Cubshub.com

Pierre has expressed an interest in the press to play elsewhere, due to many factors. Such as Wrigley is not the most conductive ballpark for his slap happy talent, but also due to the way fans treated a struggling Jacque Jones at the beginning of the season. Juan is Not the only one expressing his feelings of testing the waters as Ramirez has made it be known that he too plans on taking offers from other clubs thus nullifying his current Cub contract that will pay him 22.5 million over the next two seasons. This seems as quite a shocker to some as Hendry had a verbal agreement to re-up with ARam at the All Star Break, but a monster second half by Ramirez has opened up the flood gates of potential offers from clubs desperate for offense and a third baseman.

The recent reports that have been circulating Chicago that BOTH Aramis Ramirez and Juan Pierre are preparing to jump ship this offseason are fueled by monster second half seasons:


Ramirez .259/.320/.481/.801 in 1st half, .328/.387/.653/1.040 in 2nd half
Pierre .275/.321/.361/.682 in 1st half, .310/.340/.422/.762 in 2nd half


What some don't know is that both Pierre and Ramirez have expressed a devotion to manager Dusty Baker calling him the "best manager" they've played for. It's a trait that Dusty is known for, being a player's manager, nevering throwing a player under the bus for the media to blame, instead taking the blame himself or pawning it off as a bad break.

So I pose the question would you re-up Dusty for another year to keep Ramirez AND Pierre OR do you chance it that money will talk to at least one of the two (probably Ramirez) and sign a new manager?


Personally, I'm not against giving Dusty a one-year deal, it's something that most Cub fans would NEVER think about but how quickly they forget what we've had as manager before Dusty. I'm not saying Dusty is the greatest in-game coach, because he's not even close, but I don't blame our faults on him instead I save that for Hendry. The manager can only play with the cards he's dealt, and unfortunately for Dusty, Hendry dealt him a poor hand from the get-go. Jim set this 2006 team up for failure from the beginning, there was once again an over-reliance on the starting pitching, that D.Lee and Ramirez would drive in our runs, and that a Howry/Eyre/Dempster pen would shut it down in the final innings. Wood and Prior combined for 64 1/3 innings, Lee missed most of the season (113 games if he doesn't play the rest of the season), and Dempster blew a little more than 1/3 of his save opportunities.

Some blame Wood and Prior's injuries on Dusty's overuse in 2003 but that's not just. Wood had serious arm troubles before Dusty ever arrived on the scene, the original abuse blame should go to a playoff desperate manager Jim Riggleman and general manager Ed Lynch in 1998. Kerry suffered the consequences of overpitching on a young arm and poor mechanics (much like the 2006 Twins' Liriano) thus enduring a Tommy John surgery that cost him all of the 1999 season and some of the 2000 season. He missed a month in 2001, yet still put up great numbers when starting. Then in 2002 and 2003, Kerry pitched like the Cubs always thought he could, absolutely brilliant. That's when Kerry signed his 3 year deal with an option in 2007 that the Cubs will decline this offseason for 3 million dollars (instead of an option for 13.5 million).

As for Prior, he's suffered some very "odd" injuries that are not as neatly explainable as Kerry Wood's have been. First was the "calf injury" that the club shut him down in 2002 with, then he pitched a complete 2003 season before having achilles tendon problems as well as being run over by Marcus Giles that cost him time in 2004 , in 2005 he was hit with a line drive that fractured his arm the cost him substancial time, while 2006 he's missed time due to shoulder problems.

Concerning replacing the starting CF and 3B, the Cubs do have a vesting interest in former CF Gary Matthews Jr who has just displayed a career year in the hitter's ballpark in Arlington, Texas. What's even more scary is that the 32 year old Matthews is looking at 2-3yr deal worth 6-8 million per year. Outside of Matthews, Felix Pie is the closest thing we have to a centerfielder, except Pie isn't ready to handle a MLB starting leadoff job but could play defensively in CF. The 3B the Cubs have had their eye on for quite a while is Joe Randa, even back to his Kansas City days before Ramirez became a reality. Randa would only be a stopgag and insurance to 3B Scott Moore whom the Cubs do have high hopes for.

The Cubs are shopping Jacque Jones this offseason but aren't excepted to get an overwhelming offer, that's why Matt Murton and Ronny Cedeno are being shopped around this offseason along with several young pitching arms.