Here is what the Cubs need next year:
LF-NEED NEW BLOOD-dump Soriano,eat the money
CF- Fukudome can stay but Right handed bat needed
RF-NEED NEW BLOOD-So Bradley talks a lot,big deal! I guess he is gone,too bad. He will hit next year.
1ST-DLEE,nuff said
2ND- Jeff Baker is fine to platoon but a GOOD LH bat needed
3RD-ARAM & DERO?? FOR 2010
SS-If an upgrade can be found,that would be nice BUT Theriot is decent.
C -Soto=flash in the pan? If same 2 guys are back next year that's ok,too.
STARTERS-Strength of team here-1 more (free agent pick-up) can't hurt.
BULLPEN- between Caridad,Smardjza,Marmol,Grabow & Marshall-that's not bad!

_________________
favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

I don't even know where to start

LF- Soriano's contract is going nowhere. Learn to love him
CF/RF- Combo between Fukudome in RF or CF and either a cheap FA or a platoon between Reed Mantle/Fuld/Colvin at the other spot..going to be ugly
1st-Agreed with the Lee
2nd- Move Ryan Theriot here. His range and arm are fucking atrocious for SS. He turns into an above average 2B
SS- Andy White/Cheap FA
3rd-ARAM
C-Soto/Koyie..decent enough especially if Soto comes close to last years production. Too many holes elsewhere to worry about this one
Starters-Z, Lilly,Dempster, Wells then either Gorz/Marshall/Shark(ew)..maybe they even give Cashner or Carpenter a legit shot. There are a couple of intriguing 5th options available like Piniero, Sheets, Garland..but again on $ and in house options are fine for the 5th spot
Pen- Grabow, Gorz/Marshall, Guzman, Marmol, and some composition between Berg, Caridad, Stevens, Gaub, Shark


Offer Harden arbitration and hope he turns it down.


It could be real ugly


It could be real bad next year. Need a lot of things to go well/better than this year.
I disagree with Bernstein in that Lou will be back. I think the Rickett's will take a year to observe before making any sweeping changes

_________________
Team Cutler.

Yeah,might not be $$$$,but tell it to the Florida Marlins. The Cubs might be better without the "Big Money" guys.

_________________
favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

Pretty much agree with all of this. Theriot NEEDS to be moved to second base, hopefully the Cubs can find a decent shortstop .260/.270 hitter who can field. Don't think Blanco is ready for a starting assignment.

If the Cubs offer Harden arbitration, I get the feeling he is going to accept. Was not very good this year and in the economic climate, don't know if there is going to be a whole lot of interest in an injury prone starter who in a relatively healthy year sucked.

Yea, I agree with Blanco, but I put him at SS just assuming that we will have no flexibility to get anyone worthwhile. At least we could stick an B+ A- glove there compared to the C- we've had and save some runs.

_________________
Team Cutler.

Did anyone see that ninth inning outfield last night? That was the epitome of defensive outfield. Just about any flyball to the outfield will be flagged down.

the difference is the marlins actually have good talent in the system from trading away high priced players. the cubs have decent dh's and backups in the system


i also agree with moving theriot to 2b and getting a new shortstop. blanco is a great defensive shortstop but i will pull my hair out watching him hit 230 next year if he were to start. we already ran into that problem at 2b this year.

a big worry i have is catching. if soto doesnt bounce back next year the cubs have a problem behind the plate offensively. i dont think hill is a starting catcher on a winning team. he just cant hit enough

This whole "eat the money and move Soriano" shit has got to stop.

He is going nowhere.

Fans better hope he gets his knee straightened out and can hit at least 30 HR's. That might help ease the .220-.240/ 150 strikeouts for the rest of his career.

Remember the "40/40" talk when this guy signed? What a joke.

1. Fire Jim Hendry.
2. Do not offer Rich Harden a contract or arbitration.
3. Do not offer Reed Johnson a contract.
4. Do not offer Kevin Gregg a contract.
5. Release Aaron Miles
6. Resign John Grabow
7. Ask Big Dumbass to waive his no trade clause.
8. Try to find a taker for Milton Bradley if not release him.
9. Sign Marco Scutaro and move Theriot to 2B.
10. Sign a utility infielder that can play 3B.
11. Sign (another) CF/RF (Marlon Byrd/Randy Winn) .
12. Trade Mike Fontenot and Babe Fox.

Keyser-Looks good to me!

I wanted the Cubs to sign Geoff Blum last offseason after dumping DeRosa. Not a superstar,but in Wrigley,he would have been decent.

_________________
favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

#1-they NEED a real leadoff hitter. Brian Roberts was signed to a nice extension after talks with the Cubs failed and it's unlikely he's going anywhere. But ideally a SS or 2nd baseman or CF'er is aquired, either through trade or free agency and fills that spot. If it's a SS, Theriot moves over to 2B. Harden is a tough call. If they don't offer arbitration, they get nothing if he signs elsewhere. If they don't sign another starter and decide they will fill that role in-house, then they have to offer arbitration. If he accepts, fine. They NEED some help in the bullpen. Gregg has to go elsewhere and if Marmol is to be the closer, they need to get some more bullpen help. Grabow is fine and should stay. Guzman was good for a while, but never has been able to stay healthy.

Soriano was a bad signing, but no team eats 80 million. He will stay and hopefully switch to a lighter bat and hit again, even if he does so many other things poorly. Bradley-GONE and hopefully Miles as well. Derek Lee had a terrible spring, hitting under .200 the first 6 weeks of the season. But he has been the teams best hitter by far, since then. He will be on the final year of his contract. With Fox looking like a guy they need to find a position for, that could be a good spot. They could save 14 million on Lee's salary and if he's willing to waive his no-trade clause, there should be some takers for him now. He's a team leader and a guy who causes no problems, as well as a fan favorite, so they might be reluctant to deal him though. But thats just what I would do. Gotta find room (financially) for players they need, as well as making up for the fact that they are going to have to eat a substancial part of Bradley's deal.

_________________
Go Cubs!!!!

sign danny jackson as left handed ace
sign jeff blauser to play short, he rakes at wrigley
sign mel rojas, up and coming stopper

dump maddux, too expensive
get rid of bill madlock, hes trouble in the clubhouse

finally, give gary scott a chance at 3rd, we have been waiting to see this guy get his chance

Add Mickey Morandini to that list and you have a contender.

_________________

orlando hudson should be available at 2nd if the cubs keep theriot at short. i liked the idea of signing him last offseason. i think the dodgers got a huge steal getting him so late.

Good idea. He's a legit leadoff hitter. I would prefer a great SS, so Theriot could be moved to 2B, as I don't think he has great range and does not have a great arm. But this would certainly be a significant upgrade.

_________________
Go Cubs!!!!

1. Keep Lee and A Ram
2. Offer ARB to Harden as he'll decline and find a sucker for a long term deal
3. Sign Grabow now for decent money (don't overpay again Hendry!)
4. We're stuck with Soriano but he should rebound and his teammates love him. Have to live with shit defense, tons of K's, etc.
5. Definately move Theriot to 2nd base
6. Blanco is tempting with that glove (even at .220). They need D at SS over a bat.
7. Make it known that Z has one last chance or he's gone come deadline time (and he'll waive his no trade). Either he get's it or bye.
8. Try to unload Koskuke (doubtful unless we eat money) or platoon in CF
9. Acquire a stick for RF (obviously dump Bradley)
10. Give Lilly an extension (as SP is this team's strength)
11. Dump Heilman/Miles/Gregg, trade Fontentot, keep Baker/Grz/Marshall/Caridad/Johnson/Hill
12. Attempt to package Fox and/or Hoffpauir/Marshall with one of the bad contracts to free up money


Bottom line is there won't be much change/roster turnover due to money issues, so the nucleus get's another year to prove this year was an abberration. If they bomb again, Lou retires, Hendry gets the ax, and the rebuilding/reloading begins in earnest.

The pressure is on Hendry to clean up his mess. Least he took action sending Bradly home.

We'll see.

1. Sell Tickets
2. Sell Beer
Make Money

Lose 90 games.

_________________

More likely they move Fukadome back to RF and look for a CF. If they did go look for a RF though, Matt Holliday is gonna be a free agent. Not sure what kind of payroll Ricketts is going to approve, but that would sure be a nice addition.

_________________
Go Cubs!!!!

holliday proved critics wrong when they said his offense would suffer greatly away from hitter friendly coors field. but after this 2nd half with the cardinals he is going to be looking at a big contract this offseason. i doubt if it will go into teixera/soriano money but it will probably be pretty large. i really dont think the cubs will take on another contract like that