HoopsCubs

Out of curiousity, what are Julio Lugo's rankings in those 4 categories? Thanks, Hoops

Can't trade Ronny! Who will start at 2B after Todd Walker is dealt? :wink: You wink, but its true. They would have to move Hairston to 2B and then who would play CF? :wink: Why, Kenny Lofton, of course. :twisted:

Cuse, Livan Hernandez or Tom Glavine?

Throwing arm shoulder?

Can't trade Ronny! Who will start at 2B after Todd Walker is dealt? :wink:

I think Hendry will address the starting pitching as well. Hoops, wasnt Pavano hurt at some point this season? I think he was, but can't remember to what extent. I'm assuming he was hurt - I think he made only 17-18 starts.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/story/360438p-307118c.html "There could be further savings if Carl Pavano is moved - a distinct possibility, assuming the Yankees eat part of his contract. There are numerous clubs believed to be interested on the belief that Pavano, like so many others recently, simply couldn't pitch in New York and will thrive again in a less-pressurized situation." He has about $31M left on his deal for 2006, 2007 and 2008. Any interest if the Yankees eat part of the contract? Could a change in scenery bring back his 2004 season? With or without Rusch, I still believe Hendry will address the rotation. Hoops

But, do we know he is a fill in? It is quite possible that the Cubs have already come to the conclusion that Kerry Wood will not be starting the first few months of the season. And maybe the intention is to trade Jerome Williams and Sergio Mitre in the offseason for hitting help. It's very possible the Cubs opening day rotation is: Zambrano Prior Free agent or trade Maddux Rusch

He was going to get $2M if he picked up his player option anyway. Maybe the Cubs figured signing him to a 2-year deal for say, $2.5M in 2006 and $3.5M in 2007 (I'm making those numbers up) would be good insurance for injuries this season, and some rotation protection after 2006 should Maddux and Wood both leave via free agency. I will remind you that in 5 starts in May he pitched 30 innings and gave up only 8 earned runs, and then in September he had 5 starts where he pitched 31 innings and gave up a respectable 12 earned runs, and went 4-0. He was only really bad in June when he started against the Yankees and Red Sox, and was horrendous out of the pen. I think it's fair to say, he has been an effective starter in 2004 and 2005. I don't see a move like this hurting the Cubs offseason plans. They could still go after another starter in free agency, which would be the clue that they are planning on taking things very, very slow with Wood.

I heard Mr. Gammons on ESPN radio this morning make these comments about various players/teams in the offseason: Mets: "one impact bat and one decent bullpen arm away from being the best team in the NL East - they've got the money to do it" Paul Konerko: "my gut says Konerko will remain with the White Sox" Billy Wagner: "Phillies will get a deal done" Nomar Garciaparra: "I wouldn't be surprised to see Nomar playing LF for the Cubs" AJ Burnett: "Usual suspects in the bidding - he'll get Pavano money + 30%" BJ Ryan: "He'll get to the mint" Johnny Damon: "I don't think it will be the Yankees" Manny Ramirez: "if dealt, he'll end up in Arizona or Anaheim, and I wouldn't be surprised to a see a 3-way with Troy Glaus going to Boston, Manny to Anaheim and top Angel prospects sent to the Diamondbacks" No mention of Furcal, Giles or Clemens. Hoops

I'm wondering that if Hendry is unable to swing a trade for an impact RF or get Brian Giles, then could we be seeing this fairly productive (career OPS .835), though injury-prone RF wearing Cubbie blue in 2006. Despite being 37, I've got to believe he would be preferred on a 1-year deal than paying multi-year deals to guys like Jacque Jones or Juan Encarnacion.

Trade for Luis Castillo and pass on Furcal. Good move. Then, the next move should be a trade for Julio Lugo (made $3.25M in 2005). The Devil Rays have 4 choices: (1) Pick up his $4.95M option. (2) Decline the option, but seeing that he's still arbitration eligible (but under their control for another season), offer him something between $3.25 and $4.95. (3) Non-tender him. (4) Trade him. I wouldn't mind seeing his decent glove and .362 OBP wearing Cubbie blue for a season or two or...

That's out of box thinking! Exactly the type of thinking that netted us Nomar and Murton.

Sorry BD. I have no relevant information about the Cubs interest in Brian Giles. That's not to say he isn't on the radar, but rather, I don't know if he is or isn't. All I can say is that I have verified through my sources that Jim Hendry is aware that Giles is a free agent. :roll: As for my personal opinion, I'm 90% confident the Cubs have more money available to spend this offseason than any other NL team. I base that comment by taking the 2005 payroll for each club and subtracting off 2006 guaranteed contracts. That puts the Cubs at about $43-44M. The Mets have about $39-40M. The Cards, Padres and Braves have about $29-32M. So, if Giles is looking for the most money, the Cubs and Mets can offer him the most money. But, if he's looking to win consistently, the Cards and Braves do have enough money to make it happen. It would be terrible if he went to St. Louis. He could end up in Atlanta if he provides a bit of discount to play with his brother. SD can afford him too. But unlike St. Louis, who has the majority of their guaranteed contracts in guys like Pujols, Edmonds, Rolen, Mulder and Isringhausen, or Atlanta, who has Jones, Jones, Smoltz and Hudson, the Padres have their guaranteed contracts in Chan Ho Park and Ryan Klesko. Assuming Giles does not want to play in the NY spotlight, does not plan to give his hometown Padres a discount, and prefers to play for a consistent playoff team, I see Atlanta 1, St. Louis 2 and the Cubs 3 in the Giles sweepstakes. Hoops

I don't think you can ignore either side CubfaninCA. Both offense and pitching need to be significantly shored up. Need a lead-off hitter for sure, and definitely need better OPS from all 3 outfield spots (playing Murton everyday should take care of LF). And then, to your point on the rotation, it would be great to get a #2 starter - Zambrano 1, Prior 3, Maddux 4, Wood or Williams 5. There is ample money available to do it all. It's going to require some savvy trades, though, especially if Giles goes somewhere else. Hoops

I know it may seem crazy, but I don't trade Williams and Murton for Zito. It's not crazy at all. Now, I might be deemed crazy for saying this, but I think Matt Murton should be considered untouchable unless we're getting Dunn or Abreu. It appears the Cubs finally found a guy who is young and understands plate discipline. Stick him in LF, let him bat #2 and move on Mr. Hendry.

Vance, I followed up day before yesteday, and nothing new about it in terms of the specific trade components. However, in approaching it a different way, the source made it pretty clear that his contacts in Florida are telling him that if Delgado is kept, Lowell and Castillo or LoDuca won't, and that after selecting their manager, first priority for LA is to get rid of Bradley.

NY Post has a registered site, so I'll just paraphrase what I read. Goony, being in NY, can tell us if George King and Joel Sherman are reporter-types, who make inferences based on facts, or gossip-monger-types, who like to throw stuff around and see what sticks. (1) Yankees aren't really interested in getting involved in a long term deal with Johnny Damon due to age, health and arm questions, so they are looking to fill CF via the trade market, and are focused on Mike Cameron, Torii Hunter and Milton Bradley, who will all be shopped this offseason. (2) A's may be willing to trade Barry Zito, but they want an affordable, durable starter in return, who doesn't give up the long ball and focuses on throwing strikes. The Mets are rumoured to be interested with Aaron Heilman as the bait. I certainly would be pleased if Milton Bradley and Barry Zito were wearing Cub uniforms in 2006.

Why don't we ask the Mets to give us Cameron ($6M), Floyd ($6.5M) and Glavine ($9.5M) in a pure salary dump move for some prospects? With the $22M they save here, and the $15M freed up with Piazza as free agent, the Mets can trade for Mannys' $20M and Delgado's $16M. We fill the needs for CF, RF and a >200IP/<4.00ERA SP. And, all 3 guys we get are free agents after 2006. That's a good thought. Only trouble is that, unless CPatt were out of the picture, would it give Dusty an excuse to bench Murton? Put Patterson in the deal to the Mets. The Mets can then deal Beltran to Boston for Manny, and Kris Benson to Miami for Delgado.

Beltran. Hey, just like Boras got his A+++ client out of Texas, he'll get his A+ client out of Shea.

Why don't we ask the Mets to give us Cameron ($6M), Floyd ($6.5M) and Glavine ($9.5M) in a pure salary dump move for some prospects? With the $22M they save here, and the $15M freed up with Piazza as free agent, the Mets can trade for Mannys' $20M and Delgado's $16M. We fill the needs for CF, RF and a >200IP/<4.00ERA SP. And, all 3 guys we get are free agents after 2006.

I'm not so sure yet. With the obvious dearth in free agent offensive talent beyond Giles, Konerko and Matsui and with the media here constantly reminding us how bad our bullpen was in 2004 and 2005, I could actually see Hendry looking into a Wagner, Ryan or Gordon. Based on published materials (reports and quotes in papers), I am not convinced that Dr. Hendry has correctly diagnosed the patients diseases accurately yet. I'm not hearing, "we need more OBP at the top;" I'm still hearing, "we need speed at the top;" I'm not hearing, "our OF ranked near the bottom of the NL, we need an overhaul;" I'm hearing, "we will make some changes and field a competitive team." If that's the philosophy on offensive changes, it's not much of a stretch to think he won't spend more money in the bullpen.

From what a source told me, the Marlins braintrust is very split on what they should do with Delgado. The Marlins have somewhat serious financial issues, and as much they love him, they can't afford to keep him for 3 years and $48M, and not do anything else to reduce the cash outlay. Thus they are forced into an either/or situation: deal Delgado or deal some combination of players that reduces the cash burden. Their priority is to dealing Lowell (2 years/$18M), and knowing that his poor performance in 2004 will cause some heartburn, they are dangling Castillo as incentive. Castillo has a very easy vesting option that automatically pays him $6M in 2007 - the Marlins are worried about that figure too. I am told option 3 is to take a recent Yankees pitch, which was Robinson Cano and Shawn Chacon for Juan Pierre, Castillo and Paul LoDuca. Yankees would then deal Jorge Posada to Baltimore or Anaheim or the Mets. Hoops

I don't think the Cubs are sold on Cedeno at SS. I also believe the Cubs feel Nomar is no longer an everyday SS. And offering Nomar arbitration could blow up in their face if he accepts, so they shouldn't go that route either. With the money the Cubs have, in my opinion, they should offer him a super-utility role for 2 years and $6M. Get him on the field 4 days a week - one game at 3B, one game at SS, one game at 2B and one game in LF. $3M per season may sound excessive to many of you for this role, but given his OPS in August and September, I think it is worth it. I don't know if he'd accept it. Perhaps, he will get an offer to start for somebody else, and he will take it. But you never know. He really enjoyed it here from all indications. Hoops

His name was quite popular here in April/May timeframe. Then, the guy clearly struggled in the 2nd half of 2005 (.907 OPS in 1st half vs. .682 OPS in 2nd half). Yet, he's shown some offensive promise, and has experience playing LF and RF. In 2004, he had an OPS of .848 in the first half, and .898 in the 2nd half. He's first time arbitration eligible, and the Rangers and his agent did not see eye-to-eye on a multi-year deal, so he will probably be shopped this offseason. Given Texas' obvious need for pitching, what are you feelings today about acquiring the right-handed hitter to play RF? Hoops