JWCUB

Soooo, it a nutshell thus far.. •Echoing Kaplan, Nightengale tweets that the Cubs are engaged in heavy discussions with the Yankees on Dempster and are still talking to the Dodgers and Rangers. No one is copping to it on the Yankees' side, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post. The Yankees have indeed contacted the Cubs about Dempster, tweet Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports, but the teams are not talking seriously yet. •The Dodgers are not the only team discussing Dempster with the Cubs, tweets Bob Nightengale of USA Today. •The deal is not done yet, tweets Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus, as the Cubs really want prospect Allen Webster and are trying to add to Dempster to get him. Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports concurs: there is no agreement yet. •The Cubs and Dodgers are "finally closing in on the Dempster deal," a source close to the negotations tells Jim Bowden of ESPN and MLB Network Radio. •The Dodgers remain focused on Dempster and want him even if they add another pitcher, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. They're also looking at hitters, and money does not seem to be a concern. Rosenthal notes that the Dodgers have worked on two massive deals over the last several days, both of which are now less likely. •There's no evidence of Dempster talk with the Yankees, tweets Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. •The Dodgers, Rangers, and Yankees are in play for Dempster, reports David Kaplan of CSNChicago.com. The Rangers and Yankees stepped up their pursuit over the last 48 hours. Furthermore, Kaplan says Dempster is willing to approve a trade to any of the three teams. •Nothing was close late Monday between the Dodgers and Cubs, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. •Dempster "remains adamant that he will only approve a trade to the Dodgers," reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Rosenthal says the Cubs and Dodgers are discussing Dempster and left fielder Alfonso Soriano. However, if the Dodgers acquire another target in outfielder Shane Victorino, they'd have little use for Soriano. With only one suitor, the Cubs' only leverage is weak: their alternative is to keep Dempster and make him a qualifying offer in the $12.5MM range after the season, with an eye on scoring one compensatory draft pick if he declines.

The Cubs are really gonna miss Cashner and Marshall this year. I didn't like either trade when they happened. Rizzo may turn out to be great, but the Marshall trade is still a head scratcher to me.

Levine said today on Talking baseball that the Cubs are very much interested in Prince. Just like many other teams just under the radar. FWIW.

Peavy. Theres a thought.

The question is how much of it would the Cubs have to eat and what could they get back in return? I dont know anything about the current Royals roster or farm system.

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Tribune is reporting former Bears safety Dave Duerson died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest, and the co-director of a medical school program tells The Associated Press his family has agreed to donate his brain for research. http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/nfl/news/story?id=6140093

•Rival executives expect the Cubs to pursue Pujols, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com. One exec says “They'll give him the A-Rod deal'' and another guesses "They'll give him $33MM or $34MM for seven years.'' •Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports hears from a source that St. Louis' offer would have given Pujols about the tenth-highest annual salary in the game, which translates to about $19-21MM (Twitter links). The exact length of the offer is unknown. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/

FYI all day on ESPN 1000 Levine is saying the Cubs are still in talks with the Rays about Garza. Nothing new. Sorry

9:49pm: The only thing preventing the Cubs from sending Lilly to the Dodgers is money, according to ESPN.com's Jayson Stark (via Twitter). The clubs can't agree on how much money the Cubs would take on, but it could be enough to prevent a deal from happening.

8:59pm: The Yankees are still in on Lilly, according to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times (Twitter link). The Padres had discussions about Lilly, but nothing is imminent, according to Dan Hayes of the North County Times (Twitter link).

Yankees Acquire Lance Berkman By Ben Nicholson-Smith [July 30 at 5:09pm CST] 5:09pm: The deal is done and Berkman has approved it, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post. The Yankees have to wait 24 hours before the deal is officially complete because of Berkman's ten and five rights.

That would be my guess. I have no idea who their DH is now.

4:32pm: Berkman approved a possible deal to the Yanks earlier today, according to Rosenthal (on Twitter). 4:20pm: The deal is "imminent," according to Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News (on Twitter).

Gotta be first at something. :D

Cubs Release Bob Howry By Ben Nicholson-Smith [July 30 at 4:26pm CST] The Cubs released Bob Howry today to make toom for Carlos Zambrano, according to the team. Zambrano is returning from the restricted list.

The Yankees are on the verge of acquiring Lance Berkman, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post (on Twitter). ESPN.com's Buster Olney hears that the Steinbrenners have given pre-approval for the Yankees to take on a major salary such as Berkman's. The Yankees appear to be progressing quickly toward a Berkman deal, according to Olney (Twitter links). Though there's increased chatter on Berkman, nothing is done, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter). Berkman would require that any team that trades for him not to pick up his 2011 option, according to Alyson Footer of the Astros (Twitter links).

Dodgers Discussing Deal For Lilly, Theriot By Tim Dierkes [July 30 at 7:10am CST] The Dodgers and Cubs are discussing a trade that could send Ted Lilly and Ryan Theriot to Los Angeles, report Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. They say it's not known whether a deal is close. The Cubs would need to kick in cash - Lilly has $4.3MM remaining and Theriot has $933K. Theriot received a $2.6MM salary for 2010 after losing an arbitration case to the Cubs in February. He's under team control through 2012; the FOX writers see him taking over at second base for the Dodgers. It doesn't seem to be the strongest need for them, with Blake DeWitt currently outperforming Theriot and Jamey Carroll and Ronnie Belliard also on the roster. There aren't a ton of great matches for Lilly at this point, as action with the Tigers, Twins, and Mets has cooled and the Phillies are out of the mix. I wonder if we'll hear anything about the Cardinals and Padres looking at the lefty. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/

The latest on Cubs lefty Ted Lilly... •The Twins, who are on Lilly's no-trade list, are unlikely to acquire him, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (on Twitter). •The Mets are still engaging the Cubs about Lilly, according to Newsday's Ken Davidoff, who suggests a deal is unlikely (Twitter link). •A Mets official told Joel Sherman of the New York Post it's "very doubtful" they acquire Lilly. The Mets do not want to take on most to all of the $4.37MM left on Lilly's contract and give up prospects too. As for Brett Myers, the Astros are "almost completely unwilling to engage in serious discussions." Sherman says the Mets might wait until August to acquire a pitcher. •Yesterday we learned that the Dodgers and Twins are still in on Lilly. I bet Lilly stays a Cub.

3:41pm: The Blue Jays will send Brett Wallace to Houston for Gose, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports on Twitter. I thought Wallace was thought of as a cant miss prospect. Maybe not.

12:51pm: Gose and Happ are definitely in the deal, tweets CSN Philly's Jim Salisbury.

•Talks between the Phillies and Astros have intensified in the last day, according to ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark. The clubs have more or less agreed on players - J.A. Happ and prospects would go to Houston - but they can’t agree on how much salary the Astros will absorb. Jayson Werth is off the market, so taking on payroll won’t be easy for the Phils. •The Dodgers are now more focused on trying to obtain Ted Lilly or Paul Maholm.

Where has THIS Cubs team been all year?

Cubs Inquire On Jason Frasor By Tim Dierkes [March 8 at 3:28pm CST] The Cubs inquired on Blue Jays reliever Jason Frasor again, writes ESPN's Jerry Crasnick. The latest call from the Cubs comes on the heels of Angel Guzman's season-ending shoulder injury. Crasnick says the Cubs are "urgently seeking relief help." Frasor, 32, posted a 2.50 ERA, 8.7 K/9, and 2.5 BB/9 in 57.6 innings for the Blue Jays last year. He's earning $2.65MM in his last season before free agency. Frasor profiled as a Type B in the 2008-09 Elias rankings, with 66.322 points (Octavio Dotel was the lowest Type A at 68.007). But keep in mind the Cubs have not shown an inclination to offer arbitration to departing free agents in recent years. SI's Jon Heyman addressed the Cubs' bullpen situation in today's article, noting that GM Jim Hendry made a play for Chan Ho Park before he signed with the Yankees. Heyman writes that "few teams are foolish enough to trade away proven set-up men at this point," but the Jays cashing in on Frasor now would make sense. The price for Padres closer Heath Bell would be higher, since Bell is under team control for two seasons. The Cubs are not known to have interest in any free agent relievers, though veterans like Russ Springer, David Weathers, and John Smoltz remain unemployed. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/

NO. PLAYER 1 Jason Heyward, OF, ATL 2 Stephen Strasburg, RHP, WAS 3 Carlos Santana, C, CLE 4 Buster Posey, C, SFO 5 Mike Stanton, OF, FLA 6 Desmond Jennings, OF, TAM 7 Martin Perez, LHP, TEX 8 Dustin Ackley, CF, SEA 9 Justin Smoak, 1B, TEX 10 Jesus Montero, C, NYY 11 Brian Matusz, LHP, BAL 12 Starlin Castro, SS, CHC 13 Neftali Feliz, RHP, TEX 14 Domonic Brown, RF, PHI 15 Wade Davis, RHP, TAM 16 Aroldis Chapman, LHP, CIN 17 Jeremy Hellickson, RHP, TAM 18 Casey Kelly, RHP, BOS 19 Aaron Hicks, RHP, MIN 20 Brett Wallace, 1B, TOR 21 Logan Morrison, 1B, FLA 22 Tyler Matzek, LHP, COL 23 Jenrry Mejia, RHP, NYM 24 Michael Taylor, OF, OAK 25 Zach Britton, LHP, BAL 26 Lonnie Chisenhall, 3B, CLE 27 Jaff Decker, OF, SDG 28 Madison Bumgarner, LHP, SFO 29 Tim Beckham, SS, TAM 30 Josh Vitters, 3B, CHC 31 Derek Norris, C, WAS 32 Ryan Westmoreland, OF, BOS 33 Chris Carter, 1B, OAK 34 Eric Hosmer, 1B, KAN 35 Pedro Alvarez, 3B, PIT 36 Christian Friedrich, LHP, COL 37 Jarrod Parker, RHP, ARI 38 Shelby Miller, RHP, STL 39 Dee Gordon, SS, LAD 40 Kyle Drabek, RHP, TOR 41 Wilmer Flores, 3B, NYM 42 Wilson Ramos, C, MIN 43 Arodys Vizcaino, RHP, ATL 44 Carlos Triunfel, 2B, SEA 45 Casey Crosby, LHP, DET 46 Simon Castro, RHP, SDG 47 Brett Lawrie, 2B, MIL 48 Jhoulys Chacin, LHP, COL 49 Mike Trout, OF, LAA 50 Jay Jackson, RHP, CHC 51 Hector Rondon, RHP, CLE 52 Hank Conger, C, LAA 53 Anthony Rizzo, 1B, BOS 54 Alcides Escobar, SS, MIL 55 Zach Stewart, RHP, TOR 56 Lars Anderson, 1B, BOS 57 Jose Tabata, OF, PIT 58 Tyler Flowers, C, CHW 59 Daryl Jones, OF, STL 60 Jordan Lyles, RHP, HOU 61 Josh Bell, 3B, BAL 62 Matt Dominguez, 3B, FLA 63 Julio Teheran, RHP, ATL 64 Ike Davis, 1B, NYM 65 Jason Castro, C, HOU 66 Todd Frazier, 2B, CIN 67 Freddie Freeman, 1B, ATL 68 Matt Sweeney, 3B, TAM 69 Mike Moustakas, 3B, KAN 70 Austin Jackson, OF, DET 71 Michael Brantley, OF, CLE 72 Mike Leake, RHP, CIN 73 Fernando Martinez, OF, NYM 74 Michael Saunders, OF, SEA 75 Mike Montgomery, LHP, KAN 76 Yonder Alonso, 1B, CIN 77 Trevor Reckling, LHP, LAA 78 Tanner Scheppers, RHP, TEX 79 Andrew Cashner, RHP, CHC 80 Jacob Turner, RHP, DET 81 Matt Moore, LHP, TAM 82 Tony Sanchez, C, PIT 83 Chris Withrow, RHP, LAD 84 Zack Wheeler, RHP, SFO 85 Randall Delgado, RHP, ATL 86 Ryan Kalish, OF, BOS 87 Aaron Crow, RHP, KAN 88 Chris Heisey, OF, CIN 89 Kyle Gibson, RHP, MIN 90 Jake Arrieta, RHP, BAL 91 Jose Iglesias, SS, BOS 92 Drew Storen, RHP, WAS 93 Grant Green, SS, OAK 94 Jiovanni Mier, SS, HOU 95 Jared Mitchell, OF, CHW 96 Manny Banuelos, LHP, NYY 97 Miguel Sano, SS, MIN 98 Junichi Tazawa, RHP, BOS 99 Travis d'Arnaud, C, TOR 100 Nick Hagadone, LHP, CLE http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/insider/columns/story?columnist=law_keith&id=4856310&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fmlb%2finsider%2fcolumns%2fstory%3fcolumnist%3dlaw_keith%26id%3d4856310

As for the Cubs, Hendry suddenly is facing pitching issues, what with Rich Harden having filed for free agency and Ted Lilly set to open the 2010 season on the disabled list after having arthroscopic surgery on his left shoulder last week. Harden, who made 26 big-league starts this year, has a history of shoulder problems, and mainly for that reason, it's hard to see the Cubs offering him salary arbitration and bringing him back for $8 million to $10 million for one year. Not to be forgotten is that Hendry still is trying to unload right fielder Milton Bradley, whom he suspended for conduct detrimental to the team with two weeks left in the 2009 season. Bradley has two years and $21 million left on the three-year, $30 million deal Hendry gave him last January. One interesting scenario has new Toronto Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos indicating he'd be open to trading ace pitcher Roy Halladay, who becomes a free agent next fall after he's scheduled to make $15.75 million in 2010. Halladay has a no-trade clause in his contract, but he's said he'd like to play for a contender, and the Cubs seem closer to getting back to the playoffs than do the Blue Jays. To get Halladay, the Cubs must move money. Could Hendry package Bradley and prospects for Halladay? Bradley could thrive in the relatively quiet environs of Toronto, and Halladay would provide an instant jolt to the Cubs' rotation. A deal isn't likely this week, but GM meetings can be the place to put the wheels in motion. Hendry and assistant GM Randy Bush will be heading to O'Hare fresh off the team's organization meetings in Arizona. "We were very pleased with the way the organization meetings went," Hendry said Sunday. "We had a chance to meet the Ricketts family, and we feel they are going to be tremendous owners for the city of Chicago. "Randy and I are working to make the club better, and maybe we can start some of that dialogue this week." http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=335062&src=152