The Carpenter signing brings our need to sign Big Z to an extension to the discussion... but Hendry is going about this the right way so far as I'm concerned. Keep the focus squarely on improving the team first - go and get those arms and that lefty bat (sounding more and more like Floyd). See if you can't shake a player or two loose from a small market team (Jennings would be real nice). Get a centerfielder that can keep the position warm and help mentor Pie when he gets called up to stay (Lofton would be perfect).

...and then... when all the dust settles and the Cubs (with a little luck and a lot of money) have all the holes plugged and appear to be ready to win for the next few years and be a perennial playoff team (as a lifelong Cub fan the prospect has me giddy)....

...THEN sign Zambrano - the guy is nothing if not competitive and if we can show him that this is going to be a place where winning can become a regular thing (maybe even - dare I say it - a tradition)... the chances of us locking him longterm up go up tenfold. The guy wants to win above all else. You see it every time he takes the hill. I believe he really truly likes being a Cub, but if we're not going to win, he's not going to stay. But if we build a team this winter that looks like we're serious about winning (finally) I wouldn't be surprised if Big Z threw Hendry a slight hometown discount at that point to boot :-)

I think that we should let Pagan be the 4th outfielder or if they don't sign Lofton put him in Center. You need to take a gamble every now and again. Prior and Wood were not gambles. Hendry just should have known better. I think we should stay away from Floyd. Lily is a health risk and we still have both Wood and Prior so we don't need to add another HUGE health risk i.e. Floyd.

Is everyone forgetting that D-Lee was out all year last year. Having him back in the lineup is like adding a Big Free-agent bat. A-ram, Soriano, D-Lee and Barrett will put up Big #'s next season and the rest are good role players. The defense will be better. (How could it not be). Can't wait to see what hendry is going to do this week.

The most important signing is not due at the winter meetings and that's C.Zambrano. Imagine what the Yankees or Boston would pay for his services? If the Cubs could "post" him my guess would be that Boston breaks the 100 million bid. Hehehe! Seriously if Zito [who reportedly has an offer @ 102millions from Texas] is set for his rainy day, so is Big Z. I guess it would take something like 65m for 4y with the Cubs.

Lily is ok and like I've said here before his era should drop some because of the DH and the pitcher. Plus its not unfair to say that the Blue Jays division and the AL was far superior than the NL. Without a doubt, he can pitch. Also I'd leave the offense exactly how it is right now and sign Schmidt.

With that bullpen, a starting rotation of

Zambrano

Schmidt

Hill

Prior

Lilly

And maybe another lefty for the Bench, we SHALL MAKE THE PLAYOFFS!

Jack Jones is not my kind of player, but if he repeats what he did last year, and yet starts the year a little better [which he probably will] I don't see a reason to part with the good lefty hitter. If he can't hit the righties…well play Angel Pagan. Yes I'm biased, he got me a DLee, Maddux and Zambrano autographed ball!

Let's see what happens this week! Go Cubs

[ Cachorros de Chicago ]

Anthony - well said, lets move on.

Lily has posted a SUB 5.00 4 out of the last 5 years. He is a fierce competitor and by signing him vs. say Zito, we can go after another pitcher, i.e. Jennings). This is the direction I would like to see the Cubs go. Also, I would be concerned that Zito's heart would not be in it here in the midwest and his pitching might reflect that.

In regards to the other non-Cubs posts I have read, I would say this. It was okay for Jason to tease, but then others SEEMINGLY "ganging" up on Aaron wasn't right. I could see where it might make him feel uncomfortable to offer up future opinions and I don't think any of us want that, especially Neil, Jason, Brian, etc. At the same time Aaron, I don't know if it was copacetic for you to "threaten" to retaliate. I've read your posts and they're thoughtful, intelligent and most importantly Cub-sided (if there is such a word). I say we all let this thing go and move on?

Just heard the Cardinals extended Carpenter, 5 years, 65 million. If only Zambrano would take a deal like that...

ESPN's latest Winter Meetings entry (as of 4:15 ET) was that the Cubs are making a hard push to sign Lilly and that Lilly's agent is flying in this afternoon. This is in addition to the report earlier (12:15) that he was about to sign with the Cubbies. (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/...

Lilly obviously has had much more success at the major league level than Williams so that comparison isn't fair .... but that being said, I think it's hard to say that Lilly will easily win 15 games. I think a projection of 12-14 wins is more fair given his history ... though if he played up to his potential 15-18 wins would not be out of the question.

Jason, Nat's fine ... not in real life, but on here it's fine. I guess I just think that since over the last few years he's won 12, 12, 10, and 15 (in 2006), in the AL (with Oakland and Toronto) that he should easily be able to win 15 in the weaker NL and in the even weaker NL Central (I know the "world champion" Cardinals are in the NL Central, but have you ever seen a more pathetic "world champion"?). So that's why I think 15 wins is completely reasonable for Lilly. Jerome Williams, on the other hand, is a completely different story...

Right on the money AJ.

David,

Good point...Meche is a Hendry-style guy, you are right.

Nat,

Can I call you "Nat"? Writing Nathanael makes me feel like I am using too many vowels. I hope you are right about Lily winning 15 games, if he signs with the Cubs. I just urge people to base expectations on previous results, simply because it tends to keep people from being quite so disappointed. For example, many posts were written last year about Jerome Williams winning 15 games. 15 game winners are somewhat rare. Kerry Wood can tell you that 15 games isn't that easy to win, even if Greg Maddux seems to make it look as easy as breathing.

AJ,

I agree on everything you said.

Please remember that this site is a place to talk with other Cubs fans about the greatest team in the world. I can go to a million other Cubs forums and see people going back and forth at each other. I like this one.

Be a little more respectful. Don't be afraid to ask a question. If no one asks questions or shares opinions, this won't be a very interesting place to come. If you don't agree with an opinion, then post your thoughts but be reasonable and don't be rude.

my problem DIDN'T have anything to do with the joke, it was the comments he's made before on staying classy... then he goes and sets off a bunch of non-sense....fine, maybe a little touchy, but it was because he wasn't being consistent with what he's told people in the past. I thought this site was a forum to talk about things like this, not to be laughed at when you had a legitimate question....that's what I had a problem with----on one hand, him saying be classy, and the other, making fun of people's questions. How is that consistent? Just remember that next time you have a question

Jason, If Lily signs, I think your guess on Meche is correct. Meche is a guy with a lot of upside that just hasn't performed yet ... a classic Hendry type guy. I think Scmidt is out if we sign Lily. Hendry will likely continue to pursue Jennings and Westbrook via trades. If he can't get Meche, Jennins or Westbrook, it wouldn't shock me if Maddux came back for a two year deal. I would like to see Hendry try to deal Pie (plus a bit more) for Olsen, but I haven't heard anything about a Cubs/Marlins deal.

Jason, I basically agree with your view of Lilly (although I think he'll be more like 15-12 or so). I just think there's a big chance Zito or Schmidt could be a financial disaster (ala Hampton), whereas, I think Lilly (given the huge increases in SP salaries) will be paid closer to what he deserves.

Also, I hope you're right about Meche (or better yet, Jennings for Jones and a prospect). Seems like Westbrook has kind of fallen off the rumor mill? Wouldn't mind him either.

Gary,

You may recall that Dusty was given a lot of heat, in the papers, but especially on talk radio, when the Cubs got Greg Maddux and Baker was talking about how you want to split up certain pitchers because of their style, etc...

I agreed with the talk radio guys then, and I still do now. It doesn't matter if your pitchers are similar...only if they are good or not!

Nat & nick,

I wouldn't be opposed to it, but I am just staying grounded in the fact that Lily is, largely, a .500 pitcher. I don't want to expect more out of him than his career suggests. Hendry tends to try and project improvement on players a lot (thus the DeRosa signing, and the Barrett signing - which he was correct on). I would rather pay for expected production, rather than pay and hope a guy gets better than he has historically shown he can be.

I don't want to call Lily a done deal, but supposing that he is, where do the Cubs move onto next? Odds are they won't get three lefties...I don't care, but most teams don't have more lefties than righties in the rotation. So you would think a righty is next on the hit list: Meche perhaps?

Lily at the rumored $37.5 mil would be a great addition. Zito at the numbers he's asking could be a disaster ... see Kevin Brown, Mike Hampton, Darren Dreifort, Denny Neagle, etc. The overall trend on Zito's numbers the last four years is not so great.

Nathanael,

I just read that also, but haven't been able to find anything else on it. I would not mind this signing either, the update also said that Jones is available.

According to ESPN's Winter Meetings update, as of 12:15 p.m. (probably ET), "Ted Lilly is rumored to be signing with the Cubs." However, I haven't seen anything else about it. I hope this is true. I know by writing this, I open the gates for all the Lilly haters, and people who want us to spend $90 million dollars to get Zito. But I still think Lilly is the option that makes the most sense.

You were looking for confirmation Aaron on a rumor - no biggie. Understood. I agree with Jason on the touchy part though :-) Can't blame guys for having a little fun :-) Personally I got a chuckle out of it (didn't have a problem with you asking about a rumor though - no matter where you heard it)

I also agree with Jason on the Zito/Hill thing - just because they're both lefties with big curveballs, doesn't mean that they can't coexist in the same rotation. A couple years ago we had four righties that threw major heat in the rotation (Wood, Prior, Big Z, Clement) and I don't remember anyone saying we needed to dump one of them in order to throw a junk ball pitcher in the mix. A good pitcher is a good pitcher is a good pitcher... anyone that can get outs on a consistent basis (decent ERA, batting average against, low walks) and wins more than he loses is worth a rotation spot regardless of his similarities to someone else already there.

Not to gang up on you Aaron but Jason is right. No need to get upset about people making a Joke, even if it is on your behalf. Not that big of a deal. Barry Zito and Rich Hill are not the same pitcher. They are both left handed pitchers with a great curve ball. Kerry Wood and Mark Prior are right handed pitchers with overpowering stuff and both have a great curve ball. Not the same pitcher. Having both Hill and Zito in the rotation would be a mistake becasue Zito is a fly-ball pitcher and I think he would get shelled at Wrigley. Nothing to do with the fact that they are both left-handed pitchers who throw a nasty curve.

Aaron,

You talked about a guy from a Bears mssg board.

That is what I responded to.

You need to stop being offended so easily...so touchy.

Most managers will have their best 3 starting pitchers pitch all the games in a playoff series, rather than using the #4 or #5 starters, if possible. Think: Schilling and Johnson in 2001, for example.

When you say that getting an established star, like Zito, would be pointless when you have a similar pitcher in Rich Hill, that argument makes no sense.

Even if Hill was Zito's twin, and they really were the exact same pitcher, it wouldn't be a bad thing. If it was, then no manager would ever want his starter pitchers to face the same team twice in a playoff series.

Your logic was flawed, sorry.

Jason B.---"Hendry denied the report that surfaced on a Chicago Radio station on Sunday that the Cubs had offered Barry Zito a contract, the same way he did the multiple reports about Jason Schmidt last week. According to Rogers the Cubs have turned their attention to Barry Zito and Jason Schmidt as well as the second-tier free agent pitchers that have been rumored to be in the mix for several weeks."

-so I guess Chicago radio reports would be considered just like meeting someone at 7-eleven, right?

I am hoping Jones goes in a trade to Pittsburg

XM is reporting David Weathers just resigned with the Reds for 2-years, $5 million