HoopsCubs

Nothing imminent. Yes, I am in Nashville. The Cubs never were considering Dempster to Toronto. That was a media creation. They say they've not talked to the Reds about Hamilton. They're not trading Rich Hill or Felix Pie. So, what are they doing? Hey Bruce, Maybe they are going to do exactly what Hendry said he was going to do. He's going to push strongly for Fukodome and if he can't get him, he said he has "an inventory" of players that he's going to use to find a left-handed bat or two via trade: I took that to mean these players are being shopped: Cotts Guzman Marquis Marshall Mateo Ohman Petrick Prior Fox Cedeno Fontenot Infante Murton Pagan Patterson

There's always Shawn Green. :wink:

No, in the end, Jim Hendry traded 2 marginal pieces of the puzzle for a young kid with some potential upside and saved $3M in the process. I call it a good move. Kind of like the Mets trading an over-rated Mota and his salary for an arbitration eligible catcher in Estrada, who they will probably non-tender anyway.

I'll take blame for starting this "war of words" though I didn't expect it. I was trying to point out that the $3M saved by trading Ohman and Infante could be used to sign Prior for 2008. Sorry.

That's about $3M saved - which could be Mark Prior money for 2008, if he's not dealt.

UPDATED December 4, 2007 With the news of Infante and Ohman being dealt to Atlanta (presumably with no cash thrown in), here's the payroll situation: $16M Carlos Zambrano $14M Alfonso Soriano $13M Derrek Lee $15M Aramis Ramirez $8M Ted Lilly $5.833M Ryan Dempster (Free agent after 2008 season) $6.375M Jason Marquis $4.75M Mark DeRosa $4.5M Bob Howry (Free agent after 2008 season) $4.133M Scott Eyre-PLAYER OPTION (Free agent after 2008 season) $3.175M Henry Blanco $1.2M Darryl Ward $2.0M CASH sent to Detroit in Jacque Jones trade $4.2M Kerry Wood To-date, the Cubs have 13 players under contract with an obligation of $102.2M. Taking it one step further: assuming the following 8 signings (first 1 arbitration eligible, next 7 league minimun): $0.9M Michael Wuertz $0.415M Ryan Theriot $0.415M Felix Pie $0.415M Geovanni Soto $0.415M Matt Murton $0.415M Rich Hill $0.415M Carlos Marmol $0.415M Kevin Hart Another $3.8M. So, the Cubs would now have 21 players at $106M. Assuming a payroll of $120M, the Cubs should have $14M to spend on 4 more players (5 if you want to include Mark Prior). I believe those 4 players will follow one of these 2 scenarios: (1) - back-up middle infielder (could be one of our minor league guys or free agent) - lefty in the pen (could be one of our minor league guys or free agent) - starting left-handed hitting RF or CF (with Theriot starting at SS) - right-handed pinch hitter with power to complement Darryl Ward (2) - back-up middle infielder (could be one of our minor league guys or free agent) - lefty in the pen (could be one of our minor league guys or free agent) - starting SS (with Theriot to the bench) - cheap left-handed hitting RF to platoon with Murton Hoops

Conventional wisdom says Pignatello or Cotts. So, I'll say Sean Marshall.

I was thinking he could play in CF, and Pie and Murton could platoon in RF.

Marquis (2 years and $16.25M) to the Mariners Sexson (1 year and $15.5M) to the Yankees Damon (2 years and $26M) and $4M cash in 2009 to the Cubs Does it have any merit?

I want to ask about this again just to make sure I'm clear on what happened. Did the Cubs pick Hamilton and then trade him for money, or did they trade the pick for money and then the Reds picked Hamilton?

I'm probably a glutton for punishment, but I really liked the way Eyre pitched in the second half. Between his $3.8M and Ohman's $1.8M, I'd rather trade Ohman, which I know goes against CW. I have no issue with the Cubs dealing Dempster (I hear Toronto's owner is interested), but I would prefer it if they traded Marquis. I think the Cubs should hold onto Murton.

I heard Bruce Levine on the radio with Waddle and Silvy this morning when he talked about Rowand, Prior, Swisher, etc (I think there is a thread on it)... At any rate, Levine was pretty emphatic (paraphrased): both sides are tired of each other. The relationship has clearly soured. He wants nothing to do with them, and they probably feel the same way. I don't have any inside information, but I strongly believe the Mark Prior era in Chicago comes to an end this week.

Hendry tried to get Kearns a couple of times.

My brother, who lives in NYC, heard it on WFAN. Has Buster Olney reported on this?

We might not like his game, but it's not fair to call Kaz a loser. Because he's clearly the winner here. The Cubs still lose, because now they probably move on to plan B from Kaz, which could only be worse. I dread Plan B. I'm so frustrated with Hendry, that I'd just as soon they don't make any moves this offseason, because I probably won't like anything he does. Call it an offseason now before any more damage gets done. I hesitate to bring this up, but one of my sources did say there was "some talk (nothing substantive)" of the Giants interested in pursuing a Dave Roberts for Jason Marquis type deal in conjunction with a Miguel Cabrera for Lincecum/Cain plus prospects deal. Not sure if Hendry initiated it, but Dave Roberts might be plan B territory. Several sources have said Roberts is being shopped to teams, who need CFs, but don't want to pay Rowand or Andruw. I heard there were 2 teams that approached the Cubs on Marquis. Assuming the Giants were one, perhaps the Nationals or Rangers were the other.

Guess. Hendry and MacPhail have a good relationship - maybe something useful will come of it. The Cubs are absolutely kidding themselves if they believe they can score runs consistently with just 4 "bankable" bats in the line-up: Soriano, Lee, Ramirez, DeRosa. Book is still very much out on: Soto, Theriot, Pie and Murton. I think the Cubs need to get 2 bats: 1 to replace Theriot and 1 to platoon with either Murton or Pie.

Jenkins is a good guess. My prediction is that if the Cubs don't get Fukodome, they will sign Shawn Green to platoon with Murton. I still believe Miguel Tejada is in the picture.

Maybe to find out if he will need to spend time next week finding a CF in Nashville. Just speculating.

Bruce Miles confirms it. http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=86977 Check out his opening line: "Did the Houston Astros steal a free agent away from the Cubs or save the Cubs from themselves?"

I'd actually take a flier on Guzman, if the Nats took Marquis off our hands. Christian has 1 year and $4.2M left on his deal. He's coming off an injury shortened year where he had an .846 OPS.

Agreed. On a related note: Why don't the Cubs just move Soriano to RF where he belongs? I've become tired of the "wonder if he can play RF" posts when we have a guy in LF that would be the best RF option of anyone that might be available this offseason. You're absolutely right triple B. I keep thinking about Bruce Miles' article the morning after the Cubs signed Soriano. Bruce was convinced Soriano was brought in to play RF.

White Sox waived him to make room for Linebrink. 28/29 year old switch-hitting middle infielder, who predominantly has played SS: think Hendry is making a call? The guy has had awful offensive stats for 4 straight years - what made him so good in 2003? Fluke?

I beg to differ with you on the notion that the O's are "pretty happy." Mora is going to be earning about $17.2M over the next 2 seasons, and he's coming off back-to-back seasons where his OPS was less than .760. If they are pretty happy with him, then they're probably pretty happy with 5th place.

What is the status of Francisco Liriano?

"We'd also like to add some left-handed hitting on the bench or in a versatile role." That sounds like laying the foundation for a Kaz Matsui signing. Yet, if they are paying him $10-15M over 3 years as has been rumored, that's hardly a bench addition. And if he's only playing 2B, that's hardly versatile. Assuming Hendry knows what he's doing (I know, big if), maybe they are bringing in Kaz to play SS and 2B.