us go after Orlando Hudson and Rick Ankiel even as a backup up Johnson is no longer here and somehow we get rid of Bradley. I know he is a Cardinal and idk why I like this guy so much but he has one of the best arms in the league, a good bat when he stays in the lineup and maybe a new town will do him good and get him cheap but I think his agent is Boras but not sure. And Hudson a fast leadoff 2nd basemen good ole Lou wants.

As has been stated ad nauseum, the Cubs have a lot of bloated contracts. Worse, a lot of the Top Ten didn’t perform up to their pay scale this year, notably Soriano, Zambrano, Bradley, Fukudome, even Ramirez because of his injuries. Plus most have the dreaded NTC, which I believe is one of Hendry’s weaknesses. All this means if we try to trade them, our market is limited, so supply and demand will dictate a buyers’ market. Face it, either we stick with them and hope this year was an anomoly (which I think it was for Bradley, Soriano and Ramirez) or get reamed in a trade.

The only ones I can see trading are (and I’m ready for backlash) are Lee and Lilly. I don’t want to see either one of them go, but at least we might be able to sell high. But Lee has the NTC (I don’t know if Lilly does), so that limits the market somewhat. I don’t see either of these getting moved.

I think the moves this winter will be to pick up some middle relief and some bench help, both of which are typically pretty cheap. If the new owner is willing to expand the payroll, we might try to pick up a good hitting middle infielder, either a 2nd baseman, or a SS and move Theriot to 2nd. That type player is neither cheap nor readily available, though. I’d prefer we use that money on some of our arbitration eligible players, especially Marmol, Theriot and Gorzelanny.

You’re right, with all that money committed, it’s hard to see Hendry making any moves unless a trade presents itself.

We could get the usual bullpen shuffling and bench reboot; but, there does not seem to be a possibility of any real improvement without an open wallet or successful trade.

Ugh. I hope there’s something good in the works.

unless Hendry miraculously is able to unload some of his contracts. Here are the locks to start next year:

C Soto/Hill
1B Lee
3B Ramirez
SS Theriot
LF Soriano
CF Fukudome
RF Bradley

Offensively, little will change. I don’t see anything done at catcher, and frankly, are there any better options out there? Lets hope Hill keeps “winning games” and Soto works out his issues and gets in better shape. Soriano and Bradley are gonna be here next year. If the only way to move Bradley is eat most, if not all, of his contract, I would hold onto him. Second base is the only real spot that’s open, and I see two options which I really like. Either a) Hendry gets his hands on Uggla, who Florida will likely look to trade due to his soon to be elevated salary or b) Theriot slides over to second base and Andres Blanco takes the bulk of the games at SS, with Jeff Baker rotating in to give them a break.

SP Z
SP Lilly
SP Dempster
SP Wells

I like that front four, and if Piniero leaves St. Louis, the Cubs would have the best rotation in the division. The question is who fills in at five. It should be Sean Marshall. That rotation lacks a true ace, but it looks very strong 1-5. Gorzelanny would offer some insurance.

RP Marmol
RP Guzman
RP Grabow

Those are the guys I would trust going into next year. Nobody else from this year’s pen looks good enough to be relied upon for next year’s roster. I’m interested to see how much Mike Gonzalez and Rafael Soriano go for in the off-season, as both are injury prone but have elite level stuff. Either one of those guys would be great pickups. A back end with Marmol, Gooze, Grabow and Soriano/Gonzalez would be great.

For all the talk about Lou looking for speed at the top of the lineup and power in the middle, I don’t see either of those requests being fulfilled. Get used to what you’re seeing now, as that’s whats gonna be here next year.

is for sure that Hendry and Piniella will be back when Ricketts has not even taken over yet. Nobody knows what he is going to want to do and whom he will bring in as well as not being sure of what the budget will be next year. It is way too soon to say the offseason is going to be a slow one.

Usually a new owner will try and make a splash and I would be willing to bet that Rickets will be bring a baseball man to be President and let Kenney work on the marketing and advertising side of things. Don’t be surprised if Sandy Alderson is named President. But time wil tell.

i think big z is the most tradeble. he needs to just learn to shut up. already its if the cubs want to trade me i dont care.blah blah blah. i like z . i wanna keep z. but if the cubs can net a haul of 3 or 4 productive players to improve the team theres nothing i can do about it. i still have not given up on soto or fontenot. hopefully just off seasons. fontenot played himself into the 2nd base job last year. this year he might have played himself off the team.

crawford or upton or akinori. anyone would be nice on this team. im sure ricketts will let hendry spend some money this winter. and if they lose z that will free up big cash.

I was going to wait and do a fanpost, but I’ll just tag some quick thoughts here.

Iwamura – Why? The question that needs to be asked is this – what does he add to our team? Simply perceiving him to be a better option than Figgins isn’t enough. Iwamura is a below average-average defender at 2nd and 3rd. He’s not exactly a great leadoff option. Is he better than what we have? Perhaps, but that isn’t saying much right now, and I don’t buy him as a significantly better leadoff option than Theriot (and I don’t care for Theriot at the top of the order). Put it this way, if the option A is Baker/Theriot in the MI and option B is Iwamura/Theriot. I’d take option A and allocate money to other areas.

Btw, this isn’t to say I would haphazardly pay Figgins. I’m still not sold he leaves Anaheim. They have the money, and they have the need (no other great leadoff option).

Everything depends on what the numbers are, but as of now, assuming we have the money, I’d rather give Figgins a 4 year deal than Iwamura a 2 or 3 year deal (and considering the market, don’t be surprised if Akinori can land a 3 year deal, or 2 and an option, at solid MI market cost – this is assuming Iwamura is released – the Rays still own his rights). First, I don’t think Figgins will cost a 4 year deal. 2nd, Figgins has shown enough development in his peripherals to suggest that, even if the physical ability starts to decline, his offensive skillset should allow him to continue to be productive. 3rd, Figgins is a better fit right now for need. 4th, many people believe Figgins will age well, partly due to the fact that he didn’t get heavy use until 2004 (somewhat akin to some perceptions on Brian Roberts). 5th, Figgins doesn’t significantly block anyone. That’s a very flawed argument to make. He can handle third (if Vitters doesn’t develop, our next option is perhaps someone like Flaherty). He can handle 2nd (I love our up the middle options, but Flaherty/Watkins/LeMahieu and Co. are far away. Best case scenario has one of them ready by 2011, but there is a high likelihood that 2012 is more likely, at which point, the Figgins deal wouldn’t be as big an issue). Figgins can be moved to CF as well, where the system’s top chips have questions and are far away (as of right now, my expectation on the Cubs future CF is still Logan Watkins or Hak-ju Lee). Again, I’m not saying go overboard for Figgins. Rather, I’m saying that Figgins is a better option than Iwamura, even including the cost difference. Of course, this presupposes that we have the money to make said move, which no one knows at this moment.

In saying this, I was going to put in my initial quick thought before reading this odd Iwamura love. Again, I’d be open to Iwamura at the right price (but more for the role the Cubs envisioned for Aaron Miles this year). I just don’t see what he adds of significant value, outside of enhancing our status in Japan (and I’m being dead serious on the former … what does he add to this club that justifies said move?)

My initial thought I was going to add is this – in an offseason without many ideal fixes, what I would like to see (I think that Hendry will try going after Figgins first) is some … for lack of a better word, guts on ideas. I am not a Hendry basher, never have been. He’s made some bad decisions. He’s made some good decisions. I think, though, like most people, the easiest answers are the ones we often pursue, and thus, I expect the usual names out there, Figgins and Co. I’m not averse to some of those options, but putting all our eggs in a small basket can be a bit problematic. We saw the impact of not landing Furcal several years back (Pierre trade). For example, the Nationals are in a “building” mode. Every indication is that Mike Rizzo will listen to almost anything (some obvious exceptions). One name I haven’t seen anyone bring up is Nyjer Morgan. He’s been great for them, but he’s 30. I’d call the Nats up and see what possibilities exist. Morgan’s a colorful personality who has a good glove and enough ability to fill a leadoff role. There’s several other ideas, but as this post is getting long, although I’ll close on several notes.

A. I don’t expect a wild and wacky offseason. Maybe one contract clearing move and one key signing in a best case scenario, along with some smaller moves.

B. My ideal goals this offseason are to improve CF defense and find a leadoff hitter.

C. If we trade a pitching contract, timing is suddenly a big issue with Harden and FA’s. I’m assuming we get enough value to justify a deal, as discussed in the other thread. But … there are options externally that could be explored. Erik Bedard for example (would be interesting if we had 3 Canadians and two guys that pitched north of the border, however brief for Wells). Chien-Ming Wang could be released and that’s a gamble I’d take after watching the Yankees butcher that situation (one of the few things they’ve done wrong in the past year).

this guy has been a valuable part of the rays. the only reason they will let him go is to save money. if they do. the cubs should jump on him. he was actually a very good leadoff hitter for the rays. then you could keep baker or fontenot. i still like fontenot at 2nd and hope he stays.you just have to use him correctly.