Shilzzz

maybe sweet lou can call aramis and yell at him really loud and firely over the phone and that will make aramis sign?

I would rather have him be asked, "After watching the World Series, have you finally figured out how important a lead-off guy getting on base consistently is?" Don't ask him that. If he believes you, then he'll think that only the leadoff man needs to get on base, and that he can continue to populate the rest of the lineup with losers like Izturis and Cedeno. Good point. I wonder, right now, in Vegas who is favored to win the 2007 World Series? Yankees 9-2 Mets 7-1 Twins 8-1 White Sox 10-1 Red Sox 10-1 Tigers 10-1 Cardinals 12-1 Cubs 30-1 i take it.

terry pendelton withdrew his name as well. thought i had read where he was highly persued by the nationals. maybe both simply figured out just how dumb their gm is.

co-sign adding a 3rd signature. Finally a rotation that doesn't depend on Prior. 8) Doesn't that lineup say 3 out of 5 pitchers are a wildcard with 1 journyman (Lilly)? Matsuzaka might be great but he is an unknown. the 5th starter would be unknown but not the biggest concern as its at the end of the rotation. Hill looked great at the end and I really hope he's the real deal, but do we collectivly think he's a solid 2 or 3? werd. hill is fine at number four or five, not two or three. just because he blew through AAA ball and had a good month/month and a half doesn't automatically give him top three billing. give me zambrano, schmidt, matsuzaka, lilly, hill with the possibility of prior jumping in there for lilly at some point if he ever gets healthy and i'm happy.

Off topic but if we can get those guys in your sig I will be very happy for once. Vincente Padilla is a punk and not someone I'd want near the team. "Punk" is a juvenille label to throw at someone, but it fits better than any other word I can think of. source?

supposedly, they are classic signs True, but I think he was just nervous. He was sweating like a pig up there the whole time. that's interesting if he did that. at the o.g. press conference you could tell that he was choosing what he said meticulously(sp), as he would often pause and find the correct word or phrase. it seemed like he was too specific in everything else to look away and hold the hand close to his mouth purely out of nervousness.

Not bad, but seeing as the Marlins probably aren't forgetting what we were willing to give up for Pierre, I think they'd at least want someone like Guzman to make it a trio. imo it's going to take more than willis and eyre.

I wonder what constitutes a Piniella guy. Lugo? Eduardo Perez? Geoff Blum? Cameron? Cirillo? Lenny Harris, Snow, Dunstan and Macias....I really hope this isn't Dusty part 2 when it comes to picking up players. Now, if you're talking ARod and Irchiro I'm going to smile! i'm sure he meant rodriguez or than geoff blum. ichiro would look nice in cubby blue too. =P~

That's how I think it's most likely to get ARod, a player I'd much rather have instead of Willis. I can't shake the feeling that he'll (D-Train) have significant DL time on his plate down the line. i would co-sign that. rich hill is a comperable, cheaper option at this point. i guess i was resigned to the fact that he'd have to go to get rodriguez. how would the deal work if you add florida to the rodriguez sweepstakes?

anyone else think he may be someone that hendry will target this offseason? we have a lot of the kind of players that loria goes for(see: cheap, young, cubs), and with the payroll going up coupled with the fact that the cubs would likely lose rich hill in a deal for a talented, unnamed shortstop, though it's purely speculation on my part it doesn't seem too far out of the realms of possibility. obviously(jim and lou will understand me better if i pretense statements with this) willis has thrown A LOT of pitches in a very big ball park, but why not? bring him home and throw him in the number three spot, sandwiched between schmidt and prior.

Yep, he began his career with the Braves while Aaron was still with them. He was on the team when Aaron surpassed the Babe. He was on deck. yeah, dusty was on deck when that happened.

what do we know about bochy?

Ideally? Yes. Likely? No. at first i thought the brenly idea was horrible. but with all that has been being said of late i think he has to be the best choice(at least of those hendry is giving a shot).

*clears throat* well, i always think that an mvp should not just be rated on those things that you pointed out, but it should also be taken into account how jeter plays for the yankees. he wears number 2 for the yankees, which is close to number 3, which was BABE RUTH's number. so right there, that tells ya that he's good. jeter is also very clutch, which is something guillen is not. i mean, if jeter comes to the plate with runners in scoring position he will knock them in 3 times out of ten, which is clearly well above his batting average otherwise. and it's even tougher to do in new york, especially for the yankees because it's a tough town. so you have to be tough to be clutch and i like tough guys. tough guys are valuable. most valuable. he's so pretty too. i think he's been spotted recently with jessica alba. man, she's hot isn't she. that's pretty clutch of jeter to get with jessica alba, guillen couldn't do that. these things are intangibles, guys. you just can't put this stuff into numbers, and it's not like you nerds know anything about baseball. maybe if you watched more games you'd understand.

I have no interest in mediocre at both, and there's no reason why you would be. You aren't guaranteeing excellent pitching, there's no such thing. one can't guarantee excellent pitching anymore than one can guarantee excellent hitting.

Couldn't you say the same thing about our team's pitching philosophies? (Ironically going the opposite way; by NOT walking every other hitter) I just look at right now if the starting pitching isn't addressed at all you have Zambrano/Hill/Prior/2 of Marshall/Mateo/Guzman/Marmol/Ryu/Gallagher/Veal If the lineup isn't addressed at all you have 2 of Theriot/Izturis/Cedeno, 1 of Pagan/Pie, and Moore all the lineup. My main problem is the backup plan for position players is ugly. I don't want to see Cesar Izturis anywhere on this team next year, but I also don't want to see Ronny Cedeno leave Iowa until he reestablishes himself as a capable hitter there. That leaves the best of the 3 options for 2 spots as the much debated Ryan Theriot. I'm a fan of Theriot and would rather this thread not turn into another debate about him, but the point stands that if he's the most reliable of your Middle IF heading into next year, it's gonna be kinda ugly up the middle. I don't want to see Pie in a major leauge uniform until he proves his 2nd half in Iowa wasn't a small sample size. If he keeps it up, I'm fine with him up around June, but I also don't want Angel Pagan, everyday player up until that point. I have no problem playing a couple inexperienced guys on the team, but I don't want Felix Pie heading into the season as the 6 hitter (or even worse, leadoff)because we spent all our money on pitching And before it's brought up, no I don't feel all or even most of those pitchers I listed for the 2 spots will be ready, but I'm fairly confident that choosing from those 7 pitchers you can sort it out and find 2 that would give you #4 stuff at virtually no cost. well let me rephrase myself by saying that i don't believe that the offense should stand put. there are definate improvements to be had, however, pitching is what wins championships and ultimately if a championship isn't won then the season wasn't successful. cedeno should be nowhere near wrigley. he is basically neifi perez only younger. though i'm not sure how you figure that either moore, pagan or pie will have to be in the lineup. it's hard to believe that hendry would be willing to go young at center or third, and if he does go young in center or third then he will have to, have to, upgrade at a corner of spot or second, and second base seems to be the easiest to fill(though maybe least efficient spot to upgrade between the three considering the corners as they stand). and as much as i dislike hendry's abilities as a general manager, i can't see a scenario where he lets ramirez just walk. now pierre he may not be albe to bring back, but if he leaves jim will probably(i know, i know) fill the void with someone like dave roberts, who will certainly be more productive if the centerfielder must leadoff. as far as pie goes, i just don't see where he fits in to this club next year. murton should stay in left and jones is going to be hard to move without eating alot of contract, and it would be even more difficult to replace jones with pie, given how pie struggles when he first moves to a new level. with the lack of power in left, i just can't see jim jumping to put pie there. what could be an interesting move would be to move jones to center and bring in a one year rental in right(vernon wells?), and after next year see what happens. maybe the team is horrible again and jones gets moved at the deadline and pie gets his shot then? all in all there are alot alot alot of moves, very strategic(sp) ones at that, to be made to bring this team to championship contender status. should the cubs be going after a ton of free agents this off season? probably not. is hendry going to go young and try to build anew? probably not. so again, if they are going to try to contend, pitching is what has to be solid. and it's going to be real real hard to rely on marshall and mateo every fifth day.

sorry southsideryan, but i'm going to pick on yours. how many times can you remember the best case scenario working out for the cubs? personally i'm tired of if's. rich hill, okay. guzman is not ready. marshall is very mediocre. mateo will be good, maybe even very good, but not next year. we should not be comfortable with rich hill being any higher than a number four(with prior and miller taking turns on the disabled list/number 5 slot). so that leaves us with two open spots. two very easy to fill open spots with all the 'talented young pitching' the cubs have. and i know at least a few responses will be that we should just keep the talented young pitching, but think about it realistically... what does hendry do? what will hendry do especially once he gets larry bowa? he isn't going to rebuild, because if he rebuilds then he failed with two of the greatest talented young arms any team has ever had, which would equal the end of his career in baseball. the offense needs a plan at the plate more than two or three free agents/trade acquisitions. if, and i know what i said about if's, hendry can get a decent hitting coach offense will be less of a problem than pitching as the roster stands now.

i will veto the rotation.

I say NO to Zito because he will command too much money and IMO not worth it for a 3.5era pitcher. I would love to have Schmidt but only for a 2 year deal which is unlikely. I would like to see Lilly to be honest. Z, Hill, Lilly, Guzman, Prior/Mateo/Marmol/Marshall Yeah, it's not the best rotation but it might work out. Even if you have to tack on a 3rd year for Schimdt I'd do it. Sadly I think Schmidt has already booked his first class ticket to Seattle. He would not be a bad move at all. Injury-wise I think he will stay healthy simply because it appears he is relying on his fastball more and phsyically he appears in top shape schmidt would be a better choice than zito. hendry should do what it takes, because if you don't throw at least one top of the rotation guy in here, it looks very bad going into next year. Zambrano, Lilly, Hill, Guzman?, Marshall? 0_o Lilly is NOT a number two, maybe as a number four i'll take him.

I say NO to Zito because he will command too much money and IMO not worth it for a 3.5era pitcher. I would love to have Schmidt but only for a 2 year deal which is unlikely. I would like to see Lilly to be honest. Z, Hill, Lilly, Guzman, Prior/Mateo/Marmol/Marshall Yeah, it's not the best rotation but it might work out. zito has a career 3.54 era in the AMERICAN LEAGUE. his career era+ is 129, quite worthy of whatever contract he is offered. He's going to command about 15 million per year. No way in the world is he worth that. He's not an "elite" pitcher. Plus, he's not going to come to Chicago. It's not even worth discussing. has zito been quoting as having said something along those lines?

The NL is not that good -- Hendry doesn't have to do much to contend next year. That said-- I fully expect this franchise to screw things up again in the off-season and for the Cubs to waste another golden opportunity in a weak National League. i don't think hendry has any idea or sort of plan. as of right now he has one good, well great, starting pitcher, a decent to good bullpen(if the right people are kept, ie, wuertz, not novoa), and a few good position players(ramirez, lee, barrett), and everything else is shaky. there is no manager(hopefully) for next year, and they will also (hopefully) need a new pitching/ hitting coach. the free agent market isn't that deep, and when that happens the value in trades always shifts to a sellers market, no matter how many decent pitching prospects that you have you will probably be paying big. with that said, whatever good free agents there are will be able to command that much more(espically pitching after that assinine Oswalt contract). izturis is horrible, as is cedeno. jones is very mediocre, and murton, who will be very good someday, is a tough buy in a corner outfield spot at this point(and if you think the cubs brass are going to platoon the two you are out of your mind). pagan is worthless. nevin could be useful, but for what amount? blanco should be gone and who knows about mabry. one bright spot imo is theroit, but who knows if he's ever going to get that chance? he could be our ryan freel. so where does that leave jim? in a heap of trouble. the turnover since 2003 has been incredible, espically when you think about the kind of season that was.

jim hendry has to have the greatest offseason of all time in order for the cubs to contend for a championship next season.

first of all, how bad is baker pining for neifi right now? secondly, has baker EVER criticized anyone older than 26? how old is rich hill? :wink:

:shock: that is outstanding. if hendry is really going for fredi gonzalez(?) and has gotten rid of neifi, things could be looking up. this may be the greatest thread ever

There's no way anyone pries away Brian McCann. we will have an excess of good young pitching this offseason.