vance_the_cubs_fan

That's a possibility as well. Right now, I think Mench is a more likley possibility. If the Marlins move Delgado to the Mets, then they may not need to move Pierre. Right now, I don't think the Marlins know what they want to do. Either way, that line-up is quite possible and plausible.

Let's assume the following roster moves: A. Furcal is signed to 5/50 deal or something like that. B. Milton Bradley is traded for. C. Walker + Mitre is traded for Mench. Here's the line-up: SS Furcal CF Bradley 1b Lee 3b Ramirez RF Mench LF Murton C Barrett 2b Perez/Cedeno Could we win with that line-up? It's not great, but it might...just might be good enough.

ooops...that can't be good.

Not only did we give Eyre a 3/11 deal with a no-trade clause, but we just surrendered our second round pick in doing so.

I heard snippets from it yesterday. It was not very Cubs-specific but more focused on the state of baseball in general. Or at least the parts I heard were.

Ritalin is not methamphetamine My wife who is a pharmacist would find this part of the thread very funny. Here's some information on ritalin.

I have a feeling Nomar will end up in L.A. Last I had read though, Milwaukee is thinking of holding onto Overbay.

It was a slow evening.

That's interesting.... :-k I would think it would make more sense to put Mora in the outfield, considering he has played quite a bit of CF and LF in his career and was actually decent with the glove. Agreed.

According to the Baltimore Sun, the Orioles have interest in Garciaparra if he's willing to play first or the outfield. Link That's interesting.... :-k

It still isn't looking good for the Cubs's chances of signing Giles. Link. No mention of the Cubs there. Hopefully, the Cubs are among the 10-12 clubs referred to, but somehow I have my doubts.

Giles is worth 12 million when your next best option is Juan Encarnacion. I'd rather pay Giles 12 million then pinch pennies with Jaque Jones and finish in fourth place. Just to comprehend the difference an aging Giles would make to the team. Replace Burntiz with Giles for 2005, and the Cubs suddenly have the fifth best OBP in the league. Giles alone without any other signings would have been a difference.

Some of the rumors are that the money was cleared so the Braves could make a run at Trevor Hoffman.

Hey Roast, I am probably going to get flamed for this, but would it be possible for you to leave out "Jesus Christ" when posting on this forum. I apologize if this comes off as rude or calling you out, I just have been bothered by it for awhile and I would like to enjoy this forum without having my Lords name used that way. If the mods see otherwise, I will let it go. I just don't see a reason to use it. Again, I am not trying to call you out or embarrass you, just asking for alittle respect when language is tossed around here. Thanks man! I actually agree with you, I really need to cut back on doing that. I never used to, i just have of late. Stress makes you say stuff. No offense taken, and I appologize for the language. If we sign Johnny Damon, we could scream that out and actually be talking about our centerfielder.

I've got my shirt that has caricatures of the 2006 Cubs OF of Murton- Preston Wilson- Jaque Jones. "I like guys who catch the ball."

After an arbitration raise to Zambrano, my guess is its closer to 20. Either way, it's drying up pretty rapidly with little to show. It's like eating out every night. Sure 10 bucks isn't much, but keep doing it every night and it adds up. You have 17,000 posts? Geez Vance. I don't think you spend enough time on here. :wink: :lol: I thought today was going to be a slow post day until Jim decided to blow more of the family's money on an electric train set that we don't need.

Hendry has no damn clue. I'm starting to question if he has the vision to put a contending team together in 2006. I'm going to hi-jack the thread and say something that I'm sure I've said before among my 17,000 posts. I think Hendry had a plan and a clue when he took over. As much as the 2003 success was exhilirating, I think it (and having Baker as manager) caused Hendry to toss his plan into the crapper and try to turn a mirage (2003 team) into a reality. We've made moves that jeopardized the long term health of this team, and we're still doing it. You're thinking of the 2001 Bears causing harm to the future (i.e. Jauron/Shoop being retained). Hendry's plan was to stockpile young, fireballing starting pitchers. His plan went awry when they got injured. The reason for this can be attributed to his misstep in choosing a manager. I agree part of the problem has been the health of the rotation. I'm not going to debate that. And my feelings for the incapable weilder of toothpicks are well known. But the window of opportunity is closing with Zambrano and Prior about to get very expensive and this team still hasn't figured it out.

After an arbitration raise to Zambrano, my guess is its closer to 20. Either way, it's drying up pretty rapidly with little to show. It's like eating out every night. Sure 10 bucks isn't much, but keep doing it every night and it adds up.

Hendry has no damn clue. I'm starting to question if he has the vision to put a contending team together in 2006. I'm going to hi-jack the thread and say something that I'm sure I've said before among my 17,000 posts. I think Hendry had a plan and a clue when he took over. As much as the 2003 success was exhilirating, I think it (and having Baker as manager) caused Hendry to toss his plan into the crapper and try to turn a mirage (2003 team) into a reality. We've made moves that jeopardized the long term health of this team, and we're still doing it.

I said that earlier. Adding a SS and OF and another setup will make this a successful offseason. That all depends on who that SS and OF are. Right now we're down to about 20 million do fill our needs with. After the Rusch signing, we had 30 million to fill the roster. Had we used the internal options, we could have spend on Giles and Furcal or Giles and Burnett or Furcal and Burnett. Now, our options are being more limited based on money spent needlessly.

Well, if we don't get at least one of Furcal/Giles or someone comparable in a trade, then we're not winning in 2006 anyway, no matter how many Scott Eyre's we have. If Hendry has determined not to pursue Furcal or Giles for those reasons, then he'd be best served using 2006 as a rebuilding year evaluating the prospects and use the freed money to make down payments to Prior, Zambrano, Lee etc.

Don't be baffled, it happens to others that USED to post here regularly. The funny part is all the name calling and second guessing of Hendry, people still wonder why he won't post here or answer questions on the site. My question to you is, if you were Hendry, would you?You're funny. I could care less if Hendry shows up in here or not. Secondly, nobody is asking for him to come here anyways so who cares. With the job he has been doing he should lock himself in the office and order delivery. That me state a few things along these lines and then shut-up on the issue. Personally, I'd love for Hendry to post here. I also think if he did and he identified himself and we were confirmed it was him, the majority of posters, would be respectful, even if they were critical. Secondly, I would hope that we wouldn't have to censor our opinions to try to lure Hendry or anyone else for that matter to come here. It's a fan forum and the opinions of the fans should be heard. Both sides. While I've been accused of negativity and such lately, go back and read my pre-2005 season posts. I was one of the ones fighting the positivity battle. What changed? Hell, just look at the 2005 season and there's your answer. Third, while I'm aware that a GM has occasionally appeared on a fan forum, I don't know any that make it a regular habit. You're more likely to see a structured interview posted, but rarely if ever do you see a GM actually interacting on the message board. While it would be cool, I doubt it happens. Finally, my guess is we've had more intereaction from people (broadcasters, players, media) in the organization than any other fan forum. So to try to chasitse people and say "shut-up so Hendry will come here," is about the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard.

And let me reiterate. If this were the first signing of the offseason, I would likely roll my eyes at it, but I wouldn't be terribly upset. My reaction to it would be similar to how I reacted to the Rusch signing. Combined with Rusch and Perez, this is a bad signing. Let me share a simple analogy. Blowing an extra thirty bucks on something I don't need at the mall is likely not going to put my family in a bind. If I do it every day it starts to add up. Doing it once, no big deal. Doing it for two weeks, then I start to look around at a bunch of crap that could have really equaled a nice purchase. Neifi, Rusch, and Eyre are the pile of crap that could have been Giles or Furcal. Let's put it this way...assume all those guys were under contract. We're about to make a trade. On one side, Neifi, Rusch and Eyre. On the other side, Furcal or Giles. Which side would you choose? Now if Hendry has a blank checkbook and still can pay the money for Giles and Furcal....great. But with a 105 payroll, the prospects of that happening are looking pretty slim. Moves like this make me wonder if Hendry really understands how flawed this team is.

The problem with that list, is that Mitre makes me sad. Also, Rusch will never be used correctly in the bullpen. Koronka/Hill are starters, and even though Koronka is destroying some random league this offseason - would you rather have him than Eyre? We can spare the extra $3 mill for a proven quantity. Would we even be having this argument if Rusch and Neifi were floating around in the big FA pool still? I don't really think so. I'm not sure we can. That 3 million could be the difference in Giles in RF or Juan Encarnacion.

I've been of the persuasion that the bullpen should have been the final focus after lead-off, shortstop, and the gaping hole in rightfield. We have a number of arms for the pen. But if I were going to gamble three years on a reliever, Dotel please. First off, I second your "Dotel please" Secondly, your thinking is good in theory - but it has somewhat resulted in our bullpens the last couple years. Isn't it possible that we could take care of all of these 'problems' in a somewhat similar timeframe? I know watching Eyre sign a contract might keep him busy, but not so busy he can't call Furcal up and tell him to c'mere. I will admit that our bullpen wasn't good last season. But I also think throwing FA dollars at a bullpen, other than a few select guys, is never a great idea. We've thrown a lucrative three year deal at the bullpen two of the last three years and it hasn't helped. It's very difficult to predict the success of a reliever from year to year. Who thought Eyre was a great reliever before this past season? How quickly does a guy become lights out in the pen only to flame out the year before? Given the nature of the bullpen, I'd address it, but not with long term big money deals unless it is for someone that has proven to get it done year in and year out. Dotel fits that description. Wagner does as well. Eyre does not. Why not bring back the Farns? He's had more good seasons than Eyre. I think you get bullpen help whenver it make itself available. Putting together a sold bullpen to go along with the starters could relaly improve this team. IF the startes stay healthy and pitch to their potential, a strong bullpen would really shorten the game for opponents. B.J. Ryan is a closer, so is Wagner. I'd love those guys, but they aren't going to come here. Dempster is the closer. I'm tired of watching the Cubs blow game late. Will Eyre stop that all by himself, of course not. But I think he helps. I'm all for a strong pen, but even spending money on the best relievers doesn't guarantee a good pen. Offensive performers are more consistent and more likely to produce where you expect them to produce. While saving a run in the eighth of a close game is nice, I'd rather have an offense capable of scoring enough in the early innings that there's less pressure on my bullpen and starters. If we can get an offense capable of scoring 4.5-5.5 runs a game, then we can live with the ups and downs of the pitching staff much more easily.