Transmogrified Tiger

ok. the guys name seems to appear in every other thread these days, and I have bitten my tongue up until now. has anyone taken a gander at the Cubs DL the past couple of years? how about read anything written about the Cubs between the months of March and July the past two years? fill in the blanks for me..."the Cubs could make a run if their _________ staff stays __________." why would anyone on earth even want to take that chance, especially considering he will be this offseasons highest paid free agent? So using that argument, you'd want the Cubs get rid of Aramis Ramirez because his groin injuries makes him too much of a health risk? AJ Burnett is an amazing talent and every team that can afford him (that includes the Cubs) should be interested in adding him to their payroll. Ramirez's groin injuries are a far cry from Burnett's elbow troubles. 2002-2005 Home: 2.81 ERA, 1.12 WHIP Road: 4.38 ERA, 1.31 WHIP

Why would the White Sox be looking to add a SP, rather than another bat?

JVB is also in the game. I don't think Cedeno will be there.

Please go after Church now Hendry.

Valid point. Maybe a 3 way deal that sends Kearns and Patterson to Washington for Wilkerson? Or how about focusing on Church?

If the Giants are going to deal Schmidt, I think they're going to want more than Patterson and Rusch. Even then, I don't know if they'd want Patterson with Ellison in CF, or Rusch with his player option. I do like the idea of inserting ourselves in a Schmidt deal though.

Ah, that explains it, thanks. Weird that I haven't caught him on any of their telecasts that I've flipped to.

The first person in the thread posed it as a question, and every poster after said that it won't happen, however great it would be if it did. No one said it would happen.

Normally in that situation the A's would give the Cubs permission to negotiate an extension with Kotsay on their terms. The A's gave Kotsay a NTC through 2006 per Rotoworld.

From here (Non-Premium) basically to the end of the thread.

I can't stand Buck because he editorializes all the time. When Rogers came into the game, the first thing you heard was about how he and possibly McCarver(didn't want to speak for him) had a change of heart about Rogers playing in the game. Same thing with the Randy Moss incident. He immediately went into saying that it was disgraceful, disgusting, and other such disses. On a related note, I was surprised when Buck was not doing Cardinal PBP on FSN this year. What's the story behind that?

Someone didn't read the end of the Dubois/Patterson demotion thread.

I agree that it's a ridiculous idea in theory, but don't underestimate the stupidity of Bowden.

I'll do that deal any day of the week, but I'm not sure if Bowden would. He wouldn't part with Wilkerson in a proposed Sosa deal this winter, and Sosa has more value in Bowden's mind than Patterson IMO.

I hope the Cards get Wells too.

a prelude to dealing byrnes? Kielty is better than Payton though. And even if he wanted a platoon partner since Kielty can't hit righties, he's got Thomas and Cust in AAA for no player cost, and they won't be any worse than Payton. The only way that you can justify this deal is if Beane turns Payton into a player/reliever better than Bradford, which I don't think is possible.

Anyone know what Oakland's motivation for this deal is? Looks like a pretty dumb move by Beane.

Nomar is gone to me. I really don't expect him to play the rest of the year. If he does, great, but I'm not going to get excited about someone coming back from ripping their groin off the bone to play shortstop. Walker Barrett Lee Ramirez Burnitz Dubois(if I'm making the lineup, then I'm playing the best LF we have) Nomar Hairston(Nomar and Hairston are interchangeable) If Corey returns, stick him 7th and bump Nomar to 8th.

Here are the entries of the 4 who submitted entries. jtownie Arizona trades Sergio Santos, Brad Halsey, Koyie Hill, and Chad Tracy to Houston for Brad Lidge. Houston does as they have a decent 1st baseman that can eventually take over for Bagwell while also receiving a good SS prospect, pitching prospect and catching prospect. All are still cheap and Qualls can then take over closing duties. Arizona does this as Lidge isn't a FA for a few years. They have Green that can move to 1st and then opening a spot for Jackson or Quentin. They seem to have found a good catcher in Chris Snyder. Lidge would allow the Dbacks to have insurance in case Lyon is not as effective once he comes back from injury. It would also allow them to put him into the setup role creating a very effective end of the bullpen if he does come back and is effective. Cpattfan27 Diamondbacks get: Shields, and Dejesus Royals get: Cruz Jr, and Tracy Angels get: Sweeney, Hairston, E. Gonzalez, and cash (from Royals) Dbacks do this because they get a quality arm in the pen in shields, and a young CF who can field and hit in Dejesus. Royals do this because they unload some of Sweeny's contract, as well as getting Cruz Jr, who in the past has show great power, and Tracy, a 1b/3b stud, who could do very well for them in the future. Angels do this because they get a pretty good hitting 1B in sweeney, and potentialy good 2B/OF in Hairston, and a very good pitching prospect in E. Gonzalez. Dbacks get: Batista Blue Jays get: Cintro, and Santos Dbacks do this because Batista has been great as a closer this year, and the bluejays do this because they are severely lacking in the SS department, and could use an ML starter in cintron, as well as a decent prospect in santos 2B Counsell CF Dejesus LF Gonzalez 3B Glaus 1B Clark RF Green SS Cintron C Snyder Pitcher SP Vazqyez SP Webb SP Estes SP Halsey SP Vargas RP Medders RP Koplove RP Valverde RP Shields CL Batista Roast Trade #1: Mariners trade Raul Ibanez to the Chicago Cubs for Sergio Mitre and Ricky Nolasco. The Mariners pick up half of Raul’s salary for 05 (3.75M), the Cubs agree to pay the other half, plus his entire 06 (4.25M) salary. The cubs also pay Mitre’s almost non-existent contract (305K). Why Seattle does it: They need pitching, they need youth, and they also need to clear up some contract room. They are going nowhere in a hurry this year, so I doubt they would mind picking up half of Raul’s contract. That gives them one very good ML-ready arm, this year. And next year that leaves them with 4.25 million dollars in breathing room plus Mitre and another solid pitcher (probably in AAA, maybe even the ML Bullpen by then). Why The Cubs do it: They have a little bit of flexibility, money wise, this year seeing as how Nomar will probably not be paid the full 11 million dollars. That of course, is because he will almost certainly not meet some of the standards needed for the bonuses in his contract. Also, next year they will be rid of Sosa’s contract for good, and will have plenty of room for Ibanez’ salary. Furthermore, they need a better option in the outfield besides Hollandsworth/Dubois if they want to make a playoff run this year. Trade #2 This one is a three way deal. The Mariners send Jose Lopez and Jamal Strong to the Cincinnati Reds. Cincinnati will send Adam Dunn to the New York Yankees. The Yankee’s will send Chien-Ming Wang to the Reds. The Yankee’s will also send Robinson Cano to the Mariners. Ok, that was a lot of words. Here it is broken down. What everyone gets: Yankees: Adam Dunn Mariners: Robinson Cano Reds: Chien-Ming Wang, Jose Lopez, Jamal Strong. Why the Mariners do it: Cano is a great young talent. He is obviously a much better option than Boone, and much cheaper too. Jamal strong has been stuck on the ml/AAA line for a while now, and with Reed, Ichiro, and Winn in front of him, he probably would have been stuck there a while longer. Lopez is a promising Minor leaguer, but Cano has showed ML success on the big stage already. Why the Yankees do it: Well, they are the Yankees. They like big bombers that draw big crowds and hit big shots. Adam Dunn is that man, and even more. He has a High OBP, too. Also, King George is mighty pissed at their performance so far, a big gun like this would satisfy him. Yes, they are giving up Cano who is a very promising player, but I don’t see them having any problem replacing him with the way they spend cash. Same goes for Wang. He’s good. But they have money, and there will be at least one star pitcher on the market next year. Why the Reds do it: Like the Mariners, they are going nowhere real fast right now. And next year does not have a very bright outlook if they cannot get that pitching improved. Wang would give them a little bit of the pitching that they need. Lopez and Strong will give them more young talent. Griffey is not as young as he once was, and you never know how long he can stay healthy. Plus, while Kearns is promising, he was just sent down to AAA. An extra outfielder would give them a little more insurance. Lopez would be a great fit for them also. The Reds recently released D’Angelo Jiminez All in all, everybody gets what they need in this trade. As far as contracts go the Yankees will eat the rest of this year’s contract for Dunn. The rest of the players exchanged have no real salary to speak of, therefore the teams that inherit them will inherit the right to give them their paycheck, also. Trade #3 Trade three would be an immediate follow up to trade two. The Mariners trade Brett Boone to the Padres for cash considerations (roughly 1-1.5 Million dollars). Why the Mariners do it: Brett Boone has little value to this team. They now have a new 2B who is young and cheap. The two or three million would go to pay some of that killer contract of Boone’s (9 million this year). What it boils down to is a good old case of “addition by subtraction.” Why the Padres do it: Loretta is expected to be out at least another month. This would give them a more powerful version of Damian Jackson to hold down the fort at second until Loretta returns. Then they can release him to the hounds, or keep him to sure up their bench as the playoffs roll around. So after this is all said and done, they have cleared up a few million dollars in contract room; and they have gotten their hands on some young talented players. Vance The Orioles have a decent offense. They rank 4th in the AL in runs scored, 1st in SLG, and 2nd in OPS. The challenge for the Birds is that they trail both the Yankees and Red Sox in runs scored. That combined with being 9th in the AL in ERA will make it tough for them to hang on as it now stands. The Orioles biggest need is pitching. If they could add a bat that could serve as DH it could help as well. The Giants have fallen seven games under .500. They are ten games behind the division leader and 9.5 out of the wild card. As an aging team, they need to get younger fast. Without Bonds, the Giants are falling farther out of the race. They would be an ideal partner for the Orioles. (Note: I don't believe this trade takes place until right before the deadline. The Giants will consider themselves a contender until the last minute, but I'm predicting by the time the deadline rolls around the Bond-less Giants will be 12-13 out of the division and 10-12 out of the WC.) If the Giants are out of it, it is rumored they would unload Jason Schmidt. If healthy, Schmidt would give the Orioles the big game pitcher they lack. The Giants and Orioles have a history of trading with each other, and Angelos will want to keep up with the good press the Nats are getting. My proposal: Giants send Jason Schmidt to the Orioles for Hayden Penn, Jay Gibbons, and John Maine. The Orioles make this move to give them the big game pitcher they lack. The Giants make this move because Schmidt is a FA after the season. In return they get a young outfielder in Gibbons allowing them to trade Alou. They get two young high ceiling pitchers in Maine and Penn.

The Baseball Cube

Has A-Rod ever lived in the DR? Are his parents DR citizens?

Now that I live in MO, I'd have to go with the White Sox, although the Cards winning with the Sox throwing the series again wouldn't be too bad. :P

Colorado is finally off the hook for Hampton after this year. Florida is paying 11 million of Hampton's salary this year to keep them out of the playoffs for Atlanta.

I'm having a real hard time understanding this deal from Oakland's perspective. Bradford is a good reliever(if healthy). Even if they felt that his value was at it's peak, why would they take on another platoon corner OF?

About a year late, but Yahoo keeps splits from 1987 going forward, but individual years starting at 2001.