jtownie

This whole Soriano thing doesn't make sense to me. If they view the need to get rid of walker due to his defense how do they think Soriano is going to improve it? I know it's been gone over time and time again but hearing that Soriano has come up again just scares me that it might come true!! Would Bradley be acceptable as a RF?

Who is E? I think I missed that. I'm wondering if another trade is coming soon. It has been reported in a few places that Hendry made offers for two different players last night; one of which being Juan Pierre. The mystery "other" player has been said to not be a RH outfielder. Just curious as to whom they made an offer for.

Let's hope Jim is jumping into this party! With the previous reports of us possibly acquiring Lowe I am going to keep up hope that us getting Abreu is a strong possibilty. If not, the Dodgers OF would be Abreu, Bradley, Drew? WOW

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/5143766 Ken Rosenthal also is reporting.

On the flip-side this could inhance the chances of us getting Lowe and Bradley. They may decide to dump some salary.

i think another vital part of this from the mlbtraderumors.com report is that if the Cubs don't sign Furcal they will be going after Lugo as well. So potentially we could end up with Lowe/Bradley/Lugo.

Here's a thought. As a starting point I go back to a 3-way trade rumor I brought to the board weeks ago where the Dodgers, Cubs, and Marlins would play musical chairs with Lowe, Bradley, Lowell, Castillo, Walker, Patterson and Cubs pitching prospects. Obviously, the Marlins did get rid of their players. I still keep hearing that if the LA signs Furcal, they'll want to dump Bradley and Lowe in the name of salary (but also because of clubhouse reasons). What if they traded Bradley and Lowe for some package involving Corey or Walker and some pitching prospects, and Hendry turned around and shipped Lowe and a prospect to the Phillies for Abreu? Is trading Lowe/Bradley solely dependent on if they sign Furcal?

Lowe's contract is not bad, in fact I would say it's avg to good. Especially compared to what the market is dictating this year. he's making 5M more than Kris Benson correct? i think it's a decent contract. Wood is goinng to make 11.5M this year.

Hopefully we get Furcal as well. I guess having Lowe would give Baker an excuse to platoon Neifi/Cedeno at 2nd. This is the first time in a long time that I actually want the weekend to be over with fast. Can't wait for the winter meetings. There seems to be a lot more buzz this year than last.

As I asked on the Zambrano/Abreu thread, why not turn around and trade Lowe and a prospect for Abreu? Oh I agree, that would be much better. But I just wonder if users around here would still be happy if we traded for Lowe as a way to make up the loss of Zambrano. Would Gillick see Lowe as a top of the rotation guy that he is looking for?

What if he traded for Lowe and Bradley and then turned around traded Zambrano for Abreu?

Probably be really good in a few years and win yet another World Series.

That is interesting, and kind of strange. I understand not wanting to be haunted by your own player down the road, but wouldn't you just want the best package available? It's not like they have a chance in 2006, and by the time they are good again some of those guys' careers will be winding down or they could have been traded/signed by another NL team. In 99 I would have been pissed if the Cubs traded Sammy for a lesser package just to send him to an AL team instead of another NL team. Yeah I can understand not wanting to trade within the division but outside of it you only see a team at most 6 to 9 times correct? Very odd strategy and just another reason to be upset at FL management.

For the teams getting the players, it's great. But this is beyond disgraceful what the Marlins are doing. I know it's for financial reasons, but this is every bit as bad as the firesale before the 1998 season. It is a blackeye to baseball. The only redeeming thing is that the Twins aren't a big market team preying on the Marlins (unlike the Red Sox and Mets). Juan Pierre, your suitcase is packed. Athe same time they are picking up pretty good prospects and theoratically will be stacked with good players in 2 years. But realistically, we all know this has everything to do with them leaving Florida or at the very least getting a new stadium. the NL's version of the Indians. In a couple of years they have the potential to be a very, very dangerous and still very reasonably priced team.

And we couldn't give up those two to get Castillo? I wonder if something really is wrong with his health. His speed has gone away and the Marlins are giving him up for pretty cheap. He does have those leg and hip issues from the past. That turk isn't going to help any.

Here's a link for current stats: Stats Link I don't know how often they update those numbers, but Cedeno is at .347, .382, .400 avg/obp/slg. As someone noted yesterday on the Emergency board, there's no power there, but good avg & obp. Thanks!! Good stuff.

He's a SS/2nd. In the post steriod era I firmly believe those numbers are what most goood middle infielders will put up. Yeah with my SS/2nd basemen power just seems more like icing on the cake than a prerequisite. I'd rather take his defense and OBP skills.

Any idea as to what Cedeno's Winter numbers are up to now? Seems like everytime I check this thread he goes 2-4.

As was posted already, I believe that this is all a way for his agent to drive up the price. If he was getting offered what he wanted i would think he would have signed. I just wonder how much the rumors of the Cubs going after Pierre and then new suitors being rumored for Furcal are an actual cat and mouse game Hendry and the agent are playing.

I normally agree with you that it's always better to spend money than prospects, bu as Diffusion pointed out, this is Pinto's last option year. The other 2 players are not likely to be of note, so it's not like giving up Pie, or Guzman circa 2003. Also, I'd disagree that Pierre is a step backwards. Our CF's last season were awful Pierre is not as good as people think, but I don't think he's as bad as 2005 would indicate, but even if the truth lies in between, Pierre is a giant step forward over any in-house option we have at CF right now. Also, look at the possible combinations. Would you rather have Furcal + Kearns or Mench (just examples) or Pierre + Abreu or Giles? Yeah, I framed that unfairly, but the point is, if we sign Furcal there goes our last type A FA this winter. It also locks up a huge amount of cash when, coupled with Lee and Aramis' contracts, and Z and Prior's raises, really locks down our payroll for the next couple years. Gosh, I never thought I'd be defending trading for Pierre. :!: Even though it's Pinto's last option year, it's still not worth it to trade him for Pierre, that's why I said none of the above at the beginning. The step backward I was referring to was philosophically, not production wise. Also, trading for Pierre takes away from what you can use to trade for an impact RF, making the combinations you mention less feasible. I think it's still up in the air whether we get 4 or 3 Type A's, and by signing Furcal you keep the chips to upgrade via trade. While Furcal is an investment, we're also not far from having Cedeno, Murton, and Pie all manning positions at a cheap price. Again though, Eyre and Howry's contracts screwed this up, which is why I don't want either particularly. But it's not terribly difficult to trade a talented player like Furcal if the need arises, and I'd rather take that chance than trade players for an inferior player. What does it mean exactly if it's his last option year? I just wonder if his trade value has taken a hit due to this option year because a lot of teams don't want foresee him making the team in the next year or so.

Can someone help me out, sorry if this was addressed already....but don't the Cubs still have to make a roster move to add Eyre? If so, now 2 moves need to be made. Since the GM meetings are next week is it reasonable to think a trade is coming so taht we can add both guys and potentially Furcal?

Did Levine say anything about the Cubs or Sox possible interest in Bill Mueller? Yes, he mentioned him as going to the Sox or to the Cubs as a role player. I believe that's how he worded it.

Good post. Except that theory is completely refuted from the previous year. And the fact that the vast majority of playoffs teams have routinely scored more runs than the Cubs have the past few years always refutes that notion. It would be a terrible decision to say "if Houston and the White Sox had enough offense than so do the Cubs". It would have been as silly as saying "if STL and Boston have enough pitching, than so do the Cubs" after 2004. In addition I think it's very easy to make the argument that there aren't any SP that would be a MAJOR upgrade over what we currently have. However, there is at least one available OF that is a significant upgrade over what we currently have. It makes more sense to throw money at a position that has more opportunity for improvement.

With the restructured contract of Chipper Jones, I'd see if Atlanta would rather just resign Furcal and trade Chipper to the Cubs. Cedeno plays SS since he is one. Overall I'd prefer Julio Lugo.

Here's what is scary about Eyre: ERAs in 2000, 2002, 2004: 6.63, 4.46, 4.10 ERAs in 2001, 2003, 2005: 3.45, 3.32, 2.63 Last I looked, 2006 is considered an even numbered year. Well i guess in a positive way at least his trend is to get better when you take 3 year avgs in odd and even numbers.