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Simeon Rice has signed with the New York Sentinel.

I doubt the Cubs would be able to give Maybin a position and wait until he gets it at the MLB level. Just my opinion. If he has any options left he could continue in the minors like he is now. If they thought he could produce next year, though, it would allow them to look for a trade of Kosuke or Bradley. Like Vanilla Ice said, though, they probably wouldn't do it anyway.

Figured it was a pipedream. Nice to dream though.

If it was the Marlins that claimed him, is there any possibility we could pry Cameron Maybin from them? I don't know if he's on the 40-man or not (I would assume he is) though. Maybin's value is probably way higher than Harden's, though.

The last two or three drafts have helped the farm system greatly. Add in the very intriguing international signings and the farm system has gotten quite a bit deeper over the past couple of years.

If they trade Harden, does it have to be somebody who is not on a 40-man roster or somebody else who has passed through waivers? Yeah, it'd have to be players either off the 40 man roster or who have already passed through waivers. High-end A or AA players might be the best bet at this point in the year. I'd say most top prospects in AAA are already rostered. However, I think they could do a Harden for 2-3 PTBNLs and announce the guys after the season. I think then they could get guys on 40 man rosters.

Gaub is absolutely incinerating hitters this year. His BAA against righties in Iowa is .086. Could he have setup/closer potential? Or is he strictly a middle reliever?

This is a small good sign for the longevity of the UFL.

If Cutler could back it up the Broncos would have been in the playoffs last year. Cutler completed 62.3% of his passes, had a 25:18 TD:INT ratio and an 86 QB rating. His stats were just fine last year, if not very good. Especially considering the Broncos had the 30th ranked defense in yards allowed and the 29th ranked defense in points allowed. Cutler was 10th in the NFL in yards per attempt and 9th in the NFL in yards per completion. One player can't carry a team in the NFL. That defense gave up 112 points the last 3 games too. Almost 40 points a game. Brutal.

If Cutler could back it up the Broncos would have been in the playoffs last year. Cutler completed 62.3% of his passes, had a 25:18 TD:INT ratio and an 86 QB rating. His stats were just fine last year, if not very good. Especially considering the Broncos had the 30th ranked defense in yards allowed and the 29th ranked defense in points allowed. Cutler was 10th in the NFL in yards per attempt and 9th in the NFL in yards per completion. One player can't carry a team in the NFL.

I'm not saying what should happen, I'm saying what I think is likely to happen. Gregg has posted solid numbers for three straight seasons now, plus he has a career save percentage of 80% - as good as Francisco Cordero who got a 4-year/$46 million contract when he was a year older than Gregg will be next season. Cordero has had better numbers, but I'm not arguing that Gregg will get $10 million a year either. I'm saying 2-3 years, $5-8 million a year isn't unthinkable - and would be better than he'll get in arbitration (similar money, more years). And again, Gregg was removed from his closer's role in 2008 because of an injury. Teams will pay attention to that. He could still pitch, but he could not pitch effectively on a consistent enough basis to be a closer because of the injured knee. He was overall solid in his first four months, despite too many walks in June. Then, in August, his knee started bothering him and he had a bad month. His numbers that month are way out of whack with the rest of the year.

Kenny Williams does have a knack for trading away his prospects for good talent in return. Let's see .. Chris Young for Vasquez and then flipping Vasquez two years later for Tyler Flowers, Chris Carter for Quentin, Poreda/Richard for Peavy, Roward for a very cheap Thome. Sure Hendry did the ARam and Lee deals, but that was over 5 years ago. The only thing that you can say Hendry has done recently was the Harden deal. The Vazquez trade was 4 years ago, as was the Thome deal. If you're going to ignore the Lee and ARam trades, why do you count a pair of trades that happened a little longer ago? Also, Orlando Hernandez was included in that Vazquez deal and he wasn't much worse than Vazquez in 2006. There's also the train of thought that the Peavy deal was not a good one for the White Sox. The Cubs absolutely dominate the Korean market.

Philip Rivers has signed a 6-year, $92 million deal.

Sure. Why not? He's a couple years younger than Fontenot and Hoff were last year, with a much better minor league track record. That said, you've got a point. Hoff, I think we can chalk up to sample size, and Soto to injury. Besides, while not all-star quality, Soto hasn't been that far off of adequate production from an average starting catcher. I'm still not sure what's happened to Fontenot, though... His OPS has dropped ~.230 against lefties. So it's not like we can chalk it all up to the fact that he's facing a lot more right handers as the regular starter. Soto had the one big season his final year of AAA, but otherwise both Fontenot and Hoff were better minor league hitters. Soto career minor league: .280/.360/.429/.789 Fontenot career minor league: .291/.366/.437/.803 Hoff career minor league: .288/.344/.485/.829 Soto was called up for good at age 25 though. When Hoffpauir was 25 he was horrible in AAA and his overall numbers didn't start to inflate until he got to repeat AA and AAA multiple times. Fontenot had an entire age 25 and half an age 26 season to pad those overall numbers. It's not very accurate to just say those guys were better minor league hitters. That's a good point. I didn't consider their ages.

Sure. Why not? He's a couple years younger than Fontenot and Hoff were last year, with a much better minor league track record. That said, you've got a point. Hoff, I think we can chalk up to sample size, and Soto to injury. Besides, while not all-star quality, Soto hasn't been that far off of adequate production from an average starting catcher. I'm still not sure what's happened to Fontenot, though... His OPS has dropped ~.230 against lefties. So it's not like we can chalk it all up to the fact that he's facing a lot more right handers as the regular starter. Soto had the one big season his final year of AAA, but otherwise both Fontenot and Hoff were better minor league hitters. Soto career minor league: .280/.360/.429/.789 Fontenot career minor league: .291/.366/.437/.803 Hoff career minor league: .288/.344/.485/.829

He was healthy enough to pitch nine times in 23 team games. He didn't pitch on a particularly consistent basis in the final month and he regularly got 5-7 days off in between outings. It was likely the injury that kept him from being reliable enough to close. Also, he'll be 32 midway through next season and each year he takes a one-year deal, he'll be far less likely to get any type of a multi-year deal. His overall numbers will be solid by the end of the year - especially if he pitches through September the way he has most of this year. He's more likely to get a multi-year deal after this season than after he's aged another year and that's likely to factor into his decision as well.

Gregg actually has been pretty decent. The blown saves are not good and he surrenders too many homers, but his overall stats are fairly solid.

A proven closer who has lost his job in 2 of the 3 years he's been a closer. And in the most recent season he lost it in spectacular fashion. I don't think it's that low that he would accept. Last year he lost it due to injury. The same injury that bothered him to start this year and kept him from warming up and then sitting down, etc. This year is the first year he lost it due to blowing saves and, even then, his overall numbers are still fairly solid. I don't know what teams will need a closer in the offseason, but I suspect any that do will be interested in Gregg. Certainly not at K-Rod money or anything, but better than a one-year arbitration deal. Now if no team is in the market for a closer in the offseason, the odds of him accepting increase - but no team seeking a closer would be odd, I think.

I could be wrong, but I think the added revenue of a jumbotron would come from the ads that run on the jumbotron more than attracting more fans.

Thanks. I couldn't remember, but figured they were probably for FA signings. In my opinion, giving up picks in the 2-4 range for Howry and Eyre isn't undervaluing picks. Both were consistently good before coming to the Cubs and both were productive more often than they were not as Cubs. Jones wasn't as good a use of the pick, but chances are high you'll get a Jacque Jones type in rounds 2-4. Obviously you hope for more, but Jones wasn't a bad player for us. You value relievers more than everyday position players? Generally, no. I think my opinion is as it is because I liked the signings of Howry and Eyre more than the signing of Jones. I don't think it was a poor use of the picks to sign any of the three, but the Howry and Eyre signings, at the time, were better in my view.

Wells does have an NTC. Wells in center field is a little worse defensively (according to UZR) than Soriano in left. Soriano has been a better hitter overall than Wells to this point, but part of making this trade would be on the belief that a 30-year-old Wells is more likely to be productive than a 33-year-old Soriano. That would be the Cubs' reason for doing the trade. The reason the Jays would do the trade is that they save a few million from 2012 to 2014. It would sweeten the pot if they thought Soriano projected to be better, but it's not necessary. I think getting that production from CF rather than left would also be a motivating factor. One of the reasons they threw so much money at Soriano was they thought he'd be able to play any OF spot; having him blocking LF for 8 years is killing them. If this trade magically happened, they could put Wells in center, move Fukudome back to right, and put Bradley in left where someone like Fox could easily fill in when he misses time. My unparalleled expertise tells me this has almost no chance of happening, for a number of reasons. Yeah, I don't know if it could happen, but it's certainly a deal that would make some level of sense for both sides. And that's a good point about transferring Wells' production to center. You hurt Kosuke's offensive production value a bit by moving him to right, but he's also better defensively there - perhaps offsetting the difference in offensive value.

Id defintiely offer Grabow and Harden arb. Gregg, not so much. Why not offer to Gregg? He's more likely to get a multi-year deal and, thus, is also less likely to accept arbitration. He's also better than Grabow, so if he accepts arbitration the money would be better spent on Gregg than Grabow. I would offer to all three of them, for what it's worth. I would prefer to bring back only Harden, however. And Harden only if he came on a 1-2 year, incentive laden deal. If Gregg accepts arbitration, he's set to make a lot more than Grabow. Paying Gregg anything more than half a million to be a middle reliever/mop-up guy would be a complete waste. The likelihood of Gregg accepting, though, is quite low. He's a "proven closer" and, thus, is very likely to get a multi-year deal from someone seeking a proven closer. He's not considered a middle reliever/set-up guy like Cruz and others were who weren't signed because of their arbitration status. I could see Grabow accepting, I don't see Gregg accepting. Especially since he won't be a closer on the Cubs next year. But again, he might be overpaid, but getting a solid reliever for 1 year/$6-8 million isn't the worst thing in the world.

Would have been smarter than Bradley. Keep in mind that Ibanez is 36 and Bradley is 31. And both got three year deals.

Id defintiely offer Grabow and Harden arb. Gregg, not so much. Why not offer to Gregg? He's more likely to get a multi-year deal and, thus, is also less likely to accept arbitration. He's also better than Grabow, so if he accepts arbitration the money would be better spent on Gregg than Grabow. I would offer to all three of them, for what it's worth. I would prefer to bring back only Harden, however. And Harden only if he came on a 1-2 year, incentive laden deal.

Wells does have an NTC. Wells in center field is a little worse defensively (according to UZR) than Soriano in left. Soriano has been a better hitter overall than Wells to this point, but part of making this trade would be on the belief that a 30-year-old Wells is more likely to be productive than a 33-year-old Soriano. That would be the Cubs' reason for doing the trade. The reason the Jays would do the trade is that they save a few million from 2012 to 2014. It would sweeten the pot if they thought Soriano projected to be better, but it's not necessary.