HoopsCubs

Here's another one for your enjoyment (and/or get ready to blast away). And remember, when I put these together, I try to write from Hendry's point of view based on how I interpret his past trades and trading philosophies. Chicago – Trading for a player that new manager Lou Piniella once managed was not shocking. The specific player Jim Hendry traded for today, though, was a bit shocking. With the first move of what promises to be a “wild offseason” (Jim Hendry’s phrase to reporters at the press conference last week to introduce his new manager), the Cubs traded young pitchers Sean Marshall and Carlos Marmol, and OF Jacque Jones to the Seattle Mariners for OF Ichiro Suzuki. Hendry expects Ichiro will lead off, but declined to say whether he’d be playing in RF to replace Jones or in CF to replace free agent Juan Pierre. He also declined to say whether Suzuki was offered a contract extension or not, though MLB sources close to the trade process believe some parameters had been exchanged; Ichiro is due to make $11M in 2007 and is a free agent after the season. The trade was somewhat similar to the trade Hendry made last off-season when he traded 3 young pitchers for Pierre, who also had one season left before free agency. Hendry had glowing things to say about Ichiro: “He’s a heck of a ballplayer, and one of the most fundamentally sound players in the league. He will create a lot of havoc for opposing pitchers and defenses at the top of our lineup.” He also wished his departed players well: “You hate giving up promising arms and guys who work hard, but when a difference maker comes on the market, you have to make bold moves in this league.” The trade brought to an end the tumultuous year Jones had on the north side. He signed a 3 year $16M contract last off-season, which brought great fan expectations. And despite having a solid year with the bat, Jones struggled during the early part of the season resulting in a chorus of boos, a round of hate mail and even a fan throwing a baseball at him. With $11M left on his deal, it is a perfect wash with Ichiro’s contract cash-wise, but since it is spread out over 2 years, it should give Seattle some stability in RF for the next 2 seasons and additional wiggle room payroll-wise for signings this offseason. Seattle GM, Bill Bavasi, was unable for comment, but a spokesperson speaking on the condition of anonymity said that contract extension talks broke off with Suzuki’s representatives over the weekend, and the Seattle brain trust reached the conclusion that trading Ichiro now rather than having him walk away for nothing was in the team’s best interest. Though relatively quiet during the 2006 season, Ichiro had expressed tacit disapproval of manager Mike Hargrove and the team’s lack of commitment and work ethic to winning on several occasions last off-season. Though the Alex Rodriguez rumors continue in earnest, Hendry is expected to prioritize extending Aramis Ramirez, finding another outfielder and addressing starting pitching on his offseason list of things-to-do. Last week Hendry had highlighted scouting efforts in Asia and finding some quality pitchers over there. This move to acquire Suzuki could be seen as a positive step by several Japanese players, who might now consider signing with the Cubs.

They can have him! I had heard recently that Carlos already has a residence near Houston.

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/cs-061015cubs,1,1039536.story?coll=cs-home-headlines Another data point from Sullivan to confirm Barry's whispers: "Hendry is expected to get a 15 to 20 percent budget increase in 2007 from higher revenue from the bleacher expansion and one of the highest-priced tickets in baseball. The Cubs will give Piniella all the resources he needs to win, because it's now or never for Hendry as well." Based on the $95M payroll in 2006, that would put the 2007 payroll in the $109-114M range. p.s. ESPN reporting 3 year deal for Piniella at $3M per season. Let the offseason begin!

In case anyone missed it: http://cbs.sportsline.com/mlb/story/9723454

The Sox deal matches up with the Yankees' needs. I would think teams might be a little hesitant on Crede until they find out details on his back. If his back is okay, this would be a good deal for both teams. As others have posted, the Cubs would need a third team to obtain ARod. The only other deals I can think of: (1) Florida sends Cabrera and Willis to NYY, Yanks send ARod to Third team, and third team sends a boatload of excellent prospects or cheap players to Florida. But, who is that 3rd team? Angels? Dodgers? Padres? (2) Seattle trades Beltre and Felix Rodriguez. The CW is that ARod would veto a trade to a West Coast team. I think the only way the Yanks would trade ARod without getting back a 3B in the deal would be for Aramis to become a free agent. If the Yanks signed Aramis, I think they would trade ARod for just pitching - that's just a hunch.

One of the Chicago beat writers today had the idea of trading Crede and Freddy Garcia for ARod - money matches up pretty well. With ARod playing SS, the Sox would then let Fields play 3B and either trade Uribe or let him be an expensive utility guy for a season.

Ramirez can exercise his opt-out clause and become a free agent two weeks after the World Series. Game 4 of the World Series is scheduled for Wednesday, October 25, so the earliest Ramirez can become a free agent is November 8, or 4 weeks from today. If Hendry is sincere about wanting to name his manager in the next 2-3 weeks, I think we'll know by the end of the World Series if Ramirez is staying or going.

We might. Hendry won't.

They could still trade him, though, right?

I still think it's a negotiating ploy by McGowan to lower his salary demand.

Did anyone say it would be easy? I don't think anyone here did. But as others have said, if you are willing to take on a big contract or eat some cash, almost any player is trade-able. If Jim Hendry could trade Todd Hundley, who had 2 years and $12M left on his contract, he can deal Ryan Dempster too if he wants too - it just takes some creativity. There are some teams, who had absolutely terrible bullpens last year - KC, TB, to name a few. I would ask around, especially if you're re-signing Wood.

Coincidentally, if the Cards raise their payroll from $89M to $92M, they too will have $23M to spend on 4 positions: CF, 2B, SP, SP. I haven't done a detailed Astros estimate yet, but if they don't resign Clemens ($12.25M) or Pettitte ($17.5M) and buyout Bagwell ($7.0M buyout vs. $17M salary in 2006) as expected, they save $39M just from not having those 3 guys. I expect Houston will be very active in free agency and trades this offseason. They potentially have the cash to get 3 of the top 4 free agents: Carlos Lee, Alfonso Soriano, Barry Zito and Jason Schmidt. And if they settle for 2 free agents, they have the headroom to acquire ARod or Tejada. Beware of Houston. They are in a good position cash wise.

I like it.

Okay, go for it. Let's assume the Cubs and Rusch agreed to a $1.25M injury settlement. Now you have an additional $2M or $25M to spend.

For arguments sake, let's say you are the GM of the Cubs and have a $100M payroll for 26 players (including Prior) in 2007. Assume 22 of those players (including Prior) make up $77M of the payroll (see details below). Assume you kept Ramirez by adding dollars and years in the future. Your boss has just told the press that the goal is to win the WS in 2007. What specific signings or trades would you make if you started with 4 holes (CF, 2B, SP, SP) and $23M to spend? Be specific including dollars. Note: you may decide that 2B is not a hole, but LF is. You may decide that 2B and LF are fine, but SS is a hole. You may decide only 1 starting rotation spot is a hole. There are multiple scenarios, but bottom line, you can only spend $23M plus any salary you save by dumping a contract or arbitration eligible player (Zambrano, Prior, Ohman), so what would you do to achieve your boss's goal with the players available in free agency and/or the players, who may be on the trade block? C - Barrett - $4.30M (under contract) 1B - Lee - $13.00M (under contract) 2B - ??? 3B - Ramirez - $11.00M (under contract) SS - Izturis - $4.15M (under contact) LF - Murton - $0.35M (less than 3 years of service - under control) CF - ??? RF - Jones - $5.30M (under contract) C - Blanco - $1.5M (signed to 1 year extension) IF - Theriot - $0.35M (less than 3 years of service - under control) IF - Moore - $0.35M (less than 3 years of service - under control) OF - Pagan - $0.35M (less than 3 years of service - under control) OF - Some free agent signing - $1.00M SP - Zambrano - $10.0M (estimate $3.5M raise from 2006) SP - ??? SP - Hill - $0.35M (less than 3 years of service - under control) SP - ??? SP - Marshall (or Mateo, Guzman or Marmol) - $0.35M SP - Prior - $4.20M (estimate $0.55M raise) RP - Dempster - $5.00M (under contract) RP - Eyre - $3.50M (under contract) RP - Howry - $4.00M (under contract) RP - Ohman - $1.00M (estimate $0.39M raise) RP - Wuertz - $0.35M ( less than 3 years of service - under control) RP - Aardsma (or Novoa) - $0.35M (less than 3 years of service - under control) RP - Rusch - $3.25M (under contract) Buyout - Wood - $3M Hoops

Thinking about this idea some more and reading some of the stuff you folks have written about Jacque Jones and the thought that he may want out of Chicago, one variation on this mock deal is to add Jacque and remove the clause requiring the Braves to send $11M in cash (coincidentally that's exactly what Jones will be paid in the next 2 seasons). So the modified trade would be: Cubs send Jacque Jones, Felix Pie, Sean Marshall and Carlos Marmol Braves send Andruw Jones and Tim Hudson No cash trades hands Jacque would play either LF or RF depending on whether the Braves decide to trade Langerhans or Francoeur (it appears they will trade one this offseason). Braves would now save $14M in 2007, $7M in 2008 and $13M in 2009. Cubs would now have an opportunity to find a better player for RF. Hoops

I like Padilla. What are your feelings about Jeff Suppan? From 2003-2006 (4 seasons) he has averaged 194 IP, 4.01 ERA and a 1.47 groundball to flyball ratio per season. At age 31, would you give him a 2 year $12M deal?

Agreed. Zambrano is something that can be easily taken care of in spring training. Unless we're really scared about the starting pitching market inflating to the point where he'd get 100 million instead of 75 or so, it's very stupid to work on this before the more important things. I think Hendry already said a month or two ago that signing Zambrano to a long term deal will be a priority in spring training alluding to what he did with Kerry Wood and Derrek Lee as they each entered their 6th year of service: for those 2 guys, the process was first, agree to a 1-year deal in Jan. to avoid arbitration, second, establish parameters with the agents in Feb. for a long term deal, and finally negotiate in Mar.

How about Jones and some cash to the Angels for a prospect? The Angels could play Jones in LF (assuming they don't get Manny) and move Garret Anderson to DH permanently. How about Jones and some cash to the Tigers for a prospect? I've read Detroit may trade Craig Monroe this offseason or even non-tender him.

He supposedly will be available this offseason. Are the Dodgers hoping he opts out of his remaining 3 years and $33M to save money, or do they want him to opt in, so that they can trade him for some value?

So, let Hendry oblige him, right? http://www.suntimes.com/sports/deluca/81173,CST-SPT-deluca03.article "Then there are rumblings that right fielder Jacque Jones might want out. Jones and disappointing reliever LaTroy Hawkins were the only major free agents attracted by Baker. Without Baker, Jones might want to play closer to his San Diego home." I'm sure the notion of trading Jacque will bring a smile to many of you, who were understandably very upset when he was signed. He has $11.6M and 2 years left - if Hendry picks up a third, I think he can move him. Hoops

Actually, it sounds more like Andy got his pink slip.

Yes, to be the next Commisioner of Baseball. :twisted:

Okay, let's be honest. Who predicted that 2 teams from the AL Central and 2 teams from the NL West would make the post-season? :roll: