I cant wait for spring training to start, hearing all these rumors and reporters who make stuff up is getting old. This has to be one of the most played out offseasons. The Orioles have to be one of the most mismanaged teams out there. GO CUBS!!!!

Anyone seen the column by Greg Couch in the SunTimes? I couldn't agree more with his premise, which is now that the Mets have grabbed Santana, it is IMPERATIVE that we get Bedard. I will only add that I think it's also IMPERATIVE we make it a two player deal and get Roberts at the same time. We desperately need another 1 or 2 starter, if not for the wins to also take some pressure of Zambrano and Hill. We get Bedard, my guess is Hill wins 13-15 games, simply because he can pitch 4th and ease his way into a 1 or 2 type of guy.

We also NEED a prototypical lead off bat, not Soriano. C'mon guys, I think we all would admit that.

This has to happen, and I don't care if we have to trade the entire farm system to do it. If we don't....we'll win the division and get CRUSHED in the playoffs. No chance of getting to the WS.

Find a way, Jim. Make it happen.

Gotta go to work.....argghhh...

Well, today is the supposed deadline set by McPhail, lets see if anything actually happens.

I just read an article in the Baltimore Sun Times about McPhail, saying Angelos has nothing to do with the deal with Seattle not being done yet. It also states in the article that the Adam Jones physical that was supposed to be Tuesday has not been rescheduled.
So I started thinking, I wonder if the snag is, the Orioles were offered another package for two of their players they might ber considering: maybe from a certain team that plays on the North Side of Chicago and in an stadium that consist of Bricks and Ivy?? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Random thoughts...maybe some HUBS (head up butt symptoms). My HUBS on Gomez the Twins new outfielder. I compared him to Corey Patterson. Research and Tom Glavine (who says he is going to be very good) changed my thinking.

In the Vine Line ratings, why not select the best pitching arsenal (combination of pitches) for major league starter and reliever and best OPS hitting prospects. Of those named above, I think Hoffpauir, Colvin and Petrick will make their league all star teams and be major leagurers in 2008--with the Cubs or elsewhere in a trade.

My guess is JH waits for the stud pitcher until we near the trading deadline. We then get someone who is actually showing stud credentials from a team that decides to get younger, and we aren't stuck with a Colon (say) who doesn't perform. I remain convinced that JH doesn't have the budget to do a Bedard.

Cleveland continues to indicate concern over their right handed relief and starting pitching. Also they need a proven corner outfielder with a bat. Hey JH, think Peralta, Laffey and Michaels. Think Murton, Gallagher or Dempster and Petrick or Ceda.

I don't know why everyone considers the Mets the team to beat now. I think the Cubs actually match up quite favorably to them on paper, even with their addition of Santana. Here is how the two teams match up, position-by-position:

Catcher - Soto vs. Schneider (Advantage Cubs)
First - Lee vs. Delgado (Advantage Cubs)
Second - DeRosa vs. Castillo (Equal, Advantage Cubs if we get Roberts)
Shortstop - Theriot vs. Reyes (Advantage Cubs, just kidding)
Third - Ramirez vs. Wright (maybe small advantage Mets)
Left - Soriano vs. Alou (Advantage Cubs)
Center - Pie, Fuld vs. Beltran (Advantage Mets, only offensively though)
Right - Fukudome vs. Church (Advantage Cubs)

Starter - Zambrano vs. Santana (Slight advantage Mets)
Starter - Lilly vs. Pedro (Advantage Mets, if Pedro's healthy, big "if" though)
Starter - Hill vs. Maine (Equal)
Starter - Marquis vs. Oliver Perez (Slight advantage Mets, maybe)
Starter - Leiber vs. O. Hernandez (Equal)

Bullpen - Dempster vs. Matt Wise (Advantage Cubs)
Bullpen - Howry vs. Heilman (HUGE advantage Cubs)
Bullpen - Eyre vs. Jorge Sosa (Advantage Cubs)
Bullpen - Marmol vs. P. Feliciano (HUGE Advantage Cubs)
Bullpen - Wood vs. Wagner (I'll take Woody any day of the week)

As you can see, we still have a better line-up than the Mets, our bullpen is far superior to theirs, and even with Santana they don't have that much deeper of a rotation than us.

And we may be getting even better in the next couple of days. But even if we don't, I'm not hitting the panic button just because the Mets traded for Santana. I still think we match up quite well with them...

Arizona, on the other hand...

With Webb, Haren and a healthy Randy Johnson...and all of their young players with another year of experience...

http://www.cleveland.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/sports/1201771996310820.xml&coll=2

Could Sabathia be on the trade block because of Santana's contract talks?

Interesting read...

Adam..don't you think your comparisons are just a little biased?

Z vs Santana isn't even close...Santana is one of the top if not the best pitcher in baseball...

Marquis vs. Perez is adv. Mets, Marquis sucks hard..

Agree on the bullpen, love Woody, but Billy Wagner is an established closer...for a long time..

Ramirez vs. Wright is advantage Cubs. Period. lol.

Unfortunately, the Mets are the team to beat in the NL because Reyes is such an insane sparkplug.

Just relax on the Mets/Cubs comparisons... remember in 06, how an 80-something win Deadbird team beat the 105 win Tigers in the World Series? All this is nonsense.... While I agree the differences aren't insurmountable & a valid argument can be made either way for the Mets or for the Cubs. The better idea is to say, what do the Cubs need to get to 95 wins? Another starter that's what... RH preferably.. named Cain would be fantastic! The Indians mention above was not bad either... although I'd imagine they'd like Samardijza or Veal

Hubert, I have to respectfully disagree, I would say the comparison between Z and Santana are close, is Santana the better pitcher yes, but when Big Z is on his game, he is just as good as anyone in the league

Hubert,

In a one-game, playoff pitching matchup, Z vs. Santana could go either way. Every time Z goes to the mound, he has the potential to throw a 1 or 2 hitter and completely shut down the opponent. Same with Santana.

Here's a comparison between the two since 2004: Santana has a 70-32 record, with a 3.22 ERA. Zambrano is 64-34 with a 3.41 ERA. For their careers, Santana has 6CG and 4 shutouts. Z has 7 CG and 2 shutouts. They each pitch over 200 innings a year, and each is very durable, making 33 to 34 starts per year.

And while I agree with your assessment that Santana is the best pitcher in baseball, I'd put Carlos in the top 5, easily. So there isn't much more than a SLIGHT advantage between the two.

Marquis vs. Perez:

Perez has had W-L records of 7-5, 1-3, 2-10, and 15-10 over the past 4 seasons. Marquis over the past 4 seasons has been 15-7, 13-14, 14-16, and 12-9. Perez has a 4.43 career ERA, compared to Marquis at 4.56. I don't see a whole lot of difference between these two either.

Agreed on Reyes as well. He's an unbelievable weapon. But I don't think we have seen what Soriano is capable of with our team yet. He was kind of hobbled all year last year, and never was able to incorporate his base-stealing game. He could be as much of a weapon as Reyes, when healthy.

Adam in Iowa - Good argument and supporting info, I am impressed. I like it when people argue their point and can back up their info with stats, links, etc.

Well Done.

Nothing against Santana but 15-13 last year doesn't set the world on fire....seems he was very beatable. Lilly was 15-8! He has to bat in this league too, Z might give him a seat if he feels the need. As I see it he's 0-0 in the NL...lol. Nothing like the pressure of a huge contract to live up to. Let's say he goes 20-10 this yr and gets paid 20mm+, he gets paid 1mm+ per victory but net 10 games over .500 = 2mm+ per victory in the win column. If he has another 2 games over .500 season that's net 10mm+ per victory in the win column...ouch! Thankfully for him NYC is a friendly place with very understanding fans like Minneapolis and cleaner too! Funny how if he was a CUB I'd find a way to justify these insane salaries.....

Mentioning Ted Lilly in the same breath as Johan Santana is rather silly.... In the past, it would be even more true in a comparison with Pedro -- but hes an old worn out guy now.....

Win 87 games in the worst division in baseball, get swept in the first round of the playoffs that then got swept by the team that got swept in the World Series, add a couple of pieces here and there... and thats the kool-aid for 2008, all prepared to pacify Cubs fans used to accepting mediocrity.

Or you could look at the offense this way (ignoring defense for the moment) ... from strongest offensive player to weakest offensive player in the line-up ...

Reyes vs. Soriano (advantage Mets)
Wright vs. Lee (advantage Mets)
Beltran vs. Ramirez (advantage Mets)
Delagdo vs. Fukudome (even if Fuku pans out)
Alou vs. DeRosa (advantage Mets)
Church vs. Soto (even)
Castillo vs. Pie (advantage Mets)
Schneider vs. Theriot (advantage Cubs)

The Mets have a better line-up than the Cubs and I don't even think it's all that close. The addition of Roberts (who I think would be our fourth best offensive player, however, would get us closer).

As for pitching, if you look at "expert" projections for next season, Santana is the consensus #1 SP while Z ranks between 10 and 20 as a starter depending on the source. I doubt that any of the established projection sites have Z in the top 5 ... I sure haven't seen any and I have seen a number of them. I agree that Pedro/Lilly is probably even given Pedro's health risks and Hill and Maine are pretty equal too. As for the bottom end of the rotation, Ollie Perez is generally considered a Top 50 SP while Marquis, El Duque and Lieber are all bunched between 100-150. Seems to me that would give a big edge to the Mets for the 4 slot and an even on the 5 slot. Overall, due to Santana and Perez being much stronger than Z and Marquis, the Mets rotation is better.

I love our Cubbies ... but the Mets are a stronger team. Could we beat them in a 5 or 7 game series ... sure, anything can happen. But to think that we are as good or better than them ... some would say HUBS and others Cubs kool-aid.

Baron:

My point was Lilly had a better record than Santana last year...that's fact! I wasn't saying I prefer him over Santana or he will do it again next year but if it happens, I'll take it. Santana is 28 and hasn't won 100 games in the Majors yet....Sandy Kolfax, Randy Johnson, Steve Carlton....NOT. If he strings a few 20 win seasons together, I'll reconsider. Is he the second coming?...NO. He's a great pither who had a very mediocre season last year and if he has another 2 wins over .500 season, nobody can justify 20mm+ a season and I think the fans in NY would agree!

The Bedard saga is now beyond reason. Both the Baltimore Sun and The Seattle Times have received communications directly from Bedard's agent saying that the MLB.com report of a Sunday discussion and follow-on discussions between Angelos and/or the O's and Bedard and his agent regarding keeping Bedard and trying to negotiate a long term deal DID NOT HAPPEN! And there is no indication of further discussions with Seattle--since the Sunday night massacre.

You have to be more than able to walk on water to know what might be going on (and I'm not)--but here's a guess. Bedard is under control of the O's through the end of 09 via arbitration. Roberts is under contract through 09. Angelos has decided they will be worth just as much later this year or after this season--and he likes nothing that's been on the table in the trade discussions. He sees his risk as only an injury to one of the players, and he's prepared to take it. He's told MacPhail to come back and see him when Andy's talking a current MLB all star a second proven player and a couple of top prospects too for either Bedard or Roberts. He's also told Andy that he will consider trading his favorite Roberts only if Bedard is traded.

While MacPhail is trying to recover from his overdose of Zyprexa and figure out how to "Splain the Plan", it's likely time for JH to completely change directions and try to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

Here's a well thought out arguement for everyone.

The Mets Suck vs. The Cubs Rock (advantage Cubs)
New York Sucks vs. Chicago Rocks (advantage Cubs)
New Yorkers Suck vs. Chicagoans Rock (advantage Cubs)
NY Pizza vs. Chicago Pizza (advantage Cubs)
NY Hot Dog vs. Chicago Hot Dog (advantage Cubs)

I could go on all day.

Advantage (Go Cubbies!!!)

Steve,

Agreed on all accounts!!!

Hey guys......we don't have to be better than any other team. We just have to win them 1 at a time. Trying to compare teams is crazy! There are too many factors that can come into play. Injuries, as always will play a big part. We have a good team and I will be rooting for them every day.

Am I going to forget about the season because the Mets have Santana? HELL NO!! I love baseball and I love my Cubs. I read the column by Couch in the Sun-Times this morning and it made me sick. I hate people that are negative. Why not look at the positive side of the Cubs? They have a very good team and they are going to be in the hunt. That is all we can hope for. This crap about it is a bad season if you don't win the World Series is just that -- crap! Would I like to see them go all the way? SURE! But I get a lot of enjoyment following the game and the Cubs and I am sure I will enjoy it again this season. GO CUBS!

On an unrelated note, I was just reading Keith Law's (whom I like and think knows what he's talking about) top 100 prospects, and there were 4 Cubs (Vitters, Soto, Gallagher, Donaldson). That's not bad.

Also, he ranked Vitters as the second best 3B prospect in all of baseball, and Soto as the 2nd best C prospect. Better than I would have expected.

Ramirez OBP-.366, AVG-.310, HR-33
Beltran OBP-.353, AVG-.276, HR-33

Lee, OBP-.400, AVG-.317, HR-22
Wright, OBP-.416, AVG-.325, HR-30

Soriano, OBP-.337, AVG-.299, HR-33
Reyes, OBP-.354, AVG-.280, HR-12

DeRosa, OBP-.371, AVG-.293, HR-10
Alou, OBP-.392, AVG-.341, HR-13

David I am going to have to disagree a little bit, Based on last years stats, I wouldn't say the Mets are a much stronger team than us, now granted I didn't do the whole stating lineup, (gotta keep an eye for the boss).

The important thing here is Spring Training is just around the corner, which means Cubs Baseball is back. Go Cubs.

Gramps...

Hooray for you. I couldn't agree with you more. I personally enjoy all the stat analysis provided on this site, but one little injury (e.g. - Prior running into Marcus Giles), and all the stats don't mean a thing.

Baseball is like most sports...it's about heart, timing, teamwork, momentum at the right time, having that "career year" etc. And for that you need players like a Theriot and DeRosa (who put the ego aside) and a manager who isn't afraid to play the "hot hand".

The Rockies didn't have a track record of great stats last year...rather, they found a sound chemistry, believed in the mission, and got hot at the right time. From there, anything can happen.

I hope to be rooting for the Pie's, Gallaghers, and so forth next year, with them in Cub uniforms. This talk of mortgaging the farm is just fundamentally wrong. For me, whether it's one year or 100 between World Series, I just want to enjoy and root for good, sound baseball with a team that plays hard and with heart.

Steve, I also agree 100 percent

What about signing Freddy Garcia? I know he is coming off surgury but was wondering when he is suppossed to be ready. If he is healthy he would be a great number 4.

I don't think anyone is saying the Mets are a great team by any stretch... and I still die hard with the Cubbies 365 days of the year....

but.. can anyone say, truly, that Hendry has done an A grade job in the off-season?? It is not always about adding stars, and he has done something to address the OBP... but some faults.... 1) how about too much faith in Felix Pie -- who plays similar defense, and shows similar, massive holes in his swing like Corey Patterson. 2) Ensuring that Will Ohman sees 1 more season of major league hitters 3) Maybe acuiring a fall-back option incase Theriot doesn't have the bounceback offensive year people really want him too..

Can anyone here say, with a straight face, that Jim Hendry is among the top 5-6 GMs in baseball?

Let's see....Hendry has brought us Lee, DeRosa, Ramirez, Soriano, Fukudome, and Lilly among others. We won our division last year. We should have a competing team again this year. From a business standpoint, Wrigley is packed and the team is making money. So, yes, I would say it with a straight face that he is a good general manager. This year's offseason is not over yet, so I cannot give him a grade. I think we all sit here and really don't know the constraints he is under and all the maneuvering he has to do. But all in all, I think he has done a damn good job since he has been the GM.

This all goes back to that win all attitude. A guy can do a good job even if his team does not win the World Series. There can only be 1 World Series winner, but that does not make all the rest of the teams losers. And I will be rooting for my Cubs to be the team that wins the Series this year. GO CUBS!

Nice points Gramps.

I agree that Hendry is a good GM, but lets look at what he has to work with. Baseball's popularity is at an all-time high and owners are making money hand over fist. This league-wide financial sucess is what's causing the slow offseason. Look back to the tradeing deadline, there were very few salery dumps.

The trend is that teams are making enough money to have some extra contract dollars around the waist, while still operating within their means.

I can't speak negatively about Hendry. I think he does what he can. I also think that the job of being a GM is going to become more difficult as MLB's popuarity continues upward.

For anyone who wants to get mad at Hendry for not getting Santana...... He said he wanted to go to a East Coast team that plays its spring ball in Florida. He wouldn't waive his no-trade clause otherwise.

I think Hendry has done an awesome job (except trading Pagan) this year. I'm all for staying put until July. Let's see how Hill, Marshall, Gallagher do in the starting rotation. We'll know more at the end of spring training than now. I think this is the first time in ages I'm not worried about the bullpen.

And all this nonsense about the Mets is ridiculous. You can throw up all of the stats you want but just look at the meltdown the Mets had at the end of the year. They tanked and all of the talent, defense, OPS, SLG, ERA, WHIP, etc, etc. didn't make one bit of difference. I'll take a 110% player like Theriot and Fuld over a better player (read Delgado, Alou, Castillo) who is going to give 80%. That costs you as many games as lesser players.