HoopsCubs

Tommy Hanson non-tendered.

Gotta think there is a Cano angle here. If the Tigers can move Kinsler (Yankees or Mets could absorb his salary), they would have the salary room to sign Cano.

Stauffer, Hanson and Pelfrey are all plausible. Is Ian Kennedy a possibility?

Cafardo feels like a mouthpiece for the Cubs' front office to me. So I assume that means they want to put out there that they are still willing to extend him. Or maybe I'm reading too much into things. Anything I hear from Cafardo or Gammons, I take as a counter from Theo on other info that's out there. Cafardo likely has a better relationship with Theo than our own beat guys. Seems that way to me anyway. My understanding is that both Epstein and Hoyer prefer to talk to the national writers, and haven't really built much of a relationship with the local press. Jim Hendry did a much better job of having regular discussions with the beat writers. I'm not saying either is good or bad. Just contrasting styles.

A source told me this morning that the Cubs are "heavily negotiating" with a relief pitcher - only information was that it's not a name previously linked to the Cubs. No indication on what length of contract, whether closer or setup, or when an announcement could happen. The Cubs FO is paying very close attention to the potential non-tenders - they are supposedly targeting a specific starter from that group. They would prefer to keep Villanueva in the bullpen, and are not exactly enamored with having Rusin or Cabrera be the #5.

Seems like a no-brainer to me, but I have heard they are on the fence.

My understanding is that the Cubs brass has been split on whether to tender him or not. Of the 10 arbitration eligible players, the consensus among insiders has been: Will be tendered - Samardzija, Schierholtz, Wood, Russell, Strop Leaning towards - Murphy, Barney, Valbuena Leaning against - Bard, Gamel The Cubs are presently at 40 on their 40-man roster, so any free agent signing will require a corresponding move.

Cubs should be able to move Nate Schierholtz for a nice package if the going rate for a corner outfielder, who can hit more than 20 HRs is $18.75M per year. What will Nate earn - $4M? $5M?

"Really sick of seeing..." is completely understandable. "Gone forever" is a bit morbid. I think the conventional wisdom on him is that if he's tendered a contract, he will be starting at 2B to start the 2014 campaign, but most expect another player to finish the 2014 season. While it's still possible a team like the Royals could see the value in acquiring him now, I think the Cubs are hoping he gets off to a good start and increases his value for a mid-season deal.

I know for a fact that the Cubs are interested in having Youkilis be their back-up 1B/3B and a veteran presence/clubhouse leader. My understanding is that the FO will wait to see if Youkilis gets an offer to start somewhere, and will follow up with him in late December/early January if he's still on the market.

We got our very own greek god of walks. Tim, Don't yet rule out the other Greek God of Walks coming here. Hoops

Assuming he stays healthy, it looks like we have our first new face for the 25 man roster: George Kottaras.

Cubs have inquired about Texas OF Craig Gentry's availability. Cubs envision him as having a good right-handed bat and playing decent defense to man CF or RF in a platoon role. No details given to me on what the Rangers asked for in return.

According to Peter Gammons, Dioner Navarro is about to sign a deal. Gammons is speculating that it's either the Twins, Jays or Marlins.

I wrote it on the Samardzija thread, but Colby Rasmus is being discussed by the Cubs and Blue Jays as part of a Samardzija blockbuster.

From one of my sources: Colby Rasmus' name has come up in the negotiations on Samardzija. Rasmus is arbitration eligible and will be a free agent after the 2014 season, but the Cubs have interest in locking him up and if the discussions on Samardzija progress, the Cubs may ask for a window to offer/negotiate an extension of 2 or 3 years.

This is interesting. It seems Mike Illitch has a man-crush on Robinson Cano. He's asking Dave Dombrowski how he might get him. I just looked at some salary numbers/estimates: if they can deal Porcello, Jackson and Kinsler, it would free up $25-30M of annual salary. That could accomodate Cano. And if it's a salary dump exercise, Cubs would certainly be interested in taking on Porcello and Jackson. And the Yankees or Mets could certainly fit Kinsler.

The Cubs have been talking to Scott Kazmir's agents over the last few days. Cubs are interested in a 1 year deal + option. Kazmir wants a 3 year deal. At this time, the Cubs are not prepared to give him that. My source was told today that the Cubs are one of 4 teams actively talking to Detroit about CF Austin Jackson. Tigers are giving teams the impression that they want to shed salaries, so that they can do something really big. Some still don't think Ian Kinsler is going to start the season in a Tiger uniform.

Absolutely nothing absurd about exploring different scenarios on paper and assigning weighted probablities to see what decisions bubble up. Scenario planning is a tool used by many in and out of baseball. I totally agree with you Hoops. I thought the whole point of hiring Theo was using technology to evaluate players and plan scenarios to acquire the players needed to win the WS. Many of the discussions here involve which amateurs will be drafted next year, which FAs will be available, etc. It's not a question of whether someone agrees with me or not. The FO is clearly telling us what they're doing, but a majority of us are still not hearing. And I am not sure whether it's that we don't get it or that we don't want to get it. I've been away 5 years. Back then, it was all about Hendry being too short-sighted and not doing the right things for the future. Now, I am hearing fixing this is taking way too long, let's cut a corner, pay Jacoby Ellsbury $100M and let's get to .500. "Cyclical ironies" is a phrase my previous President used to utter - it's appropriate here. This FO gave the owner an assessment and a plan, and told him it would take 4-5 years to fix, which is why they got a 5 year deal in the first place. They absolutely do not give a rat's arse about their win-loss record in 2014 as they didn't in '12 and '13. Anyone who believes otherwise is deluding themselves. They have a model that actively monitors attendance (revenue) and payroll (expenses), and as one goes down, the other will, and vice versa. They do not want long term contracts with players over 30 until the building block and nucleus is in place at the major league level. The goal was to be bad, get high picks and create a sustainable culture. Have there been bumps in the road? Of course. They've made mistakes. But the plan is still sound. They just need to cash in short term assets for 2 or 3 high ceiling arms. You should feel free to question and express your opinions. I'm not 100% correct - never claimed to be. But unless you have engineered a business turn-around for a distressed situation or been tasked to fix a festeringly damaged P&L for a multi-million dollar business as many on this board have, you just will not appreciate the short term challenges this FO is facing. I remain intrigued with how they are going about this, and still believe that there are good days ahead! Now, back to the offseason.... it looks like activity is about to bust wide open...

or outside of hoffman being drafted by miami or the white sox. The Cubs don't think Hoffman will fall to them at #4 based on today's thinking.

Absolutely nothing absurd about exploring different scenarios on paper and assigning weighted probablities to see what decisions bubble up. Scenario planning is a tool used by many in and out of baseball.

I was told by one of my sources that the Cubs do not intend to trade Starlin Castro this offseason. The FO accepts that his current value is not on par with his potential ceiling, so they are in no rush to move him despite the rumors (some of which they started when it got out that they were talking to the Mets about him at the trade deadline). That insight is somewhat coupled with what one of the player development guys recently told the source: that's it "a fait accompli" that Javier Baez will have to move to 2B or 3B soon because of his own defensive shortcomings at SS. And while the Cubs know Darwin Barney can play adequate SS, that's not the direction they want to go long term. The source was told to pay close attention to the 2014 draft. The Cubs draft 4th. It is assumed that Carlos Rondon will be taken by Houston with the first pick. The next 3 picks are Miami, the White Sox and the Cubs. If NC State SS Trea Turner is on the board at #4, the Cubs will probably take him as best projected player available despite their need for pitching. If that does occur, the individual talking to the source would not be surprised to see the Cubs deal Castro for pitching at the trading deadline or next offseason because of the belief that Turner will be one of those guys to get to the majors very quickly. If Turner is taken by either the Marlins or White Sox, then the Cubs will probably stick with Castro for longer and either select Jeff Hoffmann, Tyler Kolek or Tyler Beede. Lots of moving parts!

The Cubs have 2 new additions to their 40-man roster: Arismendy Alcantara and Dallas Beeler. Both are now protected from the rule 5 draft. Now, will either be on the 25-man roster Opening Day in Pittsburgh? I suppose Beeler might have more of a shot than Alcantara given the perceived holes on the current roster. But, I admit, I would be excited if Alcantara won the starting 2B job in Spring.

The Cleveland Indians checked in on Jeff Samardzija's availability over the weekend. My source said the Cubs did not feel that the Tribe had the right match up of high end pitching propects that they are looking for in a deal, so they countered with Edwin Jackson. The Indians brain trust said they like E-Jax, but not his $33M price tag. The source did not hear if the discussion was terminated or if the Cubs were thinking about going back with a player+cash offer.

The Rule 5 Draft is on December 12. But players that teams want to protect from the draft must be placed on the 40-man roster by Wednesday. The Cubs currently have 3 spots open on their 40 man roster. Knowledgeable pundits are saying that the Cubs will place Arismendy Alcantara on the 40-man. What other players are "slam dunks" or "near slam dunks" to be protected? If any?