OK, I am even more confused about this offseason. We will spend $500,000 on a back up catcher, but we will not spend $750,000 on Henry Blanco. Who we know would still help mentor Geo Soto. I think that would have been money well spent if we got Hank White for another year at $750,000. Bako is horrible, I know he is left handed, but an extra left handed bat, like once or twice a month. Come on JH, what are you thinking?

What about taking a flier on pudge? There is no interest but he says he id down ro 195 lbs and in great shape.

Seemed like everytime the tv cameras would cut to Lou in the dugout, Blanco was within earshot. From everything I've read it sounded as though Blanco would pursue a career in managing after his player days. I hope he comes back to the Cubs organization after his playing days are over.

There are still other moves that will be made, but this one doesn't make sense. $750,000 versus $500,000 (or less) is not divergent enough to negate interest in re-signing Blanco. Bako and Hill are quite similar. Hill provides good defense, as does Blanco. But I'd rather have Blanco's bat, arm, pitch-calling, and veteran poise. I'm mostly a JH fan, but this one appears to blow.

are you guys rly complaining about henry blanco? soto is just going to play more games this year and koyie hill or paul bako is fine. my god

No sweat, Blanco will be sent back to us in the Peavy trade.

Seriously, money has nothing to do with Blanco not being brought back.

Bako or Hill be fine playing once a week, and they can hit lefty which was the objective. Lou's objective, not JH.

it has nothing to do with his production. losing an outstanding leader in wood, and the dugout presence of dero, and a managerial presence in hank that is three pretty big blows right there. i love hendry and i think he does a great job, and sometimes you have to sit back and say that they know something you dont. i just hope it all works for us...

Let's hope that JH ends up with someone more productive than Bako or Hill--like Valentin. Catchers need more rest and are likely to get dinged up and miss games. That makes the backup guy very important. Pudge likely won't play for less than $4 mil and probably expects a lot of playing time--so I don't see Pudge in Blue.

MLB Trade Rumors references a RotoAuthority researcher on overworked pitchers. Throw over 3500 pitches in a season and the liklihood of significant arm injurie the next season rises sharply. The implication is that two to four of 10 pitchers in the category wil have serious arm issues.

The top eight pitchers in # of pitches thrown in declining order from 3900 to 3600 are: Hamels, CC, Myers, Lester, Lincecm, Burnett, Cain and Santana. Our most worked guy was Dempster at 3450. He ranked 18th overall. It looks like the Yanks, Phils and Giants (with two high risk guys each) are the most vulnerable.

Pudge is a non-factor: he considers himself a starter, and would be a hurt more than a help. Bako is coming from the Ex-Cubs and, out of all of them, had the best season of them all, so he'd be a bit more of a help than he was before. And Koyie? He can calm Z down and come up with big, clutch plays, but that is about it.

JimK, interesting facts on seasonal pitching load to injury ratios. Takes a longer range view than the 100+ per game milestone managers, fans, and the media always focus on.

Would love to see more analysis on that topic.

Bako is a bad choice. Based on personal experience, his work habits are poor. If we trade for Peavy, we need to make sure we get Peavy and Hank White back from San Diego. We don't need another left handed bat (Bako) who is really marginal.