BigbadB

For anyone still hopeful of getting this done, the problem with that analogy is neither the Yankees or Red Sox emerged with Santana in the end. When they walked away, they stayed away. You have a point. But, Santana didn't have a full NTC, either. Peavy can name what team he will be traded to, or he can demand that he not be traded at all. Fact. The Padres opened up this can of worms with Peavy. He has all the cards and he can play which ever one he wants. Towers can spend the next 2 months working out this brilliant 10 for 1 package that the Angels are ready to sign off on, and Peavy can chuckle and say, "NO DEAL, KEVY". Towers gave Peavy every impression that he was being dealt to the Cubs. So much so, that Peavy was singing "Go Cubs Go" in a Vegas bar during the winter meetings, which gives the impression that Peavy is not only fine with a trade to the Cubs, but that he felt comfortable with it. Towers has kicked Peavy in the nads by turning what appeared to be a done deal trade to the Cubs into a dead end. What hasn't helped Towers in all of this is just how public he has been through the entirety of the negotations. He has basically shown Peavy a level of disrespect that Peavy can use as his own leverage against Towers. I saw a Rotoworld blurb that mentioned that it's possible that Peavy is so mad at Towers at this point, which favors Towers, as Peavy could expand his list of teams just so that he can be rid of the Padres organization. That's a reasonable assumption. But, Peavy seemed to have his heart set on the Cubs. Towers may just have to go back to Hendry with his tail between his legs. When that happens, I'm guessing Hendry will require that it be a much more private negotiation, since these latest dealings sound like Hendry got more and more fed up with Towers' games.

That's odd. Well we know Hendry has always been really high on Pie. So he probably isn't gonna just trade him for a bad young pitcher who wouldn't be in our rotation, or average prospects. If MacPhail said Pie for Brian Roberts, I'm sure Hendry would listen. I heard Hendry say Pie would have a chance to beat Fukudome out for the starter against RH pitching this spring. So if Pie has a big spring and Fukudome struggles, Pie might get a chance. I find it very unlikely that Pie plays over Fukudome. Fukudome isn't being paid to be a 5th outfielder. I'm sure every effort will be made to improve Fukudome's plate approach. A bad young pitcher? I don't generally hear the term "bad" thrown around for a pitcher with a career minor league ERA of 2.96 and a career WHIP of 1.16. Or how about his minor league career average of 1 K per inning? Or how about his career of better than 3:1 K/BB rate? Those numbers look a lot like our very own Sean Marshall over his minor league career. What I see with that deal is is it deepens our starting rotation while still keeping a potential deal alive for Peavy. It doesn't take away the fact that he's been dog crap in the major leagues. Olson is a good fit for a bad or rebuilding team, he would have no chance to pitch in our rotation. A lot of pitchers have been dog crap in their first few seasons in the bigs, but then went on to become successful pitchers long term. Pie doesn't really have a place on this team, either. If Pie netted a pitcher that could be spun to a bad or rebuilding team, and it brought back something of value that the Cubs could find useful, I'd be all for it.

Yep. I see Samardzija going to AAA to get extended. His bullpen spot will be likely be filled by non roster invite filler. Actually, Guzman has a pretty good chance of being the 7th inning guy.

That's odd. Well we know Hendry has always been really high on Pie. So he probably isn't gonna just trade him for a bad young pitcher who wouldn't be in our rotation, or average prospects. If MacPhail said Pie for Brian Roberts, I'm sure Hendry would listen. I heard Hendry say Pie would have a chance to beat Fukudome out for the starter against RH pitching this spring. So if Pie has a big spring and Fukudome struggles, Pie might get a chance. I find it very unlikely that Pie plays over Fukudome. Fukudome isn't being paid to be a 5th outfielder. I'm sure every effort will be made to improve Fukudome's plate approach. A bad young pitcher? I don't generally hear the term "bad" thrown around for a pitcher with a career minor league ERA of 2.96 and a career WHIP of 1.16. Or how about his minor league career average of 1 K per inning? Or how about his career of better than 3:1 K/BB rate? Those numbers look a lot like our very own Sean Marshall over his minor league career. What I see with that deal is is it deepens our starting rotation while still keeping a potential deal alive for Peavy.

That's odd.

I guess, but I'd cut him the second the team is eliminated from playoff contention then. Fair enough. At that point, there would be no reason to waste a roster spot or playing time for someone who isn't going to be on the team the following year.

Oh, and I probably wouldn't cut Rashied Davis until the season is over. But, it would be a cold day in hell before I let him see an offensive play call again. He seems to have a little bit of worth on special teams, and that's the only reason I wouldn't cut him now.

Agreed on everything above. Personally, I would include getting rid of Turner. The short sideline routes at the line of scrimmage on 1st down don't fool anyone, and there were way too many in this game, especially with 5 minutes left in the game and a really good chance to eat up a lot of clock. The Bears drive in overtime further pointed that out when Forte ran the ball for a first down on just two carries. Short sideline pass for an incompletion equals about 3 seconds off the clock. A Matt Forte run up the middle for 5 yards equals 40 seconds. If you don't get the first down, you eat up more than 2 minutes of clock and trap NO deep in their own territory. Just horrible play calling in this game.

Yea I read that too. What a great story though. Classic story.

Hendry seemed to have a back up plan in place before they really started being serious about Peavy. Randy Johnson to replace Marquis, Milton Bradley for RF. Marquis money used to absorb one of the contracts. Someone remind me what Brad Penny's deal was last year. Was he having arm issues?

This probably removes the Phillies from future DeRosa discussions, also.

Yeah, age was my only hang up with Ibanez. I could see Ibanez cracking 30 HR's hitting in a much more friendly hitting park for half his games. Not to mention a better overall line up which should increase the amount of at bats by a significant margin. I'd expect to see his SLG to be a little closer to .500 this season, with a potentially high risk drop off after '09.

http://www.fannation.com/si_blogs/hot_stove/posts/31661-agent-peavy-frustrated-with-padres "If they come to us with a trade now, we'll consider it. But there won't be any more lists,'' Axelrod said. "No, we're done with that.'' In other words, from now on, they're no longer going to pretend to care about what the Padres get as long as they get what they want. Wouldn't surprise me one bit if Towers got a dream deal from the Angels and Peavy nixing it just to show Towers his appreciation for the fine work he did in the trade to where he wanted to go. "It's amazing to me how many people can waste time, money and resources, and get nothing done," Axelrod said. "Baseball moved lock, stock and barrel into that town, and absolutely nothing happened." I love this line as well. these are strange times in baseball. On one hand you get Johan Santana, without half the restrictions that Peavy had, traded for that so so package. Seriously, Carlos Gomez, who may become as good as Willy Tavares, was the center piece of that trade and Towers kept pushing for more for Peavy. It's good to have Peavy on our side. I wonder how soon a Padre GM will get the green light to hand out an NTC again? You shouldn't hand out NTC's with contract extensions if you don't really mean it.

If Harden's healthy, I'm pretty sure they'll resign him. When he's on point, Harden is one of the best pitchers on the league. He'd be worth the money. one healthy season, and you want to give him 4/$48 or something? i kind of want harden for '09 and that's it. Yeah, I don't see the Cubs gambling with Harden beyond this year. Unless Harden's arm issues miraculously disappear, which I don't see happening.

Umm. All of 'em. Okay, so name a contender whose numbers 2 and 3 starters are as likely to get hurt and regress as Harden and Dempster Haha. Yeah, right. I'll get right on that. Any player can get hurt or regress. Uhh yeah, but what players are as likely as Harden and Dempster? It's not jyst a chance, it's a good chance. So you say "all of em" when I ask what teams are that suspect, and then why I ask to give an example you sau "haha, yeah right" Well played. I already gave examples. I said ALL OF THEM. That's not an example, that's a blanket statement because you have no answer. Name one contender who has a number 2 that is as likely to get hurt as Harden and a number 3 who is as likely to add a run and a half onto his ERA as Dempster. Just one Someone already did up above. The World Series winner. And they named a few more as well. I'm done here. I have work to do, and as much as you would like to give me some sort of homework assignment, I'm going to go do my own work. I've never been a big Hendry fan, but I am not complaining about this particular decision to back off on an 8 for 1 deal for Peavy. That's just silly. Not only that, Peavy is no lock to be be the stud in the NL Central that he was in the NL West. Doesn't mean I wouldn't love to have him. Just not for the entire farm.

Are you kidding me? Nope. Not at all. Marshall and Pie would be a nice package for Hermida. Maybe even Marshall and Vitters. Maybe it's not enough. If so, look elsewhere. I'm just baffled that anyone would think you just keep throwing more and more names at someone in hopes that it will be enough when it is obviously clear that the other team has zero leverage. How the hell is Vitters the 7th and 8th player in that deal? I'm baffled by how unrealistic people view the quantity aspect of this deal. They are worthless. Worthless in your eyes, but not necessarily worthless to other teams. If Baltimore would have traded Garrett Olson for Pie, and then Olson was part of the deal for Peavy, that is not worthless. These talks were close to being done without Marquis or DeRosa being added to the discussions. Once DeRosa became part of the equation, someone else should be removed, and more than likely Marshall, if not Pie as well.

Umm. All of 'em. Okay, so name a contender whose numbers 2 and 3 starters are as likely to get hurt and regress as Harden and Dempster Haha. Yeah, right. I'll get right on that. Any player can get hurt or regress. Uhh yeah, but what players are as likely as Harden and Dempster? It's not jyst a chance, it's a good chance. So you say "all of em" when I ask what teams are that suspect, and then why I ask to give an example you sau "haha, yeah right" Well played. I already gave examples. I said ALL OF THEM.

Are you kidding me? Nope. Not at all. Marshall and Pie would be a nice package for Hermida. Maybe even Marshall and Vitters. Maybe it's not enough. If so, look elsewhere. I'm just baffled that anyone would think you just keep throwing more and more names at someone in hopes that it will be enough when it is obviously clear that the other team has zero leverage.

Umm. All of 'em. Okay, so name a contender whose numbers 2 and 3 starters are as likely to get hurt and regress as Harden and Dempster Haha. Yeah, right. I'll get right on that. Any player can get hurt or regress.

Umm. All of 'em. Didn't the Phillies just win a World Series with that rotation? Yup. I rest my case.

i would not miss any of those players. Well, if that's the case, why don't we go ahead and throw in 10 more guys as well and REALLY make sure we get this deal done? Why are you so hung up on quantity? They aren't good players. If you are offering the core, what difference does it make who the 7th and 8th guys are. Because the 7th and 8th guys might be the guys who could acquire someone like Hermida instead of paying big bucks for Bradley, which in turn could allow you to spend those big bucks on someone like Furcal.

Umm. All of 'em.

i would not miss any of those players. Well, if that's the case, why don't we go ahead and throw in 10 more guys as well and REALLY make sure we get this deal done?

#-o lol so basically it's like... if two of our 3 best starters suck and/or get hurt, our rotation is questionable. cool.. Except one is a lock to get hurt and the other is a very good bet to take a significant step backward. Are you advocating the 8 for 1 trade of Peavy? I don't know what 8 for 1 trade was on the table, but I couldn't care less if somebody wanted quantity from this organization. Take it. They aren't going to be difference makers. What I am advocating is the Cubs actually improving their team, which they have not yet done. Why trade 8 when you can trade 5 or 6, and then use the 7th and 8th players in trade to improve elsewhere? Why give in to a GM that has basically no leverage?

#-o lol so basically it's like... if two of our 3 best starters suck and/or get hurt, our rotation is questionable. cool.. Except one is a lock to get hurt and the other is a very good bet to take a significant step backward. Are you advocating the 8 for 1 trade of Peavy?