BigbadB

Absolutely zero chance Kerry Wood signs for 4.5m

Baldelli only hits from the right side. Hendry seems to be targeting someone he can fit between Lee and Ramirez.

Toronto should expect a boost without adding any bats. They missed significant time from Vernon Wells, Aaron Hill and Scott Rolen last year. Okay, they shouldn't expect Rolen to play anymore than he did. But, a healthy Wells and Hill makes their offense better.

Let's not forget that state taxes are significantly different from state to state.

Isn't it pretty much a given that Pie will be needed to land Peavy? I'm not so sure I like the above proposals when you remove Peavy from the equation. I also believe Bradley comes cheaper than Abreu by several million.

Would that package even get us Lind alone? I know he hasn't exactly been setting the world on fire, but he was still their top prospect at one point, although it seems he can't take a walk if his life depended on it. Would the Jays just trade him for an overpaid innings eater and a serviceable reliever? I'd love to have the guy and all that but that seems like a weak offer for Lind's potential. Marquis wouldn't be an overpaid innings eater if we were eating 3m of his contract. A somewhat comparable starter in free agency like Jon Garland is expected to reject arbitration from the Angels because he believes he can get more on the market. Garland could probably get close to 10m in arbitration. Just an idea. It sounds like there are 3 or 4 teams that might be interested in Marquis if the Cubs pick up some of his contract. Maybe that team is one of them. Toronto isn't exactly a hot bed for free agent destinations, and they are known for going cheap. Vernon Wells' contract alone forces them to ignore the top names available.

I believe that rule was changed at the same time they stopped charging teams compensation for "B" level players.

Towers has put all of his cards on the table since day 1. That's some crazy negotiating tactics.

I wonder if Toronto might be a good trade partner for Marquis. They definitely appear to be losing AJ Burnett, which leaves Roy Halladay as the only veteran SP in a rotation that has some talented young starters. An inning eater like Marquis might be a nice fit. Toronto also got 245 innings of relief in 2008 from 4 left handed relievers. Toronto also needs to make room in the outfield for Travis Snider. Therefore, might I suggest: Toronto gets Jason Marquis (minus 3m of his contract) and Chad Gaudin or Michael Wuertz Cubs get Adam Lind and one of Jesse Carlson, Scott Downs or Brian Tallet.

Theriot? Explain.

Mota sure can draw a walk.

I agree that the Cubs are a perfect setting for Blanco. But, he will have to sign for much less than he made last year in order for that to happen.

This one, of course. Anyone who is following any wire service will just post their info here as soon as something comes across. MLBTR used to get a bad rap, but I think they've been doing a pretty good job of reporting from all over the country. He seems to be a bit faster than Rotoworld. And now that we know Bruce Miles will be in Vegas, you'll want to keep an eye on his blog.

Something definitely can get done. It'll be a lot of talk, to be sure. A lot of times deals come out of nowhere, liked the Gregg deal, which nobody predicted. I suspect they'll talk seriously with the agents for the hitters while keeping an eye on the San Diego situation. As someone else pointed out, there still could be a fair amount of players left well into the new year. Burnitz was signed the day the Cubs traded Sosa. Maddux signed in '04 on the day before players reported. Never been to Vegas before, and I'm not a gambler. But the hotel bar(s) are full of baseball people. It's a good place to be. Realistically, I wouldn't expect a lot to get done in Vegas. It's the worst place for a convention. We conduct our conventions in Vegas, and everyone is off to see shows, eat at good restaraunts, take in the sights, and gamble. I'd expect a lot of the dealings to be done over the phone, and phones don't work very well on the casino floor. Nashville is lousy, too, because the Opryland complex is so huge there's no easy way for people to congregate. Could be more of the same, plus all the other distractions, in Vegas. Vegas is pretty bad for meeting in general, unless you can actually get people into the meeting rooms. The bars aren't designed for people to just casually relax and rub elbows. They are either very loud with music or have table top video games or some other form of distraction. It's also very difficult getting everyone to agree on a particular place to meet, since there are so many different places. It's not like when you go into the Adam's Mark in St. Louis and everyone knows where everyone will be. If you are having that problem, may I recommend you grab a taxi or two with the group you wish to socialize with, and take it to the Firefly on Paradise. It's a very casual atmosphere that serves drinks and appetizer foods in a laid back, comtemporary setting. It's a very short cab ride away from the VH and they serve amazing Tapas. There's a Ruth's Chris Steakhouse in the same complex.

Something definitely can get done. It'll be a lot of talk, to be sure. A lot of times deals come out of nowhere, liked the Gregg deal, which nobody predicted. I suspect they'll talk seriously with the agents for the hitters while keeping an eye on the San Diego situation. As someone else pointed out, there still could be a fair amount of players left well into the new year. Burnitz was signed the day the Cubs traded Sosa. Maddux signed in '04 on the day before players reported. Never been to Vegas before, and I'm not a gambler. But the hotel bar(s) are full of baseball people. It's a good place to be. Realistically, I wouldn't expect a lot to get done in Vegas. It's the worst place for a convention. We conduct our conventions in Vegas, and everyone is off to see shows, eat at good restaraunts, take in the sights, and gamble. I'd expect a lot of the dealings to be done over the phone, and phones don't work very well on the casino floor.

If taking on Peavy's contract is being held up by the new owners needing to approve it, then why wasn't Dempster's deal also held up? Because none of this is true. I was at Wrigley today along with the other reporters. There is no deal in place with San Diego. Hendry asked us what the deal was. And the Cubs are not cutting payroll. I expect it to be between $140 million and $145 million. Then why the hell didn't they offer Kerry Wood arbitration? Because they didn't want to pay him $10 million a year, even for one year. From what I've been told, Wood and his agent made it pretty clear they wanted a three year deal, going all the way back into this past season. Wood never came to the Cubs and said he'd take a one year deal. When he was pressed during the press conference, he said, in effect, "Sure, I'd take a one year." And if he doesn't get the three year deal he wants from the right team, my guess is he'd explore it with the Cubs. For how much, I don't know. That's only my speculation. Maybe they'd do something for $6-7 million with incentives. Who knows? But the Cubs still want their left-handed bat, and they're going to try to move Marquis. If Wood were to have accepted arbitration, it definitely would have put a crimp in things. But all this talk about it being "officially" over between Wood and the Cubs in some sectors of the media made me laugh. That's not true at all, as you well know, because you guys know the rules. In effect, it might be over, and I don't think he's coming back, but you never know. Bruce do you think the Cubs will be comfortable with the state of the rotation if Marquis is traded to free up payroll, but no new starter is brought in to replace him? I find that a rather unlikely scenario myself, and I figure if Marquis is dealt that it is a significant indication Peavy is a go, but I'd be curious to hear your take. If Marquis is traded, it certainly would set the stage for a Peavy deal. The Cubs are one half or even one third of the equation still. If they couldn't get Peavy, they appear comfortable with Marshall in the rotation instead of Marquis. The Padres and/or another team would have to agree to something. The first priority is the left-handed bat. Ibanez, Abreu and Bradley all are names the Cubs are looking at, but they're willing to see if the price drops with guys like Ibanez and Abreu. I suggested Bradley in my blog the other day. As of now, nothing is close. That could change over the weekend and certainly by the time we all get to Vegas Sunday night. I just looked it up out of curiosity... in 2005 they signed Burnitz on the 5th of Feb... in 2006 they signed Jones on the 10th of Jan. If the Cubs are hoping to find a bargain for RF, there's probably going to be a lot of waiting around required. Actually Jones was signed in mid December And Burnitz wasn't exactly a target. More like a consolation prize.

If taking on Peavy's contract is being held up by the new owners needing to approve it, then why wasn't Dempster's deal also held up? Because none of this is true. I was at Wrigley today along with the other reporters. There is no deal in place with San Diego. Hendry asked us what the deal was. And the Cubs are not cutting payroll. I expect it to be between $140 million and $145 million. Then why the hell didn't they offer Kerry Wood arbitration? Because they didn't want to pay him $10 million a year, even for one year. From what I've been told, Wood and his agent made it pretty clear they wanted a three year deal, going all the way back into this past season. Wood never came to the Cubs and said he'd take a one year deal. When he was pressed during the press conference, he said, in effect, "Sure, I'd take a one year." And if he doesn't get the three year deal he wants from the right team, my guess is he'd explore it with the Cubs. For how much, I don't know. That's only my speculation. Maybe they'd do something for $6-7 million with incentives. Who knows? But the Cubs still want their left-handed bat, and they're going to try to move Marquis. If Wood were to have accepted arbitration, it definitely would have put a crimp in things. But all this talk about it being "officially" over between Wood and the Cubs in some sectors of the media made me laugh. That's not true at all, as you well know, because you guys know the rules. In effect, it might be over, and I don't think he's coming back, but you never know. Bruce do you think the Cubs will be comfortable with the state of the rotation if Marquis is traded to free up payroll, but no new starter is brought in to replace him? I find that a rather unlikely scenario myself, and I figure if Marquis is dealt that it is a significant indication Peavy is a go, but I'd be curious to hear your take. If Marquis is traded, it certainly would set the stage for a Peavy deal. The Cubs are one half or even one third of the equation still. If they couldn't get Peavy, they appear comfortable with Marshall in the rotation instead of Marquis. The Padres and/or another team would have to agree to something. The first priority is the left-handed bat. Ibanez, Abreu and Bradley all are names the Cubs are looking at, but they're willing to see if the price drops with guys like Ibanez and Abreu. I suggested Bradley in my blog the other day. As of now, nothing is close. That could change over the weekend and certainly by the time we all get to Vegas Sunday night. Enjoy Vegas, Bruce. I spend a lot of time over at the Vegas Hilton when I'm there. I really like the all girl band that generally plays on stage on the casino's main floor. :shock: And not necessarily for the music. Great get goofy drinks at Quark's. That's probably where you need to take Hendry to get him to loosen his lips.

I can't imagine someone holding all the records Rickey Henderson has could miss the first ballot. That said, I'm sure there will be writers who don't vote for him because he played in the steroid era/if Babe Ruth wasn't unanimous no one should be/he talked in the third person. I doubt more than 25% of the writers will use that reasoning though. He played for a quarter of a century, and his prime was not in the steroid era. Not to mention his numbers began to decline when this began to pop up more. I don't think this is even a thought for anyone with a vote. Do we even really know for sure when the steroid era was? No but I base it on when the stats began to really be impacted. Even if steroids were used in the late 80's I don't think we saw the same impact we had in the mid-late 90's. 98-02 specifically. So many nobodies and platoon players were hitting 30 or 40 bombs a year during that time Brady Anderson's HOF season was 1996. There were more home runs hit in 1996 (almost a 600 HR spike from the previous season) and Arizona and Tampa weren't teams yet.

Cool. Now we have a time line as to when Hendry can make his next roster move.

Peavy is getting traded. Don't believe the hopeful San Diego sports columnists who are saying otherwise. The Padres would be right around 43m without trading Peavy, and they do still need to add some players to this team. As of today, they have Luis Rodriguez at SS, no one at 2b, no depth at C and the rotation is a mess. The Padres are currently talking to Brad Ausmus for a 1 year deal to tutor Nick Hundley behind the plate. By trading Peavy, they could then add the necessary parts to feel comfortable going into the '09 season and meet the 40m budget. Keeping Peavy will not allow them to get the budget to where Moores wants it. They are possibly looking at David Eckstein at 2b and might even look at someone like Felipe Lopez at ss. This team is going to be horrible no matter who they add.

We are just trying to pull Wrigley23 out of hiding while there is little else to discuss.

I was referring to signing him as a free agent. The Cubs don't have the pieces to get him now or midseason, especially after they trade for Peavy. If the Cubs signed Roberts after the '09 season, they would probably let DeRosa walk. He'd be going on 35, and it's likely the Cubs will have a LH RF bat for more than just the '09 season to begin with. For example, if the Cubs were to land Bradley, he will cost more than just one year. Same with Abreu. And actually, I'm not sure the demand will be there for Roberts after the '09 season, either. With high price tags for the SP's, 1b, 3b, LF and probably RF, there won't be a whole lot of money available for a high priced 2b unless you have a real spend friendly owner. In the current economic climate, that's not all that likely.

Can't hit leadoff.

While you are busy working on that assignment, I'd also like to point out that moving Soriano down in the order, and assuming moving him down means moving him to the 6th spot in the order (Lee, LH RF, Aramis hitting 3-4-5) will take the bat out of Soriano's hands nearly 100 times over the course of the season, or the equivilent of 1/6th of a full season of at bats. It would be a horrible move to take the bat out of Soriano's hands 100 times over the course of a season, IMO. In 2008, the top of the order hitter had 89 more plate appearances than the #6 hitter. In 2007, the difference was 83 plate appearances.

If the choice is either one or the other, there's a strong (IMO) case to be made for Soriano over Roberts. I don't think anyone would debate the point that the Cubs would be better with both, although at that point it becomes a cost/benefit issue. There I'd argue that the smart choice would be to wait a year for the cost (in players) to fall from astronomical to a single second-round draft pick, while also avoiding the redundancy problem that you'd have with both Roberts and DeRosa on the same roster. Except for the fact that DeRosa probably wouldn't be retained if the Cubs went after Roberts, unless DeRosa was being kept to play OF.