Backtobanks

He's going to pay off the mortgage by renting out his garage (4-car) spaces during Cub games.

I want both. If the plan is to not go after any big money guys than I'd prefer to go for a handful of guys like this. Also, I really havn't heard much concrete evidence that the Pads are asking to much for Headley, just speculation. Now if the Padres asked for Sean Marshall straight up for Healdey what would people think about it? I'd go for it. we still have Marmol, Wood(probably), Russell, Dolis, Samardzjia(or Cashner, 1 will be in the pen), Carpenter, Beliveau, Gaub, and Whereabouts Unknown Guzman to put together a solid pen. I'd also like to take that ambidexterious fellow in the Rule 5 if he's there by the time our pick comes around. Even if Marmols traded it's decent if Cashners ready to take the closers role. Marhalls great, but he's a free agent after this year and we've all seen how highly back end bullpen guys are, especially lefities. If anyone views him as a possible closer, that makes himeven more expensive. If we could do Marshall for Headley and LeMahieu(although I'd first prefer see if they'd take Colvin or DeWitt in his place) and Maine for Stewart, I really can't see any reason not to be happy about it. If you're going to start floating Marshall's name out there, the Yankees would probably start offering more valuable pieces than Headley. If I made that trade proposal there would be 3 pages of posts making fun of me. We would be getting Headley and Stewart while giving up Russell and a few maybes. I think we ought to go after Daniel Murphy unless the Padres and/or Rockies meet our offers.

I'd much rather see Garza retained, but if the return is too good to pass up, so be it. "I'd much rather see Garza retained, but if and only if the return is too good to pass up, so be it." Fixed

It may be posturing, but what I've read the Padres are asking for a ton to get Headley. Headley is a solid player, but he's not Santo, Schmidt, or Ramirez. If the asking price is too high, we ought to go after Stewart and see what he can do. It looks like 2012 is a year of transition anyhow.

Anybody's available for the right price.

From MLBTR: Tigers, Blue Jays, Padres Inquired On Daniel Murphy By Tim Dierkes [December 5 at 2:19pm CST] The Tigers, Blue Jays, and Padres inquired on Mets infielder Daniel Murphy, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Sherman adds that the Mets like the Tigers' Andy Dirks as a potential center field alternative to Angel Pagan. Murphy, 26, hit .320/.362/.448 in 423 plate appearances while playing first base, second base, and third base this year. He would be a great pickup at 26 years old. Could platoon with Baker at 3B if we don't get Headley/Stewart. Could play regularly at 2B. Young, cheap, versatile LH DeRosa clone.

But that was facing the awesome Cubs' pitching staff. LOL He could be the opposite of Jeff Blauser.

Taking on Hudson's contract should reduce the price for Headley. Let's expand the deal to include Clayton Richard. How about Barney + Colvin + Szcur + pitching prospect for Headley + Richard + Hudson?

Andruw Jones would be a solid platoon for Jackson, DeJesus, and Colvin, especially if Soriano and/or Byrd are traded. Salary around $2 million with .924 OPS last year against LHP (.866 last 3 years). Also, can play all 3 positions in a pinch.

CJ is the 1st answer, none of the above would be the 2nd answer.

From MLBTR: •Rival teams say the Rockies would like a Double-A or Triple-A pitcher for Ian Stewart Unless the Cubs are really more interested in Headley, this should be done asap.

I think it's a great move and probably will be followed by trading either Soriano or Byrd. Let's not forget that everybody wants Jackson to be the everyday CF, but he's not an absolute "sure thing".

Garza is the type of pitcher that you ought to get 2 top prospects plus a decent prospect.

If we want Alonzo its going be be Garza or bust. I sure hope you don't mean straight up. If the Reds want Garza it had better pull 2 significant pieces on top of that. I would think Marmol would be plenty, especially if you kicked in 5M on an already relatively cheap deal. I'm not sayint that I would want to do it, I'm saying that if we want Alonzo, we're going to have to give up Garza. The only way they'd give him up for a package built around Marmol is if we added in 2 of our top prospects. If they wanted to give us Alonzo and Leake for Marmol, that would be great but I don't see that happening.If we were to do a Garza for Alonzo and something else, the best we could hope for is likely Homer Bailey. While I'm the one who wanted Alonzo, I do think you're over-valueing him. If the Marmol + $$$ isn't enough, then go for a trade centered around Garza for Alonzo + Leake + ?. The Reds need an ace badly and having a butcher (Alonzo) in LF certainly isn't going to help the pitching staff. From MLBTR: •Rival GMs consider Yonder Alonso a one-dimensional player, not someone who could be a centerpiece in a trade for a starting pitcher like James Shields or Gio Gonzalez.

There's absolutely no way we would get a "decent prospect package" for Soriano. Getting any prospect (and I mean anybody) and eating $10 million per year would be a miracle.

If we want Alonzo its going be be Garza or bust. I sure hope you don't mean straight up. If the Reds want Garza it had better pull 2 significant pieces on top of that. I would think Marmol would be plenty, especially if you kicked in 5M on an already relatively cheap deal. I'm not sayint that I would want to do it, I'm saying that if we want Alonzo, we're going to have to give up Garza. The only way they'd give him up for a package built around Marmol is if we added in 2 of our top prospects. If they wanted to give us Alonzo and Leake for Marmol, that would be great but I don't see that happening.If we were to do a Garza for Alonzo and something else, the best we could hope for is likely Homer Bailey. While I'm the one who wanted Alonzo, I do think you're over-valueing him. If the Marmol + $$$ isn't enough, then go for a trade centered around Garza for Alonzo + Leake + ?. The Reds need an ace badly and having a butcher (Alonzo) in LF certainly isn't going to help the pitching staff.

While I would be happy to overpay for Pujols/Fielder, I would rather find a way to get Alonzo from the Reds. Maybe a deal centered around Marmol for Alonzo?

If the bidding for CJ Wilson goes much beyond 5yrs/$90 million, he might qualify as the worst signing.

I'm not a big fan of trading Garza, but I would love to get Alonzo. That guy is just a born hitter. How about a deal centered around Garza for Alonzo + Wood/Bailey/Leake?

I've always said that they should have 2 awards - Player of the Year (from any team) and MVP (from playoff team). Obviously one player could win both.

Expected production usually dictates the price, but some teams may overpay out of desperation for a certain role (i.e. closer, middle-of-the-order bat, etc.)

1. Which FA will be the worst signing (cost/years vs. expected production)? 2. Which FA will be the best signing (cost/years vs. expected production)?

oh totally, i never really understood all the mental gymnastics everyone was trying to do to assume for absolutely no reason that the only reason he's not manager is because he pulled his name out for family reasons. this letter only makes sense if he wasn't the first choice. It could also mean that he might consider managing when his family situation changes or possibly managing Texas in the future. I agree that I don't understand what all the fuss is about his statement. To me it was just a classy guy thanking people for considering him for a job.

I agree with you, but our medical staff may have more doubts than their medical staff. Also, I think the expectation level for the Cubs is higher than the Indians. Finally, the risk factor for the Cubs is higher than the Indians because they could possibly use him to DH if he has problems playing the field.

Either that or the Cubs have read his medical records and don't think he can really play a significant amount.