Cubs news and around the MLB

The other news will be about old players on the Cubs or in the NL Central:

The Reds have sign ex Cubs Jacque Jones and Daryle Ward to minor league deals. According to Hal McCoy of the Dayton Daily News.

The Padres have sign Cliff Floyd to a 1 year and about 1 million. ESPN's Jayson Stark reports.

According to Jon Heyman, Ben Sheets is going to have elbow Surgery. He will be out at least until late July, early August. If everything does not go good, he can be out for the whole 2009 season. (At least the Brewers can't get him, but they already said they max out on there spending this off season).

Reed Johnson was one of 21 Chicago sports athletes to win a Comcast Sportsnet award.

The Cubs purchased the contract of catcher Shawn Mcgill from the Lincoln Saltdogs. Mcgill will be at Spring Training to help catch for all the pitchers that are coming.

Ken Rosenthal believes with the new ownership in San Diego, the Padres will still have to trade there ace Jake Peavy.

Cubs special assistant Gary Hughes was inducted in the Professional Scouts Hall of Fame.

Note: The Phillies are interested in Nomar Garciaparra and only want to offer him a minor league deal to play as a backup roll. He already said he wants a full time job somewhere.(I think the Cubs will offer him a major league deal around 1 10 2 million as a back up infielder) His agent says he doesn't expect a decision until spring training begins.

I will always keep you posted.

Chicago Cubs Contracts

I will put them in the order when they expire and how much they make this year:

Expires in 2008:
Geovany Soto 401K
Kevin Hart 392K
Angel Guzman 401K
Ryan Theriot 428K
Mike Fontenot 405K
Carlos Marmol 430K
Koyie Hill 475K

Expires in 2009:
Paul Bako 725K
Joey Gathright 800K
Neil Cotts 1.1M
Chad Gaudin 2M
Kevin Gregg 4.2M
Aaron Heilman 1.6M
Reed Johnson 3M
Luis Vizcaino (Club option for 2010) 3.5M
Rich Harden 7M
Lou Piniella (Club option for 2010) 3.3M

Expires in 2010:
Derek Lee 13M
Ted Lilly 12M
Aaron Miles 2.2M

Expires in 2011:
Kosuke Fukudome 11M
Milton Bradley 9M
Aramis Ramirez (Player option for 2011 and Club option for 2012) 15M
Jeff Samardzija (Club options for 2012 and 2013)

Expires in 2012:
Ryan Dempster 8M
Carlos Zambrano (Vesting option in 2013) 17M
Jim Hendry Contract Disclosed

Expires in 2013:
No one

Expires in 2014:
Alfonso Soriano 16M

Those are the contracts for 2009

Quick Hits

The Phillies and Giants, along with the Cubs are looking at Rich Aurillia.

The Padres and Cubs, have had no recent talks about Jake Peavy. (Probably because the ownership is not resolve yet).

The Cubs still have little interest in Branden Looper along with the Pirates. Looper said that he prefers to stay in the NL.

That is all I have right now, but will always keep you posted.

Trade Scenarios

These are some trades, that might help the Cubs:

Scenario 1: Jake Peavy
Cubs get Jake Peavy
Padres get Castilla Marshall Guzman Hart Stevens

Scenario 2: Brian Roberts
Cubs get Brian Roberts
Orioles get Fontenot Marshall Guzman RYAN FLAHERTY

Scenario 3: Chone Figgins
Cubs get Chone Figgins
Angels get Fontenot STARLIN CASTRO

Scenario 4: Delmon Young
Cubs get Delmon Young
Twins get Kosuke Castilla Hart

Scenario 5: Jose Valverde
Cubs get Jose Valverde
Astros get Castilla Guzman Hart

Scenario 6: Roy Halladay
Cubs get Roy Halladay
Blue Jays get Marshall Guzman Hart Castilla Stevens

Scenario 7: BJ Ryan
Cubs get BJ Ryan
Blue Jays get Marshall Hart BLAKE PARKER

That is some trades that might help the Cubs, so what do you think of it.

Michael Wuertz and Rich Hill Traded

According to a press release from the Cubs today, the Cubs traded Rich Hill to the Baltimore Orioles for a player to be named later.

According to a press release from the Cubs, the Cubs traded Michael Wuertz to Oakland Athletics for 2 minor league players Richie Robnett and Justin Sellers.

Both Michael Wuertz and Rich Hill were out of options, so at least the Cubs got something in return for them.

I will keep you posted on this busy week so far.

Michael Wuertz

According to the Cubs reporter, the Rangers and the A's are talking about a trade for Michael Wuertz. Michael Wuertz is another player, in the Cubs bullpen that is out of options.

Rich Hill Update

Here is some news on Rich Hill:

Update:Update: Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun says the deal for Rich Hill is going to be a player to be named later and could get done as early as Monday. Hill is going to, be working with his old pitching coaches (Who were on the Cubs staff).

Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun believes the Baltimore Orioles will complete a trade for Cubs left-handed pitcher Rich Hill by Tuesday -- if the Orioles will do the deal at all.

Schmuck writes that now other organizations are aware that Hill could be made available, additional teams -- including the Royals and Mariners -- could make an offer.

Orioles general manager Andy MacPhail might be waiting to see if he can sign free agent right-handed pitcher Braden Looper, Schmuck adds.

They might be willing to acquire both pitchers, but there is the small matter of moving players off the 40-man roster to make room, so maybe Andy is just going to take one or the other.

Hill, 29 in March, is 18-17 in 57 starts with a 4.37 ERA during a short four-season career. He spend much of 2008 in Triple-A.

Looper, 34, went 12-14 in 33 starts with a 4.16 ERA with the St. Louis Cardinals last season.

That is latest on the Cubs, but I will always keep you posted.