A conversation with Andy MacPhail
For 12 years, Andy MacPhail was the top guy at Wrigley Field as president and CEO of the Cubs. He also spent two years with general manager as his title, from the middle of the 2000 season through July 2002.
The Tribune Co. hired MacPhail to bring credibility back to a team that had fallen into chaos in the early 1990s. They also thought MacPhail could bring a World Series title to the North Side after overseeing two world championships with the Minnesota Twins.
One of the most respected men in baseball for his integrity, MacPhail could not get the Cubs over the hump, and he resigned in October 2006.
He now serves as president of baseball operations for the Baltimore Orioles. During the general managers meetings this week at O’Hare, MacPhail touched on a few Cubs topics with a couple of Chicago writers, including me, in the wake of the club recently being sold by the Tribune Co. to the Ricketts family.
MacPhail on the Ricketts family’s contention that the Cubs will be better off with family ownership: "I hope they're right. I would love to see, as I think we all would, the Cubs get in the World Series. I'm glad they're taking the approach that they are. They're optimistic as they should be. They've been in the postseason two out of the last three years, so I hope that day comes. I never felt like we were terribly impaired (by corporate ownership). Some years more than others. But payroll didn't keep us from winning."
Was the Tribune Co. unfairly maligned as an owner? "It doesn't really matter. There comes a time, you just have to win. You know what I mean? It's just one of these driven games where over time, you might have gotten close a couple of times, but you just needed to kind of push it over the edge.
“But I think when someone looks at their stewardship over a long period of time...I've talked about this before. They used to close the upper deck at Wrigley Field (for lack of attendance). People forget. You got to the point where you're routinely drawing 3 million. That was a function of public acceptance to some degree. There was a reason 3 million people were coming through those gates. The Tribune couldn't have been that bad that if the reception among the public was you were averaging over 3 million. But we didn't win, or they didn't win the World Series or get to the World Series. In the end, that kind of gets to be the measuring stick, and that's our sport."
Do you ever think of how different things might have been had the Cubs made it to the 2003 World Series after coming within five outs? "I'd like to have seen it happen for one reason, and I think about this with 1984 with Dallas Green and the Cubs then, just to get that monkey off that franchise’s back, if for no other reason than to get to the World Series so you wouldn't have that to deal with. And that day will happen. They'll get to that day.
“But I don't think there's any general manager in here that wouldn't tell you that you need to have one of those years where everything kind of works for you. To get over the hump, a lot of good things have to happen in terms of being healthy and getting some surprise performances. It happened to us a couple times in Minnesota where you stayed healthy and had some big years out of guys and things break right for you. I've got a World Series ring because Lonnie Smith (of the Braves in 1991) didn't pick up a ball that was hit in the outfield. That's just how the game works."
All teams brag about their prospects. Will Samandja ever be a decent pither, not of what
we've all seen so far. Give him a chance ? He's had many chances and looks awful.
Prospects-prospects- Colvin, Vittner, Cashner, Castro ?, hope so, but I don't count on it.
Marlon Byrd-hit good for the Rangers, like Gary Matthews Jr. and Bradley, besides he's
right handed, probably wants more then the Cubs should pay, and turned into a fly ball
hitter, NO THANKS. Same with Cameron, too old, might as well platoon & resign Johnson
and Fuld. JIM HENDRY- PLEASE !! LOOK INTO COCO CRISP,( CENTERFIELDER, FAST,STEALS BASES, SWITCHHITTER AND LEADOFF TYPE). FORGET THE DREAM OF TRADING FOR GRANDERSON, WE ALL LIKE HIM, BUT HE CAN'T HIT LEFT HANDED,and what do the Cubs have the Tigers need, a catcher-no, starting pitcher-no.shortstop or secound
baseman-no.
Rumor concerning Hallady, if true what do the Blue Jays want from the Cubs, i'd like to know.
D.Lee free agent after 2010 season, would the Cubs resign him. or should they keep Hoffpauir or Jake Fox for possible replacement.
is for the Cubs to trade for Curtis Granderson for CF, sign Joel Pineiro, and trade Bradley for Luis Castillo in some sort of 3 way trade.
If they can obtain Halladay, great. But it would not be top priority for me. If the Cubs were going to make a big deal, they should capitalize on Derrek Lee's resurgence and trade him to the Orioles, Angels, Mets, Giants, etc and try to get Adrian Gonzalez for 1st base. Would be a much better use of prospects, and would free up cash. I still wouldn't trade Castro though. Shortstop prospects are just too valuable.
Derrek Lee isn't going anywhere.
People don't care. They ignore these *minor* details.
From a stability standpoint...do you think he might accept a trade if he was given an extension from the team that aquires him? Again, I'm on your side about the not trade clause. However, since he is in the last year of his contract and most likely not coming back here would he consider a trade with an extension.
I don't see a team giving a 35 year old 1B in the last year of his contract an extension.
1st off, he'd get to pick and choose where he wanted to go. That right there limits his trade value.
2nd off, that team would have to have an opening at 1B. There were 20 first baseman last year that put up an OPS of 830 or better, and 13, nearly HALF the league's worth of 1B that put up an OPS over 900. Its not exactly a position that's tough to get production from and definitely not worth a premature multi year deal to a 35 year old.
Any team would wait until after the season to decide on re-signing him most likely.
My guess is no; I think he likes being a Cub. (Also, I think Piniella and Hendry like him and don't want to trade him.)
agree, Lee won't waive his NT clause and like you say Lou and Hendry like him. business wise he should not be signed after this year, his age and contract dictate that. at the same time they don't seem to have a future guy to replace him as far as I know.
I read that talk about Gonzalez coming here (Sox), Paul K. to Angels, and prospects to S.D. I thought, why don't the Cubs take the Sox place, Lee to Angels, he's better than Paul K. Gonzalez is lefty, younger, and good D.
Cashner and Vitter maybe, those others you mentioned could be used as trade bait, build them up as good prospects.
Granderson and Hallady would be fine for the Cubs, but what would the have to give up.
Or better yet, what have they got to give up.
No Byrd please, he's right handed and has turned into a fly boy hitter, which fit into the
Rangers ball park. Besides like Bradley and Matthews Jr. failed when leaving Ranger ballpark.
Cameron, Ok perhaps good enough for 1 or 2 years at his age, and he's also right handed.
I keep saying see if CoCo Crisp is healthy, plays good centerfield, and is a leadoff hitter.
Probably cheaper then Byrd or Cameron for 2010.
Our we really excieted about prospects, Cashner, Atkins, Colvin, Vittner and Samardzja,or will they be Pattesons, Pie's .
Remeber people D.Lee and Lilly's contracts are up the end of 2010.
they won't get much unless a team is desperate and gives them their whole farm system, .
Castro is the Cubs future 2nd baseman, Hak-Ju Lee the SS, Marmol is their closer/set-up man, Cashner is their future closer.
so I'd give them Theriot, Fox, Ryu, Hoffpauir, Colvin, and Gorzellany. lol, won't happen.
Fox and Hoffpauir would be good AL DH/players with the small parks especially at the Cell.
Gorzellany is lefty.
Colvin, Ryu are prospects.
Theriot.
Hendry is a bad poker player. we could get rid of salary if we throw Hendry and Lou in that deal.
ok I'm joking, don't get bent out of shape.
everyone have a great thanksgiving.
Reported by Cubs.com and a few other sources. This is a surprise, at least to me. Apparently the Cubs have some players/prospects the Blue Jays like. Seems like to me that Hendry should pursue this and see what they have in mind. I wonder if the Blue Jays would be interested in replacing Halladay with Dempster who is signed to a reasonable contract, is a solid major league pitcher, and who is Canadian. Dempster, and a package of prospects would be my hope.
like Castro for 1 year of Halladay. they have ZERO interest in $36 million of Ryan Dempster.
But there aren't getting Castro for 1 year of Halladay. I would think they might be interested in guys like Cashner though, and I would include him and guys like him in a package. I would even give them Theriot right now if they want a young cheap SS option. My starting offer would be Dempster, Cashner, Fox, and Ryu or Theriot. That is a pretty good haul for 1 year of anybody.
The point of trading Halladay would be shedding payroll, not bringing on Dempster just because he's Canadian. Based on the other packages the Jays are asking for from other teams it would be Castro, Cashner, Marmol and probably one other prospect. There has been talk of the Jays allowing team a window to negotiate a long term deal with Roy before the trade is finalized, so that will only help them get more out of teams.
to get VALUE for Halladay. The Blue Jays don't necessarily need to shed payroll. They are not in firesale mode. They want to trade him while they can still get value for him, because he has said he is NOT going to resign with them.
I can tell you, if they asked for Castro, Cashner, Marmol and another prospect, then they are no longer talking to Jim Hendry.
Hendry isn't going to deal Castro and he shouldn't. That kid looks like a stud in the making. I do suspect that Toronto would be looking for a major league ready SP or two in the deal however, and that very well could be Randy Wells. Considering that Gorzellany is really a SP rather than a reliever and that the Cubs are already down a SP if Harden is allowed to walk, Gorzellany could slip into Harden's spot and Halladay into Wells' spot. That would give the Cubs a legit Ace and two lefties in the rotation and quite possibly the best rotation in the majors. Could it happen? It's not likely, but the Cubs would only be adding $8.75M by exchanging Harden for Halladay and another $4.6M in salary increases combined for Z and Demp. So that's a $13.35M increase for the rotation.
Hendry appears to be comfortable with Marmol, Guzman, Grabow, and Marshall in the pen, along with some mix of Caridad, Stevens, Berg, Samardzija, Gaub, Jackson, Parker, Cashner, Carpenter, or possibly Dolis. Or he could add an inexpensive veteran or two if necessary to fill out the pen. If they move Fuk to RF and go cheap in CF, and get the Mets to eat some of Castillo's salary, OR deal for another RBI bat in Uggla and go with budget rate defense in CF (Fuld/Johnson platoon?), they could still have enough offense with any sort of rebound by Soriano and Soto. Oh well, something to wish for with Christmas just around the corner.
Toronto already had Randy Wells for free from the Cubs when they took him in the Rule 5 draft and gave him back. To then have to trade Roy Halladay to get him back wouldn't look too good and therefore will not happen.
Halladay to the Cubs isn't happening. Plain and simple.
It may not look good, but they didn't exactly give him back. They provided the Cubs or any other team the opportunity to select Wells because teams can only protect so many players at one time. They either thought there was a decent chance that Wells wouldn't be drafted or they had enough prospects that they ranked above him. Keep in mind that was well before Wells posted a 3.05 ERA in his rookie season. I don't think it's going to happen either, but Toronto is going to want at least one or two major leaguers for Halladay, not just future prospects that may not pan out.
another Neifi Perez or Aaron Miles deal it sounds like...
This by Dave Cameron of FanGraphs
According to Paul Sullivan, the Cubs will announce later today that they have re-signed John Grabow to a two year contract. Previous reports have put the value of the deal at $7.5 million.
Once again, we’re witness to the power of ERA as a negotiating tool. Over the last two seasons, Grabow’s thrown nearly 150 innings and posted an ERA of 3.09, giving the impression that he’s a high quality LH reliever. Yet again, ERA misleads.
Grabow’s FIP the last two years? 4.37, thanks to an atrociously high walk total. The entirety of his low ERA over the last two years is driven by an 82 percent rate of stranding runners, which is just not sustainable. He’s succeeded by putting men on base and then wiggling out of jams, but that’s not the same thing as pitching well.
It would be one thing if Grabow had developed this knack for stranding runners by elevating his strikeout rate, but he’s not any different now than he has been for his entire career.
Instead, he’s just posted artificially low BABIPs the last two years, and by not giving up hits, he was able to keep the guys he walked on the bases. That’s not a recipe for success.
Grabow is a generic left-handed middle reliever, the kind of guy you’re fine having for the league minimum but that you don’t really want to pay any real money to. He’s eminently replaceable, but the Cubs have decided to commit real money to him over multiple years because he has a low ERA.
The Cubs have money, and $3.75 million isn’t going to drastically alter their budget, but this is just a waste of cash. Betting on reliever ERA is a great way to get burned, and given Grabow’s actual talent levels, the Cubs are unlikely to be very happy with how this deal turns out for them.
I don't think many other teams would have stolen him away if the Cubs simply offered arb since he was a Type A, but maybe someone would have. At least there's no indication of a player option.
Plus, if someone would have signed him they would have received pick compensation. 1st or 2nd rounder plus, the sandwich pick between the first and second round. Hendry could have used the Arbitration to push the price down.
It looks like we are all in agreement, at least those who have posted thus far. $7.5M for two years for John Grabow? If the budget is tight and payroll is only expected to increase slightly, then why waste so much on Grabow? Most of the increase in payroll is going to come from raises for the current players and there will be nothing left if Hendry elects to build the team backwards like this. What would have been so wrong with offering him arbitration anyways? He wouldn't have gotten that much in arbitration and they only would have had to sign him for one year that way. And they might have gotten two draft picks for him if he signed with another team. In any event, they could have driven his price down a bit. He's just not worth $3.75M/yr, period. Seems like another Soriano deal, just an extremely scaled down version...bidding against themselves to overpay for another player. What's the next move on tap, to lock up Aaron Miles for another couple of years and support it by saying they believe he just had a hiccup and will bounce back and be the player he's capable of being for the next couple of years?
Overpaying yet again for a relief pitcher. All he had to do was offer arbitration. But nope. Like the post above referencing Fangrahs says, waste of money.
At least they got rid of Heilman.
Two steps back, one step forward.
Great news about the Brickhouse statue!
Check out chicagobaseballmuseum.org
Ricketts essentially told Henry not to eat much of anyone's (big) contract
Henry signs that batting coach
B. Williams says he'll talk to Bradley (in trib)
teams will take Bradley if Cubs pay most of his contract, not happening
recently Theriot or a Cub said they'd "welcome Bradley back if he changed", not happening. i read that or heard it somewhere. maybe it was on Waddle & Silve. don't quote me on that
could we have the same OF in 2010?
Bruce Miles and others are wrong on this subject. While I think the organization wanted desperately to move Bradley the reality of things is his contract is immovable AND the Cubs have screaming need for a left-handed stick in that lineup.
Bradley isn't going anywhere.
Or the Cubs are creating a sense that they may be willing to keep him in order to marginally drive up his value. They aren't going to throw him under the bus and cut all ties with because then teams know they'll be forced to cut him and won't offer anything at all to the Cubs.
he's gone.
for Granderson or almost anyone. A prospect who is likely to be a star at Shortstop is more valuable than a prospect at any other position. He has tremendous value and when guys like Jim Callis and Keith Law are referring to him as a future star who could be the Cubs shortstop by the end of 2010, those words should not be taken lightly. Trade Vitters if you like. We have a 3rd baseman signed for 3 more years, but no way should Hendry trade Castro. I would even trade Theriot if Detroit wanted him, and either go with Castro or Blanco.
If the scouting reports about Castro are correct Hendry would be foolish to trade him. Quality shortstops don't come along everyday. Castro could solidify the position for the next ten years. The only way I'd even consider including Castro is if adding Granderson makes us a legitimate World Series contender right now. I don't think it does. It would be nice to every few years develop a position player out of you farm system. Overpaying free agents isn't getting the Cubs anywhere.
Lots of talk recently about the Tigers trading Granderson. Plus hype earlier in the fall about the Rays needing to trade either Upton or Crawford. Who is a better fit for the Cubs? Crawford has more speed and is a more consistent high OBP guy, while Granderson plays CF and hits for power and decent OBP (at least pre-2009). Both are similar ages, though Granderson is tied up for more years at a lesser salary? Crawford plays a very good LF, and I definitely think he is athlectic and good enough to be an above average CF?
What do people think? And before anyone chastises the question, I agree that the Cubs getting either player is a longshot at this point.
A concern with Granderson is that he struggles against lefties. If you have him and Fuko in the OF not being able to hit lefties then that could be a cause for concern - especially if the goal is to beat the elite teams that have more than one quality lefty in the playoffs.
There are certainly worse options out there.
Granderson's inability to hit LHP would certainly be a concern, especially with Fukudome having the same struggle. However, the Cubs could overcome this by making sure they have platoon partners for each of them who can hit LHP very well. Johnson would be an option to bring back to share CF and someone like Austin Kearns could be an option for RF who would not hurt the team defensively. It would also allow the Cubs to sub Johnson or Kearns for Soriano late in games with slim leads. According to Callis, the Cubs could send the Tigers a better package of players for Granderson than could the Angels or Yankees. The OF defense would improve with Granderson essentially taking over Bradley with Fukudome sliding over to RF.
Since we know one of the goals is to trade Bradley, what if Hendry were able to:
1) send prospects to Detroit for Granderson
2) send Bradley plus cash to TX or TB for prospects
3) send prospects to Cleveland for Wood and cash
Cubs would solve their Bradley problem, improve their OF defense and speed, and also importantly IMO add a RH setup man that could step in for Marmol if his command fails him. The prospects and dollars would have to be ironed out of course, but something similar to the following might just work:
1) Cubs send Bradley plus $4M for 2010 and another $5M for 2011 to TB/TX for prospects, so TB/TX would get him for $5M for 2010 and $7M in 2011 plus prospects and Cubs would rid themselves of the negativity of Bradley
2) Cubs would send prospects to Detroit for Granderson to improve OF defense and speed
3) Cubs send prospects to Indians for Wood and $5.5M saving the Indians $5M for 2010 (with an agreement that the Indians would also send the Cubs another $5M for 2011 if Wood's $11M option vests (he would need to finish 55 games in 2010 after finishing 50 in 2009) meaning Cubs would pay $6M to Wood in 2011 in the unlikely event that Wood has that many GF in 2010. With Wood setting up Marmol instead of him closing for Cleveland, the Indians would stand a much better chance of saving the $11M for 2011 and would only have to pay $5M at most.
Under that scenario the dollars would work out like this for the Cubs:
Granderson $5.5(2010) $8.25(2011) $10(2012) $13 (or $2 buyout, 2013)
Wood $5(2010) $6 (2011, unlikely)
cash for Bradley $4(2010) $5 (2011)
TOTAL $14.5(2010) $13.25 (2011, slight chance of $19.25 instead)
** This would be instead of $9M for Bradley in 2010 and $12M for 2011, not a large increase to accomplish those objectives
What is to be concerned about? He is better defensively in CF than Fukudome and anyone else that we can sign except for Cameron. He had a down year offensively last year, and still had 30 HRs and a ton of stolen bases. He is outstanding against RH pitching (.275 .358 .539 .897 ) and would not improve our offense, but improve out pitching a ton by improving the defense in CF and RF when Fukudome moves back to right. He also is reportedly a very good clubhouse guy. He also is 28 years old and should be entering the best years of his career. Not to mention, he is signed to a reasonable contract.
I think the Cubs should trade for Granderson and Uggla, and then sign Pineiro as a starter.
No doubt he'd improve the team. I don't consider twenty a ton of SB's, and Granderson's career average is less than 15 if you use 600 AB's as a typical season, but he can hammer RHP, and that's something the Cubs surely need. The only concerns for me are how much the Cubs would have to give up to get him and his lack of production versus LHP (.183 BA, .245 OBP, .484 OPS in 2009 and .202, .261, .570 over the past three years), which would mean that he and Fukudome (.242. .343, .667) would combine for a bunch of outs in the same lineup facing a lefty. Some players don't adapt well or accept the role of a platoon player, and I'm not saying the Cubs would strictly need to use Granderson that way, but that's probably not an ideal situation. Having a Reed Johnson around, who is also strong defensively and able to hit LHP (.329, 395, .878 vs LHP over 292 AB's during 2007-2009) would surely help but whether or not Granderson would be agreeable to getting some regular rest against tough LHP would have to factor in.
Seen a few people post that it wasn't just Hendry that got Soriano his contract. One says Crane Kenney, another says John McDonough...
Where is this information coming from? I stay up to date on all things Cubs and I have NEVER seen this mentioned. Just wondering where I missed this?
I asked Bruce the question on the blog did McDonough have a hand in the Soriano signing because I believe McD had a hand in the bad free agent signings that the Blackhawks have made. His answer back was that McDonough and Kenny certainly had a hand in the Soriano signing. If it was left up to Hendry he would have offered six years.
found it from last month...
sounds like they contributed to Soriano...so they are all equally to blame. We already know Kenney should be nowhere near a baseball decision, McDonough is gone, Hendry is still over paying...(Miles?!?)
People are just assuming.....
All I have ever read/heard was that it was Lou and Piniella recruiting Soriano.
I have no doubt that McDonaugh wanted to make a splash, like he did with Campbell, and told Hendry/Tallon to do whatever it takes to get the guy signed.
I agree with Steve Rain and the others here who have criticised Hendry for not spending wisely. Soriano's contract is the best example. Let's not forget that McDonough had his hand in that signing and had Hendry sign him for eight years when Hendry would have signed him for six years. Think the Cubs would have a better chance of moving him if he had only three years left instead of five? We all know that the way to build a successfull team year end and year out is to have a strong farm system. If you have a strong farm system you don't have to rely on free agency and overpay players. That's the trick bag that Hendry has got into. My question to all of you is do we as Cub fans have the patience for another five year plan so they can build a solid farm system so they don't have to play free agent roulette every year and overpay guys like Soriano? I'm not sure how I even feel about it. On one hand we have been waiting so long that I want them to win right now. None of us is getting any younger and I know I'd like to see a World Series in my lifetime. On the other hand how has the build a team through free agency and fleecing the Pittsburgh Pirates been working out. Not to well either. So what do you guys think the approach should be?
1 year or 5 we have no choice. we are not going on strike, lol. like you I've been waiting a life time. I've always been a believer in " why not next year" V the 5 year plan. i just don't think Hendry and/or Lou are the guys to do it with.
if some of the media report are right, Ricketts has already made it clear he's not eating most of ANYONE'S contract. it's not the money it's how and where it was spent. no more bad business decisions. he's giving Hendry one year before making moves if any in 2011. he'd rather go the farm system way.
yeah all teams have down years but the one's you mentioned (Red Sox, Yankees, and Cardinals) have been to and won the WS very recently.
are you saying Fukudome's contract is ok?
Steve and Boozer make many good points.
The Cubs and Hendry have spent money there's no question about that. They just signed guys who were not worth the contracts they got. The Cubs have been in the top 4 or 5 teams when it comes to payroll. My concern is that while it may have got the Cubs a couple of playoff appearences they still are not any closer to a World Series. The Tribune company had no problem with the spending spree the Cubs have been on because they knew they were selling the team so they make a crazy offer to Soriano knowing someone else would have to pay 5 of the 8 years of the contract. I hope Ricketts got some sort of a rebate for that one. It was a bad signing made worse by McDonough who gave Soriano two more years than Hendry wanted to give. McDonough has done the same thing with the Hawks putting them in salary cap hell with the signings of Campbell and Huet. In that case he made Dale Tallon the scapegoat.
You are right about Hendry and Lou not being the right guys for any sort of rebuilding plan. The fact that they are still here means more of the same treating a heart attack with a band-aid via free agency until Ricketts figures out the direction he wants to take the team. I think Ricketts will want to build a strong farm system and feed the team with home grown talent. That's smart baseball and smart business.
ditto
Braves are talking about trading a starter for some offense..... How about this guy?
Kenshin Kawakami, Braves. With $13.3MM owed over the new two years, Kawakami would be an affordable mid-rotation acquisition. Kawakami posted a 3.86 ERA in 156.3 innings in his MLB debut.
Cubs need a starter. Wouldn't hurt to have another Japanese speaking player on the team. Bradley and 8 million to the Braves for Kawakami. Seems reasonable.
Cubmadness is happy because the Cubs have made the playoffs three times in recent years, which is much better than they did in the past. I'm so happy that previous failures make minor successes seem so much more than they are.
People like him are the reason why the Cubs haven't won in over a century. It's because they accept failure and mediocrity. If they started a long time ago not coming to the ballpark in droves for a losing team, maybe something would have been done about it. But when you're making money in record numbers, why bother changing?
As for Peoria Rick, I would call you dumb but that would be an insult to dumb people. That was one of the most ridiculous things I've ever read. Just as players have different levels of abilities, as do doctors and lawyers, I guess fans do too. But to have to be subjected to that makes Cub fans look like idiots. If you don't have anything intelligent to say, or if you really DON'T KNOW THE GAME, keep your comments to yourself.
Just speak for your self please. You don't know anything about me or anyone else. I am happy the Cubs have been in the playoffs 3 times in recent years. I am not happy with last season, but for every team, there are down years. The Cardinals have them. The Yankees have them. The Red Sox have them. Please name a team that does not.
Cubs farm system is on the rise. That signals good things for the future and the right people are in place, finally. It would be typical of the Cubs to now fire the people in charge before we reap the benefits. Good GMs are not easily to hire or find. Unless you can hire one of the top guys, or a brilliant mind who is not currently employed, then you could have an even worse situation very soon.
You can field this same team next year, with a solid CF(moving Fukudome back to RF), and a good 2bman, some improvements in the bullpen(some addition by subtraction with Gregg will help), and maybe find 1 more starter and this team has a good shot to contend. Yes, Soriano has to play back to his normal standards, Soto needs to improve, Theriot could improve slightly back to 2008 numbers and this team is very solid.
This is our most successful decade since the 1930s.
Hendry got the Cubs in this "Can't make a move funk".
when did Fukudome become a 275 hitter? he's another (over paid) Taguchi. Colvin is not the answer.
win an extra game per week! what if all the teams won an extra game a week? this isn't fantasy baseball.
the Cubs played the "if" game since the season ended. if Z had won 30, Soriano hit 50, Bradley been a nice little boy, Soto didn't smoke, etc.
injuries are part of the game, most teams have them. excuses.
agree, now let's see how good/bad Hendry is. oops, Lou is still here, same OF, same team.
The addiction to free agency has resulted in a roster bursting at the seams with bad bloated contracts on underperforming and/or past their peak talent.
Enough. No more Marlon Byrds and Mike Camerons of the world. Winning means having a quality and consistent farm system to turn to for positional talent. Even the Yankees and Red Sox embrace that approach and aren't fully addicted to free agency as part of the winning formula.