Lilly Narrows Decision To Cubs And Yanks

[Sheffield_&_Waveland]

Lilly crossed the Blue Jays off his list Wednesday and has narrowed his possible destinations to the Chicago Cubs and New York Yankees.

http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061206&content_id=1752625&vkey=news_chc&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc

[VanMan]

Oh, God! We're going to be in a bidding war with the Evil Empire! I hope Jimmy's ready to open the bank vault and back up the Brinks truck.

[HOLYCOW!25]

Well that's good, I just hope we get him, and not the dirty Yanks.

[Sheffield_&_Waveland]

Honestly I think we have the edge because of him being able to say that he was able to help the Cubs win a World Series because they havn't done it in so many years. I think he would rather say that than say that he was with the yanks who once again went to the playoffs but just couldn't make it to the series.

[scuba]

I don't know guys. Things are starting to look a little crazy. First Schmidt goes to LA so we miss out on him. Meche is apparently leaning toward Toronto at the moment according to espn.com. And then you have Lilly who, if the Yanks decide they don't want to wait around for Pettitte, could end up going there. I'm starting to get a little worried here. Plus, I really don't want the Cubs to go after somebody like Marquis because a) he played for the Cards, and b) he pretty much sucks. Suppan wouldn't be bad I guess, but if we don't land Meche or Lilly here, who are we going to get to improve our pitching?

[Sheffield_&_Waveland]

I don't know guys. Things are starting to look a little crazy. First Schmidt goes to LA so we miss out on him. Meche is apparently leaning toward Toronto at the moment according to espn.com. And then you have Lilly who, if the Yanks decide they don't want to wait around for Pettitte, could end up going there. I'm starting to get a little worried here. Plus, I really don't want the Cubs to go after somebody like Marquis because a) he played for the Cards, and b) he pretty much sucks. Suppan wouldn't be bad I guess, but if we don't land Meche or Lilly here, who are we going to get to improve our pitching?

Maybe we swoop right in a grab Pettite, would that be a slap to the Yanks and the Cards? HAAHA

[bringbacktuffy]

if we dont get lilly, we'll certainly see jones get shopped around a lot harder

[ChinMusic22]

SI.com is saying Lilly told the Yankees if they give him 4/40, he'll sign, even though he can make more with the Cubs. The only thing we have going for us is luxury tax and Pettite wants to play next year.

I have a feeling we'll get him.

[HOLYCOW!25]

I really hope we can get him, and now that Pettite's decided to play, I think we should really push for him.

[DLee25]

I would really love the cubs to get Lilly, It would be a good pickup

[dundeecub]

We flat-out NEED one of these guys, PLUS a decent pitcher for Jones to make a real run at the post-season. At the moment our lineup is just built to outslug opponents, and that can only win so many games.

[NeifiPerezMVP2007]

Yeah its too bad Schmidt went to the Dodgers. Makes me think of Furcal last year. It kinda hurts.:(

[ChinMusic22]

The Seattle Post is saying Meche is going to sign with the Cubs... if we could walk away with Lilly & Meche, it's a great upgrade.

[john h]

I don't know guys. Things are starting to look a little crazy. First Schmidt goes to LA so we miss out on him. Meche is apparently leaning toward Toronto at the moment according to espn.com. And then you have Lilly who, if the Yanks decide they don't want to wait around for Pettitte, could end up going there. I'm starting to get a little worried here. Plus, I really don't want the Cubs to go after somebody like Marquis because a) he played for the Cards, and b) he pretty much sucks. Suppan wouldn't be bad I guess, but if we don't land Meche or Lilly here, who are we going to get to improve our pitching?

Hey guys we all seem to forget we have a lot of young guys who now have a season behind them. I would expect on or two of these guys to break out of the pack this year. Certainly at least one. Wuertz was the team era leader. Ohman looks very much like a keeper. Our 1 & 2 set up guys are as good as it gets. No one every mentions these guys but fact is we have a very strong bull pen. Our one worry is the closer but either of our 1 or 2 set up guys could turn into a closer and then there is Wood who know one knows what to expect. He has the stuff to be a king kong of closers. Just hope he has the health to be a factor. Our guy we got from the Sox can be a starter. Even if we sign only one starter we are 50-70% better than last year. If we sign two starters we are definite contenders in the central if not the favorite. We are going to club a lot of teams into submission.

[dundeecub]

We do have a very strong bullpen, but we may need to use some of it as trade bait (not the frontline guys obviously). Ohman looks really good longterm, I like to think of him as a mini-Scott Eyre. Wuertz i dunno, remember he was sent down to Iowa only last season, although he did very well when he came back. Kerry Wood cannot be the closer this season (although I would expect some 9th inning work from him).

It's pretty hard to pick out the bullpen at the moment, but I think it'll roughly be: Demp, Howry, Eyre, Wood, Ohman, Cotts, Novoa, Wuertz. But there is no obvious longman in there...

[Webgem]

I would take Lilly and Meche.


Praying to god Pettitte signs with Yanks..;)

[Nashville Cub]

We got Lilly! :D

[Brutus T Manstrength]

Yeah its too bad Schmidt went to the Dodgers. Makes me think of Furcal last year. It kinda hurts.:(

I'm just waiting for Schmidt to be running to first.. (comical, if you think about it..) and then smashing into DLee after a bizarre and errant throw by Eyre..

[VanMan]

We got Lilly! :D
Now we just need to ink Meche, and we're set!

[NeifiPerezMVP2007]

I'm just waiting for Schmidt to be running to first.. (comical, if you think about it..) and then smashing into DLee after a bizarre and errant throw by Eyre..

No kidding that would be Cubs luck!

[NeifiPerezMVP2007]

Now we just need to ink Meche, and we're set!

Lets hope so. I just hope they eat innings.