no zambrano. No way in hell he should be traded.

Zambrano is the most underrated pitcher in the NL. There is no way I'd trade him for Tejada and I think Hendry would be eaten alive.

Think about our rotation....Prior, Wood, Maddux, Williams, Rusch?....What if Wood and Prior go down again? S.O.L. for 2006.

Since the start of the 2002 season, his first full season, only 7 players in the major leagues (with 300 IP) have a lower ERA than Z's 3.13 (Smoltz, Pedro, Santana, S.Shields, Unit, Owalt)

You don't trade that for Miguel Tejada.


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So since rumors are starting to die down slightly and briefly, what lineup do you expect to see next year (include trades you think the team may realistically pull off if you want).

I was wondering about that myself. Here's what I was thinking though:

LF: Murton
CF: Pierre
RF: Bradley?
3B: Ramirez
SS: Cedeno
2B: Walker
1B: Lee
C: Barrett

SP: Zambrano
SP: Prior
SP: Wood
SP: Maddux
SP: Rusch
CP: Demspter

That's just pure speculation in regards to Bradley at right. I'm not saying that I necessariy want him in out lineup but it looks like a possibility. I also don't think Jerome Williams will be around although I think he's got potential to be a solid #3 pitcher.

Agreements? Disagreements?

[This message has been edited by bluestainedivy (edited 12/12/2005 8:15p).]

Bluestained,

Pierre is not anywhere the same good defensive outfielder he used to be. Perhaps playing everyday his first several years and having to cover the spacious CF in Miami had something to do with it.

Most experts say Pierre has one of the very worst throwing arms in all of baseball.

But, Wrigley is a bandbox so he should be able to get to most balls and he should hit .280 plus. It was a good trade for the Cubs.

I see no way Houston would trade Taveras to the Cubs. Divisional trades are very rare.

I don't have anything against Cedeno and I'd be OK with him getting an opportunity to play SS but if so we HAVE to pick up a BIG bat. I'm not sure that Milton Bradley would be enough.

In losing Nomar and Burnitz that is two bats out of the heart of our order.

Burnitz hit #4/5 in 439 of his 605 ABs (and 155 times at #6).

Nomar hit #3/4/5 in 215 of his 230 ABs

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[This message has been edited by AgRyan04 (edited 12/12/2005 9:20p).]

Burnitz and Nomar were both inconsistent bats and Burnie's was one that was wiffing at a lot of balls. If Bradley fills either of those spots and puts up the same stats he has before, we're well on the way to filling those spots. Throw in your speculation on how Murton would produce (though I can see Dusty still denying him playing time). I'd also bat him second behind Pierre.

Nomar wasn't really inconsistant when he was in the lineup but Burnitz certainly was. Regardless, they were still a big portion of our run production on a team that was in the middle of the pack in the NL in scoring and driving in runs.

The likelihood of Lee dupicating his '05 season + the replacement of Burnitz and Nomar has me slightly worried.

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I meant Nomar being inconsistant on the fact that he wasn't in the lineup due to injury for a lot of the season, but agreed he produced once he came back. Burnitz was average production at best. I'd think the Bradley signing with anyone decent at short could fill that hole...or maybe just hoping.

Burnie had a good first half of the season and he really produced about the same in the second half except for the fact that his batting average dropped about 37 points. He produced more than Sosa would have that's for sure.

I do know that Burnie saved us a couple of huge runs in severaly games with some great defense. That is one thing that I'm certain we will be missing with whoevere plays right.

The As got Bradley.

The Sun-Times is talking about the Cubs courting Jaque Jones. Not sure what to think about him. He's not bad but he won't set the world on fire. He hasn't in the past maybe a change of scenery could do it.

http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/team/player.jsp?player_id=150218

[This message has been edited by bluestainedivy (edited 12/13/2005 9:59p).]

Interesting article on the RF situation.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2005/12/cubs_show_inter.html

[This message has been edited by Lance Uppercut (edited 12/14/2005 12:49a).]

Many of the names on that list are laughable. Not that he's MY choice to play RF, but I have a weird feeling that Aubrey Huff will end up being the man Hendry gets. I hope he can pull something better out of his hat, but I'm not confident of that right now.

Jacque Jones seems to be an equal to what Burnitz gave us last season. I honstly don't know what his defense is like. He is also left handed, like Burnitz.

2002 557 AB, 27 HR, 129/37 SO/BB, .300 BA, .341 OBP, .511 SLG
2003 517 AB, 16 HR, 105/21 SO/BB, .304 BA, .333 OBP, .464 SLG
2004 555 AB, 24 HR, 117/40 SO/BB, .254 BA, .315 OBP, .427 SLG
2005 523 AB, 23 HR, 120/51 SO/BB, .249 BA, .319 OBP, .438 SLG

His SLG & OBP are ~10 points lower than Burnitz but other than that they're remarkably similar.

If we can ink him to a cheap deal I think it would be OK since I thought bringing Burnitz back for ~$4M would be ok. Anything more than $6.5M and I would be pretty upset about the move. I hope we can do better.

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[This message has been edited by AgRyan04 (edited 12/14/2005 4:57p).]

I read something interesting on the bleed cubbie blue blog that Lance posted on a while back. The guy talked about a deal being in the works but no details known about it. He said the only tip he had was Wood's jersey going on sale for the same price as Patterson's and Nomar's. I would be surprised if a retail store would have the news before anyone else but it makes me wonder about a Mench for Wood-type deal. If indeed that were the case we'd certainly have to look for another starter.

they did that with Sammy jersies in '01 as well

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Word from the Chicago Tribune is that the Cubs are considering starting Patterson in RF.

They should start him on the bench.

or on the Royals

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better yet, send him to the mexican leagues.

Or him playing as himself on an old baseball video game and not on our team.

There's speculation that he will either end up with Arizona or LA. Whichever team doesn't win the Lofton sweepstakes.

By the way Lance, Corey's batting average has dropped 30 points in the last month in my season. He was batting .303 before today's game.

Why is no one talking about Kevin Millwood? I mean, I don't think I've heard a word about him all offseason. No rumors, nothing. He's no Cy Young but he did lead the AL in ERA last year.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/stats?playerId=3687

He's been either hit or miss throughout his career but he would certainly be a solid pickup for the right $

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I think part of it might be who his agent is.

I thouht I heard somehwere that he's wanting somewhere in the area of 3 Years/24 Million. I think that may be a little high with the arm trouble he has had in the past.

I read today in TSN's latest issue he was looking for 4 at 44 mil.

that isn't the right $ I was talking about

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You can thank the Toronto Bluejays for that.

Yeah, 55 mil for a guy with a temper, an insubordinate attitude, a history of injuries and a career losing record. They probably could've gotten him cheaper.

Ronny Cedeno is apparently tearing it up in Winter Ball

In the Venezuelan league he's hitting .360 with 33 RBIs in 33 games.

Keep it up Ronny

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quote:

---

I think part of it might be who his agent is.

---

That has a LOT to do with it.

And thanks for the Cedeno update, Ryan. Please forward it to Dusty.

Don't the Dodgers know anything about the ex-Cub factor? Bill Mueller, Nomar, Kenny Lofton. They're never going to win anything with those moves.

Cubs officially offer Jacque Jones.
http://www.suntimes.com/output/cubs/cst-spt-cub20.html
Possible Wood to Nationals trade for 2B Jose Vidro and OF Ryan Church.
http://www.dcexaminer.com/articles/2005/12/20/columns_sports/jim_williams/001_col_williams.txt

It's official jones for 3 years, no terms yet.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2266855