sonicdethmonkey0

who would you rather do, j.d. drew or alfonso soriano jd more like JUST DO (me) drew has more experience getting on base (if you know what i mean), so i'm not sure if he'd respect me in the morning

who would you rather do, j.d. drew or alfonso soriano

I'm gonna stick with the classic Fonzie. how bout we call him "henry winkler"

BITE ME, KEERS

someone think of a good nickname for alfonso besides the obvious ones.

gerald perry i believe

hard to be positive about a team who won 66 games last season.

i don't know what's so hard to understand about this: i believe signing soriano is a positive move for the cubs. soriano is a very good player who will help us offensively. at the same time, i think there's a lot of questions that have to be asked when the cubs are committing the next 6-8 years and 100+ million to a player many justifiably feel is overrated. this move makes the cubs a better team, but how much better remains to be seen. we'll see.

are you captain of your junior high debate team or what

whatev. let's hope soriano remembers how to get on-base.

our primary second basemen the last couple of years have been todd walker, neifi perez, ronny cedeno/the riot, and now mark derosa. todd walker made the least (besides the rookies), produced the most, and we traded him for bumpkis. the cubs have no idea what they're doing, and although i don't think derosa will be terrible, we paid him $4 mil for what will most likely be mediocrity. same with jock. same with pierre. the song remains the same. remember, this is a 66 win team who is supposedly committed to turning it around in a hurry. this signing isn't going to hurt us drastically, but it isn't going to do a whole much to help. at all. let's hear it for mediocrity.

Theriot will certainly regress, but he's young enough to be learning still. Derosa will be 32 next February. He's not going to get any better. Bingo. BINGO! AGREED! WHAMMO!! You've WON a new CAR!! Overexaggerate any? It's common knowledge, not some spectacular secret. what

do i think the cubs will take advantage of this? no.

this is as good a time as any to change my avatar, i suppose

I agree. He's hardly the only option, and he's clearly no more of a sure thing than others. he may not be the only option, but in my opinion, he's clearly the best option. he's younger, he has more electric stuff than Zito or Schmidt, and thus more worth the money than either of those two. i just wonder what other FA options are out there for the Cubs to turn the team around. they weren't bad last year, they were god-awful. they need to make drastic changes. Hendry may have a big trade up his sleeve, but i don't see the Cubs improving dramatically through the FA market. i think a one-two punch of Z and Zaka is what this club needs, more so than Zito or Schmidt. perhaps i misspoke when i disagreed with your original point TheDude by saying the entire off-season hinges on this signing. but i think in terms of the other FAs out there, the Cubs are really blowing it by not going all out to get this guy. like i said, i don't think they will, and i think they'll regret it bigtime. If $45m is real, then the Cubs are not blowing it by not offering that. If they paid that much up front, then this guy would be the only improvement they'd make, and the rest of the team would suck. goony i think i edited my previous post at the same time you made this point, but yes, i agree. 40-45 million to negotiate is absurd, and i am almost certain the Cubs are not going to put up that kind of money, so it's a moot point.

I agree. He's hardly the only option, and he's clearly no more of a sure thing than others. he may not be the only option, but in my opinion, he's clearly the best option. he's younger, he has more electric stuff than Zito or Schmidt, and thus more worth the money than either of those two. i just wonder what other FA options are out there for the Cubs to turn the team around. they weren't bad last year, they were god-awful. they need to make drastic changes. Hendry may have a big trade up his sleeve, but i don't see the Cubs improving dramatically through the FA market. i think a one-two punch of Z and Zaka is what this club needs, more so than Zito or Schmidt. perhaps i misspoke when i disagreed with your original point TheDude by saying the entire off-season hinges on this signing. but i think in terms of the other FAs out there, the Cubs are really blowing it by not going all out to get this guy. like i said, i don't think they will, and i think they'll regret it bigtime. EDIT: of course, if the red sox are going to put up 40-45 million just to negotiate with him... to me that seems reckless. i would hope the Cubs would be willing to bid 20-25 million.

i disagree. to me, it doesn't seem like there is a great option out there for the Cubs to improve their offense. Soriano and Lee definitely can produce, but they both have the potential to be mediocre, and both will likely be highly overpaid. sure, last year was a stellar year for Soriano, but can he keep up his patience at the plate? i sure hope so, for the ridiculous amount of money he's sure to command. as far as Lee goes, i think he'd be a solid pickup, but where do you play him? he's certainly not going to platoon with Jock, and i sure hope he isn't going to take away playing time from a developing Murton. Drew is apparently available, and although i believe he's the best option for the Cubs this offseason, i'm not convinced he'll be a target of Hendry's, despite being exactly what this club needs. the free agent pitching market has even more questions. Schmidt is getting up there in age, and i believe that Zito is a serious risk to have an ERA in the 4.50 range next year as well. don't get me wrong -- i love Zito, and between him and Schmidt, i think i'd rather have Zito. but still, they have significant question marks to me. Matsuzaka is only 26, he has an established track record as a dominating pitcher in Japan, and he will be a young, exciting player that i believe will be a force for many years. sure, he could potentially be a bust, but after watching him pitch in the WBC and following this whole "posting" process, i really believe he is the premier free agent this offseason. the Cubs were terrible offensively and on the mound last year, and Matsuzaka would look great as the number 2 pitcher behind our boy Zambrano. if Hendry has money to burn this offseason, i'd much rather see him burn it on Matsuzaka rather than Soriano or Lee, and i'm going to be disappointed if the Cubs don't make a very serious bid to acquire him. i honestly don't believe they'll get him, but i can hope, dammit, i can hope. EDIT: oh yeah, we really really really REALLY need to re-sign Ramirez. but that's obvious.

ARGH just tell us the cubs didn't get him so i can continue my miserable existence as a cub fan

gary matthews is 32, he had a BABIP of .349, and he plays in the most hitter-friendly park in the AL. in other words, sign the Cubs up.

Death monkey, do you hang out at HyperRust or the Rust list? nope, sorry.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

yup. todd walker is definitely in the same category as Choi and Grieve. walker's .800+ OPS the last two full seasons as a Cub haven't helped our cause any. his bat goes a cold and he makes a couple errors, suddenly he's the scapegoat for the season.

those crazy kids with their "OBP" and "hip hop" music

jesus

as long as bronson keeps his guitar at home, i'd totally hang with him