Outshined_One

Loewen's numbers in High A Ball: 142 IP, 28 G, 27 GS, 10-8, 4.12 ERA, 130 H, 8 HR, 146/86 K/BB, 1 CG BA says that he's had shoulder issues and needs to straighten out his mechanics. LHP that works 90-92, touches 95 and a good curveball. However, his changeup needs work. The Cubs don't need another Rich Hill, imo.

Why would Baltimore have much interest in Todd Walker? And yes, I would be really mad if the Cubs traded Prior or Zambrano and change for Tejada and a pitching prospect.

That pen somehow managed to land them in the World Series. Go figure. Also, I've been warning about this happening on other posts. They have name commodities in Lidge and Oswalt who could fetch them a big bat no problem. They also have some interesting young pitching. The fact that Raj seems to be either retiring or running off to another team has freed up enough money for them to pursue a big name. Moreover, their offense needs upgrades pretty much all around.

God help us all if he gets a place in Greenwich Village.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaand the Orioles are falling apart before our eyes.

Quite possibly, although given the way various non-Cubs sites have slobbered over him (see: Baseball America), I don't think it's that much of an overrating.

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha Is that Paul Sullivan in disguise?

So are Ramirez and Wood, what's your point?

I didn't necessarily say All Star help, mind you. Soto could come in immediately as a backup catcher and be a much cheaper option than Lieberthal. He'd probably at the least match Lieberthal's production and is a very good defensive catcher. Moore, on the other hand, I think would be tempting for the Phillies. He'll be in AA next season and has already come around with his bat. He also has speed. The only knock on him has been his defense and apparently those flaws can be corrected with more reps and coaching. Yes, I do think they will both be productive players down the line. Both are young. Both have a future in baseball. Both are either ML-ready or close to it. I'd imagine the Phillies would have interest in both.

Why would the Cubs even want to save money this offseason?

I think that those teams would be looking for those ideally, but the question of how realistic those expectations are comes up. Long post ahoy! Regarding Tejada, the word is that he has a bad relationship with Ramon Hernandez and the Orioles knew about it. Yet, they still decided to bring him in. The Orioles also are looking like the 4th best team in the AL East. Their farm system has very few good players in it who are at most a year away from being ready. Their pitching staff is young, unproven, and/or sucks. They have good offensive players, but not enough to make up for the pitching problems. If anything, I think the Orioles are a few years away from competing for the AL East again. Tejada is angry at them and would likely be a distraction in the clubhouse if his relationship with Hernandez is as bad as I've heard it to be. Yet, Tejada is also signed to a good contract and has trade value. They could get some top prospects for him, especially pitching, which the Cubs have. However, given that the market for him is not that strong (I'd say it's Boston and Chicago with Atlanta as a dark horse), I don't think that they could reasonably demand a Zambrano or a Prior, if they are set on trading him. I don't think money is the issue with them, either. As for the Phillies, they're in a slightly different bind. It was mentioned earlier in the offseason that the Phillies would like to get out from under two of their three large contracts (Thome, Burrell, and Abreu). They already unloaded Thome, but in the process they got an extra outfielder, causing them to have a bit of a problem in terms of a logjam. Michaels, Rowand, Abreu, Burrell, and Victorino (with Bourne waiting in the wings) all will vie for playing time. Yet, with Burrell and Abreu's contracts, something tells me both will start no matter what, which could be problematic since they might not be able to start their best OFs. Now, in an ideal world, the Phillies would trade Pat Burrell, shift Rowand to left, and play Michaels in CF until Victorino or Bourne are ready next year. However, I reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally don't think there's much of a market for Burrell, especially given his horrifyingly bad contract and his recent inconsistency. They could pawn him off on some team, but they'd still have to consume at least a portion of his contract. Also keep in mind that this is a team that should make a run at the NL East next season if they solidify their bullpen and rotation. They could also use a third baseman and a catcher in the near future. Abreu is the kind of guy who could help plug those holes and the Phillies wouldn't have to pay a dime of his salary. He has two years left and is towards the end of his prime, so they should get good value for him. I think the Cubs could provide the pitching they need as well as some help at 3B (Scott Moore) and C (Geovanny Soto) that could help at a cheap price down the line. I think there's a more reasonable chance they could get a stud pitcher for Abreu than Tejada would, given the market for a RF. There's more of a chance that some team will overpay for Abreu. However, I personally do not feel like he is worth Prior or Zambrano. His age is enough of a factor to make me pause and wonder how much longer he could keep it up. Edit: You know...what's bugging me in this whole situation is the fact that the Astros have been unusually quiet this offseason. Clemens might not return, which should free up money in the budget. They also have some interesting young pitchers (Hirsh, Nieve, Astacio, Magical Wandy, Buchholz). I'm not saying it will happen...but what if the Astros offered Roy Oswalt for Abreu or Tejada? Feasible scenario?

I'd just add that that window of low salaries for those two is closing quickly. And I think it would be in Jim Hendry's interest to hire some City of Chicago dumptrucks, fill them with cash, and then drive them up to Prior's and Zambrano's houses when said window is near its closing.

Hoo boy, could you imagine the possibilities for jokes if the Cardinals shipped Edmonds to the Yankees? Cripes, they already have A-Rod and Jeter on that roster; it'd be a complete and total zoo if Edmonds was tossed into the mix.

It's cool. It was hard to bring this particular topic up within a thread since one of the threads is already 20someodd pages long and that it wouldn't be a perfect fit in any of the other ones.

I'm curious at the willingness of both teams in terms of giving up their respective players. On the one hand, Abreu is beginning to leave his prime and is due $15m the next two seasons, as memory serves me. We all know what he can do with his bat. He has a terrific arm, but limited defensive ability beyond that. The Phillies also have a surplus of outfielders with the acquisition of Aaron Rowand. I am unsure about where they stand on matters financially. However, they will need pitching and I have the feeling they won't have much interest in Rich Hill due to his troubles with the home run. Yet, the Phillies are a few pieces away from being able to compete in the NL East. On the other hand, Baltimore is in a bad spot. They have good young talent in their rotation (Penn, Cabrera, Bedard), but are sorely lacking otherwise in the pitching department. They do have some good offensive talent, but have their share of holes that need to be plugged. They also have a disgruntled SS who wants out. Tejada is also signed to a reasonable contract and would be under contract for the next few years. It could be possible that the Orioles won't trade him unless a huge deal came along. Yet, the Orioles also have a farm system that's pretty much bereft of talent save for a few lone bright spots. On a final note, Dusty Baker supposedly is the master of making disgruntled players happy in the clubhouse. As far as I can tell, I think the Cubs have an equal shot at landing either Abreu or Tejada. I don't think it will cost Zambrano or Prior for either.

So, here's my line of thinking at the moment. The Cubs currently have a gaping hole in RF and a question mark at SS. If Cedeno plays at SS every day, then I'd say that SS production would be somewhat above average. I think he'd do alright defensively at the very least. Yet, in RF, the options for putting some one there are Murton (opening a hole up in LF), Patterson, Pie, and Brandon Sing. I don't think any of those options would be as usable as Cedeno. Secondly, they have only so many prospects/young players who teams would accept in a trade, who are cheap, and who are roughly a year away from being ML-ready (at most). Those guys being: Rich Hill Felix Pie Jerome Williams Ronny Cedeno Michael Wuertz Roberto Novoa Todd Wellemeyer Carlos Marmol Sean Marshall Angel Guzman You could also toss Corey Patterson and Matt Murton onto that list, although it's becoming apparent that CPatt's trade value has taken a nosedive and that the Cubs are pretty much set on having Matt Murton play LF. Anyways, the bottom line with this whole thing is that, based on the prospects I listed above, I think that the Cubs could only realistically get one of either Miguel Tejada or Bobby Abreu if they were to acquire one of them at all. Trading for both would be nothing short of a miracle, in my opinion. So, let's assume the following two things. The trade packages are fair for either player. If Tejada is traded for, Cedeno is shipped off to Baltimore. Given these things, would you rather have Abreu or Tejada?

So, I decided to wander on over to Sons of Sam Horn to see what was up with this situation since the Red Sox were rumored to be interested. Needless to say, I found a bevy of fun articles. Manny for Tejada Possible? Yes, it is possible. The Red Sox called the Orioles and offered him straight up for Tejada. That said, five to eight other teams seem to be in this thing. Still, whether or not Tejada will be traded remains to be seen.

Link Wonder if this one will be shot down?

Eh, I'd be more comfortable with Pavano than Rusch at the back end of the rotation. Pavano's not worth his current contract (Wasn't it a 5/50 deal?), but if you could sucker the Yankees into picking up part of his contract in exchange for CPatt/Novoa, that wouldn't be the worst of ideas. I grant you, he's not a front of the line guy. But as a 4 or 5? I'd be fine with it, assuming the price was right. Also, until I see a second reliable source about what Stark said on Gamenight (if he even was on that show), I'm calling shenanigans on this rumor.

I was asking you for a link to the post on the Yankees message board. Also, a second source (preferably non-message board) confirming this would be welcome.

Source?

They referenced the fact that he hit the high 90s to start the season, but wore down as the season went on in his scouting report pre-draft.

He's a good prospect with some sleeper potential. However, I am of the opinion that his numbers benefited from pitching in an extreme pitcher's league. Originally was a reliever that was converted to a starter and put up good numbers this season down in the Florida State League He has an average fastball and a plus slider. However, he's not sticking at this point in his career. My main reason? G/F: 0.76 Yep, that's his groundball/flyball ratio from this past season. I can't exactly say I'd be thrilled if I were a Cardinals fan.

HRs I can dig. But RBIs? There's too much stuff that RBIs depend upon to make me see them as a legitimate stat in objectively evaluating a player. Tejada's better than Walker by a fair margin, though.

This deal just got a heck of a lot better for Milwaukee.