Saturday, January 31, 2009

Bruce Levine Notes and Others

On talking baseball on Saturday, Bruce Levine said:

Bruce said that Jim Hendry really wants Jake Peavy in his rotation and if he can't get Peavy you might hear the Brian Roberts rumors again (that makes no sense to me because Roberts only has 1 year on his contract yet and the Cubs just traded the Orioles Pie. The Cubs also pick up Miles to go with Fonty at second. I will be find with it, if they give up a discount). The only way I see them getting Roberts is if they trade Fonty, which I won't think will happen. He says you will start hearing the rumors again in March or April for a blockbuster deal ( when the ownership is pretty much resolve).

He also says that Cubs are either going to sign Aurillia or Millar for the 25th man roster (as a bench player).
Levine is hearing from good sources that Carlos Zambrano will not pitch in the WBC.
Levine mentioned 2009 needs to be a breakout year for Big Z.

The Cubs have scheduled 25 starts for Rich Harden.
Sean Marshall and Aaron Heilman are in the mix to take Harden's other eight starts.

The Rich Hill-to-the-Orioles trade has not been officially announced and according to Bruce Miles, Hill appears to be gone. Word of the trade leaked to the Baltimore press but the Orioles must make room on their 40-man roster before acquiring Hill from the Cubs.
Many think the trade will become official at some point in the coming week.

Jayson Stark began his Cubs discussion with the still possible acquisition of Jake Peavy, but revealed more concerning news regarding the sale of the Cubs.

"But does that mean this deal can get revived sometime soon? Not necessarily, because there are still major ownership issues. And no matter how much the folks at MLB might want to get the Cubs' sale approved by Opening Day, the timetable isn't solely in its hands.
"I don't think we're anywhere near as close to resolving the ownership situation as it looks," said one baseball man with knowledge of those machinations. "You have to remember [the seller, the Tribune Company] is in bankruptcy court. So if somebody comes along and says, 'We offered more money,' the court can say, 'You have to take the most money.' So there's no way of saying right now whether this gets resolved in two to three months or six to eight months."

So why does that matter? Because the Cubs can't add a $63 million contract without ownership approval. And there's still no assurance they'll have an owner before Opening Day. So how can they move forward on a deal?

Right now, they can't even get a tentative go-ahead from prospective owner Thomas Ricketts because he's still, technically, negotiating. And even after those negotiations are completed, the court still has to sign off."

Stark dropped his gem a couple of days ago, but as the saying goes....better late than never

On A side Note: It is Ernie Bank's 78th Birthday today.


I will always keep you posted on the latest Cub news.

Friday, January 30, 2009

Bruce Levine Notes

Bruce Levine has a couple rumors:

He says that the Cubs could start Peavy talk in March when the ownership is resolve or close to being resolve.
The Cubs are looking at Kevin Millar and Rich Aurillia as backup infieldiers. Nomar wants a full time job somewhere and not a backup.

I will keep you posted on more rumors.

Paul Bako

According to a press release, the Cubs have agreed to terma with C Paul Bako.
He will make 750K in 2009.

Rich Hill traded and other news

According to Chicago Cubs Online, the Cubs have traded Rich Hill to the O's for the all but famous player to be named later.

The Giants have sign Juan Uribe to a minor league deal.

The Cubs are still interested in Branden Looper and Randy Wolf, if they can't acquired Peavy.

The options left for the Cubs are Branden Looper, Ben Sheets, Rich Aurilia, Nomar, and Millar because it looks like Pedro and Perez are going to sign with Mets, and Randy wolf signs with the Dodgers. So the Cubs better make a move because they are losing out on players they were looking at.

I will keep you posted.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Predictions for 2009 Season

Predictions for when season is over:

American League:
West: New York Yankees, 91+ wins, Have about 7 all-stars on there team right now and should win division but will be a close race to the end.
Central: Cleveland Indians, 87+ wins, Upgraded in bullpen with Wood and got a good utility guy in Derosa.
East: Los Angeles Angels, 93+ wins, Good pitching and have a OK offense, should win division because Texas and Oakland don't have a pitching staffs.
Wild Card: Detroit Tigers, 86+ wins, Good offense and I see a pitching staff to rebound after last season.

National League:
West: New York Mets, 90+ wins, A really good offense and have a good starting rotation. The one fix they had to do this off season was to fix the bullpen and they did that in acquiring J.J Putz and K- Rod.
Central: Chicago Cubs, 92+ wins, Made there lineup more balanced and there division barely upgraded.
East: Los Angeles Dodgers, 85+, Only if they re-sign Manny Ramirez which looks pretty promising right now.
Wild Card: Philadelphia Phillies, 88+ wins, Good pitching and offense, that should be a able to compete with the New York Mets.

Playoffs:
New York yankees over Detroit Tigers in 4 games.
Los Angeles Angels over Cleveland Indians in 4 games.
New York Mets over Los Angeles Dodgers in 5 games.
Chicago Cubs over Philadelphia Phillies in 5 games.

Los Angeles Angels over New York Yankees in 5 games.
Chicago Cubs over New York Mets in 6 games.

Chicago Cubs over Los Angeles Angels in 6 games. WS MVP Aramis Ramirez

Awards:
AL MVP Mark Texieria, NL MVP Manny Ramirez (If signs with Dodgers).
AL CY Roy Halladay, NL CY Johan Santana.
AL ROY David Price, NL ROY Cameron Maybin.
AL MOY Joe Girardi, NL MOY Jerry Manuel.
AL EOY Mark Shapiro, NL EOY Omar Minaya.

ALL Star Game: NL beats AL, 12-9. All stars MVP David Wright

That is how I think the season is going to play out, so what do you guys think of that.

Rich Hill

Bruce Levine reported yeserday that there are teams interested in Rich Hill.

What teams might want him:

San Diego Padres- Could be a part of the Jake Peavy trade and the Padres need to cut budget and Hill is no making a lot of money.

Texas Rangers- Desperate of pitching and might want to take a chance on a guy who had stuff 2 years ago. Need pitching to compete with the Angels and Athletic's.

Oakland Athletics- The only thing they really need to compete with the Angels, is about 2 more starters. Last year they traded Dan Haren to the Diamondbacks before the season started and Rich Harden to the Cubs and Joe Blanton to the Phillies at the trade deadline last year.

Baltimore Orioles- They really don't have pitching and might need a couple more starters to finish around 5 hundred. They don't have a chance to compete with the Yankees, Red Sox, and the Rays but they can show a point that they could be a good team.

Seattle Mariners- They might need another pitcher to make spot starts if a pitcher gets injured, for instance like Eric Bedard, he had arm injuries last year and he might get them again. So they will need a cheap price player to step in.

Kansas City Royals- They have a lot of starting pitching but maybe to get his command back they will put him in the bullpen. They still need more pitchers in there bullpen.

Chicago White Sox- Don't like to spend money and like to take chances on Pitchers (Bartolo Colon, sign 1 year 1 million deal this year).

I put no teams up here on the National League because the Cubs don't want Rich Hill to come back and do really good and beat them for a win.

Those are some teams that I think will be interested in Rich Hill.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Buster Olney on the Jake Peavy Trade

UPDATE: ESPN's Jayson Stark siad that the cubs won't even talk about Jake Peavy untill the ownership is resolve, which remains far apart. He said that you might be looking at a deal (If one), late March early April.

Update: According to Tim Dierkes of MLBTR.com the Cubs-Padres deal that involves trading Jake Peavy to the Cubs isn't gonna happen. Things can certainly change at any second, but I'll keep you posted.

According to Buster Olney, the Cubs and Padres will start up the Jake Peavy talk because now the Cubs have starting pitching that the Padres will like. He also says the trade will be around third baseman Josk Vitters. Olney also says that they have more flexibilty with the acquisition of Aaron Heilman (Now the Cubs could trade Marshall and now use Heilman as there long relief guy).

I will keep you posted on this Peavy saga.

Cubs Rumors and Notes

Here are some news on the Cubs Front:

The Chicago Cubs have traded IF Ronny Cedeno and P Garret Olsen to the Mariners for P Aaron Heilman. ESPN's Jerry Crasnick Confirms. (I'm surprised Olsen was in the deal because that was one player that San Diego wanted in return for Peavy. I also think that the Jake Peavy deal is in place and Olsen was not in the deal and that is why Hendry made that trade.)

Bruce Levine is reporting that the Cubs are about, to sign Paul Bako to a 1 year 750K.

Bruce Lenine is also reporting that the Cubs are still looking at Juan Uribe to come off there bench. Also he says that the Cubs are still interested in Randy Wolf and Branden Looper, if they can not trade for Jake Peavy.

I will keep you posted.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

My Jake Peavy Proposals

Trade Proposals for Jake Peavy!

Proposal 1:
Padres get Marshall Olsen Hart Stevens Hill
Cubs get Peavy

Proposal 2:
Padres get Vitters Hart Olsen Stevens
Cubs get Peavy

Proposal 3:
Padres get Vitters Cedeno Olsen Hart
Cubs get Peavy

Proposal 4:
Padres get Hill Cedeno Vitters Stevens
Cubs get Peavy

Those are my proposals and I think anyone of them can happen.

I will update on the Jake Peavy news.

Peavy Update

According to Barry M. Bloom: The Cubs sale could rejuvenate the Peavy trade between the Chicago Cubs and the San Diego Padres.For the Padres, the deal could fill in several holes for now and future spots.

According to his sources, the deal is already in place and is waiting for the ownership to sign off on it. He says that there is "no question in his mind" that the deal will get done, and doesn't see the need for a third team.

He doesn't think that the Cubs would have made the Pie for Olson swap if the Peavy deal wasn't on horizon.

More to come.

Monday, January 26, 2009

Recap of offseason so far...

Recap of Cubs Off season:

Free Agents
The Chicago Cubs resign Ryan Dempster to a 4 year 52 million deal.
The Cubs did not offer a contract to P Kerry Wood and he then sign a 2 year 21 million deal with the Indians.
The Chicago cubs did not offer a contract to P Bob Howry and he then sign with a 1 year 2.75 million deal with the Giants.
The Cubs did not offer a contract to C Henry Blanco and he then sign a 1 year 750K with the Padres.
The Cubs resign P Chad Fox to a minor league deal.
The Cubs did not offer contracts to Daryle Ward, Jon Lieber, and Jim Edmonds. Those three players still don't have teams and are all leaning to retirement.

Arbitration Eligible:
IF Ronny Cedeno- resigned to a 1 year 822K deal.
P Michael Wuertz- resigned to a 1 year 1.1 million deal.
P Neal Cotts- resigned to a 1 year 1.1 million deal.
P Kevin Gregg- resigned to a 1 year 4.2 million deal.
P Chad Gaudin- resigned to a 1 year 2 million deal.
OF Reed Johnson- resigned to a 1 year 3 million.

Signed Free Agents:
OF Milton Bradley- sign to a 3 year 30 million deal.
OF Joey Gathright- sign to a 1 year 800K deal.
P Mark Johnson- sign to a minor league deal with spring training invite.
IF Aaron Miles- sign to a 2 year 4.2 million deal.
IF Luis Rivas- sign to a minor league deal with spring training invite.
P Mark J. Smith- sign to a minor league deal with spring training invite.
P Mike Stanton- sign to a minor league deal with spring training invite.
OF So Taguchi- sign to a minor league deal with spring training invite.
P Bill White- sign to a minor league deal with spring training invite.
C Paul Bako- sign him to a 1 year deal.

Departed:
P Kerry Wood- signed 2 year 21 million deal with Indians.
P Bob Howry- signed 1 year 2.75 million deal with Giants.
C Henry Blanco- signed 1 year 750K deal with Padres.

Trades:
Traded Felix Pie to the Orioles for P Garret Olsen and P Henry Williamson
Traded Mark Derosa to the Indians for P Jeff Stevens, P Chris Archer, and P John Gaub.
Traded P Jose Ceda to the Marlins for P Kevin Gregg.
Traded Jason Marquise to the Rockies for P Luis Vizicaino.
Traded Ronny Cedeno and Garret Olsen to the Mariners for Aaron Heilman.Traded Michael Wuertz to the Athletics for Richie Robnett and Justin Sellers.
Traded Rich Hill to the Orioles for a player to be named later.

Spring Training Invites:
Ed Campusano
J.R. Mathes
Matt Smith
Mike Stanton
Jason Waddell
Bill White
Esmalin Caridad
Andrew Cashner
Chad Fox
Ken Kadokura
Rocky Roquet
And position players;
Welington Castillo- C
Steve Clevenger- C
Mark Johnson- C
Darwin Barney- SS
Andres Blanco- SS
Luis Rivas- INF
Bobby Scales- 2B
Doug Deeds- OF
Jason Dubois- OF
So Taguchi- OF


About 5 days ago, the Chicago Tribune sold the Chicago Cubs, Wrigley Field, and 25% of a cable network to the Rickett Family worth about 900 million. The Rickett Family wrote a blog that he (Thomas Rickett) will take on the contract of Jake Peavy (63 million over 4 years).

The Chicago Cubs were talking about trading for Jake Peavy at the winter meetings, and then Jim Hendry pulled back from the deal because he did not want to give up that many players. Now that the Cubs traded Felix Pie to the Orioles for Garret Olsen, a lot of people suspect that the rumors will start up again.

So that is pretty much the recap of the Cubs off season so far

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Updates and Peavy again...

Nick Cafardo, is another baseball writer who says the Jake Peavy rumors will heat up again.

The Kansas City Royals ask about Cedeno and the Cubs said they want either Zack Greinke or Mark Teahen and now those trade talks are dead.

Lee Hamilton of XM Radio said the Cubs and Padres are still talking about Jake Peavy and the names he is hearing, Vitters, Marshall, Olsen and Hart. Hamilton also says that the Angels are in on Peavy and the players they are offering is, Jered Weaver, Nick Adenhart, Brandon Wood, and Reggie Willits. (The Angels was not on his list of teams he will go to.)

People on the West Coast are saying that Jake Peavy will be a Cub on opening day.

The Chicago Cubs are 1 of 5 teams interested in Ben Sheets. I think the other 4 teams that are interested are, Texas Rangers (Likely Destination), Yankees, Mets and Brewers

I will keep you posted on Cubs rumors.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Rumors on the Cubs Front

The Chicago Cubs have had discussions about Jake Peavy but also with Randy Wolf and Braden Looper according to the Chicago Sun Times.

The Chicago Cubs have interest in ex White Sox Juan Uribe, he will be there 25th man on there opening day roster (Uribe will be play second, third and shortstop as a back up). The Cubs also still have interest in Rich Aurilla to back up Ramirez at third and Lee at first. Other names the Cubs are interested in are Eric Hinske, and Miller.(To be back up infielders)

Bruce Levine is reporting, the Cubs are still interested in Aaron Heilman and the M's are still interested in Ronny Cedeno. (That will be a good trade for the Cubs)

A lot of people believe that the Cubs will land Peavy because Big Z throws to many innings, Rich Harden's arm, and Dempster threw to many pitches last season.

I will keep you posted.

Friday, January 23, 2009

About Thomas Rickett and Jake Peavy News

About Thomas S. Rickett
43 Years Old
Thomas S. Ricketts is the chairman and chief executive officer of Incapital LLC, a company he co-founded in 1999. Incapital is a technologically-oriented investment bank focused exclusively on the underwriting and distribution of fixed income products to individual investors. Incapital underwrites for several major U.S. corporations through its InterNotesSM product platform. From 1996 to 1999, Mr. Ricketts was a vice president and an investment banker for the brokerage division of ABN AMRO. From 1995 to 1996, he was a vice president at Mesirow Financial. From 1988 to 1994, Mr. Ricketts was a market maker on the Chicago Board Options Exchange. Mr. Ricketts holds an M.B.A. and a B.A. from the University of Chicago. Thomas S. Ricketts is the son of J. Joe Ricketts and the brother of J. Peter Ricketts, each of whom serves as a director of the Company.

That is the description of the Cubs new owner.

On other News (Jake Peavy)
Buster Onley says "there have been no recent conversations between the Padres and Cubs about Jake Peavy," but he believes talks could be restarted quickly given the Cubs' selection yesterday of the Thomas Ricketts group as the potential new owner.

Steve Stone said, he believes the Peavy deal will get done

There are some people that think the deal is in place and Hendry is just waiting for the Rickett Family to call, and say that he can make the deal.

The rumors will probably start next week.

I will keep you posted.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Quick Hits

Update 7;30: The Chicago Tribune is reporting that the Rickett Family has won the bidding for the Chicago Cubs. It is reported that the bid was 900 million. (The good part of this is, the Rickett Family said they will take on the contract of Jake Peavy.)

Update 5:20: The Chicago Suntimes is reporting that the Ricketts family is the favorite to win the bidding for the Chicago Cubs.

Competitions during Spring Training:
Carlos Marmol vs Kevin Gregg. (Cubs.com reports)
Sean Marshall vs Garrett Olsen vs Angel Guzman vs Jeff Samardzija. (If the Cubs don't get Peavy)
Koyie Hill vs Welington Castillo vs Paul Bako. (If the Cubs sign him)
Mike Fontenot vs Aaron Miles.

My guess is:
Carlos Marmol wins closer job.
Sean Marshall wins 5th spot in starting rotation. (I think we will get Peavy for 5 players)
Koyie Hill wins Catcher spot.
Mike Fontenot wins second base job with Aaron Miles being a utility guy.

On other news:
Kerry Wood thanks Cubs fans for his time in Chicago.

Note: There are 2-3 sources that either say the Chicago Tribune will know who the new owner this week or today (Thursday)

Note: The Chicago Tribune knows who the owner is and has not said it public yet.

That is it for right now and if I here anything on the Cubs Ownership I will tell you.

New Ownership update

ESPN 1000 is reporting that the Chicago Tribune Company is going to pick the winning bid today January 22. The three finalists, the Chicago Tribune is down to, is: The Rickett Family, Marc Utay, and Hersch Klaff.

On other news, the Cubs will not bring back C Henry Blanca, he signed a 1 year 750,000 with the San Diego Padres.
Now the Cubs might sign C Paul Bako to a minor league deal with a spring training invite, the Cubs want to give Koyle Hill a chance because he is also lefty. The only reason the Cubs will sign Paul Bako, in case Koyie Hill does not work out.

I will keep you posted on this excellent news.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

World Baseball Classic

Cubs players on WBC roster:
Carlos Marmol Dominican Republic
Alfonso Soriano Dominican Republic
Kosuke Fukudome Japan
Rich Harden Canada. (won't be ready for WBC)
Derek Lee United States
Geovany Soto Puerto Rico
Angel Guzman Venezuela
Carlos Zambrano Venezuela
Ted Lilly United States

That is something little I will show you untill the rumors start rolling again.

Michael Wuertz and other news

On Tuesday the Cubs avoided arbitration, by signing Michel Wuertz to a 1 year 1.1 million



The Cubs also sign P Mike Stanton and P Ken Kadokura to minor league deals and invited them to spring training with 19 others.

New Ownership

Update 3:15 Lee Hamilton, on MLB late night says , some sources of his said the Cubs and Padres are starting to renegotiate and the names he is hearing are Sean Marshall, Scott Olsen, Ronny Cedeno, Kevin Hart, and Jeff Stevens and Josh Vitters not being Josh Vitters not being involve. He says the first time the Cubs pulled out was because they did not want to give up Vitters.

If Vitters is not involve, that will be so good. I will not be mad for throwing Marshall in because the Cubs are able to keep there best prospect and if a pitcher has to miss awhile the Cubs have Chad Gaudin (who use to be a starter for Oakland) and Angel Guzman (Angel has started before and is a young guys that has a strong arm).

ESPN 100 and wsj.com is reporting that the Cubs will know who the top bidder an who won in the middle of the week. The Jim Hendry will go ask the new owner if they will take on Peavy contract (2 out of 3 top bidders said they will take in Jake Peavy Contract) and then that is when you will here the Jake Peavy rumors again.

On Mlbtraderumors, it says that the Padres either have to trade Peavy or Giles or even both. Brian Giles wants to stay in San Diego and he has to approve a trade, he decline 2 trades last year. Jake Peavy will probably be the first one traded because they can also get more prospects from him, and if Peavy gets injure during the season, San Diego is out of luck.

I will keep you posted

Monday, January 19, 2009

Cub note

The Chicago Cubs avoided Arbitration with reliever Kevin Gregg by signing him to a 1 year deal worth 4.2 million. Kevin Gregg will be a free agent next year.

I will keep you posted.

Sunday, January 18, 2009

MLB Predictions

American League East

New York Yankees- If you spend over 400 million dollars on the top 3 players, you are the obvious choice to win the division.

Boston Red Sox- Did not make as many changes like the Yankees.

Tampa Bay Devil Rays- Too young to compete with the veterans on the Yankees and the Red Sox.

Toronto Blue Jays- Lost Burnett and made no other changes, causing them to be in same position as last year.

Baltimore Orioles - Still in rebuilding phase, but are still trying to compete (Do not have as much money to spend).

American League Central

Cleveland Indians- Aquired a good closer (Wood) and a good utility guy (Derosa) will allow them to be at top in their division.

Detroit Tigers- Have a powerful lineup that will help them, but no pitching were will hurt it

Minnesota Twins- Will have the exact same record as last year.

Chicago White Sox- Gave some veterans away by trying to go for younger players like the Rays.

Kansas City Royals- Did nothing this offseaon and will be in last place again.

American League West

Los Angeles Angels- Lost K-Rod, but they replaced him with Fuentes (Still an easy division to win).

Texas Rangers-Has a really good offense, but no pitching (Still better than A's).

Oakland Athletic's- Aquired Holliday that will help, but still does not have any pitching.

Seattle Mariners- Lost Ibanez and never upgraded, causing a last place finish again.

National League East

New York Mets- With a fixed bullpen, they will end up in first this year.

Philadelphia Phillies- Will not win division, but will end up winning wild card.

Atlanta Braves- Will finish close to Mets and Phillies with pitching, but need a stronger offense.

Florida Marlins- Too young of a team will cause too many mistakes (inexperienced).

Washington Nationals- No major deals and payroll is not as high as other teams.

National League Central

Chicago Cubs- With a lefty in the middle of the order to balance the lineup, the Cubs should annihilate their division.

St. Louis Cardinals- Will come in second only if their player are healthy.

Cincinnati Reds- By obtaining the player they needed, it will be a toss-up betwwen Astros and Reds for third place.

Houston Astros- Good offense, but not that good of a bullpen or rotation.

Milwaukee Brewers- Lost starting pitching will cause the Brewers to crumble.

Pittsburgh Pirates- With no changes during this offseason, the Pirates are most likely to finish in last again.

National League West

Los Angeles Dodgers- Will only finish in first if they acquire Manny (Without Mannny, Dodgers will finish in second).

San Francisco Giants- Because of upgrade on offense and pitching, Giants will be close to finishing in first this season.

Arizona Diamondbacks- No offense or pitching will cause a third or fourth place finish.

Colorado Rockies- Losing one of their best hitters (Matt Holliday) causes a third or fourth place finish.

San Diego Padres- In Rebuilding phase (need to cut payroll).

Playoffs

Divisional Yankees over Indians/Angels over Red Sox/ Mets over Dodgers/ Cubs over Phillies

Championahip Yankees over Angels/ Cubs over Mets

World Series Cubs over Yankees in 7

MVP AL Mark Texieria/NL Chase Utley

CY Young AL Roy Halladay/NL Jake Peavy

Rookie of the Year AL David Price/NL Cameron Maybin

Manager of the Year AL Joe Girardi/NL Jerry Manuel

Executive of the Year AL Brian Cashman/NL Omar Minaya

What do you think of this?


Jake Peavy

Here we go with the Peavy saga again, but I think it will eventually get done.
My proposal would be:

Cubs get Peavy and Justin Hampson (I put Hampton in there because of Harden's shoulder, Marshall might have to make spot starts, Cotts being no use to the Cubs, Hampton being a little older to be on a rebuliding phase will put relief pitchers in the trade, and Hampton is a lefty relief pitcher which the Cubs desperately need).
Padres get top prospect Vitters, Cedeno, Hart, Hill, Olsen, and one player in the Derosa deal.

This is mine

Now what Jim Hendry and Towers will come up with will be pretty close in my opinon.

Cubs get Peavy.
Padres get Vitters, Cedeno, Hart, Hill, and Olsen.

On other news, the Cubs are close to arbitration elgible Kevin Gregg and Michael Wuertz to one year deals.

I will keep you posted.

Quick note

Kris Benson is going to work out for the Cubs next Saturday, along with the Dodgers, Diamondbacks, and Rangers.

Not major news, but something you may want to know.

Good News on Cubs Front

On Sunday the Cubs traded OF Felix Pie to the Orioles for P Garrett Olsen and Single A P Henry Williamson

This can be good news because this is the missing piece in the Jake Peavy deal in Vegas for the Winter Meetings.

Nothing is going to happen until the ownership gets resolved.

This trade is the best by Jim Hendry all offseason. (Good job Jim).

Now if Jim goes out and acquires Peavy, all those "Boos" at the Convention will turn into "Yays".

I will keep you posted.

Minor news on Cubs

The Cubs supposedly are 1 of 8 teams to be interested in Andruw Jones (MLB source) and are expected to offer him a minor league deal, but the source says that a team will offer him a Major league contract.

At the Cubs convention, Larry Rotchschild was asked about the health of Rich Harden and he said that Harden has a tear in his arm that does not require surgery and Larry said that Harden is not ready to throw off the mound after seeing him throw last week.

Harden said he is ready for spring training.

Now, maybe Jim Hendry will work harder on his pursuit for Jake Peavy.

We just have to see what happens.

I will keep you posted.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

5th starter

At this point Sean Marshall has the 5th spot, but there are veterans out there the Cubs can use

This is the order I would like first:

Ben Sheets Used to be an ace, but has had arm injuries. If he came back to his regular self, he will be hard to hit.
Andy Petite Starts 30-35 games a year \, but will only sign if he comes cheap around 5-7 million.
Odalis Perez A number 2 or3 starter on every team and will be a good 4th 5th starter on the Cubs.
Mark Mulder Will come cheap because of arm injuries. Can sign him to a 1-3 million 1 year deal. If he does not do good, just cut him. He is low risk that can be a good pick-up like Edmonds and Johnson were.
Randy Wolf A lefty who could be signed 5-6 million a year and will eat innings. Because of this, we could leave Marshall in the bullpen for a long inning relief unlike Harden who has a pitch count.
Pedro Martinez I dont like this one because he is old and he has a history of arm injuries, but if the Cubs can sign him to a 1-3 million 1 year contract, it would be okay.

NOTE: This is only a back up plan if the Cubs do not acquire Jake Peavy.

Quick Cubs Hit

Carlos Zambrano has to get lazer eye surgery so he can see the strike zone when pitching and hitting and he doesnt want to wear glasses or contacts

1 bad thing on the Peavy Saga is Ceo of the Padres saids Jake Peavy will be with us on opening day but also Jim Hendry hasnt call GM Towers back lately beacause he needs to get the ownership resolve but I think all in end the Cubs will eventually get Peavy

Cubs projections

This is what I think
Starting Lineup
Soriano 280 30 HR 83 RBI's
Theriot 298 2 HR 85 RBI's
Lee 290 22 HR 101 RBI's
Ramirez 286 34 HR 122 RBI's
Bradley 304 30 HR 115 RBI's
Soto 284 32 HR 111 RBI's
Fontenot 299 6 HR 67 RBI's
Miles 307 8 HR 57 RBI's
Johnson 295 4 HR 60 RBI's
Kosuke 281 4 HR 55 RBI's
Pitching rotation
Zambrano 18-7 360 ERA
Dempster 18-9 330 ERA
Lilly 17-7 450 ERA
Harden 15-4 260 ERA
Marshall 12 6 440 ERA

Starting lineup/rotation

What I think it should be
Starting lineup
SS Theriot
1B Lee
RF Bradley
3B Ramirez
LF Soriano
C Soto
2B Miles/Fontenot
CF Kosuke/Johnson
Pitching rotation
Zambrano
Dempster
Harden
Lilly
Marshall

Lou Pinella
Starting lineup
LF Soriano
2B Miles/Fontenot
1B Lee
3B Ramirez
RF Bradley
C Soto
CF Kosuke/Johnson
SS Theriot
Pitching rotation
Zambrano
Dempster
Lilly wont put back to back lefties
Harden
Marshall

Friday, January 16, 2009

Cubs 25 man roster

Here is mine I know it is early but here I go

C Soto, Hill
1B Lee Hoffpauir
2B Miles Fontenot
SS Theriot
3B Ramirez
OF Soriano Bradley Kosuke Johnson Gathright
SP Zambrano Harden Dempster Lilly Marshall
RP Gregg Marmol Vizicaino Samarjzia Cotts Gaudin Guzman

Just missed Opening day roster
Cedeno Taguchi Hart Pie Rich Hill

but changes to this to come by trades free agent signings

this is for right now

Latest on Cubs

The Cubs sign OF So Taguchi to a minor league deal probably to comfort Kosuke
So Taguch played for our rival The St. Louis Cardinals

The Cubs ownership should be resolve in the next couple weeks and then then the whole thing resolve by close to opening day

When Jim Hendry finds out who the new owner is, he will talk to the new owner and see if they can take on the 63 million left on Jake Peavy Contract
The Ricketts family who is one of the 3 top bidders said they will take on the contract
and that is when you will here the Rumors again my estimate 2 to 3 weeks

MLB.com is reporting the Cubs are quietly shopping Alfonso Soriano around

The Cubs also avoided arbitration with Ronny Cedeno on a 1 year deal worth about 700K

The Cubs might sign Utility Rich Aurilia to a 1 year contract to back up Ramirez at third base

The Cubs also have interest in P Randy Wolf to be the fifth starter (I would rather have Sheets and they are acking for the samr price) only if we dont get Jake Peavy

This week the Cubs Convention starter with the main questions who will be the fifth starter and who will be the closer for the 2009 season

So far the 5th starter is to Marshall

and the closer, Marmol and Gregg will battle for it

The trade canidates and people I dont see making the opening day roster is felix Pie, Rich Hill, Kevin Hart, Ronny Cedeno, and I have Angel Guzman making the bullpen but there are teams looking for starting pitching like the Diamondbacks and they only have 4 million left to spend this offseason

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Cubs signings

The cubs officially trade Jason Marquise and 1 million to the Rockies for Vizcaino

The Cubs sign utility Aaroon Miles to a 2 year deal

The Cubs sign OF Milton Bradley to a 3 year 30 million

People close to Jim Hendry said they expect the Jake Peavy talks to restart
Jim Hendry said he wants to add i more starting pitcher before spring training

MORE TO COME

Monday, January 5, 2009

Cubs recent udates by Waldo72391

The Chicago Tribune is reporting the cubs have sign Paul Bako to a 1 year deal worth about 500,000

The cubs trade Mark Derosa to the Indians for 3 minor leaguers

The Cubs trade Jason Marquise and 1 million to the Rockies for Viziano

The Cubs are set to sign Milton Bradley in the next week or two

GM Jim Hendry said he wants to add more speed to the lineup

Bruce Levine saids there is 80% the cubs will trade for Peavy with the trade around cubs top prospect Josh Vitters
I think if the Cubs do trade for Peavy it will be in the next month or so because that is when catchers and pitchers start meeting in Mesa Arizona
Also Bruce Levine saids that the new ownership has to be resolve befor they can take on the salarie of Jake Peavy

will update when I here more