With a little less than three weeks before pitchers and catchers report on February 13th, Jim Hendry told the Tribune he is not done with his roster. There are additions the Cubs would like to make before Spring Training according to statements made by Hendry over the last week. The same names continue to be mentioned on a daily basis without any movement. Could Hendry be on the verge of adding a couple of players to the mix or will the Cubs start Spring Training with their current 40-man roster?
Here is the latest from the mill, complete with more on a certain second baseman and pitcher, and notes from around the league....
The Cubs
The Cubs announced their minor league coordinators for the 2008 season on Tuesday.
- Dave Bialas will return for a sixth season as the Cubs minor league field coordinator. Bialas has been in the organization for the last six years and with the Cubs for 14 years.
- Bobby Dickerson was named the Cubs infield and bunting coordinator for the third consecutive season. Dickerson managed the Cubs Double-A team (West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx) from 2002-2005.
- Bobby Dernier will be the outfield and baserunning coordinator once again in 2008. Dernier was named to the position last year.
- For the fifth year, Dave Keller will be the Cubs hitting coordinator.
- Former Cub farm hand, Casey Kopitzke returns as the Cubs catching coordinator.
- As previously mentioned, Carmelo Martinez was named the Cubs Latin American Field Coordinator. Martinez was a Cub in 1983 and has been in the organization for the last 10 years.
- Mark Riggins was named pitching coordinator. This year will be Riggins' first with the Cubs. He has been with in the Cardinals organization for the last 12 seasons.
- The Cubs also promoted three scouts.... Jose Serra, Rolando Pino and Hector Ortega. There were also additions to the scouting department....Charlie Aliano and Bill Harford.
Mike Valarezo joined the Cubs front office after being a full-time scout with the Diamondbacks last season. Valarezo was named as a special assistant to the general manager.
Joe Sheehan from Baseball Prospectus recently stated which players he thinks will have a breakout season this year....Rich Hill received basically a honorable mention.
IGN.com graded the off-season of all Major League teams on Tuesday....the Cubs received a "B-".
Erik Bedard and Brian Roberts
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer wondered if the Mariners have less competition for Bedard than in previous weeks. The Reds are rumored to be out of the running and depending on the report, so are the Cubs. The Orioles appear to be down to the Mets and Mariners as a suitor for Bedard.
According to Dave Kaplan, the Cubs "kicked the tires on Erik Bedard but never discussed any players that they would deal to acquire him." Kaplan stated on his blog that the Orioles and Cubs have discussed the players it would take to land Brian Roberts and are "still actively pursuing him." Kaplan mentioned Bedard's medical records once again.
Andy MacPhail reminded the Baltimore Sun on Wednesday of his end of the month deadline to make a decision on Bedard and Roberts. The Sun still thinks the Cubs "are the likely landing place for Roberts" and the deal, according to the Sun, is expected to be Sean Gallagher and "one of the Cubs' young outfielders." Corey Patterson and Kyle Lohse are on MacPhail's radar if the team retains Roberts and Bedard.
Marlon Byrd
Dave Kaplan finished his latest post with, "Look for the Cubs to add a right-handed hitting outfielder who can play some centerfield by the end of next week." Read into that what you want. Kaplan did not mention Byrd by name, but he fits the description and rumor.
Byrd, Roberts and Bedard.... According to a report in the Tribune late on Wednesday night, the "rumored deals involving Marlon Byrd, Brian Roberts and Erik Bedard remain viable with some tweaking."
From Around the League
Houston there may be a problem.... The new Astros GM, Ed Wade, put a deadline of Wednesday night for Mark Loretta and Jose Valverde to reach a deal for the upcoming season and avoid arbitration. If the two players do not meet the deadline, Wade is prepared to go to arbitration. That is a great way to start a relationship with a new player....
Former Cub, David Aardsma was DFA'd by the White Sox on Tuesday. Would Aardsma be worth another look if it did not cost the Cubs any prospects....the Sox have 10 days to trade Aardsma before he would become a free-agent.
The Brewers signed Abraham Nunez to a minor league deal on Wednesday with an invitation to Spring Training.
The Red Sox will wear an ad on their uniform for the first two games of the season in Japan. The World Champions will wear an "EMC" patch on their sleeve. EMC is a data-storage company. The report on ESPN mentioned the "Chico's Bail Bonds" sponsorship on the back of the jerseys in The Bad News Bears. When the Cubs played in Tokyo in 2000, they wore patches on their sleeves for AIU Inurance.
Finally.... Phil Rogers tried to clarify his addition and subtraction article a couple of weeks back....he might have confused us all just a little bit more.
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Good Lord. Phill Rogers is actually trying to defend his +/- crap? By saying Eckstein is equal to A-Rod? Wow. He would have been better to just kept his mouth shut.
I just read on rotoworld an excerpt from the Mercury News about the Giants and their pursuit of Joe Crede. Rotoworld goes on to say how Matt Cain would be a good fit for the White Sox and also how the Giants have been dangling Cain in trade talks this offseason. Is it just me or would Matt Cain look awesome in a Cub uniform? Crede's value has to be a little down with his injury's recently and I keep wondering how the Giants would view Derosa (especially if we landed Roberts).
Just a thought.
Zambrano
Lilly
Cain
Hill
Lieber/Marshall/whomever
*that would make a pretty solid/dominant 1-4 in the rotation. that's a playoff caliber rotation in my perspective. plus I would like to stick it to Sox fans and Kenny Williams one more time this offseason.
Thanks Neil for a fine update--especially given that you are limited mostly to GM indifference these days.
I'm sure different GM's relate indifference, wisdom and budgets differently. The Reds could easily fill MacPhail's lineup with a proven ss, Gonzalez (.268-16-58 in 110 games) and a cf, Hopper (.329 in 129 games)and a young pitcher or catcher for Bedard plus a prospect--but don't do it. Maybe wisdom is prevailing. The chance of Bedard going down after committing top talent and dollars to get him is a lot more serious issue than it would be for say the Yankees and their unlimited budget.
So you have to give the A's credit for moving their ace quickly in the D-backs deal. And you wonder if the Twins and O's will go from wisdom to stupidity by expecting too much in trades and holding out too long.
Another area for debate is "our prospects vs. their prospects." Kevin Goldstein's prospect ratings in "Baseball Prospectus" were cited for the Cubs on this site a while back. He ranks prospects on a Five, Four, Three and Two Star basis. Not being a subscriber, I could only check the free listings for the Cubs and Braves.
The Braves have 2 five stars: Schafer and Heyward; 4 four stars: Lillibridge, B. Jones, G. Hernandez and Jurgens; and 5 three stars: Teheran, Hanson, Rohrbaugh, C. Johnson and Locke. Our Cubs have 2 five stars: Soto and Vitters; NO four stars; 8 three stars: Veal, Ceda, Donaldson, Gallagher, Colvin, Patterson, Castillo and Thomas; and 1 two star: Samardzjia.
The question is: Does this guy have much credibility? I do think the Braves have more top prospects than we do, but I also think Goldstein should have ranked a couple of our guys higher. If he does make some sense, then we understand one reason why JH doesn't get more done on the trading front. Maybe we end up with proven talent trades like Murton for Byrd with a couple of prospects sprinkled in vs. 3 plus prospects for a Roberts.
Sad to say in these times, I like Byrd a lot--but Isay be very thorough on the physical. Byrd is a weightlifter/body builder, and you hope he is careful about any supplements.
JimK,
Goldstein and Baseball Prospectus are well respected in the prospect rating business and among MLB. While it's obviously an art and not a science, I've read most of his prospect ratings this year and I think their reports are pretty good. And I also that think you're right on another point ... the reason JH has had trouble swinging deals is that our prospects (other than Soto and Vitters who haven't been made available) are not generally considered by other GM's to be as good as some of us Cubs fans think they are. Taking the Braves vs. the Cubs example, I'm familiar with 4 Braves rated as 4 Star prospects and I'd take any of them over the players listed as 3 Star Prospects for the Cubs (Colvin is the only one that could be arguable as he's probably just a notch below the Braves 4 Star guys).
Baseball Prospectus has a reputation of being top notch, and any opinions in there should be well informed at the very least.
David...Just ignore this request if you don't have quick access to "Baseball Prospectus". I "found" Lars Anderson, 20 year old Red Sox 1B and (my man) Seth Smith, Rockies rookie OF and likely almost a Helton clone with bat and glove. In my suggested trades for these guys on this site, one thought has been to have a future replacement for D. Lee. Do either get high ratings on "Baseball Prospectus"?
Anderson is a 3 Star. Smith is listed as just missing the cut so he's below a 2 Star.
Am I mistaken or is Kenny Lofton still a free agent? Is there any reason why he would not be a good veteran to add to the team and guide Pie along?
Trevor: Lofton seems like he would be a great mentor for Felix. Esspecially since one of the goals for him in the winter league was to become more of a "Kenny Lofton" type hitter. However with Pie and Fuld already in the mix it seems fruitless to bring in another left handed hitter. Its more likely management will stick to the plan and bring in a right handed hitter if anyone.
That being said, if the Cubs are to deal either Pie or Fuld, I would expect Lofton to at least show up on their radar.