Backtobanks

From MLBTR: One person familiar with the Reds thinking tells Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com (on Twitter) that he believes there’s at least a 50/50 chance Jay Bruce is traded in July. Recently, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports heard that Bruce is as “as good a bet as anyone” on the team to be dealt. Bruce, 28, is controllable for three more years and offers an established power bat. Bruce would certainly look good in our lineup. I'm hoping the Cubs go big at the deadline before some of our trade chips (Castro, Baez, Alacantara, etc.) lose all of their trade value. I think there are teams out there that might be interested in Castro and Baez.

Gammons is reporting that the Padres are listening to offers on Shields I wonder if the Padres would go for a Castro + Jackson for Shields + Venable deal. Tweak with a few prospects going both ways. Total money is close to even.

Our "concern" over the glut of middle infielders seems to have waned with the struggles of Alcantara, Castro, and Baez. Obviously Russell will be our SS in the near future, but his bat has been below the expectations (even factoring in his age).

After saying that Baez for Niese was highly unlikely unless it involved a bigger deal, this guy from SBNation suggested: Another more realistic option for the Mets on the Cubs' roster could be third baseman Mike Olt. Olt, who was once a top prospect in the Rangers organization, has been a huge disappointment since the Cubs acquired him in the Matt Garza trade. The 27-year-old has batted just .158/.245/.333 in 111 major league games, and his future as a starter with the club is in serious doubt now that Kris Bryant occupies third base. Despite his discouraging batting line, Olt has shown some pop in the majors, hitting 12 home runs in 89 games last season. The Mets have a void at third base with David Wright's injury, so acquiring Olt for Niese represents a much more realistic trade option for the Mets. Attempting to catch lightning in a bottle with a player like Olt could eventually pay dividends. Now there's a deal I would go for.

From MLBTR: The Cubs have considered dealing for Mets left-hander Jon Niese, although they might also aim higher. The salary remaining on Niese’s current deal (he’ll make $9MM next year, plus a $500K buyout or $10MM option in 2016) might also be a slight obstacle to trading him.

Don't know you well enough to say, but it sounds like the scouting report on you is that you wouldn't tip your cap for the seven playoff seasons but instead would focus on how they didn't make the proper moves to make the playoffs in all eight. I'll admit I get really frustrated with people who try to bash Epstein. Maybe it's naive, but I have total trust in the front office for the first time as a Cubs fan. I want nobody in charge more than them. Yes, they will make mistakes. It's baseball. But the process behind their ways is magical and something I dread not having whenever he and his boys leave. I agree with Kyle on this one. I support Epstein, but believing that "the process behind their ways is magical" is a bit much. Front office management has changed so much in the last 10 years (because of Epstein, Beane, etc.) that I think Theo and his boys can be replaced if they choose to leave. I really, really believe there are not many GMs who could have delivered what the Cubs have now in such a short period of time. The rebuild was risky in that they had to hit on a number of guys or the thing was going to stall, and they pretty much hit on all the important things for it to happen while also getting some key guys back in trades. Sorry, but I just can't believe there are that many front offices in the game today that would have the Cubs in the position they are in now. The Astros, Royals, and Pirates are examples of losing and taking the draft choices to rebuild, but none of them had the assets (Cashner, Garza, Hammel, etc.) at the ML level to trade for more prospects.

Don't know you well enough to say, but it sounds like the scouting report on you is that you wouldn't tip your cap for the seven playoff seasons but instead would focus on how they didn't make the proper moves to make the playoffs in all eight. I'll admit I get really frustrated with people who try to bash Epstein. Maybe it's naive, but I have total trust in the front office for the first time as a Cubs fan. I want nobody in charge more than them. Yes, they will make mistakes. It's baseball. But the process behind their ways is magical and something I dread not having whenever he and his boys leave. I agree with Kyle on this one. I support Epstein, but believing that "the process behind their ways is magical" is a bit much. Front office management has changed so much in the last 10 years (because of Epstein, Beane, etc.) that I think Theo and his boys can be replaced if they choose to leave.

Why wouldn't you want to acquire Buxton when we already have Ross as a replacement for Schwarber? :lol:

Trade him even up for Trout. :clapping:

Another option could be Greinke: The Dodgers aren’t doing much to entice Zack Greinke to stay, Mark Saxon of ESPN.com writes. Greinke has been vocal about his lack of run support this season as he continues to lose despite strong pitching. Greinke, of course, has the right to opt out of his contract following this season. If he doesn’t opt out, Greinke will be in line to earn $78MM over the remaining three years. Through 13 starts this season, the 31-year-old owns a 1.95 ERA with 7.7 K/9 and 1.7 BB/9.

We could use his bat more than his arm.

If he's as good a hitter as we think he is, it would make a lot of sense. It doesn't interrupt the Baez "clock", it doesn't cause any defensive changes, etc. Keep your 8 regular players in the positions they're used to and bring up a guy who can hit, but struggles with defense.

Nobody's going to reverse the deal, but Cashner should would look good in our rotation.

The trade worked out really great for us, but I'm sure that the Padres thought it was a decent deal at the time. They had a decent prospect (Alonso) at 1B, they played in a huge ballpark that hurts power hitters (Rizzo) and rewards pitchers (Cashner), and obviously had no way of knowing that Cashner would be injury prone.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-wrigley-field-pavers-disposed-met-20150519-story.html I'm glad they're going to replace my paver, but I'm upset that it will be moved to a different location. Originally it was right next to Ernie's statue.

Why would anyone trade a 25 year old #1 starter making $512,000 with 3 arbitration years left? It doesn't matter whether you're contending or rebuilding when you have an asset that valuable, you don't trade him unless you're trying to make a deal for someone like Trout. Why? Because such a player would net a huge return and he is still just a young pitcher that could fall apart tomorrow. If you aren't good and you don't have the resources to get better in a hurry, it is at least worth considering. Yeah, there's no doubt they'd consider trading Gray, but it would probably take a lot more than the Cubs are willing to give up. If they could get 3-4 good, cheap, young players for their 1 good, cheap, young player...they do it 100 times out of 100 because they aren't going anywhere. You're going to have to change the word "good" in describing Gray and the players needed to acquire him.

Why would anyone trade a 25 year old #1 starter making $512,000 with 3 arbitration years left? It doesn't matter whether you're contending or rebuilding when you have an asset that valuable, you don't trade him unless you're trying to make a deal for someone like Trout.

You're talking Billy Beane here, not Amaro. This is kind of ironic given Beane's weird ass trades recently and the heist we pulled on him last year compared to Amaro's allegedly huge Hamels demands. So basically I wasn't sure if your post meant that was too much or too little. I think Gray is pretty close to untouchable especially since the A's will be trying to rebuild.

You're talking Billy Beane here, not Amaro.

Here's a better option (from MLBTR): Right-hander David Aardsma has a May 1 opt-out on his Minor League pact with the Dodgers, Jacob Unruh of NewsOK.com reported yesterday. Aardsma can opt out on Friday if another club wants him on its Major League roster, and he has a complete opt-out from the Dodgers on June 15, per Unruh. The 33-year-old veteran didn’t make the club’s bullpen out of Spring Training despite strong numbers, but he’s continued to pitch effectively, yielding one run on five hits with six strikeouts and no walks in seven Triple-A innings. Aardsma hasn’t logged significant big league action since 2013, but he pitched quite well for the Cardinals’ Triple-A affiliate last year (1.48 ERA, 38-to-18 K/BB ratio in 37 innings) before a groin injury sidelined him for the season’s second half. The Dodgers’ bullpen has been surprisingly dominant despite incurring significant injuries, and with Kenley Jansen nearing a return, things will get even more crowded, further blocking Aardsma’s path to L.A. It wouldn’t be a shock for one of the many teams around the league in need of ‘pen help to look at the former Mariners closer as a potential upgrade.

Unless by players, they mean big leaguers, that can't be possible. Can it? 3 way trade? *flashes the Bank2Banks symbol* The only way to get involved in this deal is if we're getting Hamilton for less than $7 million.

The arguments involving Hendry always forget that he was told to do whatever necessary (spend money, trade prospects, etc) to build a winning team at the ML level. When the Cubs failed in 2010-2011, the minor league assets had been used to stock the ML roster. Theo & CO. took over and traded the ML assets that Hendry left to restock the minors. Obviously 2010-2014 has proven that building "dual fronts" is a hard concept regardless of who is in the FO. Hopefully we will see a contending team at the ML level and a solid ml system for the next 5+ years. That just means he was bad at his job, which was to build a winning team. He may have been told everything you say he was, but he also had a responsibility to not completely ignore the minors and player development. He did ignore it and it resulted in complete crap once veterans got old and there was no one to fill the void. He did build some winning teams, but at the expense of the minor league system. The players he left on the ML roster have netted us Rizzo, Hendricks, Grimm, Ramirez, Edwards, Wood, Torreyes, etc. in trades in addition to Castro, Baez, and Alcantara that he drafted. As I said building "dual fronts" is tough (i.e. Epstein/Hoyer completely ignored the ML roster for 3 years to rebuild the farm system).

The arguments involving Hendry always forget that he was told to do whatever necessary (spend money, trade prospects, etc) to build a winning team at the ML level. When the Cubs failed in 2010-2011, the minor league assets had been used to stock the ML roster. Theo & CO. took over and traded the ML assets that Hendry left to restock the minors. Obviously 2010-2014 has proven that building "dual fronts" is a hard concept regardless of who is in the FO. Hopefully we will see a contending team at the ML level and a solid ml system for the next 5+ years.

A lot of you probably live in the city,north side, different state or wherever so most of you can't see for yourself how they are or think " No, way it ain't that bad" and think it's all overblown. Unless you live on the south side, then you really can't grasp it. I live in the southwest suburbs and let me tell you, the hatred & caring more about the Cubs is true. I can't count the many times out at bars around the area where a Cubs game is on and Sox fans paying very close attention to it & when the opposing team scores they erupt in cheers and clap loudly. Couple times wearing my Cubs jersey or shirt minding my own business and hear snarky comments like " This is the Southide!" or some other idiotic comment, or questioned why I'm wearing that out here.This is also isn't just friendly heckling. Been told from a couple Sox fans they are born and raised growing up to "HATE the Cubs". Lots of Sox fans wearing Anti-Cubs shirts and even Sox fan license plates that read "IH8Cubs" or something of the sort. So yes, the rage & hatred they have for the Cubs and their fans is true..It's not an overblown perception whatsoever. They have their inferiority complex and basically live to bash anything Cubs related and you hear it more than talk about their own team. I was born and raised on the South Side and lived in the south and southwest suburbs all of my adult life. The hatred for the Cubs is true, but I don't think it's any worse than the hatred for the Sox on the north side and in the north suburbs. You are right about the inferiority complex, but I think that has to do with the media coverage in the city. Chicago sports attention historically has focused on the Bears first followed by the Cubs, with the other teams (Black Hawks, Bulls, White Sox) following in order according to which team is the hottest. Also, Chicago is passionate about their professional teams, but shows very little interest in college sports.

Well, yeah, our teams share the same city. It's going to be even more heated. I just don't get the perception that it's so lopsided; during my years in Chicago I constantly heard Cubs fans giving that [expletive] as good as they got. The Sox fans aren't any different than any other team's fans. Being a lifelong Cub fan, it's a really great day when the Cubs win and the Sox lose.