Rumors and Heroes?

Rumor Mill Updates on Greg Maddux, Todd Walker, Dusty Baker, Carlos Lee, Phil Nevin and Sammy Sosa

With the trade deadline less than a week away the rumor mill is in full swing and a couple of Cubs could be changing hats before long. The latest on Greg Maddux has the San Diego Padres interested in him. According to a report in USA Today the Padres' GM Kevin Towers said on Monday they have engaged talks with the Cubs concerning Maddux....just a reminder the Padres have one of the worst farm systems in the league. In the same article in USA Today they mention the Cardinals interest in Carlos Lee.

Now the rest of the rumors....

According to the Newark Star Ledger Todd Walker's future depends on which team lands Julio Lugo. While the Red Sox and Blue Jays are showing interest in Lugo it will be the teams that do not land Lugo that will turn their attention to Todd Walker. Joel Sherman in the New York Post said on Tuesday that the Yankees should go after Walker to add to their bench.

According to an article in Tuesday's Chicago Tribune, Paul Sullivan said it is doubtful that Jim Hendry will fire Dusty Baker this season and attributed the reason for finishing the season with Baker largely due to the injuries to Kerry Wood and Derrek Lee. Sullivan went on to say that with Lee's injury that likely means Phil Nevin is off the trading block for now and in the same article he mentions that Derrek Lee said he was not being shut down for the rest of the season.

And last but not least....apparently Sammy Sosa is making waves about his omission from the Hometown Heroes list that was announced last week. Sosa said he deserves to be on the list and several reports are indicating that Sosa is planning on making a comeback in 2007.

Well....that's the news and I'm sticking to it....

jim

Whether you like him or not Sosa is the greatest cub ever to step to the plate. There was no one who was feared more. If Sosa never got hit in the head no one would be talking him down like this. He may have been a bad guy but no one has ever been better.

Steve

Well then I guess I've been a hypocrite since Sammy was a skinny kid with Geri-curls on the south side. I didn't like him EVER. Sure, I liked when he'd hit a homer, but I like when any Cub hits a homer. I didn't like it because it was Sammy. I liked it because the Cubs just got a run. And a specifically said a run as in one run. The vast majority of Sosa's HR's were solo's. He almost never got the big hit, the one that mattered, the clutch single to drive in the winning run. Instead heâ€™s strike out screwing himself into the ground, when all he needed to do was put the ball in play. He hit 588 homers and 550 of them didn't matter. Who was cheering for all of those muffed plays in right? Who was cheering when it took him an eternity to dig a ball out the corner? Who was cheering when weâ€™d be down by a run in the 9th with a runner on 3rd, one out and Sammy strikes out? Who cheered when his cork filled bat shattered? That selfish egomaniac is, was, and always will be a bum. Here's a tissue Sammy. Cry me a river.

Sorry, I always get a little heated on the Sosa issue.

jim

Everyone here cheered when he would hit a homerun, run out to right field. He is the greatest Cub Ever. No one put up better numbers then him. Everyone that says anything bad about Sosa is a hipocrit.

Hubert

I read an article about that Sosa interview. That guy is sooo egomaniacal it isn't even funny. Woohoo, he hit 588 HR, he also has struck out over 1000 times.

Speaking of other rumors though, some of these Chicago sports writers are off their rocker. They seem to think the Cubs have a chance to land Alex Rodriguez. Are you kidding me? We already have a 3B whose numbers are currently similar, and who would be crushing A-Rod's numbers right now if he had had some protection in the lineup for the entire year.

The Cubs are a big market team. In terms of 2007, he should be gutting his farm system of these "athletic" and "slender" players for some punch. All this speed has resulted in the least runs scored in the NL.

I think the Ronny Cedeno experiment has failed, miserably. He doesn't take walks and he tries to hit it in the air too much. Murton, I can see as a nice utility player, but not as an everyday starter. Carlos Lee is a free-agent in the offseason and would be just fine.

Any trades should be top prospects for a Miguel Tejada type, and I think I'll pass on any Bobby Abreu speculation.

Trevor

Definitely agree on Sosa. On the other hand, guys like Ricky Henderson and Pete Rose are legends, not just in their own minds, but baseball legends period. They aren't perfect examples of what would be the ideal player, (which to me is more like Cal Ripken and Ryne Sandberg), but they are great in their own right.

Steve

Boo-hoo Sammy. Life sucks, get a helmet.

Mordecai Brown

Sosa is unhappy because he is not listed as one of the Cubs' best all-time players? Tough. He and his drug-assisted bat do not belong in the top five, any more than his leaky glove and his bad attitude do. I'm a big fan of the team players who care if their team wins or loses. The egomaniacs like Pete Rose,Barry Bonds, Ricky Henderson, and yes, Sammy Sosa, are legends only in their own minds. If Sosa was so good, why didn't the Cubs win more often during his tenure? They can finish below .500 without him, as they are again in the process of proving. If the list of the top five has flaws, I think it's in not considering players of earlier eras, like Phil Cavarretta, Charley Grimm, Cap Anson, and Stan Hack. It's easy to pick the top five when you're the Astros, Diamondbacks, Padres, Marlins, and NY Mutts. It's not so easy when you're the Cubs, Reds, Pirates, Braves, or Dodgers. Maybe a top fifteen should be listed for the senior teams and five for the Johnny-come-lately teams. Even if it were the top hundred Cubs of all time, Sosa wouldn't make the list.