If the Cubs are going to sell the farm for Peavy and add 90 mill with his contract why not make an offer to CC??

my point is that i do not want to get rid of harden to get peavy. it does not help us out. we really gain nothing we have a peavy eske starter in harden. i am all for getting peavy if it means not dumping harden. to me it is a waste of prospects dumping harden and getting peavy....

i read that kaplan would agree with the peavy trade if it didn't include vitters.. i disagree..

i would say that i agree with the trade if it didn't involve marshall.. he is a major part of this bullpen/rotation.. he is a young, cheap, capable, proven, lefty and would be a HUGE loss for a team that is already down a man in the pen

Good Winter Meeting fo JH.....Dunn/Abreau for right field, B. Roberts for 2nd base, and J. Peavy for the ace of the staff....Make it happen JH!!

"Adding Peavy and losing Marshall makes our rotation that much more lefthanded" I meant righthanded

How is the payroll raised to 140-145 mill and we can't afford to bring back Wood??????? We are going to need him in the bullpen. Tell Lou to get over it.

Still think that Peavy would be a bad trade. Yes he is a good pitcher but all the experts say he is a #2 guy in the rotation and he looks to be breaking down. All you have to do is look at his Road #'s.

The Cubs need a leadoff hitter. The Cubs should be looking for a guy who's a lefty or SH who can play RF or center and leadoff. Could Pie fill that role if given a chance? Could Fontenot leadoff? Will Fukudome have a bounce back year making a new RF useless? Will Rich Hill be back?

Adding Peavy and losing Marshall makes our rotation that much more lefthanded. I read that the Cubs are going to look at putting Samardzija in the rotation in ST??????? I still like David DeJesus in a trade with the Royals.

No way is the Shark going to the rotation this year if we get Peavy, and eben if we don't it's very unlikely. For one, too many studs ahead of him and for two he still needs to develop a third pitch.

Another reason the Shark is not going to be in the rotation next year is because they need him in the bullpen.

You've got a point there Aaron about the metal/wood bats.

I think it might also have something to do with physical development. Pitching is more about mechanics than strength. So a pitcher that can throw in the mid-90's isn't going to throw slower when he gets to the majors. Batters on the other hand that crush a 75-mph heater might suffer as the competition improves.

Also, pitching is a little easier to scout. You can gauge speed, movement of pitches, ability to hit the location the catcher sets up, etc. It's quantifiable. 95 mph is better than 85... a 12-6 curve that breaks more than another with accuracy can be evaluated and graded.

When they start moving through the minors, those tangible measurements still stand up and improve slightly with time. Then it's a matter of seeing if those translate into those pitchers being able maintain their control and for them to miss the sweet spots of the bats more often than not.

Batting though is more reactive. And while there are things you CAN scout and measure.... speed, bat speed through the zone, eye/hand coordination metrics, form.... their ability to put it all together and hit a round ball with a round bat occurs against players that are generally of much lower quality than they'll face in the next level.

And that persists through out each level - high school... college... rookie through A through AAA - the pitchers a higher levels are progressively better (and smarter and more experienced as well). Then it's up to the batters to catch up - to adapt - to develop further.

Those that can keep moving up - those that can't stagnate.

Plus coming back around to Aaron... metal bats can be a lot more forgiving of batter mistakes. A jammed batter with a metal bat and a little oomph can still muscle the ball over the infield - but a wooden bat is in pieces and the ball trickles weakly to short.

Interesting argument though :-)

We could use Furcal...huge improvement at SS, if he stays healthy, and then a fontenot/theriot platoon at 2B, frees up DeRosa for supersub duties, making our bench that much stronger.

Getting a lefty bat for the sake of a lefty bat is stupid. I would rather have 8 solid righty hitters, than a couple of mediocre leftys to "balance the lineup".

So I have no interest in Raul Ibanez. Decent/average player, but he will only hit 20 hrs, and his defense isn't that great...so what is the point? Just stick with Hoffpauir in that case, and save a ton of money. I expect Fukudome will have the typical 2nd year improvement that most players new to the Cubs seem to have.

By all means, we should get Peavy...trade the farm...we have a short championship window...need to go for it now. But if we have to part with Harden to get Peavy, then that is not really a smart move. Peavy may be more durable, but Harden has the best stuff in MLB, and he showed it last year. If we add Peavy, we need to keep Zambrano, Demp, Harden, and Lilly to make it worthwhile...otherwise you are just replacing something that didn't need replacing really. What an impressive starting 5 that would be, by the way!!

I want to know what we are doing in CF??? Is the plan to move Fukudome to CF, and bring the new bat in RF?

I say, sign Furcal, move Theriot/Fontenot to 2B, move Fukudome to CF, and move DeRosa/Hoffpauir to RF. Great balance, with quality supersubs.

I really only see two moves then:

Sign Furcal

Trade for Peavy

That is all we need.

No way is Harden going to the Padres...and I don't see him going to the "third team" either. Harden is in the final year of his contract, a team is not likely to trade for him under those circumstances, especially the Padres.

Jason B:

I agree with you as well on Furcal and Peavy. We are kind of set at 2b with Fontenot/DeRosa. We need help at SS and I would love to see Hendry swing a deal for Peavy. I'm not saying he needs to empty the farm for him but within reason.

Jim (TP), LOL...very funny. I'm arriving early, so I'm hoping to catch a few early birds...who knows...Contrary to waht many of you think on here, I've actually met him before in St. Louis at a Cardinals game. He was really nice, and he knew a couple guys that I knew via Creighton and other high school coaches that I knew, etc.

That being said I've always suggested that he was great in the player development role, specifically with pitchers for some odd reason. I think his fault, to a certain degree, might hit home with some of you Bears fans. Lovie Smith was BFF's with Babich, and ran the best defensive coordinator we've had since Buddy Ryan out of town. That buddy buddy system is exactly what has befallen Hendry. He was very close with Baker when he was here, which was a problem, because he didn't regulate the behavior of his players, relationships with Chip and Stoney, etc. Additionally, he seems to have close relationships with his scouting and player development departments, etc. While that's great to be on the same page as those guys, it can also be your downfall, especially if they can't bring the goods. I actually think it's best if you bring unlike personalities together at that level, so you have a sort of self-imposed check and balance system.

For instance, let's say you are completely sold on a certain type of player like a huge power guy, lower OBP, while another guy is pro-OBP, and less enamored with huge power...it's best when they hash out their reasons for wanting their guys than if it were two similar personalities.

See, I think Wilken might've been a good farm director for the Blue Jays, because he had a contrasting viewpoint from the top. Any of you have an idea of what Colvin's OBP was in college? Well it was in the .350's to start, then .320's, then he supposedly "broke out" as a junior with a .410 OBP. Now, that was with a metal bat. Most big talent guys in college that I know of, have at least a .330-.370 avg in college with at least a .400 OBP. Guys that hit weakly in college with metal bats often translate very poorly to wood bats. Conversely, pitchers that struggle in metal bat leagues, often come out with better stats against wood bats, and pitchers that excel against metal bats, often DOMINATE wood bats, which is often why it's easier to project pitching talent than it is to project hitting talent, but as mentioned above, it's generally a rule of thumb (hey, that kinda rhymes, huh?...above---thumb----okay, maybe not...LOL)

Well, I'll try to keep you all posted, and when I hear something, hopefully it'll be "breaking news"

i would love to get peavy. that would be the best rotation in baseball. sick of hearing all the roberts rumors. if we do get roberts does derosa play right field?

chicagocubsfanshop.com

I think it's a mistake to include Vitters. Peavy, though he would be nice to add, is not the piece that's needed. Starting pitching was not a sore spot and our rotation is perfectly fine even if Dempster underwhelms this year.

If they do, in fact, have new money to spend I would rather see them pick up a left-handed bat, but more importantly a leadoff hitter, such as Roberts... provided MacPhail doesn't ask for too, too much. These are the pieces that MATTER. The pieces that could put the Cubs over the top.

If they trade for Peavy, whom scouts say plays like a number 2 starter away from Petco, they're left with potentially the same post season mess... who gets to start the three games in which the Cubs get swept? Would it be Harden, Z, and Peavy while Lilly and Demp sit and the hitters shit the bed at the plate and pee their pants in the field

I know that there is a "win now" mentality within the fan base and the organization at the present time, and do not get me wrong, I am grateful for this, as it is making us competitive year in and year out, and it has been a blast.

That being said, the more I really look at it, I am just not sure we really need to add many pieces offensively at all. This may be against popular opinion, but I am a little nervous that we may over evaluate and add pieces that are going to change the chemistry/dynamics of the team that won a ton of games last year.

The more I think about it, I think we may already have the majority of what we need right now. I am a little skeptical of not having a true lead-off hitter but besides for that, I say let Fontenot be the left-handed bat we need in the order and generally be the everyday 2B. His numbers were great last year in limited opportunity. Get Soriano out of the lead-off spot and let Theriot do this job, Dero could then be used in RF/utility, Fuku/Reed in center.

Then I say we load up on pitching, we have risks all over the place. Z and Harden to start. Dempster had a career year last season, and as I love the guy am a bit nervous on counting on him to repeat his production. We now have some unknown expectations for the back end of the rotation, maybe we spend some money to sure this up with another reliable arm out there.

So I guess my conclusion to this rambling is that I am on board with the Peavy deal and would like to see our organization while in "win mode" maybe give Font a chance to play everyday!

Bo, let me help you. When you have the chance to acquire a 27 year old #1 starter, you do it, especially if you want a WS. They have the $$ to get the important LH bat too. We won't let them off the hook for that.

Anybody think Garret Anderson in RF would be good? His stats aren't that far behind Abreu's in the last few years, and he is only 2 years older. Might be a much better value than Abreu.

I do not understand the thought process of aquiring Peavy. Sure he is a great arm but pitching is not our weakness. We need a LEFT HANDED bat to balance the lineup. They are talking about moving Harden to make room for Peavy. That makes no sense. We need to win now. Harden's stuff is just as nasty if not nastier than Peavy's. If we are to trade our entire farm system we need to do it to fill our most glaring need and that is a Left handed bat. I wish someone would explain the thought process of having to get peavy.....

Two thoughts. Wouldn't it make sense to include Marquis & his bad contract as a demand for a Peavy trade? Bad contract for bad contract? Marquis in his final year is the incentive. Hendry should use this leaverage! Second, the Robert's trade would have to put Fontenot out to pasture (which I would hate), as now there are way to many second basemen. You would have to move him, as I don't see DeRosa leaving anytime soon. DeRo has no choice but to move to RF if Roberts is acquired, and he would be the back up to Roberts at second then. I think McPhail craves Pie. Its time to move on something with that.

Wouldn't it be cool if Aaron met Hendry this week in Vegas and they became friends and Aaron landed some type of consulting job with the Cubs.

Yeah, I'm not thinking Aaron would have many kind things to say to Hendry....

Hendry is a nice guy though. The picture I use for my profile here is of me and Hendry at a spring game a couple years ago.....obviously St Pattys Day with the green hat he has on....

The Cubs have incredibly just raised ticket prices for the better season ticket packages by approximately 17%. Clubs boxes are now $100 each for prime games, field boxes $85, bleachers $60. Kenney stated that the new rates have been implemented to better replicate market values i.e., specifically what the tickets could be sold for on Stub Hub. Also because of the increased payroll and "improved amenities" for the fans.

Pretty bold move in light of the troubling economic times. Not sure how many businesses think they are so bullet proof they can stick their customers with a 17% during this period. We'll see if the increases are truly used to add payroll or pay for past moves and back loaded contracts... and also see if these increases will stick.