If i'm Hendry I go out and get A.J Burnett

I know some people here are more in favor of going after Millwood, but I'm with you.

I love the potential reward of signing Burnett, and just imagining how dominant that staff could be. We'd be the talk of baseball, and the staff could easily outperform the 2003 staff. I agree that Wood is in for a big year. Now that his shoulder is cleared up, he has no excuses. Plus, like you mentioned, it's a contract year for him.

If it were up to me, the major priorities would be to keep Nomar, sign Giles, and sign Burnett. I'd then try to swing a trade using a couple of our extra arms to get Bradley or Cameron to play CF.

I think Hendry is dead set on getting Furcal at SS, though. I suppose we'll see. But he seems to be focused on picking up a "prototypical leadoff man."

My scenario would give us the following lineup & rotation

LF - Murton, CF - Bradley or Cameron, RF - Giles, 1B - Lee, 2B - Walker, SS - Nomar, 3B - Ramirez, C - Barrett

SP - Prior, Wood, Zambrano, Burnett, Maddux

Looks pretty formidable to me.. strong lineup and strong staff

I wouldn't be upset at signing Burnett, but I don't think he should be a top priority.

 

If healthy, we have a top pitching staff. Also, since health is the primary concern, the last move to insure against it is to sign a pitcher with health issues himself. If we're going to sign another starter, I'd prefer to sign one that has avoided most health related issues.

I agree with you on the injury risk issue. I guess it's just the gambler in me. I've always wanted that fourth true power arm for the staff. Burnett could/would be that guy.

Out of curiosity, does anyone have any idea how much Burnett is going to command on the market?

I was guessing anywhere from 8-12, (more likely on the higher end) but that's a complete guess.

Right now, the Cubs have 6 SP's: Z,Wood,Prior,Maddux,Williams & Rusch

 

This talk about the Cubs going after one of the top 2 SP FA's (Burnett/Millwood) out there is unrealistic.

I think JH is set with the rotation & will maybe sign one FA for the BP.

Maybe they trade Williams for bullpen help or a OF. Who knows? He is not a RP type, so moving him to the BP doesn't make much sense.

It's not like we just made it up. Various reports say that Hendry wants to improve the pitching situation...

Despite bringing back Rusch, the Cubs still are intrigued by the possibility of adding another power arm like Burnett. After back-to-back springs dealing with injuries to Kerry Wood and Mark Prior, and with Wood coming off shoulder surgery in September, Hendry wants six quality starters going into Arizona next February.

 

"I am not going to be caught short," Hendry said. "We've had good health reports on everyone, but I'm not going to take a chance of going to spring training and someone goes down. Or there's a snag in someone's rehab. Or so-and-so is off to a bad start."

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/cs-051031cubs,1,7925414.story?coll=cs-home-headlines

I totally agree with what you say Vance but does the thought of a Rotation of Prior , Wood, Big Z, AJ , Maddux not even make your heart skip a little bit??!! Adding to that we would have Rusch and williams in reserve if things do go wrong?. I also have to believe this is Kerrys year, it just has to be. If i'm Hendry i'm also thinking that the time is ticking on this much publicised rotation and maybe its time to light a fire under it. One last thought JH played it very carefully last winter taking little or no risks might he have a different outlook this time around?.

 

If all goes well and that rotation stays healthy, we're going to have some unhappy campers on our hands (Rusch and Williams).

True...although, I'd like to see them trade Williams for a bat in CF.

As for Rusch, let him be unhappy. He was promised a shot at the rotation, not a spot. He can try to beat those guys out, but he won't, even with a fair shot. Besides, even if they stay relatively healthy, I'm sure there will be random injuries where he'll get more than a few spot starts.

The Cubs have enough depth in the rotation. Spend the money on improving the offense & the bench.

You say it's depth. Maybe I'm greedy/spoiled, but I want great pitchers at least 1-4. As it stands right now, the dropoff after Prior, Z, and Wood is pretty substantial.

They have more than enough money freed up to sign Giles, re-sign Nomar, and still get one of the top two pitchers on the market. And Giles is the type of addition that alone will make a significant improvement to the offense.

As for Nomar, yes, he's a risk to get hurt. But he would cost a lot less than Furcal and could easily outperform him, and the money saved can help bring in a starting pitcher. Plus, signing the starting pitcher allows us to trade some of that depth for another bat.

The Giles situation aside, to me, Nomar + Burnett/Millwood > Furcal (+ Williams/Rusch in the rotation).

If the worst happens and Nomar gets hurt, you give Cedeno a shot.

Needless to say, I don't think it's very realistic (or necessarily the best choice) to go after Furcal, Giles, AND a starting pitcher.

Thoughts?

Dusty would run Burnett into the ground. The only safe SP signing for the Cubs would be a durable verteran innings eater.

How true... Nothing I can really say to that. :oops: :cry: