Joe_Cub

so when the heck is meche supposed to decide?

mac is a moran. Muskat mlb article on lilly http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061206&content_id=1752625&vkey=hotstove2006&fext=.jsp

no. so what did you hear?

rosenthal's latest The Cubs are trying to sign both free-agent left-hander Ted Lilly and free-agent right-hander Gil Meche, and they continue to pursue a number of left-handed hitting options. Center fielder Kenny Lofton and left fielder Cliff Floyd are free-agent possibilities, and the Cubs also are talking to the Nationals about a trade for outfielder Ryan Church.

baseball prospectus meh projection- http://www.baseballprospectus.com/unfiltered/?p=55

i've read that lilly has told friends he wanted to go back to the yankees so who knows if the cubs can do much besides drive up the price.

word is that the yankees and astros are getting tired of waiting around on pettitte which is hwy the yankees got into lilly. supposedly lilly has told friends he'd like ny but ny didn't make an offer until today and supposedly they're meeting with lilly's agent right now. sullivan must have bumped his head and thought the yankees meeting meant a press conference. "We're not moving forward with Toronto," O'Brien said. "It had nothing to do with the dollars or a lack of aggressiveness on the part of the Blue Jays. What it boiled down to was Ted decided he would like a change of scenery. He's looking forward to the challenge of trying to win a pennant and a World Series for the Cubs or the Yankees."

sullivan said a little while ago on the score that there was supposed to be a press conference announcing the decision starting right about now, but the score update just says the decision will be in the next 24 hours

paul sullivan on the score says lilly's agent is having a press conference in about 20 minutes (3 et) so we should know soon.

penny has been talked about in the manny rumors. crap, schmidt would have done alot for the cubs. espn1000 said earlier today that cubs were still talking about jason jennings. gotta give props to rosenthal because he's all over these meetings.

espn1000 says this is a done deal for one year.

st louis post-dispatch says the cardinals have a 3 year offer on the table to schmidt. if the numbers are true, hendry better not get outbid by the stl on him. http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/cardinals/story/E2F6F90E961299EB8625723C0021410F?OpenDocument The suggestion comes as the Cardinals continue to push for a deal with premium free-agent starter Jason Schmidt, whom the club has offered a three-year contract that could be sweetened by week's end, according to sources familiar with negotiations. Jocketty plans to speak with Schmidt's representatives, Alan and Randy Hendricks, before leaving the winter meetings Thursday afternoon. What one source described as "positive momentum" could lead to Schmidt, 33, landing with a new club by week's end. Speaking generically, Jocketty said, "We're a long way from getting a deal done, but I feel more encouraged than I did a week ago." The Cardinals, Dodgers, Chicago Cubs and Seattle Mariners are believed to be finalists for Schmidt. Jocketty described the Cardinals' position as "flexible" regarding Schmidt. Club sources indicated general partner Bill DeWitt recently eased budgetary constraints. The Cardinals have standing three-year offers to Schmidt, Miguel Batista and Jeff Suppan. The Mets continue to have interest in Suppan, who continues to attract strong interest, including latecomers Toronto and Houston. A source familiar with talks said that "the status quo" exists between the NLCS MVP and the Cardinals. The Redbirds' offer to Schmidt is believed between $10 million and $11.5 million a season.

I hope this reporter is on crack They also held a discussion with the agent for right-hander Jeff Suppan, who might be the most bankable commodity among the thin ranks of available starters. And they met with the agent for left-hander Ted Lilly, who has expressed a desire to play in the Bay Area but isn't expected to turn down the Cubs if they offer five years and $55 million. Right-hander Gil Meche is another name on their list. [/b] Even if they are able to back-load a deal, any of those upper-level starters would exhaust at least half of the $20 million or so the Giants have left to spend under their anticipated $85 million payroll. http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/local/states/california/16173442.htm

gleeman's rotoworld blog from the winter meetings- During a press conference that I sat in on, Tony LaRussa repeatedly stressed that the Cardinals need rotation help, and apparently general manager Walt Jocketty took those words to heart. St. Louis is now in the mix for Jason Schmidt, adding the Cardinals to a list of suitors that already included the Mariners, Cubs, and Dodgers. It's easy to see Schmidt's price tag skyrocketing in a pitching market that has the Cubs and Blue Jays bidding back and forth for the right to overpay Ted Lilly and Gil Meche.

KC Star claims that the Royals backed down on Meche after the bidding got to 4 years and $40 million. The Royals didn’t blink in their pursuit of Meche, 28, until the price threatened to move past $40 million for four seasons. Meche was 11-8 with a 4.48 ERA last season in 32 starts for Seattle and has won more than 11 games only once in his six-year career. The Cubs are generally viewed as the front-runners for Meche, assuming they don’t sign higher-profile pitchers, such as Jason Schmidt, to fill out their rotation. The Blue Jays are also making a strong push. “We came here knowing it would be competitive,” Moore said. “It comes down to supply and demand.” http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/sports/16173219.htm

Rotoworld says the Cubs are in the chase for Church and mentions Guzman or Marmol as trade possibilities.

Seattle P-I At the same time, the Mariners may have a fight on their hands if they are going to bring Jason Schmidt into the fold. Schmidt is being pursued hard by St. Louis as of Tuesday, and the Cardinals seem to believe they can get the deal done. http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/baseball/archives/109401.asp

rotoworld Julio Lugo-SS-Dodgers Dec. 5 - 9:51 pm et ESPNews is reporting that the Red Sox and Julio Lugo have agreed to terms on a four-year, $36 million contract.

baseballprospectus projection- http://www.baseballprospectus.com/unfiltered/?p=48

New cubs.com article says that Hendry has been talking with Schmidt's agent and Schmidt isn't demanding a longerterm deal. http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061205&content_id=1751826&vkey=news_chc&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc

Now I'm getting my hopes up. Get it done, Hendry!

Get Griese playing time. I hope Grossman improves but they've got to start planning for the possibility he won't.

Black Sox Too! I heard them talking about it on sportscenter but I can't find anything about it on espn.com.

who are you voting for?? lol

I usually like his writeups and I like his books too but that was lame. If he didn't want to spend time answering questions he shouldn't have open threads like that.