Blow Up the Team?

[DaCubz]

According to some at Yahoo! Baseball, the Cubs should try shipping out some high-priced players who are under-producing(Pierre and even Ramirez) to open up some money for the future.

I partly agree with shipping Pierre. He's a great player, but the Cubs have absolutely no idea how to use him. How many times this year have the Cubs produced runs with him this year?(Leadoff single, steal second, then bunt over to third would be a good idea) They obviously are having trouble scoring, and they need to start playing small ball.

The pitching will turn around soon. We got Wood, and soon Prior and Miller will be joinging the rotation, making it Zambrano, Maddux, Wood, Prior, Marshall, and Miller. Perhaps Miller or Marshall will be pushed into the bullpen.

Anyways, my idea for the Pierre situation is to trade him for some starting pitching, maybe even prospects(SPs) and call up Pie and get him some major playing time in CF.

As for Ramirez, the only reason he is struggling is because of Lee. He has no protection, and he is obviously not a great hitter on his own.

As if this hasn't been too long, I have my prototypical lineup from now on:

Pierre/Pie
Walker(he's not a 3-4-or-5 hitter)
Barrett(move everyone up 1 spot, but Blanco at the bottom when he's in)-C
Nevin-1B
Ramirez-3B
Murton-LF
Jones-RF
Cedeno-SS
Pitcher


Anybody have any thoughts, suggestions, ideas, or complaints???

[rockin500]

there is no real good reason to completely blow the team. there are some good parts there and Ramirez is one of those key parts. Lee is, and so is Zambrano and the bullpen. beyond that though, the everyday lineup could use some tweaking. starting with getting rid of all the deadweight of a bad bench (the neifis, the womacks, the bynums)

[Spitball67]

I don't know who I'd want to get rid of right now. Pierre maybe? Who do we replace him with? Pie? Then we have essentially three rookies (Pie, Cedeno, Murton) as everyday players. We've been hearing about the potential greatness of Pie for a few years now but I don't think that the current situation is a good one for him to come into. Can't get rid of Ramirez yet unless we are getting something real good for him. Nobody's going to do that.

As far as pitchers, we ahve to keep Zambrano and Marshall. The other starters can all go. I only would want to trade Maddux out of respect to the guy as silly as that sounds.

[DaCubz]

What are you talking about? We aren't the Marlins!!!! We shouldn't even think about trading Ramirez, he's our second-best hitter!!!! And who cares if there's 3 rookies out there, ya know what that means, more experience and better future playing! If you don't bring him up now, you may as well trade him too. As for pitching, even though they are constantly injured, Prior and Wood should be held. Maddux should stay as well. Wood is coming around now, so wait a little bit.

[DaCubz]

BTW- I guess the reason I don't want to trade people is because it always comes back to bite us. The following examples should be enough:

Lou Brock(traded because he was black)
Greg Maddux(need i say anything?)
Dontrelle Willis(you should know him by now)
Jon Garland(20 wins last year, mostly because of offense)
Corey Patterson(.291, 7 HRs, 21 RBI, 29 runs, and 21 SB so far this year.)
Ricky Nolasco(promising young pitcher)
For some reason, we let Kenny Lofton go after he batted .327, with 3 homers, 20 RBI, 39 runs, and 12 SBs in 56 games in 2003.

And not to mention someone who slipped through our fingers 12-13 times in 1999, Phat Albert.


The stupidity of this franchise is unbelievable.

[Spitball67]

What are you talking about? We aren't the Marlins!!!! We shouldn't even think about trading Ramirez, he's our second-best hitter!!!!
now hold on there hoss, I'm not comparing the Cubs to the Marlins. All I am saying is that if a team so desperately wants Aramis and is willing to give us something great in return, I wouldn't be against it.


And who cares if there's 3 rookies out there, ya know what that means, more experience and better future playing! If you don't bring him up now, you may as well trade him too.

Yes let's bring him up and develop him for the future, like we did Corey! ;)
Seriously though, Pie is a young kid. The last thing we want to do is bring him up during this sad season and have unreal expectations placed upon him by the less knowledgable fans out there. People like you & me know that if he comes up and has some struggles early on, it is what you would expect from a youngster. Unfortunately there are those Cubs "fans" out there that will expect big things from him considering all of the hype he has garnered over the past couple of seasons. And if he fails, he'll hear the boo birds which would be a great injustice. So I would be in favor of bringing Pie up later in the season but not right now.

As for pitching, even though they are constantly injured, Prior and Wood should be held. Maddux should stay as well. Wood is coming around now, so wait a little bit.

sorry, I'm tired of waiting for Prior and Wood and hearing about side sessions, simulated games, rehab starts, etc. Time to move on.

[DaCubz]

as for prior and wood, you probably wouldn't get too much for them now, seeing as what they're going through. Hold on to them, let them get a little better, maybe pitch 15-20 games, then see if someone is willing. But don't get too hasty.

If we're able to acquire someone like Glaus or Blalock. Anything else would be a horrible deal.