YearofDaCubs

The trouble with that is that we don't have a whole ton of players that would be useful in aquiring an impact player. Next, Huff sucked this year, and I don't think he'd outproduce Murton next year. Third, you can move Giles in the 3rd or 4th year if he's declined by then. It's worth signing him at 4/$42 because for the first 2 years of that deal he's a virtual lock to put up numbers that make our corner OF's this past year look like crap, and make us a pennant contender. If you did a Google search on "Huff lazy" you'll get a million hits. Huff is awful. I agree - let's stay away from him. I liked Huff and wanted to get him this year for us, but although last year he started to break out after slumping badly his numbers this year have not been good and they are even worse the last month of the season. Not looking good. His line for this year: .261 22HR 92RBI .321OBP 88K. Decent but not great. OBP fell .40 points which is disturbing. Def not worth a top prospect to trade for but I woudl still take him if the price was right.

I thought the Pettite signing was dumb because I personally felt that Pettitte wouldn't be that good when removed from the Yankees stadium, especially considering his 4 era. Boy, was I wrong. I also felt that signing Maddux was a desparation move by Hendry to provide more strength to the SP after CLemens signed with Astros. I liked signing Maddux but I didnt like the 3rd option year.

If the above becomes reality then, without question, Hendry is worst GM in Baseball possessing one of the poorest Baseball Minds ever seen. Only a blind fool would ignore the Cubs need for higher OBP is such a blatant fashion. With this organization you can expect everything. Hendry didnt exactly help out the OBP category this season when even last year it wasn;t good.

Hendry has his work cut out for him. Let's see how he responds.

That pretty much sums it up. He also had Burnitz in the 4 spot and Aramis in the 5 for a looong time while we knew it should have been the opposite. I'm telling you Baker is out of control and terribly sucks at his job.

Yes, rioting definitely if that happens. I'm telling you if I was a Cubs player I would start a mutiny. I will have to take years off being a Cubs fan if we are in the same position next year as we were in this one.

We knew going into the season that Baker was a liability and after Hendry pulled the worst moves possible to assemble the team a good amount of us knew we were not playoffs contenders. I def dont want Baker her anymore and I coudl care less if Hendry was fired tomorrow. That's how bad this team is. Never in my life have I seen a manager worse than Baker. I dont care if I get criticized for my comments but Baker has been the worst manager I have ever seen. He's terrible and now we ALL know why the Giants were so quick to relieve a manager who made it to the WS. Another Hendry blunder.

Well, Lofton is gonna be 39 next year. Giles is only gonna be 35. If Lofton is gonna break down now and you're comparing the two....shouldn't that mean Giles has 4 more years before he hits the wall? Then when you consider Lofton's game is speed, Giles is OBP and power. Speed usually goes first. Not everybody breaks down at the same age. Some break down at 36, some at 40 some more or less. Either way it's not a good idea to sign players in their mid-late 30s to long contracts.

Yeah that. Street is a lock.

Dusty is terrible but Hendry is as much to blame.

Why would Lofton have to be a full time player with the Cubs when they have Hairston on the bench and possibly Patterson as well? Lofton could face all the righties like he did this season in Philly. Have you looked at his numbers from this year? I'll take that leading off. Being one year older doesn't mean that much when you put up numbers like that the year before. And not signing Giles because we weren't willing to go as high as 12 million would be a mistake. It would likely cost the Cubs a golden opportunity at winning a World Series. Remember the World Series? I understand the desire to trade for an OFer, but who do the Cubs have to deal that is going to bring in someone as good as Brian Giles? The Cubs have the money. They better spend it and spend it wisely. And that means get the best player available. Of all the RFers in the majors, Giles posted the 2nd highest OPS this year behind only Vlad Guerrero. You could make the argument that Giles was the best RFer in the National League this season. Who else are you going to trade for that will cost less money but produce better than Brian Giles will? There is a point in time when a player starts to breakdown and I personally think that Lofton is close to that point and Giles will follow. I think Giles would be a good addition for us but what scares me is the amount of years he would get from us. I would hate to be in a position similar to what we had with Sosa where the player has regressed so bad and the contract is so big that you can't get rid of him. I personally do not want to see Corey with this team anymore. I've had it with him. At first, I figured the season is early and he would catch on but that wasn't the case. Sure, he can play defense, but other than that the only thing he bring to the table is a pinch runner. We do have the money to spend, so I'm def not opposed to Giles( I think he's good) but I am worried about age and contract years moreso than the amount of the money. But now that I do think about it having Lofton and Hairston as a stopgap for Pie wouldn't be bad.

Yeah, if Hendry doesn't build this team to look like a playoff team in MY eyes than I'm done with the Cubs for a while. There just isn't an excuse anymore.

Lofton? No thank you he is old and probably doesnt have enough to be a full time player anymore. Giles for 12 mi? Ouch, I rather trade.

And Perez.

Corey is done for. He needs to go. He did more harm than good for us this season.

Hendry's offseason moves? Future headline in winter: Cubs ink Macias for 2 more years Baker lauds leadership and versatility That's the more liekly scenario as far as I'm concerned.

If it was up to me Perez, Macias, Baker, and Corey would be guaranteed to be gone. EDIT: Oh yeah and Maddux.

If i was a player on this team I would start a mutiny.

Let him hit with a runner in scoring position, leave him in the game to surrender the lead, and then take him out. Dusty 101. Just terrible.

This is despicable. Our season in a nutshell.

Yayy!!!

Which I suppose, begs the question: Is Williamson's option a foregone conclusion to be picked up for 2006? I think it will be picked up but I do think we need to add another good arm in the bullpen.

Would it? He's had 2 Tommy John ops, and hasn't been very effective this season. Maybe he came back too early, but I don't think it would be a dumb move to decline it, depending on how you put together the pen. $2m might not seem like a huge number, but if it means a better, more competitive offer to Giles, then I'd decline it. Yeah right, so we are going to overpay for Giles? With a 105mil payroll 2mil shouldn't matter if used wisely, especially considering when healthy Williamson is a damn good RP. When healthy is the key phrase there. He hasn't been healthy in a couple years. $2m on it's own is only about 2% of the Cubs budget, give or take. But last year you saw Perez, Macias and Blanco get overpaid a bit. So it's more of a question of making sure you don't get nickle and dimed out of making a better offer to a more important player. Look at it this way: if Hendry keeps his m.o. from the past 2 years he'll bring back one of Perez/Macias, or some other bench stiff which will waste about $1-2m, and he'll overpay someone else for the bench and someone else for the pen by a million each. That's just one of the things he does-he overpays for his reserves, which is maddening to me on a couple levels. So, now if you pick up Williamson's option, you have now $5-6m tied up where maybe you didn't have to. That *could* make the difference between the Cubs offering $9m or $12m for Giles. I'd rather take the chance that we can find another relivever to fit in the middle of the pen than risk not being able to bid against the other big market teams for the best player on the market this winter, and arguably the 1 player who could do more for this team than any other player. What I'm saying is that you have to allocate your resources wisely, and Williamson's 2% of the budget might be an area you could live without, especially given his health issues in the past and ineffectiveness this season 2mil for Williamson is a pretty wise move. It's when Hendry splurges and overpays bench people that we run into problems. 1year contract is pretty damn good risk for Williamson considering any other setup man will be loking for more years and that hasnt worked out too great for Hendry. Hednry has enough money to pay Giles and then do other things as well.

I always felt that the Os would nto let Ryan walk, but if they do we should def sign him.

Would it? He's had 2 Tommy John ops, and hasn't been very effective this season. Maybe he came back too early, but I don't think it would be a dumb move to decline it, depending on how you put together the pen. $2m might not seem like a huge number, but if it means a better, more competitive offer to Giles, then I'd decline it. Yeah right, so we are going to overpay for Giles? With a 105mil payroll 2mil shouldn't matter if used wisely, especially considering when healthy Williamson is a damn good RP.