My mind has 0% interest in this right now.

I’ve already been thinking about this. I’d love Holiday,but I’m not sure where you’d play him. I think Fukudome would be given the opportunity to win the job again in RF. Pis looks more confident now than a the beginning of the year and that may prove wwll going into 2009. In the end, I don’t much think there will be change in the starting 8. I couldn’t care less if the Cubs don’t have a 30 HR guy as long as the team wins. But, to that extent, Soriano is a 30 HR guy if he doesn’ t get hurt.

I think the pitching will be the interesting part. I expect Dempster to be resigned, at what cost will be determined on how he pitches in the palyoffs. Z, Lilly, Harden, and Marquis all seem to be poised to come back, but what of Marshall? What direction wil Jeff S. go, starter or stay in relief? Cubs could use some left hand bullpen help.

That said, the Cubs have the best O in the NL. That is not a weakness. And looking for power hitters (who also tend to be low on base, high K guys) would be regressing back to the poor offenses of the past

nuff said.

…I’ll say that it will probably be a HUGE topic of discussion this offseason if the Cubs fall short of winning a title.

I can already hear them now… “Hoffpauir should start in right! Fukudome should be traded/waived! Fontenot should start! Pie’s garbage!”

It’ll be fun to watch people bash Pie because he’s not proven himself over a period of time in the majors, and then in another thread suggest that Hoffpauir is ready to start in right.

Hopefully the Cubs just win it all and then I wont have to worry about next year. I’m a firm believer that if the Cubs win the title they should contract the team and go out on top. They can cancel the entire league if they’d like, just so long as the Cubs win a title this year. (of course I’m kidding)

… This is all I have to say until at least after the World Series is over. Re-sign Andre Dawson and let him have right field again.

If you want me to discuss off-season moves, then wait till the off-season. In fact, I don’t even know who is going to be a free agent… and like many, don’t care. lol. For right now, lets worry about what matters most. That’s the playoffs….

Other than that Al is right. Too early and inappropriate to be talking about right now.

Matt Holliday is not a FA this year, and it would take a king’s ransom to get him — the Cubs probably don’t have enough — for just one year. Besides, he’s a worse LF than Sori; which one do you play in RF?

Ichiro is a clubhouse cancer in Seattle; why would the Cubs want him? Besides, he has no power. (Actually he does, at least in BP; part of the “selfish” tag is because he uses a short swing so that he can get 200 hits and doesn’t try to drive the ball.) He also throws temper tantrums when asked to switch between RF and CF (Ichiro, meet DeRo; DeRo, meet Ichiro). If he won’t play CF, does that force you to put Dome there? Rumor has it that Ichiro doesn’t even talk much to Johjima; will he talk to Dome?

The only power-hitting CFs I can think of are Edmonds and Andruw, and I wouldn’t touch Andruw with a 10 foot pole. I think that RJ and Edmonds will both re-sign with the Cubs.

I think Pie is toast in Chicago if Lou is the manager next year.

I think that Hendry will re-sign both Demp and Woody unless the new owner does something stupid.

As long as Lou is the manager, Riot will be in the lineup. Therefore, if the Cubs do something stupid and sign Furcal or Cabrera, DeRo will be gone; otherwise, status quo in the middle.

Dome is untradeable; besides, he will be better next year so there is no point in selling low.

Barring injury, Hoffpauir will not be the Chicago Cubs’ starting 1B on Opening Day, though he might make the roster.

Now, back to the playoffs…

…. I CAN see Pie being traded in the right deal. I think they have to re-sign Dempster as he’s a lock at home. I can also see another year of a center field platoon of Johnson/Edmonds, provided Edmonds doesn’t retire. Those two guys were more than adequate this year. Wood will be re-signed. Fukudome stays, unless they eat the contract. And if he unscrews his swing then why move him?

Basically, I just don’t envision anything major being done over the winter.

NOT IMPORTANT

and probably not worth the money or risk, I think it’d be hilarious to have C.C. pitching for us against the Brewers next season.

I doubt we’d pursue ichiro, not the power hitter we would seek.

I am all in favor of shopping D. Lee and letting the Micah Hoffpauir era begin…

…is not available and I’m baffled that some of you think that the Cubs can just go out and trade from him.

The Mariners have had an awful season but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they are open to trading Ichiro. On an individual level, he probably generates more revenue for his team than any other player in baseball. Considering that he’s under contract for several more years, why would the Mariners be willing to trade him and sacrifice all that money? Those revenues mean that the Mariners have more money to invest in player development or, if they choose, waste on the Richie Sexsons of the world. Why would they sacrifice that advantage?

I posted the same sentiments yesterday, in response to the Mariner-specific fanpost. I used this article to back up my claim that Ichiro generates a ton of revenue for the Mariners. The article’s a bit dated but I think that it illustrates my point. Frankly, if the Cubs really wanted Ichiro, the Mariners could probably come up with a trade package but it would be something horrendously unreasonable, such as Soto and Marmol…that sort of thing.