Tedward

This is from Bill Madden who covers baseball for the NY Daily News. In today's column he says that the Dodgers continue to be the front runners for Schmidt and continues on with the following info.

Wow! Go Angel !!! Granted it's a limited sample size, and who the heck knows who he's pitching against, but it would sure be nice to see him step up this season. It appears that his stuff is back. Now if he can only harness his control, he could be a nice surprise this season.

While I really like Padilla, I still have to take Schmidt over him. It all really depends on the $ and years, but I think theres a better chance Schmidt continues at this level or slightly regresses for the next few years compared to Padilla miraculously making the jump that Schmidt did. It'd be interesting to hear a scouting comparison of the two. I agree, it would all come down to the dollars and years. The thing that keeps coming up for me is that Padilla will be 29 almost all season long next year while Schmidt will be 34 in January. That's five years difference. I'm not saying going with Padilla is the clear choice, its not. But 5 years does give one pause. When you are looking at the 2nd tier guys behind Zito and Schmidt, they all have their own warts. Padilla put up some nice numbers in contract year last season and has a good arm, but he worries me. Their were a lot of rumors flying around him the last couple of years here, in the Delaware Valley, and I still find it odd that Gillick (who isn't a bad GM) basically gave him away last offseason to TX. He had been an enigma in PHL, and their have been rumors that he has a problem with the "sauce". He's been known to be lazy and not workout and listen to coaches. I'm not saying I don't want him (he does have a good arm) but giving him a 4 year deal makes me a bit nervous.

Hmmn. I thought I remember seeing that they moved it up to December 1st.

Well that is just plum crazy talk from Greg. Crazy talk from Boras, most likely.

True, but at least it's something for Pierre (probably a pick @ 50 overall, I would guess), and thank god that we didn't resign him. Nolasco was a good find for us in the 4th round, the year he was drafted. Maybe we can find something with that pick that will eventually, in a strange way, make up for that loss.

I'm pretty sure we can still offer it, the deadline hasn't pasted. That doesn't make sense. He's reportedly just signed a deal. Why would offer Arbiration? Absolutely we can offer it. I believe we have until 12/7, so it's a no-brainer. This is beautiful since we lost our 2nd rounder for Alfonso, so in essence it's almost like getting that pick back...but obviously since it's a sandwich pick, we'll probably be picking toward the bottom half of the sandwich round.

Correct. From today's NY Daily News

Betcha he ends up costing a bit more than 3/25. :wink:

So, to this point, hasn't Hendry re-signed all of his own FA's with the exception of Pierre? I really hope this trend does not continue.

Hopefully the payroll is upwards of $120MM this season. It's almost like Hendry thinks he is handing out Monopoly money right now. I wonder if this may affect Barrett's trade status in any way....

Baltimore's GM, Flanigan is pretty weak.

I havent seen it posted anywhere, but over on ESPN, they are reporting the Giants are in serious discussions with Pierre on a 3 year $30MM deal. They can have him.

DeRosa is a Type B FA, so Texas just got themselves a supplemental first round draft choice (not bad for them) in the 2007 MLB draft. Luckily the FA compensation structure just changed with the new collective bargaining agreement, so the Cubs do not have to give up a pick of their own for signing him.

I'm missing something on this one. ARod has stated already that he has no intentions of leaving NYY, and wants to make it work. Cashman has gone on record saying (more than once since the end of the season) that they have absolutely no intention of trading him. Boras has also chimed in saying that ARod holds the "hammer" with his no-trade saying he won't waive it. So again, am I missing something here?

That one guy is Wrigley Field.

If they lose Ramirez, I'd still hope they sign Zambrano. Lee and Barrett, should be traded by Dec. 1, though. Yep, Barrett's a no-brainer, and if I were Lee, I'd wave that no trade clause in a heartbeat, to get off of this sinking ship.

Yeah, that was my philosophy last offseason. I kept thinking that it would get better, but it doesn't. Hendry really effed this thing up with Ramirez. How can you let a 28 year old cornerstone 3B walk. This is really inexcusable. I'm so effing ticked off right now.

I agree. It'll never happen, but it should. We've just got too many holes to fill. Hendry would be wise to fall down his stairs again around the time of the convention. It's going to get ugly.

I don't recall Bruce saying he wasn't worried about Ramirez getting away. IIRC, he did say that it would come down to the deadline, but he thought it would be a 50/50 chance of the Cubs re-signing him.

Hoops, No, I haven't heard any names mentioned. I would imagine that the Yanks are in pretty good bargaining position with Sheffield. I can't imagine since they picked up the option that the Yanks would eat any salary.

Fueling the Hot Stove... On local Philly Sports Radio this evening, Howard Eskin said that Sheffield is going to the Cubs. This was in response to a Phillies fan saying that the Phils should try to swing a deal for him. Eskin sounded pretty confident too. Eskin has been in Philly for a long time and has pretty good sources, but I would still take it with a grain of salt. Just passing on what I heard.

Thanks Andy. :roll:

NYY, TEX, BOS, CHC, and the Mets also have interest.

Didn't Wilken draft Wells when he was with TOR? It wouldn't surprise me if he was someone the Cubs were targeting this offseason.