WolvCub 17

That's not entirely true. I remember reading that the original deal between the Cubs and Padres was Michael Barrett, Jacque Jones, and Cesar Izturis for Greene, Bowen, and Linebrink. However, that trade fell apart for money reasons so the Barrett for Bowen and a prospect trade went through. Haha. Yeah, I *really* don't think that has any substance to it at all. Where did you hear about that? ESPN 1000 back when the trade went down. Bruce Levine reported that Barrett, Jones, and Izturis for Greene, Linebrink and Bowen was the original deal but that one of the parties back out and the revised deal went through.

That's not entirely true. I remember reading that the original deal between the Cubs and Padres was Michael Barrett, Jacque Jones, and Cesar Izturis for Greene, Bowen, and Linebrink. However, that trade fell apart for money reasons so the Barrett for Bowen and a prospect trade went through.

Sounds like they are more interested in Murton than Nady Forgive me, but I thought general managers were precluded from talking about players on other teams in public. If a GM does speak of another team's player(s), he is violating the tampering rules of baseball. Kevin Towers is a smart GM, so I'm guessing whoever got this information about his interest in Nady or Murton violated some kind of agreement because Towers probably gave the reporter this information "on background only" or "not for attribution." Therefore, I doubt this source learns anything anytime soon from Towers.

Guys, At the question and answer session during the Cubs Convention, Hendry emphatically denied the report in the Sun Times. He made a point of making Andy MacPhail out as being his own boss in Baltimore and not needing Angelo's approval for these deals. If you read the Sun Times report and then read that blogger's posting that was circulating around Cubs.com and other Cubs message boards, I think you will stumble on to Gorden Wittenmeyer's "source" or his "source's" source.

For what it's worth, it was not Levine who reported the rumor on ESPN 1000, it was Harry of Mac, Jurko, and Harry. According to Harry, the Cubs and Orioles have a deal for Roberts in place and the Cubs were waiting for the convention to announce it.

Personally, I like the following situation 1. Trade Gallagher, Veal, Pie, E-Patt, Cedeno, and Wuertz to the Orioles for Bedard and Roberts 2. Sign Mike Cameron to a two year 12 million Deal Lineup: 1. Fuld - CF (First 25 games) 2. Roberts - 2b 3. Lee - 1b 4. Soriano - LF 5. Ramirez - 3b 6. Fukudome - RF 7. Soto - C 8. Theriot - ss 9. Bedard, Z, Lilly, Marquis, Hill Lineup with Cameron 1. Soriano - LF 2. Roberts - 2b 3. Lee - 1b 4. Fukudome - RF 5. Ramirez - 3b 6. Cameron - CF 7. Soto - C 8. Theriot - ss 9. Bedard, Z, Lilly, Marquis, Hill

I think we've all by now learned that the most prominent name mentioned in the Mitchell Report that was not the subject of prior steroid investigations was Roger Clemens. Barry Bonds' name appears in the report under the BALCO category but his involvement with steroids has been public for a long while now. My question to the group is why do you think the media never scrutinized Clemens at nearly the same level as Bonds? I understand much of the animus towards Bonds emanates from the fact that he is a dick and he was chasing after two of baseball's most cherished records - single season and career homeruns - but Roger Clemens was also eclipsing prominent pitching records while on the juice. Furthermore, the media had just as much reason to question why a late 30's pitcher was experiencing a renaissance, suddenly gaining pinpoint control, and adding 2-4 mph on his fastball. I've wrestled with this issue for a long while now and I don't like to make hasty race-based conclusions but the only explanation I have for why the media shielded Clemens but criticized Bonds is race. Let's face it, the media that covers baseball is predominantly filled with white males and in this situation the baseball writers salivate at every opportunity to put Bonds down but they never throw any punches at Clemens. Why? If criticism naturally flows with who succeeds most than Clemens should have been scrutinized more heavily because he was the best pitcher in the Majors over the last 10 years. His pitching was exposed to a national audience because he's grew up with a big market team (Boston) and won championships with the biggest team of them all (Yankees). When the Red Sox traded Clemens to Toronto, Clemens was old, had no life on his fastball, and contemplated retirement. Then, all of a sudden, he resurrects his career at the same time everyone else was getting bigger. Hmmmm. Also, look at Clemens' career in Houston. He started pitching for the Astros before the MLB instituted its steroid testing policy. After implementation of the test, Clemens would hold out until June. He always cited conditioning reasons - maybe he was conditioning by shooting up roids and avoiding the first round of testing. I also found it interesting that he would retire after every season until I realized that by retiring, he would not be subject to the off-season testing. Suddenly, it all starts to make sense. If those sportswriters who hate Bonds and have suggested an asterisk be placed on his record have any intellectual integrity then they should demand an asterisk on Clemens' pitching records as well. After all, they are convicting Bonds in the court of public opinion based on testimony from trainers and teammates - why should they be any more responsible with convicting Clemens? There is no valid reason why the media turned a blind eye to a growing, fountain-of-youth experiencing Clemens while remaining so critical of Bonds other than the race of the two athletes. If anyone else has any other ideas, I'd love to hear them.

I don't know how many times on how many different forums but Hendry has clearly stated that he will not move Pie or Hill unless the deal blows him away. Brian Roberts is not a player that fits into the "blow you away" category. If Bedard is included, then maybe Hill goes but Hendry seems to have a hard on for Pie.

Wow, MacPhail got five young players from the Astros and got the Astros to pick up the remaining 26 million on Tejada's contract...why didn't he ever pull off a trade like this when he ran the Cubs?

I heard the same rumor last night. One of the more reputable posters on the Cubs forum at http://www.prosportsdaily.com said he heard from a top scout for the Blue Jays that the Cubs and Jays are closing on a deal that would involve the following: Cubs Get: AJ Burnett Jays Get: Marquis, DeRosa, a mid-level prospect (probably Cedeno) This deal would only happen after the Cubs get an answer from the Orioles regarding Roberts. Personally, I don't see this trade happening because DeRosa is too valuable to the Cubs in terms of a clubhouse presence and versatility. Besides that, the Jays allegedly want DeRo to play 2b...well, if I'm not mistaken, the Jays have Aaron Hill and John McDonald as their middle infielders.

According to a source at http://www.mlbtraderumors.com, Japanese pitcher Hiroki Kuroda will sign with the Dodgers. No reported money or length on that deal. If true, this could have a substantial impact on the Cubs. First, by signing Kuroda, the Dodgers are free to trade one of their talented young pitchers for Erik Bedard. As many outlets as reported, MacPhail will not trade Roberts until Bedard and/or Tejada are gone. Therefore, if the Dodgers can take Bedard off McPhailure's hands, the Cubs should be clear to acquire Roberts.

Can you provide the link to the nikkansports page you're alluding to. Let me see if I can translate better.

I'm right with ya EJ. What do you think happens first? Has to be the Fukudome signing because Bill Martin's too busy yachting to find a coach and Andy McPhailure has to trade Tejada and Bedard before he moves Roberts.

I agree with Levine. The Cubs should part themselves with Pie and Hill if it nets Roberts and Bedard. I love Hill, given he went to Michigan, but he is 28 and mentally weak on the mound when the breaks don't go his way. Bedard, on the other hand, has proven he can pitch in the ultra-tough AL East. With Roberts at 2nd, Murton and DeRosa can platoon in right. I would be comfortable with the following lineup: 1. Soriano - LF 2. Roberts - 2b 3. Lee - 1b 4. Fukudome - CF 5. Ramirez - 3b 6. DeRosa/Murton - RF 7. Soto - C 8. Theriot - ss 9. Bedard, Z, Lilly, Marquis, Gallagher/Marshall/Hart/Dempster

I believe Fukudome will be a Cub. From the media reports I've read, the Cubs have offered Fukudome between 12-15 million a year for 3-4 years. The Padres are known to be in at 4 years 40 million (Bruce Levine) so the Cubs would exceed the Padres financially. Furthermore, Jose Guillen signed for 12 million a year and Fukudome's perceived value is greater than Guillen. Taking all this into consideration, unless Fukudome is compelled to be close to his family, he will sign with the Cubs.