Cubswin11

Doesnt he have to become a free agent first? Sorry, mispoke with excitement... we'd have enough to take on Roberts' contract if we were to choose to trade for him. Unless somehow he is coming over with Peavy in a 3-4 team trade, there is no way we still have enough prospects left to trade for him, we could potentially sign 1 of Furcal or Orlando Hudson along with an OF bat assuming all of DeRosa's $5.5 mil is taken on by a team and $5-7 mil. of Marquis is taken on by someone.

Any idea what type of contract Bradley is looking for? I thought I read somewhere he doesn't want a real long term deal (no more than 2-3 years). Bradley is my #1 option for RF for us and I think with our depth/flexibility we can afford for him to only play in 115-125 games, he could be the Harden of the offense and the goal is really to make sure he is healthy in October. 2 years@ 22 mil. with a 3rd year team/mutual option for $13-15 mil. wouldn't be a terrible signing IMO.

I wouldn't be opposed to trading Derosa, if we could deal Derosa and Marquis in a Peavy deal that would clear up over $10 mil. in payroll and maybe on top of adding Peavy and 1 of Bradley, Ibanez, Abreu or Dunn we could sign Furcal and move Theriot to 2B with Fontenot or we could sign Orlando Hudson.

Latest from Rosenthal It's pretty clear nobody really knows what is going on with the ownership stuff, some reports say a Peavy trade has to be approved by a new owner and others say the sale has no influence on whether or not Peavy is traded, so I am going to take all reports on the sale affecting Peavy as a moot point, but the Phillies part is interesting. When it first came out a month or so ago about a third team I thought the Phillies might be a fit with Utley out for some time, Fontenot/Cedeno might be interesting targets for the Phillies to replace Utley, the Pads/Cubs could maybe send another prospect to the Phillies and they Phillies could then send Kendrick or Happ to the Padres to add in the pitching that is desired on their part.

If we are going to go after a super-utility guy like Aurilia, I would much rather we sign Alex Cintron. Cintron plays better defense (more important than offense for super-utility guys IMO) and he will likely be cheaper. Cintron isn't awful at the plate and he gives us a legit backup SS to Theriot.

Personally, I don't think it has anything to do with ownership at all. Hendry has his budget and he knows what he can spend. I think he just needs to move Marquis, 1) to free up money and 2) complete the package for Peavy. We also know that Hendry doesn't like leaks. It certainly doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out Marquis has to go if Peavy is coming here. Besides that, Hendry has acknowledged that teams have expressed interest in Marquis. Hendry is generally recognized as a straight shooter. Towers knows that Hendry is offering up the best package he possibly can and Towers is pretty much stuck and will have to take it. At the same time, Hendry isn't going to shortchange Towers. Hendry likes to be able to negotiate with these same guys in future deals, so this will probably end up being a deal where everyone walks away about as happy as they can be given the situation. I'm still pretty convinced that a deal is already in place and Hendry just needs to find a taker for Marquis. That's pretty much how I feel there may be a player or two that are yet to be determined but the main pieces are probably set in place it is just a matter of time before Hendry makes it a go. I fully expect Marquis to be gone within the first 2 days of the winter meetings next week, and a Peavy deal short after. Marquis really isn't going to be that hard to move if we eat about 3 million of his salary and make the base around 6 million.

It's in the insider portion, so you have to be an ESPN insider to view it. This is the link to the start of the article but you can't access the Peavy portion/the whole thing without an insider account. http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=3744124&name=olney_buster&action=upsell&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fespn%2fblog%2findex%3fentryID%3d3744124%26name%3dolney_buster

That there is a "mix" for Jack Wilson makes me sad. The fact that the Pirates FO thinks they can get HU, Delwyn Young, and another player from the Dodgers while the Dodgers still pay all of his salary makes me sad. #-o Maybe they are holding out for a Kemp, Martin and Kershaw packages for him...

I just posted the same thing, but it seems this is the thread everyone is talking in. I had a question in mine and will ask it here, if we non-tender him do we face any sort of buyout/termination fee/fine? Or is it a clean break and he just comes off the books?

Sullivan says he would be surprised if the Cubs non-tender Gaudin after his injury last year and poor performance, he is expect to get a raise from his $1.775 mil. last year. For as bad as he was, we are almost at a point where any and every arm is an option in the bullpen this season and we are really leaving ourselves with few in-house options after letting Wood go, trading Ceda, and now possibly Gaudin gone. With us likely spending money/time on Peavy, RF we probably won't be able to/want to spend money on FA RP's. $2 mil. is probably too much for Gaudin but getting rid of him gives us one less option, anyone know if we face any sort of buyout, fee, fine if we non-tender him? Or is he just off the books with no consequences? "Gaudin, who had a 6.26 ERA after arriving with Rich Harden from Oakland, is arbitration-eligible. It wouldn't be surprising at all if the Cubs non-tendered him. Gaudin hurt his back in September in a mysterious off-the-field incident and was left off the postseason roster. " http://blogs.chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports_hardball/2008/12/cubs-bullpen-a.html

It could mean more that they are waiting to figure out who has the high bid/turns into the front runner to buy the Cubs, I doubt they would wait until everything was agreed upon, signed, turned over. Likely they are just waiting until the likely owner of the three is identified (high bidder most likely) and they will ask him if they can add a Peavy type contract and then proceed.

That's what I was thinking, but the last round of bids was just done, and after the Trib/Zell figure out who the high bidder is the Cubs can likely go to whoever that is and figure out how much payroll can be added. Once the high bidder is determined I would think negotiations will start in ironing out a deal to buy the Cubs and the high bidder will probably get some input on potential payroll additions that can happen before they actually take over. If the new owners PR department was smart they could spin this Peavy thing as their idea/workings as they would probably like to make a flashy acquisition to show the fans they are serious about winning. What better way to help fans forget last Oct., immediately get support of new ownership, and drive up interest in the Cubs in December (not that there isn't already enough but you get the casual fan interested) by adding a Top 5 pitcher in baseball.

Is there any timetable as to when the ownership situation will be "resolved?" Or are they just sifting through this last round of bids and it is only a matter of days until they start exclusively negotiating with one group after the high bidder is decided?

Good news, when you have the opportunity to acquire a pitcher of Peavy's caliber you do everything you can and that includes possibly trading your top prospect(s). For as much as I hate to give up Vitters this is a move that has to get done, especially with how the Cubs are in a win now mode and by the time Vitters would be up, sept. of 2010 at the earliest but most likely and realistically 2011 or 2012 we may not have as strong a team. What a rotation... Peavy Z Dempster Lilly Harden :yahoo: \:D/ :yahoo: \:D/

According to this guy trading Green may allow the Padres to keep Peavy. http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2008/dec/03/padres-cardinals-agree-deal-will-send-greene-st-lo/?padres

According to this guy a Greene trade, and shedding his salary, may allow the Padres to keep Peavy, I don't know how much I believe it though. http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2008/dec/03/padres-cardinals-agree-deal-will-send-greene-st-lo/?padres

For the record the Cubs have won the last two division championships and the Cardinals haven't. The Cardinals may do somethings better than we do, but trading for a guy like Khalil Greene isn't it. You bet your ass it's a better move than things we do. It's going to be one of the best moves (by any team) of the offseason. I would rather have traded for Greene than resigned Dempster, and that debates not even close. The Cardinals have what? 9 WS wins to our 2? And won one of them three years ago... What exactly is it about Greene that you think he can have such a turn around? He has never hit for a high average, OBP, OPS, SLG and he K's a ton. Is it just the fact the Cardinals got him and they seem to have a knack for turning mediocre, at best, players into studs?

Ok now the obvious question has to be stated who plays SS for the Padres now? and what does this mean in the Peavy trade? I would think this would make Theriot/Cedeno more attractive and possibly the Braves may jump back in with Escobar, even though they just traded Lillibridge so the Braves wouldn't have any SS. Could Greene have also been a holdup in the trade, maybe Towers knows Theriot/Cedeno is going to be coming in a trade and that he needed to move Greene before one of those two came in. Also a very unlikely scenario but maybe Greene was moved to make room for Marquis, Cubs pay 3ish mil, as they probably want one guy in their rotation that they know can go 180 innings and be able to go every 4-5 days, as they will likely being trying out multiple guys in the rotation with varying success and they probably need/want to not worry about at least one of the slots in the rotation, also Marquis will at least be a type B next year and they could potentially get at least a pick out of him as well.

Found this on OH, this report expects Khalil Greene to be traded by monday possibly to either the Cardinals or Orioles. Just thinking out loud here but maybe the hang up in the trade could have been the Padres needed to find a taker for Greene knowing that the Cubs didn't want him, and Theriot/Cedeno are going to SD in a deal. Maybe SD didn't want Greene and one of Theriot/Cedeno on the roster at the same time, likely devaluing both in a trade due to the fact that teams would know that SD needed/wanted to trade one before the season. Or possibly this could be a start of the 3-way with Baltimore or another team sending pitching to SD and a Cubs player or two along with Green to the 3rd team. http://blogs.nypost.com/sports/st/archives/2008/12/khalil_greene_o.html

We have to remember that the only reason we are even in consideration to acquire a pitcher like Peavy is because he has a NTC and is only willing to go to a few teams, one of which is the Cubs, and now it is really only down to the Cubs. We aren't in position to acquire him because we have the talent to give up in return to get a pitcher of his caliber, hence the third team. In fact if Peavy had a partial NTC or no NTC at all Towers wouldn't even have given Hendry a call back when he inquired about him because at least half of the teams in MLB have better prospects to give up for him. So when there are two talented and cheap young pitchers like Grienke/Sanchez that don't have NTC's the Cubs ability to trade for them dramatically drops when any and every team in MLB can get an offer in, and when it comes to competing with the Marlins/Rangers for prospects to trade the Cubs aren't even in the ballpark in quantity/talent that the Marlins/Rangers systems have. Vitters is probably the only prospect the Cubs have right now that would be a top 10 in either organization and he probably wouldn't be in either's top 3.

New from Tim Brown on Yahoo. Cubs remain in hunt for Peavy Despite reports to the contrary, the Cubs remain engaged in talks to acquire Jake Peavy from the Padres. Indeed, a Padres source said the club had uncovered two teams which could provide the players to complete a trade. The Orioles are believed to be one. Negotiations are expected to continue into next week’s winter meetings. http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ti-hotstovenotes120308&prov=yhoo&type=lgns I wonder who that other team could be?

I don't really see all that many "middle range FA starters" as being available. Even guys like Oliver Perez and Jon Garland are going to command dollars that small market teams can't afford. I suppose there could be a few nontenders out there, but it would be a real shocker that teams are so fruitful with starting pitchers that they can afford to nontender one. A guy like Randy Johnson isn't going to sign with KC. He'll get a deal with a team that has a reasonable chance to make the playoffs, or he will take his toys and go home. A couple weeks ago I heard someone on MLB radio talking about FA pitchers. That person (Buck Martinez I think) said that a FA pitcher usually costs $1 million per win. Based on what starters are getting lately this seems pretty accurate. If a team could get Marquis for 5 million on a one year deal they'd probably consider that a bargain. We all hate Marquis but he could help a lot of teams by eating innings to protect their younger pitchers. There's also the walk year factor. Agreed, for as much as Marquis is disliked around here he is really a average #4 starter and above average #5 starter. His salary might be a little inflated for his production but I am sure Hendry can find a team to take him on for $6-7 mil for this season, if we can make up the remaining $2.5-3.5 mil I think it's a decent deal if we can get back prospect(s), or a piece to complete the Peavy trade. Add in the fact that Marquis is in his last year of his contract, usually players perform better in contract seasons, $6-7 mil for 11-13 wins isn't all that bad plus it is almost guaranteed he pitches 180-200 innings, which makes him more attractive to teams with younger pitchers/injury prone pitchers. If Olsen is really the missing piece in the Peavy trade, a Pie+Marquis@$6-7 mil for Olsen+a prospect isn't all that bad of a trade, and I would think Marquis has some appeal to the Orioles as they have younger pitching and they probably want a guy that is going to take the ball every 5 days and go close to 200 innings and win 12 games.

So where does this leave us with the draft picks? Do we get nothing from the team who signs him?

The Angels make sense they got surplus pitching and OFer's Cubs Get: Peavy, Reggie Willits Angels Get: Vitters, Lee and Padres prospect Padres: One of Santana/Saunders/Weaver, Marshall, Pie, Macier Izturis

With Utley having surgery and being out for a while could there be any way we could work a 3-way with them? Do they have any good prospects? We could send them Derosa and maybe Hart and a low level prospect for Kyle Kednrick and flip Kendrick and others to the Padres for Peavy. Trading Dero would free up some salary for Peavy, we could then sign a guy like Loretta or Cintron to take the super utility role and play one of those two with Fontenot at 2B or we could sign a SS (Renteria, Furcal) and move Theriot to 2B.