As the winter rolls on, Jim Hendry continues to TRY to rid himself of the steaming pile of crap he signed last winter-Milton Bradley. But while he tries (unsucessfully) to rid himself of this Albatross, he is failing to do anything about the major deficiencies this ballclub has and had LAST SEASON as well. He has no true CF'er and no true leadoff hitter. He could have made a deal with Pittsburg to get the CF he needed to go in a deal to Detroit, to get Granderson. But he did not want to part with his young SS-Starlin Castro. Randy Wells would also have gone in that deal. But that trade would have solved the problem in CF and at the leadoff position. Hendry also failed to pursue Tagashi Saito or Billy Wagner, who signed as free agents with Atlanta and would have been nice additions to a bullpen that needs good EXPERIENCED arms. Rafael Soriano is rumored to be traded soon FROM the Braves and would also be a great addition, as would Heath Bell who is said to be dangled these days by the Padres. J.J. Putz might be a nice low cost (but higher risk) guy, but with 10 teams looking at him, I doubt he ends up with the Cubs and perhaps thats not all bad-we have had enough guys with arm problems over the years.

I understand how Hendry might make it a top priority to get rid of Bradley. But he should have known he was going to have to eat a big part of that contract to accomplish that feat. Thus he should have a decent idea of where the payroll will be, and be able to move on. With Lilly coming off surgery and Harden let go (failed to offer arbitration too so they get no draft pick) they are short a starter (or 2 at the start of 2010) too. I know they still have guys like Gorzellany and Marshall, as well as Samadzijia, who COULD start....but if they want to win and compete for a Championship, those guys are not top tier pitchers. This past year, Hendry has done little, but rid himself of the mistakes he aquired last year. So taguchi-gone....Paul Bako-gone before last season even started.....Aaron Miles-THANK GOD, he's gone.....Kevin Gregg...gone (did not offer arbitration...and now Milton Bradley....if there was any doubt whether or not Hendry made poor choices this past year, just look over how many of the guys aquired, are still wanted by the team- I think Jeff Baker may be the only one. But that was last year...time to address the problems that Hendry FAILED to address properly last season (leadoff hitter, CF, Starting pitcher and a good SS-so they can move Theriot to 2B) and get back on a better track. It has been Hendry's good fortune that things have gone slowly so far, with reguards to the players available. But the time to act is now, before too many of the players that fit their needs are all gone.

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Go Cubs!!!!

Just like Driving while texting thru Maywood.

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Where will this magical pile of money come from?

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I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do, because I notice it always coincides with their own desires. -Susan B. Anthony

this team is not going to compete for a championship, short of divine intervention. get a new gm, back up the truck, unload as much salary as you can (without saddling yourself with ADDITIONAL bad contracts), and rebuild. bringing granderson would not have been enough. i pray that ramirez and lee and zambrano and some others come out swinging and pitching well and have great starts to the season, so the cubs can perhaps get something in return and start building a winning team from the ground up. this patchwork quilt of free agency has to stop, and i for one am glad that the cubs are remaining quiet this off-season.

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If Starlin Castro turns out to be ready and is anywhere near the player many think he will be, it changes things a lot. But thats a lot to put on a young player. Josh Vitters is another guy that should be ready soon, but we have heard that refrain before. It is seldom that a team gets the chance to get a true leadoff hitter that can also play a position of need. Granderson fit that role, just as Brian Roberts did last winter. But Hendry has failed to aquire either and now the pickings are getting slim. Podsednik is available, but he in NOT a CF candidate and is not even a good corner outfielder. Granderson is an exceptionally good outfielder that does play CF. He should have been targeted. Plus, he's a Chicago guy, who was an honor roll student and a great "charachter guy". A perfect fit...

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Go Cubs!!!!

First off

Who gives a shit about this, he would be here to play baseball.

They didn't want to unload their newly revamped farm system for a CF they would have to platoon. Why not just keep Fuk there and only have 1 OF you have to platoon. Granderson was not worth it for this team.
Brian Roberts was 2 years ago BTW

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JohnKirk wrote: I dont get it...

The Robert deal was re-visited just last year, just before Baltimore signed him to the extension he got.

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Go Cubs!!!!

So you picked my least important point to respond to.

What about the rest of my post? I'll repost it for you.

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JohnKirk wrote: I dont get it...

I believe that character does count, it rubs off on others. He is said to be a true leader for the Tigers. A guy like that does the right things and others folow that lead. A guy like Bradley sets a bad example and others see how he doesn't care about the team, the city or the fans and perhaps they also take a more selfish attitude. A guy who hustles all the time and lets others know it's expected of them too, is very valuable. The Chicago angle is only important in that he would have a fair number of friends/relatives going to games and perhaps that makes it a bit more important to do well. I always pitched my best, when my girlfriend would be at the games I played in and there were more friends there. Maybe at the major league level it's not the same, but I think we all would give our best effort, when there are people there to witness the game whom we care about. as far as the honor roll/National Honor Society stuff goes...I just prefer smart players to dumb ones. I think they tend to understand how to play the game better and why it's important to do the little things (lay down a bunt, hit the other way to advance a runner , shorten up with 2 strikes, etc.) that a lot of other- perhaps even more talented players, often fail to do.

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Go Cubs!!!!

Ok, now the most important part of my original post:



Just kinda seems like you're dancing around this important point.

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JohnKirk wrote: I dont get it...

I don't care if he doesn't hit lefties well, I would give him 600 at bats and CF would be all his. The number of times they have to face a lefty is not that frequent and even on those days, the pitcher may only go 4-7 innings, so they could just give him a day off here or there against a real tough lefty, but 90% of the time, I would have him in the game. His defense alone is so valuable, I would hesitate to sit him at all-save for the occassional rest day.

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Go Cubs!!!!

Fort Knox!

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Kosuke Fukudome's 2009 Statistics

SO - 216
BB - 174
2B - 38
BA - .259
OBP - .375
SLG - .421
OPS - .796
OPS+ - 104


Curtis Granderson's 2009 Statistics

SO - 141
BB - 72
2B - 23
BA - .249
OBP - .327
SLG - .453
OPS - .780
OPS+ - 100

Would you trade the Cubs top prospect for Kosuke Fukudome?

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JohnKirk wrote: I dont get it...

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"Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public." ~ H.L. Mencken