What does taking a 66-win team to a Central Division Title with an 85-77 record in a year's time get you? If your name is Lou Piniella, a 4th place finish in the NL Manager of the Year voting. Piniella received two first place votes, three second place and six third place votes....a total of 25 points well behind Bob Melvin of the Diamondbacks, who won the award, with 19 first place votes and a 119 points. Eric Wedge of the Cleveland Indians won the AL Manager of the Year award. The National League Cy Young Award will be announced later today....
The rumors surrounding the 'package of players' the Cubs were putting together to offer the Rays for Carl Crawford was squashed by a report in Bradenton Herald. According to the Herald "there is nothing in the works" with the Cubs for Crawford. There were several rumors floating around as to which players Jim Hendry would send to Tampa for the talented Mr. Crawford.
Here is the rest from the mill, including an addition, more on the Craig Monroe trade and a payroll hike? Updated - 7:50am C.T. with Additional Information on Kosuke Fukudome
The Cubs....
More on the Crawford rumors.... The Cubs were rumored to be putting together a package for Crawford that included Rich Hill and Eric Patterson, plus other prospects. Trading Hill could create a huge hole in a rotation that is not too deep. Teams can never have enough pitching, especially good pitching....and lefties with a hook, like Hill, is very hard to find.
According to a report by Paul Sullivan, the Cubs payroll for 2008 "is likely to be raised from $100 million to $120 million-$125 million." That is a $5-$10 million dollar difference between the report in late October from Barry Rozner in the Daily Herald. Rozner speculated then, the Cubs payroll would be around the $115 million dollar mark.
Felix Pie is getting a lot of attention this off-season. With the trade of Jacque Jones earlier in the week, the centerfield position looks to be Pie's, now all he has to do is earn it. Gerald Perry has already been working with Pie in winter ball. This week Pie received a visit from the 'Daily Double'. Both Ryne Sandberg and Bob Dernier paid Felix a visit. Pie is hitting .205 in the first 13 games for Licey in Winter Ball.
Speaking of Mr. Sandberg. Ryno said he would like to keep managing....stay tuned.
More on the Craig Monroe trade.... According to a report in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the Cubs will receive the infamous player to be named later from the Twins only if Monroe remains with the team. The Twins are apparently going to offer Craig Monroe a contract for less than the $4.775 million he made last year. The Twins have until December 1st to tender Monroe a contract for 2008.
Lou Piniella is looking for an athletic outfield. Alfonso Soriano is set in left field and the road has been cleared for Felix Pie, but who will patrol right field? Hendry said he is looking for a player "who can hit, field and keep baserunners from taking the extra base." How do you pronounce Kosuke Fukudome again?
Piniella feels his team is "not that far away" from being one of the top teams in the National League. Piniella was asked about the rotation for next year and he responded with:
"The only other thing is we've got Zambrano and we've got Lilly and we've got Hill."
When asked about Jason Marquis.... "Marquis didn"t pitch well at all in the last month of the season and that's another mystery. We’ve got to figure out why, because he's done that for the last couple of years."
Piniella suggested if Marquis would have been his fourth game starter in the NLDS, he might not have pulled Carlos Zambrano in the opener of the playoffs. Piniella has said he has not lost confidence or trust in Marquis....but one must wonder.
Barry Rozner thinks fans could actually own their seats at Wrigley soon....well, a PSL (personal seat license) at least.
Barry Rozner also brought up the possibility of a Matt Murton/Shawn Green platoon in right field for next season. He said Green is a good OBP guy, would "come cheap" and would be a better option defensively than either Luis Gonzalez or Geoff Jenkins.
The Cubs have shown interest in Geoff Jenkins according to Ken Rosenthal.
Around the League....
The Astros are interested in a lot of players and have begun making offers according to the Houston Chronicle. Luis Castillo, Randy Wolf, Scott Linebrink, Tadahito Iguchi, Kaz Matsui, Jon Leiber, Tom Glavine, Jeremy Affeldt, Troy Percival and Francisco Cordero top new GM, Ed Wade's wish list.
The Rays are looking at Troy Percival as well.
The Red Sox and A's will open the 2008 season in Japan at the Tokyo Dome. They will play two games on March 25th and March 26th.
The Cubs could have a new opponent in the Cactus League in 2009. According to a report in the East Valley Tribune, the Reds could be playing spring ball in the desert starting in 2009.
Geoff Blum said he would like to stay in San Diego but he will probably sign with the Astros.
The Cardinals are shopping Scott Rolen. John Mozeliak, St. Louis' new GM, has met with Rolen and his agents about Rolen's willingness to be traded. Rolen has 3-years and $36 million left on his current contract.
Michael Barrett is interested in playing in Colorado. Apparently the Rockies think Barrett is their insurance policy in case Yorvit Torrealba signs with another team....the Mets appear to be the front runner to land the catcher.
Update - According to a report by Ken Rosenthal, Kosuke Fukudome has received an offer from the Tokyo Giants and is "considering his options back in Japan." Rosenthal's report states Fukudome is expected to make a decision after Thanksgiving.
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What happened to the rumors of signing KAz Matsui for 3 years. Still don't want it to happen just havent heard anything.
Come on Fukedome come over to the Windy City. We will set up a karaoke Bar for you, what ever you want. Look how we rolled out the red carpet, right to his penthouse suite, for Soriano. Hell we will even sign a shitty 2B just so you will feel more comfortable. Even if you have a porn problem like Hideki Matsui, no problem. (HE brings a suitcase full to the brim with him on the road. Its a sign of virility in Japan)
That's a beautiful message Jim. Very thoughtful on your part. Geez!
Lol!
Woohoo! I'm virile in Japan!
:-)
I'm sure there's SOMEthing in the works - but the rumor mill has gone quiet since the Rays shot down the Cameron rumors... which doesn't mean anything of course. Trading Cameron makes too much sense for the Rays that it's simply not possible they wouldn't listen if an offer was sent their way. They would be smart to trade at least one of their OFers this off season anyway.
How sad is it that it's November and I'm looking at two days of no new rumors as slow? LOL
I heard that if the Twins can't sign Sanatana to an extension in couple weeks, they will trade him. What say you this? We trade Veal, Gallagher, and Pie for Santana, is that enough? Then we trade Cedeno, Patterson, some pitching prospects for Crawford. We sign Fukodome. And sign someone or trade for someone to solidify the pen, a lefty by chance.
Lineup:
Crawford- CF
Fukodome- RF
Soriano- LF
Lee- 1b
Ramirez- 3b
Soto- C
Derosa- 2b
Theriot- SS
Bench:
Infante
Blanco
Fox
Ward
Murton
Pagan
Rotation:
Santana
Zambrano
Lilly
Hill
Hart, Dempster, Prior, Marquis, and Marshall (fight for the 5th spot, if we don't trade any of them)
Pen:
Marmol
Wood
Howry
Eyre
Wuertz (for wuertz, ohman, and hart, they could be traded but i leave them here)
Ohman
Hart
FA or trade lefty
Is this a real possibility? Or would we have to give up more for the Santana and Crawford trades?
Phil, the Santana trade wont happen with those players, the Twins will for sure want somebody to step up into the rotation immediately. It would take Hill and Marmol probably. I like the idea, but trading for those two guys would kill our farm system and our future. Plus, what happens at the end of the year when Santana is a FA?
Honestly, if we get Fukudome and another arm, I will be satisfied. Crawford would be fantastic, but I just dont see how it would be a fair deal for us, we would have to give up soooo much.. But thats why I'm not the GM, so lets see what Hendry does
Santana is going to cost much more than that ... even for a one year rental. If he's dealt, I'd bet he goes to the Mets or Red Sox ... they both have a lot of young talent to deal. Crawford will cost more too ... for more realistic Crawford proposals see the other posts in this thread and the prior one regarding Hill/Marmol.
Anyone pay attention to Pie's .205 average in 13 games of Winterball... that is a cause for Worry...
I think we are seeing a Patterson Clone, just a highly touted one, that has most people pooh-pooing such a thought
Baron:
Right on about Pie. What's Plan B if Pie doesn't make it to May? Fuld or Pagan. And how is Pagan? Has gained all of that weight back he lost? I actually like Pie and Pagan in the field. Athletic and fast but can Pie hit the ball. What is it with our hitting instructors and the minor leagues. They hit lights out in AA and AAA and the fizzle when they get up here.
As I wrote before I would love Crawford. And though you have to give up players opposed to signing a free agent, but I would still rather have Crawford over Fukudome.
Also, I think everyone is being a little quick to judge Pie. Let the kid play every day at the major league level for two or three months and see what he can do. If I remember correctly there was a certain second baseman that was hitting under .200 after his first three months and that seems to have worked out okay.
I appreciate the honesty. I enjoy the forums on here...the other forum i look at...people are jerks and go crazy over an opinion people have.
Right there with you Brian. The Kid has a grand total of 177 career major league at bats. Most experts will tell you around 500 to 700 at bats is when you can get a good judement. I would also like to see Pie play everday before sending him out of here. He is only 22 years old. Put him in center and leave him there. Rookies will make mistakes. We learn from them. Every successful team has a mix of veterans and youth.
Jim and Brian, I'm totally with you guys on Pie. I would also suggest giving him a set slot in the line-up like the seven hole ... and leaving him there. In the past, the Cubs have thrown young players into key line-up slots like #1 or 2 or moved them all around the line-up. Give Pie a few months in a lower pressure line-up slot to see what he can do.
I agree David - I think we should stick him in the 7 slot and let hmi play every day - even if he doesn't hit to start with, his glove and arm will likely save us a few runs here and there.
...the key though is to have a set hitter for the 2 hole (which Fukudome would be perfect for) so Lou doesn't keep trying to figure out what will work there :-)
Hey Phil that wouldn't be PSD forum would it. I can't stand it there.
Mark, its a joke. Everyhting I said is true by the way.
NY Yankees Headlines:
Posada - 4 yrs $52 Million
Rivera - 3 yrs - $45 Million
A-Rod - 10 years - $275 Million
Cubs Headlines:
Jacque Jones Traded For Omar Infante
Craig Monroe traded for PTBNL
Pie hits .205 in Winter Break -- but give him a shot in the 7 hole.. hes a nice kid!
I will admit the Yanks have gone nuts and are overpaying to absurd proportions... but still..
why have we looked like the little kid-brother here..
Isn't this the 3rd biggest market for baseball...
I don't want us to do something as idiotic as they did... but how about something newsworthy at least... JJ, Monroe, Pie ??? Have we accepted that first-round playoff losses are the ceiling of our expectations... Is it realistic to think that a 'lil' tweaking will take us to the World Series???
Date: November 15th
Still early baron. They just resigned their players. Nothing major other than dollars.
Agreed Austin - way too early to worry.
Nobody else has signed anyone of note yet - so no need to worry.
And you said it yourself Baron - they overpaid to absurd proportions
$15 mil a year for Rivera at 38 years old when the highest paid closer EVER was Wagner last year at $10.5???? That's so far beyond absurd I'm not sure there's a word for it.
There's a reason they signed the players as early as they did (1) because they were their own players and had been talking contract for a while - the free agents have only been able to talk with other teams for 4 days after all but they could talk with their own team for months and (2) because at that price there was no competition on the market for the players to consider - the contracts were insane. It's not like the agents would look at the figures and go "let's see what the Angels or Cubs can offer" it was more like "sign on the dotted line now before the drugs wear off!!!!" Even ARod saw the writing on the wall - $350 million wasn't going to happen anywhere.
No need to panic Baron. Hendry has a good budget and no matter what you think of his moves he does work his tail off - Lou's a manager players want to play for - the Cubs are a legitimate playoff contender - great city - great stadium - great fans...
All things that indicate that we're going to get our share of the big time stud players that we target. Not everyone we target will come here, but obviously were a more attractive destination than most places right now for big name players to want to be.
Have faith :-)
On the Pie thing, lets not get to worried yet, he is working on new techniques with his swing, let him work it out and be ready for srping trainging.
Brian I am with you, I wouldn't be upset if we signed Fukudome, but I would much rather have Crawford, he brings so much to the table. It would really be nice to have both.
Personally I would would rather have Fukudome than Crawford. Crawford is a stud, no doubt, but signing Fukudome will fill a hole without creating a couple more, namely in starting pitching and relief if the price tag is Hill and Marmol. Fukudome probably can't do everything that Crawford can do, but Crawford can't do the things that Hill and Marmol can either.
Very valid argument jkoons. I agree. I prefer Crawford but the holes certainly cannot be filled with the existing free agent class. If it takes Hill and Marmol, I would not do it. But if it takes only one of them I'd go ahead.
It is unbelievable that there are no quality starting pitchers available. [That makes the KWood signing even more important for any club.] Because if his agent sells the idea that he could start at some point in the next season or the one after means that he can be signed by other teams for the price of a quality reliever instead of a quality starter. Personally, I think he will never be a starter again without getting hurt...but he could be a hell of a closer and asset for any team.