Bruce Miles

Solid article Bruce. Good stuff as always Bruce. One thing though, I could've sworn the Lou quote comparing him to other players was a cross between Hideki Matsui and Ichiro (not that I necessarily agree). You've got Kaz in there. Edit: From here: http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20071209&content_id=2321824&vkey=news_chc&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc Bump. You know, I screwed that up. The day Lou gave that original quote was the day the Cubs found out they got "beat" in the Kaz Matsui sweepstakes. So I went back and looked at my transcription of Lou's quote that day, and he said only "Matsui." So I've had "Kaz" Matsui on the brain. I'm sure he meant Hideki Matsui, and that would be a better thing.

No. Considering the logistics, maybe early next week.

OK, seriously, somebody pinch me. :shock: Who is that guy and what did he do with Jim Hendry? And can I shake his hand? I knew you guys would like that quote. :D

Good work, Bruce. Take the rest of the day off. I think I will.

Only about the third Fukudome story I've written today: http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=93689

Can confirm deal but not money yet. Four years.

That depends on The Sweater Vest Kid. He never moves quickly on anything. I'll be convinced the owner is staying out of the way when MacPhail trades somebody like Roberts. But this is industry-wide. We were all led to believe that the environment for trades was going to be great at the winter meetings, and you saw what happened. Well, trading Will Ohman was pretty exciting. Trades are very, very difficult to pull off these days because of contracts and such. But the Cubs appeared to have laid the groundwork for possible deals. Like Hendry or not, he can get trade talks going with anybody, and it's usually not his fault the deal can't get closed.

Pretty quickly. If it's a trade, they'll try to push the other team, but there's only so much of that you can do until the other team decides yes or no.

Haven't heard that one Bruce are you in Japan following the Fukudome story? :lol: Haven't been there since 2000, when I covered the season-opening series. Very cool trip.

Apparently all offers are in, and Cubs are awaiting word like everybody else. The way these things go, there could be some last-minute negotiating and going back and forth. I believe the Cubs will top all offers monetarily. Then, it will depend on where the player feels most comfortable.

Haven't heard that one

It's definitely NOT an either-or with Fukudome and Roberts. The Cubs will be able to get both, provided all sides agree on terms.

It's too bad this is still around. I can tell you it was quite a time for Gary last week at the winter meetings, with people from all sides of the baseball-opinon specter paying their respects. Gary is responsible for drafting a lot of good major-leaguers, and believe it or not, he's quite conversant in a lot of modern thinking. If he doesn't know what DIPS is, per se, I guarantee you he understands it in other terms. I ended one of my notebooks with an item on Gary last week. You'll have to scroll down. A lot of people were just as moved as Jim Hendry by Gary getting this honor. http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=89853&src=152

Haha. Is that the book they were always talking about during the broadcasts last year, or did you guys write it a couple of years ago? That's the book they were talking about. It comes with an audio CD that includes many of Harry's calls. The CDs came out a couple years ago. We wrote the book this year, and it was released this fall.

Oh, I don't know. "Harry Caray: Voice of the Fans," by Pat Hughes with Bruce Miles ain't too bad. :wink:

I don't think it will be tonight. MacPhail, I'm sure, would have to run it by the owner since Markakis and Roberts are 1-2 on the owner's list of player favorites. So we're talking to them about both? :D Heh, in my dreams. If only in my dreams... To the best of my knowledge, only Roberts is part of any talk with the Cubs. Hendry has remain steadfast in saying he won't trade Hill or Pie.

I don't think it will be tonight. MacPhail, I'm sure, would have to run it by the owner since Markakis and Roberts are 1-2 on the owner's list of player favorites.

Lots of hurdles to overcome, but there could be something to this one. Cubs are interested. MacPhail will ask a lot for a guy with a 48.6 VORP. The owner loves this guy, so don't underestimate that. But it's not out of the question, either.

Not yet. I'll find out by 5:30 when we meet with Jim. I've put in calls about the White Sox on this matter, too. The Tigers gave them a little ouchie yesterday.

Can't argue that. And I'd better comment no further.

Getting caught up myself. Listened to our old friend Dusty this morning. Had a lunch session with Lou. Lou then did his media thing. Chased down the Murton-Teahen thing for you guys. :lol: And we'll see Jim at 5:30. So in other words, no.

I've run this Teahen-Murton-Fox rumor down with both KC and Chicago sources. Unless people are misinformed or are lying to me, there appears to be nothing to it. KC says that's not enough (even with Fox, and that's presuming talks have been held). Others tell me Teahen is the KC GM's favorite player. I've also been told these talks are news to the Cubs. Rumors are just that. Rumors. Not that they're not fun, mind you.

Agreed. Heh. I wonder if Beane sending Bellhorn to Chicago was his way of attempting to show Hendry/MacPhail that there are other breeds of cats worthy of some love? Mark Bellhorn, still to this day is the best lead off hitter the Cubs have had in the 2000's, and other decades as well. I liked Kenny Lofton.

You have got to be kidding me? Beane traded garbage for Barrett so he could get Damien Miller to handle his young pitching staff. Stole Barrett, that's a good one. Yes, nobody is a bigger believer in how a catcher "handles pitchers" than Billy Beane. Obviously Miller made a huge impression, considering he let Miller walk after one year. Barrett proceeded to hit .800+ OPS for us for a couple of more years while Miller was "handling pitchers" in Milwaukee. Are you kidding? Seriously, Barrett spent all of two days on the A's roster during the off-season before he was traded to the Cubs. It was almost like a three-way deal. He was then released by the Cubs and resigned at a lower rate than he would have gotten during arbitration. The Cubs didn't have anything the nationals wanted. Beane knew exactly what he was doing and who he was getting. You are obviously trying to play devil's advocate here. Actually, the real story is that Hendry initiated this trade and used Beane as the conduit because Hendry couldn't get a deal done one on one with Minaya, who was the Expos GM at the time. Hendry had tried for two years to get Barrett, to no avail. Did Beane not care who he was getting, or did he want Miller? It seemed to me Beane didn't really care. As the 2003 season wore on, it also seemd the Cubs felt Miller was wearing down, too. I don't have the game logs with me, but IIRC, Bako may have seen his playing time increase down the stretch in '03. Billy and Jim get along famously. ("We just like a different cat," Jim said a few years ago. I guess those words are pretty true, eh?) Beane was doing Jim a favor by helping him get a player Jim wanted. The Cubs and A's had had a history of deal-making before the Barrett trade (Bellhorn, Hinske, Chiasson, et al).

You have got to be kidding me? Beane traded garbage for Barrett so he could get Damien Miller to handle his young pitching staff. Stole Barrett, that's a good one. Yes, nobody is a bigger believer in how a catcher "handles pitchers" than Billy Beane. Obviously Miller made a huge impression, considering he let Miller walk after one year. Barrett proceeded to hit .800+ OPS for us for a couple of more years while Miller was "handling pitchers" in Milwaukee. Are you kidding? Seriously, Barrett spent all of two days on the A's roster during the off-season before he was traded to the Cubs. It was almost like a three-way deal. He was then released by the Cubs and resigned at a lower rate than he would have gotten during arbitration. The Cubs didn't have anything the nationals wanted. Beane knew exactly what he was doing and who he was getting. You are obviously trying to play devil's advocate here. Actually, the real story is that Hendry initiated this trade and used Beane as the conduit because Hendry couldn't get a deal done one on one with Minaya, who was the Expos GM at the time. Hendry had tried for two years to get Barrett, to no avail.