YearofDaCubs

There are 20 teams that are in desperate need of a RFer? :shock: Kinda makes me wish Hendry put a little more priority in filling that spot. Jason Lane was #10 in ops and Encanarcion #12. What say you? Unless you want to give up Z or Prior, the Cubs aren't getting a star for rf, and Giles just wasn't happening. Too bad the Cubs didn't have an opening in RF the year Vlad was a free agent. With a little forsight they could have worked some magic. Then again we did have an opening at SS and that didn't seem to get them Tejada. Who was going to take AGonz off the Cubs hands in 2003? The Cubs aren't the Yankees. They rarely sit $6 million players. AGonz was Ed Lynch's signing correct? Yes, the Cubs have some major holes to fill still, but so do the top 2 franchises in baseball, the Yankees and Red Sox. Those rotations aren't going to take them far in the playoffs. Patience. I dont have to be patient about anything. I call it the way I see it. Add a prospect or two, and give 2mil and AGone would have been out the door. If all these team can add prospects and get rid of some of their worst players a little creativity by Hendry and he could have done it. Even with the holes the RSox and Yankees had they still made the playoffs. You say they don't have enough rotation to go deep into the playoffs well at least they can get here. And considering how we've had injuries the past couple of years I don't think we have a rotation good enough to get us INTO the playoffs especially when you consider the offense we have. At least the RSox and Yanks have the offense to offset the rotation. We sure as heck don't. Moses Hendry needs to start working some miracles as far as I'm conerned.

Are you talking to me? Hendry obviously doesn't have a clue. He shipped out Sosa and replaced him with Burnitz and the next person might be worse than him now. Rumors are rumors. Actions speak louder than words and until I see somebody good in RF I'm sticking to my beliefs.

There are 20 teams that are in desperate need of a RFer? :shock: Kinda makes me wish Hendry put a little more priority in filling that spot. Jason Lane was #10 in ops and Encanarcion #12. What say you? Unless you want to give up Z or Prior, the Cubs aren't getting a star for rf, and Giles just wasn't happening. Too bad the Cubs didn't have an opening in RF the year Vlad was a free agent. With a little forsight they could have worked some magic. Then again we did have an opening at SS and that didn't seem to get them Tejada.

If what you are saying turns out to be true, then Hendry is probably waiting until Dec. 20 to see who gets non-tendered: maybe the Jay Gibbons/Craig Wilson platoon will be cheap. Good points by MPM and Hoops. A lot may be riding on Tejada. If not Tejada, then Floyd. Basically a lot depends on Anaheim & NY, as I think the Cubs are standing in line waiting for the more serious franchises to wheel and deal. At this point that's pure speculation.

Yeah ok. Having the best record in the AL and 1 away from leading the league and they weren't the best team. Many will agree that winning the WS makes you the best team.

I am stupider for having just read that. How many runners in scoring position did Houston leave on base in that series again? Now tell me that St. Louis's offense would have "Cubbed" away that many opportunities, and say it with a straight face. That's ridiculous. How many more runs would the White Sox score on the Cardinals pitching staff? If their offense was so powerful why couldn't they club their way through the Astros? You're making excuses to try and discount what the White Sox did. Whatever floats your boat.

No excuses this year. Mediocrity should not be tolerated and thats exactly what is being planned.

Totally agree. It's getting really hard to be optimistic about the Cubs chances for next year.

Funny you mention that because 2 months ago I pointed out that MacPhail did not seem too confident about having a 100mil payroll when he was interviewed by the Score. Can you imagine the audacity of this organization to raise tickets, build more seats in the stadium as well as more advertising and then cut payroll by 85 mil?

No to mention the fact they signed AJ Pierzinksi who a lot of the White Sox pitchers credit for doing an excellent job. Say what you want about his personality but the man is talented.

Why would you want to downgrade at the GM spot? KW is a terrible GM, who got EXTREMELY lucky with his moves last yr. My bet....Javy Vazquez will stink with the Sox. KW is by far a better GM than Jim Hendry. Sure there is some luck involved, but he works with half the payroll that Hendry does. KW is not "by far a better GM than Hendry", he is far luckier. Kenny Williams was consider a crappy GM by the White Sox fans, just now he has a World Series trophy to blind them from the fact that Kenny Williams is still a crappy GM. In the past 3 yrs Hendry has been far "better then Williams." Hendry and the Cubs have been unfortunate with the breaks. I GUARANTEE it, after then end of 2006, White Sox fans will be screaming to get rid of Williams, again. BAHAHHAHAHAA That is so ridiculous. Spoken like a true optimistic Cubs fan. The White Sox were lucky the cubs have been unfortunate with the breaks. That was a laugher.

I would love to see Cedeno play and start for us but putting him in the same category as Cabrera is just crazy.

What does any of that have to do with anything I wrote? Are there any good GMs in the world? Does any GM deserve any credit for anything he's done? If Kenny doesn't deserve credit for his team's success, than what GM is worthy of some sort of credit? Are there more than 5? No one has ever said he doesn't deserve credit. He made some moves and they worked out. So you're telling me that if Hendry signs Jaque Jones to play RF this year and then Jones goes out and puts up a .700 ops, but we somehow end up winning the WS, you'll give him credit for the Jones signing and then say he's done a great job so far as our GM? I give credit where it's due and if our GM gets us to the WS and wins it I will give him all the credit in the world for setting up a successful team.

What does any of that have to do with anything I wrote? Are there any good GMs in the world? Does any GM deserve any credit for anything he's done? If Kenny doesn't deserve credit for his team's success, than what GM is worthy of some sort of credit? Are there more than 5? No one has ever said he doesn't deserve credit. He made some moves and they worked out. So you're telling me that if Hendry signs Jaque Jones to play RF this year and then Jones goes out and puts up a .700 ops, but we somehow end up winning the WS, you'll give him credit for the Jones signing and then say he's done a great job so far as our GM? Actually, a lot of people are saying he doesn't deserve credit and in a way you are too if you don't think it takes a good GM to win the world series.

Omar Vizquel? No thank you.

I wouldn't call it typical pessimism. Encarnacion fits the Hendry model to a T. Typical pessimism would be saying if the Cubs traded for Tejada he'd come here and suck, or if the Cards got JJones, he'd magically be awesome. And I do believe there have been rumors that the Cubs looked into trading for him in the past. To add to what Goony is saying how many FA outfielders do you think are available? If you haven't noticed the market is dwindling and the amount of OFs right now is probably 2-4.

I HATE what this organization is doing to Wrigley Field. I absolutely hate it. At least give us a contender before you tear apart a "historical marker." I'm actually appalled they got permission to do this. I'm starting to really question why I am a Cubs fan after all these years and mediocrity and now the tearing up of Wrigley. Maybe I'm overreacting but this doesn't sit too well with me.

The way I see if Hendry doesn't pull a blockbuster trade our options for RF are super slim.If he thinks signing JJones or Encarnacion is the answer he has no clue how to get us back into the playoffs.

Wow, it still saw Jones better than Encarnacion although that isn't saying much. From the looks of things and how they are shaping up we might have a worse OF than last year and that was abysmal.

I will give him all the credit in the world because obviously he saw something in the players he drafted/signed/traded for to make them a contender. Not everything in baseball is all about luck. I'm sure some of it is but there is skill involved.

Unfortunately, I think the answer to this query has been borne out time and again. Agreed. With Hendry it's a broken record. It's always something with him. If we sign JJones would you guys be even comfortable going into the season? I sure as heck wont. We upgraded the bullpen, we acquired Pierre. Even if we overpaid for the BP at least it's an upgrade but our offense is going to be sorry again and I just dont see it as good enough to go to the playoffs. We need an impact bat in RF, or Hendry has to do something to acquire more OBP. What in the world is he thinking?

Sales and attendence will be up for certain. They possibly could. And I do agree with the rest of you. If the WS end up with Tejada I dont think you can discount how big they will be in Chicago.

The ultimate goal is to win the World Series. If a GM has a ring because his team that he put together won it then yes I think he did a very good job.

You know what I was going back and forth with other members in another thread regarding Ken Williams and his job as GM. All I have to say is when people call last year's team complete luck and discount KW as the one who put the coaching staff, some of the drafts, and pickups together two words. Sour Grapes. At least KW has no problem getting rid of some prospects to make his team a contender. Look at Hendry. He hold on to his prospects so damn long they lose value or get hurt. He hasn't done squat since the end of 2004. I have no faith in Hendry and if I was a White Sox fan I would be ecsatic I have a GM that improves the team year-in year-out.

I dont even remember Kotsay's numbers but I would take him over JJones and Encarnacion.