how bout getting kerry wood back the indians don't want him.

Here's a shout out to Aaron, I wouldn't call it a "mancrush", but he was right 2 months ago

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2010/03/blalock-deciding-between-rays-and-marlins.html

Blalock signs for about $1.25M on a minor league deal. He hit 25 bombs last season. Probably would only be good @ 1B. I can't remember what we signed Millar for but I assure you Hank has more left in the tank than him

got one for you:

http://blogs.chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/rosenblog/2010/03/top-of-the-cubs-order-always-hits-bottom.html

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The more Milton Bradley talks, the more irresponsible, if not delusional, he sounds. He’s reiterating that he felt like a prisoner in his own home in Chicago, the home he reportedly skipped out while owing rent, and felt Piniella should apologize to him in front of the whole team for calling him a “piece of (naughty word).’’ Bradley has never taken responsibility for his failures. It has never been the fault of any of his multi-polar personalities. He’s crazy, but we all knew that, and whatever he says will be no surprise.

[But here’s the deal: The more Bradley opens his mouth, the more it underscores that Jim Hendry should’ve been so fired for such an abject and expensive failure] in investigating the background of a guy whose team-wrecking history was as obvious as Terrell Owens’.

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All you have to do is look at Dunn and Abreu as obvious, less expensive options to know that Hendry most definitely should be fire. I don't think anyone can dispute the fact that if we had either of them instead of Bradley, we would've been in the playoffs, and possibly even World Series (even with ARAM being injured), because our pitching was THAT good last year in the rotation.

I've already predicted this year that Lee, ARAM, and Soriano will see significant DL time and/or reduction in stats due to age, and I think it's worth noting replacements such as Nady and Tracy already have their own issues.

All you have to do is look at comparatives to know just how bad Hendry really is:

Byrd vs Ankiel: 3 yrs, $15 million ($3 million this year) vs 1 yr, $3.25 million

*Ankiel is 2 1/2 years younger, and has a more explosive bat, and more athleticism, but I digress

Nady vs Dye: 1 yr, $3.3 million (up to $5 million in incentives) vs not even signed yet, and probably could be had for far less, PLUS, is NOT coming off injury like Nady (oh, and Dye crushes the ball at Wrigley...just sayin'...)

Tracy vs Blalock: 1 yr, $900k (worth up to $1.45 million) vs 1 yr, $925k (worth up to $1.325). While Blalock also has injury issues, he plays the same positions as Tracy, didn't have microfracture surgery, which is almost always career threatening in athletes, AND, as recently as last season, hit 25 home runs

Now, given Hendry's history, are you willing to trust him with his moves? That's almost like trusting our government with running healthcare, when they've destroyed every other entitlement program. They just don't have a clue with anything, just as Hendry doesn't learn from his own history, Congress doesn't look around the world and learn from other's histories...(sorry to get all political, but that's the best analogy I had right now)

Aaron, your case is strong against Hendry...but JH did not sign Nady until Dye turned him down...can't hang JH for Dye.

I think the Cubs signing Tracy is the better comparison to Blalock signing. Tracy received $900,00 on a minor league contract.

Possible trade destination for Blanco/Fontenot or Barney??? Do they have any RHP we might be interested in???

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2010/03/roberts-injury-may-prompt-orioles-to-explore-trade-market.html

If you think about it, Nady has the

potential to be a huge difference maker

in this year's offense...glad he's ready to start testing his arm.

Xavier Nady is in today's starting lineup ... just posted in Twitter

Bradley is at it again.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-0310-bits-cubs-chicago-spring-trai20100309,0,100829.story

Why doesn't this guy just shut up and play ball? It's never his fault. Always blames someone else. Talk about wasted talent.

JH has to decide what he wants to do:

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2010/03/twins-interested-in-jason-frasor.html

If he just decides to stay inhouse...I understand...but if he's on the fence...he needs to get off it.

Nomar is one of those guys you'll

always wonder about...like K Wood...

How good could he have been if he hadn't

been injury plagued?

Early in his career, the debate in Boston

was "who's better?...Nomar or Jeter?

One has to wonder what might have been.

Remember how excited we were when Hendry

got him? Then PHFISSSLLL POOF...nada...

like the history of the Cubs.

I hope our current injury-risk star, (Nady) does better.

Rumor has it that Nomar was a PEDS cheat, and once he started dating Mia Hamm (and later married her), supposedly she told him to stop, and that's when you saw a rash of injuries.

He still made out like a king with all his contracts/sponsors though.

As for Wood, nobody can compare to that guy in terms of raw talent and bad luck. He had as much talent as Nolan Ryan (if not more, because of his body type), but just couldn't stay healthy.

The fact is, in recent history, the Cubs have been so piss poor at developing their own talent, that they couldn't identify and fix mechanical flaws that led to Wood's injuries until it was too late, and even then, it was Wood, working with trainers down in Arizona that fixed his flaws, and NOT Rothschild or anyone else in the organization. Wood has been on record as saying it was his fault for not fixing his mechanics, but he's a stand-up guy, and I don't think he'd blame anyone, although we know full well the poor player development exhibited by this franchise.

I hope we find a way to get Wood back. He's an outstanding player, and an even better teammate. I also believe his stats from last year are inflated simply by pitching in the AL, and I believe his stats will come back to the norm when/if he comes back to the NL. Pitchers almost always struggle in the AL, because of the DH, and if they go from the NL, it's the lack of familiarity with the hitters. At any rate, I wish him luck, and I hope he finds his way back in a Cubs uniform. Perhaps we could trade Fukudome for Wood, or Soriano for Wood....LOL

Neil, thank you for the roster report. I am very interested in Mateo. I know you and I had talked at the end of last year about the Cubs releasing him altogether from the 40-man, but I had no idea that he was throwing in the high 90's. I'm kind of flabbergasted why the Cubs were messing with him as starter, when he showed good promise in relief. I also want to find out if Dolis has what it takes to succeed in this league.

If we had Dolis, Mateo, Caridad, and Marmol at the end, with Russell, Grabow, and Marshall before them, I think we'd have a very good pen. After all, Marmol had to receive a chance at some point, and I'm glad they gave it to him.

Do you think Nomar took roids?

My suspect list:

Nomar

Wood

Prior

Alou

Thome

Pudge Rodriguez

Juan Gonzalez

Steve Finley

Luis Gonzalez

Rusty Greer

Rich Aurillia

Jeff Kent

Did Nomar take Roids ?

Does a Bear **** in the woods ?

:-)

We'll never know...it seems possible.

On your list...It doesn't seem to jive with Thome's personality...but who knows?

I just hate the whole Roid's thing...all my childhood trust...violated.

Yes, I wonder how good the Cubs would have been with Prior, Wood, Guzman, and Z all healthy. Would have been really nice when you throw in Lilly and Dumpster.

And if we'd have kept Aardsma and Wuertz to go along with Marmol. . . .

Nomar will announce his retirement today

Very interesting that there is not even one All-Star (Banks williams Santo Sandberg Maddux etc) caliber player on the team brought in through the draft. Sorry Soto has not proved anything yet.

The Sporting News take on the Brewers' 2010 team: http://today.sportingnews.com/sportingnewstoday/20100310?sub_id=CYmp0bX8JP9VK&folio=CGI#pg28

They don't have a decent catcher. Their CF is suspect. And their #4 and #5 are worse than the Cubs'. But they have two at the end of the bullpen: Hoffman and Hawkins.

Neil - Of the Non-Roster Invitees, who will we lose if they are not added to the 40 man roster. I know many are in our system, and some signed minor league contracts as well. The 2 names that are coming to mind are Thomas Diamond and Brad Snyder. We should have the room to add players as we do have some redundancy on our 40 man, but we have quite a few non-roster invitees that I could see be added, now or during the year.

Pitchers - Diamond, Cashner, Russell

Position Players - Snyder, Barney, Castro(later in year), Millar, Tracy, LaHair

Could be taken off of 40 Man (cut, traded, etc)

Adduci/Fuld - one or both could be expendable if Colvin, Snyder's D is above avg

Patton/Parisi - Rule 5 picks from 2009/10

Hoffpauir - Many other options

Blanco - If he doesn't make team he is gone, Barney assumes his role and can stay off of 40 Man until needed

Silva - I know it's a lot of dough to swallow, but Mr. Ricketts, add it to the cost of team and it will seem ok.

As happens every year, some players will be gone by the time the Cubs play Atlanta.

Tony, Diamond and Snyder signed minor league contracts so no risk there.

On Tracy and Millar, I do not recall them having an out if they do not make the big league club out of Spring Training ... like Jim Edmonds does.

Parisi would be offered back as you mentioned. I am hearing Patton will start the year in Double-A.