fathom

QUOTE(KevHead0881 @ Nov 28, 2006 -> 05:22 AM) Yah. Its not a great market for GMs who don't want to hand out s***ty contracts. I don't blame him one bit. And as much as I love Joe Crede, if the market stays the same, I certainly wouldn't give him the contract that he would most likely be looking for. He may be with us through 2007, but I certainly don't see him being our 3B in 2008. The market does absolutely suck, but it doesn't mean other AL teams aren't improving themselves. We have a very short window to legitimately compete for the world championship, and so many of the moves that are being proposed make us significantly worse for this upcoming season.

QUOTE(SEALgep @ Nov 28, 2006 -> 05:18 AM) Ozuna can platoon, when facing lefties, adequately. And that kills our defense.

KW doesn't seem thrilled with how things are shaping up right now.

A big concern for me with Figgins is that he's terrible against LHP. In our division, that's a pretty big issue with any offensive player that we bring in.

If this deal is straight up 2 players for 2 players, then KW got his ass kicked in this deal. You have to be kidding if the best we can get for Garcia and Crede is this combination of players.

I guess people forget that Pods can't hit, steal, throw, or catch. Besides that, he's a pretty toolsy player. I hate the injury excuse for Pods also. If anything, he seems like a player struggling to get his body back to the level it used to be.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Nov 24, 2006 -> 06:11 PM) Because he drinks and drives and talks to imaginary figures? Drinking and driving is the least of his substance abuse issues.

QUOTE(WHITESOXRANDY @ Nov 24, 2006 -> 06:01 PM) I like Ryan Freel a lot - as a player. I would like to see us trade one of our starting pitchers to Cincy for Freel and Homer Bailey. Would Cincy do it ? Ha....Homer Bailey might be one of the ten most "untouchable" players in all of baseball. And I'll state this again: Freel is a pathetic human being.

QUOTE(SEALgep @ Nov 24, 2006 -> 04:13 PM) First off, Pods has been an every other year producer. He's on track to have a decent season this year. Secondly, KW will not necessarily have failed if doesn't find a new leadoff hitter. There are very little options out there, and signing Matthews, Pierre, Soriano under the deals they received would have been dumb for us. There still may be some possibilities, but I'm hesistant to have KW force something that isn't ideal for our future as well. Come on, we're not talking about Saberhagen here. Pods has a very limited track record, and he showed absolutely nothing last season to make us think he'll be a force in the league again. As somone said earlier, KW is nuts if he thinks he can go to war with the same team from last season. Look around....the AL gets stronger every single day it seems like.

QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Nov 24, 2006 -> 05:17 AM) I'm just not thrilled with the thought of Dave Roberts patrolling LF beyond next season. For a 1yr solution, without quesiton; but not beyond 2007. I'd rather select Podsednik over Roberts if it means one extra season of conditioning a possible replacement (Fields/Sweeney), or perhaps understanding whether or not he's capable of recovering from injury. If Podsednik has a good season next year, they can sign him to a long term deal. If not, we'll let him go and persue other options. We have such a short window though with this current team, and like others have said, KW will have failed us if he didn't upgrade at the leadoff/LF spot. The Southtown reports that we're more likely now to bring Pods back. I can't believe that's even a consideration after his pathetic effort last season.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Nov 24, 2006 -> 04:37 AM) Yeah, I think so. What d'you think? Compared to some of the other contracts we're seeing, it's really not that awful. We have such a glaring hole in LF/leadoff, I don't think it's too much of a risk.

The question I have is this: is 3 years, 15 million for Roberts really that bad of a deal?

SCOTT PODSEDNIK CANNOT PLAY CF! I'd rather have Garland out there.

Dave Martinez was the main guy rumored, but I think there's some rumors that Raffy Palmeiro was banging Mrs. Sandberg, and that's why he got traded.

Bruce also thinks that the Cubs will sign Jason Schmidt.

This offseason is a failure if we don't upgrade at the LF/leadoff position. Scott Podsednik is just not a good baseball player.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Nov 19, 2006 -> 10:09 PM) What is the story on Penn? How does he project? He looked TERRIBLE when I saw him pitch for the Orioles this year. QUOTE(R.Sweeney @ Nov 19, 2006 -> 10:31 PM) This is a bit off subject but I wonder if Casman would change his mind about Hughes and Clippard if KW dangled Garland. They could get someone much better than Garland if they give up Hughes.

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Nov 19, 2006 -> 08:49 PM) Do you really believe that? Because if they do that, From what I've heard, that's been their plan the entire time.

QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Nov 19, 2006 -> 08:46 PM) That's COLD. I suppose one benefit is Soriano presents an identifiable image to build your franchise around (in addition to Lee), but aside from that, he's certaintly not worth $17 million a year. Although you have to admit, if he produces even on par with career averages its quite an upgrade over past 2B scrubs the Cubs have featured. He's going to be their center fielder.

QUOTE(Cerbaho-WG @ Nov 19, 2006 -> 08:31 PM) So Zambrano is starting 162 games then? Unless Prior manages to magically cure himself and they find thr...I can't even go on, that's too stupid a thought. No way is Hendry done in the FA market though or in the trade market trying to improve his starting rotation.

Terrible signing, but the Cubs are in great position in their division now. I can't wait for Cubs fans to start planning their World Series parade.

QUOTE(maggliopipe @ Nov 18, 2006 -> 09:11 PM) So what's the deal with Danks? I see he was their first round pick in '03 out of high school (9th overall). I also see he's a lefty and has a great K rate, but otherwise has only decent numbers throughout the minors. He's been borderline young at some of his stops so I guess they've pushed him hard, but can someone tell me what makes him a drool-worthy prospect? I've got nothing against him, but the numbers aren't bearing out all the praise heaped on him. http://thebaseballcube.com/players/D/John-Danks.shtml His home run totals aren't great.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Nov 18, 2006 -> 08:24 PM) I think Garland and Vazquez are overrated on our staff. I think Contreras, Buehrle and Garcia are rated right where they should be or are a little underrated. That's funny, cause I think it's the exact opposite.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Nov 18, 2006 -> 08:04 PM) You seem to be looking for a excuse to jump of a ledge. Nothing has happened yet, relax. That couldn't be further from the truth. Actually, I'm usually very calm during the offseason compared to when the games are going on. I just can't say I'm a fan of the proposed moves I've read about. And this report doesn't seem to be just a rumor...it seems like something is imminent. If it's Garland and Anderson for Otsuka, Danks, and another reliever, I won't be upset though.

This offseason really is shaping up to be a disaster. I can't wait to see Ozzie keep his guys, and have our best pitcher for the next 3 years shipped off for some prospects that we'll never develop anyways.