We'll listen on everyone

[davell]

Per Bob Nightengale. Don't guess this is a huge surprise, but quite a change from Hendry obviously. With the high price of starting pitching, I could see a team making a bigtime push for Garza. Same goes for Marshall. As we've discussed elsewhere, I can see Soto and Marmol getting plenty of play as well. Should be exciting anyway. What would it take for you to move Marshall or Garza?

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Per Bob Nightengale. Don't guess this is a huge surprise, but quite a change from Hendry obviously. With the high price of starting pitching, I could see a team making a bigtime push for Garza. Same goes for Marshall. As we've discussed elsewhere, I can see Soto and Marmol getting plenty of play as well. Should be exciting anyway. What would it take for you to move Marshall or Garza?

 

Bryce Harper.

[Clem Fandango]

Marshall has blossomed into one of the premier middle relievers in the game. I'd prefer to keep him but if he can bring back a nice return it could be worth moving him. Middle relievers are too volatile to consider locking up long term so it makes sense to listen to offers for him.

 

Personally I'd prefer to keep him and, at the very least, wait until the trade deadline to see if it's more wise to move him then.

 

Garza I'd prefer to keep at all costs.

 

Marmol I wish we'd trade. We can fill his vacancy with Marshall or Wood (if he resigns) and not be much worse off. Ruben Amaro, Jr. signing Papelbon to that stupid stupid contract actually helps Marmol's value and he should be pretty appealing to other teams in search of a closer right now.

[CUBZ99]

I would flip Garza/Marshall in a second if it meant receiving a several top rated pitching prospects for them. Same goes for any other player on the team.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Cubs Willing To Listen On Everyone

By Tim Dierkes [November 16 at 10:15am CST]

The Cubs are telling teams they'll listen to trade offers on everyone this winter while trying to rebuild the team to be competitive in the future, tweets Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Danny Knobler of CBS Sports tweeted something very similar around the same time, so perhaps the Cubs are trying to get the word out. ESPN's Buster Olney also joined in, saying Sean Marshall and Matt Garza figure to draw the most interest between now and July 31st.

 

The concept of listening to offers for any player is not unexpected for new Cubs president Theo Epstein and GM Jed Hoyer, and marks a change from Jim Hendry's reported summer stance of not listening on players he thought could help him in 2012. Still, a team drawing three million fans a year doesn't often embark on a full-on offseason rebuilding effort. The Cubs certainly haven't done that anytime recently. Hoyer isn't afraid to make an unpopular decision, though, having traded Adrian Gonzalez for prospects months after his Padres nearly won the NL West. And even after trading Gonzalez, Hoyer made a series of moves designed to keep the team competitive in 2011. The Cubs aren't ruling out anything at this point, Hoyer told MLB.com's Carrie Muskat.

 

Garza, 27, could be one of the best available starters this offseason. He's made 30 starts each of the last four years, has AL East experience, and struck out a career-best 197 this year with the move to the NL. He's under team control for two more years, though his salary could approach $9MM in 2012 and will likely enter eight figures in '13. Marshall is under contract for $3.1MM in 2012 and eligible for free agency after that. With a 2.45 ERA, 10.1 K/9, 2.5 BB/9, and 0.2 HR/9 over the last two years, he's become an elite reliever capable of a Mike Adams-like bounty.

 

Garza and Castro are the only true untouchables. If we could get something worthwhile for Marshall, so be it.

 

When they say build a competitive team for the future, I'm not sure if that means we can forget about any big ticket free agents this offseason or that they plan on rebuilding the farm system and will do what it takes for the right offer. If they plan on any big name free agents and competing in the next few years, Garza should not be on the table.

[MSG T]

Cubs Willing To Listen On Everyone

By Tim Dierkes [November 16 at 10:15am CST]

The Cubs are telling teams they'll listen to trade offers on everyone this winter while trying to rebuild the team to be competitive in the future, tweets Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Danny Knobler of CBS Sports tweeted something very similar around the same time, so perhaps the Cubs are trying to get the word out. ESPN's Buster Olney also joined in, saying Sean Marshall and Matt Garza figure to draw the most interest between now and July 31st.

 

The concept of listening to offers for any player is not unexpected for new Cubs president Theo Epstein and GM Jed Hoyer, and marks a change from Jim Hendry's reported summer stance of not listening on players he thought could help him in 2012. Still, a team drawing three million fans a year doesn't often embark on a full-on offseason rebuilding effort. The Cubs certainly haven't done that anytime recently. Hoyer isn't afraid to make an unpopular decision, though, having traded Adrian Gonzalez for prospects months after his Padres nearly won the NL West. And even after trading Gonzalez, Hoyer made a series of moves designed to keep the team competitive in 2011. The Cubs aren't ruling out anything at this point, Hoyer told MLB.com's Carrie Muskat.

 

Garza, 27, could be one of the best available starters this offseason. He's made 30 starts each of the last four years, has AL East experience, and struck out a career-best 197 this year with the move to the NL. He's under team control for two more years, though his salary could approach $9MM in 2012 and will likely enter eight figures in '13. Marshall is under contract for $3.1MM in 2012 and eligible for free agency after that. With a 2.45 ERA, 10.1 K/9, 2.5 BB/9, and 0.2 HR/9 over the last two years, he's become an elite reliever capable of a Mike Adams-like bounty.

 

Garza and Castro are the only true untouchables. If we could get something worthwhile for Marshall, so be it.

 

When they say build a competitive team for the future, I'm not sure if that means we can forget about any big ticket free agents this offseason or that they plan on rebuilding the farm system and will do what it takes for the right offer. If they plan on any big name free agents and competing in the next few years, Garza should not be on the table.

 

 

I'd listen to offers for anyone, including Castro and Garza. Now it would take an incredible deal to get me to move on either, but... for the right price, anyone would be available. The deals would have to be not only long term solutions, but also at least include someone ML-ready or close, at least be ready by mid-season or 2013. But still, yeah I'd deal for the right price.

[UMFan83]

I love how the title is that we'll listen to offers for everyone, but the article doesn't dare mention Starlin Castro.

[Tyrant]

Can this become the catch-all thread for discussing potential trades for our players? It'd be nice to be spared a bunch of "[Player Name]?" thread titles this offseason.

[BeerHere]

Cubs Willing To Listen On Everyone

By Tim Dierkes [November 16 at 10:15am CST]

The Cubs are telling teams they'll listen to trade offers on everyone this winter while trying to rebuild the team to be competitive in the future, tweets Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Danny Knobler of CBS Sports tweeted something very similar around the same time, so perhaps the Cubs are trying to get the word out. ESPN's Buster Olney also joined in, saying Sean Marshall and Matt Garza figure to draw the most interest between now and July 31st.

 

The concept of listening to offers for any player is not unexpected for new Cubs president Theo Epstein and GM Jed Hoyer, and marks a change from Jim Hendry's reported summer stance of not listening on players he thought could help him in 2012. Still, a team drawing three million fans a year doesn't often embark on a full-on offseason rebuilding effort. The Cubs certainly haven't done that anytime recently. Hoyer isn't afraid to make an unpopular decision, though, having traded Adrian Gonzalez for prospects months after his Padres nearly won the NL West. And even after trading Gonzalez, Hoyer made a series of moves designed to keep the team competitive in 2011. The Cubs aren't ruling out anything at this point, Hoyer told MLB.com's Carrie Muskat.

 

Garza, 27, could be one of the best available starters this offseason. He's made 30 starts each of the last four years, has AL East experience, and struck out a career-best 197 this year with the move to the NL. He's under team control for two more years, though his salary could approach $9MM in 2012 and will likely enter eight figures in '13. Marshall is under contract for $3.1MM in 2012 and eligible for free agency after that. With a 2.45 ERA, 10.1 K/9, 2.5 BB/9, and 0.2 HR/9 over the last two years, he's become an elite reliever capable of a Mike Adams-like bounty.

 

Garza and Castro are the only true untouchables. If we could get something worthwhile for Marshall, so be it.

 

When they say build a competitive team for the future, I'm not sure if that means we can forget about any big ticket free agents this offseason or that they plan on rebuilding the farm system and will do what it takes for the right offer. If they plan on any big name free agents and competing in the next few years, Garza should not be on the table.

 

 

I'd listen to offers for anyone, including Castro and Garza. Now it would take an incredible deal to get me to move on either, but... for the right price, anyone would be available. The deals would have to be not only long term solutions, but also at least include someone ML-ready or close, at least be ready by mid-season or 2013. But still, yeah I'd deal for the right price.

 

100% agree. When you're coming off a 71 win season and have a middle-of-the-road farm system no one is untouchable but some players would require a lot more to move.

[Backtobanks]

I guess it's a little surprising that they said that, but I'm sure any player on any team is available "for the right price".

[Little Slide Rooter]

So what do we have of real value as far as big leaguers go beyond Castro and Garza?

 

 

-Marhall: Maybe we could get someone in the back 25 of the BA top 100 or a few guys from the back of somebodies top 10

-Soto: Probably similar to Marshall. I'd definitely listen on him and gamble on Castillo

-Marmol: with the high price for closers, as the other trade suggests he could bring a decent return.

 

-Byrd: Probably a similar package to the DeRosa one

-Soriano: if we were to eat enough money we could probably get A. a few decent high ceiling guys B. some former top prospects whose teams are about ready to give up. C. another bad contract

-Dempster: We could get something good for him, but I'm assuming he picked up his option in an particularly weak FA starting pitching class because he wants to stay and I think he has a full NTC.

-Zambrano: if anyone was going to give up anything of value for him, they'd have him by now.

-Wells: perhaps about what we got for Gorzo.

-Samardzjia: hard to say if 2011 was enough for anyone to give up enough to make it worth our while. Whatever we'd get is probably less valuable than the possibility that he can be a decent 3-4 starter with the right coaching, and Maddux(take your pick which one) would be the epitome of the right coaching.

 

-Russell, Colvin, DeWitt, Baker, Barney: maybe middling big leaguers/big league ready minor leaguers, 1-2 low level guys, or be used as throw ins in other deals.

-LaHair: around $1,000,000 from Japan or be used as a throw in.

-Coleman, Campana: throw ins.

[RynoRules]

I like this on several levels:

 

- there are few if any players who are good enough to be untouchable on this team (Garza and Castro are thenonly ones who come close, IMO)

- the approach is outside the Hendry box

- makes for an interesting offseason

[Backtobanks]

I wonder if the Yankees would be interested in a deal centered around Swisher for Marshall.