Full Court Press

I think people who are excoriating Jim Hendry for this deal are wrongminded. Jim Hendry was not responsible for Greg Maddux leaving in 1992; he is not Larry Himes or Stan Cook. In fact, isn't Hendry the one responsible for bringing Maddux back? So give Izturis a chance and give Hendry a break!

I think this is yet another short sighted trade for this club. When will this franchise be set free from Andy McPhail and Jim Hendry? I'm burned out on hope and potential and I think this pick up falls well short of the best of what the market has to offer. my final thought- if this kid is so brilliant, why in the world would the Dodgers let him go for anybody?

Bob brings up a great point. Why in the world would the Dodgers part with anyone who has long term potential in exchange for a pitcher whose best days are behind him. While Greg may win more games due to a better offense, they still cant afford to not support him. He's going to give up 5 runs in 6 innings pretty much every start.

What the Dodgers gave the Cubs is exactly what the Cubs have been buying for decades. A guy who once upon a time had potential (Gold Glove and an All-star apearance) but that potential has faded into the reality of continually nagging injuries. After all, he has only played in 38 games this year! Hardly better than what Nomar gave us at SS. This trade will be a push because both players will be done in 2008.

I think Hendry has done a good job over the years. I have said this before when was the last time we had this much offense at third and first base. why dont you look it up. Jacque Jones has been great this year. And signing maddux a couple years ago was a good move. Scott eyre, bob howry. How many more examples do you need?
His biggest mistake was counting on prior and wood so much for this season to be healthy and not picking up another top pitcher..but who was available and what was the price again?? Remember wood and prior are not the only injury prone pitchers in baseball.

I have no problem with the trade but if the season is lost, and it is, why not get Cedeno as much time at second as they can. Quit playing Perez.

i totally agree with tommy how much did we give up for ramirez and lee,hee seop choi is in the minors, bobby hill was a total bust, and hernandez is the strikeout king, honestly who wouldn't salivate at the prospect of a healthy prior and wood, it's a gamble any manager would have made

another easy out in the order a 240 hitter and baker bats him 2nd idiot he is still troting out perez mabry nevin what a joke the season is done why not try sing at 1st paterson or lewis at 2nd pie in outfield etc a legand who should be on cubs top 5 for a .240 hitter pathetic Mcfailure and dumbdry are cluless baker is just stupid stone grace maddog and sandberg should be running this team

Maddux has had only four wins since April and roughly only 9 quality starts all season. His incosistency this year has been a big reason the Cubs are in the situation they are in. Don't get me wrong. I love Maddux, but his best days are behind him. The Dodgers let Izturis go, because they have over $25 million wrapped up in the two positions he can play. You are not going to play him over Furcal or Kent. What exactly is the market for a pitcher with a 4.69 ERA?

Hendry, you have driven away another Cub fan. I hope you're happy.

I agree with Mike, Jim Hendry has a nasty history of going after once hurt players, over and over again. Maybe Izturis isn't hurt, maybe at one time hurt, maybe he will not be bothered after the Tommy John surgery. Never the less, why would LA let him go, not that they had a better player in waiting, since they traded for Lugo the same day. This trade (Izturis) was a classic Jim Hendry trade. Maybe some day the Cubs will make a trade for all around healthy players, that might not happen until Hendry is gone.

For those of you who have read my previous posts, you know I have little faith in what Hendry can do. A couple of years ago I was cutting big Jim some slack because of the albatros contracts of Alou and Sosa, but his performance in 2005 by trying to sell us on Hollandsworth and Burnitz as suitable run producing replacements was cheap and absurd. Then going into 2006 with no contigency for Wood and Prior was just downright stupid.

I believe this trade of Maddux was about right as far as plus minus for both teams. The problem is it should've been done at last years trading deadline. The Cubs were completely out of that season's postseason as they are this year and Maddux would've drawn a bigger name in return.

Hendry has shown questionable judgement on the real state of his team. His approach of looking at the personnel through rose colored glasses is part of the problem. Another problem is that with all of the teams financial resources, why is this years payroll some 12 million shy of the 2004 payroll?

The Cubs payroll at it's zenith was 96 million. Presently before Maddux was traded it stood at 84 million. Revenue from ticket prices alone have risen in the same time over 80% and that's not counting all the other additional revenue generated from park improvements like increased seating capacity, increased revenue from shaking down the rooftop owners, additional revenue from increased advertising signage on everything except the ivy and lest we forget the additional revenue from scalping their own tickets.

Let's face it fellow die-hards. We are being lied to left and right and now with the subtraction of the Maddux & Wood salaries next year, the team should have some 30+ million, without going over the 2004 budget, to resign Zambrano and Pierre to long term deals and add the biggest free agent run producing outfielder and marquis free agent starting pitcher available. Anything short of that would be another slap in the face to their loyal fans.

Maddux is available after the end of the season, so it's possible the Cubs can re-sign him if they want (that's a topic for another day). Cubs fans can moan and complain about it all they want, but clearly they weren't going anywhere this season with him on the roster so they might as well get a player they can try to rebuild with.

I thought this was an excellent trade for the Cubs.We can speculate that Izturis wont recover from his Tommy John surgery and that he wont hit better,but we can also assume he will hit better and there is every indication from interviews is that he will again be happy at permament SS and along with Cedeno at 2nd will develop for Cubs into an awesome middle infield defense.Hendry had earlier in day turned down a trade with Dodgers who were offering high prospects for Maddux. Izturis seems one of those trades Hendry would have been foolish to refuse. It was THAT trade at THAT moment. LA now had Lugo and Furcal and there's a limit to how many infielders can play at one time( joke). I still think Hendry has great baseball instincts,although I was disappointed he didnt do more last winter.He was burdened with getting rid of Sosa the year before and cleaning up Baker's lack of being able to deal with Sosa,so the season before last was also less than what could have been as far as trades are concerned. I'm willing to give Hendry one more year.He seems to have unlimited money and no restraints.I also never have understood the negativity in blogs about Cubs' ownership. They have more money and resources now than they ever have had, and I don't see any reluctance to make Cubs high priority.

Is that English "abe"? Roman, are we letting people submit blog entries in crayon now?

While I hated to see Maddux go, Roman brings up a good point that we got the best we could. Is it questionable that the Dodgers let Izturis go? Absolutely. But they already have a jam-packed infield so he was expendable. Ryan Dempster was also seen as a washed up injury waiting to happen. Now he's a heart attack waiting to happen.

Izturis was a stud-in-the-making the last couple of years. I am definitely excited about this pick-up. Not only for his potential, but it now secures our infield. This now puts the pressure on Hendry to go out there and sign a star in the outfield and in the rotation. Listen to me Mr. Hendry...are you paying attention? If you don't sign Carlos Lee to a long term deal, you are a fool. Not counting years past, in 2006 he had 4 HRs in 7 games with 11 hits in 28 ABs at Wrigley Field. Do you understand that this is a real star? This isn't Jacque Jones aka the golden child now that the season is a waste. Where was he at the start when we needed him? That's right...he was contributing to his 1 for 68 when starting out 0-2 with 35Ks. This guy is NOT our savior. Sign Carlos Lee and then get us some starting pitching.

To the rest of you, stop going to Wrigley! Quit paying for the tickets! Stop supporting a team that gambles our emotions every year on woulda-coulda-shoulda! It's turned into a corporate snob haven. I almost got kicked out of the new bleacher box seats for "being too loud." No profanities or racial terms...being too loud! LET'S SHOW THE TRIBUNE THAT WE NEED A WINNER.

(steps down from my soap box)

PS: If they even consider resigning Dusty Baker, I urge all of you to boycott all Tribune publishings and broadcasts. What a joke!

Jim, it isn't negativity for negativities sake. Instead, the criticism of Cubs ownership has been two-fold: 1) They don't spend money. This goes back to the days of losing Madlock and Sutter and continued up through the first time the Cubs lost Maddux. That has been somewhat rectified in that the only recent player who the Cubs were outbid for was Furcal. 2) The Cubs sign or trade for the wrong guy. Name a free agent that the Cubs have signed over the years and chances are they are a bust. Brock for Broglio. Willis for Clement. George Bell. Too many others to mention.

The biggest question is why do the Yankees almost always get the right guy but the Cubs never do? Is it bad scouting, or is it something deeper? Do they in fact get the right guy and it is the coaching staff who doesn't harnass their talent? Until those questions are rectified, the championship drought will only continue.

People are really dumb to rip on Hendry for this trade. "You lost another Cubs fan." blah blah blah. Maddux wasn't doing anything for us this year. The team is out of contention and Maddux is a free agent. We basically got a player for nothing. Whether Izturis is the long term solution at SS is another question. Clearly, in my opinion, he will be an upgrade both offensively and defensively over Cedeno who can now move over to 2nd for the remainder of the season and show us what he's got(and replace god awful Perez). I believe Izturis is signed for a few more seasons. He makes around 3.2 Million this year. That isn’t bad for a GG SS who could hit over .300 if he stays healthy. His health is obviously the major concern.

My main concern when looking at 2007 is the lack of power in the lineup. Hopefully Lee can regain his strength and go back to 30+ homeruns. Assuming Ramirez is back thats another 30. Barrett (and his bad D) is good for about 15-20. Jones for another 20. I hope we sign Pierre but he has no power at all.
Basically Hendry needs to pull of a few big signings this off season. I am not saying we need Carlos Lee, but we do need a LF who is good for about 30 home runs and has a strong arm (esp. to compensate for Jones and Pierre’s nonexistent ones). That really only leaves 2B and SP as problem areas. We need at least one 8-10 Million dollar starting pitcher signed. Someone who can come in and be a solid #2. We can’t count on Prior to be healthy or happy. If he is then we will have two number one starters. Otherwise maybe Wade Miller will be back, maybe Wood, plug in one of the youngsters in the #5. One thing is for sure at this point. We cannot count on Prior or Wood to be healthy. If they are its an extra bonus.
Maddux had his hot start but has generally been getting shelled since then. He has his moments still but one 6 inning, 3 earned runs win every two and a half weeks isnt enough to hold onto for nostalgia's sake.
if he wants to come back we can give him a 4 or 5 million dollar deal and he can be our number 5 starter.

When the wind is blowing out, the Cubs are hugely out-homered by almost any other team.Hendry take note. I read that Cardinals could have 3 free agents on market from their starting rotation.Cubs need to decide what they want to do about LF... Murton or Pagan or Carlos Lee.Also will Pierre be around next year.Right now,Cubs have 3 rookies in the starting rotation.That's a hell of a way to break into big league baseball.But maybe we'll see a trend by October.
I think Iztursis acquisition is a very good start .. it was kind of a 'pick-off at the bell'...but a lot more needs to be done.At least the Cubs should be interesting the rest of the season. I was beginning to wonder about that.
I look for a vastly improved team by Next Spring Traning!

As much as i had wanted Maddux to stay this season, even though his abilities are fading, this was a trade that probably had to happen. Izturis was no longer needed in LA and was going to go somewhere. He is a gold glove winner and will help make for a solid addition to the infield. Maddux staying was only for sentimental reasons at this point. Moving Ronny C to second is also a good idea. He is young and i think has potential to be a solid infielder. But, having a proven glove next to him at short can only help speed his growth. Aramis at 3rd, Sedeno at 2nd and D-Lee at 1st, with a healthy Cesar at SS makes for a really nice infield.

The latest trades of Maddox and Walker had to be done much as they hurt! Now play the young guys, call up prospects from the minors. Get active on the free agent market in the off season. And please tribsters, SELL to Mark Cuban or Donald Trump!

"This isn't Jacque Jones aka the golden child now that the season is a waste. Where was he at the start when we needed him? That's right...he was contributing to his 1 for 68 when starting out 0-2 with 35Ks. This guy is NOT our savior." Quote from Ray Michael.

Do you even jnow what you are talking about. Obviously not since Jones was the only guy hitting in may and june. He sucked starting out in April, hitting like .228, the last winning month they had, then by July he is hitting over .300. get your facts straight. Just another guy picked up by Hendry that is doing good, but Just isnt manny ramirez or David ortiz. But is still very good in his own right. They could have kept burnitz i guess. Or signed Willy mays

Roman, what do you mean "Izturis health and ATTITUDE may be questionable.." Is that in reference to his audicity in putting his wife first when he took time off to be with her during a difficult pregnancy?
That's someone who knows what's important in life. Please don't make up attitude problems if there are none. If you're referring to something else, then what is it? In any case, I like the trade! But I think the people who are measuring Maddux's worth to the Cubs by just his pitching statistics are missing the boat.

Roman responds: I was referring to his unwillingness to play other positions. I didn't like it when Alfonso Soriano did it, but at least he finally gave in and is playing left field. I like the move for the Cubs, but it's something to watch.

This trade was good for both sides. Maddux deserves to pitch for a team in contention and the Dodgers needed a decent starter. Izturis will provide the Cubs with a solid glove and .300 hitting if he can stay healthy. The best thing about this trade is that Cubs fans will no longer have to see Neifi "Bleeping" Perez playing any position any more. This guy was great 20 yrs ago. Move Cedeno over to 2nd now or bring up Eric Patterson. Anything so we don't have to watch Perez swing like a girl and hit another screaming 4 bouncer to the pitcher. Please Hendry sign Lee in the offseason and trade for some starting pitching...maybe Murton or Jones plus Hill or Marshall and some other players in the minors could fetch a decent #2.

Why has no one mentioned that a benefit Izturis brings is more speed? In 2005, the only players capable of stealing a base were Cory Patterson and DLee. Now there are at least four players (when Lee is back) that are a threat, and five when Zambrano is pitching(an attempt at humor). The thing I would prefer Hendry to do is get a stud to bat second in the lineup. This might give Pierre a chance to see better pitches to hit. Maybe not, but I remember when Kenny Lofton was batting first, he set the table quite a bit. I would do everything possible to give Pierre a chance for success. They know he's not a homerun threat, but even if he's been on base, there hasn't been anyone to consistently drive him in until recently. Get a stud for the #2 slot, and Carlos Lee and a top-flight starter too, while you're at it.

Gus, You are correct about Jacque's numbers in May & June. Although it would have been very beneficial for the Cubs at the time when they were winning, they were in fact winning so using your logic, you can't fault him for having a horrific April. His July was almost bad as his April (.237-.238 with one less HR). By the way, another guy was hitting at that time...Michael Barrett.

As far as "he's not Ortiz or Ramirez," that's the whole point! We are a major market with a wealthy owner. Why are we settling for anything less? We should be demanding marquee stars; not applauding the GM when the middle tier players do well. I was a big fan of Jim Hendry but this is getting out of hand. "We could have kept Burnitz." Are you kidding me?

Right now, the Cubs have no direction to win a world series and all they care about is being good enough for the wild card. They are the joke of MLB, and I'm sorry to say this, but their fans are the most ignorant fans out there. How can they fill up Wrigley Field for such a consistant mediocre product. At this point, it is disgusting and they need to wise up and STOP GOING!! That's if they care about winning, which at this point, I'm pretty sure they don't either. SO maybe Cub's fans and the Cub's organization deserve each other.

So the Cubs' middle infield now consists of three players in Neifi Perez, Cesar Izturis, and Ronny Cedeno. All have OBP below .300 and OPS below .700. In layman's terms, they don't walk, they don't hit for average, and they don't hit for power. Considering the corner outfielders don't exactly strike fear in the hearts of opposing pitchers, I fail to see how anyone could laud Jim Hendry for this deal. I understand that the value of Greg Maddux for two months is not sky-high, but let's not throw a ticker tape for the Cubs' GM quite yet. The Dodgers' farm system is one of the finest in baseball, while Izturis had overstayed his welcome in LA, and is coming off a serious injury that directly affects his most valuable asset, his throwing arm. So while Izturis may provide a modest upgrade in the field, I think it's premature and misguided to laud Jim Hendry for this transaction.

Bob,
You are wrong in your assessment. How can you trade a 40 year old guy who may retire in 2 months for a 26 year old gold gloving shortstop and say that is Short sided? Also, they were able to part with him because they signed Furcal who is more proven at short. The dodgers are trying to win their division and Greg will help them do that. He will be in a pitching friendly park and he should do very well there. The dodgers are trying to win now and teams often give up raw talent to do that. (see Kazmir, Bagwell,Joe Carter, just to name a few).

First off Kris real fans rout for their team regardless of how terrible they are so to say that Cubs fans are the most ignorant fans because they watch their team shows how ignorant you are. I understand the point that the Trib Co. only cares about profits and by going to games people are just feeding their pockets but you can't tell the fans to not go and support the team.

cubs are 10 games behind in the wild card race....it's this years cub fans and pls don't lose the faith!!! you gotta believe;)

call me crazy, laugh all you want, but the cubs still have a chance at a wildcard in the sucky national league. Looking at the schedule, August looks like a good month for them. Wouldnt that be something if the cubs actually pulled it out and the white sox choked. Look Houston did it the last couple of years, why not another team people have totally written off by June. Good job Hendry.

The trades of Maddux and Walker effectively seal the organization into a 2 month try-out session in the startiing rotation and seeing Theriot & Cedeno as much as possible at second base. Dusty needs to be ordered by the brass to stop playing Neifi Perez and to allow Murton to get as many at bats as possible.

The Organization is going to have some payroll freed up at the end of this season, and (with divine blessings) a new manager. We need to know where our youngsters are really at against MLB talent in order for Mr. Hendry to make the most of our off-season movement. The trade of Maddux was a great start for a team that has clearly been out of it since May. Good luck getting Dusty to stop playing Neifi!!

I'm really amazed at the complaints on here against this trade. Some of you act like Maddux accomplished all those wondeful things in a Cubs uniform, and must stay a Cub forever. Like trading him was trading the face of the franchise. Gimme a friggin break.

Reality check, says his best years were in Atlanta, and he's now a 40 year old pitcher with an ERA over 4.50, and a FA after the season. For those who aren't a fan of what the Cubs got in return from LA, you should take into consideration that Maddux had a no-trade clause which needed to be waived in order for a deal to happen. Maddux's own preference of the one or two teams he was willing to go to severely limited the Cubs trading partners and offers.

The Dodgers wouldn't part with the numerous prospects they had, because at the same time they were dealing for Maddux, they were including those prospects in the Lugo deal, who was needed to play infield for the injured Jeff Kent.

If you recall, they had out-bid the Cubs to sign Furcal in the off-season to play SS, for the injured Izturis, and win back some fan base with a key FA signing.

Now that Izturis was healthy again, there was no room for him on their roster with Furcal. And they tried him at 2B and 3B, but the guy's a gold glove SS, and should play being there and nowhere else.

The Cubs did good on this deal, considering their limitations on the market, what they were offering, and what Izturis allows them to do with Cedeno. They'll now move Ronny to 2B, which was in the cards all last off-season as they were trying to acquire Furcal and/or Tejada. Cedeno's strong, but erratic throwing arm from SS, could suddenly become a plus at 2B. And, his awesome range, paired with Izturis at SS, could turn our middle infield into a giant spider web.

Our middle infield has been pretty sub-par defensively for a while, this move should finally remedy that.

I'm not going to complain about the trade. My problem is that Hendry acts like the Cubs just got the next great thing at Short. Am I the only Cubs fan sick of Hendry signing people that strike out a lot and have a low on base %? It's a shame that Hendry is going to get Dusty fired. Wouldn't Dontrelle Willis look nice in a Cubs uniform right now? Hendry has made some dumb moves, the Willis trade being one of them. Signing Neifi and Rusch to two year deals and overpaying for Rusch, Maddux, Jones and Perez are other examples. By not getting a legit 5th starter two years ago he set the team back. I'm holding my breath he doesn't give Wood anything other than an incentive laden contract.

My humble opinion is that acquiring Izturis in the Maddux deal was a good move. He looks like a good ballplayer to me. Greg Maddux had a great April, then fizzled. Of course the rest of the team had something to do with that. Since this season was over for the Cubs back in June, it's good to see them playing better lately. It seems to me that when the pressure is off, everybody relaxes, plays looser and the Cubs win more games. Coincidence? I even saw a suicide squeeze that was successful the other day! Glad I had my heart pills with me.

I think thate Maddux/Izturis trade might be the door to next year. The Cubs now have 4 rookie pitchers in the rotation,although Marshall is currently on DL All have shown signs of being very good,but of course they are still very unpredictable. Marshall, Hill,Marmol and Mateo could all be rotation pitchers.Surely some of them will. I like Murton and I like Pagan for LF. Its too bad both wont be here next year.Both have been impressive of late,and Pagan really has speed.And Carlos Lee as free agent and neither would be here.
The Cubs are looking good now and are interesting to watch.I absolutely agree with many comments from above: Bench NEIFI!.
I don't like the Ramirez rumors that he wants to be a FA.He doesn't always hustle running but it would be hard to find someone better overall,and he has some awesome hitting streaks.
I still think Baker has to go.We need a manager with new ideas and a new way of dealing with players,and not to mention Dusty's biggest negative :baseball strategy in game situations.

The Cubs have been telling the fans for the last several years that the farm system was among the best in baseball and stocked with great prospects. Aside from some pretty good pitchers (most of them traded away and playing elsewhere) I haven't seen any position players make an impact. Was the farm system overrated by all of the "experts"? It appears to me that the Cubs couldn't grow potatoes in Idaho. If the farm system could produce some quality position players the Cubs wouldn't need to keep making trades that always work out for the other team but not the Cubs. The same goes for the free agents they sign, always two steps down from the top tier. I like Derrick Lee but, has anyone even given a thought to the possibility that last year was a carreer year? I mean, it's not like he was putting up numbers like that since day one like Pujols. With the Cubs track record, this is a real possibility.

The Cubs need to quit playing Perez, and Mabry, and to a certain extent Nevin. I like Nevin as a pinch hitter, but lets see what we've got with one of the younger guys like Pagan.Play Murton and Cedeno every day, and lets get ready for next year. I loved Maddux, but getting a good glove, younger infielder for him was a steal.