YearofDaCubs

Exactly. Let's face it, the guy doesn't want to be a Cub anymore. There's probably a lot of truth to him wanting out years ago.

We would be replacing Marquis with AJ Burnett? No idea why the Jays would do this but where do I sign?

Levine was just on espn1000 and said barring any last minute trades Prior will be non-tendered. He said he and his agent refused to do a 2 year deal. Nice knowing you Mark don't let the door hit you on the way out.

If we can end up with Bedard without giving up Hill, I would be ecstatic. Trade: Murton, Patterson and lower prospect for Teahen, Trade Pie, Veal, and Gallagher for Bedard. MOve Fukudome to CF and I think we would be World Series contenders: Soriano (only because they will bat him leadoff) Fukudome Lee ARam Teahen DeRosa Soto Theriot PITCHER Z, Bedard, Hill, Lilly, Marquis

Fwiw, those were 80 MPH changeups on the inner half. He lunges like most japanese hitters but he keeps his hands back well, clears his hips, and can turn on the ball. What are your thoughts on his offensive game going to the MLB?

I'm glad that wait is finally over. THe suspense was killing me.

The way I see it is only 2.5 mil more than 10 mil per. 2.5 mil is nothing for the Cubs.

Hendry got his man. Good move by him. I don't think he's done either.

I can totally live with that contract, not bad at all. We will have him until 34 which is great.

WGN reporting too

Are you being serious?

It is? my fault, 7:30am now SmarterChild: The time in Tokyo, Japan is Wednesday, December 12th, 2007 6:34:25 am. so they're 15 hours ahead of central time, not 16? Refresh this: http://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=A0oGklPl_F5HkBIBBUFXNyoA?p=current+time+japan&fr=yfp-t-501&ei=UTF-8 Or you can just add 3 hours to the current time (if you're in the Central) and make it a.m. Nice.

Then why are some players considered "AAAA"?

Hilarious. I think it's idiotic to think that people are supporting Theriot because he's short and white. What exactly did Cedeno do in 2006 to make you think he would be better than Theriot? What did Cedeno do last year to make you think he was better than Theriot? How bad was Cedeno on the basepaths? How bad was Cedeno with his throws? Cedeno was tearing it up in the minors the past couple of years and still, when he was brought up he didn't do enough to beat out the likes of Izturis and Theriot. You guys are using his age as a reason why he will improve. That's possibly true and I hope it is, but as of last year Theriot was the better shortstop offensively and defensively at the major league level. How can anyone deny that? I don't give a crap who the starting SS is for the Cubs as long as the best player is the one starting. We've seen a lot of Cedeno's hot streaks in the minors and in the Dominican but it still hasn't translated over to the majors.

Great minor league numbers. Too bad we haven't seen a hint of that yet in the majors.

The Cubs would definitely be sending him off with a big F U if they sent him to Baltimore. "So, you don't want to work out a deal with us? Fine, you're going to spend the year in Baltimore with a bunch of young guys with no chance of winning. Have fun with that." Not that big of a deal though, since he will be a FA the following year.

Interesting. I think it will be Bedard.

I can assure you that Towers would be willing to wait another year for Prior. If you believe the recent reports, Prior will be nontendered tomorrow and Towers will be able to pick him up without giving up any of his talent. If Prior refuses to add a year or option then he's going to have to go... ESPN's Jerry Crasnick believes that the Cubs will tender Prior a contract. Let's hope so. We already invested too much into him to just let him walk now, that they actually found something wrong with him. It's worth the risk. Sure, it's risky but even if he doesn't accept a 2 yr deal we can have him come back, if he shows that he can be as good as he was, his trade value would sky rocket.

If only DeRosa could play SS, it would make a lot of sense to trade for Roberts. That way if we do get Fukudome, we still have the ability to upgrade CF or RF.

I love this logic. How is Cedeno going to prove he can hit major league hitting when he is getting at most 1 start a week? You saw what that kind of stuff did to Murton last year, and I pray to God it doesn't happen to Pie in 2008. To repeat what everyone else has said, because apparently it's still necessary: At age 23, Cedeno was absolutely terrible, to the tune of a .610 OPS for the Major League level Chicago Cubs At age 23, Theriot was almost as bad for the freaking single A and double AA minor league teams. (671 and 621 OPS) Theriot's amazing performance at that age got him sent back to high A ball, making him, at the time, a 24 year old playing single A ball. There he posted what I guess is an acceptable 273/367/342 line, but nothing that screams future major league starter. What did Cedeno do at age 24? You mean besides put up a ridiculous 359/422/537 line at AAA? Well not much I guess... To a certain degree, I understand the logic. We know what we will get out of Theriot this year. He'll hustle, get his uniform dirty, maybe slide into first a couple times, etc....But he'll do all that putting up numbers that are replacement level at best. I know all of us here, Theriot lovers and Theriot haters, can agree that Eckstein is the most overrated player in recent memory. Theriot's numbers last year are worse than any of the last three years for Eckstein. Is there a chance, if Cedeno starts, he puts up the same crap numbers he did at age 23? Of course. But of all the shortstops in AAA with more than 50 games played, Cedeno was second in OPS. He's got nothing else to prove in the minor leagues (For what it's worth, he also threw up a 921 OPS in 2005 at AAA in 65 games). To let him sit on the bench while Hustle McGrit puts up a 700ish OPS next year is just a wasted opportunity. One reason why Theriot's numbers were so bad in the minors is because the Cubs tried to make him a switch hitter.

It's going to be interesting to watch the White Sox on this. They've had a lousy off season thus far coming off a lousy year with an owner, who loves sticking it to the Cubs. I think they're a legitimate threat. I think they're at the point this offseason where they might feel desperate to sign someone, just to try to offset the failed Hunter and Cabrera attempts. They don't normally do 5-year deals, although they offered one to Hunter, so it'll be interesting to see if the Hunter offer was an abberation or a shift in their policy. If the Cubs land Fukudome, do you think Pie becomes trade bait, or will Fukudome play right field? I think it makes too much sense for them to try and sign Rowand though with all the man-love the White Sox fans have with him.

So when will Theriot prove he can hit at the ML level? Theriot's numbers at this time are better than Cedeno's. I never said Theriot was the best SS in the majors but at this time he is better than Cedeno. Theriot was one of the worst SS in the NL. He's 5 years older than Cedeno. Cedeno would be very hard pressed to do worse than Theriot did last season. The numbers don't indicate that.

So when will Theriot prove he can hit at the ML level? Theriot's numbers at this time are better than Cedeno's. I never said Theriot was the best SS in the majors but at this time he is better than Cedeno.

Not only did Cedeno suck in 2006, but he sucked the small amount of time he played in 2007 too. I hope you guys are right, that it's not the same Cedeno, but I'm skeptical and until he proves he can hit in the major leagues he will be benched. That's a fact. I also wouldn't be surprised to see him traded by Hendry, but that's another story.

Repeat after me: Cedeno was 22 in 2006. Ryan Theriot was 27 in 2007. Do you see how that maybe might be a factor in Cedeno's numbers? I don't understand how people can be this blind to fact. I don't give a rat's what Cedeno's age is. Until he proves that he's a better player than Theriot, he will be sitting on the bench. I'm sure he has upside, but we haven't seen it yet at the major league level.