Hendry Signs Four-Year Extension

Great move by management. Go get 'em, Jim!

It continually kills me to see people suggest trading Lee, Soriano, and whoever else when half the guys on the club have full no-trade clauses. I'd love to see Soriano and Lee moved, but good luck talking them into it and getting anyone to take Soriano at the length and money.

Hoffpauir is a 28yr old AAAA player. Hes is Ward II, not a starter. He has too many holes in his swing. He will take over the role of Ward had this year. Not a replacement for Lee.

I like the idea of trading Lee to Boston for Crisp and some prospects. Signing O-dog and Dunn.

Ill take a stab at the 09 roster...

Lineup:
CF-Crisp-S-7m
2B-Hudson-S-10m
3B-Ramirez-R-15m
1B-Dunn-L-14m
LF-Soriano-R-16m
C-Soto-R-400k
RF-Fuku-L-12m/DeRosa-R-5.5m
SS-Theriot-R-400k

We would trade Lee for Crisp+. Sign Hudson and Dunn.

Bench:
C-Hill-S-400k
IF-Fontentot-L-400k
IF-Cedeno-R-450k
1B/RF-Hoffpauir-L-400k
2B/OF-DeRosa-R
OF-Fukudome-L
OF-Pie-L-400k

Pie would probably start the season in AAA.

Rotation:
Zambrano-R-18m
Dempster-R-12m
Lilly-L-12m
Harden-R-7m
Marshall-L-400k

Resign Demp.

Bullpen:
Wood-R-9m (CL)
Marmol-R-450k (setup)
Samardzija-R-2m (setup)
Gaudin-R-1.8m (long relief)
Cotts-L-800k (middle)
Hill-L-500k (middle)

Resign Wood. Hill may be better suited as a middle relieff or specialty pitcher. I think he gets his act together in a less stressfull role.

Thats a 141.3mm payrole before arb. Id say 145mm after arb. Its realistic.

What do you guys/gals think?

I really like the team, BUT the only thing i have a problem with is that our bench is really weak. We need to re-sign Reed Johnson.

cubsland,
so your rather stick with Fuku in RF and keep Lee. I think thats the only way we resign Johnson. I do like him though...just not sure there is any room on the bench as I THINK Pie may be out of options....

Any 2B the cubs sign they will have to outbid the mets. The cubs dont have much money to spend so how are they going to get all these players, while still resigning Wood and Demp? This team is good so why get 10 new players. Lee and Soriano arent going anywhere, the Red Sox have Lars Anderson in the minors i doubt they want Lee. I think Fukudome will be in center and they will attempt to add a LH bat in RF and MIF. This team doesnt need much, the biggest need is still a leadoff hitter, so the brian roberts, hudson and furcal talks are all realistic, but putting dunn in RF at wrigley isnt very realistic. Nor is a 170 million payroll.

Lee is not going anywhere, along with Soriano. We why woud we want to trade these guys? Lee had a down year in power but still hit close to .300. If we can pick up a left handed RF with power then Lee would be perfect for #2 in the lineup. And why would be sign Hudson. We have a better 2nd already here in the lineup (DeRosa). He proved himself last year that he can hit for avg and some power.

We should let Fukudome and Johnson fight it out for CF.

What do you think about signing Abreu for RF?

Could we make a run at Magglio, Detroit is looking to clear some payroll.

Pie, Donaldson, Marquis (contract paid), Wuertz, Thomas
(could we trade Fukudome)
FOR
Ordonez

I am just throwing that out there off the top of my head.

"He sounds a little more intent on re-signing Dempster than Wood."

Not at all suprising. If for some reason they cant resign Wood, you have a very good option ( maybe even better) closer in Marmol. In the end Wood played for peanuts last year and it would be foolish to think he would do the same in '09.

"Cubs chairman Crane Kenney didn't give a payroll number but doesn't expect any major offseason moves that would require significant increases in payroll. Kenney said a few weeks ago that he anticipated a bump in payroll."

Well thats quite a different tune from what he said a few weeks ago. My guess is that Zell more or less told him, NO BIG INCREASE in payroll. I think Hendry will try real hard for Dempster and make an adequate offer for Wood. If Wood declines, then Hendry will try for a lefty bat. My guess is that its Dempster and a lefty and that would be about it, but we will see.

I have a few opinions about what the Cubs should do.
1. Stop trying to find a 2B, we have DeRosa and when he is playing elsewhere Fontenot can play.(They could inmorove at 2B but unless they could trade for Uggla leave it alone.)
2. Dont trade Sori, if he can stay healthy and move him down him don in lineup he is a potent hitter.
3.D. Lee is open to a trade to the West Coast.
Yes they need a leadoff man
but lifetime
Roberts .355 OBA
Furcal .352 OBA
Crisp .331 OBA
are not the answer for a legit leadoff hitter.

Stop thinking every other teams GM is a cubs fan also just looking to make our team better. Lee for figgins does what for us? who plays first, DeRosa? You get a little less offense and worse defense. Figgins would be a nice addition but not gonna happen for lee. Derosa is a good hitter but the odds of him repeating arent great, and if you can add a LF bat at SS or 2b the cubs will do it. Abreu is would be very nice is he doesnt want north of 15mill a season. I think Ibanez is the likely new RF which sucks for our pitchers because a shaky fielder playing the hardest RF in baseball isnt ideal.

"Stop thinking every other teams GM is a cubs fan also just looking to make our team better. Lee for figgins does what for us? who plays first, DeRosa? You get a little less offense and worse defense. Figgins would be a nice addition but not gonna happen for lee. Derosa is a good hitter but the odds of him repeating arent great, and if you can add a LF bat at SS or 2b the cubs will do it"

As a Cubs fan, I completely and totally DISAGREE. This Cubs team is in desperate, desperate need of a legitimate leadoff hitter, and Chone Figgins is one of the best in the game. He could take over in center full time and bat leadoff, and he's a switch hitter which helps in our righty dominated lineup. He would allow the Cubs to move Soriano down in the order, which would help to replace the power lost from Lee, and the money saved from moving Lee would give them extra cash to sign a RF/1B. Lee's not nearly the hitter he was in 2006, and his contract likely won't get better as time passes. With Figgins and DeRosa the Cubs would have two extremely versatile players, and could constantly shift guys around to help keep everyone rested. If I were the Cubs I would also persue Kendry Morales very hard in a Lee/Figgins deal, and I'd be willing to throw in another player and/or eat some of Lee's contract to get that done.
We would have a lineup of:

CF Figgins
2B DeRosa
RF Dunn/Ibanez/Manny/Abreu?
3B Ramirez
LF Soriano
C Soto
1B Morales
SS Theriot

That's some quality depth, with speed at the top and bottom and even in the middle with Soriano. With Figgins and DeRosa at the top of the lineup thats two .370+ OBP guys, and Figgins is good for at least 40 SB out of the leadoff spot. With a nice middle of the order with Ramirez, Soto, Soriano and a free agent, the lineup would be extremely, extremely potent.

I'm getting way too ahead of myself now though..

Very discouraging comments from Hendry and Crane. What were these guys watching in the playoffs the last two years? Felix Pie is never going to be the answer for the Cubs, and even if he could be, we can't take that chance, we have to win now. I'm glad Hendry has confidence in Fukudome, that makes one of us. Now that he and Lou aer signed, they can put it on cruise control, have a good season and go 3 and out in the playoffs again. The fans will still come, so why should they do anything more?

I wouldn't put a ton of money into re-signing Dempster...if the price is right I would do it, but I certainly wouldn't overpay for him like someone on the market is bound to do. I just don't think he will ever pitch like that again. I think he will pan out to be a mid 4 era .500 pitcher...solid, but nothing spectacular. I'd save the money and address other needs first. I think the primary concern for the Cubs has to be the bench. And I also agree with many of the posters that moving Lee or Soriano is pretty unrealistic. No one is going to want to eat that much salary. With the Cubs already somewhat tight on payroll, it would be tough to find descent replacements for either of these guys on the market in addition to most likely having to pay large parts of Lee and Soriano's contracts to whoever they would be traded to.

I wouldn't touch Dempster if it took more than 10 mil a year. Guy with a ton of potential who has been mediocre his entire career until his last year before free agency. Don't fall victim to it. That and his BABIP was incredibly low.....he is not the pitcher he was this year he will probably finish each year with a 12-12 record and over a 4 era. If he is a type A free agent because of the year he had let him go and take the draft picks

sign abreu, trade Lee for Figgins (they were shopping him to us last year.. and they will need a 1B with Tex leaving).

Figgins 2nd
Theriot SS
Abreu RF
Aram 3rd
Soriano LF
Soto C
DeRosa/Hoffpaur 1st
Johnson/Fukudome CF

Let's all be a little more realistic here (thank you valpo034). Your most realistic option here would be to pick up a mid level (Ibanez or Giles) LH-RF and platoon with Pie, Johnson, Fukudome in RF and CF.

I agree with moving soriano down...Riot and (Fuku/DeRo/Pie/johnson) should be your 1-2. If they can prove to have a nice .OBP (which they could) then you get into murders row with Ram, Lee, Sori, Soto, Ibanez, (DeRo,Pie,Johnson whoever is left over).

"This Cubs team is in desperate, desperate need of a legitimate leadoff hitter,..."

You're aware that the Cubs lead the league in scoring in 2008, they scored 56 more runs than anyone else. I'm not sure how they qualify as "desperate" for anything offensively.

pageian, you are probably right about Wood. Maybe 3/21 guarenteed with the option of each year going up from 7 to 10 mil with incentives.

3/36 is definitely the most I'm comfortable with. However, I actually see him with an ERA in the high 3s regularly...probably a 3.7 era pitcher. Thats not bad for a 3/36 contract...but we'll see.

I think Marmol is actually more valuable in a setup role because a pitcher that is as good as he is becomes more valuable the more he pitches. A closer probably pitches like 60 innings on average, while Marmol could give you 80 strong innings every year. I actually prefer it this way, as I'm a believer that the closer job is overrated....but thats a whole other subject.

Abbreu is a left handed Derosa, hit 280, 20hrs and is declining defensively. I dont think he is the fix for 12mm per.

Anybody read the Chicago paper today? There is an article saying that the Cubs may not even have the cash to sign Wood, depending on the contract that he wants. I think all this talk of the Cubs signing a free agent left handed bat is fantasy and derived from media and fans. I believe that the reality is that the Cubs will be lucky to sign Dempster and Wood, and they have to trade at least Marquis, if not another contract, in order to take any others on.

We all need to stop doing two things:

1. Stop acting like we didn't know the backloaded contracts were going to catch up

2. Stop acting like this team has serious issues. We won 97 games. With performences like our starters had all year, along with the defense we played all year, and moving Soriano down in the lineup, I believe we have as good a chance as anyone in baseball next year with the CURRENT roster (including Wood and Dempster).

If Kosuke figures out how to hit about .280, he is more than adequate in RF. Pie should improve his offense and be the left handed side of the platoon with Reed Johnson, and I think we are set. Its time to roll with Felix, he is out of options anyway.

We don't need to make a splash in the FA market. We need to resign Demp and Wood if possible. We only need to move Lee out of 3 hole. I don't mind Soriano leading off, although I wouldn't mind it if he were moved. But I hate it (absolutely hate it) when Lee grounds into a million double plays a year. Hendry should do something like.

1-Theriot
2-Fontenot/Johnson
3-Ramirez
4-Soriano
5-Lee
6-Soto
7-Fukudome/Derosa
8-Pie/Johnson
9-Zambrano/Harden/Lilly/Dempster/5th starter

The Cubs will add a left handed bat, backloaded contracts or not. Hendry is creative and is not going to do nothing. The level of left handed bat will not be a top tier guy, but more of a mid level player. That is unless Hendry unloads a couple contracts. Don't get too caught up in the NTC in contracts. They make it harder, but guys waive those many times if the right situation comes up. Soriano is next to impossible because of the years and money left. Then you would take someone elses problem and most likely not as good as Soriano. Read the thread above on left handed hitter wanted by Cubs. Sure reporters doing their thing. However, Lou and Jim both said they want to add a lefty hitter somewhere. They also said it will not be easy. That doesn't mean it is impossible. Relax, people. I trust Jim does something this offseason. Though it most likely will not be a big splash due to budget.

The only things I truly think the team needs are (1) a run-producing LH bat in the middle of the lineup, (2)an upgrade over Marquis in the rotation, (3) a couple of tweaks in the pen, (4) and an upgrade over Ward on the bench.

I think trading Lee may be the best way to accomplish both 1 and 2. As far as 3 goes, we mostly need a lefty. Unfortunately, there are virtually no options on the FA market there. Perhaps a trade can be made involving a few minor pieces. 4 is easily enough accomplished. We have Kroeger in Iowa that could possibly do so. There are also a few minor pieces on the market that could be had for cheap.

As far as Fuki improving greatly because of other Japanese trends, Scribble, HA! You mention Hedeki Matsui. Well, let's not forget that he also had an impressive rookie season in the MLB... which included a big-time second-half surge, not incredible collapse. Kaz Matsui, now that's laughable. He had a decent year this past season, but I still would not call him a solid 2B. To this date, the only truly "solid" portion of his career came in 113 AB when he was picked up by Colorado two years ago. Remember, he was supposed to be a 30-30 guy, like to many claimed Fuki would be. I do think that maybe Fuki can find a way to carry a .280 BA and a good OBP, but he'll never be worth the $11+ mil per he's getting. He may turn out to be a good #2 type hitter in helping set the table for the run producers.

I don't think a .280/.380 BA/OBP and great defense in RF merits more than $10 mil per. $6-8 mil per, sure. If he added 30 SB to that, then I'd push it to around the $10 mil range. However, for what Fuki is being paid, he should be putting up at least a .360 OBP with 15-20 HR, and above average defense. I doubt he'll ever put up the power numbers to merit his contract (remember, his power numbers in Japan were a prime factor in him getting paid so much).

However, I'd be happy with him being in the lineup if, as you say, he can bring his BA up to the .280-.300 range and cut his K's back down. I'd still think he was highly overpaid, but worth having around.