YearofDaCubs

I personally think Hendry did not look at Giles as an option. To me, Giles' age was a concern to Hendry and really it is. I would have liked to have Giles but no more than a 3 year deal. That being said as it stands right now Hendry has done nothing to improve the offense. He wanted one guy really bad and he missed out. Who else is he going to miss on? When you try and trade with other teams and you are the one who has needs the other teams are going to try and get everything valuable you have. Nothing comes free and if you are the ones trying to initiate the convo guess what the price on what you are looking for just went up. Hendry needs to pull a miracle or sell the entire farm system if he want to make the moves necessary to get us to the playoffs.

I really don't see Hendry going for any of theAGons available but if he does well....you know what most of us will think.

I am so annoyed by this part of the story. Their infatuation with a stereotypical leadoff man is going to bite them in the butt. You can't build a team like this. You have to find players for each position in the field, then let them hit wherever is best. Find a team with quality from 1-8 and you'll be much better than a team that goes hard after leadoff and settles for mediocrity from 2, 5 and 6. Try to assemble the best catcher, first base, second base, third base, shortstop, leftfield, center field and rightfield you can find, then put them in the best order. Don't limit yourself to a spot you've already admitted is close to barren in terms of availability. Hendry and Baker have spoken at length about the complete lack of the "true leadoff hitter" in today's game. That lack of supply drives up price when met with high demand. The Cubs irrationally high demand is making it harder for them to find a guy. Go out and get the best hitters you can find at CF and RF, and don't worry about the order, you'll score more runs and win more games. It's been painful to hear Hendry or Baker talk lately. Their narrow minded views will keep this team from getting better year after year. it's hard to believe that they could still be so narrow minded with so much proof to back up the newer beliefs....its like they are just blind to it And that's why this offseason is very important. As far as I'm concerned if we don't make the playoffs in 2006 both Hendry and Baker should be kicked to the curb. What have they done lately? Jack!

I would gladly give up Pie for a good player like Dunn but in my eyes Pierre isn't worth Pie. I would rather have Bradley out in CF and probably MIGHT come cheaper than Pie as well. Hendry got himself in this mess. When 2004 was ringing with FA options he declined, well now Hendry it's time for you to get us out of this pathetic mess you have created.

Hendry will need to pull off some major trades if he wants us to compete in 2006. People can fault the pitching all they want but in my eyes the offense was the bigger problem. Very inconsistent, and zero fundamentals. One day we would put up 8 runs and another be shut out. On paper the final stats of the offense looked ok but watching the games to me at least the offense was the biggest problem. Dusty sure didn't help by leaving Neifi and other terrible options in the 1-2 hole either. Why is Dusty still here? The man failed us the past two years. Any other organization and he would've been out of here long time ago.

Lugo and Huff and trade for Bradley. I would be happy.

You forgot Hendry starts every sentence with "obviously". If it is so frickin obvious then do it. Do it. Ha. Hendry needs to pull a rabbit out of the hat to get us into the playoffs. We will all know the answer to Hendry being a good GM soon enough. I wouldn't be surprised if we go into spring training with Hendry saying how nobody wanted to trade with us, or the FAs were overpriced to improve the team enough. The ball is on your court Hendry make it happen!

I totally agree with you guys. When we lose our first game which might be next week we need to make the change to Grossman. Orton has regressed. Bollinger, Fitzpatrick, Simms all have played less games than Orton has and they have been doing better. I also think it will be interesting to see what San Diego does during the Off-season. They have a talented QB in Philip Rivers who got a huge contract from San Diego. Of course Brees stepped up and is one of the top QBs in the game but River's contract makes him untradeable. More than likely they can keep both but if a time comes where they might be in cap trouble they look to trade Brees we should jump on it.

Yes, I would. He had 14 homers last year and a BA in the low 2's He's old, stubborn, and off the juice. I think that sums it up perfectly.

I really don't know who the Cubs will end up with but I am hoping Hendry pulls a miracle and gets us a lineup good enough to get us into the playoffs.

On ESPN 1000 they brought up the fact that Lugo defensively is pretty bad. If this is indeed true do we want to have another liability out there?

It's a fair one, if they end up getting somebody of the caliber of Lugo, and then push Neifi to strictly a bench role. Whatever direction they go, if they end up with Neifi starting 100 games this year, they screwed up. I fume every time I think of Neifi being a starter on this team. I personally think having Neifi as a starter in 2006 is a very bad thing. What's the point? We have Cedeno and as of now Walker. Walker is making the same amount of money as Neifi!! We should have never signed Neifi if you ask me.

No, but my friend saw Chuck Norris at O'Hare this morning.

so i was just wondering, do u like to torture all of us He's going to be gone soon. Nothing on the A's forums and you would think they would hear it before the Cubs do.

Both coming from the same source. Hmmm.. I don't believe it.

710 is ESPN so if it's true it should hit the ESPN site shortly.

I will never forget the game in 2003 against the Marlins during the regular season when Wood I think was in the 8th or 9th inning trying to finish off the game and he was so worn out huffing and puffing clearly out of juice and got the K. I had a lot more respect for Wood after that game.

I would be surprised if he did that good. He clearly is a shell of his former self.

I'm curious to know what exactly the Cubs are looking at.

I am very high on Burnett so if this is indeed true this is going to be a problem for the Cubs.

I'm sure somebody will take a chance on Sosa. I wonder how much he will get though? I put the over/under at 3 mil.

See, that's the problem with having Cedeno at SS. He will won't be starting!! Sorry, but we deserve better than Neifi Perez.

Man, what a defense. IMO Orton has regressed which isn't a very good sign. I know it will be difficult for the coaching staff to pull Orton right now but really do youhave any confidence in the playoffs having Orton in there? It's not just Orton though. Our WR corps is weak. Our TEs are a non-factor. I would like for us to draft a TE in the first round next year.

Where does Hendry throw away all that money if he gets Wilkerson and Bradley? You know he has to spend it or people will riot. Wilkerson and Bradley would be nice. I think we really need to try and acquire Bradley from the Dodgers.

Strange that, I thought their rotation was Pedro, Benson, Zambrano, Glavine and Trachsel. They also have J Seo who is pretty good.