YearofDaCubs

Still sucks that we don't have any A prospects. I think the list looks pretty good.

What are you guys talking about? We just signed Chad Fox! :)

Byrd and Lieber? ugh

If they offered that for Roberts he will soon be an Indian.

Lieber is a bad option, I mean really, look at his numbers the past two years, not really good. He's also in his late 30's, regression is the norm at that age.

I was under the distinct impression that it was pretty much a foregone conclusion that Crede was going to be shipped off for some crappier crap, and that Owens would ride the pine (but Ozzie would still feel a need to get him 250 PA). C - Pierzynski 1B - Konerko 2B - Richar? Uribe? SS - OCab 3B - Fields LF - Quentin CF - Swisher RF - Dye DH - Thome Then again, that could just be my imagination... If you believe White Sox Interactive, Crede's going to be the centerpiece of a deal involving either Erik Bedard or Tim Lincecum (I'm serious). Wow, they are definitely delusional.

I agree with you. If we're going to give up Gallagher and Marshall I would like to see a good pitcher return to us like Burnett.

We have elite prospects?

More? What's next we're going to include Colvin? I'm a Colvin defender, but I'd be fine giving him up while his trade value is still relatively high. So you would trade Colvin, Sean G, Sean M, and Cedeno for Roberts? I don't think I would.

More? What's next we're going to include Colvin?

I'd be happy to see those numbers out of Pie considering it would be his first full season.

Not bad at all!

Dempster's career numbers as a starter: 988.2 IP 4.99 ERA 1.57 WHIP .808 Opponent's OPS 1.11 HR/9 4.71 BB/9 9.39 H/9 There is nothing in there that gives me any faith that he'll do anything good as a starter. I agree. I also believe that given some more time, Marshall and that ridiculous K/9 will see similar results. I don't like either option, but given the increase in WARP from DeRosa to Roberts, I don't mind giving away what I believe is nothing better than what we already are trotting out there. Marshall has something else going on IMO as well. His absence late in the season has me wondering. The problem isn't Marshall, per se. It's that when somebody gets hurt or Marquis/Dempster are ineffective....the Cubs go from being able to start Marshall, who has had ML success or Gallagher, who has faced ML hitters and has a decent upside....to having to throw a lesser talented or less ready pitcher on the mound. I guarantee that if we go into the season with Marquis and Demp as our 4th and 5th we are all going to go nuts. I'm expecting both of them to have an ERA upwards of 5. Both of them are terrible starters. I can live with a young guy giving us that for a but because essentially they will be going through growing pains. Marquis and Demp are veterans who can't use that excuse. It's not that I don't want Roberts as a Cub, the thing that bothers me is we already have a good 2B option and the starters we are giving up are actually going to give us a better chance of winning than our crappy 4th and 5th starters.

The teams that score the most runs each season are the teams who put up the best team OBP. The more your team is on base, the more the team scores, the more plate appearances guys get. If you go back to Derrek Lee's 2005, not only did Lee suffer on plate appearances because of the poorly constructed line up, he had limited at bats with runners on base. His 99 XBH's that season ranks among the top offensive seasons in baseball history. It is absolutely mind boggling that with that production while hitting number 3 in the lineup that he barely reached 100 RBIs. He led the league in: BA SLG OPS Hits Total Bases Doubles Runs Created XBH In the top 5 in: OBP (4th) Runs (2nd) HR (2nd) But finished distant 7th in RBI That's what happens when you put Neifi Perez batting 1st or 2nd. And Jose Macias And 2005 Corey Patterson. I miss Dusty, I really do.

The teams that score the most runs each season are the teams who put up the best team OBP. The more your team is on base, the more the team scores, the more plate appearances guys get. If you go back to Derrek Lee's 2005, not only did Lee suffer on plate appearances because of the poorly constructed line up, he had limited at bats with runners on base. His 99 XBH's that season ranks among the top offensive seasons in baseball history. It is absolutely mind boggling that with that production while hitting number 3 in the lineup that he barely reached 100 RBIs. He led the league in: BA SLG OPS Hits Total Bases Doubles Runs Created XBH In the top 5 in: OBP (4th) Runs (2nd) HR (2nd) But finished distant 7th in RBI That's what happens when you put Neifi Perez batting 1st or 2nd.

If we really do trade for Roberts I'd rather see Roberts leadoff then at the very least move Soriano to 2nd. That makes a lot more sense than having Soriano leadoff and Roberts 2nd, even though we all know Soriano would be better as our 5th hitter.

I'd take a chance on Crosby if the price was right.

I was actually surprised they were able to get Swisher without giving away Josh Fields who i thought was going to be traded when I heard the trade go down. Good for the Sox they were able to hang on to him. The WSox offense will be nice but their rotation and bullpen are huge ? marks.

Is Vlad strictly a DH player these days? Alou? No way that's right.

To answer your question with a question: If Theriot is the backup SS, who is the starter? I assumed they were going to try out Roberts and/or DeRosa there. Oh well, I'm not going to cry over this deal. I don't like the back end of the rotation though. Hopefully they can make a deal for another starter. That's the only way this trade is acceptable. I'm going to puke if both Marquis and Demp are going to be in the rotation. especially with no depth.

Assuming you're talking about a healthy Burnett I'd agree; when healthy he's a very effective pitcher. Unfortunately he's had pronounced tendency over the past several years to miss significant chunks of time. Couple that with the fact that we'd have little acceptable depth to our rotation in your scenario and it's a gamble I'm not comfortable making. (Keep in mind that if Dempster isn't put in the rotation from the outset he's unlikely to be used as a spot starter/backup for the rotation immediately following an injury; it would take time for his arm to get stretched out and adjusted to the higher pitch counts.) Another issue with this series of moves is cost. In addition to the prospect cost, Roberts + Burnett would add $18 to $20 million to the Cubs payroll in '08 and '09. Even if you assume Derosa is part of any Burnett deal we're still adding nearly $14 million in salary commitments. It would be great if the payroll was bumped to the $130-$135 million range, but I'm not convinced it will happen. For the record, I like Roberts. He's a fine 2B and I'd be happy to have him on the Cubs. I just think the proposed pieces we're giving up are needed more than the extra value Roberts provides over Derosa given the holes as SS and #4/#5 starter. That, and I'm of the opinion that Gallagher is one of (if not the) most valuable players in our system. There's just something about a pitcher who performs very, very well at every stage of the minors while being young for his league that excites me. He may never be a marquee pitcher, but I'm willing to bet he'll provide someone several years of quality, cheap production. When I see people calling Burnett an injury risk how is he any different than Bedard? Both are injury risks but I'd rather take my chances with those two than having Marquis or Dempster as our starters. Would you rather us take a risk on Lieber or Colon? I wouldn't. I'd be happy with Burnett or Bedard and it seems that Burnett will come much cheaper.

If we can get Roberts and another pitcher like Burnett I would be ecstatic going into the season.

You guys are right. What happens if Hendry completes the trade and doesn't trade for another starter? We're going to be stuck with Marquis and Demp in the rotation. I don't think I can handle seeing them pitch the entire season.

Ugh. Just say no to Burnett. If we're going to get an arm, let's go after Blanton. No way. I'd take Burnett over Blanton and it's not even close.

Looks like he signed a 1 year deal. So much for that.