MacPhail: Deal is dead (p. 297), stop posting, go outside

[Yestheydo]

I want Figgins and Roberts.

I wanna Friggin' stop hearing about Roberts too.

[UMFan83]

Bruce Levine just reported on ESPN 1000 that Roberts trade talks are off and that the Cubs have 0% chance of acquiring Roberts.

 

He said the Cubs are looking to acquire Marlon Byrd from the Rangers to platoon with Pie in CF.

 

He also said the Cubs are really trying to sign Jon Leiber.

[UMFan83]

BTW, I read this on Orioles Hangout, but it was posted by 2 different users who started 2 different threads. I did not hear the report myself.

[BWcubs21]

Bruce Levine just reported on ESPN 1000 that Roberts trade talks are off and that the Cubs have 0% chance of acquiring Roberts.

 

Thank God, hopefully this is finally over and Cedeno gets a shot at short!!!

[YearofDaCubs]

Byrd and Lieber? ugh

[mdwilla]

I hate Angelos, and the Orioles insiders are all dead to me now. Wow Marlon Byrd doesn't suck . He makes a really solid 4 outfielder if the Cubs are able to get a deal done. Whats his defense like?

[CubColtPacer]

Bruce Levine just reported on ESPN 1000 that Roberts trade talks are off and that the Cubs have 0% chance of acquiring Roberts.

 

He said the Cubs are looking to acquire Marlon Byrd from the Rangers to platoon with Pie in CF.

 

He also said the Cubs are really trying to sign Jon Leiber.

 

Byrd's about as inconsistent as they come. Looking over his numbers, his overall numbers and his left/right splits jump all over the place. He wouldn't be a terrible option though if the Cubs don't give up all that much.

 

If the Cubs sign Lieber, I think that pretty much shuts the door for Dempster going to the rotation.

 

I still think they would look to trade for somebody else at that point. That's a lot of competition at the end of the 25 man roster, and at least 1 pitcher would need to be traded.

[inari]

Bruce Levine just reported on ESPN 1000 that Roberts trade talks are off and that the Cubs have 0% chance of acquiring Roberts.

 

Thank God, hopefully this is finally over and Cedeno gets a shot at short!!!

 

Sean Gallagher, too.

[BWcubs21]

He said the Cubs are looking to acquire Marlon Byrd from the Rangers to platoon with Pie in CF.

 

He also said the Cubs are really trying to sign Jon Leiber.

 

As for these two points, I am not so sure I am liking either one. Byrd had a very solid year last year (.307/.355/.459), but he has only had 2 previous seasons with an OPS above .700. I guess I could live with him as a backup getting the occasional start, but he had better not take much PT from Pie. Honestly I would rather have a cheaper in-house option. Does anyone think Leiber is much better than Dempster or Marquis? Well, I am not a fan of either potential move.

[CubColtPacer]

Bruce Levine just reported on ESPN 1000 that Roberts trade talks are off and that the Cubs have 0% chance of acquiring Roberts.

 

Thank God, hopefully this is finally over and Cedeno gets a shot at short!!!

 

Sean Gallagher, too.

 

I'm of the opinion that Gallagher might be better served getting some time in at AAA first. He might do fine at the major league level, but he's only had 40 innings at AAA. Give him some more time to dominate down there and maybe we won't have the Ronny Cedeno story with Gallagher where he was rushed up, struggled, and then banished.

[inari]

Bruce Levine just reported on ESPN 1000 that Roberts trade talks are off and that the Cubs have 0% chance of acquiring Roberts.

 

He said the Cubs are looking to acquire Marlon Byrd from the Rangers to platoon with Pie in CF.

 

He also said the Cubs are really trying to sign Jon Leiber.

 

I might be the only one, but I'm firmly entrenched in the Lieber camp. He's a dramatic improvement over Dempster or Marquis.

[BWcubs21]

Bruce Levine just reported on ESPN 1000 that Roberts trade talks are off and that the Cubs have 0% chance of acquiring Roberts.

 

Thank God, hopefully this is finally over and Cedeno gets a shot at short!!!

 

Sean Gallagher, too.

 

Yeah, why even attempt to go after leiber when you have someone like Gallagher or Marshall that you could give a shot.

[inari]

Bruce Levine just reported on ESPN 1000 that Roberts trade talks are off and that the Cubs have 0% chance of acquiring Roberts.

 

Thank God, hopefully this is finally over and Cedeno gets a shot at short!!!

 

Sean Gallagher, too.

 

Yeah, why even attempt to go after leiber when you have someone like Gallagher or Marshall that you could give a shot.

 

I'd love the back end of the rotation to be Gallagher and Lieber.

[RammyFanny]

Even though I was for the Roberts trade, i've got to say i'll enjoy the potential of Sean Gallagher developing with us.Now let's either trade for a decent pitcher or SS.

 

 

And for some reason, Marlon Byrd is actually ppretty good baseball player if he can do what he did last year. I'm all on board for him.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?statsId=6863

[CubColtPacer]

He said the Cubs are looking to acquire Marlon Byrd from the Rangers to platoon with Pie in CF.

 

He also said the Cubs are really trying to sign Jon Leiber.

 

As for these two points, I am not so sure I am liking either one. Byrd had a very solid year last year (.307/.355/.459), but he has only had 2 previous seasons with an OPS above .700. I guess I could live with him as a backup getting the occasional start, but he had better not take much PT from Pie. Honestly I would rather have a cheaper in-house option. Does anyone think Leiber is much better than Dempster or Marquis? Well, I am not a fan of either potential move.

 

I think Lieber would be a lot better than Dempster when you consider how much going back to Chicago is going to help his numbers. Is he better than Marquis? It's hard to tell. Marquis has the better chance of being an above average pitcher this year, but he also has a much better chance of being terrible as well. Lieber will most likely be around average and doesn't have that much variability.

 

I would love to have a cheaper in-house option than Byrd as well, but who is there? The Cubs traded their only possible option in Pagan, and he wasn't a great option. The Cubs don't have anybody in the minors who can both play center and hit against left-handers.

[BWcubs21]

Bruce Levine just reported on ESPN 1000 that Roberts trade talks are off and that the Cubs have 0% chance of acquiring Roberts.

 

He said the Cubs are looking to acquire Marlon Byrd from the Rangers to platoon with Pie in CF.

 

He also said the Cubs are really trying to sign Jon Leiber.

 

I might be the only one, but I'm firmly entrenched in the Lieber camp. He's a dramatic improvement over Dempster or Marquis.

 

I don't know about dramatic, I would say marginal improvement. However I would rather they stay away and give the kids a shot.

[inari]

Bruce Levine just reported on ESPN 1000 that Roberts trade talks are off and that the Cubs have 0% chance of acquiring Roberts.

 

He said the Cubs are looking to acquire Marlon Byrd from the Rangers to platoon with Pie in CF.

 

He also said the Cubs are really trying to sign Jon Leiber.

 

I might be the only one, but I'm firmly entrenched in the Lieber camp. He's a dramatic improvement over Dempster or Marquis.

 

I don't know about dramatic, I would say marginal improvement. However I would rather they stay away and give the kids a shot.

 

Eh, I think Lieber's a pretty safe bet to be league average. Dempster, on the other hand, is just about a guarantee to be well below average.

[JeffH]

Maybe Dempster would be traded for Byrd.

[inari]

Maybe Dempster would be traded for Byrd.

 

Or maybe we could get Marquis' contract off the books?

[BWcubs21]

Bruce Levine just reported on ESPN 1000 that Roberts trade talks are off and that the Cubs have 0% chance of acquiring Roberts.

 

He said the Cubs are looking to acquire Marlon Byrd from the Rangers to platoon with Pie in CF.

 

He also said the Cubs are really trying to sign Jon Leiber.

 

I might be the only one, but I'm firmly entrenched in the Lieber camp. He's a dramatic improvement over Dempster or Marquis.

 

I don't know about dramatic, I would say marginal improvement. However I would rather they stay away and give the kids a shot.

 

 

Eh, I think Lieber's a pretty safe bet to be league average. Dempster, on the other hand, is just about a guarantee to be well below average.

 

I hear you, I don't want any part of Dempster in the rotation. Personally I like Marquis a bit more next year, but I guess I could live with Leiber. Now if we sign Leiber, do we ramp up our efforts to trade Marquis or do we have both in the back of the rotation?

[C.C.]

So the B.Roberts dream is over? There goes the World Series in 2008!

[Sammy Sofa]

The only thing I regret about not getting Roberts are the rumors that Burnett might be had for something like Dempster and DeRosa. Other than that, meh.

[RynoHawk23]

This is disappointing. We are basically bringing back the same team as last year with more dependency on unproven players like Pie and Soto. (although it probably isn't very hard to outperform our '07 catching situation) Fukudome at best replaces the production we got from Jones/Floyd. Theriot is still a starting player. (I'm praying for Ronny Cedeno to have a ridiculous spring training)

 

I think you can hope for improvement from Soriano, Lee and Ramirez. But we already saw what this team can do in the playoffs - not much without a legitimate #1a/#2 starter.

 

Basically we are resigned to try to win the NL Central again and even that is questionable and not saying much league wide.

[RammyFanny]

from psd

Just to clarify: Levine actually said that Baltimore hasn't decided what to do and that Roberts is currently unavailable (splitting hairs I know)- BTW he also mentioned that he believes the Indians have a better offer on the table (centering around Adam Miller, the Indians top pitching prospect) for Roberts then do we- so even if they do decide to deal him it's more likely he'll go there then here.

 

However, he never said we have talked to the Rangers about Byrd, only that he has heard Byrd is available for another OF and that he would fit what Hendry is looking for.

 

Lastly- he flat out did not say the Cubs are really trying to sign Lieber; he said that now that the Roberts deal seems to be a no-go Hendry will likely move onto adding a pitcher and OF then went on to mention Byrd- after that he mentioned that Liebers agent said that he (Lieber) would like to come back to the Cubs, not that we are actively pursuing him.

[Mizzou]

This is disappointing. We are basically bringing back the same team as last year with more dependency on unproven players like Pie and Soto. (although it probably isn't very hard to outperform our '07 catching situation) Fukudome at best replaces the production we got from Jones/Floyd. Theriot is still a starting player. (I'm praying for Ronny Cedeno to have a ridiculous spring training)

At best? I'd say that Fukudome at worst replaces the RF production from last year.