HoopsCubs

What's more disgusting? Paying $4M to Izturis or $4M to Eckstein? I'm all for going with Theriot if he's ready. See, the problem is Eckstein's name should not be mentioned. There's no reason to even consider him a fallback. It's not whether or not he's better than Izturis. He's a potential free agent. And the Cubs may potentially have an opening at SS to fill for 2008. Why shouldn't his name be mentioned in a SS conversation? Why isn't he a potential fallback? He's got a career OBP of .350, which is better than Izturis and Theriot. He's 32 and he might be a good addition for 2 years with Soriano, Pie, Lee and Ramirez.

What's more disgusting? Paying $4M to Izturis or $4M to Eckstein? I'm all for going with Theriot if he's ready.

This will come as no surprise to anyone, but I can't stand Cesar Izturis. I decided to do a quick scan of the SS position around the league to see who might be even remotely interested in taking Cesar in a trade. Also, wanted to see what free agents were out there as the Cubs will have to weigh Izturis' 2008 option at the end of the year if they don't trade him or DFA him vs. the free agent pool vs. the progress of Ryan Theriot. Izturis currently has a .616 OPS. There are currently 7 regular or semi-regular shortstops, who are as futile (their status after 2007): .592 - Julio Lugo, BOS - under contract for 3 more years at $27M .637 - Royce Clayton, TOR - free agent .623 - Juan Uribe, CWS - free agent .628 - Jason Bartlett, MIN - under team control .599 - Adam Everett, HOU - arbitration eligible .607 - Felipe Lopez, WAS - arbitration eligible .588 - Omar Vizquel, SFO - free agent Here are the free agents after 2007 (current OPS): Royce Clayton, TOR (.637) John McDonald, TOR (.730) Juan Uribe, CWS (.623) David Eckstein STL (.719) Omar Vizquel, SFO (.588) Despite these slim pickings, I still see no reason to pick up Izturis' option at $5M. The only "contending" teams, who might view Izturis as an upgrade for this season are Houston and San Francisco, and that's admittedly a long shot. The other item that might motivate the Giants is the fact that Vizquel is a free agent, and that Izturis has an option in 2008 - not sure what the Giants have at SS in AAA or AA. Houston might be motivated too for the same reason as Everett is arbitration eligible, and could make close to $4.5M in 2008, and believe it or not, he makes Cesar look like a good player. Though not contenders as of today, the south siders and Toronto might also be interested in Cesar given their imminent SS openings in 2008 - again, I'm not sure what each team has in their current system at SS. So, those are the 4 teams I can see having some interest in Izturis: Giants, Astros, Blue Jays, White Sox. There might be a few more teams if injuries develop, but again, a long shot. As for the Cubs in 2008, assuming they can't make a trade for an established SS under contract given the team sale and financial uncertainty, it would appear there are 3 solutions: (1) go with Ryan Theriot (2) make a reasonable play for Eckstein through free agency, although he will probably be actively courted by St. Louis, Houston, Minnesota, San Francisco (3) make a deadline trade or offseason trade of pitching prospects to get a good SS prospect, who is near major league ready and go with him. It would seem the process for the Cubs should be fairly simple: (1) Split playing time between Izturis and Theriot until July end to see if any trade value can be built up for Izturis. (2) DFA Izturis on July 31 if he's not dealt (3) Play Theriot everyday after July 31 unless a near major league ready prospect is acquired, in which case, split time (4) After the season, evaluate Theriot and possibly a prospect, if one was acquired (5) Make a decision on whether to chase Eckstein or just go with what they got As you can see, it's going to be slim pickings in the SS market. But the Cubs must start addressing it now! Hoops p.s. I didn't mention Ronny Cedeno at all because for me, he's worse than Izturis.

I believe this is a correct assessment of the situation. The high probability scenario is that Hendry has the green light to make any deals he wants to in order to improve the club if they are in the race, but only for two types of players: (a) expiring contract after 2007 (b) under contract in 2008, provided the trading team takes back equal and existing Cub contracts So, someone was suggesting shortstop upgrade. The Cubs could acquire David Eckstein. He is a free agent after 2007. The Cubs could acquire Miguel Tejada. But since he's under contract in 2008 for $13M, the Orioles would have to pick up salaries on Cub players in 2008 to the tune of $13M - e.g. Jones, Dempster, Blanco plus prospects.

The Cubs had bases loaded and nobody out in the 8th. How many did they score? The answer is zero. It's okay to give the bullpen their full share of blame, but let's not give a pass to the Cubs offense. They had a chance to seal that game up in the 8th, and blew it. I still feel they need to get another bat or two (preferably starting at SS). Did I mention today how much I dislike Izturis as a player? Hoops

Chris De Luca is trying to get the Mets to look at him. http://www.suntimes.com/sports/deluca/421069,CST-SPT-deluca10.article "Trade talk The New York Mets are in the market for outfield help at a time when the Cubs are expected to renew their efforts to trade Jacque Jones."

I am taking the stance that a healthy Cub team can win this particular division in 2007 even without Zambrano. I feel there is higher probability that Z's best years are behind him rather than in front of him. So, I am all for trading him to the Angels as BBB suggested.

To be clear, the "crazy" idea I came up with above was a 5 for 2: Murton, Jones, Izturis and 2 pitchers for Tejada and Payton. It may still be "crazy talk."

Prior to the news of the sale, I could have seen a path for Hendry to acquire Tejada at the deadline. With Soriano, Ramirez, Lee and Tejada, the Cubs could live with DeRosa/Theriot at 2B, Murton/Floyd in RF and Felix Pie taking his time to come into his own. However we have to deal with the reality. Given the uncertainty of the finances with an imminent sale of the ballclub in the works, and a GM with an expiring contract, who's probably on his way out, if Hendry does make a move at the deadline, my guess is that it will be for a player who's contract expires at the end of the season. Assuming our biggest offensive weaknesses are at SS and C, is there a productive SS or C on the trading block, who will also be a free agent after 2007?

You know what I could see with Jones, Murton, Izturis and 2 of those young arms? A trade to Baltimore for Jay Payton and Miguel Tejada. Jones could play CF. Corey Patterson's a free agent after 2007, so the Orioles could just DFA him. Jones is making the same salary as Corey this year, and will make the same salary as Payton next year. Murton could platoon with Gibbons in LF this year and then become the full time LF with Gibbons becoming the full time DH or 1B (depending on where they put Huff) after Kevin Millar is gone. They could just speed up the process by DFAing Millar as well, since he's a free agent after 2007. Izturis would play SS for the rest of the year. Payton could platoon in RF with Floyd for the rest of this year, and next year TBD. Tejada is under contract through 2009.

Speaking of the Mets, if the Cubs were to trade Zambrano to the Mets by the trading deadline, what would be considered a fair deal?

I thought it was a $16M club option in 2008 or $2M buyout. I don't recall the Yankees agreeing to pick up the option as a condition for Abreu agreeing to waive his no trade clause. I seem to remember the Phillies paid him "extra" to waive the clause.

Moral of the story: most teams make bad decisions on relievers.

I'm of the belief that a change of scenery would help Dye; not Abreu. If the trade occurs, I think New York gets the better of the deal. Hard to tell if the story has legs on its own merit, or because the Yanks happen to be in Chicago this week.

It shouldn't really be a surprise. The whole team is lousy, and it makes everyone defensive and wanting to show that they have individually been doing their part at least. It's time to forfeit the season. At the very least, it's time to trade both. Good to see you Hoops. Hope all is well for you. Yes, doing fine except for a certain baseball team I root for... Thanks for asking GC.

It shouldn't really be a surprise. The whole team is lousy, and it makes everyone defensive and wanting to show that they have individually been doing their part at least. It's time to forfeit the season. At the very least, it's time to trade both.

It's June 1. The Cubs stink in all facets of the game, and the record reflects it. Carlos Zambrano doesn't look like the same Z we've come to love. Could he be dealt during the season to help the Cubs re-build? What do you think? Answer 2 questions: 1. Carlos will be dealt: A. Between now and June 15 B. Between June 16 and June 30 C. Between July 1 and July 15 D. Between July 16 and 31 E. He will not be dealt. 2. If he's dealt, his new team for the rest of the season will be from the: A. AL EAST B. AL CENTRAL C. AL WEST D. NL EAST E. NL CENTRAL F. NL WEST I'll tally up the results on Sunday night or Monday morning. Hoops

Yeah, I was hoping playing Murton everyday was also going to be a part of the article. I disagree with trading him as well. But I think the point was, "if they aren't going to play him everyday". I say trade him if they aren't going to play him. Because the longer he stays as a part-time player, the more baseball will think of him as a part-time player, and bring down his value. But if you do trade him, don't do it for bullpen help. Well, there is no reason not to play him everyday this year. There's no reason he should be a part time player, just like there's no reason Theriot shouldn't be playing every day, Pie shouldn't be in CF everyday, etc. I don't disagree with the idea of trading him if you're not going to play him. I just don't think there's any reason not to play him. And I'm not attacking Bruce, I understood the point of the article. And if there was just no way Murton could start everyday b/c it would block some other important piece, I would fully agree with trading him (though, like others have said, not for relief pitching). But I see no reason why Soriano, Murton, and Pie couldn't start every game in the OF (except for the occasional day off). The fact that Soriano and Murton are both LFs would be a reason. One thought is to move Soriano to RF as Bruce was originally thinking when the signing occured. He certainly has the arm and speed to be effective. The Cubs can probably live with Murton full time in LF; I don't think anyone wants him in RF.

As we begin thinking about Cub trade scenarios and trade rumors at the deadline, we should all stay cognizant of the large payroll commitment the Cubs have in 2008. Per my quick scan, they have 12 players under contract in 2008 for a whopping $81M. Those players are Lee, Soriano, Ramirez, Lilly, Jones, Dempster, Marquis, Howry, Eyre, DeRosa, Blanco and Ohman. That figure does not include pro-rated signing bonuses totalling in the neighborhood of $6M for many of those players. It also does not include up to $5M in potential payroll dedicated to 3 arbitration eligible guys: Prior, Cotts, Wuertz. He is potentially looking at $92M committed to 15 players. Along with the imminent sale, I think that hefty commitment will make it nearly impossible for Hendry to use his normal trading MO: taking on the contracts or arbitration eligible status lasting beyond the current season of productive players from smaller market teams. And if he can't do that, he will just not be able to trade for any good player at the deadline, who will be under Cub control beyond 2007. As for trading for imminent free agents (Hunter, Suzuki, Anduw Jones, Linebrink, etc...), who might be on the block, the Cubs probably don't have the farm system to compete with other teams in trading scenarios. So, to repeat what we have all collectively said in several threads: his challenge at the deadline is to save money by dumping the likes of Jones, Howry, Eyre, DeRosa, Blanco and perhaps even Dempster. Even if he has to pick up two-thirds of those combined contract values, he could still save $9M in 2008 payroll, which will be huge for the coming offseason. Easier said than done, of course, but let's put on our thinking caps and figure this out. Hoops

I don't think it's too late for 2007. I still believe that the Cubs will win this division if they stay healthy. The division is very weak as we've seen. I see a repeat of the 2003 regular season - Piniella's team will grind it out in the second half and win the Central with less than 90 wins and no more than a 3 game margin. As for GM, it's going to be a tough job. I always approach it from the point of view that next year's payroll will go up by $5M. So, as I see it, the Cubs will have $11M to spend - that's not much wiggle room. Even if the Cubs don't resign Zambrano, Barrett, Izturis, Wood, Miller and Ward, they do still owe hefty raises to Soriano, Ramirez, Lilly, Jones, Dempster, Marquis, DeRosa, Ohman, Eyre and Blanco. Net net is $6M saved. Add in the additional $5M payroll boost, and there's $11M. $11M to spend, but 3 or 4 big holes: SS, C, maybe a starter and maybe a CF (if Pie is not ready). Tough job. Best bet is to trade Jones, Dempster and Eyre. Combined they will make around $15M in 2008 - even if you have to eat $10M of that amount, you still get another $5M to play with. $16M is not great, but it does give a GM a chance to make one major splash and one minor one. Hoops

More numbers on Jacque. It's not pretty. Intuitively, I knew it wouldn't be, but when I looked at the numbers, I became more peeved and dejected. There are currently 66 OFs with a qualified number of plate appearances in the majors. Jacque ranks 55th in OBP, and 58th in SLG. :cry: :cry: The 11 guys below him in OBP are Mike Cameron, Juan Pierre, Craig Monroe, Coco Crisp, Jim Edmonds, Jermaine Dye, Corey Patterson, Chris Duffy, Joe Borchard, Delmon Young and Rocco Baldelli. The 8 guys below him in SLG are JD Drew, Joe Borchard, Coco Crisp, Bobby Abreu, Chris Duffy, Corey Patterson, Juan Pierre and Jim Edmonds. So, which team would benefit by acquiring Jacque? None? Maybe one? Maybe two? Would it makes sense for the Cubs and Padres to exchange Cameron for Jones? The 34 year old Cameron is making $7M this season - he's a free agent after 2007; the 32 year old Jones is making $4M this season and $5M next season. If the Cubs contributed $2M next season, is it worth anything to the Padres to have Jones under contract in 2008 and spread their $7M investment over 2 years? Would it make sense for the Cubs and Orioles to exchange Patterson for Jones? Patterson is making $4.3M this season - he's a free agent after 2007. If the Cubs contributed $2M next season, it it worth anything to the Orioles to have Jones under contract in 2008 and paying him $3M? Would it make sense for the Cubs and Yankees to exchange Abreu for Jones? Abreu is making $15M this season and has a $2M buyout clause if his option is not picked up. If the Yankees picked up $4M on this year's remaining contract and the $2M buyout , is it worth it to the Yankees to have Jones under contract in 2008 for $5M and is it worth it to the Cubs to pay an extra $3M in 2007 for the slumping Abreu to be back in the NL, but then be out from under Jones' contract completely in 2008? Just trying to find ways help Hendry out of the mess he created.

http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070521&content_id=1978695&vkey=news_chc&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc Give him a start! Then, trade him and Jones to the Yankees for the strugglig Abreu and cash.

Trading deadline is still 2 months away, but a lot of writers are having a lot of fun speculating. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/jon_heyman/05/21/monday.scoop/index.html Summary: (1) Rolen to the Dodgers (2) Atkins and Helton to the Angels (3) Cordero to the Indians (4) Griffey, Jr. to the White Sox (5) Glaus to the Tigers (6) Al Reyes to the Brewers (7) Rauch to the Red Sox :( Still no takers for Jacque....

As Phil Rogers might be thinking: moving Guzman to the pen, letting Dempster mentor him short-term, having Marshall become the 5th starter, and then easing Dempster back into the rotation may all be related to Hendry's grand plan of moving Zambrano at the deadline.

From Phil's point of view, the rumor of moving Dempster to the rotation now (assuming he shows some competency) would assure that the Cubs have 4 starters under control in 2008: Lilly, Marquis, Hill, Dempster. The 5th will be some combination of Samardzija, Marshall, Prior or Veal.