So now that the Mets missed the playoffs proving Feller wrong, he is bent on attacking the Cubs anyway he can. He started texting me claiming that the Cubs were just a bunch of overpriced players and that the young Reds are the next Big Red Machine.
I know he's just upset that his team sucks this year and it eats at him that the Cubs might just win it all. Here is my response to that:
1. If a team wins a World Series it's not overspending. The Cubs haven't done that yet, but still.
2. The Cubs have the 7th highest payroll in baseball only $59,000 higher than the Dodgers. 3 teams ahead of them didn't even make the playoffs this year (Yankees, Mets, and Tigers) so I guess it's about spending smart, not how much you spend.
3. Let's get a run-down of the Cubs line-up, how they acquired them, and how much they are spending on them.
C Geovany Soto... homegrown, $401,000
1B Derrek Lee... trade with Marlins after 2003 season for Hee-Sop Choi, $13,250,000
2B Mark DeRosa... free agent in '06, $4,750,000 and worth every penny
SS Ryan Theriot... homegrown, $428,000
3B Aramis Ramirez... trade with Pirates during '03 season for Jose Hernandez and spare parts, $15,000,000
RF Kouske Fukudome... free agent, $7,000,000 high risk, high reward bust from Japan
CF Jim Edmonds... wavier pick up, he makes $8,000,000 but the Padres are paying all but the minimum $350,000 for him.
LF Alfonso Soriano... free agent $14,000,000
SP Carlos Zambrano, homegrown, $16,000,000
SP Ryan Dempster, free agent, $7,333,333
SP Rich Harden, trade with the A's this year, $4,750,000 Cubs are paying half of that
SP Ted Lilly, free agent, $8,000,000
SP Jason Marquis, free agent, $6,375,000 overpriced scrub
RP Kerry Wood, homegrown, $4,200,000
RP Carlos Marmol, homegrown, $430,000
RP Jeff Samardzija, homegrown, $2,000,000
RP Sean Marshall, homegrown, $350,000
RP Bob Howry, free agent, $4,500,000 gone after this year HALLELUJAH!!!
RP Neal Cotts, trade with White Sox, $825,000
RP Chad Gauden, trade with A's, $1,775,000
Bench
C Henry Blanco, free agent, $3,175,000 worth it for tutoring Soto
OF Reed Johnson, wavier pick up, $1,300,000
1B/OF Darryl Ward, free agent, $1,200,000 waste of space
1B/OF Micah Hoffpauir, homegrown, $350,000
2B/SS Mike Fontenot, trade w/ Orioles for Sosa ;D , $405,000
2B/SS Ronny Cedeno, homegrown, $407,000
So let's sum this up...
Jim Hendry has done a marvelous job. He has grown a decent amount of talent through the farm system:
C Soto
SS Theriot
SP Zambrano
RP Wood
RP Marmol
RP Samardizja
RP Marshall
SS Cedeno
1B/OF Hoffpauir
He has made shrewd trades:
Ramirez
Lee
Harden
Gauden
Cleaned up on the waiver wire:
Edmonds
Johnson
And shown he isn't afraid to pony up the money to keep the guys he wants:
Ramirez
Zambrano
Lee
Gotten a couple of solid free agents:
Soriano
Dempster
Lilly
And made some mistakes:
Fukudome
Howry
Marquis
But this offseason I don't expect a whole lot of action by the Cubs as far as free agents are concerned, unless they go after a left-handed reliever. They'll probably lock up Soto, Marmol, and Theriot, cast off Ward, Howry, Marquis, Edmonds, and maybe Blanco giving them the money to resign a couple of guys like DeRosa and Dempster. Then young guys like Hoffpauir, Guzman, Koyie Hill, Hart, and Pie.
If all I said would happen happens, in the 2009 season the Cubs will have 15 guys on their 25-man roster under 30 years old! Everyone in the bullpen outside of Wood would be under 30 unless they go after a veteran left-hander. I'd say that's pretty young and ready to compete again. Obviously Dempster and DeRosa can't be counted on to have similar years to the career years that they are having this year, but the Cubs will have enough returning to be the favorites in the NL Central once again.