“my conclusion is that we should have gotten rowand instead who steals bases (???) and is proven in the MLB and knows NL pitching already.”

Rowand: 549 AB, .271, 13 HR, 70 RBI, .339OBP, .410SLG, .749OPS, 2SB/4CS
Fukudome: 508 AB, .257, 10HR, 58RBI, .359OBP, .379 SLG, .738OPS, 12SB/2CS

They both suck.

That being said, I don’t know if our farm system has anything worthwhile to even entertain a Peavy trade, thus why the Padres & Cubs were working on including a 3rd team.

The thing that worries me more about this team is the crappy offense that we had in the playoffs. With great explanations like Soriano’s, “we aren’t built for a short series” to Fukkake experiment going terribly wrong (to Billy’s delight), we simply need to commit to a PROVEN offensive talent, preferably in the playoffs. Ramirez finally showed some signs of life this past postseason, but with Lee crapping himself just before each time, there wasn’t much he could do. We need a LEADOFF HITTER!!!

Ceda is a great pitcher, but like Kevin said, we’re trying to win NOW, so I totally understand and like the trade. Gregg is great, and the only reason he was sub-par at the end of the season was for an injury that he should be healed up from.

So, in conclusion, all this pitching talk is great…but we need a real outfielder that can hit. I thought Pie was looking better in September, but they barely gave him a chance to bat, so we’ll see what happens this year. The problem isn’t that Fukudome was a bust, but rather that we placed all our outfield hopes on Soriano, 2 guys we picked up off the waiver wire (Edmonds & Johnson), and then took a huge risk in a Japanese noob. Even 2 of those 3 things is risky, but we decided to say, “hell, I want to guarantee something gets mucked up!”

I think D Lee is past his prime at this point, and I wouldn’t mind us making a move that gets us a lefty at that position. At the same time, I re-emphasize our need for an outfielder.

Focker, Out

As for the bullpen, I don’t care about this Ceda kid. Gregg can pitch in the majors, and posted an ERA of under 2.00 all but one month last year. I’m sure the Cubs have about 12 arms in AAA and AA that can throw mid-90s; it means nothing. We need to replace Howry, and this Gregg guy seem to be the man. We need to win the WS w/in the next 1-3 years, not 6 years from now. We’ll have Marmol in the CL role, limiting his innings and keeping him effective, Samarjzjzjajaja in the 8th, etc. While I love Wood, and think when on he’s better than Marmol, he’s too much of a risk for a big multi-year deal.

As for rotation, it seems like we’ll take either Peavy or Dempster, and won’t be able to afford both. Either way, our rotation will be better than last year’s on opening day:

(1) Peavy, Z, Lilly, Harden, Marquis
(2) Dempster, Z, Lilly, Harden, Marquis

I think we’ll see Samargjajjgjajaza compete for a rotation spot in the 2010 season, after Marquis’ contract is up.

I’m a little worried about losing this Ceda kid. Perhaps he would have developed into a Gregg-esque closer within a couple of years. Nonetheless, it seems we have the short-term goal of winning the World Series. This will be come particularly apparent if we sell the farm for Peavy.

Jay, do you think we should go after Peavy or a comparable hitter? Supposing we keep Dempster, do we really need another Ace starter? If we keep Dempster and acquire Peavy, we’ll have one of the best staff in baseball history.