Backtobanks

My guess is that this host heard a rumor about Griffey going to Chicago, and he mistaken assumed the Cubs, and made up the rest himself. I've heard plenty about him going to the Sox, and zilch about the Cubs. I'm certainly willing to be proven wrong, but I really think we'll see Hendry go more for a Tejada than a Griffey. The White Sox have pretty much eliminated themselves from the "buyers" category. They will be dumping players, not adding them.

One of the MLB rumor sites reported that everyone on the Rangers is available except Michael Young. Since there will be teams after Texeira and a few of their relief pitchers, maybe we can find a way to swing a 3-way trade and pick up a SS by using some prospects, Izzy, and Jones.

Benmaller.com is reporting: The Los Angeles Dodgers designated Brady Clark, an outfielder the Rockies liked this past winter, for assignment. He bats right-handed, and the Rockies' current need is for a left-handed bat off the bench.. A left-handed bat off the bench sounds a lot like Jones. Pay part of his salary and take some low prospect from the Rockies.

With Zambrano pitching, you can go to the "defensive" catcher because Zambrano will make up for the lost offense that Barrett provides with his own hitting ability.

Just what we need.......a 7th OF.

I have no doubt Minaya loves Z very much. But, not that much. There are 3 options at this point. Option 1) Sign Z to a long term contract Option 2) Let Z walk at the end of the year Option 3) Trade him Considering the Cubs organization is somewhat in limbo due to the sale, signing him is probably not likely. Considering what Z will command on the market if he becomes a free agent and how much the Cubs already have stockpiled in guaranteed contracts, some other team will easily outbid the Cubs for Z. Z has expressed loyalty, but money talks when the bidding starts getting serious. If you let him walk at the end of the year, the return is probably 3 or 4 years down the road, and the potential for no reward on that return is high. Trading him makes sense. If you want to be stubborn and hold out for Jose Reyes, expect Option 2 to happen. There are trade partners right now. Anaheim and NYM seem like the best candidates. Colon has been horrible and Anaheim looks like a serious threat to make the playoffs. They will likely show lots of interest in Z. Moreno, IMO, would be VERY intersted. They have many prospects worthy of a close look, like Mathis, Adenhart and Brandon Wood. The Mets have some really good looking prospects as well, like Pelfrey, Martinez, Gomez and Milledge. There probably isn't a person here who wouldn't trade Z for Reyes straight up right this very minute. However, it takes two to tango, and the Mets won't be on that dance floor. Z has a ton of value in this market. But, he's a free agent at the end of the year. That decreases his overall value. His workload over the last several years also weighs heavily on his overall value. A team is just not going to trade a franchise player for a 1/2 year rental that's not performing at his highest potential. They might mortgage their future for a shot at the World Series by trading some really quality prospects, and that's the most likely scenario. If you are going to hold out for Jose Reyes, be prepared to watch Z walk at the end of the year with compensation picks as the lonely return. I agree that the sale of the team has thrown things into limbo, but if Zambrano regains his form, I think Hendry will find a way to sign him. Also, don't forget that in the weak NL Central the Cubs will be contending and trading your ace pitcher wouldn't look very good.

They're probably thinking of the new contracts they could sign with such a rich owner.

YAY! What all of this has proven to me is that the Cubs have taken a decent platoon OF (Jones) and a good young OF with potential (Murton) and turned them into worthless trading pawns by not giving them enough consistent at bats. Playing 2 games and then sitting 4 has been a disaster for both of them.

So can we chalk this one up to our player development? Be careful, that almost sounds like a compliment.

He could be traded if the Cubs ate most of the contract for this year and next. If the Cubs pay 4 of the 6M then he's a 2M dollar outfielder with the ability to play all three outfield positions (though none particularly well) who hits left handed. He would make a fine fourth outfielder or the left half of a platoon. Unfortunately, I'm not sure Hendry is willing (because he's an idiot) or able (what with the impending sale of the team) to eat that much contract. Hendry not being able to eat that much salary because of the sale of the team doesn't make sense. If he doesn't eat part of the salary then the owners are going to have to pay his whole salary. Eating part of his salary will save the owners money.

He's 18 and posted an .894 OPS at low-A as a 17-year old last season. Thank you. I think most people fail to understand how incredible that is. Scouting well and at least holding his own in leagues way too advanced for his age is a great combination. So Zambrano for Milledge and Martinez, with Milledge or Pie then going to the Marlins with Veal, Murton, and anyone else they want for Cabrera. entire cubs organization minus eric patterson for cabrera have you seen cabrera recently? dude is FAT 320/389/571 He's have to become so fat that he had his own gravitational pull before I'd turn someone down with those numbers. Cabrera and Fielder could play for the Bears. Two great hitters who can't play defense worth a lick. In 2018, they will both be great DHs.

If the Cubs are not gonna play Murton, maybe they can package him in a deal for Byrnes. Sorinano, Pie, Byrnes is a pretty good outfield. If they would take Jones plus a young arm for Byrnes, it would solve the Jones problem and Byrnes would leave at the end of the year saving us Jones 2008 salary.

He was always overshadowed by his brother Ken, who was an excellent third baseman.

I thought the deal was Arod + Melky for Buehrle + Crede + multiple young arms. The Yankees would get the young arms, not the Sox.

I think it's safe to say that D. Lee won't be traded by the Cubs. I think that his status as a respected gentleman and leader of the team will guarantee him staying with the Cubs probably until the end of his career.

You want him to be a superstar? I'm sure everybody does, but that's not realistic. There's nothing wrong with a player not being a superstar. And why can he only play for an average team? A team could go far playing Murton everyday. He gives you above average production for well below average cost. Well said. I said I think Murton will have a good solid career, but he is a role player and not a superstar. The Cubs would be fine with Murton if all of the other offensive players were hitting the way they're supposed to, but with Lee, Soriano, Barrett, Jones, and Floyd all below expectations in the power department, Murton's lack of power and production is standing out. If Lee and Soriano each had 6 more HRs, Barrett and Jones had 4 or 5 more , and Floyd had 2 or 3 more, nobody would be upset with Murton. Also, I think Murton needs to play regularly if you want his production to increase.

There's lots of rumors about Abreu, but everything that I have read sounds like old age has snuck up on him quickly. Add to that the fact that he has a very big contract to deal with and I can't see Reinsdorf agreeing to that trade.

It's a shame that we can't combine the two teams so that we might have a chance in a few years. We'll use most of their young position players with our young pitchers. WORLD CHAMPIONS BY 2009!

How well can they take a punch?

I think Murton has a great future ahead of him and I would hate to trade him, but if he's not going to play, you might as well trade him for someone who will help your team.

I don't know what people are talking about. To me he has been much too protective of not hurting people's feelings. It took him 50 games of utter incompetence before he finally blew up and talked about having players who can run the bases and catch the ball. Before that, all I heard is "we're trying", "we have to do a better job", and "we have a long way to go". Maybe he should have listed about 10 players who need to get their collective heads out of their arses about a month ago.

That was my initial point. If the Phillies want a crappy, underachieving relief pitcher, we should get in on the action.

After watching today's game, Saltalamacchia has a lot of work to do if the Braves think his future is 1B. He has had 2 plays at 1B and almost made 2 errors. Obviously they ought to trade him to the Cubs so he can go back to catching.

Sheffield had better hope that the NBA and NFL don't find out.

I guess that's not too surprising since Murton and Floyd are injured.