JWCUB

Also 2 more hits for Gathright.

He will start when Harden goes on the DL.

Manny, Dodgers Reach Agreement By Tim Dierkes [March 4 at 10:35am CST] 10:35am: Yahoo's Tim Brown also says an agreement has been reached. He says a portion of the money both seasons ($25MM in '09 and a possible $20MM in '10) is deferred. Brown says to expect a press conference tomorrow. Ken Gurnick and Barry Bloom of MLB.com have info on the deferred money: Payment is deferred over five years without interest, with an opt-out clause after one season paid at $10MM each for the first four years and $5MM for the fifth. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/

8:32pm: Will Selva, the anchor on staff for ESPNews, says Rojas' report is "false."

Manny, Dodgers Agree To Terms? By Drew Silva [March 3 at 8:30pm CST] 8:30pm: Ken Gurnick and Barry M. Bloom of MLB.com have a quote from Boras himself: "I'm still working on it, but it's yet to be finalized." 8:25pm: ESPN.com's Jayson Stark writes that "obstacles still remain to completing the contract." 8:24pm: ESPN.com has now removed the story from the front page. 8:22pm: It should be noted that ESPN.com's front page headline reads: "Manny To Dodgers: It's a Deal." 8:16pm: MLBTR just received this e-mail from Senior Editor of Yahoo! Sports, Steve Henson: Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports just spoke to Scott Boras and a Dodger front-office official. Both said no agreement has been reached. Ned Colletti and Boras did speak today, but no real progress was made.

pbp??

Manny Rejects Dodgers' Offer By Drew Silva [February 26 at 10:46pm CST] 10:46pm: Press release from the Dodgers: Manny has rejected their latest offer. In the release, Dodgers' owner Frank McCourt expresses his frustration with Manny and Scott Boras. He says the Dodgers are negotiating against themselves and improved their offer despite the economy. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/

:roll:

Has nothing to do with the game, but I was just listening to ESPN1000 and they were talking about Stormin Norm Van Lear passing away. Has anyone else heard this? RIP Norm

Thanks

So, I take it Cool Cat wasn't very sharp in the 1st?

WHAT???!!!

Can someone please do a PBP?

By Drew Silva [February 26 at 10:35am CST] According to Tony Jackson of the Los Angeles Daily News, the Dodgers and Manny Ramirez have agreed to terms.

I still think the Cubs end up with Peavy. If not by spring training, then at the trade deadline. I would much rather have him for a full season rather than a couple of months in 2009. I just hope that somehow the Cubs can find the money in the budget and Ricketts gives the go ahead. I think the Cubs need Peavy more than a lot of people on this board. I don't trust that Harden stays healthy all year. He is hurt right now. Z has been showing signs of arm problems the past 2 seasons. That leaves you with Lilly, Demp, Marshall, Shark, Gaudan. Oh, and Heilman. I guess the Wood/Prior debacle in 04 and 05 is still just too fresh in my mind.

Do we know anything about Robnett and Sellers?

Remember when Hill could have landed the Cubs Adam Dunn? Hendry said NO.

Orioles Acquire Rich Hill By Tim Dierkes [February 2 at 10:36am CST] 10:36am: According to a press release from the Cubs, they've traded Hill to the Orioles for a player to be named later.

:( Any internal discussions going on that Cub fans can be excited about? From the way things have gone so far this off season, it appears that Hendry is really restricted as to what he is able to do. They continue to talk about Peavy. Bruce, do you feel a deal will get done for Peavy, or is this just a pipedream?

I think Hendry is just getting all his ducks in a row for the new ownership. Sign Bradley, the big lefty bat he wanted. Then he will present the new owner with "We traded away Marquis and Derosa salary in order to clear some payroll and gain more pitching prospects for a move we would like to make. However, this move requires you to grant us x amount of dollars more in payroll flexability to move forward with it." If all the remaining perspective new owners are breathing, then they are aware of the whole Jake Peavy situation. I think Hendry has set it up just about as well as he can for the time being. I think he just has to get the go ahead from the new owner.

CUBS MAKING BIG MOVES.....DEROSA TRADED! The Cubs are making moves left and right! Here's the latest: The Cubs have signed switch hitting infielder Aaron Miles to a 2 year deal. Miles is 32 years old, batted .317 with 15 doubles, 4 HR, and 31 RBIs in 2008 for the Cardinals. Miles can play tons of positions. He appeared in 7 different ones last year: 85 games at second, 27 at shortstop, 11 games at 3rd, 4 in left, 1 in center and 1 in right. Miles played for the White Sox and Rockies before becoming a Cardinal in 2006. Bad News if you like Mark DeRosa; the Cubs have traded him to the Clevland Indians for Jeff Stevens, John Gaub, and Chris Archer. All 3 are minor league pitchers. Here's the stats for Stevens, Gaub, and Archer. The Marquis trade to the Rockies for Vizcaino is a done deal and will be announced sometime over the next few days according to sources including Bruce Levine of ESPN Radio and David Kaplan of Comcast Sports Net. Levine thinks that with the money the Cubs will save in the Marquis deal they will end up using on Milton Bradley and goes as far as calling it a "done deal". I'm also hearing the the Cubs will rework the Peavy talks using the players they got in the DeRosa deal and adding other prospects. I don't know what to think about the DeRosa deal. I really like DeRo, but if it is what the Cubs have to deal to end up with Bradley and Peavy than that's fine. We'll just have to wait and see what happens. I expect either Fontenot or Miles will be the starting second baseman in 2009. I'll keep you posted. UPDATE 2:25 CT- David Kaplan says that he thinks bringing in prospects for the DeRosa is the start of the getting the Jake Peavy deal set up. He also reports that the Marquis deal is not done yet because Jason is out of the country. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that since the Cubs have traded for 3 pitching prospects and traded away our 5th started, the Peavy deal could be back on. Kap had Paul Sullivan on the show to talk about the Cubs news. Sullivan says that he thinks it's amazing how everything is happening at once. Sully says it seems that Miles could move into the leadoff spot. He hates to see DeRosa go. Kap asked about Milton Bradley. Paul said that he talked to Frank Thomas and Frank said he was intense and smart and just needs to be left alone. If Bradley can stay healthy and out of trouble this could work out good. Paul is willing to give Bradley the benefit of the doubt. Paul says he sees no need for Rich Aurillia. He thinks Pie and Cedeno will be traded and would like to see another lefty in the bullpen. The Cubs have a conference call coming up, so I'll keep you posted. http://cubsblog-cubbiefan07.blogspot.com/2008/12/cubs-making-big-movesderosa-traded.html

Bruce, at this point it does seem like the Cubs are moving backwards instead of forward. What do you make of all this?

I hate to say this, but......I am going to trust Levine on this one.

Both ESPN 1000 and the Cubs have had a busy day. We just learned that the North Siders have traded former Cubs second baseman and ESPN 1000 contributor, Mark DeRosa, to the Cleveland Indians for three young pitchers. The Cubs will receive RHP Jeff Stevens, RHP Chris Archer and LHP John Caub. All three young pitchers are strikeout artists. Stevens averaged over 13 strikeouts per nine innings pitched in his stints at double-A, and triple-A last season. Beyond saving money, the key to this trade are adding to the inventory of young pitchers that could be available to use in a trade for Padres' ace Jake Peavy. It's been known for a long time that San Diego general manager Kevin Towers is looking for pitching back in any potential deal for Peavy. With Ronny Cedeno and Felix Pie both out of options (this means they cannot be sent back to the minor leagues without clearing waivers), both of them could be used along with some of this young pitching inventory to obtain Peavy. A Peavy deal is still predicated on approval by the Cubs' next ownership, in which they would have to sign off on the $63 million Peavy is owed over the next four years. Once again, Hendry has saved $11 million over the last two days. That money will go towards the $4.5 million that Aaron Miles will make over the next two years and Milton Bradley's contract, which should be finished in the next 10 days or so. http://stations.espn.go.com/stations/espnradio1000/blog?id=3738908&post=3802362

Marquis and now Dero. Next in line..........A Peavy Presser....... \:D/