Cubswin11

If we could pull off a Ceda/arm for Hermida deal, I would consider the offseason a complete success if we only brought back Wood and Dempster otherwise. There's a good chance, though, that Hermida's cheap production would keep us in the running (if we ever were) for a fairly high profile pitching/shortstop addition. What about a Ceda, Wellington Castillo, Fontenot/Cedeno and a prospect for Hermida and Kevin Gregg.

I think it depends on how they feel about Rich Hill. I agree, Pie definitely cannot be the centerpiece. They would be interested in him, but he couldn't be the #1 in the deal. A lot of people seem to think that our farm system doesnt have much to offer. Thats really not true. Much like the major league club, our system has a lot of promising prospects, we just dont have that one superstar in the system like a Gamel or a Rasmus. Vitters is the closest thing, but hes too young to know how much value he'll have in the long run. Wed have to deal with quantity more than quality. With a team like the Padres, we could easily get a deal without someone like Soto or Marmol. Wed take Pie, Marshall, and Ceda or Ascanio and go from there. Well, you just explained why people think that. Laporta got Sabathia. Maybin got Cabrera. Carlos Gonzalez got Haren. Laroche got Manny. The Cubs don't have anybody with that kind of potential. And while I love Harden and loved the move, that's why the Cubs will only be in the running to trade for players like him. By like him I mean, players with injury issues or very short-term contracts who are financial dumps by their teams. And this is where years of having a weak farm system hurts the Cubs. Our "weak" farm system has gotten us Harden, Lee, Ramirez, Lofton, Nomar, and Pierre(he didn't work out but at the time he was a premier leadoff hitter) over the past 5 years. I agree we have a weak system but it hasn't stopped us from being able to get good players at positions of need to make us better. I guess the argument can be made that we have a system of hype and not talent as the only guy involved in any of those trades to do anything in the big leagues is Nolasco, and he still is average. Looking at the guys we have in the system now I would say there is no way we can pull off a trade for Peavy, Beltran, or even Roberts. But looking at what Hendry has done to get the guys mentioned I wouldn't put it by him to pull off a trade for one of those guys.

They have Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy, 2 guys that a lot of teams would love to get their hands on, especially one about to embark on a full rebuilding phase. Also, Im thinking that the Pads will try to package Peavy and Khalil Green like the Marlins did with Becket and Mike Lowell, in which if a team wants Peavy, they'l have to take Green as well. Ian Kennedy isn't worth anyone's time. He's a 5th starter. If I am the Padres and I am looking to rebuild, a package involving Cano, Cabrera, Hughes, and a prospect or two for Peavy, Greene(could play 2B), and a prospect isn't looking like that bad of a trade.

I know this could be a little of topic but I think it's pretty clear we need to bring in at least one new arm for the pen this offseason regardless if Wood stays or leaves. As has been stated Samardzija may be starting and he showed signs of not being completely ready for a major bullpen role towards the end of the season he had problems with command and consistently throwing a quality secondary pitch. We can't depend on one of our young guys to be able to step in a take a spot (Ceda, Ascanio, Cashner, Hart, Veal, Guzman), and some of the leftovers from last year Wuertz, Gaudin, and Cotts all struggled at times. The guy I would look at would be Tyler Walker, his numbers up front aren't great looking but if you look at his splits he might be a good signing for us. VS. righthanders he had a 2.89 era and only gave up 24 hits in 37.1 innings. He also was a much better pitcher away than at home, his era was 4.3 points lower on the road than at home in more innings, he pitched 29.1 innings away and 24 at home. Thoughts?

Your package is a lot more realistic than some of those other suggestions. The Mets aren't going to give away Beltran for unproven players (Pie, Fontenot, Hill) or roster filler (Marquis, Wuertz) without adding quality (DeRosa, Marshall) and/or quantity. I think if we started out with a package made up of Marshall/Ceda/Derosa we could at least get our foot in the door and start to build around that. The Mets need a 2B and Dero would be a great addition to their lineup and provide some balance, Marshall could help them in the bullpen or take over the 4/5 starter spot and could save them some money from having to go out and spend a lot to sign another starter, and Ceda could potentially be up sometime this year in their bullpen and he has the stuff to be a closer within the next 3 years. If the Mets really want to trade Beltran, I think the Cubs match up better than some people might think.

Derosa, Marshall, Ceda, Gaudin/Marquis, and a prospect Wellington Castillo, Atkins, Flaherty, Colvin?

Rios, as is my pick I would say was a undervalued player 1-2 years ago. My undervalued player is Adrian Gonzalez he is a gold glove caliber 1B, and puts up great offensive numbers playing half his games in a pitchers park. I still think Gonzalez is one of the most underated/non-heard about players in baseball, if he was a Yankee/Red Sox he would be the next Babe Ruth.

If Lee is going to be traded to a California team. Apparently he has said he will waive his NTC for there. The only team that makes sense is the Giants, a Angels trade would only happen if they don't get Tex and that likely won't happen until later in the offseason and that could leave us with fewer options for 1B if it takes that long. The Giants need middle of the order bats. Looking at what the Giants have and would likely make available the guys that stand out to me are Fred Lewis, Jack Taschner, Tyler Walker(his numbers aren't great at face value but when you look into his splits he was good against righties 24 H 37 INN, and had a ERA over 3 points lower on the road), and Brain Wilson. I don't know if there is enough there to get a decent package back for Lee does anyone know anything about the Giants system, could we potentially get a decent 1B/OF/SP prospect out of them? A Fred Lewis, Jack Taschner, Tyler Walker return wouldn't be enough, but if they had a pretty good prospect to add in it would be worth considering, if we could sign Tex or maybe trade for Huff.

If we are expected to be in the 140,000,000 area we might not be able to do to much if Wood and Demp are resigned. we could save some money if Blanco is brought back, he will likely be bought out for 300,000 and resigned between 1-2 mil so that could cut some money out. If we are going to bring back Wood and Dempster however that alone will likely put us close to if not over 140,000,000 assuming Wood gets 6-9 mil and Dempster gets 10-14.

What about a Lee for Cano package? Cano or Derosa could be moved to 1B and the other plays 2B(This could also create some opportunities for Hoffpauir to get playing time in RF/1B), or we could sign Texiera (highly unlikely), or make a trade for a 1B Overbay, Huff? I also would wonder if there is any truth to the idea of picking up Harden's option and then trading him what about a Harden for Cano package?

If we are going to commit long term(3+years) and a decent amount of money(40 mil+) to a new RF'er, I would rather sign Dunn than Abreu. The defense would be close to the same but Dunn will likely produce more for the length of the contract also if we sign him to a 4-5 year deal he could be a replacement at 1B for Lee after his contract goes up in 2 years seeing as we really don't having 1B prospects(Hoffpauir will be 31-32 by then). The defense in RF may be a concern but we got by with Sammy out there, plus we could always use Pie/Johnson/Fuku as a defensive replacement in the late innings. Of available guy via trade/FA for RF my list would probably look like 1.Dunn 2.Giles 3.Ibanez 4.Dejesus 5.Bradley 6.Abreu

Here is what I hope we do/some of what I expect is done In House Things: -Resign Wood, Johnson, Dempster(assuming he doesn't have crazy demands I would expect 3-4 years at 35-50 mil. -Options picked up on Blanco and Harden -Ward, Howry, Edmonds let go -Trade: Cubs get Brian Roberts, minor league pitcher Orioles get Theriot, Jose Ceda, 1 of Cedeno/Fontenot, 1 of Guzman/Marshall/Gaudin, Minor leaguer Free Agent signings: Rafael Furcal 3 years 30ish million 1 of Luis Ayala, Joe Beimel, Juan Cruz, Mark Hendrickson Lineup could be: Furcal SS/Roberts 2B Roberts 2B/Furcal SS Lee 1B Soriano LF/Ramirez 3B Ramirez 3B/Soriano LF Soto C Derosa RF Pie/Johnson CF Roster: Position Players 1)Furcal 2)Roberts 3)Lee 4)Ramirez 5)Soriano 6)Soto 7)Derosa 9)Pie 10)Johnson 11)Kosuke/Hoffpauir (maybe start Kosuke in the minors unless he shows improvements in winter ball/ST) 12)Blanco 13)Fonteno/Cedeno(whoever isn't traded) Pitchers: 14)Z 15)Harden 16)Dempster 17)Lilly 18)Marquis 19)Wood 20)Marmol 21)Samardzija 22)Gaudin/Guzman/Marshall 23)Wuertz/Ascanio/Cotts 24)Gaudin/Guzman/Marshall 25)FA

I would float Theriot/Derosa's names out and see what type of talent we could get back. If we trade one of them sign Furcal and put the one we don't trade at 2B. The trade I think we should do assuming we can sign Furcal is Cubs get: Beltran, Minor Leaguer or Mets pay some of contract Mets get: Theriot/Derosa (they need a 2B), Marshall or Gaudin, Ceda, Wellington Castillo, and possibly another player Cedeno/Ascanio/Pie.

Lee isn't getting traded, he had a good postseason, and a decent regular season he might not be a 3 hitter but what are the other options? We won't sign Tex, and Hoffpauir isn't a everyday player (I do however think he will be a good bat off the bench and will be a decent guy to spot start at 1B and the corner OF spots). -Pick up Harden's option, if he stays healthy/is putting up good numbers lock him up long term at ASB. -Resign Wood, Johnson Dempster(assuming we can get him for a 3-4 year deal for 35-50. anything more and let him go) -Let Howry, Ward, Edmonds go -Sign Furcal 3 year 20-30 Mil. -Trade for Carlos Beltran for a package revolving around either Theriot/Derosa (whoever the Mets want they need a 2B I would think they would take Derosa, either Dero/Theriot is our 2B then). Cubs Get: Beltran, low/mid lever Minor leaguer or Mets pay some of his contract. Mets Get: Derosa/Theriot, one of Gaudin/Marshall, one of Ceda/Ascanio, Wellington Castillo, Cedeno/Minor leaguer. I really like both Dero/Theriot, but it's Derosa's last year of his contract and he just had a career year so it might be wise to sell high, Theriot probably did this year what we can expect out of him for the rest of his career he might have a season where he hits .010-.020 points higher but we have seen what pretty much all he can do. - Look into trading for a middle reliever or signing one -Sign Casey Blake if we trade Dero, then we have a guy to be the "super-sub", if we trade Theriot sign a guy like Cora, Cintron, Everett, Lopez to be a backup infielder Lineup Furcal SS Theriot/Dero 2B Lee 1B Ramirez 3B/Beltran CF Beltran CF/Ramirez 3B Soriano LF Soto C Fukudome/Johnson/Pie RF Bench Fontenot Blanco Hoffpauir Fukudome/Johnson/Pie(two of whoever don't play RF) Blake/Cintron/Cora/Everett/Lopez Rotation Z Harden Demp Lilly Marquis Bullpen Wood Marmol Samardzija Cotts Gaudin/Marshall Guzman/Wuertz Maybe replace one of the bullpen guys with either a FA or a trade. Is that Beltran trade realistic? Rumor is Beltran could be available, Would that be enough or are we not giving up enough? I know Ceda projects to be a closer and Castillo is supposed to be solid. The only problem I see is the Mets are a big market team and they have the abilities to "buy" a team and they may not want to wait a year or two on prospects. But if they let Delgado go and sign a guy like Tex or keep Delgado but sign Manny they may look to shed some salary in Beltran.

Z has just as good of stuff as he did the night of his no-hitter. The defense just decided to take the day off :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: . Hopefully the offense can find it's fu(ki#$ [expletive] tonight and bail him out after that little league 2nd inning. I do have a feeling we bring the tying run to the plate tonight :beg:

Lou was suppose to meet with Hendry this morning to finalize the roster. Nothing new has come out since. At least not that I've seen. That makes sense. I do wonder what's the deadline for all teams to submit their rosters to MLB.... I think you don't need to officially submit it until the day of the first game, just in case of any weird injuries and what not. I could be wrong though. I would guess it will be Position Players: 14 Soriano Theriot Lee Ramirez Edmonds Derosa Soto Johnson Kosuke Blanco Cedeno Fontenot Ward Hoffpauir Pitchers:11 Demp Z Harden Lilly Marshall Samardzija Marquis Wood Marmol Cotts Howry :banghead: :cry: Noteable players that get left off would be Wuertz, Guzman, Pie, Gaudin. All three of those pitchers should be on the roster in front of Howry but I doubt they will be.