SSH2005

Really? Mark Prior alone is worth more than Tejada. He's an ace-quality pitcher and he's under control for the next 3 years. He's also much cheaper than Tejada. His injuries have all been fluky (collision with Marcus Giles and getting hit by a line drive). You could definately say he's soft with any aches and pains he feels though. Rich Hill could be the same type of pitcher as Bedard is. Patterson is just a throw-in. But consider that the Cubs could have just dished out the cash for Rafael Furcal and kept Prior. This is terrible team management and allocation of resources.

It will actually be pretty damn weak with Kerry Wood not expected to be ready for the start of the season. Carlos Zambrano Erik Bedard Greg Maddux Glendon Rusch Jerome Williams They may go after a free agent starter if this trade goes through though (Kevin Millwood, Jeff Weaver). Bruce Levine and the other guys on ESPN 1000 are speculating that one of the reasons the Cubs are willing to trade Prior is because he's too fragile and won't pitch through sore arms, etc. They also are speculating that maybe the Cubs need to make a big splash for the fans because of the Sox winning the World Series.

Bruce Levine is now reporting that the Cubs' offer seems to have been narrowed to Mark Prior, Rich Hill, and possibly Corey Patterson for Miguel Tejada and Erik Bedard pending Peter Angelos's approval.

Encarnacion is pretty horrible. Don't just look at his numbers from last season. http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/stats/ml...3845&statType=1 He's pretty much a fourth outfielder. This is a worse signing than Jock Jones.

Bernie Miklasz of ESPN 1380 St. Louis radio is reporting that the Cardinals have signed Juan Encarnacion to a 3-year, $15 million contract. Why the f***balls didn't they just re-sign Reggie Sanders? He got 2-years, $10 million from the Royals. The Cubs and Cardinals must be trying to compete for the worst offseason in baseball.

Crede: .303 career OBP + .439 career SLG = .742 career OPS Mackowiak: .328 career OBP + .414 career SLG = .742 career OPS Weird.

Don't forget that the guy we acquired to back up Crede could put up better numbers than him (AVG & OBP, not HR's).

Yep, it's not really too hard to believe. It's completely reasonable and most likely probable.

Your spreadsheet is pretty ignorant of the facts. A healthy Jim Thome is going to produce more than a .207 AVG with 7 HR's and 30 RBI's in 2006. That alone completely defeats the purpose of your spreadsheet. It also doesn't factor in what Brian Anderson will do in 2006 in comparison to what Aaron Rowand did in 2005, not that that can be quantified yet. It's not like we lost Rowand and there will be no one even playing center field next season.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/s...ls/13470174.htm Wow, how good does Jermaine Dye's contract look now? Reggie Sanders (38 years old) 2006: $5 million 2007: $5 million Jermaine Dye (31 years old) 2005: $4 million 2006: $5 million 2007: $6 million team option or $1.15 million buyout Freaking steal.

http://www.startribune.com/stories/509/5798207.html This is nice to know. No Frank or Piazza for the Twinkies. And while that is an improved lineup, it definately doesn't scare me.

I saw that as well. He posted something like, "I can't talk to anyone anymore."

Flaherty will tell the Red Sox all of the Yankees' secrets!!!

At that price, he's probably worth the risk and embarrassment.

Ibanez is decent in left field. He isn't really a good fielder. He can play 1B and LF but that's about it.

There will always be good team management and poor team management. A salary cap doesn't solve the latter.

If they trade Jeremy Reed for Bronson Arroyo, they could try Ichiro in CF but I doubt he would agree to it. LF Raul Ibanez CF Ichiro Suzuki RF Matt Lawton DH Carl Everett

Sorry, I guess the two Cubs' offers for Tejada are supposedly: Offer 1: Angel Guzman, Rich Hill, Corey Patterson, and Brian Dopirak for Miguel Tejada Offer 2: Mark Prior and Rich Hill for Miguel Tejada, Erik Bedard, and an unnamed top outfield prospect (possibly Nick Markakis)

http://seattle.mariners.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb...t=.jsp&c_id=sea This could open up a trade of Jeremy Reed to the Red Sox for Bronson Arroyo.

Definately no Frank or Piazza for the Twins... http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/5189218

Agreed on both points.

Supposedly, the Cubs have two offers on the table for Miguel Tejada: Offer A: Jerome Williams, Corey Patterson, Felix Pie, and Brian Dopirak for Miguel Tejada Offer B: Mark Prior and Felix Pie for Miguel Tejada, Erik Bedard, and Nick Markakis

This is correct.

Javy Lopez does want either a contract extension or a trade from the Orioles so we shall see. http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/basebal...sports-baseball