CubsWin

According to Enrique Rojas of espndeporteslosangeles.com, Gerardo Concepcion's agent says he has been declared a free agent and is now free to sign with teams. So, apparently, there is no need to wait two weeks or even two hours...

That is weird. Are there any others out there that don't site an AP or yahoo.com report? No... the other one I saw (can't find it now for some reason) was from yahoo or AP as well. Those were the only 2 though that had 12.5 which I can see being that if they're "pretty far apart" like Heyman reported. Based on how widely reported the 10.225 number is, I'm betting the 12.5 is the typo.

whoa there I don't think the 10.225 is right. I've seen in a couple articles where Garza actually asked for 12.5, not 10.225. That would make sense if it's true. I just Googled 'matt garza arbitration' and couldn't find any articles that said it was 12.5. That's weird... Here's one of them: http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-cubsmoves That is weird. Are there any others out there that don't site an AP or yahoo.com report?

And now almost 3 months later, it finally looks like Selig will indeed settle the compensation for Theo Epstein. According to Gordon Wittenmyer at the Sun-Times...

whoa there I don't think the 10.225 is right. I've seen in a couple articles where Garza actually asked for 12.5, not 10.225. That would make sense if it's true. I just Googled 'matt garza arbitration' and couldn't find any articles that said it was 12.5.

No, but packaging Garza with Soriano and most of his contract or Marlon Byrd, etc. might be enough to entice them to trigger a trade. Agreed. But you wouldn't even need to include Soriano for Dombrowski to know he needs Garza now more than ever in order to win the AL Central this year. And with all the FA options out there that could be signed for just one year, why would the Tigers want Soriano for the next 3 years when V-Mart is only going to be out this year?

I think Dave Dombrowski knows that it's about winning games not scoring runs.

assuming that #cubs person suggests someone in the Cubs front office, I'd take this with a grain of salt. He's not going to say no, Soriano will be gone at all costs-if nobody offers us anything we'll cut him and someone can have him for free. Why would the Cubs cut Soriano? The money's spent. Might as well have a 1-2 WAR player on your team and wait for an injury to create a need at LF/DH for some team in the AL playoff hunt.

I love this video up on csnchicago.com. It's labeled "Bush, Hoyer, Sveum take questions from fans". It is 7 minutes and 53 seconds long and Randy Bush never says a word. Nobody asked him question and he looked like he fully expected it.

Cespedes would be a nice addition, but it would have to be at the right price. He's 26. For me, the priority is signing the two 19 year olds OF Jorge Soler and LHP Geraldo Concepcion. Overpay all you want, but get them.

I agree, though I don't think anyone was saying that. Duly noted. You might be right. My question is, which of the pitching prospects currently in the organization have a ceiling of a 2 or a 3, given that we likely don't have anyone capable of being an ace at the moment? And one of my conclusions is that it is not out of the realm of possibility that the Cubs might have a strong to very strong rotation by 2014.

For years now, the Cubs hitting prospects have disappointed. Castro appears very good but he's the only one. Soto's okay, but after that there have been no guys of note. Prospect after prospect has disappointed at the plate. Vitters, Colvin, Pie, Choi, Patterson. Vitters still has a chance, but he certainly has underperformed to date. Now the Cubs top 10 is dominated by bats. None of them are elite bats with the possible exception of Rizzo, but there are far more bats than arms. And that's new. For a long time, the Cubs were known to for producing a fairly consistent string of mostly power arms. Now? Next to nothing. I'm betting that'll change, but for the first time in a long time, the number of highly regarded Cubs hitting prospects clearly outweighs those of their power arms. According to many prognosticators the Cubs top 4 prospects are all hitters and their highest ranking pitching prospect is either McNutt who is coming off of a down year or Maples who has yet to throw a professional pitch except in instructs. That's new.

I know. I'm pretty excited about the arms that will be available at #6. I doubt it will be a true ace type, but he should be good. Really good. If two of the other top picks are arms, the Cubs should be looking a lot better given another year of development of the short season guys, the possible comebacks of Whitenack and Simpson and hopefully a rebuilt McNutt. With the depth the big league team currently has at the back end of the rotation, if just one of the guys mentioned in this thread can become a legit 3 by 2014 (including the arms likely drafted this June), the Cubs extend Garza and sign/trade for the best pitcher they can get, their rotation should be looking pretty solid in two years. Competitive, not dominant, unless everything goes the Cubs way. FA signing/Trade acquisition Garza Prospect from this thread Wood Samardzija/Wells/Volstad/Another prospect from this thread That's not bad.

No. The only way I'm agreeing to trade Garza is if you get a solid TOR pitching prospect like Turner and at least one other B/B- pitching prospect coming back. They can keep Castellanos. I like him, but I'd do the deal without him.

I'll be following what AZ Phil has to report on all these guys this spring. Especially Simpson. Can't wait. But, I'm curious O_O, who is the cream of the crop for you? The ones with the most upside in your opinion?

If Simpson is done, the list of pitchers the Cubs could've chosen is depressing. Jesse Biddle Zach Lee Aaron Sanchez Noah Syndergaard Anthony Ranaudo Etc. Not to mention 3B Nick Castellanos and Mike Olt. Oy vey.

It's been mentioned. But there isn't much information to go on.

Per rotoworld. UGH I hate the Marlins. The Marlins were always going to be the biggest obstacle to landing Cespedes, imo. Even before all the madness at the winter meetings. It makes too much sense for them, trying to draw fans in that market. Yeah, but he mentioned the Cubs twice, so...

With the recent additions of Anthony Rizzo, Ronaldo Torreyes and Dave Sappelt joining current prospects Brett Jackson, Javier Baez, Matt Szczur and arguably several others, the Cubs position player prospect depth has gone from a perennial weakness to somewhat of a strength. And what was considered the Cubs organizational strength, it's ability to produce pitchers, particularly power arms (Wood, Zambrano, Cruz, Prior, Marmol, Cashner) has, for the time being, all but vanished. As the Garza trade talks drag on and the possibility of adding one or more high-ceiling pitching prospects remains up in the air, I wanted to discuss the possibilities of current Cubs arms emerging as top of the rotation type prospects. The list of guys with a decent chance right now is short. Trey McNutt and well...Trey McNutt. But what about the long shots. Who are they and how real of a chance do they have of being a two or a three in a MLB rotation? Some names for discussion (in no particular order): Robert Whitenack Dallas Beeler Hayden Simpson Dillon Maples Ben Wells Dae-Eun Rhee Jose Rosario Zach Cates Scraping the bottom of the barrel there, I know. Simpson has fallen off the prospect map, and rightfully so, but is all lost with him or is there still a chance, however slim, that he regains his previous form? None of these guys are prototypical TOR and/or threes, but do any of them have a chance of becoming that? Who shouldn't be on the above list? Is anyone left off in your opinion? Thanks.

I don't know about right now, but if they can't get the package they're looking for by the trade deadline...

Thanks.

Did the Angels extend Weaver? I remember Cot's having him as a FA after 2012. Am I misremembering?

Agreed. What I'm trying to figure out is what incident/deadline is likely to cause that time pressure? Is it the deadline for Darvish to sign?

hendry seemed to be a big fan. i'm sure some members of his family like him. hand specialists love the business he gives them. after that, not sure. I always had the impression he was popular among his teammates especially his pitchers. Maybe that's what he was referring to. I don't know...

Doesnt tampering only apply to free agent signings? But obviously he's not going to comment on specific players either way.