ThePenguin11

Didn't the Cubs have a deadline to offer Wood arbitration??? Like, before the free agent signing period???

What could possibly be an unforseen circumstance? They said they would still pursue Peavy even if they signed Dempster. He's still available, so the only circumstances should be (a) the Cubs have signed someone else (b) the Cubs have nowhere to trade Marquis or © the Cubs are bankrupt and can't spend another dollar over the current budget. Or maybe they figured they had no shot at getting Dempster anyway...so they decided to tell the media that they were going to go after Peavy and Dempster knowing full well that they would only get one but putting on the old Cubbie facade that, boy, we sure tried but it just didn't work out... Can anyone confirm that Kaplan said this?

Tell me where it is that you "hear" that Harden might be part of the deal and I'll answer this. :wink: Honestly I wish I could. I have a friend who works in the media. I believe he/she heard it from someone else in the Chicago media.

Quick question: Why do people call Jeff Samardjiza "Shark"?

Don't be surprised if Harden goes along with prospects in this deal. I'm hearing that in order for this to get done they have to move Marquis salary and that Rich Harden will likely have to be part of the deal. I would also expect most of our best prospects to be included as well. If it means we get Peavy, then fine. But I would really like to keep Harden in this rotation for another year.

And you heard it from Steve Stone. http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0S020oKyZFIEoUBa6SjzbkF/SIG=12qkiqpv7/EXP=1217600138/**http%3A//home.swiftdsl.com.au/~haydn/funny_pics/owned_pics/owned-dog.jpg Actually, no I didn't. I heard it before he went on this morning. Didn't know he mentioned it.

You heard it here...if Griffey accepts the trade, expect Swisher to be traded back to Oakland for Huston Street.

That would be amazing...and I'm sure that Bedard would at least be ahead of Lilly in the rotation as well. However, I'd imagine that the M's would want a hefty price considering all they had to give up to get him. Burnett might be a cheaper option. Here's the thing though: the M's are pretty peeved at his pitch count comments and are trying to rebuild Bavasi's mess as soon as possible. I can't possibly see them letting him go for a compensatory pick with the kind of rebuilding they need to do while Ichiro is still young enough. EDIT: Bedard's only on the books as a rental for the remainder of this year and Burnett is owed like $30MM-ish.

Laurence Holmes just intimated that he's heard that the Cubs may still try to add Erik Bedard. (That would be a lot of Canadians in one rotation) Anyway, he's on a one year deal and probably could be brought in for a little more than Harden costed. If he comes back solid after the break would you consider adding him? Zambrano Harden Dempster Lilly Bedard That would be pretty impressive. You could definitely parlay the injury risk on both pitchers with such a move. What are the odds that both got hurt??

Scott Eyre is still on this team, right? yes, but he has an ouchy elbow Is he pondering retirement? That would be a blessing considering he's a loogy that sucks at getting leftys out.

Scott Eyre is still on this team, right? (EDIT: I'm not saying he's any good, but right or wrong, as long as he's here he's going to have a spot in the bullpen.)

I have two for game 2 at $30 face value, terrace box I believe. Would you be interested in a trade? I got them for my brother and I and he cant' get off work on Wednesdays. Monday is his regular day off though. Where are your seats?

Or maybe even a donnybrook!

What's to discuss? Can we discussed if Brian Roberts it the long lost brother of Eric and Julia? Or is Dayton's Brian Roberts a clone of the Orioles Brian Roberts? I heard he's the step-grandson-in-law of the great televangelest Oral Roberts.

Now that it's 23 pages later (269), do you think we should edit the thread title to "nothing imminent"? It's probably too late anyway, since a new 'serious' trade rumor is probably due anytime now.

For those with a real Contra jones going, try this: http://www.everyvideogame.com/play-nes-Contra_(U).htm You can thank me later.

It has been widely reported that Jim and Andy actually did reach an agreement and then Peter Angelos stepped in and did what he does best, he got involved. Also, would someone please, please, please, show me just one article besides Ken Rosenthal's in the beginning of January that even remotely sites any credible source of the Indians saying they are interested at all? Because all I can find is the Rosenthal piece, which is two months old, and there hasn't been one whisper anywhere else that I can find of them still having interest. When I look now, all I find is knucklehead O's fans making this junk up in forums. Someone please link an article or real rumor to this somewhere. Of course, now that I've said this, the Indians are tayloring Roberts' Indians jersey as we speak probably. IMHO that would be fine with me, I'm tired of MacPhail holding a ransom over us. Let's just move on, I'd much rather see Hendry go after Chone Figgins. Eww. No thanks on Chone Figgins. Wow. I don't quite understand this all-out negative sentiment against Chone Figgins. Aside from one subpar year in 2006 (which really wasn't that bad), what is wrong with a guy who can play like five different positions effectively and put up a career line of 293/354/754. For a guy who doesn't hit homeruns, that's a pretty good line. I think he brings a lot of versatility being a switch hitter and because he's played six different positions in total.

He still hasn't hit 20 hr's for the first time, so I doubt he'll do it again either. He topped out at 18 'on the juice'. I don't really factor PED's into why a guy who was considered a very good prospect might have an outlier year. It was also his second, full, healthy season. And we are talking about 18 home runs. He's not exactly Brady Anderson.

Wow, this post makes absolutely no sense. It doesn't make sense that he'd let a friend know about taking steroids, but lie to the public about how often he used them? Seriously? You don't think that makes sense? Wow. Andy Pettite did the exact same thing by the way. History is littered with people who have been forced to admit a wrong doing but who also downplay the frequency/extent of their wrongdoing. It makes perfect sense why he would try and downplay how often he took them. I don't care what he said publicly. I care what he said to Bigbie. Bigbie said that Roberts told him that he had used it "once or twice" the season before. That makes it completely different from the Pettite situation where there were implications from other people that said that he had been using more than that. Of course Roberts would try to downplay the crime to the public. Why would he try to downplay it to Bigbie? Unless Roberts used anabolic steroids, you really could not expect to see an increase due to HGH. It's a common misnomer that HGH is used alone to make a person bigger and stronger. Although a guy like Andy Pettite might have used it to repair muscle tissue, the common use is as a steroid enhancer. From what I'm told by people who have used steroids, step one is to take anabolic steroids and once you've started to reach diminishing returns, you move on to HGH. HGH supposedly allows muscle groups to separate, allowing them to grow even larger. I don't have this on any high authority, but I think it should be noted that one-time usage or even brief, casual usage would not make a player into a substantially better player. If anyone else has a better grasp of this information, I invite your opinion to either validate or correct me.

Honestly, I don't see that as one of the big issues with this deal. This team is obviously built to win now, and while, at 31, I wouldn't look at Roberts as much of a long term option, anyway (maybe the two additional years on his deal plus 2-3 more), I've never been one to really worry a whole lot about the Cubs keeping important players around (at least, not recently). They usually don't have much trouble getting guys re-signed when they want/need to (even in the middle of this uncertain ownership situation, thus far). I don't think we need to worry a whole lot about payroll at this point. Again, though, Roberts, like much of this team, is in the 30-31 range, like much of this team's core group. It's not like he's a player just entering his prime that we'll be looking to acquire and lock up for years and years. My concern (as is the concern of many others here) with this deal isn't so much mortgaging the future (or "constricting it," as you put it), but giving up all of our trade-able assets for Roberts, who is definitely a good player and an upgrade, when we could be using it to try solidify the rotation or the SS position, which are much bigger holes. It appears, though, that Hendry is happy with those two spots and isn't looking at upgrading them at all, unfortunately. It does bring up an interesting question, though. What will the Cubs be doing in the next 4-5 years as this team collectively ages it's way out of its prime years? The Cubs have to make deals now, for this year, because they need to win now. The window for success can change at any moment. Look at the 2004 Cubs. Who thought the young Bears and Bulls were primed to be great for years to come? You can't bank on the perception that we've got a lot of talent. We're an arm injury to Zambrano or a knee injury to Lee or Ramirez away from mediocrity. You can't build a team coming off a playoff year saying, "We can't put everything we've got toward winning a world series." If it's in reach you mortgage any of it to get you there. (Notice I did not say ALL of it). I get what people are saying is more about Roberts, and I wish we were actually looking for a SS. But adding Roberts does make us better and deeper. It gets us closer to a ring. I'm obviously okay with it.

I can't totally disagree with that. I could flip-flop Fukudome and DeRosa. I just don't want Theriot near the top.

The whole point is he's a worse hitter with men on base. We should think of Soriano as a one-man lineup, all by himself, followed by the "real" lineup. With Theriot (or Roberts, if he happens to be a Cub), leading off: 1. Soriano *********** ########## 1A. Theriot 2A. Fukudome 3A. Lee 4A. Ramirez 5A. DeRosa 6A. Pie 7A. Soto 8A. Pitcher I'll have to agree with seattlecub on this one. I actually told my brother this weekend that I thought that Pie should bat ninth so that he could be protected by Soriano, thereby putting minimal pressure on Pie to produce. Pie batting with Soriano behind him protects him from pitchers throwing crap that he might feel inclined to go after if the pitcher's spot was coming up next. Ideally, my play was to start with Roberts if we get him, then Soriano, Lee, Ramirez, Fukudome, DeRosa (I'd put him at SS), Geovany Soto, Pitcher and finally Pie. I don't like having to put Fukudome's OBP back in the order but he's a guy who can protect the heart of the order and be patient enough to take what pitchers give him. Same thing with DeRosa in the next spot. Soto rounds out the lineup at 7 before the pitcher comes up. Anything we get from Soto will be a bonus anyway as far as I'm concerned. I think this lineup makes a ton of sense for the team we have to work with (if we got Roberts). If we don't get Roberts: Soriano Fukudome Lee Ramirez DeRosa Soto Theriot Pie Pitcher

Are you telling me July 31 is still 9 or 10 months away??!?!?!? My birthday is July 22nd and I was hoping it would be much sooner than that. It's going to feel like 16 or 17 months since my last birthday by then. the new trade deadline is October 31 October 31? It could take like 12-13 months for that to come! I can't wait for that! 1. Nov 2. Dec 3. Jan 4. Feb 5. March 6. April 7. May 8. June 9. July I did not say another 9 or 10 months. Sorry. I was just having fun. Not trying to start any fights. We've got enough of that going on here. July always makes me think of my birthday. I'm quite selfish. I don't even think of America's birthday. Just mine. I'll send a card though.

Are you telling me July 31 is still 9 or 10 months away??!?!?!? My birthday is July 22nd and I was hoping it would be much sooner than that. It's going to feel like 16 or 17 months since my last birthday by then.

Restraint is also an option. Nobody is making anyone come in here. Everyone knows that its a one tangent after another in here, but I think it's understood that this thread is more a microcosm of the trade scenario that is 'Brian Roberts to the Cubs'. As long as everyone can respect each other here there it will be fine. But that is really no different from any other thread is it? Take this thread for what it is.