Heilman, oh wouldnt that be GREAT.....HA

from a little paper owned by the company that owns the Cubs...

If you want cheap, platooning power why not sign Sammy Sosa for a year contract. Yeah, he has "his" moments but Lou can get Sammy's head right. Really it is a low cost gamble after all Sosa should be well rested.If just half of our dream list comes true for this 07 season Jones/Sosa right field or just having Sosa off the bench in late innings could be a good alternative.

Heilman, where did you hear that crap?

The great resources at the disposal of Jim Hendry appear to be getting the Cubs the incredible...Aaron Heilman? A guy that can't start for another team, is apparently good enough to take us from last to first as a starter.

What the...?

Typical Hendry crap...always looking for the diamond in the rough, instead of paying for proven talent.

Does Heilman get you guys excited? What about Heilman plus a 31 yr old Japanese guy that no one has ever heard of? Feel like the World Series is imminent now?

Ugggghhhhh!

At least we have the Bears and Bulls...

I'm amazed that so many people are freaking out over the potential loss of Aramis. You want a scary scenario? We do sign Aramis for 7 YEARS and over pay him $100 million over that same time frame. If Ramirez seemed careless, lazy and selfish in a contract year, what do you think is going to drive him once he signs a big contract?

Secondly, please see my previous post regarding Theriot. How can anyone compare him to Eckstein? Theroit is a CAREER .260 minor league hitter. Just like Cedeno, he will come back to earth in time, and based on the law of averages will end up hitting between .255 - .265 after piling up 500 at bats. He is NOT the answer.

One of the things I do agree with is the very poor FA list this year. Hendry is going to have to pull a rabbit out of his arse too since we don't have much in the minors anymore. We need Pierre, Carlos Lee and/or Soriano and at least 2 good pitchers or we can already start looking towards 2008.

Jim,

you must be kidding yourself about having Nomar back. Did you see the playoffs? The last thing the Cubs need is someone that is injury-prone at this juncture, besides, the last time we counted on him to be healthy, we took a major dive. He's a great great character guy, and I would absolutely love his bat in our lineup with his amazing ability to get on base, but you can never count on him anymore to be healthy. I hope he gets signed, but only to a reserve role---much like he did with the Dodgers, with an incentive-laden deal, and if anyone goes down/gets traded, he can fill in, but I just don't see that happening.

As for Guillen...Larry, did you not know why all the other teams---Pirates, Devil Rays, Diamondbacks, Reds, A's, Angels, and Nationals gave up on him? It's because he had character issues. This guy is like Sammy, but without the candor to the fans that Sosa had, and with much less power. Looking at his stats, they're way too sporadic to even count on anything from this guy. His OBP has been as high as .359, but as low as .276---and I know that was an injury plagued year last year, but still. Way too volatile of a hitter---much rather see him in a reserve role than to be counted on like we erred with Hollandsworthless among others.

I know most people might disagree with me, but I feel that Carlos Lee might be a better option than Soriano...Here's why: Soriano strikes out an awful lot, and his OBP is only around .320, whereas Lee has an OBP around .340, and strikes out nearly half as much...along with nearly doubling Soriano's output of walks. Their career averages are about the same---in the .280's, and their OPS scores are identical at .835---which is a good indicator of a difference maker to a team. But Lee strikes out less, and has driven in more runs than Soriano, so it would seem prudent to make Lee the number one target...lock him up---he still owns a home in Chicago last I heard, then make a run at Soriano and others.

I'm telling everyone---maybe there is something to this whole "moneyball" philosophy. The A's are constantly in it every single year, as are the Yankees, so it got me to thinking...maybe I should look at historic team figures, so I did. Here's what I found out. During the years '99-current, when the A's made their run of 8 years of strong finishes, they had an OBP average of .340, and an average ERA of 3.90. For the same stretch, another impressive team was the Braves with their run of postseason appearances with a team OBP around .336 and an ERA of 3.70 The Yankees, another impressive team making consistent runs at the postseason posted an average of .350 OBP and 4.5 for ERA. Yeah, I know, sounds high for team ERA, but when you're getting on base more than the rest, you're bound to have more wins. As for the Cubs, you might ask? During that same stretch, we had .325 OBP an ERA of 4.5. Now, according to my observation and the calculations, it would appear that you must have under a 4.00 ERA to make a significant run, or at least a .350 OBP to combat any poor ERA.

But maybe some of you might not buy into this philosophy, so to more painfully drive my point home, here are some figures to consider for the Cubs and their playoff runs of '84, '89, '98, and '03....(btw-kinda creepy how those runs are both 5 yrs apart, huh?)Anyway...in '84 you had .330 OBP vs 3.75 ERA and '89 you had .319 OBP vs a phenomenal 3.43 ERA; '98 was .335 OBP vs 4.5 ERA and '03 was .323 OBP vs 3.83 ERA. Now, historically speaking, our best chances of winning it all should've been '84 and '03---two very eerily similar runs as well at the playoffs. Here's the crazy thing though...the Padres in '84 had .317 OBP 3.48 ERA, while the Giants in '89 had .313 OBP and 3.30 ERA. The Braves in '98 had .338 OBP 3.25 ERA. The Marlins in '03 had .333 OBP 4.04 ERA. Those are the teams that beat the Cubs in the playoffs.

In contrast, here's the last two WS opponents Cards '06 .337 OBP 4.54 ERA vs Tigers .329 OBP 3.84 ERA White SUX '05 .322 OBP 3.61 ERA vs 'Stros .322 OBP 3.51 ERA. Minus the Cardinals, which are somewhat of an anamolly, this lends even more proof to my statement that a team must have an ERA under 4.00 or an OBP of 3.50 if it's over that, just to reach the WS.

Look at the Cubs though. Remember my stats from their playoff runs---notice that pitching, except for the Cards this year----will ALWAYS win you a series. Remember in '89--the 2 close, heartbreaking losses, but remember the Giants ERA was 3.30 vs 3.43. And again, in '84, tough loses to the Padres with our ERA of 3.75 vs 3.48 for them. Get the picture?

Unless you're the Yankees, and have Jeter, Giambi, Damon, AROD, Matsui, Posada, and Sheffield, or the Cardinals with Rolen, Pujols, Edmonds to supply runs for you, you need pitching to get you through. Last year all we had was ARAM for a solid run-producer, and all our pitching went down, so we had no chance...Look, all you have to do is go by the numbers. Give guys contracts that have a proven track record (ie- at least 3 yrs of proven stat inclines), but don't be like the Cubs and give Neifi and Rusch big money for one year of an anamolly or Gaetti at the end of his career, or Rojas, or ______(insert name)...It just doesn't make sense. Soriano, Lee, Zito, ARAM---these are guys we need, with proven track records. I will unleash the furry on Hendry if he signs another Neifi or Rusch and touts them as "a perfect fit"...

Anyway, sorry for the long rant...just thought you guys might enjoy the stats.

In years past I could see this happening but I'm pretty sure Sweet Lou would blow a gasket if Hendry gave him that roster for 2007.

Saw this on MLB trade rumors. If it is true what the hell is JH waiting for? Aramis is not going to budge to play here. JH banks way too much on players wanting to play here.

"Unfounded Rumor: Aramis Ramirez

I have debated about posting this one because I can't verify the source. Some folks have confirmed that this is indeed in the ballpark, so I'm going to go with it. As you know, MLBTradeRumors doesn't pretend to be a newspaper, so I am just going to post this info under Unfounded Rumors because I can't get multiple sources to confirm. The beauty of a self-owned blog I guess.

I am told that Aramis Ramirez's agent Paul Kinzer is asking for six years at $15MM per or seven years at $14MM annually.

Jim Hendry's counteroffer: five years, $70MM guaranteed (11/12/15/16/16), sixth year vests at $14MM with a team option and seventh year a player option at $14MM. Full no-trade 2007-09, partial no-trade 2010-13.

If true, it seems like a gap the Cubs can close. Thoughts?"

If Aramis wants 7 years at 14 a year. GIVE IT TO HIM. that is not that much of a raise, in baseball terms, than what he is getting right now.

My thinking is that Aramis or his agent want another opt-out clause put into the new contract. Give the guy a no-trade clause and sign him.

Take a good hard look at that free agent list...it is largely a pile of crap.

The only players I would want are Nomar, Zito, Schmidt, Carlos Lee, Aramis Ramirez, Juan Pierre, and Kerry Wood. Three of those free agents were on the last place Cubs team in 2006!!!!

Barrett - ok

Theriot - worth a shot...Eckstein was World Series MVP, and I think Theriot can be better than Eckstein!

Murton - can still develop...keep him.

Izturis - the defense will help the pitching...but if you can get Tejada, then do it.

Derrick Lee - keeper

Zambrano - keeper

Eyre - keep

Howry - keep

Rich Hill - keeper

I want Pierre and Ramirez back...but I would gladly swap out Jacque Jones for Soriano or Carlos Lee. Otherwise, I am fine with the offense, provided they take some pitches and get some walks this year.

Pitching is the biggest problem..we need 2-3 starters.

If Hendry blows the Aramis and Pierre deals, then he will spend time and money filling those new gaps, instead of fixing areas that are ACTUALLY PROBLEMS for the team.

This is ridiculous.

Here is my prediction: Cubs lose Ramirez and Pierre. To compensate, Hendry trades away Murton and Cedeno/Izturis for a mediocre pitcher over 35 years old, and then signs Carlos Lee (because he is cheaper than Soriano) and then Hendry signs Nomar to a 2-year deal to play third (because he is cheaper than Aramis) and then they sign some friggin 31 year old Japanese pitcher that no one has ever heard of, simply because someone told the Cubs scouts that they were smart, even though they can't judge or develop talent in the Americas.

Again...I refer to my "Hustle" column I wrote...Hendry/Tribsters will claim "we tried to sign Aramis, but couldn't get it done" and then they will hope a big signing like Carlos Lee will appease the masses at the Cubs convention.

In the process, Hendry will stick the Cubs with Jacque Jones (because he will never own up to a mistake) and get rid of Murton prematurely.

Here is Jim Hendry's 2007 lineup...welcome to Chicago, Lou Piniella!

CF Dave Roberts (cheap and old as dirt)

2B Theriot (cheap)

1B Derrick Lee (stud)

LF Carlos Lee (Wrigley Stud)

RF Jacque Jones (still 10-bouncing it to home plate)

C Michael Barrett (good offense, can't throw anyone out)

3B Joe Randa (cheap and old as dirt)

SS Izturis (cheap and no offense)

Rotation

Zambrano (no extention...too pricey for Tribsters, will leave in 2008/2009)

Rich Hill (possibly a good pitcher, but cheap)

Woody Williams (I called this one months ago...old and cheap)

Mark Prior (will be ready by May...bwahahahaha!)

Wade Miller (coming off an injury, and cheap)

Emergency Starter #1 due to Prior being injured: Sean Marshall (cheap and unproven)

Emergency Starter #2 due to Miller being injured: Ryan O'Malley (McDonough loves a good story..and he is cheap)

bullpen

Howry, Eyre, Ohman, Wuertz, Dempster, and Aardsma. No Kerry Wood (he was too expensive to keep).

bench

Pagan, Blanco, Bynum, Moore, Blanco, and Michael Tucker

When you finish reading this, I dare you to tell me that doesn't sound like the load of crap that Hendry sold us in 2005 and 2006. It is scary to read that and know it very likely could come true.

The Budget for this Hendry Masterpiece? About $92 million I am guessing. So much for adding another $20 million to the payroll.

I want Aramis to be re-signed but I think we should sign Nomar no matter what. He can play every position in the if and we all know that he can hit. I would definetly take that gamble.

17 mill a year for Soriano. He is comparing himself to Beltran. Well Beltran doesn't deserve his contract so does Soriano thinks he derserves a contract that will hurt any team.

I am just throwing out a name, but maybe the Cubs should look at bringing in Jose Gullen from Washington. The guy plays with fire and can hit a ton. Plus he won't cost as much as Soriano, who I hope they also bring in. Regardless of what happens, if A-RAM leaves, we need two big bats.

This is ridiculous! If what they say is true, and they are going to boost payroll, Soriano, Ramirez, and two more decent to good starting pitchers can be had easily if Hendry would just drop the donuts and pick up the phone and start writing checks!

#%)^#^@#&*$#(#%^%$$#@$#%@^!!!!!!!!