BigbadB

I just remembered reading a story a few months back that said that Woody Williams, Roy Oswalt and Jake Peavy were all pretty good friends and that they bought some property together in Southern Illinois for hunting. This might explain why St. Louis and Chicago were listed as potential destinations. Houston made sense, since Roy still pitches for Houston. LA and Atlanta make sense since they are close to his current home and where he grew up. This doesn't actually help anyone understand where Peavy may eventually end up between Atlanta and Chicago, but I thought I'd throw this information out there as reasoning behind the 5 teams Peavy originally chose to waive his NTC to be traded to.

GM's all over the world are colluding against the media and general public to not let trades be found out before they are officially announced.

The Bears really have a screwy schedule this year.

The Padres wouldn't let him out of his contract to take the Cubs opening. I'm sure most know who Vasgersian is at this point. He's done Olympic baseball and softball as well as a few Saturday FOX baseball games, as well as WSOP. I've heard him do a lot of Padres baseball over the years, and I think he'll be pretty good for the MLB Network.

Maybe a deal is already in place between the Padres and Cubs, but Angelos still has to sign off on it, and Peavy is his favorite player.

This must be the calm before the storm.

http://www.desipio.com Cubs blog written by Andy Dolan. Used to be updated often, not as much now. Who's Andy Dolan? A guy who writes Cubs blogs. Is he remotely credible? Not sure why he would needs his credibility validated, but I can't really answer the question. I don't read his blog. I doubt he would just make that up, since he does have a decent sized following. I wouldn't expect Tim to make up a story anymore than I would Andy Dolan. But, if you go back and actually read what he wrote, he isn't the one saying a deal is done, but rather a source he spoke to. All Andy is saying is that things are getting very interesting. Don't read anymore into it than that, and you won't suffer heartache.

If Theriot was involved in the deal, you would have to imagine that Hendry has a plan in place to fill the hole at SS. DeRosa and Fontenot are both questionable candidates. It's also possible that if the Peavy trade gets finalized before Friday, maybe the Cubs would take the Dempster offer off the table and offer it up to Furcal.

http://www.desipio.com Cubs blog written by Andy Dolan. Used to be updated often, not as much now. Who's Andy Dolan? A guy who writes Cubs blogs.

No need to drum up conspiracy theories. After last year's Roberts fiasco, I don't think you'll dupe too many people with falsehoods. I doubt that was Andy's purpose anyway. Even he said "things are getting very interesting", which basically says he isn't completely hooked by this supposed sources facts. You can read just about any baseball web site or blog and reach the conclusion that things are getting very interesting since the Cubs are one of only 2 teams that seem to have a strong chance of trading for Peavy. So, do as DonnieD stated most of us would do anyway, and just take this information with a grain of salt.

Greene is also on the market, and probably more likely to be moved than Peavy. The Padres want whatever they can get for Greene since he rejected an extension and is in the final year before free agency. The Padres want to be rid of what he is owed in '09.

He doesn't have negative value because of the position he plays. But, he's coming off a horrible season where he injured himself off the field, makes 6.5m for 2009 and then he's a free agent. Teams just aren't going to offer up a whole lot for him, but there will be plenty of teams out there willing to throw a small offer out there to see if it sticks, simply because they need a SS.

You can bank on that. There is basically no way the Cubs get Peavy if it weren't for the no trade clause. That's the one thing small market teams could count on, and the Padres blew it big time on this go around by giving Peavy that extension less than a year ago. A small market team could sell off their soon to be pricey talent for a big return that could either keep the team competitive or shorten the amount of time it would take to rebuild. The Padres are completely hosed here.

I think exactly the opposite. I think we are being used as a decoy and the Pads are just trying to get that extra whatever they want from the Braves. I have to agree with Ryan. If you are limited on who you can trade a stud SP to, you certainly want to work a deal with the team with the best players available, and it's really not even close between the Braves and the Cubs. In a perfect world, Towers would be trading Peavy to the Braves for Escobar and Hanson, but the Braves aren't going to do that, and it's possible Peavy wouldn't even accept the trade there if they did. Towers is using the Cubs as leverage to try to get the Braves to cave. If the Braves don't cave, then the Padres probably view the Cubs offer as a better short term fix than what the Braves are offering.

I have no idea the source. This is the sort of package I imagined would probably get the job done. Although, I would have expected at least one prospect would be included, like Castillo, Hart, Veal or Ceda. The main three players mentioned are guys the Padres can stick into their line up right now, which is probably a strong selling point for the Padres. They probably can't realistically expect to get much in return for Greene or Giles, but with what just happened to the negotiations between Hoffman and San Diego, it's possible that a guy like Wuertz or Hart might sweeten the deal. The Padres have given up on trying to get power guys. They are looking to build the future team on speed. Theriot and Pie fit that model. Padres fans that I have spoken to would have given up Greene straight up for Theriot if that tells you anything. Theriot basically has trade value right now, so the ideal time to sell him is now.

Why does this offseason have the feeling that the trades that are happening so far are a direct result of crazy GM meeting lost football game bets.

Matt Vasgersian is moving to the MLB network. This guy is a walking baseball encyclopedia.

I can't say I'm real fond of reading that Guzman is starting. The last thing I want to see is for him to get hurt again throwing too many pitches.

Okay, now I'm confused. Is Rich Hill playing BB for UCLA now?

That's going to happen whether Peavy is traded or not. Several teams are shopping for Greene since the Padres have openly stated they are willing to trade him. Greene is a FA after 2009, and Greene refused to sign an extension with the Padres.

Some of these latest articles are ignorning some strong points that were made late last week. Peavy wants to play for a contender. I'm not sure why he views the Braves as a contender, but the only real reason the Braves are probably even in the picture is their geographic location. With that said, Peavy will probably veto a deal to the Braves if guys like Escobar, Hanson, Schafer are involved in the deal, because it weakens the teams future chances of being a winner. Also, Towers has stated that he wants a deal to be sooner rather than later because he has a lot more work to do this offseason. He needs to know what holes he will need to fill, and there are several teams interested in Khalil Greene. The Cubs probably don't have the package necessary to get Towers to sign off on a deal, hence the probability that the Cubs are working with a 3rd or 4th team to improve on a deal that will land Peavy. Florida seems like the ideal 3rd team since Hermida and Olsen are on the market. Florida wants a catcher, and Texas has a crapload of them while they are completely lacking in the pitching department. I'm not good at projecting who might go in a 3 or 4 team deal, but with these names and other players on each team, there might be a way to make a deal happen if Towers is patient enough for Hendry to work the phones and a bit of magic: Texas has Max Ramirez, Gerald Laird, Taylor Teagarden, Saltalamacchia Florida has Kevin Gregg, Jeremy Hermida, Scott Olsen Padres have Jake Peavy Cubs have Pie, Marshall and a host of prospects that can be included.

I know this probably wasn't the ideal team for Grossman to have to make his first start in a long while against, but he basically sealed his fate with this game. I'm so ready to move on. He looked really bad for most of this game. But, no play was worse than the 4th down throw to Hester. He telegraphed that play from the moment he received the ball. He might as well have called an audible that shouted "23, I'm throwing the ball to 23, 23, hut, hut, hike".

Excited to watch this one in my living room. Go Bears!

Definitely. The bullpen is nowhere near being a disaster or even really a liability. Bullpen pitchers are typically such crapshoots anyway. The Cubs hae a bunch of cheaps guys they can plug in there...sign Wood, boom, done. Even if we sign Wood, there's still too much uncertainty in bullpens from year to year to call it a mess or solid. Wuertz could pitch like a dominant closer, or he could have a year that justifies him getting sent back to AAA, options be damned. We still have to find a replacement for Howry whether or not we keep Wood, and who knows if Wood would make it the year and be that great. Marmol may look like Cy-Young Gagne next year, or he could turn into Latroy when put in that closers spot. Gaudin is prone to hot and cold streaks as well, and I think will also do some starting next year as a 6th man. Hart, Ascanio, Ceda, Cotts, Shark, Gooz are all good enough where they could be outstanding contributors to the pen next year, or any or all of them could suck. Such is the fickle nature of bullpens, and why it's not a good idea to throw alot of money at them. It's better to throw a lot of guys at them, and hope you get a good idea early on who is in for a good season. Either way, I don't support calling the bullpen a "mess," we're potentially in as good of shape or as bad of shape as any other offseason as far as the pen goes in recent history. If anything, we're in good shape, as we have at least one guy who should be the lights-out stopper type. That's a good starting point in and of itself. I'd like to get one more decent BP arm via FA or trade in the 2 million range (or maybe 2 if Wood isn't brought back), as we've got 6 good young candidates to relieve, but I wouldn't count on more than maybe 2-3 of them sticking at most at any given time. I don't count Marshall as a potential BP arm, as I think he's a sure bet to be traded in one deal or another. I don't consider the bullpen to be a concern, especially if they bring back Wood. Just eliminating Howry should make them better. If you have Wood in the fold, here is a list of potential bullpen candidates: Wood Marmol Samardzija Guzman Gaudin Wuertz Cotts Cashner Ceda Veal Leave the bottom three guys in the minors to start the season, and you have a very solid 7 man bullpen. I'm sure another lefty reliever will be on the priority list, since Cotts is the only real threat to break camp with the team at this point.

2 years younger. Zero major league service time. Young for his league. What do you mean he doesn't walk? His OBP in '08 was more than 100 points better than his AVG. Over a full season, that equates to more than 100 walks. Yeah, worst comparison ever. I'm not sure where that "doesn't walk" stuff is coming from either. Not sure if the defense argument holds much weight, either. Schafer was listed as the best defensive outfielder and best outfield arm in the Braves farm system, not to mention a top prospect. I'm not saying it isn't close, i'm just saying that it's up for debate. To be fair, I'm not trying to justify a deal to the Braves. To me, the Braves are stupid to trade any of their youth for a win now mentality. They are clearly not a win now team. Too many things would have to go right this coming year for them to be competitive against the Phillies and Mets. Why not just fill a couple of holes with cheap free agents, and hope that Reyes, Hanson, Heyward, Brandon Jones, Jurgens, Escobar, Hernandez, etc... develop into something that they can build their future on? While the Braves can beat whatever the Cubs throw out there, it sounds like Peavy isn't going to have much interest in the Braves if they deplete their talent pool. That's the kicker for the Cubs, and it's why I'm somewhat hopeful that Hendry can come up with a package that will satisfy Towers.