Jon Leicester traded to the Rangers for a PTBNL

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

I would love for the PTBNL to be among this group: Sinisi, Nivar, or McDougall.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

I would love for the PTBNL to be among this group: Sinisi, Nivar, or McDougall.

 

Nivar got traded to the Orioles before the beginning of this season.

[cubs121]

I was really hoping he would get traded with some one for a impact player.... but this may just be the starting for hendry hope he has something up his sleeves (WELL HE BETTER)!!!!!!!!

[Brian]

I would love for the PTBNL to be among this group: Sinisi, Nivar, or McDougall.

 

Nivar got traded to the Orioles before the beginning of this season.

 

And just signed with Cardinals according to my sources.

 

 

 

 

 

 

(and rotoworld http://rotoworld.com/content/playerpages/player_main.asp?sport=MLB&id=7195)

[Outshined_One]

Speaking of PTBNLs, did the Cubs ever get a replacement from the Orioles for Crouthers since he retired?

[CubsWin]

here's Rotoworld's take:

 

Nov. 16, 2005 - 4:23 pm et

 

 

Rangers acquired RHP Jon Leicester from the Cubs for a player to be named.

Rangers GM Jon Daniels' first pickup looks like a very good one. Leicester was quite the disappointment last season, but the Cubs are giving up on him way too quickly. He has the fastball-slider combination to be a quality setup man. Expect him to win a spot in the Texas bullpen next spring.

 

Rotoworld's being awful nice to Leicester. He had a 1.49 WHIP in almost 600 minor league innings, and his Major League totals are almost mirrors of his minor league numbers. He'll be 26 next year and is behind Wuertz, Williamson, and Novoa for the RH middle relief/setup spot(s). That said, this isn't a bad gamble for the Rangers, since Leicester does have decent stuff.

I think it is less of them being nice to Leicester and just not nice to the Cubs. Rarely do I read anything positive about the Cubs coming out of Rotoworld.

[NorthsideAvenger]

Well, this officially means that Leicester will be one of the best relievers in baseball next year.

 

In Texas?

[Diffusion]

Speaking of PTBNLs, did the Cubs ever get a replacement from the Orioles for Crouthers since he retired?

 

No, not yet, probably not ever I'm guessing.

[Diffusion]

here's Rotoworld's take:

 

Nov. 16, 2005 - 4:23 pm et

 

 

Rangers acquired RHP Jon Leicester from the Cubs for a player to be named.

Rangers GM Jon Daniels' first pickup looks like a very good one. Leicester was quite the disappointment last season, but the Cubs are giving up on him way too quickly. He has the fastball-slider combination to be a quality setup man. Expect him to win a spot in the Texas bullpen next spring.

 

Rotoworld's being awful nice to Leicester. He had a 1.49 WHIP in almost 600 minor league innings, and his Major League totals are almost mirrors of his minor league numbers. He'll be 26 next year and is behind Wuertz, Williamson, and Novoa for the RH middle relief/setup spot(s). That said, this isn't a bad gamble for the Rangers, since Leicester does have decent stuff.

I think it is less of them being nice to Leicester and just not nice to the Cubs. Rarely do I read anything positive about the Cubs coming out of Rotoworld.

 

I can hardly hold honesty against them. When was the last time the Cubs made a good move?

[NorthsideAvenger]

Speaking of PTBNLs, did the Cubs ever get a replacement from the Orioles for Crouthers since he retired?

 

No, not yet, probably not ever I'm guessing.

 

I'm guessing when they dealt for Matt Murton, with Nomar as a throw-in. Or how about getting Lee for Choi? Or how about Ramirez for Hill, Hernandez, and Bruback? Getting Williams for Hawkins? The Cubs have been batting .500 with moves lately.

[SouthSideRyan]

Most recently Williams and Aardsma for Hawkins.

[Diffusion]

I'm guessing when they dealt for Matt Murton, with Nomar as a throw-in. Or how about getting Lee for Choi? Or how about Ramirez for Hill, Hernandez, and Bruback? Getting Williams for Hawkins? The Cubs have been batting .500 with moves lately.

 

The Nomar, Lee, Ramirez deals were a long time ago, that's the point.

 

The Cubs, since they signed Neifi Perez to a minor league deal late last August, have all but proven themselves to be stupid. Only the Nomar/Walker re-signings last winter and the Williams trade, which was borne out of their own stupidity in terms of the way they persisted in using Hawkins, have had the hallmarks of a team that has any idea what it's doing.

 

 

 

Here's a list of all their transactions...

 

8/19/04 Signed INF Neifi Perez to a minor league contract and assigned him to Triple-A Iowa. [Neifi is like a good beer - perfectly fine if used responsibly, not so good in the hands of a drunk alcoholic]

 

8/31/04 Acquired OF Ben Grieve from the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for a player to be named later. [fair enough, but they then didn't use him for a year and a half]

 

Acquired C Mike DiFelice from the Detroit Tigers in exchange for a player to be named later. [whatever]

 

9/3/04 Announced LHP Andy Pratt is the player to be named later in the Ben Grieve trade on Aug. 31. [i think this actually counts as a good move]

 

10/13/04 Selected LHP John Koronka and LHP Will Ohman from Triple-A Iowa; outrighted the contract of OF Nic Jackson to Iowa; C Mike DiFelice and OF Calvin Murray also have elected for free agency. [Cubs see something in Koronka that absolutely everyone else in the world does not]

 

10/25/04 Declined to pick up the 2005 options for OF Moises Alou and 2B Mark Grudzielanek, making them free agents. [entirely justifiable, actually. Alou's option was far too expensive, Grudz was and still is a lesser 2B than Walker]

 

11/5/04 Agreed to terms with INF Neifi Perez on a one-year contract for the 2005 season. [hmm, well that worked out just great]

 

11/18/04 Purchased the contracts of LHP Russ Rohlicek and C Geovany Soto from Double-A West Tenn. [did not protect Andy Sisco, Rohlicek meanwhile will almost certainly find himself cut from the 40 in a few days]

 

11/20/04 Signed LHP Glendon Rusch to a two-year deal. [gave Rusch a second year player option. Not clever]

 

12/7/04 Agreed to terms with catcher Henry Blanco on a two-year contract. [i like Whitey, but $2.7m/2yrs?]

 

Agreed to terms on a one-year contract with INF Todd Walker. [very fine contract for the Cubs, only now they're idiotically intent on trading Walker]

 

Agreed to terms on a one-year contract with SS Nomar Garciaparra. [a fine deal, obviously didn't work out, not really the Cubs' fault]

 

12/20/04 Agreed to terms with INF Jose Macias on a one-year contract. [name me one thing that Macias does at which he's actually good. Baseball related things only. Absolutely no excuse for not non-tendering him, no excuse for having him on the roster, no excuse for using him, no excuse for using him so friggin much]

 

12/27/04 Re-signed OF Todd Hollandsworth to a one-year contract [not a bad deal, but then the Cubs decided to use him as a starter. Stupid]

 

1/10/05 Acquired LHP Stephen Randolph from the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for a player to be named later. [we never sent the PTNBL. And the deal still wasn't worth it. Not that that wasn't at all inevitable]

 

1/14/05 Agreed to terms with RHP Chad Fox on a minor league contract with an invitation to Spring Training. [worth a try, then he blew his arm out, perhaps with Dusty's assistance. Ah well, not much lost]

 

1/18/05 Agreed to terms with RHP Kyle Farnsworth and OF Corey Patterson on one-year contracts.

 

Signed C Michael Barrett to a three-year contract.

 

Agreed to terms with RHP Scott Williamson on a minor league contract with an invitation to Spring Training. [can't really complain about any of these]

 

2/2/05 Signed OF Jeromy Burnitz to a one-year contract with a mutual option for 2006. [meh. Burnitz was as bleh with the bat as could be expected. Did play surprisingly good defence for what's it worth. Not much, actually, he's a right fielder]

 

Acquired INF/OF Jerry Hairston, INF Mike Fontenot and RHP Dave Crouthers from the Orioles for OF Sammy Sosa and cash considerations. [by cash considerations, they mean $16.15m. The Sosa trade dominated the entire winter. The Cubs first set about publicly devaluing their property, then, when surprisingly not many people were interested, they took whatever they could get for him. Not much. Crouthers decided to retire. Fontenot is apparently not Dusty's favourite player. Hairston's a great Util, a decent 2B, a useless OF. So the Cubs used him as an OF. Why? Because they didn't have any better options. Why? Because they spent so much of their winter preoccupied with Sosa they didn't get around to solving any other problems on the team].

 

2/4/05 Agreed with 3B Aramis Ramirez and RHP Carlos Zambrano on one-year contracts; Agreed to terms with IF Dave Hansen on a minor league contract with an invitation to Spring Training. [fair play]

 

2/9/05 Acquired RHP Roberto Novoa, INF Scott Moore and nonroster OF Bo Flowers from the Tigers in exchange for RHP Kyle Farnsworth and a player to be named later. [hmm. Farns had a great year, hardly unexpected, easily the best player involved in the deal, but he's not a FA. I like Novoa long-termish. Flowers is a complete bust. Moore I doubt will ever make it and should be traded this winter].

 

3/29/05 Acquired LHP Cliff Bartosh from the Cleveland Indians in exchange for RHP Ronald Bay. [stupid stupid stupid]

 

3/30/05 Released LHP Stephen Randolph; Purchased the contract of RHP Scott Williamson from Triple-A Iowa.

 

Traded INF Cody Ransom to the Texas Rangers in exchange for a player to be named later. [irrelevent]

 

3/31/05 Marlins returned Rule 5 pick LHP Luke Hagerty. [Hagerty then walked 30 batters in something like 6.1 innings in Rookie Ball. Yes, 30 walks in 6.1 innings, no typo]

 

Placed RHP Scott Williamson on the 60-day disabled list recovering from October 2004 Tommy John surgery.

 

Released INF Dave Hansen. [Hansen might have made a decent bench option. But maybe not]

 

4/4/05 Agreed to terms with INF Aramis Ramirez on a four-year deal for the 2005-2008 campaigns with a mutual option for the 2009 season. [Ramirez gets at opt-out after the 2006 season, continuing the trend they started with Rusch of giving players the opportunity to screw the Cubs].

 

4/21/05 Placed INF Nomar Garciaparra on the 15-day disabled list with a left groin injury and recalled INF Ronny Cedeno from Triple-A Iowa. [Cubs screwed Ronny Cedeno around all year]

 

5/17/05 Signed INF Enrique Wilson; Optioned INF Ronny Cedeno to Triple-A Iowa and transferred RHP Chad Fox to the 60-day disabled list. [since Cedeno was getting screwed in the majors, probably a good move. That's a sad thing to say, that signing Enrique Wilson is a good move. But it was]

 

5/28/05 Acquired RHP Jerome Williams and RHP David Aardsma from the Giants for RHP LaTroy Hawkins and cash. [fine move, but of course they only had to make the move because they completely messed up with Hawkins]

 

6/1/05 Recalled LHP John Koronka from Triple-A Iowa and optioned RHP Jon Leicester to Triple-A Iowa. [Cubs bullpen for the first few months of the season was a joke, promotions and demotions all over the place, not all the Cubs fault of course. Still, Koronka?]

 

7/7/05 Optioned OF Jason Dubois and OF Corey Patterson to Triple-A Iowa and purchased the contracts of OF Adam Greenberg and OF Matt Murton from Double-A West Tennessee. [Greenberg ouch, Murton good. Shame about them not using him regularly for another few months. Good that they bit the bullet with Dubois and Patterson]

 

7/18/05 Acquired OF Jody Gerut from the Cleveland Indians in exchange for OF Jason Dubois. [good trade, actually]

 

7/31/05 Traded OF Jody Gerut to the Pirates for OF Matt Lawton and cash [stupid. Cubs were all but out of it at this stage, and Lawton's a notorious second half slumper. And with Murton around, they didn't really need him. And Lawton's a FA at the end of the year. Gerut on the other hand is a superb 4th OF at the very worst]

 

8/9/05 Acquired RHP Olivio Astacio from the Boston Red Sox in exchange for LHP Mike Remlinger and cash considerations; Recalled OF Corey Patterson from Triple-A Iowa and optioned INF Ronny Cedeno to Iowa. [Cubs actually did well to get out just in time with Remlinger. They did atrociously to let Corey back anywhere near the major leagues, it was far far too early]

 

8/19/05 Recalled OF Jerry Hairston from his rehab assignment and reinstated him from the disabled list; Optioned OF Matt Murton to Triple-A Iowa. [nice one, not]

 

8/27/05 Purchased the contract of 3B Scott McClain from Triple-A Iowa.

 

Traded LF Matt Lawton to New York Yankees for Minor League RHP Justin Berg. [would you rather have Jody Gerut or Justin Berg?]

 

8/29/05 Traded OF Todd Hollandsworth to Atlanta for nonroster RHP Todd Blackford and nonroster RHP Angelo Burrows. [yah, whatever]

 

8/30/05 Placed RHP Kerry Wood on the 15-day disabled list with a right shoulder injury; Recalled OF Matt Murton and RHP Jermaine Van Buren from Triple-A Iowa. [about time with JVB. Since the Cubs were out of it, they could have used the back end of this season to let him get used to the majors with the results hardly mattering]

 

9/12/05 Purchased the contract of INF Ryan Theriot from Double-A West Tenn and transferred RHP Kerry Wood from the 15-day disabled list to the 60-day disabled list. [worth noting that Theriot missed the Double-A Championship Series for his callup, maybe not worth complaining about]

 

10/1/05 Signed RHP Ryan Dempster to a three-year, $15.5 million contract extension. [risky]

 

10/29/05 Picked up options on INF Todd Walker and RHP Scott Williamson; declined a mutual option on OF Jeromy Burnitz. [sensible]

 

10/31/05 Signed LHP Glendon Rusch to a two-year contract, guaranteeing him $6 million, plus as much as $1 million more in performance bonuses based on starts. [pointless]

 

11/8/05 Agreed to terms with INF Neifi Perez on a two-year contract through the 2007 season. [words fail me]

 

11/16/05 Traded RHP Jon Leicester to the Texas Rangers in exchange for a player to be named later. [whatever]