Levine on ESPN Radio 1000 (approx. 9:22 a.m.)

[jtownie]

AP reporter Rob Blum is on MLB radio speculating that the Sox will look to get Kotsay for CF.

Ok, do the Sox look at what the Cubs might want and just chase after those guys lately, or what? Tejada, Kotsay...

 

Exactly. I have a sick feeling that Williams is about to make a big move. He's going to trade Garland and get something sweet (Tejada, Abreu, Manny, who knows?)

 

BTW, Blum says the Cubs are going to make some big moves. Believe it or not, he expects the Cubs to add another BP arm. :shock: For what it's worth, this guy has "anointed the Cubs Champs for '06." :roll: We'll see about that...

 

 

How much money do the Sox have left to spend? Can they take on another another 10-12M? Just wondering.

[frostwyrm]

Cubs and Sox head to head for Tejada, huh? This could be interesting...

 

I'd have to believe the Sox have the edge simply because Tejada wants to play for a winner and the Cubs are perceived as possibly the most disappointing team of the past 2 years.

 

Will Tejada have a say? I don't know his contract situation, does he have a NTC?

 

He can have a say, simply because no team's GM will sell the farm for Tejada if Tejada has flatly stated he doesn't want to play for that team, and Tejada is outspoken enough that he will make his opinion known if he really doesn't want to go somewhere.

[Blueheart05]

AP reporter Rob Blum is on MLB radio speculating that the Sox will look to get Kotsay for CF.

Ok, do the Sox look at what the Cubs might want and just chase after those guys lately, or what? Tejada, Kotsay...

 

Exactly. I have a sick feeling that Williams is about to make a big move. He's going to trade Garland and get something sweet (Tejada, Abreu, Manny, who knows?)

 

BTW, Blum says the Cubs are going to make some big moves. Believe it or not, he expects the Cubs to add another BP arm. :shock: For what it's worth, this guy has "anointed the Cubs Champs for '06." :roll: We'll see about that...

 

 

How much money do the Sox have left to spend? Can they take on another another 10-12M? Just wondering.

 

I don't know but they just got 5M back from AZ for VAsquez.

[Andy]

At least then you commit to the young players and send a message to younger players in the org that if you are good enough you will get a chance. If Atlanta can do this why cant we?? Why has he not just named cedeno the starting ss and murton in lf to show Dusty the direction this org is going in?.

I agree with naming Murton the starting LF for sure and Cedeno the SS if we don't get Tejada, but remember that Atlanta only played all those young players because their regulars were ravaged by injury.

[Blueheart05]

A bit off topic yet potentailly great news:

 

RF Jacque Jones, Twins

Dec. 13 -- Jones could be close to signing a three-year, $20 million deal with the Cardinals, according to the St. Paul Pioneer Press. As the Cubs are still in need of a right fielder, one name that could be on GM Jim Hendry's radar is Jones.

 

MLB.com

[CuseCubFan69]

A bit off topic yet potentailly great news:

 

RF Jacque Jones, Twins

Dec. 13 -- Jones could be close to signing a three-year, $20 million deal with the Cardinals, according to the St. Paul Pioneer Press. As the Cubs are still in need of a right fielder, one name that could be on GM Jim Hendry's radar is Jones.

 

MLB.com

 

Will this be the big time free agent signing that Mr. Hendry gets....the highly coveted Jones?

[nolanwood]

A bit off topic yet potentailly great news:

 

RF Jacque Jones, Twins

Dec. 13 -- Jones could be close to signing a three-year, $20 million deal with the Cardinals, according to the St. Paul Pioneer Press. As the Cubs are still in need of a right fielder, one name that could be on GM Jim Hendry's radar is Jones.

 

MLB.com

 

 

 

 

3 years / 20 million for Jock Strap? WOW!! Please Hendry, don't get involved in that catastrophe.....

[ThePenguin11]

WTH is going on? At this point of the offseason we should really be looking for our 4th outfielder. Are we so tied to our prospects that the deals are getting done for everyone around the league except for us? Is JH waiting for a blockbuster, or are we seriously going to settle for Jack Jones?

 

I'm actually starting to panic a little bit. I think it's time for Jim to get out there and sign a Jeff Weaver and trade for a stick ASAP. 2B is fine as we all know, so it's time to get the RF and sign a starting pitcher. The sooner we get that done, the sooner we can get our bench completed and call it an offseason.

 

Does anyone think that this Tejada thing could cause us to miss out on other major signings & trades a la 2004/Sosa?

[Blueheart05]

A bit off topic yet potentailly great news:

 

RF Jacque Jones, Twins

Dec. 13 -- Jones could be close to signing a three-year, $20 million deal with the Cardinals, according to the St. Paul Pioneer Press. As the Cubs are still in need of a right fielder, one name that could be on GM Jim Hendry's radar is Jones.

 

MLB.com

 

Will this be the big time free agent signing that Mr. Hendry gets....the highly coveted Jones?

 

Not if the Cardinals get him first. :) :wink:

[Andy]

YES!

[YearofDaCubs]

Wow, it still saw Jones better than Encarnacion although that isn't saying much. From the looks of things and how they are shaping up we might have a worse OF than last year and that was abysmal.

[ChiCubsFan]

Wow, that's great if the Cards get Jones! Edited December 14, 2005 by ChiCubsFan

[ChiCubsFan]

Wow, it still saw Jones better than Encarnacion although that isn't saying much. From the looks of things and how they are shaping up we might have a worse OF than last year and that was abysmal.

 

How can we have a worse OF than last year? Murton is an upgrade over playing most the season with Dubois/Holla and Pierre is a big upgrade over Patterson/Hairston and last year we had Burnitz and his average numbers in RF. We will get a RF at least as good, hopefully much better, than Burnitz. So we will have upgraded every OF spot this offseason. No way can it be worse than last year....

[ThePenguin11]

Anyone read this linked blog from mlbtraderumors? It's a blog about Cedeno. It's the way I felt about him before jumping on his bandwgn. It definitely makes me feel even more uneasy about 2006. And it definitely makes me hope we can get our hands on Tejada in order to minimize the question marks.

 

http://1060west.blogspot.com/2005/12/why-it-cant-be-ronny-cedeno.html

[abuck1220]

trade for a stick ASAP.

 

who?

 

everybody keeps saying that, but i haven't heard any good suggestions as to who that could be.

 

missed out on giles. bradley in cf, wilkerson in rf could have worked, but both were already traded, and the cubs got pierre. casey's gone, so the reds don't have to trade dunn/kearns (if you consider him to be a big bat). and i don't think the o's or phils are going to just give away tejada or abreu.

[CardsFanInChiTown]

Ha Ha ok joke over, you guys almost had me.

 

This is a joke right? Right?

[ThePenguin11]

trade for a stick ASAP.

 

who?

 

everybody keeps saying that, but i haven't heard any good suggestions as to who that could be.

 

missed out on giles. bradley in cf, wilkerson in rf could have worked, but both were already traded, and the cubs got pierre. casey's gone, so the reds don't have to trade dunn/kearns (if you consider him to be a big bat). and i don't think the o's or phils are going to just give away tejada or abreu.

 

That's why I'm crying under my bed right now.

[MeatampPotatoesMan]

If we're looking to ink Pierre to an extension and Pie is coming up to play RF, it's pretty understandable why RF hasn't been a priority for Hendry. He wants a rental.

 

I can't beleive we're looking to sizably deplete the farm system of talent for Tejada. This move wouldn't have been necessary if we could have had decent OF production, but NO, that wasn't a priority for our offseason. :x Instead we get one of the more offensively unproductive centerfielders in MLB and are looking to pick up a scrub for RF. Even Tejada at SS doesn't balance that out. I'm sure that will please the sheep though. Get a big name and then look baffled when we fail to make the playoffs again.

[JeffH]

Kotsay has a NTC and would have to agree to be traded to the Cubs.

 

He might do that, but the NTC would probably still be in effect post-trade.

 

That would limit Hendry's flexibility when he wanted to bring Pie up.

 

I could be wrong, but I believe Kotsay's NTC covered only the remainder of the 2006 season.

 

You are half right.

 

He receives a complete NO-TRADE clause in 2005 and 2006 and a limited NO-TRADE clause in 2007 and 2008 that allows him to specify eight teams to which he could veto a trade to.

[soapy]

Possibly off topic: Does anyone know the reason for Kotsay's decline in both OBP and SLG last year? He took a significant step down from 2004. 2003 wasn't that outstanding either. Certainly not productive enough for a RFer.

 

Maybe he's just not that good.

 

That's pretty much the way I see it. Definitely not good enough (offensively) to play RF.

[YearofDaCubs]

The way I see if Hendry doesn't pull a blockbuster trade our options for RF are super slim.If he thinks signing JJones or Encarnacion is the answer he has no clue how to get us back into the playoffs.

[gflore34]

A bit off topic yet potentailly great news:

 

RF Jacque Jones, Twins

Dec. 13 -- Jones could be close to signing a three-year, $20 million deal with the Cardinals, according to the St. Paul Pioneer Press. As the Cubs are still in need of a right fielder, one name that could be on GM Jim Hendry's radar is Jones.

 

MLB.com

 

It’s great in that it may remove Jones as a possibility for the Cubs but, not the Cardinals!!! Who knows, maybe Jones will be as bad in St Louis as he was in Minnesota. But, I'm calling it now, if Jones signs with the Cardinals, he put up the inexplicable .950-1.000 OPS in 2006. Just once I'd like to see someone they sign off the scrap heap blow up in their faces, just once.

[Derwood]

Not to be a jerk, but has anyone from Cubs mgmt EVER mentioned Encarnacion by name? Or is this just typical Cub fan pessimism?

[goonys evil twin]

Not to be a jerk, but has anyone from Cubs mgmt EVER mentioned Encarnacion by name? Or is this just typical Cub fan pessimism?

 

I wouldn't call it typical pessimism. Encarnacion fits the Hendry model to a T. Typical pessimism would be saying if the Cubs traded for Tejada he'd come here and suck, or if the Cards got JJones, he'd magically be awesome.

 

And I do believe there have been rumors that the Cubs looked into trading for him in the past.

[Coach.]

Possibly off topic: Does anyone know the reason for Kotsay's decline in both OBP and SLG last year? He took a significant step down from 2004. 2003 wasn't that outstanding either. Certainly not productive enough for a RFer.

 

Maybe he's just not that good.

 

That's pretty much the way I see it. Definitely not good enough (offensively) to play RF.

 

Kotsay battled back problems much of last season.