When I'm reminded the Cubs drafted Lincecum, I want to throw up...........

He might be the PREMIER young pitcher in baseball..... ARGHHHHH!!!!

How about the Rays!!! Trencherman, Willy Aybar, gets 2 hits and scores two runs in the big game. Rays win 3-1. Garza strong young arm is good for 7, and Lester's strong young arm tired a little in the middle innings. David Price's 14 th inning pitched in major league baseball is the 8th in game 7 with the bases loaded and his team ahead 3-1. He strikes out Drew on 4 pitches to end the inning. He appeared calm, but I suspect there was some dampness in his shorts.

And now the unlikely Phils and the unlikely Rays will play in the World Series. That should be especially meaninful to the Blue, who know that they have better in themselves than they showed. Hopefully, their unemotional cool is cast aside next year in favor of intensity and performance in critical games and series.

I agree and disagree with your points....Of the 18 guys you mentioned, 9 of them have seen time in the majors (Carter went back to football though, and Christensen was injured prematurely, and had really good stats when healthy). You are correct when you say we should've at least had one or two pan out well for us like 30 hr, 100 RBI type potential, but consider what he inherited...He inherited a system so devoid of pitching talent it was absolutely ridiculous...I mean, it was even worse than position player talent. He oversaw the signings/draftings of Downs, Prior, Garland, Sisco, Zambrano, Juan Cruz, Marshall, Hill, Pignatiello, Petrick, Samardzija, Wuertz, Guzman, Marmol, Gallagher, Wells, etc. I mean, all of these guys have contributed for us or other teams as major leaguers, and most have had good success.

I mean, we once drafted both Tim Lincecum (48th round 2003) and Micah Owings (19th round 2004). The problem was, the Cubs never really shifted this focus. The really made a focus on pitching, and they stuck with it...Unfortunately, they often left position players on the draft board when they should've selected them. What bothers me the most though about the Cubs is how AWFUL we were in the 80's and 90's with some of our teams, and how we had high draft picks, but never got anyone. Furthermore, we often went after veteran FA's way after their prime, but still in Type A status, and we'd lose our draft pick in the first round. Unless you're willing to spend a lot on quality FA's to make a run at the postseason, it doesn't make any sense to do that, and yet, the Cubs of old were committed to doing just that---sign one or two "name" players to put butts in the seats, and have no commitment to player development.

Anyway, I'm disappointed, especially after watching the Brewers, Rockies, Phillies, D'Backs, and Rays, all make the playoffs the last 2 years, largely due to their development of young power hitters and position talent. I thought Wilken would make the difference...obviously not

JimK,

Nice HW on the drafts -- I've been meaning to do that but never got around to it..... When I watch the Rays young talent and then look at that sorry-ass list....... Seriously, In 6 drafts, Jon Garland, Theriot, and to a lesser extent Prior, are the only guys of remotely major league caliber.

Where are the BJ Uptons and Carl Crawfords and Scott Kazmirs? Where are the Pedroias and Youkilis's......

I don't understand how Hendry has so many supporters.... For dousing A-Ram, Lee and Soriano with $$$$?

Aaron:

Who is your favorite NFL team?

Aaron....I'd be interested in who the right free agents were that JH did not sign. I think a lot of us feel he's done pretty well on trades and signing free agents. I'm going to check on who picks the top 20 players (with Baseball America)in each minor league. It could be the managers of the teams--in which case Vitters ranking gets more stature.

I do think that the selection and development of top draft picks have been poor in the JH era. While some later round picks like Willis, Soto and Khalil Green have turned out well, our record with the first three rounds during JH's era (1995 and after) before he moved up from scouting aren't so hot. Cases in point:

1996: Todd Noel, Quincy Carter, Skip Ames.

1997: Jon Garland, Scott Downs, Nate Teut.

1998: C. Patterson, Dave Kelton, Jeff Goldbach.

1999: Ben Christensen, Mike Mallory, Ryan Gripp.

2000: Luis Montanez, Bobby Hill, Aaron Krawiec.

2001: Prior, Sisco, Theriot

Garland, Downs, Prior and Theriot have had some success, along with Patterson, but you would think that in those 18 top picks there would be 3 or 4 real standouts. And at least one guy who consistently hits .290 + with 25 or 30 HR's and 90 + RBI's.

I heard that about Brenly too, but I would assume that Stone has a clause in his contract to opt out if the vacancy ever presented itself....problem is, Hendry's one of the jerk-offs that drove him out, so that's highly unlikely anyway and wishful thinking.

As for Vitters...I know stats...I can look at them all day...but I don't trust BA one bit in terms of talent evaluation. They're constantly wrong about guys....especially the Cubs. I was wondering if anyone actually had a chance to see him play, and what they thought of him. I respect Tom Trebelhorn's take, but since he's a competing manager, and probably only saw him play a handful of times, I wonder how accurate his take was.

The reason I have concerns is that in Peoria, he had a tremendous debut, then scuffled, then got hurt, then was MIA, then appeared at Boise, and did a fine job. He's still only 18 years old, but it's a little early to tell by stats if he'll amount to anything really.

I don't know....maybe I'm just cynical and ruinedby the so-called can't miss Ben Christensen's, Pawelek's, Harvey's, Patterson's, etc. of our organization. They certainly seem to be over-hyped. I mean, I even remember seeing Miguel Cuevas on a top prospect list once....He was a tall kid, but what did he ever do? Tyler Colvin? Luke Haggerty? I mean, for every guy we seem to bring up, it's like we have an entire system of busts. Now, I know that's mostly a byproduct of the whole championship drought, and we can't really give guys like Hoffpauir and others a fair shake, and opt, instead, to sign guys like Reed Johnson and Edmonds (though, those were good signings, I'm just saying...)

Someone on here mentioned like a day or two ago that while Hendry has done a decent job getting us to the playoffs, he's EXTREMELY lacking in player development. I think that's definitely true, but keep this in mind. I think Hendry's a horrible GM. However, when he was in charge of player development and all that stuff, he was instrumental in getting some of the best talent we had. We had a lot of injuries, but I remember people saying we had some of the best drafts and everything under him. It is, in fact, a large reason why he moved up the ranks, and became GM. Also, keep in mind, he was with the Marlins doing the player development as well...But his time is spent in the office, dealing with a bunch of BS from management/owners, and other operational issues, so he relies a lot on his staff around him to inform him. I think he's done a HORRIBLE job not only signing the right free agents and pulling the trigger on trades that would benefit the team, but he did himself a disservice by putting mostly buddies in crucial positions.

For those of you Bears fans out there....Lovie Smith is a VERY good head coach, but he's a horrible decision-maker when it comes to his staff. He ran Rivera out of there, and put his buddy Babich as the defensive coordinator, and he's virtually run a very good defensive team into the ground. It's kind of the same with Hendry. Hendry is a VERY good player development guy, but not a good GM....maybe that's not a good analogy, but you get the point? I just think we need someone like Gillick to come in and turn around the organization and make it run more efficiently (he's almost like the Bill Parcells of baseball---turning teams around)

Brenley for Brewers job would be great for him....but suck for Cubs telecasts especially since Stoney just signed a deal with the Sox.....

With all due respect to Bruce Levine (Who I Like)

The Padres would be crazy to deal Peavy for Marshall, Cedeno and prospects. Nothing against Marshall, I believe he would be a very good #4 type of pitcher but I think the Padres could fetch a better players. Think about it? Do you really think Cedeno will be a marquis name in any deal?

Couple rumors I read this morning.

The Cubs may have interest in Manny Ramirez but would have to shed either Aramis or Soriano's contract.

Bob Brenley is the frontrunner for the Breweres job.

Titans Win! Titans Win!

Neil....I hope Levine is right, and I'd include Ceda and Castillo in the deal for Peavy.

Aaron....While young phenoms sometimes falter, Vitters gives major evidence he is for real at age 19. Baseball America picked him as the number 1 prospect at the short-season Northwest League. For Boise, V's line was .328-5-37 in 259 AB's. He led the league in doubles and had a 26 game hitting streak. BA says that V has an easy swing and plenty of bat speed, that he will hit with above power and that he hangs in well on breaking balls. He is rated an average defender with a strong arm and with average speed.

Tom Trebelhorn, who is the manager at competing Salem-Keizer (Giants) says that V is the proto-typical third baseman with good bat accuracy (a new term for me.) Tom says furthr, "At 21 you will have a real man." The guy who wrote the critical post has a hard time seeing from where he has his head stuck.

And here's something big that I haven't seen posted or publicised. BA has named Mr. Geovany Soto rookie of the year. The top 5 finishers were Soto, Longoria (Rays), Votto (Reds), Jurjens (Braves) and Ramirez (White Sox).

Aaron, the 'scouting report' on Vitters came from a guy that had never been to the CCO with an email address that makes me believe he is a fan of the South Side. I have read Vitters played rather well toward the end of the season.

Joe...if you receive a response from the San Diego Union Tribune, email it to me and I will post it. Good catch, JimK....

neil@chicagocubsonline.com

Also, on the Peavy front, Bruce Levine mentioned yesterday (Saturday) that he feels a package with Sean Marshall, Ronny Cedeno and a 'couple of other prospects could get it done. He said many feel Marshall, in the pitchers park that is PETCO, could win 13-14 games a year.

hey, someone on here talked about Vitters like they knew a scouting report on the dude....Can you elaborate? I don't want to re-read the stuff, but I think it had something to do with him being slow and not good in the field.

Can anyone shed light on this? I'm wondering if anyone has actually seen him in person and can give us a better idea. Or, any other prospects in the lower levels that we might not be familiar with (I'm sure most are familiar with what we have at AAA, but below that, I'd like to know if someone can give us a report on what we really have.

Good call Jim K.... I just emailed the writer about that.....

The San Diego Union's chandlier is missing a few bulbs. The Dodgers traded Andy LaRoche to the Pirates in the Manny, Bay three-way. The Pads (per a site report) seem more than happy with Gerut in CF with his .296-14-43, 2008 line in the leadoff spot. The Pads have Kouzmanoff for a solid bat at 3B for several more years. Vitters and Rhee are two young and Vitters isn't needed in the future.

The Braves Howard and Hanson + could work. The Angels and Dodgers have the pieces the Padres could use more, and they have recognizable names like Ethier and Kendrick + top prospects closer to the bigs.

I too liked DLee's performance more a couple of years ago, but he's still my favorite current Cub. And he will be a productive bat and excellent defender in the likely case he stays. Should DLee give his blessing, I would do the Giants deal I mentioned above. Then he would be my favorite player on the Giants.

Posters on CCO, like Mike, who note that age is not our friend are right. 2009 is likely the last year for our current older regulars (as a group) to have a shot at the NLCS. It's inevitable that the "Big Peoople" we committed to in the last few years will reach the downslope of their careers. In our case, our "bigs" still can be productive, but some will fall into the "overpaid" category that's also inevitable with long term contracts. Here's hoping the likely unspectacular changes JH will make in the 2009 roster, along with some stepped-up performances and new-found intensity will get us to the big show next year.

In my efforts at coming up with trades that could work, I've tried to end up with lefty bats with some power that can play for several years and also some quality replenishment of a farm system that needs quality.

In a partly emotional selection, I'm picking the Rays tonight. My rational side says that the Red Sox old guys really are old and that the band has finished playing "Good Night Sweetheart" for them. (Excuse me young posters if you don't need this explanation. In days of old, well before the younger set took the melody and lyrics out of music, "Good Night Sweetheart" was the likely last song of the evening played by the band.)

My "Lincoln" side ("Prepare and your chance will come.") says that the upstarts win tonight.) I am aware of what happened to Lincoln and that one game predictions are difficult.

Anyone else care to opine if it's the Rays or the Red Sox tonight? Take the challenge. Rays win or Red Sox win?

PEAVY TRADE UPDATE:

The San Diego Union Tribune posted odds of where they think Jake Peavy will be traded and mention a couple names of interest for the Padres in return:

(2 to 1) BRAVES Jason Heyward, OF; Tommy Hanson, RHP

(4 to 1) CARDINALS Jaime Garcia, LHP; Colby Rasmus, OF; Jess Todd, RHP

(6 to 1) ASTROS Troy Patton, LHP; J.R. Towles, C

(8 to 1) CUBS Dae Eun Rhee, RHP; Josh Vitters 3B

(12 to 1) METS Eddie Kunz, RHP; Fernando Martinez, OF

(15 to 1) DODGERS Chin-Ling Hu, SS; Clay Kershaw, LHP; Andy LaRoche, 3B

(25 to 1) BREWERS Mat Garmel, 3B; J.J. Hardy, SS; Manny Parra, LHP

In this morning's paper here in San Diego there was a blurb in the sports page that made me laugh:

A Cubs-loving couple who won a mid-season dinner bet when their team swept the White Sox made the mistake of taunting the losers by leaving a broom and a pointed note on their front doorstep. The Sox couple did not forget.

So fast-forward to the Cubs being swept out of the playoffs and on the following Sunday morning the Cubs couple got woke out of their sleep at 7:30 am by the Cubs theme song "Go Cubs Go" blaring over a bullhorn and the sight of 100 billy goat signs on the front lawn as well as a giant blue "L" flag. As if that wasn't bad enough they also noticed their house address changed on their mailbox to 1908.

That sucks....but is kind of funny......

Jim K:

Two years ago D Lee was my favorite player.

He hits for avg, power, plays great defense and is a good base runner. I just see that there is a dropoff in his game. I admit I'd rather see Cain in a deal for him before Sanchez. Sanchez is already 27.

In regards to the comment from Aaron to Bryan about getting real that the Pirates are not a big market team....you go on to list the markets that Soriano could go to....newsflash....San Diego is not nor has ever been a big market team.....you did mention he's not likely to go there because they are downsizing...yes they are downsizing, but they still are not considered by anyone as a big market team....

PEAVY TRADE UPDATE:

In todays San Diego Union Tribune, GM Kevin Towers is quoted as saying they want to focus on young pitching in return for Peavy, and possibly middle infield after that. Towers says "we'd look for controllable pitchers, preferably starters, in a significant enough package to where some are major league ready and some are near ready."

I still think we could make it work with Pie in there since the Pads do need a young quick centerfielder. Then include Marshall and/or Rich Hill....maybe Cedeno and Theriot if they include Greene....

by the way....don't know if any of you have looked at Sabathia's statsfor this year, but he had like a 4.5 K/BB ration. That's insane. He had like 259 K's to 59 BB's. Anyway, I'd take him in a heartbeat too, especially with Harden and Zambrano's injury concerns

Aaron and Jim TP are trying to trade my favorite, DLee to the Giants. The Giant have alternatives at 1B, including the 5-11-230lb +, Michelin man Pablo Sandoval who sprang on the scene last year with .350-20-96 in the minors and .345 in 145 AB's for the Giants. But he's more of a catcher, and maybe the Giants want some maturity in the IF. Assuming Lee might like the West coast and the Giants, here's a deal that may make sense to both sides:

The Giants get Lee, Fontenot, Rhee and Barney. The Cubs get Sanchez, Schierholtz, Roberts and Pucetas. The 36 year-old Roberts (and Red Sox world series hero) is a 1 year $6 mil salary save for the Giants. But he did come back from injury late in the year and is a versatile lefty bat and back-up CF. Pucetas (23) a righty starter was 10-2 with a 3.02 at Hi A San Jose last season but dropped on their pitching chart because Alderson and Bumgardner are so good. He and Schierholtz are highly ranked prospects on all the listings.

Nate Schierholtz (24) is an excellent OF who can play right and a lefty bat with speed and some power. His line at AAA was .320-18-73 with 9 SB. Sanchez is a 3-4 young lefty stater for us. Fontenot adds a better bat and some stability to 2B for the Giants.

If my Dome, Ceda deal goes with the Angels, Hoffpauir plays 1B and Schierholtz plays RF for the Cubs in 2009.

I keep suggesting that the Mets wouldn't trade Beltran for Soriano. With Moises and Pedro gone plus other contract savings and a big budget, they will try to add a power outfielder to go with Beltran--not do a salary swap IMO.

A few thoughts.....

* The only way Soriano will be traded will be if he only agrees to it and a big contract (like a Beltran) is sent to us in return.

* I could see Lee and another player going to SF for Sanchez and Wynn.

* If Lee is moved I could envision another big FA signing.

Aaron...coming from the guy who is known for the ludicrous, as well as Mr. Negativity, I don't think you're one to talk...so "c'mon man".

the cubs players are coming of age. Just think about it. soriano 33, lee 33, derosa 33, theriot who sucks is almost 30, fukudome sucks is 31, ramirez 30, they nbeed to get young. They have a terrible farm system also. They dont have any dominating young players. all are old. They need to have better drafts, They got josh vitters? He sucks, terrible fielder and very slow. They need to rebuild. The cubs are making me think of the yankees because there team is getting old. They better win a world series before everyone gets to old.

Aaron and others,

You really need to give up on the idea of trading Soriano. Other than Fukodome, he is our least tradeable asset. I think realistic goals for this offseason are to resign Dempster (unless it is for too many years), Wood, and to sign one of Abreu/Bradley/Ibanez. Unless Cuban is sold the team quickly, nothing sexier than that is going to happen. (I guess I could see a Lee trade).

Bryan, normally I like creativity, as everyone probably knows, I always have a lot of trade/signing ideas, but Soriano to the Pirates???? C'mon, get real man.

Destinations for Soriano would be big market teams, like: Dodgers, Giants, Padres (not gonna happen though w/ their downsizing), Mets, Phillies, Angels, Yankees, etc.

Places like the Pirates, Marlins, Rays, Twins, Indians, Reds, etc. just wouldn't fit that profile of a big market, high spending team.

I'm all for being creative, but you also have to be realistic at the same time.

By the way....Phil Rogers today had a good article about Manny playing for the Cubs. The jist of the article was that Manny would sign with the Cubs, the Cubs would trade Soriano + some other undesirable contract like Marquis or Soriano, and receive prospects in return. His theory was that if they lost Manny, they'd need a big bat to replace him.

Actually, I know it might be far-fetched, but th Yankees might want him back, and that's because Damon is old and sucks at defense now, Abreu might leave, Matsui can't run anymore, Cabrera was a disappointment, etc. They might decide that Soriano's cannon out there far outweighs his poor route selection. Additionally, they'll probably lose Giambi, another big bat for them, so unless they can pull off a signing of Teixeira, they'll need someone like Soriano, and I would bet he'd waive his clause for that in a heartbeat. From what I remember, he really enjoyed his time there in the spotlight.

Again, I'd prefer a trade of Soriano for Beltran in lieu of a Manny signing, but that's because Beltran is younger, can play multiple positions in the OF, AND also has a big bat in the postseason. I'd also prefer that we even try Manny in RF, and that's because he and DeRosa have similar range. DeRosa might be a little more solid, but Manny's bat would far outweigh his defense, just as signing Dunn would be a similar boon for our offsense.

But as I said a few weeks ago...just read between the lines of what Hendry said about Manny during the playoffs. He obviously is a big fan. And, we need a big lefty bat. Who are you going to get? Dunn, Bradley (switch), Beltran (switch) would be the only ones I can think of. Ibanez would be a Burnitz-esque move...an aging veteran with decent power, limited range, etc.

If you can't get Manny, can't trade for Beltran, can't sign Teixeira, then you HAVE to go after Dunn. It's a given. Could you picture how many home runs he'd have at Wrigley? I mean, it'd be ridiculous. He might even hit one on the rooftops a la Glenallen Hill. He would allow the Cubs to move Lee down to the 5 spot, which would be a HUGE benefit to the team, and because he has a high OBP, ARAM would get his usual 100 RBI....it just makes good sense to do that. Ideally, I'd have a lineup like this:

Theriot (if we can't sign Furcal)-SS

DeRosa-RF

Dunn-LF

ARAM-3B

Beltran-CF

Hoffpauir-1B

Soto-C

Fontenot-2B

You trade Lee for Cain/Sanchez, or some other top pitching prospects.

You also trade Marquis for whatever prospects you can nab.

Resign Wood and Dempster, and let every other FA walk.

Offer arbitration to all eligible players, then trade Wuertz for whatever you can get.

So, only major FA signing is Dunn, and your staff would be:

Zambrano

Harden

Lilly

Dempster

Guzman/Marshall/Hill/etc.

MLBTradeRumors states today:

"Peavy's preferred cities are Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, and St. Louis. Despite that, Graziano says the Mets have interest. The Padres are aggressively shopping Peavy, seeking two young pitchers and a near MLB-ready center fielder."

I sure hope we are major players to get him. I'd then ship Derrick to the Giants for Cain or Sanchez, Soriano/Marquis to the Pirates for McLouth, and then try to land Texeira as the sole major FA signing.

This payroll belaboring is only because the $12 mil difference between 118.3 (Cot's) and about 130 mil may mean getting another good player--or not. I'm hoping certainty is yet to be determined. When I add the monies for 38 players listed in Cot's as on the Cubs roster (including pro-rations for Harden and Gaudin) plus pro-rations for Eyre, Murton, Gallaghr and EPat not listed in Cot's, I get $119 mil. I may well be missing something. I am including obscure names like Fox and Fuld along with Hoffpauir and McGehee--all of whom are not very material.

I'm sure when the new budget is at least hinted at, the 2008 budget will get some further mention. If the real number is close to $119 mil, that's better for adding talent than if the real number is about

$130 mil.

Keith,

Interesting that you point out Edmonds' age, but encourage the resigning of Blanco. Do you really think Soto needs more tutoring?

Awesome post about Soriano Bryan.

I love Cot's Contracts, a very valuable tool for looking up who's got what kind of contract. I find it to be almost always accurate, and updated quickly.

JimK...here is a link from the Sun-Times discussing last season's payroll using the $130 million dollar figure.

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/1205705,CST-SPT-csep07.article

Joe...thanks for adding the link, I meant to at the end of the article and will go back and edit. Jeff @ Cot's does a great job, he and I have exchanged emails over the years and that is the site I used for reference.....most accurate I have found. Plus I have a link on the sidebar on the left side of the CCO...

JimK....the $118 million was the Opening Day payroll. The $130 million was with the additions of Chad Gaudin (pro rated $1.775 million), Rich Harden (pro rated $4.5 million), Chad Fox, Randy Wells, Micah Hoffpauir, Casey McGehee, Koyie Hill, Angel Guzman and Jim Edmonds ($290,000). Granted there were subtractions (Gallagher, Murton, Patterson) and the $130 is not exact, but close. Maybe I should start referring to last year's payroll as $118 but the number is closer to the $130 million dollar number....

Interesting link that provides detailed contract information on Cubs players....looks pretty accurate....

http://mlbcontracts.blogspot.com/2005/01/chicago-cubs_112114177768677294.html

Inuendos and Outuendos:

I'm wondering where Neil gets his last season payroll number of $130 mil. The figure I've seen is $118 mil.

I'm not sure my pay grade permits "linking", but mlb.com is running a series on the farm systems of all the teams--highlighting differing categories of performance and potential. 8 or 9 teams are now covered, including the Giants, Rockies and Reds. The Cubs report will come later.....It's amazing to see (especially) the standout position players of the teams mentioned--while we only rarely come up with a Soto. If you go to the Giants site and click the article "Giants have talent worth waiting for" you will be able to access all of the reports.

The reason I mention the development of position players is to "pile on" with those critical of our drafting and development of impressive hitters (especially). While we have to remember Soto, Theriot and a bunch of pitchers who made it in recent years (including the traded Willis, Nolasco and Wellemeyer), I would add to the busts mentioned on the previous CCO topic. Don't forget the disappointing Bobby Brownlie (P), Ryan Harvey and (seemingly) Tyler Colvin among first rounders. Maybe part of it is that we haven't had top 10 picks lately, but a lot of the best guys in others' systems were mid-round or later picks too. A number of post-first round picks do well for others too. JH deserves praise on some fronts--but producing a steady stream of very good position players is not one of them.

Re. players with demonstrable energy and "take no prisoners commitment to winning" in the playoffs (that we lack), Kevin Youlilis personifies that for me. He just has an edge in his competitiveness or perfomance level and a willingness to spill his guts to reach an objective that is inspiring.

Re. Dempster, I don't see any reason not to expect him to lead us in wins next year--if we can sign him. Re. dreaming about CC, Peavy, Teixeira or Manny, the dreams will likely be put to rest when word gets out as to the Cubs payroll limitations for 2009. That word should follow the Oct. 19th organizational meetings in Phoenix.

I think there is a good chance that two to five million dollars per year will come off early expetations on the bigger new contracts soon to be negotiated. The owners need an excuse to cut back in a severe recession and when obscene pay is being called into question everywhere. San Diego isn't the critical measuring stick for organizational sanity, but they are lowering some season ticket prices. Others I think will follow the pattern of reigning in costs as the reliability of a number of revenue streams starts to diminish.

No way in hell Howry gets re-signed....

Wood and Dempster should be priorities --- every other FA should be given a minimum offer or told to scram..

The Cubs had one of the top rosters in baseball this season. They should make an effort to bring as many back as they can without breaking the bank. Of course we can dream about them going after guys like CC as well.

PS, I think you offer arbitration and/or resign all the arb eligible players, with possible exception of Wuertz. Even then, I think there is a market for Wuertz, so trading his rights would be better than letting him go. Cotts and Ronny figure to be pretty cheap, and Reed Johnson is worth the $4mil or so he'll likely get.

One thing I don't get on Peavy. He is a very good pitcher, and he is also owed $56mil for 4yrs, not exactly chump change. So you have to take on that money AND surrender some prospects. That seems like a big price to pay.

I don't think we should re-sign Edmonds unless it's on favorable terms. He is 50/50 to completely tank next year, as he is pushing 40. He also hasn't committed to playing yet.

I would re-sign Blanco. He is a good mentor for Soto, and we don't have anyone internal for that spot. The Cubs could decline the option and hope to resign him for less, or just take the option. I bet they take the option.

Cary,

Certainly you hope that's true, but the Padres and Dodgers have matched up with each other on several trades in the past. It's almost like the Cubs and the Pirates. Given the fact that Peavy is an ace though, and not someone like Maddux, you'd think that they'd try to keep him out of the division at all costs

And I would hope that the Padres wouldn't want to trade Peavy within their own division.

According to MLBTradeRumors:

"9:53pm: More from Olney. The Padres are aggressively shopping Peavy, with the Braves and Dodgers two possible suitors. Olney's sources believe Peavy will be dealt "in the weeks ahead." The Padres want two young pitchers and a near MLB-ready center fielder in return. The Braves and Dodgers could both meet that demand."

I hope we get into that mix with a package of Pie, Marshall and Hart/Guzman.

The Braves won't include Jurggeins in any trade, and their farm system is not deep in pitching currently.

And from that last of FA's, I would only consider Wood and Edmonds as high on the list. Dempster's 2008 was truly great, but I just don't know if he can replicate near that. So if we can retain him at a "don't break the bank price", great. Ideally, you get Dempster signed, produce a great trade for Peavy, and then finally jetison Marquis to some poor taker.

The Red Sox showed heart of a true champion last night. Can you imagine how we would have laid down and died under the same circumstances?

Their individual stats aren't glaringly better than the Cubs. They just play though with a passion and will to win.

I would have loved to have seen a Soriano's level of effort and energy with 7 runs down and 7 outs to go. He would have had his off season bags packed already.