Little Slide Rooter

Is he? If I had to pick one, I'd go with Campana's speed over a guy who was a poor mans Matt Murton 2 years ago.

The Grand Slam aside, the Cubs played the Astros enough times over the past 2 seasons to the point where everyone here should know who he is. Astros players are like background characters on Lost. They always seem to change, but aren't important enough to keep track of who's who.

In 2010 as a 21 year old in High A, Chavez posted a line of .315/.387/.577 with 31 HR, but then went south in a hurry in 2011 at AA to the tune of .216/.313/.360 and 13 HR. He rebounded somewhat last year with .232/.339/.386 in half a season in AA.

Just a friendly reminder that every team has their own Koyie Hill.

@BleacherNation: Good for all sides. RT @sahadevsharma Hearing LaHair to Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks is a done deal. Cubs reportedly got $950k in the deal.

Of our guys, who's can we expect to lose? Here's the guys I could see plucked and possible kept on a teams big league roster. Really don't want to lose: -Marcalo Carerno -Starlin Peralta -Jose Rosario I could see 1-3 of them taken by a team and stuck in the back/middle of the pen for a season. Prefer not to lose: -Jeff Antigua. Nice K rates. Still not sure why he was dropped from Tenn. to Peoria. Could also see him taken and stashed -Nick Struck. To a team looking for back end starters, he's be a pretty safe pick. I figure that if he was left unprotected in favor of Coleman, Rusin, and Raley, there's a reason. Dae-Eun Rhee-not the safe bet that Struck is, but certainly has a higher ceiling. I believe he was unprotected last year, and was unpicked coming off a much better season. A few more guys I could see picked and stashed, but I wouldn't care either way. The type of players I'm sure that there's no shortage of in the Rule 5 as well as most farm systems. Michael Burgess (spare LH power) Greg Rohan (super sub) Marcus Hatley, Frank Batista, and Ty'Relle Harris-Big league ready-ish RH middle relievers Casey Weathers-if someone thinks that they can harness his stuff and train him to keep it within the vicinity of the strike zone from time to time.

M's finally gave up on Figgins. I wonder if anyone will pick him up.

Maybe he can make up for the fact that we flushed our own 2010 1st round pick down the toilet.

I'm thinking that some AL teams would be willing to take fliers out on LaHair on a minor league contract, or even a big league deal at around a mil, but Japanese teams seem to highly covet Bryan LaHairs, so the opportunity could be a more attractive one. I'm more interested in the Struck snubbing. Casey Coleman's had 3 years to prove that he's horrible. Should have set him free and given Struck an opportunity to prove whether or not he is. This being said, there's only so much sleep to be lost over a potential 4-5 starter. If it came down to Struck vs. Whitenack, they made the right choice. Also, isn't Peralta Rule 5 eligible? There's a guy I'd hate to see someone pick and stash at the end of their pen for the season.

Reclamation project? :-"

I've felt Hochevar flierworthy for a few years noq, but he's at the point where he's been so bad for so long, that it would have to be a ST invite at the bare minumum. As far as I know, there hasn't been any injury involved. Just plain badness.

The Cleveland trade borders upon cartoon super-villainy, which in turn negates the Arizona trade.

Looks like today is decision day. Unless my numbers are off, with Camp the 40 man is at 38. However, we still have a few expendables, Clevenger and Coleman as the obvious ones. Castillo, Brigham, Rusin, and Raley are each candidates as well. Some speculate that Stewart could be too, but I doubt it, and hope not. Right now, Trey McNutt is the one that we really need to protect, regardless of his 2012 performance. I really can't see Villanueva or Whitenack making it through a full season on someones roster. Watkins I'm 50/50 on. Struck I'd like to keep over Coleman if it came down to it.

I'm fine with Josh Bell or Brandon Wood on a minor league contract, but I highly doubt that a minor league deal, but I can't imagine that it would enter into Stewart's success or lack there of. The bottom line is that he needs at least a few months to assess whether or not the wrist was a big factor in his struggles. If he's still bad, we have Vitters, and if we have Bell or Wood as plan C, that certainly can't hurt.

Not particularly notable of a move, but due to his age and minor league K/BB Rates, he reeks of an Epstein reclamation.

I was thinking in terms of it meaning that they plan on making some additions to help contend now. Otherwise, the MO shift from veteran role players on minor league contracts to veteran role players on major league contracs would be a step in the wrong direction.

I'm most interested in trying to fill the rotation with younger pitchers who could possibly turn it around and fill a need long term rather than the likes of Marcum/Blanton/etc. for a year or two. As you stated, the A's young pitchers, Bauer, Hellickson, Delgado, Jurrjens, Porcello, etc. are better options than middle aged filler. We already know that we're going to suck next year anyhow. I don't want middle aged filler (still would be OK with signing 1 guy just to be there for the inevitable Garza trade). But young filler isn't much better. I know the 2013 rotation isn't going to be good enough. But I want hope that the 2014 rotation might be. If Porcello is in the 2013 rotation, I know that his spot in the 2014 rotation isn't likely to be any better than average. If a guy like Bauer or Delgado are brought in, the 2013 rotation still won't be good enough, but 2014 gives you some hope with Samardzija, Bauer/Delgado, Vizcaino being possibly set in 3/5 of the rotation. Maybe its too much to ask given the Cubs limited amount of tradeable assets, but it's the only realistic direction I can see working out for the positive. Why do you know this? We allegedly have offers sitting on the table for a few pitchers... McCarthy and Liriano among them. Samardzija, Garza, McCarthy, 2 of Baker/Liriano/Wood/Vizcaino looks like a rotation that could be anywhere from very good to awesome (if things go right at the back end) to me. It wouldn't be any better than the rotation for the first half of 2012. Assuming things go well, you trade off at least Garza (maybe more) and you're back to having a mediocre staff for 2014. The back end would probably be better. Still, it doesn't need to be better, it needs to be as good, and I think it could be. More importantly, it would be very affordable. We'd just need some offense to support them and bullpen that won't waste their efforts.

I'm by no means opposed to signing this guy. However, if they are willing to pay what he's likely to cost, they better plan on making some bigger moves to win in the next three years or so. The guy's going to be 35 by the time Almora, Baez, Soler, et. al. even sniff their first cup of coffee.

I've also heard rumors that they're considering experimenting with Cabrera as a starter again, an idea I like very much. We have no shortage of young, hard throwing,right handed middle relief options: Dolis, Hatley, Putnam, Guttierez, Bowden, Chapman, Brigham, Jackson, Mateo, Harris.

It's been a while since I've been brutally mocked for building a team, so I figured it's time. Anyway, you show me Josh Hamilton for something like 4/75-80 or 5/90-95 as well as a starting pitcher along the lines of James Shields or Brett Anderson who can be acquired without mortgaging the farm, and I'll show you a strong contender for the next 3-5 years, until the new breed start rolling in. I know that Hamilton has been asking for 7 years, but if nobody is willing to give it to him, I'd happily take him at 4-5 years. That fills our two gaping holes, a legit 3 hitter and anther front endish starter. That gives us: CF/RF Jackson/Sappelt (trade DeJesus) SS Castro CF/RF Hamilton 1B Rizzo (obviously we split up Hamilton and Rizzo vs. lefties) LF Soriano 3B Ian Stewart (big X factor) C Castill0 2B Barney Rotation Garza, Shields/Anderson, Shark, Baker, Wood. Bullpen Marmol, low risk FA or the Japanese fellow, Russell, Beliveau, 3 of Dolis/Putnam/Gutierrez/Bowden/Hatley/Chapman Vizcaino & Cabrera in AAA as starters Bench: Navarro, Jackson/Sappelt, Watkins, Valbuena, Campana/LaHair. Obviously, Hamilton is the key, but assuming he's looking for 4-5 years, I see no reason why we can't spend big on him instead of saving our pennies in a Ragu jar. Extend one of Garza or Shields/Anderson. Maybe both depending on cost. With Marmol, Soriano,and DeJesus freeing up around 30 MM in the next 2 years, I don't see why we can't.

I'm sure he meant Jackson and Sappelt. Auto-correct will do wacky things sometimes.

The fact that both LA teams are showing interest suggests that it won't be cheap. A bidding war for a 32 year old closer is simply not in the cards for a team in the state which the Cubs are in.

The Marlins should round up the entire 2003 team just for shits and giggles. The only one that might be tough to get is Cabrera.

Unless Chisenhall were a realistic option, there's really nothing out there offering a reward higher than Stewart or Vitters, as unlikely as we are to ever collect said rewards.

Do I particularly want Rick Porcello? No. Would I be particularly upset if we acquired Rick Procello without giving up anything of value? No. Pretty much how I feel about every big league acquisition Theo's made.