davell

Not a fan of Happ. That said, it kind og follows what Hendry said a few weeks ago, which was "any trade we make will have next year in mind." In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if Brandon Wood was involved in the Lee deal, to be honest...... Personally, with the group of guys we currently have in AA and AAA, unless we get a top 100ish talent for Lilly, I'd much rather get some high end A or A+ ball pitcher myself. The kid the Tigers just gave up for Peralta is more in line with what I had in mind for Lilly honestly.....

Although it was just speculation from Harold Reynolds, he at least mentioned another possibility anyway: That Lee knows there are teams out there interested in him that are more in contention than the Angels and could be waiting on one of them to make an offer...... That said, I figure this has to do with his daughter most likely, especially seeing his comments, saying it's a private matter that he'll talk about when the time is right.

Soto was one of the guys I was hoping for from Detroit for Lilly actually.

Has there been ANY word whatsoever on Ivan DeJesus? The bio I had read on him, didn't scream out "overslot" by any stretch. But, I guess it's safe to assume now that IF he signs, he'll be getting a fairly nice bonus?

Austin Reed is the very early favorite for our "draft steal" of the year.

I'm sure some folks here read AZPhil's comments on Castro and Lake, but I missed them a few days ago because they were buried deep into a thread, but they were very interesting so I'll sum them up...... AZPhil saw them both 2 years ago for about 7 and a 1/2 months, when they were in Arizona for minor league camp, extended spring training and then the Arizona League. At the time, Lake was faster, stronger, had more range, more power, and better patience. The issue was if he would grow off of SS. Castro was the better hitter(less power), better fielder, better baserunner(but slower) and had the versatility to play 2B, SS, and 3B equally. In fact, at the time, SS was his weakest of the 3. The separation ocurred because of HOW WELL Castro took to instruction. He may be the most coachable kid AZPhil has ever seen come through the Cubs system. He kept a diary listing every pitcher he faced and how they got him out. He even cut his ManRam curls LOL, according to him....... Lake, on the other hand, was not as coachable and made the same mistakes, over and over. Part of the reason for this, according to Phil was that Lake could best be described as a "street kid", a Dominican Oliver Twist(his words) and wasn't even sure he went to school. So, he's very raw, including everyday life things, probably much moreso than most guys coming through the system. This could help explain why he's been harder to teach as well obviously. Maybe he's really starting to get the hang of things now. At least I'm VERY encouraged by reading this anyway. He also says that even now, Lake has the higher ceiling. That said, what in the world can the kid's ceiling be? Because I'm starting to think Castro's IS actually Jeter......

Damnit, today would have been the perfect day for Lilly to have been dealt, as we could have slid Jay right into the start tonight...... Wouldn't the same be true 5 days from now? Yeah, but I wanted Lilly dealt before he could either get hurt or have a bad outing. I'm a worrier, basically...... Instead, all went well there, but Jay may have cost himself the chance, if Lilly does get dealt.

Damnit, today would have been the perfect day for Lilly to have been dealt, as we could have slid Jay right into the start tonight......

I think you guys may be looking at the wrong possibility here. I think if we're talking about Figgins, Fukudome is who they'd be taking back. They wanted him back when we got him anyway...... We'd save money this year AND next actually. Fukudome makes 13.5 next year while Figgins makes 9. But, we'd then still have Figgins for 2-17 in 2012-13 and he's got a vesting option that could kick in if he hit 600 plate appearances for 2014 as well. I wouldn't do it personally, if we HAVE to rid ourselves of Fukudome, just eat whatever amount we have to and trade him wherever......

That Cubs team is 32-12, while the other one is 10-35.......Which proves AZPhil right about that: The Cubs put all of their best prospects on one team. They don't necessarily get it right at the beginning of the season, but they move guys around until they do.

Stark thinks it's highly inlikely Lee will waive his NTC before the deadline.

Of course you will have an IDEA of who you think will make it for the most part. But earning it for guys like Wells, Gorz, and even Silva doesn't mean yoiu have to pitch nothing but scoreless innings all spring. It means you come into camp in shape, your pitches look like they should, and you stay healthy during spring. For the youngsters, it's more about results, than it is for the vets. That said, I fully expect Jay Jackson, Thomas Diamond, Chris Carpenter, Chris Archer(who won't be rushed but does have to be added to the 40 man this offseason) and maybe Bibens-Dirkx to all get fair shots at nmaking the rotation next year. And that doesn't even include Cashner, who I ceretainly HOPE gets a chance. In the end, we've got quite a few guys who have to think they've got a chance to be in our rotation next season.

Is it possible that there aren't any offers for Lilly yet actually on the table? Because I fully expected him to be dealt before his next start(tomorrow?). We're doine with the homestand, he's coming off 2 straight solid outings(which evidently means more than I had thought previously) AND with DeJesus' injury, I just figured we wouldn't take any chances......I guess alot can happen between now and tomorrow, but I was really figuring there would be a bunch of news all day on Lilly......

Wells and Gorzellany have been pretty good this year. They've earned nearly as much right to a rotation spot as Dempster. Yeah, when I wrote that, I kind of figured they would both wind up in there anyway, but I for some reason I can see one, if not both of them dealt over the offseason.........At any rate, I'd definitely expect them to make the rotation, if they ARE here.

To trade Gorzelanny, I'd definitely want a very solid return. I doubt he's moved though. He would have been perfect as a major piece in a Haren deal, if we were going for it, instead of selling. He's the type of guy who could get moved in an offseason deal where we'd acquire a bigtime 1B or maybe an upgrade for the staff. He's the perfect "hey, we got a solid major leaguer, along with some good prospects" type guy that small market teams like to sell their fans on when they trade away someone about to get expensive. Randy Wells would fit this criteria as well actually. As far as Lilly goes, he's the 2nd best option out there right now, behind Oswalt(who only has a few teams interested because of salary anyway). And the list of teams that have either been mentioned with Lilly or at least been mentioned with starting pitching include the Yankees, Rays, Red Sox, White Sox, Twins, Tigers, Phillies, Mets, Dodgers, and Rockies. Ten teams. Is Lilly good enough to make teams want him, before deciding to take Brett Myers Paul Maholm, Jake Westbrook, Jeremy Guthrie, or Kevin Millwood for cheaper? I actually think so.

By the way, Bruce has an article up and mentioned Lilly, Theriot, and Nady as possible Cubs on the move. Said it was likely we'd non tender Theriot, if we don't deal him. No mention whatsoever of Lee though.

Well, I certainly don't see the Angels trading away Haren. I think this move means just as much, if not more, to them next year, instead of this deadline. That said, I don't think they gave up a ton for him either. Helped by Haren's off year obviously. But, I can see where they'd be interested in Lee too now, since they at least made a move to go for it this year. Unfortunately, there probably aren't very many, if any other takers for Lee. So trading him probably won't net us much at all, since he's not going to get offered arb by anyone. Still, if we could get at least one guy with solid upside for him, I'd go ahead and make the deal, assuming he's willing to leave.

My prerequisites for our next manager are as follows....... Don't bat Tyler Colvin leadoff. Allow Cashner an opportunity for the rotation Bat Soto somewhere in the 3-6 range consistently Find a way to keep Grabow on DL until we can release him Do not put Ryan Theriot in your everyday lineup if he's on the team Double switch about half as often as Lou does Make Z earn a spot in the rotation next year, don't give it to him because of his salary Allow Marshall to have the 8th inning from the start of the year. He's pretty damn good. If we go with a youth movement, be prepared for it and don't "Pie" Brett Jackson or "Shark" Jay Jackson. Make everyone not named Ryan Dempster earn their spot in the rotation next spring. If this fits Bobby V, Joe Torre, Ryno, Freddie Gonzalez, Alan Trammel, Bob Brenly, Lou Brown, Connie Mack, Phil Jackson, or the insane Cards internet guy, I don't really care who we wind up with.

Not liking the walks from Archer, but on the other hand, he's not giving up hits either. Gotta start wondering if he's turned into our best pitching prospect, ahead of Jay Jackson.

Honestly Joseph and someone else with his talent level at a different spot IS probably appropriate value for Lilly. But not just him. If Lilly is NOT a type A, he's still got more value than just Joseph and that's how the Cubs have to be approaching these types of offers. At this point, I want something close to a top 100 guy or hold onto him and offer him arby.

Vitters was taken out of game 1 after stealing 2nd base in the 5th inning.

I'd put Pierre LePage and maybe Reggie Golden into that discussion. I could see Golden getting a few games in at Peoria at the end of the season. Also, with Golden signed, I'm seriously considering putting him ahead of Simpson on my Top 10. Heck, even before news of Simpson's mono came out, I was debating doing it. Unless Simpson is very solid in the AFL, I doubt he makes my end of the year top 10. Golden probably will actually. Our system has gotten very deep with decent prospects, but we have a fairly large dropff after our top 6(almost a definite consensus of B Jackson, Lee, Vitters, J Jackson, Archer, and McNutt), maybe 7(if Carpenter is still in there).......Our 8,9, and 10 guys will NOT be a consensus, we probably have 10-12 guys who could conceivably wind up there, if you ask me. I could see Rhee, Dolis, Golden, Simpson, Y-J Kim, Barney(and I know most won't put him there but with his closeness to the majors, i bet BA will have him high anyway), Coleman, Chirinos and Diamond( both same with Barney), Lake, Ha, and Rusin all getting consideration from different people here. In the end, maybe this hurts our system's overall grade this offseason? Very deep, but mostly C's and C+'s, after the top 6-7. With the graduations of Castro and Cashner(Colvin wasn't all that important to last year's grade, since he was not even top 15) I had still expected us to be move up a little, but looking at it more and more, I could see us around the 20ish area overall next year......Very much because our draft isn't going to help out our top 10 much and probably won't put more than Simpson and Golden(maybe Gibbs and possibly Kurcz) anywhere near our overall top 30's either.

Anybody got ANYTHING on Alvido Jimenez yet? I know it's early, but he put up solid numbers in the DSL last year and is continuing to do so in Arizona at 18 years old. Just curious if anyone has heard anything about his stuff? On a side note, with Simpson going to miss the entire season now, who can we see out of this draft class making to full season ball THIS year? I would have thought Gibbs was a lock, but with as horrible as he's hit so far, I don't see him as a lock anymore, maybe a 50/50 shot. I'm thinking Aaron Kurcz is a lock, maybe even making it to Daytona possibly. Only other possibility I can see is Szczur, I suppose.......

Can Miggy still play 3rd at all? With as many holes as Detroit has now, especially with Maggs going out, gotta wonder if they'll just stay put now and not make a deal. That said, if Miggy could still play 3rd and with their needs up the middle and in the rotation, maybe we could be a one stop shop for them and send them Lilly, Lee, AND Theriot......LOL

Please be wrong. Lou made it sound like he wishes they'd hold off too. It does have me slightly worried, but since Hendry has basically been given job security, I'd like to think that he'd know we have next to zero shot at making the playoffs. We're 8.5 back of Cincy and 9 back of STL. I think the Giants or someone else is right there with those two teams as well, so the wild card looks damn near impossible, with damn near having gassed up already...... Cubs are 45-53 right now. To finish 88-74, they'd have to go 43-21 the rest of the way. There's no guarantee that even makes the playoffs either. But, the Cubs have done nothing all year that suggests they could even pull off a run like that anyway. Just sell, Jim. Just sell.