ESPN Report - Piniella Expects the Cubs to go "hard" after Alex Rodriguez
Updated - 6:27am CT - Soriano and Schmidt On List Along with Carlos Lee
According to a late/early report on ESPN.com by Gene Wojciechowski, Lou Piniella's presence is already being felt in Chicago before the official announcement is even made. Wojciechowski states in his report that Piniella wants to acquire Alex Rodriguez from the New York Yankees.
A-Rod has received a lot of trade talk since the Tigers swept the Yankees out of the first round of the playoffs. There have been several reports of an unhappy clubhouse and a riff between Derek Jeter and A-Rod. Since the rumors of Piniella coming to the Cubs surfaced, the rumors of A-Rod being reunited with his former skipper have been mentioned in several New York and Chicago papers.
A couple of reports over the weekend mentioned the possibility of the Cubs signing Aramis Ramirez and then trading him to the Yankees for A-Rod in a 2 player deal, others have mentioned it would require more than that to pry the $252 million dollar man from the Yankees. Rodriguez is owed $66 million from the Yankees over the last 4 years of the deal that A-Rod signed with the Texas Rangers 6 years ago, the Rangers will pickup the remaining balance owed on the contract, $29 million. A-Rod does have a no-trade clause in his contract but Wojciechowski is speculating that he would waive the no-trade clause to be reunited with Piniella.
ESPN TV has picked up this report as well, could this actually have legs? Only time will tell.
Update - According to a report by Chris De Luca in the Chicago Sun-Times, the Cubs are making Alfonso Soriano their "prime target" for building a team for Piniella and will attempt to put him in centerfield. The report goes on to mention Carlos Lee and Jason Schmidt being on their winter wish list and states that Juan Pierre is "not expected to return".
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I'm happy to hear Lou is a Cub. I'm just bothered to hear Rothschild might be back. I use to think we had one of the best pitching coaches in baseball till the injuries and that damn towel made their appearances. (What good pitching coaches are available?) Lets just hope he has absolutely nothing to do with those injuries and he puts the towels back in the locker room.
I've been reading peoples lineups for 07', and I gotta say its the same damn lineup with 1 new batter. One new guy isn't going to change things a hell of allot. I would love to see us trade A-Ram for A-Rod. Ramirez didn't do jack when we needed him. True he can hit the ball a ton and then some, but A-Rod can be much more productive in the 2 spot than A-ram will ever be in the 4 spot (team wise).
I say we trade for A-Rod.
Sign Carlos Lee(If you seen him hit in Wrigley you should know why) Platoon Murton.
Sign J.P. and hope his first half is as good as the 2nd half.
sign Schmidt.( A must)
sign a 3rd baseman. theres allot of diamonds in the rough this year, they would all play harder than Ramirez would.
Look at the payroll and sign another SP'r that fits the budget.
Completely realistic!
Trades are going to be the key this off season. If it were a lineup where I could make a few signings I would throw my 07' team on the board with the budget. But I'm telling you all, we might be a wildcard team, but I don't see a WS without a trade or two. Hendry MUST shake it up and make things happen. PERIOD.
Personally, I don't really want A-Rod. Now don't get me wrong. He is a great offensive player and he'll dramatically improve defensivly simply by leaving NY. I just think that Aramis is quite compairable and you don't have to give anything up for him. The reports I'm hearing are that the Yanks won't trade A-Rod to the Cubs unless Zambrano is in the deal. There is no player out there worth trading Carlos for. If in fact the Yankees will take Ramirez and Jake Fox then go ahead, make the trade and keep Piniella happy. I'm really excited that we have a manager that will hold his players and the front office accountable for their actions. When was the last time the Cubs had that? Don Zimmer? Change is in the air on the North side.
How about those Bears last night? What a game!
I don't understand why we would be letting Juan Pierre go?!?! Then again, I never understood why we let Lofton go either.
If a player is productive, but isn't resigned, it has to be a personal/political issue. Maybe Pierre didn't get along with Hendry...maybe he is mad Dusty is gone?
I don't know, and I don't care. All I know is that Pierre NEVER made excuses, always hustled, caught every ball in sight, stole more bases since a guy named Sandberg used to play 2B, and hit about .300! Oh yeah, he had, like, 700 at-bats...unbelievably durable and dependable.
So the Cubs let him go?
I like the idea of Soriano, but defense is important...has he ever even played CF in his life???
Trade JJ, move Murton to RF, and play Soriano in LF, and keep Pierre.
AROD would be fantastic, too...but who else do we have to include, besides Ramirez, to make that trade happen? I don't think it will happen anyway. This is the post-manager-signing frenzy that creates false trade rumors. Remember: managers don't get players, GM's do!
When Dusty first signed his contract, he made it sound like everyone under the sun would be signing with the Cubs, and none of that ever materialized.
I expect one big signing (Carlos Lee or Soriano), Ramirez to be resigned, and then a mediocre starting pitcher to be acquired...that would be more fitting the Hendry we are used to. Hopefully I am wrong, but I don't see them getting Schmidt or Zito.
Jason:
Pierre made several comments about Baker not being the one to blame for the Cub's failures and my impression is Dusty leaving is a big reason why we can't resign him.
On Soriano...I think he was very close to leading the league in outfield assists so a strong, accurate arm in the outfield would be a nice addition along with his bat.
I don't see the A-Rod trade happening, not enough to give back. I do think the Cubs can legitimately get one outfield bat (Soriano or Lee), a proven starter and an average starter.
There has also been some talk about Gonzalez coming to the Cubs from the D-backs..Some veteran leadership on the team would be nice as well.
Jason:
Pierre made several comments about Baker not being the one to blame for the Cub's failures and my impression is Dusty leaving is a big reason why we can't resign him.
On Soriano...I think he was very close to leading the league in outfield assists so a strong, accurate arm in the outfield would be a nice addition along with his bat.
I don't see the A-Rod trade happening, not enough to give back. I do think the Cubs can legitimately get one outfield bat (Soriano or Lee), a proven starter and an average starter.
There has also been some talk about Gonzalez coming to the Cubs from the D-backs..Some veteran leadership on the team would be nice as well.
I really hope that we don't sign then trade Aramis. A-rod would be great but whats the point of swapping the two and loosing another good prospect. Aramis had better numbers at the plate and even better numbers in the field. The idea of Soriano in CF is a little intriging although he can steal bases I don't know if he is a leadoff hitter. Carlos Lee would be another intresting propsect. I don't care if Jones is the only left bat in the lineup.... I don't want him out there everyday. I have said before, I would rather have Pagan in Right than Jones. Even better would be to trade him and AAA player for a 4th or 5th guy. Jones is to much of a liability on the bases and in the field for us to keep him and the whole " I might have a torn labrum" thing. I still haven't heard anything else about this. If he waits and finds out he needs surgury and is out a month longer because he waited. DFA him. Never liked the signing and want him gone. He came here to play for Baker. Baker is gone, TRADE JONES PLEASE.
Really sucks we are going to lose Pierre. I really like having him on my team. He's all buisness no excuses.
several thoughts....
* I don't think that we will get A-Rod either. The Cubs just don't have enough to get him. Trading Aramis for A-Rod straight up would be like a push.
* If the rumors about a bump in payroll are true I could envision the Cubs:
1. Restructuring Aramis' contract.
2. Incentive based contract for Wood.
3. Signing Jason Schmidt
4. Signing EITHER Carlos Lee or Alfonso Soriano.
5. signing Jason Marquis
6. signing Wade Miller
7. Signing Carlos Zambrano to an extension.
8. Attempt to trade for Ichiro.
9. Raise ticket prices.
* I really believe that the Cubs best trading chips will be:
1. Michael Barrett (Lou had Dan Wilson all those years. Defense first behind the plate)
2. Matt Murton ( It would be a risk, remember Raffy Palmiero?)
3. Jacque Jones ( If he doesn't have a torn labrum)
4. Rich Hill, Sean Marshall, Carlos Marmol, Juan Mateo, Angel Guzman. (I'm not for trading Hill, but I am sure Hendry would be tempted)
5. Felix Pie ( I would if you could get a guy LIKE J.D. Drew, Curtis Granderson. Someone who is already all-star caliber. Excuse the examples if they sound weak, but you get the idea).