YearofDaCubs

There's a reason no team in baseball thinks Nomar can play SS next year. I don't understand why people can't get that. Put him at 2B then and place Cedeno at SS. When we are talking about losing Mark Prior for a SS you have to wonder and think what other options were available.

You know really maybe we should have signed Nomar to play SS moved Cedeno to 2B and we would be better off than we are now. We wouldn't need to trade for Tejada and lose Prior. I still cannot believe this might go down.

Those would have been good moves for them.

I don't know if I can read about this anymore. I'm so disgusted in the Cubs I don't know what to do anymore.

Both are mediocre players for their teams but if I had to choose one it would be JJones over Encarnacion.

We need to fire him before he makes the trade. Seriously, we're a .500 team with Hendry on board.

This is the way I see it. Tejada would be a huge upgrade for this offense and him witha healthy rotation would get us into the playoffs and possibly even further. Now when you start throwing in pieces to from our rotation to make this deal is when it becomes sour. You do not and i repeat do not trade guys like Prior. Say if this trade goes down and if it happens I don't know what I will do. We get Tejada to start at SS and Cedeno at 2B. Bedard goes into the rotation for us. Bedard is interesting because he is a lefty who can throw 95mph and can be a good one. He was actually dominating the AL before he had a knee injury. When he came back he was getting hit hard. I know this because I picked him up on my fantasy league and watched a few of his games. The problem with Bedard is that he is injury prone, much worse than Prior and more around the levels of Kerry Wood. He already had TJ surgery and they are still waiting for his breakout year which hasn't happened yet because he's always hurt. Give Pie or any other prospect we have in the minors but do not give Prior up for Bedard and Tejada. Hendry's lack of forsight and inability to be creative might cost us Prior at the end. A lot of people here were criticizing users for being a "fantasy GMs" and as it stands right now I think most of us would not be in this ridiculous situation Hendry is in. Hendry and Baker are the epitome of clowns as far as I'm concerned. I can't believe this trade has legs.

WOW, if this trade goes down Hendry is a bigger fool than I thought. I thought our MO was to have good starting pitching? We trade Prior and we will be relying on Wood and Maddux as our #2 and #3. What a farce.

It doesn't look like he'll be starting anywhere. The Cubs need to pounce now. Eric Byrnes - OF - Orioles Pirates officials have spoken the past two days with agent Mike Sasson about Eric Byrnes. If he's a better choice than Juan Encarnacion, it's only because he'd cost less than Encarnacion. Not only should Byrnes not start over Craig Wilson, but he'd be a weaker choice than Jody Gerut against right-handers. If Byrnes is signed, Wilson would likely be traded. The Red Sox could view him as a platoon partner for Trot Nixon and the Indians could consider pairing him with Ben Broussard. Dec. 23 - 1:21 am et Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Gerut is somebody the Cubs ought to trade for....oh yeah they already did. I wanted us to hold on to Gerut. So much for that.

In '05 overall, Prior went 11-7 with a 3.67 ERA in all of his *27* games started (the most GS was 35; Big Z started 33) with opposing batters hitting .227 and giving up 3.19 BB/9. There were only 3 pitchers who started more than 25 games in '05 with >9 Ks/9 -- Santana, Peavy and Prior. Prior does rank lousy #3 in that top 3 of '05 in K/BB, OppAvg and HR/9. He's also the only one of the top 3 who had his pitching elbow fractured during the season. Prior has only had one other season when opposing batters hit worse than .227. That was 2002, his rookie season. He has a career K/9 of 10.6. Among active starting pitchers, that puts him behind Randy Johnson. I've read that he has the second best K/9 ratio through the age of 24 of anyone in baseball history, but I don't know where to confirm (or disprove) that. He doesn't have 1000 IPs yet. I'd hate to see him get that somewhere else. 02 11.34 03 10.43 04 10.54 05 10.15 (and remember, he sucked in '04 and '05) It's not all about the Ks, though they come in handy. He has a career WHIP of 1.21, and that's with two "bad" years, one good year and his rookie year. 02 1.17 03 1.10 04 1.35 05 1.21 I'd love to see more offense and I'd love to see a stud position player at Wrigley. I just wish that Hendry would have obtained one at a position that the Cubs had virtually no one to fill (ie, RIGHT FIELD). Trading Prior would be a disaster. Good stuff. Trading Prior is a no-no.

Moving Prior will definitely reshape the team but I don't know for the better though. Our pitching staff would take a HUGE hit witj Prior missing. How do you expect to win games with Mediocre pitching? Wood is an injury risk Maddux is yet again one year older..it gets bad. This would be a terrible trade for the Cubs.

Bedard is good. He was tearing it up last year until he hurt his knee and wasn't the same. He also has had TJ surgery and overall is more of a health risk than Prior. He's a lefty who can touch 95mph.

At this point, I would be ecstatic if Hendry does nothing, as long as we keep Prior. I'm starting to feel the same way. Hendry is starting to scare me.

That's a bit of an overstatement; might have been sarcasm. Whose decision was it to put two bums at the top of the depth chart at second base? Would you want to play for a stooge manager with ideas like that, who treats Neifi — the very definition of mediocrity — like some kind of elite player? It's clear to me that Baker has his favorites, and dudes like Prior just aren't in the club. You know what's funny? I can totally see Baker tell Prior "You are not in the club, dude." :)

I believe a lot of it is related to everyone's favorite toothpick sucker and the seemingly unquestioning love the brass has for him. Pitchers know they can't talk about wanting to come out of games. And they'll get blasted if they question the manager's overuse of them. But they have to trust the pitching coach and manager will look out for them. Dusty never looks out for his pitchers. And while one of his jobs is to deflect blame away from players, he'll never do that either. It would not surprise me at all if a pitcher hated Dusty. I agree. Prior didn't even pitch the whole year but check this out... http://www.baseballprospectus.com/statistics/sortable/index.php?cid=25 Prior would make atleast 30 starts a year w\o dusty All the more reason to not like the man they call Dusty Baker.

All though I don't hold much weight to this rumor. I do like your idea. To keep Prior and get Tejada? The ink couldn't dry quick enough for me to make that deal. Exactly. Now we are talking. But Prior for Tejada at least in my eyes is not a very good move.

Look at Jarrod Washburn and AJ Burnett. 12million seems fair, and it doesn't even seem like ace money anymore. Who are we trading for that's over 30? Tejada is 28, and will 29 during the season. Zito is 27, and will turn 28 during the season. And I don't see how Tejada's contract isn't favorable. It's not cheap, but it's in line with his production. I think we can afford it considering the lack of money being devoted to the outfield. As for Zito, you have to remember he's pitching in the AL. His 3.86 ERA would have looked a lot better in the NL, and his peripherals, at first glance, seem like they were in line with the rest of his career except for 2004. If I recall, 2004 was the first year he was without Rick Peterson and it really had an effect on him. Tejada will be 30 in May. I dont care what 3.86 era equates to in the NL. 4era and 3.86 era is not #2 numbers nor is it worth 12million when Prioir won't even cost you that.

Exactly why this is disturbing. I know there were several people that wanted us to grab Tejada during the FA period and Hendry made improvements elsewhere. Well, here we are about to give up one of our best pitchers for the same guy we could have had. IMO that's where Hendry lacks the true vison to be a successful GM. He should have seen what many of us saw coming and there is no reason to have painted himself inot a corner like this. But......he did and I'm hoping he has learned from that but I doubt it and he will continue to rob Peter to pay Paul. You are right. Hendry lacks forsight.

Not any more! Wow that's true. Toronto has a #2 making 11 for 5 years. Yeah, but just because they did it doesn't mean the Cubs should. Zito isn't worth that much. Like I said, Zito could easily have an ERA in the high 3's low-to-mid 4's for the next 4 years. I don't want to be locked into that for that long for that much. I'd rather keep Bedard, who has the upside to be at least that good. You are right and I agree with you but I wouldn't even trade Prior for Tejada and Bedard to begin with.

Exactly why this is disturbing. I know there were several people that wanted us to grab Tejada during the FA period and Hendry made improvements elsewhere. Well, here we are about to give up one of our best pitchers for the same guy we could have had.

Just because Nomar broke down doesn't mean every 30 year old shortstop will break down. Tejada has never shown he is going to be breaking down soon. How has Derek Jeter done the past few years? As for Zito, he has a career 3.50 ERA in the AL. I'd call that #2-esque. Just because he had one mediocre year doesn't mean he's horrible. I'd have no problem giving Zito 12 million a year. He's one the few that will actually deserve that type of money in the coming years. I expect more from my #2 then a 3.86 and 4.48 so it's not just ONE mediocre year. I would have a huge problem giving Zito 12 million when we can have Prior for half of that. I believe Prior is the better pitcher. You can replace Tejadas numbers at a different position you cannot replace Prior's numbers as a starter. You do not trade pitchers like Prior for guys over 30. You are right Jeter has done very well at his age but that doesn't mean the same will follow with Tejada. If you are going to trade a 25 year old pitcher like Prior it would be best to get one that is younger than 30. Tejadas contract also isn't as favorable either.

We better be getting Manny AND Tejada then... Manny AND Tejada? World Series here come the Cubbies =P~ With what starting pitching to hold down the other teams? If you don't have pitching you are not going nowhere. I'll give you Z but Wood will probably be injured and Maddux if history is any indicator will have worse numbers than 2005.

In the end, we're getting the best shortstop in baseball and a 28 year-old former Cy Young winner who is a legitimate #2 starter (and more durable). Yes, we're giving up Prior, but we're also acquiring these two players without giving up Murton, Cedeno and perhaps Pie if he's taken out of the A's deal. I'm not saying we should trade Prior (I don't want to), but if we're going to, I thought this was a deal that might allow us to somewhat replace Prior while still acquiring Tejada. Beane doesn't have to trade Zito, so you'd probably have to give up more than necessary. t Tejada a 30 year old that can break down any year now. Didn't we learn a lesson with Nomar on how fast some of these SS's can break down? Zito? What has Zito down the past 2 years? He will also be a FA and most definitely be getting 12 mil. If you think Tejada and Zito is the answer you are mistaken. 3.86 and 4.48 ERA for Zito the past two years. I don't call those numbers #2esque.

This is just ridiculous. What is Hendry thinking? I think he has lost it. So now we are going to rely on Z, Wood and Maddux to pitch for us? This has to be a joke. I can't even fathom a trade going down of Prior for either Manny or Tejada.

I like Bedard and all but he has more of an injury history than Prior does.