vance_the_cubs_fan

Of course if we sign Drew and Soriano and deal Jones, I'm not sure how much pitching we'd need. CF Soriano 2b DeRosa 1b Lee RF Drew 3b Ramirez LF Murton C Barrett SS Izturis That line-up would be nice.

I just got to work. Slept from 11:30 to 6:00. :lol:

Better yet, the Boston Globe describes the Cubs as "seriously" interested in Drew. Link.

Link. And about his salary...

In the words of the Denver Post, the Cubs "kicked the tires" on Jennings. Link. And for those wondering what it might cost to get him...

MacPhail was part of the Selig group that wanted clubs to by fiscally responsible. Furthermore, Selig in his efforts to break down the union into accepting the luxury tax preached the game was in poverty. Could MacPhail's loyalty to the MLB front offices made him suppress payroll lower than he should? Maybe with MacPhail gone, the Cubs are able to spend more? Or maybe they are just spending the money that they aren't using to build the parking garage?

Izturis sucks. He's good defensively, but he's as bad a hitter is as Neifi was. We complained about Alex Gonzalez, but Izturis is worse.

Obligatory pic of Sammy and me is needed in every Sosa thread. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v257/vance_the_cubs_fan/MEANDSAMMY.jpg

Bonds edges out Carlos Lee for third place! And in truth, Bonds would be a better choice than Lee.

Ronny needs to start looking for homes in Des Moines.

A trade will happen soon. It has to. Take a look at the number of arms the Cubs have in the bullpen: 1. Dempster 2. Howry 3. Eyre 4. Wood 5. Wuertz 6. Novoa 7. Aardsma 8. Ohman That also doesn't include the possibility that Ryu, Guzman, OMalley, Marmol, or Mateo all could be used out of the pen. As we have speculated in other threads, someone from this bullpen will get moved. Likely more than one.

Once again, another signing that isn't horrible but when combined with overpaying for other parts, Jim is pissing away money left and right. We'll end up not having the money for Soriano or Drew because we gave too much to Henry Blanco when Soto could do the job at 400K.

Well, for those that say we have too many of these, I checked back four pages and couldn't find one to bump...so here we go! Jerry Crasnick lists Dunn at the top of his list of power hitters who could be moved this offseason. The Cubs are still in need of at least one big bopper. What about Matt Murton and Dempster or Howry for Dunn?

This article sheds some light on why our relievers could be valued enough to get a starter.

The Dodgers are also in talks with Glendale. All these teams want to move to Glendale and yet the Cardinals are staying put in Florida completely ignoring the fact that my parents live in Glendale. Bogus. Making a spring training trip this year, Wolf? It's highly likely. This year, you should hook a brotha up! I'll let you know as soon as I know. sweeeeeet!

Maybe the Indians regret letting Howry get away. We could send him back to them.

The Dodgers are also in talks with Glendale. All these teams want to move to Glendale and yet the Cardinals are staying put in Florida completely ignoring the fact that my parents live in Glendale. Bogus. Making a spring training trip this year, Wolf? It's highly likely. This year, you should hook a brotha up!

I think that's a bit strong: Walker's OPS 2003: .761 2004: .820 2005: .829 2006: .754 DeRosa 2006: .813 It's not as if Walker was some super offensive force at 2b. He was what DeRosa was last year: above average. I'm not saying that DeRosa will match his numbers from last year, but the difference between the two doesn't seem to be as large as you make it out to be. And I'll take a slightly lower OPS for the ability to turn a double play. While DeRosa's line from 2006 looks great and I pray to Kent he can repeat it, I can't ignore his 2005 line of 243/325/439 and his 2004 line of 239/293/320 and his 2003 line of 263/316/383. He has a career year last year in a hitter's park. If he repeats it great, but what if he puts up his career norm of 273/331/404? While not horrible, when combined with Izturis, it's some pretty weak production from the middle infield. Furthermore, we're paying over 4 million a year for that. Somewhere in this lengthy thread there was a poster that said DeRosa was hurt in 2005. But even if he was, his 05 line is not much different than his 2003 or 2004 line. The one line that looks out of place is last year's. I think his 2003-2005 lines are more indicative of his performance. I hope I'm wrong, but the probablility that he'll return to career norms is a whole lot greater than he'll reproduce anything similar to last year.

I think that's a bit strong: Walker's OPS 2003: .761 2004: .820 2005: .829 2006: .754 DeRosa 2006: .813 It's not as if Walker was some super offensive force at 2b. He was what DeRosa was last year: above average. I'm not saying that DeRosa will match his numbers from last year, but the difference between the two doesn't seem to be as large as you make it out to be. And I'll take a slightly lower OPS for the ability to turn a double play. While DeRosa's line from 2006 looks great and I pray to Kent he can repeat it, I can't ignore his 2005 line of 243/325/439 and his 2004 line of 239/293/320 and his 2003 line of 263/316/383. He has a career year last year in a hitter's park. If he repeats it great, but what if he puts up his career norm of 273/331/404? While not horrible, when combined with Izturis, it's some pretty weak production from the middle infield. Furthermore, we're paying over 4 million a year for that.

I'd rather have derosa at 4.3 than neifi at 2.5. Honestly. Well, DeRosa fits more of the Walker role and Izturis is the nu-Neifi. My point is we've barely improved the middle infield, if at all, at too much cost. Oh I agree. Not much improvement. However if he can just be Walker + good defense then I don't mind this move too much. I however would have rather seen a bigger signing before focusing on such a miniscule improvement. . I don't think there's a snow ball's chance in hell that DeRosa will match Walker's offensive production. And I honestly don't know. Just hope. Atleast we know where you stand. :) DeRosa had his best OPS+ last season at 106. His career OPS+ is 90. In six seasons in which he had 150 or more PA, DeRosa has topped the 100 OPS mark twice. He's a below average hitter coming off a career year in a hitter's park. In 2004 when Atlanta tried to make him a full-time starter at third, he failed miserably. In comparison, Walker has a career OPS+ of 98. While he was at 93 last season, in seasons where he has amassed over 150 PA, Walker has four seasons over 100. DeRosa is a better fielder than Walker, probably by a great deal. He's not a better hitter unless he faces lefties exclusively. He hammers lefties. He would be a good player off the bench. He would have value as a platoon player all over the diamond against lefties and brings some value to the versatile role. He is miscast as a starter.

I'd rather have derosa at 4.3 than neifi at 2.5. Honestly. Well, DeRosa fits more of the Walker role and Izturis is the nu-Neifi. My point is we've barely improved the middle infield, if at all, at too much cost. Oh I agree. Not much improvement. However if he can just be Walker + good defense then I don't mind this move too much. I however would have rather seen a bigger signing before focusing on such a miniscule improvement. . I don't think there's a snow ball's chance in hell that DeRosa will match Walker's offensive production.

Hendry and DeRosa's comments make it clear that Mark was not signed to be a bench player.

So, we can either sign one more hitter and a one pitcher, or two more hitters and no pitchers, or two more pitchers of the A-B variety. This move isn't as nice as it once seemed.

The Dodgers are also in talks with Glendale. All these teams want to move to Glendale and yet the Cardinals are staying put in Florida completely ignoring the fact that my parents live in Glendale. Bogus. Making a spring training trip this year, Wolf?

Aren't we limited to signing 4 Type A or B FA's? Ramirez is one since his deal was signed on Sunday. DeRosa makes two. That leaves only two more.