes great. :banghead: At anyrate, Dye would be great at the right price, there is a very good chance that Lee and or Soriano miss some time this year and the platoon with Fukudome would probably very productive. I would like this move I didn't say I wanted Murton and I certainly didn't say he was great. All I said was I wanted him more than Dye... Jermaine Dye has been below replacement level two of the last three seasons. If you aren't aware, replacement level is by definition those AAAA guys like Matt Murton who, by the way, only cost the league minimum. If I thought Dye would only act as Fukudome's platoon partner in RF, he might be worth it. But it's pretty obvious he'd get too much playing time and he simply isn't worth the marginal cost for a player who isn't any better than a couple dozen guys we could bring in on a minor league deal. How can a guy that OPSs over .800 be considered below replacement level? Perhaps his defense is Jake Fox-like? I can't imagine that many teams have AAAA guys just sitting around in the minors that are capable of putting up .800 OPS over the course of a season. Also, its hard to argue that Dye would be much more than a platoon partner in RF without significant injuries.

Did Bruce ever chime in on this discussion? I've been trying to keep up with his blogs on DH, but haven't seen him comment yet. I'm guessing that the Cubs are simply involved only if the price for Sheets is bargain basement price, which I doubt will happen with all of the interest.

I was for getting rid of the GM who we all knew would target pure garbage in order to get rid of a cheap, productive player. But, alas we couldn't do that. Bradley was traded for reasons wholly unrelated to his cost or productivity. Not sure why you're glossing over this small detail. Not to derail the thread with another team chemistry debate, but did anybody read Shark's comments regarding Bradley? He said something to the effect of prior to last year he didn't believe that team chemistry was important at all.

I hope that Hendry doesn't waste another $1.5 or 2MM on Johnson, especially considering there doesn't appear to be much of a market for him. As people have been pointing out frequently those $2MM for a backup OF, $3.5MM for middle relief pitcher type of contracts start to take a drain on the payroll when added together.

Surprised to see that Vitters and B. Jackson both got invites. Also surprised that J. Jackson is not on the list.

Hahaha Because you know...their pitching skill is roughly equivalent and all.... On a side note, did anyone see that article over the weekend that suggested that Rothschild has been watching video of Silva and noticed some flaws in his delivery that he was going to work on. If Rothschild were able to make Silva a quality starter(I know we are talking Duncan-like pixie dust and all), would he finally get some credit?

It's a little scary that people are now referring to Castro in this fashion, as some sort of established known quantity too good to be a fair comparison for any other prospect. What is scary about it? Castro went from a decent/good prospect in the Cub's system to a top 25 prospect in all of baseball. Even if Castro never pans out in the major league level, according to all reports his trade value is extraordinary at the moment. Hopefully, the Cub's system can effectively judge which prospects they should sell high, and which ones are worth holding on to.

I see Samardzija being in the rotation at the beginning of the year. Between rumors that he has already been penciled into the rotation and the spot is his to lose, to the reports of the work he has put in with Rothschild and Rothschild's proclaiming that his secondary pitches have finally come around while pitching in Mexico. Also, Caridad appears to be a near lock to make the bullpen out of ST, so I see Gaub in AAA to start the year. In regards to a surprise promotion, it will be interesting to see what happens. As someone mentioned earlier Burke could start in AA? B. Jackson in AA? Vitters to AA to start the year? It will be fun to see how this plays out.

Fukudome? Hendry had job security at the time of that signing.

I don't see Hendry spending that much on an unknown.

Yes, it looks like a disaster waiting to happen. We better pray that Wells numbers last year were not a fluke and that at least one of the other 4 and 5 pitchers can have a break through year.

Next, they will be emailing you requests to pre-order playoff tickets.

Would love to see Hendry sign Sheets if they could get him for less than Harden. I remain skeptical that with all of the pressure that Hendry is under that he would gamble most of his remaining payroll on a starter who may or may not contribute this season. It would be a pretty big gamble for him.

You do realize that Byrd had the 3rd best OPS among all major league CFs last season? Now I'm not sure if he will keep that success up. But moving to another hitter friendly ballpark and having the same hitting coach that turned his career around couldn't hurt. Probably the 5th starter, unless Gorzelanny beats him out for that spot. Byrd's OPS+ in 99: Home: 124 Away: 102 Byrd's OPS+ in 98: Home: 136 Away: 113 Byrd's OPS+ in 97: Home: 137 Away: 91 I think it's very dangerous putting a lot of hope on a guy who plays in such a hitter friendly ballpark. It reeks of Jeromy Burnitz all over again. Burnitz OPS+ in Colorado the season before he became a Cub: 168 Burnitz away from Colorado that same season: 105 Burnitz as a Cub at home: 106 Burnitz as a Cub on the road: 96 See the pattern? Burnitz and Byrd are not comparable at all. For one, Burnitz had a much better career prior to signing with the Cubs, and had OPS'ed over .900 three times (and not just with teams that played in hitter friendly parks). Also, Burnitz was 36 when he signed. Byrd won't be 36 until after his contract is over. Burnitz was signed as a RF and the list goes on. Based on Byrd's last 3 seasons there is no reason he can't OPS .800, and as a CF that would be terrific.

Not thrilled about the length of the deal, but the team is definitely improved with Byrd. I expect Byrd to give the Cubs more production than they got out of Bradley last year, and the defense should be improved with Fukudome playing in RF again.