Ive been reading alot of posts around the Santana trade and regarding the Mets. Why is it now that everybody thinks that they are going to be so much better. Don't get me wrong he's a great pitcher. One guy doesn't make a team. I could see picking up a superstar position player who contributes every day, instead of every fifth day. The Mets will be a good team, I doubt he makes a huge difference to put them over the top. They are hoping last season was a fluke. Go Cubs!! 12 days to go

Wouldn't you think that all theese sportwriters, including Couch, would look at the Yankees the last 5 seasons and realize making a huge splash in the offseason free-agent market means almost nothing come October?

I agree that Santana is a great pitcher, and I would have loved to have had him on the Cubs, but adding him dosen't neccessarily put you over the top. Your everyday lineup makes a far greater difference in the end. See-Boston. I don't know if F-dome is enough, we'll all have to wait and see, but I do agree that getting better in your lineup given what we have 1-2-3 in the rotation was a bigger priority. BTW, how can Couch say that Ted Lilly is a number 3 starter when he's won 15 games the last 2 years?

I think I'm satisfied...

I like most of us Cubs fans go through the morning ritual of checking CCO, Cubs.com, ESPN.com, Si.com just to see if the Cubs have made a move for Roberts or any of the other names bantered about. I genuinely hope everyday for an upgrade at some position on the feild. Today that ends. I think I'm satisfied with the guys we have.
Even if Pie, Theriot, and Soto don't hit, it seems like we have a few other guys dying to take their places. Of course reading Muscrat's columns can leave you a bit jaded but it seems like Fuld and Cedeno have had excellent winterball seasons(I know we've seen it before with Cedeno). It seems like a given that Patterson and Fox can hit. Throw in the mutitude of vets and up-and-comers fighting for the backend of the pitching rotation, and I am confident that we will find 25 guys who can flat-out play baseball. I think the experiance of another year under their belts will help a lot of guys as well. See: Theriot, Fontenot, Pie, Soto. The '08 Cubs are a team that can absorb an injury or slump or two. The Cubs are a deep team for once.
I believe they are going to be better than last year and last year the Cubs won the division. I expect to see them go deeper in the playoffs this year and they can do it with the guys they already have.

PS What Fan Goggles???

Just read an article on Cubs.com about Ronny Cedeno and how well he did through the VWL playoffs. Man the kid does great in Winter ball, and he kills AAA pitching. Maybe this is the year he puts it all together. If he can put it all together in the bigs this year, it will be just as good as making a trade. Man only twelve more days!!!!

If Santana is healthy there is no way he doesn't make a difference for the Mets. If the Cubs didn't take a serious look at him they are either not serious about winning a WS or they are misguided.

The Cubs young talent is not valued around the league (but what do major league talent evaluators know anyhow). This team was only the fifth or sixth best team in the NL last year and the AL is twice as strong as the NL. Will they compete? Yes. Are Pie Cedeno Theriot Soto (I forgot Fontenot) or the hordes of other emerging difference makers behind them all they need? Hmmmm.

Did that say 'Eva Longoria' is the no.1 prospect?

Hmm... I wonder if we can get her...

Most of you aren't old enough to remember that pro hockey players haven't always worn helmets. The Babe Ruth of hockey, Gordy Howe--Detroit Red Wings, one of the last to don a helmet was asked why he would wear a cup but not a helmet. Without a smile, he said, "I figure I can always get someone to do my thinking for me!"

Today's report (above) is filled with prospect news and analysis, and this response is in the spirit of helping with your thinking. (That's the least I can do--and at my age maybe the most too.)

We have four players (Vitters, Soto, Gallagher, and Donaldson) in Law's top 100 one in each 25 bracket. And we have two players (Vitters and Colvin) in the Scouts Top 50 report. Colvin didn't make Laws top 100 nor did players like Samardzjia and Ceda.

Vitters, Colvin and Donaldson are recent first round or first round supplemental picks. Soto and Gallagher are late rounders. Thoughts: We are doing a lot better on our first and second rounds in recent years. You can find and develop talent in later rounds--but you have to be outstanding with your early selections. That we have done poorly in the early rounds in the past is hurting us now.

Law's 100 include some interesting prospect breakdowns: Tampa Bay has 4 top 25's and 2 26/50's. The Rays have 9 top 100's. Texas has 4 26/50's and 7 top 100's. The Yanks have 3 top 25's and 1 26/50 and Boston has 2 top 25's and 1 26/50. The Reds and Dodgers each have 2 top 25's and 1 25/50. Thoughts: It's obvious the Rays and Rangers are re-building, and the Rays are loaded with top rated prospects. Unfortunately, the Yankees and Red Sox seem better able to both grow their own and buy talent than we have--which is why we are chasing the leaders. And threatening us are the Reds and Dodgers who each have 3 top 50's to our two.

No disrespect to anyone but do not tell me Santana won't put a good team over the top...As of today, we are lacking WS caliber starting pitching. Hey we got Lieber, which I think is a good thing...but the Mets got Santana who absolutely is better than any pitcher we have.

Imagine if we take Big Z out of the rotation??? Do you still think we are the favorites in the NL? If you do you need to lay off that Diet Coke.

Maybe-hopefully, one or two of our own kids rise up and kick some butt so that other teams regret not having traded for them and we feel good about not having trading them.

I agree with agustin 100%
since cedeno has been doing really good in the winter leagues and AAA the cubs should maybe consider playing him at short wth theriot, and at the allstar break if we have struggles at that position then trade him. Also let pie and fuld play center, we have enough offensive power at the other positions to score more runs anyway. Besides we got rid off double play JJ, that alone is more offense.

Does anyone know the details about Freddy Garcia. I am pretty sure he is a Free agent.

Jim, Garcia is a free-agent.

JimK,

I agree with your assessment. I feel the Cubs are well behind in the development game, but hopefully with new leadership in our player development, that will change...it already seems it has with Tim Wilken.

We have Tony Thomas, Colvin, Donaldson, among others coming along very nicely. I do think we're headed in the right direction.

However..............

Our MLB roster needs a LOT of attention in terms of the last 2 starters, SS, and the bench.

On the bench, we currently have Ward, Blanco, Cedeno, Fontenot, and Murton. Ward is the only legitimate contributor of the bunch.

The back end of our rotation is a joke with Marquis and Dempster. I sincerely hope that Lieber can contribute enough to warrant trading one or both of Marquis and Dempster. All you need to do is look up Dempster's stats, especially as a starter, and you'll see just how bad he sucks. One good year in the rotation apparently earns you millions of dollars in the bigs....I wish real jobs were like that.........(sigh)

As for Garcia, the White Sux had interest in him until they found out he won't even be ready this year....Think Prior, but with less natural ability.

Also, with Prior......I just read that the reason he went to the Pads instead of anywhere else is that they seem to have more patience than any other team would.....which begs the question.....................................
Are we so caught up in trying to win it all, because of the 100 year drought, that not only do we lack patience with our young talent, but also guys recovering from injury? Do we try to rush guys back too soon? I think that's a very interesting subject that needs to be addressed---in my humble opinion.

Just imagine for a minute if Corey Patterson had more instruction, if Pie wasn't rushed, etc. Imagine the athleticism that we would have, and the rotation:
Wood, Prior, Z, Hill, (fill in the blank)

Anyway, it's a tragedy that it didn't happen, or we'd have the very best rotation in the game.

Regarding Prior, while the 2003 innings certainly didn't help any, his downturn occurred after the collision with Giles and the line drive off the elbow. Neither one could have been predicted nor prevented.

Agustin and ricky...Santana is outstanding but if he wins 18 that's only 5 more than Glavin (13-8) won. And Santana lost 13 (as did Z).

In a league without the DH, Santana, with all the innings he carries forward will likely win 18 or 19 and lose 9 or 10--which I expect Z to match.

Aaron...You are right about the roster, and my guess is that JH isn't done. Roberts at second would overcome limited offense at short, and DeRosa would move our bench from mediocre to quite good. JH could do something with Murton and one of our 4-5 guys and a reliever for a guy like Peralta and a prospect. Maybe we have to wait until the season is underway to get a 2-3 type, experienced pitcher from a team that decides to get younger.

ummmm.... the Pads have patience? That's what it was with Prior? It didn't have anything to do with the fact that he grew up in So Cal and went to USC?

He held out for a two year deal - found out that he wasn't going to get one - and as such took a deal to play near his home so he could rehab there. Heck - given the chance I probably do the same thing.

Prior saying anything like "the Padres have patience" sounds an awful lot like A Rod signing with the Rangers and then saying "it's their winning tradition" instead of the $252 million dollars. A Rod's probably a decent comparison too... Both of the guys are loaded with talent but have the character of swamp scum.

And as far as us rushing our guys and trying to get them to perform... remember last year when the Cubs didn't think Prior was ready to pitch and wanted him to do the extended spring training thing but Prior threw a fit like a 10-year old?

Granted, Dusty would let his starters pitch until their arms fell off... and then he'd ask them if they could give him one more inning. And I'm sure that didn't help the development of Wood - but one of Wood's big issues was his mechanics. Since his injuries, they've spent a lot of time in his rehab correcting that and he looked a lot more smooth the end of last year than he did when he first came up.

As for Prior - I agree with Bryan - his initial injuries were simply flukes... but if anyone was pushing to get back it was him.

Also granted, it's the job of the managers and training staff to put on the breaks if someone isn't ready, but if the player says he's fine - then how do they know? He was pitching well, so he must have been OK.

We know better now of course, but the lingering nature of Prior's injuries likely fall mostly on the shoulders of Prior himself.

Prior is a high maintenance baseball player who either is a wimp or as fragile as a glass nick knack. He continues to think of himself as the incarnation of the legendary Don Drysdale but unless the California sun has some special muscle building juice beaming into his system my guess is he is just a decaying husk of rusting junk. As to the Padres kindness and patience towards pitchers an article was just written which stated the Padres are expecting him to start pitching in May and Prior through his agent is saying he is not worried about his shoulder but rather about refining his strikeout pitch... the only kicker he can't be rushed and will need more time.

I will say this....I admit to having fan goggles at times...I can't even remember the other term Jason B used, referring to me, but it's true....I'm an eternal optimist, especially relating to our ability (unfortunately lack thereof recently) to develop young talent.

I look at clubs like the Yankees and Red Sox, Twins, Indians, Marlins, Dodgers, etc., where they've determined that youth, mixed with stars in their prime is a great formula for success (of course, the Marlins are exempt).

I, on the other hand, do NOT want to give up much for Roberts at all. The max I'd trade would be Murton, Marquis, and Marshall. He's not what you would call an impact player in his prime....so what we do NOT want to do is start collecting guys like that, which we have in the past---GARBAGE. It's better if we FINALLY give our young talent a chance to prove themselves. Guys like Gallagher, Veal, Samardzija, Colvin, Pie, Patterson, Hoffpauir, Petrick, Hart, Soto, Tony Thomas, Ceda, etc.....ALL deserve a shot to prove themselves in the majors. Why not with us?!?

Jeter had to get a shot...same with Posada...both struggled early on in their careers, and at times in the minors...but here's the ultimate one:
http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/R/alex-rodriguez.shtml

Now, I'm not saying any one of our prospects will be like AROD or anything close....All I'm saying is that it takes time, patience, AND most importantly a CHANCE for these guys to prove themselves...

Here's the Chicago Cubs way of giving a prospect a chance:
-success in minors=call-up
-10 AB's in 20 games
-sent down because of lack of production (laughable given a small sampling)
-great production in the minors
-called up due to injury
-only 5 AB's in 10 games, all pinch hit, and limited success
-sent back down
-great success in minors
-called up in September, and given limited AB's, even though the Cubs are out of contention
-traded in the off-season because they never supposedly "panned out" in the bigs

It's even worse for the pitchers:
Usually, what will happen for the pitchers, is they'll do well in the minors with a sub-3 ERA, or just above 3, and they'll get called up, and struggle a bit with command, then sent back down,then called up, transferred to the pen, and not used at all for several weeks, then sent down after a pitcher comes off the DL, then called back because of injury again, then under-used, then sent down upon trade/signing of a mediocre at best pitcher, then brought back when that guy is released, then sent down, then brought back in September where they rarely are used, then they're let go in ST, unprotected, or packaged in a minor league deal.

Yes, I know we've had some duds...but if we'd handle player development a lot better in the past, don't you think that some of these guys would've panned out?....Cruz, Farnsworth, Beltran, Mitre, O'Malley, etc.

Anyway, just a thought

If we're going to make trades with our top prospects, they BETTER be for someone in their prime, like a Santana, Teixeira, Cabrera, Willis, Swisher, Hanley Ramirez, Kemp, etc.

If you're not chasing after these difference-makers, then who the hell are you going after? Jody Gerut? Matt Lawton? Todd Hollandsworth? Jeromy Burnitz? Jacque Jones? Brian Roberts? I mean, we've had them all....but Roberts, and even he is NOT a difference-maker and seemingly has no place on this team with DeRosa DESERVING a starting position at 2B. So you mean to tell me we're supposedly interested in trading top prospects for him?

As many have stated on here before, Jason B. included....In order to get talent, you must give up talent....The Tigers paid dearly for Willis and Cabrera by giving up Maybin, Miller, and Trahern, along with 3 other mid-grades....You wonder if Pie, Colvin, Samardzija, Veal, and Gallagher could've gotten that deal done? hmmmmmmmmmmm....We'll never know, because that's just not how we operate...No, my friends, we would do ALL of that for Bedard, and Roberts...a question mark health-wise, and an admitted steroid user who we have no idea what his stats will be like without them. It's just not good business sense to do a deal like that, unless you're getting someone like Cabrera and Willis. I mean, we could've thrown Cabrera in RF, and Fukodome in CF, and gotten rid of Marquis or Dempster and inserted Willis to go with Lieber at the back end.

It's painful to watch deals done for players in their prime, and we're stuck going after leftovers, and it really sucks

Aaron good points... making a trade is not always the best thing. Thre is no way for any of us to know what is best really. there is such limited information. It really comes down to inteliigent committed ownership and a top notch GM making good calls.

PS; Its party time at the Santana residence too-night.

If you're the Mets and are going to pay a pitcher 150mm you'd better be sure of his motivations. That's what good GM's do.

Aaron,

There is no chance that Pie, Colvin, Samardja, Veal and Gallagher would have landed Cabrera ... not even if you added Donaldson, Patterson, Marshall, and Cedeno. We need to draft Maybins and Millers and ARods and Jeter ... we're not drafting the right guys and that means were stuck with playing our prospects (second and third tier type players) or dealing them to someone else for decent veterans (Roberts). JH is doing a great job with respect to free agents and trades given the salary and players he has in his hand ... my beef with him has been the poor minor league system under his leadership.

Aaron - I actually think you have on ANTI-fan goggles sometimes. Difference makers? How about signings of Soriano, Lilly, Ramirez, Lee, Z, Fuku, Wood... just in the last year and a half? BIG money being thrown about there.

Granted - some were "keeping our own" but we brought them in in the first place other than Wood. And ask the Twins how easy it is to keep your own. And the A's. And Cleveland next year with C.C.

Who would you have liked Hendry to target this past year? Our outfield defense was atrocious and OBP too... and we signed the best hitter AND fielder on the open market.

Resigned Wood... which actually DOES count. If you don't think it does, think how loud the complaining would be if he wasn't here?

All of the big signings for the Cubs were last year - because the crop of FA's this winter was dismal. But next year it looks like it perks back up again... and as long as the sale of the team is done by then I'd bet they bring in at least two more difference makers next year.

and even with the dearth of good players - the Cubs have been part of every rumor for every FA... it's just that we haven't had the packages to offer that the other teams did (AZ and Detroit offered more than we could have scrounged up for the players they reeled in - that's fact). Add that to the fact that MacPhail is dragging his feet more than any GM I've ever seen....

As for Roberts not a difference maker??? He had 50 SBs (one of five guys in the majors) and scored 100 runs on a BAD (capital B A D) offensive team. He's only 30 so he's not going to head downhill just yet. And I know fantasy baseball isn't real life... but it's about the only tool making ranking simple. Roberts is ranked as the #5 second baseman... and DeRosa is ranked #27 (via CBSSportsline). Just takes into account offensive numbers of course, and the stolen bases skew things... but he's been a perennial runner for gold glove in his 7 years so adding in the defense actually boosts his value.

Defense up the middle is always a key... and he brings that in addition to his offensive skills.

And as for youngsters and giving them a shot... let's look at last year with Lou... Marmol - key. Soto - key down the stretch. He trusted the rooks and they produced. Don't slam the past regime - Dusty has ALWAYS been a vet first kind of manager and he was the same here. Lou on the other hand was the guy in Seattle that suffered through the A Rod example you posted above because he knew the kid had talent.

Add that to the fact that there have been CFers out there and available this offseason, and Lofton still lingers, but we actually have three guys major league ready (Pie, Fuld, Patterson - four if yuo count Cedeno) and management hasn't run out to find a vet to plug the hole. One way or another, it looks like CF will be manned by a rookie this year.

Let the past go Aaron - the last two years have been a boon for the faithful and I want you to get on the bandwagon. We've all been bitter for years (and years and years) but there's something right now that we haven't been able to say since I've been alive.

We're a legitimate contender. Not because of fan goggles. Not because of career years. We're not the Cleveland Indians in Major League where when they start winning the two groundskeepers say "they're still sh**ty".

We actually have legitimate major league plus-rated players at the majority of positions on our baseball team.

We don't suck :-)

I know it's a hard thing to get used to. Put the kool-aid down. It's been so bad for so long that whenever they've won in the past we've dared to hope and then got slammed back to reality. But now....

The reality is that we have a damn good baseball team here. It's due in no small part to the work Hendry has done plus the willingness to open the checkbook finally after all these many years.

And yes - Roberts would make us better.

...and also wanted to add (like I didn't say enough LOL)

We've been trying on Bedard - sources here, in Baltimore, and in Seattle have all said it. The O's want Jones... and I live in Washington and don't blame them. He's going to be a stud. There's never a sure thing, but he's as close as it gets.

Maybin and Miller alone trump all of the players you listed we could have offered the Marlins. Quality trumps quality on that one.

And I absolutely LOVE DeRosa - I can't think of a better Cub after hearing his statements and watching the video from this past Cubs convention. But if we DID get Roberts he would either (a) move DeRosa to super-sub and between Ward, him and Murton the bench suddenly looks a lot better or (b) they figure out in the spring that he actually CAN play SS in which case we just got not just a little better but a whole heck of a lot better.

Either way... we're better.

As for Roberts and the roids - they don't effect hand eye - so there's that. Dont' make you faster... so there's that. Wouldn't make him a better fielder... so there's that. Stronger? yes. But we're not bringing him in to be a slugger.

And one thing worth saying....

Although I just bashed you a bit - I actually do respect your opinions and agree with them from time to time - most of the time actually - and you DID make a few good points in your message....

...but this time - nope. I'm just positive you've got the anti-goggles on. After years upon years I can't blame you though I suppose... but I'm looking forward to this year more than any other I can remember because the hope I feel isn't just fan goggles any more :-)

I'm pretty tired of hearing "DeRosa at SS". It'll never happen. He won't play there more than a handful of times. Theriot will start barring some mega-trade or injury and he'll have a good year.

Ronny Cedeno is next in line at short; but has he progressed to the point of being an everyday major leaguer? We've all heard about his success in winter ball. I would argue that if it came down between DeRo and Ronny, Cedeno would win the job... Across baseball this is the youth movement.

I wasn't talking DeRosa at SS - I was talking Roberts. he came up as a SS and there was talk earlier this offseason that the Cubs might try him at SS during the spring.