Man just thinking about this more pisses me off more and more. Cedano and Izturis will be the worst offensive MI in all of baseball. We don't need Izturis. Whats wrong with trading for prospects and maybe calling some up for the rest of the year? We aren't going to win with veterans we might as well try to win with prospects. Then if not we can make a splash in FA. Plus we paid the Padres cash and are going to pay part of Maddux's contract...for Izturis!?!?!?!

Jim Hendry resign now!

Izturis is actually a very nice piece of a puzzle. No, he's not a "fantasy" shortstop but he's pretty good. With him, Pierre, and Cedeno you have decent defense up the middle.

Under any other circumstances, we'd be happy to have him.

But, these aren't it.

The Cubs? Who-Gives-A-Shit?

Are we winning with defense up the middle now? Is Barrett the next one out the door then?

What's next? Grinder ball?

Are there any offensive second basemen out there next year?

Well there is a pretty good offensive player that used to play second base that the Nationals have held onto for no apparent reason. Soriano isn't going to sign with them in the offseason, but don't get your hopes up Cubs fans. Even if I thought Hendry was smart enough to plan for a run on Soriano he wouldn't have taken Izturis for Maddux because it isn't an upgrade anyway. I'm sure our favorite gm will botch this as bad as the pursuit of Furcal or his fascination with Tejada that panned out so well.

While his offense isn't all that impressive. His defense in the past has been and he'll be much better than Neifi in that aspect. While his hitting is somewhat comparable to Neifi, he does offer more speed (25 SB).

Unfortunately, the Cubs will struggle to win games if the score they're aiming for is 0-0. The defense wasn't the problem, it was the sporadic, incompetent offense. Cezar will not solve that problem.

I am pleased with this move. Its true, not much can be said about Hendry's moves in the past couple year's safeguarding the still non-existent Angel Guzman (as in sending Dontrelle and most recently Ricky Nolasco to the Marlins). Maddux deserves much better than a)Dusty and b)the broken promise of the Wood/Prior anchored rotation, not to mention c)being required to watch Glendon Rusch lobbing cantelopes destined for Waveland.

Izturis is coming off Tommy John. The way I see it -- both the Padres and Dodgers were desperate and willing to sacrifice talent for the chance of winning a division (NL West) that may take fewer only 80 victories to win.

That aside -- I refuse to hear any bitching after a 4-game sweep of the cards!

The guy who runs this site is nuts. They traded a FADING 40 year old with downs syndrome for a guy who was an ALL STAR last year and is only 26. He is a stellar defender and adding him to Cedeno gives the Cubs top notch D at those 2 spots. If they can each hit around .270 w/10 homers a year and play stellar defense then I think you have something. If the Cubs can sign either Lee or Soriano and jettison Murton then I think they will be OK in the power department next year. Save me the sentimental Maddux BS. He has damn near a 5 ERA in a terrible National League in a weak division and he was done after this year. Hell, hes actually done THIS year. They had to get something for him and they did. Stop whining.

Stop shouting, assclown.

The only thing that Izturis' All-Star appearance last year means is that a million voters were as stupid as you are for thinking that the guy is worth having around. When you come back and bitch about the Cubs not signing anyone this winter, look at that clown's four-million-plus salary and tell me this wasn't a bad move.

I was an All-Star. I am also the proof that being an All-Star has absolutely no validity in any discussion whatsoever. My ERA is almost a full point higher than Maddux's. "J" is stupid.

Steve Swihser was an All-Star.

In fact, more recently, so was Joe Girardi (2002). Yikes.

Cesar Izturis has a career .295 OBP. He sucks the chrome off a trailer hitch.

That said, you do have a point, in that Maddux is old and not great. Izturis may have been the best we could get, but he simply reminds us too much of all of these other infield journeymen that have paraded through town, celebrated for their anachronstic, Dusty-fied qualities (speed, glove etc.). This organization is incapable of learning anything from their past failures.

And I'd still think they could have at least gotten Willy Aybar.

My point is just that if Cezar was the best Hendry could do for Maddux, then I would rather have kept Maddux.

"He is a stellar defender and adding him to Cedeno gives the Cubs top notch D at those 2 spots." That is a solid premise to start with but lets think about it a little more. First of all that stellar defense has to be in the lineup, and given Dusty's man crush for Neifi don't think he won't use the excuse that it'll take time for Cedeno to learn second to get Neifi more at bats. So lets move on to next year, having great defense up the middle will certainly help, but that defense has less value when your starters (aside from the Great Zambrano) are getting lit up. Counting on young pitchers that have a tendency to walk people or injury prone starters that get shelled on their permanent rehab assignment doesn't bring the middle infield defense in to play a whole lot. And as for adding some power, well i would love to see that happen its most likely not going to or in the alternative Hendry will go out and sign Lee or Soriano prompting Ramirez to opt out and ask for a ridiculous amount of money that some team will pay him cause after all it is Major League Baseball. So in the end the best we can hope for is a small bump in the power numbers, and maybe Neifi sliding over to third (Shudder).