Why would signing Matsui make it easier to sign F-Dome? Is the guy not an adult? Does he really need a buddy on the Cubs to come here? Did Dice-K need a babysitter on the Red Sox. What the heck happens if you sign Matsui and them F-Dome goes elswhere?

I seriously hope that Hendry has better logic than that if he's going to sign Matsui, which I still hope doesn't happen.

Didn't the Bulls try that crap with Rodman a few years back? They signed some ex-teamate of his from San Antonio to be his travelling buddy?

Ryan R...I hear you! Maybe it has to do with the "hit the showers" that some stars need a partner to put soap on the back? Maybe F-Dome's Karate skills are limited to tag team? Or is it that they only sleep in bunk beds?

Anyway Matzui has his translator so why another guy? Oh well now I get it...Maybe if Pie brings his Posse from Santo Domingo he can hit .300! Soto could go for 40hr if his "Corillo" [gang] sits next to Lou and Prior's arm could stay attached with his rotator-cuff specialist on board. I see the logic in it; if none of them take up a roster spot. It would be a very funny looking Dough out, very much like the Macy's parade next to Lou! Peace!

For the record... I don't like Omar Infante.

If we are looking to bring in a Japanese born player to help lure F-Dome here, why are we looking at Matzui? Wouldn't Iguchi be a better option?

I am all for trading JJ to free up some OF room, but for Omar Infante. I don't get that one at all. Aaron made a great point about a couple of trades that netted us a couple of solid players. The guy is a .253 hitter and was benched by Alan Trammel for not hustling. Don't ge it.

Agustin:

I think Ricky Martin brings some of his old Menudo
mates on tour with him LOL.

Also, how many 2B are we going to need. Matsui, DeRosa, Fontenot and Omar Infante. Are they going to move one of them to short??? Are any of them really going to be better than Theriot. Yeah Theriot really slowed down at the end of the season but it was his first time playing a 162 games schedule give the kid a break. Hendry better have some clever trades in the works.

I say you stick with Theriot at SS and go out and get Fukedome trade Jones for some prospects, not a career .250 hitter with little upside. Give Pie the CF job. I would like wait on judging Pie, the guy has a grand total of 177 AB in the Majors. Let the kid play. Trade Marquis and Dempster.

I read that the Pirates are going to be listening to offers on Jason Bay.

I am clearly in the minority hear, but I think dealing Jones for Infante would be a good move. Hendry was shopping Jones for over a year and couldn't get anything for him. Last year, Florida wouldn't even taker him in exchange for nothing unless the Cubs paid a big chunk of his salary. There was no chance of even a decent prospect for Jones. The key is to get his salary off the books. If the Tigers are paying Jones' full salary, this deal makes sense for the Cubs. Infante makes $1.3 mil while Jones makes $5.5 mil so it would save the Cubs over $4 mil which will be more money to apply towards bringing in Fukudome. Infante is a decent utility guy who can play 2B, SS, 3B and all three OF positions. This would give Hendry flexibility over the offseason in terms of moves and if we end up with too many infielders, we can always non-tender Infante and save another $1.3 mil.

David...in principal I like your financial logic. While I would like to see a Rowand or Fukodome in our OF, certainly a Crawford is a nice option as well. Based on Tampa's expressed needs in their local papers (SS, relief arms), we could package a Jones (gives them an OF back), Cedeno and Dempster in a 3 for 1. I didn't look at all the salary ramifications to that, but it again just meets the Tampa needs.

BOOOO!!!! I don't like the Jones for Infante move at all. I hope it turns out good in the end but nothing about this move seems good at all, and now the Cubs really need to either be sure in Pie or have more outfield plans in the offseason.

Quality teams are not built around the JJones, Floyd's, Bonds, Kent's anymore. Teams want youth like Ellsbury, Tolowitzki, Braun, etc. You gotta let the Pie's, Patterson's, Theriot's and Soto's play and bring some speed and energy. Look at Boston, Cleveland, Colorado....they all have great team chemistry and a wonderful blend of youth and experience (w/out the Neifi's of the world). We have to look for team makeup and character.

David I agree with you. I think this was a salary dump. Maybe Hendry is going to try to ship Cedeno to TB for Crawford and looks at Infante as a backup for Theriot, let's only hope.

The Jones for Infante deal is done (www.chicagocubs.com). Thank goodness....and good bye Jacque.

This could also simply be a setup trade for something larger. Something similar to what we did with Barrett and Bowen, then Bowen and Kendall. The Hendry works in mysterious ways, Gentlemen.

"The Red Sox didn't give up on Dustin Pedroia when he was batting just .182 a month into the season, and were rewarded for their patience with a Rookie of the Year campaign."

Sounds like we need to do the same with Pie next year. Patience!

I like this deal, because it confirms we will add a solid Outfielder and that Pie will get his shot. Crawford please.

Pedroia won the AL Rookie of the Year award despite batting .182 in the first month. Boston showed great patience. Time we do the same with Pie. Also, I remember a certain Ryne Sandberg going something like 1 for 33 when joining the Cubs. And as I recall he turned out ok.

Mark,

Great point about sticking with the youngsters. The Cubs has not been very patient with their young players the last 5 years. Sometimes you need to let them know that the job is their whether they hit .100 or .300. The Rockies stuck with Tulo after a terrible first half and he was a stud after the all-star break.

I hope the trade just means, that another outfielder is coming...probably Fukudome or Crawford...which I know is fine with everyone else, so let's just see where this takes us....

Any oldtimers remember how bad Sandberg started out? The Cubs stuck with him through the tough times and he had a great second half and we all know how the career turned out. Viva youth in 2008 with Pie and Soto.

As for the Jones/Infante move - it's a two fold plus for the Cubs - salary dump and accommodation of a player request to be traded. Good move to free up salary for a BETTER outfielder than Jones (he's not total crap but he's average at best) and it's a good PR move for the players out there to know the Cubs front office will work with them if things don't work out in Chitown for them.

Do I like the deal on a player by player standpoint? Of course not. Infante stinks and Jones is decent... but they tried trading him several times and it's been common knowledge he's on the block for over a year and no one wanted him. Holding out for something better than Infante simply wasn't going to happen - especially for prospects of any worth. We're lucky someone took him at all.

Moves are in the works ya'll. And there are better players than Jones to be had.

Patience :-)

I would have liked the Jones deal better if it was a couple of prospects. But it doesn't seem like this is going to dump any salary since the Cubs are picking up Jones' bonus (ESPN). So I'm scratching my head as to why we have two super subs (DeRosa being the other).

Crawford would be excellent in RF and some serious speed in the outfield with Pie. I'd love for this deal to get done.

Couldn't agree more Gary J. This is obviously a salary dump, a pre-cursor to signing one of the available free agent outfielders. Hopefully Fukudome. With only a 15% increase this year, Hendry has to trim some fat off the payroll before he can sign anyone.

And Infante may have some value during the season. We all know Ramirez can't play a full season, and there are bound to be other injuries. That's where a utility guy is nice to have. A few years back we had Ramon Martinez, and he wasn't the greatest player in the world, but he did a decent job filling in when other guys couldn't play or needed a day off. Infante could be the same type of player.

I remember when everyone was PISSED last season when Jones didn't get traded for a low-level minor leaguer. Along with the Cubs paying his entire salary. And now he's just been traded for a Major League player. I'm happy to see him go, and to see we got something of value for him...

How can you not like the trade? EVERYONE and their brother was howling to get Jones out of town, now when they trade them, people are upset. Do you really think the Cubs could get back anything of great value back for Jones?!?! Infante for Jones is a steal for the Cubs just for the salary savings.

the trade for Infante makes absolutely no friggin' damn sense.....unless it's to flip him to another team that was interested in him for a larger deal---Crawford? Tampa is interested in a defensive upgrade at short----maybe that was the thinking?

I'm thinking something's up.....but, hey, didn't we all think the same thing last year after we signed Floyd and Ward, and still kept Jones?

Quality GM's make quality moves.....This is not a salary dump......which would be the only excuse for making a move like this---as Jones is a quality back-up and decent starter-----NO, this was a BONE-HEADED move again by Hendry.

Unless he flips Infante, as was said on here earlier---you have Theriot, Cedeno, Fontenot, DeRosa, Infante, AND Eric Patterson is in the mix. That's 6 DAMN middle infielders.

Look, DeRosa sucked donkey balls with his GIDP in the playoffs with the bases loaded and a hitters count, but he was SOLID-----absolutely solid. So the only need would be offense at the SS end of it all. I guess Hendry thought Infante was the second coming of Carlos Guillen....or Rollins....or whatever.....Hell, maybe his career average numbers don't tell the whole story----maybe he just didn't like Detroit, and their coaches sucked.....LOL, what an absolute load of crap this is. Infante as a back-up OF? Are you kidding me!?!?! Pagan can do better than that for half his salary.

THis folks, is why Hendry should be fired...If I was an owner, looking at his trades----he doesn't survive another day. He doesn't get value from his trades. He doesn't buy low and sell high. I'll credit him with a few good trades, even if I think the other teams didn't care who they got because they were salary dumps anyhow----and he made the Lilly, DeRosa, Howry, Eyre, and Soriano signings.....and in the past, Alou-----but that's just it folks....those are his signature signings, and his bad ones, and bad trades are starting to really piss me off, and I know they're upsetting some of you all as well.

Infante?!?! I laugh my ass off at that. Dude hits Neifi-esque numbers, and we just got rid of him because he sucked.....Why trade a decent player away for Neifi's twin, and create a logjam in our middle infield?

Now if we flip Infante in a trade for a Crawfod like player or someone that can ACTUALLY make a difference, then hats off to him.....but if history is indication---no, this is just another headscratcher of a move from the Hendry.

We constantly block our young guys with stupid moves like this. Would it really have hurt to give Hoffpauir or another one of our young outfielders a shot last year instead of signing Floyd? Ditto Marquis.

Even though I don't like it, I think we have to do whatever it takes to sign Fukodome even if it means signing Matsui...If we don't, then we'll really have egg on our face. If we indeed make that move, then it makes Hendry look even WORSE for Infante as we'd have 7 middle infielders then.

I don't buy the salary dump thing either as we were going to eat salary for trading Jones anyway, which would negate that argument. When you salary dump a player, you get a low level minor leaguer that either is close to being ready, or has a high ceiling and wouldn't require a 40 man spot, thus biding you time to develop him.