HoopsCubs

Phil Rogers has written an article about Zambrano in today's Chicago Tribune. I think registration is required, but see link below. The article is called "Big Z's exit not a bad strategy..." http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/columnists/cs-070520rogers,1,2268710.column?coll=cs-columnists Some of Phil's observations: "... it might turn out to be a good thing that they didn't finish that 5-year contract..." "... because Zambrano hasn't come up big in these situations, there isn't the parallel to the Greg Maddux situation in 1992 that some suggest." "Zambrano would bring a huge return if the Cubs made him available at the July 31 deadline." It's beginning to feel to me that Z is playing his last year in Cubbie blue, and that $12.5M will be used for somebody else. Hoops

I enjoyed us beating him up this weekend. I quite enjoyed it also. Awful Aardsma and crappy Cotts. Both gave up grand slams to ther old teams. Now, that indeed was a fair trade!

http://torontosun.com/Sports/Baseball/2007/05/19/4192266-sun.html Fire sale starting in Toronto? Towers and Ohka are available.

I was thinking about this earlier today. The Cubs are struggling mightily with middle relief and have excess OFs. The D-Backs are struggling mightily in RF (Carlos Quentin is really having a rough go of it), have good depth in the bullpen and may lose Eric Byrnes to free agency after 2007. Why don't the Cubs just trade Jacque Jones to Arizona for one of the D-Backs arbitration eligible relievers (Jose Valverde, Brandon Lyon, Juan Cruz)? With the seasons that Slaten, Pena, Lyon, Valverde, Cruz and Nippert are having as a group, one of them is probably expendable especially if they can get an OF in return, who will be an upgrade over Quentin, and who will still be under a reasonable contract in 2008 should Byrnes bolt. Somehow, a Jones and cash for Lyon deal makes sense to me at many levels. It cleans up the clutter in the OF, and gives the Cubs a shot at bettering their bullpen. Just thinking out loud. Hoops

Nah. It's such a weak division. The team that plays just slightly north of mediocrity will be playing in October. I think that team will be our boys.

David Schuster on The Score is also reporting "changes" but I didn't hear anything about them starting on Monday. This could get interesting! Wonder if they'll move Marshall into the rotation, and make Angel Guzman a reliever? Marmol and Guzman would certainly be livelier arms than Eyre, Dempster and Howry at this stage.

Any reason given for why the changes coming had to wait until Monday, and not be enacted today?

I was thinking that too especially that first week of May when he had his OPS in the mid-700s and so many teams were struggling with their OF situation (numbers wise), but then I looked at his numbers again the last 2 weeks: as cliche as it sounds, I have to say it, I hate to say it - the guy is just bad. If he can't sustain decent hitting for more than a week, who is going to want him? Simple answer - nobody.

Yes, thank you.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/6810676 He doesn't think Andruw Jones, Torii HUnter or Ichiro will be moved because the teams will be in contention. His shopping list includes: Helton, Griffey, Teixeira, TB OFs, Phillies OFs, Sweeney, Ensberg, a few Blue Jay players... ... but, no mention of Jacque Jones On a completely unrelated subject, Rosenthal has this note in his around the horn section: "How about that Cubs' rotation? Right-hander Jason Marquis and lefties Rich Hill and Ted Lilly rank fifth, ninth and 10th in the league, respectively, in ERA. Marquis, 28, says he has slowed down his delivery, raising his hands above his head more gradually and landing more toward third base. By driving his foot to that spot rather than swinging it, he says his arm is in position to throw any pitch. The last time Marquis felt as comfortable with his delivery was in 2004, his first season with the Cardinals . . ." Hoops

There is an article in the NY Post today that has the Orioles talking to the Mets about Chan Ho Park.

I have no doubt. My observation is that good rumors get re-circulated constantly. Sources will typically trade rumours, and so a good rumor published in April will slightly get morphed by someone else in May, etc...

I've heard from a source that Anaheim has shown some recent interest in Jacque. They "desperately" need help in either LF and/or DH with Garret Anderson and Shea Hillenbrand both performing so poorly at the plate. Nothing imminent. The only name that the source heard was a SS prospect named Sean Rodriguez. I admittedly don't know anything about the guy. He also heard that Anaheim would have to take most of Jacque's remaining contract for Hendry to deal him. Hoops

Hoops doesn't live here anymore. You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave. "Where You been lately? There's a new kid in town."

Hoops doesn't live here anymore.

Interesting idea regarding Lincecum. It sure would be nice to get Mr. Miles' perspective on Carlos now that we're 45 days into the season. I was reading Ken Rosenthal's article over the weekend, and it sure sounds like Z and the Cubs are going to go their separate ways sometime between now and November. And while Rosenthal has been great at figuring things out and coming with real scoops since last November, it would be good to get a local perspective from Bruce, especially given he has a solidly good relationship with Hendry.

I would. Alfonso seems to have a great arm. Bruce Miles has been saying since the day he signed that Soriano should be the everyday RF for this club especially with Pie being groomed to become the everyday CF. Some of that was predicated on the belief that Jones could be dealt, which I still think can happen.

Maybe. Or maybe they think Leo Mazzone can make a positive impact on one or both of these guys.

One of my sources from the East Coast is hearing a rumor that the Orioles are talking to the Cubs and Mariners about acquiring either Wade Miller or Jeff Weaver. After moving Adam Loewen to the 60 day DL, the Orioles have a "huge sense of urgency" to fill the starting pitching void. Last I heard, Wade threw the ball pain free, was probably going to do a minor league start or two and then be activated in about 10-12 days. Hendry does have a recent history of trading with Baltimore. Hoops

From the stats, I can see they are 2-1 with 4.05 ERA in 5 starts averaging a little over 5 innings per start, and 2-2 with 3.49 ERA in 5 starts averaging close to 6 innings per start, respectively. Marmol is on the 40 man roster, and Walrond could be placed on the 40 man by DFAing somebody or moving Prior to the 60 day DL list. http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/366370,CST-SPT-csep02.article Sun Times is speculating that with Angel Guzman's poor start last night, it may open the door for Marmol or Walrond if the Cubs decide to pitch their 5th starter on the 6th. If they stick with Lilly on the 6th, they would require the 5th starter to pitch on the 12th against Philadelphia. By then, it is entirely possible that Wade Miller and even Guzman (with the benefit of another start) may be back in the mix. Still hoping that Hendry trades Jacque Jones for a 5th starter. Easier said than done, of course. Hoops

Assuming Wade Miller's injury was just a "mystery" to buy the Cubs some time on trying to figure out what to do with him, I am wondering if Hendry might make a call to Brian Cashman.

I'm surprised you didn't mention the Angels. They've been awful in hitting (3.68 Runs per game in 19 games), and Garret Anderson particularly has been very bad. Collectively, the Angels LF has an OPS just over .600, and all their DH hitters combined have an OPS of .517 (led mainly by a flat-out dismal Shea Hillenbrand). Jacque Jones, even while struggling a bit compared to last year's numbers, dwarfs the production of half the Angels options at DH and plays a better LF than Anderson (these days). Good catch! And Jacque is from Southern California. Hmmm...

As long as the pitcher called up is a reliever, however, it has the same effect. The Cubs don't need a fifth starter for awhile, so the immediate need is for 7 relievers as opposed to 12 total pitchers. By the time the 5th starter is needed Guzman will be eligible to be called back up. To your point, looking at the schedule, the next 2 times the Cubs need a 5th starter are May 1 and May 12. Technically, couldn't they bring Angel up on the 1st to start, send him down after the game to Iowa for another reliever, and then recall him again on the 12th?

Based on what my sources told me, I have no doubt that Jim Hendry went down every promising path to make a deal this offseason to ship Jacque Jones off. It seems the teams that were showing interest just did not want to give Hendry much in return and were not willing to take on much salary. One source told me in early March that Hendry decided to wait for a month into the season until he would re-start Jones talks, as he felt that several teams would assess their OF situation then and realize that Jones would be an upgrade. Well, that month is now here. Looking at some of the teams' OF situation 3 weeks into the season, I feel there is a market for Jones. For fun, look up the stats for the starting OFs below. These guys are struggling - sure, some, maybe most will eventually snap out of their funk. But some are just not going to get better, and their teams could probably be better convinced that Jacque would be an upgrade. I feel Hendry can get a club to take on half of Jones's remaining salary and get a prospect in return. Seattle: Ibanez, Guillen San Francisco: Winn, Roberts San Diego: Cameron Arizona: Hairston White Sox: Podsednik Detroit: Monroe Florida: Borchard Kansas City: Brown Oakland: Stewart Texas: Cruz, Catalanotto Toronto: Johnson, Lind And then there's everybody's favorite rumour: San Diego trades Linebrink to Philadelphia for Victorino; Phillies turn around and trade Lieber and a prospect to the Cubs for Jones and Ohman.

I too think the Angels are the trading partner to deal with since they have the prospects and the money to sign Z to an extension. Definitely. To elaborate, the circumstances that at least some of would make a Z/Murton for Santana/Wood deal feasible: Z returning to form Murton playing well Weaver pitching well Aybar and/or Izturis/Figgins playing well Pie proving he belongs in MLB offensively Garret Anderson continuing to be an offensive black hole To your fine list of circumstances, I would also add "Cubs giving Angels permission to talk contract extension with Zambrano."