cubsfan26

http://chicagocubsonline.com/archives/2008/12/cubsrumors1231.php#more It sounds like the Cubs plan to add another SP, so even if they don't get Peavy. I wouldn't be surprised if the Cubs don't look at Ben Sheets, Derek Lowe and others. But it sounds like we will have to wait until we get a new owner before we can get that potential boost in payroll.

I agree but Gregg has had a mid 3 era the last three years out of the pen, so I expect the same thing out of him next year. I expect him to be much better then Howry was last season. Plus I'm still hoping that he will end up being the closer in the long run. But I don't think Lou will change the way he uses Marmol all that much either way. I think we will see alot of 5-6 out saves by Marmol, so Marmol will be pitching 8-9th inning instead of 7-8th inning. If Gregg or another pitcher get in the jam in the 8th in a close game Marmol is still gonna come in to shut the door. I don't see him using him as a one inning closer and just coming in the game with the lead in the 9th. ERA is a very deceiving stat for relievers It can be, but when he's had simliar numbers the last three years and pitched in alot of innings I'm confident he will allow same level of runs or less next year. Gregg walks are scary, but the guy is very tough to hit. He won't be lights out, but he will be solid for us next year. I'm just saying when we have one reliever who pitches one inning a game and allows 25 runs in 65-70 inning and replace him with a reliever who allows 28-30 runs in 70 innings. It's not gonna have a huge impact on our season, it will downgrade the pen some, but overall it's not really gonna hurt us much.

I agree but Gregg has had a mid 3 era the last three years out of the pen, so I expect the same thing out of him next year. I expect him to be much better then Howry was last season. Plus I'm still hoping that he will end up being the closer in the long run. But I don't think Lou will change the way he uses Marmol all that much either way. I think we will see alot of 5-6 out saves by Marmol, so Marmol will be pitching 8-9th inning instead of 7-8th inning. If Gregg or another pitcher get in the jam in the 8th in a close game Marmol is still gonna come in to shut the door. I don't see him using him as a one inning closer and just coming in the game with the lead in the 9th.

Gaudin who started 34 games and pitched 199 innings in 07, and only made 1 less start then Marshall last year. He also had a mid 3's era out of the pen last year until he had injury issues. He could either replace Samardzija as the late inning guy, be in the rotation, or replace Marshall as the swing guy. Gregg does replace Wood, and yes it's a downgrade but not a HUGE downgrade. I think Vizcaino would be a upgrade over what Howry did last year. Plus I still think Wuertz could be better if he's here, and think Guzman will be good if healthy.

Not one of those replacements is accurate in expected roles, so your notion of downgrading across the board is wrong. Replace Wood with Marmol at closer (even). Replace Howry with Gregg at set-up (even). Replace Edmonds with Fukudome in CF (moderate downgrade). Replace Fukudome with Bradley in RF (notable upgrade). Replace Marquis with Marshall at 5th starter (slight upgrade). Replace DeRosa with Fontenot at 2B (slight downgrade). Replace Fontenot with Miles on bench (slight downgrade). Replace Jon Lieber with Vizcaino in relief (moderate downgrade). That's how I see it. Yeah this team has downgraded a little, but not at the level some are making out to be. If the Marquis trade becomes offical and we sign Bradley, and do nothing else. This team will still be a good team next year, and should have no problem winning the division. Of course if you feel Dempster will suck, and Harden will miss most of the season, you would think their not as good. But nothing Dempster did last year was flukey the guy was just good. So when you consider he actually made changes last year like getting himself in great shape, adjusted his delivery and used another pitch. So it wasn't like he just went out there caught some breaks, was lucky and had a great season. He actually made changes that made him a better pitcher. So I don't think you can call what he did to be a fluke or expect him to go back to being the subpar starter he was in 01-03. Sure he probably won't be as good, but he should still be a pretty good 2-3 starter IMO. As for Rich Harden, he could fall apart at anytime, but personally I think the A's/Cubs kinda figured out a system for him last year to keep him healthy to a point with rest. Yes it's doubtful he would make 30 starts, but I still think he will get more of a impact from Harden in 09 then we did in 08. This team has good rotation depth and could survive with a guy struggling or missing some starts. Lets not forget this team had one of the best records in baseball before they got Harden last year. Thats with Lilly struggling in April, Marquis, Gallagher, and even Marshall in the rotation for a few starts. Plus the offense is still gonna be good. Not many teams have four hitters like Lee, Ramirez, Soriano(should play more games then last year as well) and Soto in it. Then if you add Bradley to that mix even for only 100 games it's still a lethal line-up. Then mix those with Fontenot/Miles, Theriot, Fukudome/Johnson we still will be in pretty good shape. I think the line-up will lose power without DeRosa and Edmonds. But neither guy would have probably hit for the same power anyways. The team will still be good but problem is this team is a little worse then when the season ended, and the goal is to get better. Personally I still don't think making these trades and signing Bradley will be all we do this offseason. Once we have a new owner in mid to late January(who could give them a little payroll boost). I can see them getting back involved in the Peavy talks, or possibly target guys like Lowe, Sheets and Oliver Perez if their still on the market. Or possibly go after another 2b like Orlando Hudson or Brian Roberts. But for now I think they felt they had to get the Bradley deal done, because he might not still be on the market later this month. While other guys still might be on the market, and they would now have more trade chips to make deals as well. Hopefully they will have a little more money to spend later this month, because I'm gonna be pretty disappointed we got rid of Wood, Marquis, DeRosa to get just Bradley, Gregg, Vizcaino and prospects.

Wow Mike Murphy is an idiot.

It doesn't seem like the major league ready pitching the Padres wanted. So I dunno about this deal anymore, these prospects all have good upside, and good talent. But when were trying to win next year, this move looks bad unless it's gonna lead to something else. All I'm gonna say is trading Marquis/DeRosa to get Vizcaino, Miles and propsects, better lead to something more then just Milton Bradley. We better be getting another quality everyday player, or good to very good SP at some point. Otherwise I'll start to agree with people that this is looking like a bad offseason. But right now(with a ton of guys on the market still) I confidence that many of these moves, are just setting up the Cubs for a big one.

What dumb comment, I dunno why I'm even wasting my time responding. Gregg/Wood isn't a huge difference win/loss wise. The rest of the roster will be pretty much the same with probably a upgrade of Bradley over Edmonds. If we add Peavy to the roster on top of that, it's no question were better.

Maybe Jeremy Sowers, Anthony Reyes or Aaron Laffey could be part of this deal. I can see the Padres interested in those guys, when you think about who they wanted from the Orioles and Phillies in the past.

The Cubs wouldn't just be getting rid of DeRosa for propsects. Those prospects will be going to somebody else, so we can get another good player.

Yeah he's a fine bench/platoon player, personally I think 2.5m per season is a little high. But he made 1.4m last year after hitting 290/328/676 in 07, so he was gonna get a raise after hitting 317/355/753. Actually I'm pretty excited about this move, because I don't think it happens unless we have a deal in the works. Because spending 2.5m on Miles makes no sense with DeRosa, Fontenot and Theriot around, so one of those guys will be gone soon.

No...but our lineup was already one of the best in the league last year, and we are presumably adding Milton Bradley to it...so Fontenot is a 7/8 hitter anyways. I'm not too worried about it at that point. Again, my thoughts exactly. All the reports were saying the Marquis money would be going towards signing Bradley...So does that hurt our chances for Bradley? I'm sure signing Aaron Miles isn't gonna cost us from doing anything else we wanna do this offseason. He was signed as a replacement for DeRosa. Otherwise it makes no sense to spend a good amount of money on a middle infielder, who won't get much playing time. Because you would think on the roster now he would be playing behind DeRosa, Theriot and Fontenot, unless one of those guys are traded.

Seems like alot per year for Miles, but he's obviously a replacement for DeRosa. There's no way the Cubs spend 2.5m per season on a middle infielder, if they have DeRosa on the roster.

Nope, Demspter would have gotten 5y at 70-75m from some team. He was a pretty hot free agent and had alot of teams interested in him. If Dempster isn't good over the next few years then we might have overpaid, but compared to what he could have gotten this offseason, we didn't overpay though.

I was fixing to ask if anyone else is reporting this :-). Here's a link http://csnchicago.com/pages/new_landing/?Cubs-Close-to-Deal-with-Bradley-Marquis-=1&blockID=34322&feedID=661

Playing with the line-ups is fun, but I don't see anyway Lee doesn't start the season as the number 3 hitter. He hit there all of last year and in 2007 and I'm sure the Cubs believe he will have a bounce back season. He could get move down during the season, if isn't hitting better. But to start the season I'm pretty sure we will see something like this Soriano Theriot or Fukudome/Johnson Lee Ramirez Bradley Soto DeRosa or Fontenot(depending on if we trade DeRosa or not) Fukudome/Johnson or Theriot

I don't think the Cubs wanna try Guzman as a starter anytime soon. I think they will try to keep him healthy as a reliever, and if that works then move him to the rotation down the road. If they don't add another starting pitcher. I can see them letting Marshall, Gaudin and Samardzija battle it out for a rotation spot. If Marshall or Gaudin win the other guy will be the long man, with Samardzija going to Triple A and Vizcaino taking Gaudin 6th-7th reliever spot in the pen. Then if Samardzija wins a rotation spot, we could have a pretty deep pen. But this is a good move because we already have a few guys who can do what Marquis does. Getting some cash back to use on a hitter or another pitcher is a good move, no matter what they get in return. But I think Vizcaino will help the pen next year if he's healthy.

I'm fine with this deal if it actually saves us 6m or so. Vizcaino can give us some depth in the pen, and hopefully he can have a bounce back season.

http://chicagocubsonline.com/archives/2008/12/newsrumors1227.php#more Wasn't Hirsh a good prospect at one time? He's been hurt alot the last two years, but I still think he would be a pretty good return for Marquis. We could let him battle Marshall in spring training, and the loser could end up being the swing guy.

Even if we do have to wait until mid January or Febuary, a pretty good outfielder probably still be on the market. Plus we can still make a trade for someone at that point as well. There's no reason at all to freak out right now. The Cardinals got a little better, but there still not in our league. The Brewers are much worse right now with losing Sabathia, Sheets, Torres and others. The Astros got a little worse losing Wolf and Wigginton as well. The Cubs right now are 90 plus win team, especially in this division. Plus they will add a LH RF who is productive. It just depends on if it will be a guy who can play everyday like Bradley, Dunn, Abreu, or a guy they can use in a platoon who crushes righties. This team is still very talented and deep team. I have no concerns at all about making the playoffs right now, the only thing that could stop this team is poor health.

I heard Hendry is a big fan of Dunn as well, but is scared to death of his defense. If we miss out on Bradley, I can see Hendry considering adding Dunn though. They might have to consider moving Soriano to RF though, and I don't think they wanna do that.

How about some wild theorizing? Hendry thinks he'll still get Peavy (and Bradley), and thinks Pie will be in that deal, so he needed Gathright for pinch running, double switches, etc. Time will tell about getting Peavy, but the acquisition of Gathright certainly means Pie is going somewhere in a trade. Is Pie out of options? Is there really anything in the Cubs' history to suggest they won't send him to AAA if he's not? I could have sworn that more than one reliable poster on this board said Pie was out of options. Pie is out of options, so he will either be traded, or Gathright will be DFA in spring training.

IIRC, that wouldn't even need to be specific to this contract. Wheres MPeel when you need him (or when you dont :cry: ) I remember when the Blue Jays released Reed Johnson they only had to pay part of his contract, if they did it early enough. I assume the Cubs would be able to do a simliar thing with Gathright, but I'm not 100 percent sure.

Relax, all this probably means is Hendry has some offers on the table for Pie, and wanted to sign a guy for insurance before he decided to trade him. Pie is out of options so he's not going back to Triple A. The Cubs aren't going to let Pie go for nothing, so either he will be traded or on the roster next year. I almost see this signing simliar to the Alex Cintron deal a year ago. If the Cubs don't trade Pie they will probably get rid of Gathright and stick with Pie, like they did with Cintron and Cedeno last year. I wouldn't be surprised if Gathright has some clause in his contract that if the Cubs wanna release him in spring training they only have to pay some of his contract. Anybody mad or even bothered by this move, really needs to find another hobby. Because this a very very minor move.

http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081215&content_id=3718461&vkey=news_chc&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc Sounds like a minor league deal or the Cubs are waiting to sign him because they have a deal in the works.