Gammons on Mike and Mike this morning reiterated that the Roberts trade it will get done before opening day. He also said it seemed Roberts wanted it done too.

I believe Roberts will be a cub next week

I have never posted on here before, but I come to the website everyday. Like most of you, I have been in limbo about the Roberts deal the entire time. Deep down I have felt it will help, but it depended on who we let go. 3 prospects, I am fine. I just read a report that Ceda has been added. This means our top 3 pitching prospects and cedeno.....THAT IS TOO MUCH FOR ONE PLAYER

I just read on www.mlbtraderumors.comm from Gordon Whittmeyer (take it for what it is worth) that the Cubs have added Ceda to their package. The package would now look like Gallagher, Cedeno, Veal, and Ceda. And it mentions if it turned into a 5-2 trade, Marquis and Payton would be thrown in.
Man, three of our top pitching prospects? I have a feeling this deal could be done this weekend, if this really is the package they are talking. That seems like a pretty steep price tag.

Get the deal done! Every analyst I've heard from this season, says the Cubs will be in the playoffs, but only if they get Roberts. Sure, we're giving up some prospects, but we are already overloaded with pitching this year. Give some of these young guys a chance to play instead of waiting in the wings to make a team they may never get to pitch for anyways. For Cedeno, I'd hate to give him up, but he has had his chances and The Riot won that job fair and square. Let's get Roberts and play some ball!!!

Gallager, Ceda, AND Veal? What is Macphail waiting for, he finally has Hendry's pants pulled all the way down, time to pull the trigger.

Geesh. That's way too much to give up.

How can you not want this deal done and asap. I know its alot to give up but he is the one piece that will push us into having a legit chance at the big prize.

I actually like the deal. Yeah, it'd be nice to hang onto Ceda, but you have to give something to get something.

In my eyes, our top three pitching prospects are Samardzija, Hart and Marshall. And we're hanging on to them. Baltimore can have the other guys.

I think that this deal works for the Cubs. For of all you guys who think that this deal is too much, you are rooting for the wrong team. The Cubs have not won a world series for 100 years. Hendry has shown in the past that he's willing to move a lot of young arms for what he thinks is the missing piece (Pierre deal). Roberts is exactly the player the Cubs need. Leadoff hitter, high on-base, steals some bags, good defensive player.

Hendry would be crazy to not make this deal. It's exactly the type of deal that could put our team over the top THIS year. And to be honest, THIS year is all that matters.

I would go out on a limb and say that all 3 of the arms Hendry trades won't amount to a hill of beans when you look back at this trade 10 years from now.

High price but we get to keep our principal guys especially Pie/Hoffpauir...except for Ceda. Gallagher has shown me nothing, Veal is a few years away and Cedeno is not going to sit Theriot who is red hot this spring. Do it Jim.

NO WAY DO WE GIVE UP OUR TOP 3 PITCHING PROSPECTS. WE HAVEN'T WON A WORLD SERIES IN A HUNDRED YEARS AND HAVING ROBERTS ON THE TEAM DOESN'T GUARANTEE US TO WIN ONE EITHER. WE HAVE ZAMBRANO LOCKED UP, BUT LOOK AT OUR OTHER PITCHERS. MOST OF OUR PITCHERS CONTRACTS WILL BE EXPIRING IN THE NEXT COUPLE YEARS. IF WE DO THIS DEAL FOR ROBERTS AND DON'T WIN THE WORLD SERIES BY 2010, THE CUBS MAY BE WAITING ANOTHER 100 YEARS. PITCHING WINS GAMES, NOT 30+ YEAR OLD LEAD OFF HITTERS.

Lilly - contract expires 2010
Hill - in last yr. of contract
Dempster - in last yr. of contract
Wood - last yr.
Howry - last yr.
Eyre - last yr.
Wuertz - last yr.
Marmol - last yr.

Why do you think the cubs drought is at 100 years? It doesn't have to do with curses, it has to do with never developing our on talent. We always give away the farm for players starting their declining years. ex. (Juan Pierre, another must have leadoff hitter).

I hope Roberts can pitch.

Sorry, kynd3 I disagree

We haven't won a world series because there has been no dedication to win. Too busy making money off of Sold Out Wrigley field every day whether they were god or not. Until now.

As far as contracts running out, you could say that about any team at anytime. And its not like we wont be able to sign some of those guys back. We can afford to give up some of our pitching prospects.

I'll admit its a high price. but if your not going to include a Pie type prospect then this is the alternative.

And Roberts not a just a 30+ leadoff hitter. He's a very good 30+ leadoff hitter.

Greetings from Mesa. Cubs defense very good. Offense lacking. Theriot, Hoffpauir and Marmol stand out. Alfonso dogs it. Zambrano gave 1 run in four against the A's B team, but several balls were hit to the wall where Fuld and Musha made great catches. Details to follow!

NO WAY DO WE GIVE UP OUR TOP 3 PITCHING PROSPECTS. WE HAVEN'T WON A WORLD SERIES IN A HUNDRED YEARS AND HAVING ROBERTS ON THE TEAM DOESN'T GUARANTEE US TO WIN ONE EITHER. WE HAVE ZAMBRANO LOCKED UP, BUT LOOK AT OUR OTHER PITCHERS. MOST OF OUR PITCHERS CONTRACTS WILL BE EXPIRING IN THE NEXT COUPLE YEARS. IF WE DO THIS DEAL FOR ROBERTS AND DON'T WIN THE WORLD SERIES BY 2010, THE CUBS MAY BE WAITING ANOTHER 100 YEARS. PITCHING WINS GAMES, NOT 30+ YEAR OLD LEAD OFF HITTERS.

Lilly - contract expires 2010
Hill - in last yr. of contract
Dempster - in last yr. of contract
Wood - last yr.
Howry - last yr.
Eyre - last yr.
Wuertz - last yr.
Marmol - last yr.

Why do you think the cubs drought is at 100 years? It doesn't have to do with curses, it has to do with never developing our on talent. We always give away the farm for players starting their declining years. ex. (Juan Pierre, another must have leadoff hitter).

I hope Roberts can pitch.

That is a absurd price to pay for Brian Roberts. Jim Hendry should be fired if he pulls the trigger on such an absurd deal. He hold out this long and now he throws in more. If he would have waited until mid may I bet it would be Cedeno and Gallagher for Roberts.

Thanks Brian & Shaun. A great listen for a Friday afternoon at work.

Adam in Iowa has it right - our top three prospects aren't the ones we're including. Samardja is our top prospect and there's never even been a whisper of getting him involved in the deal. That's a good thing.

I'm all for trading the "almost" ready pitchers now and let the other arms in the system - the 19 and 20 year olds - develop another year. They arms we're trading away are essentially blocked right now anyway and once there's an opening, the next crop should be ready (along with Hart and Samardja) to step in with more experience.

kynd3 - it's not that we don't develop our talent - it's that when it comes time to test free agency, until the last few years at least, the players we did develop haven't been able to leave Chicago fast enough and our team hasn't been attractive enough and our management hasn't been willing to spend enough to pull players in to replace the ones that leave.

The Cubs had a crappy team in the 80's with the MVP and Cy Young winner... and instead of taking care of Dawson, they shafted him... which caused Maddux to walk and never look back. He loved Chicago and the fans (hence him coming back) but he hated the management and quite frankly so did I.

Things might have been a WHOLE lot different if we'd managed to look at the bigger picture way back then and took care of Hawk for his "blank check" contract and then locked up Maddux long term.

But that's neither here nor there anymore. The new regime is being aggressive and is locking up their stars while continuing to look to improve.

I love it.

Here's a reason though that noone's really talking about... a reason that trading our prospects away this year might not have as big an effect on "the future" as you might think.

Management has finally (thank God) come around to the thinking that the Cubs are a major market team - and as such realize that if they spend the money and put a competitive product on the field - they're going to make whatever money they spend on salaries back and then some.

The 2009 free agent class for starting pitching looks a lot more attractive than the class for 2008 looked. There are 35 free agent starters for 2009 (thanks to Cot's contract for the info). I'm not going to list all of them, because quite frankly I don't think we care if we can sign Steve Thraschel or not :-) But some of the list includes....

A.J. Burnett TOR
Paul Byrd CLE
Jon Garland LAA
Tom Glavine ATL
Mike Hampton * ATL
Rich Harden * OAK
Jason Jennings TEX
John Lackey * LAA
Esteban Loaiza OAK
Derek Lowe LAD
Pedro Martinez NYM
Matt Morris * PIT
Mike Mussina NYY
Mark Mulder * STL
Carl Pavano NYY
Brad Penny * LAD
Andy Pettitte NYY
Mark Prior SD
C.C. Sabathia CLE
Ben Sheets MIL
John Smoltz * ATL
Claudio Vargas MIL
Randy Wolf SD

A couple of those guys would be great on a 3-4 year contract. Others guys on the declining side of their careers would look real good slotted as a 4th or 5th starter. Sure it'll be pricey - but they aren't prospects. They're proven.

And there's still the July trading deadline deals that can be worked for one of these guys and a contract extension to keep them around. Sabathia or a health Burnett would be a candidate for something like that since it's possible both Cleveland and Toronto could find themselves out of the race by then.

The future of the Cubs though isn't tied up in the farm system anymore folks. Not solely at least. It's also tied up in them putting together a contending team with a legitimate shot at history that the other premier players want to be a part of.

I agree garyJ good point.

Clevland won 90something games last year and are most experts pick to win it all. There are 2 guys on that list that I would think about spending money on(which would be huge contracts). Garland And CC. Everyone else is a DL stint waiting to happen. Pitching wins championships not leadoff-hitters. Donny Veal is compared to Dontrell but better. Has more juice on his fastball and overall better stuff. Ceda throws a nasty 100 mph fastball with movement, Along with a nasty slider and has been developing a changeup. Maybe a future closer. You don't give away this kind of talent.

Someone on another site(sorry neil) made a point that the players the Mets sent for Santana wern't as good as the ones we are offering for Roberts.

I would make the deal Marquis, Cedeno and Gallagher. Any more than that and you are getting bent over.

I agree on the podcast - just let that nickname for Marmol die LOL

That explanation of Ceda's abilities are almost exactly what they said about Farnsworth. Wouldn't exactly say that we miss him much. They say that kind of stuff about every prospect. Doesn't mean that it works out. Bobby Hill was the next Sandberg is he even in the league. He clobbered the ball in AAA, couldn't do anything when he came up to the major's. Still not doing much.

I will agree with you on the Pitching winning Championships though. And if we could get another starter at this point instead of Roberts I would be all for it. But we're not. We'll seem to have a pretty good bullpen, Decent starters, and hopefully a pretty good lineup to make up for any short comings our starters put us in. Roberts give us other ways to win ball games other then the homerun which I belive we need in Wrigley field. Wind blowing in, its a pitchers park. Wind blowing out, its a launching pad. I think this is as much of a reason why the Cubs haven't won a world series as any. Hard to build a team around Wrigley field. But now we have Multi-taskers like Soriano(homers, Stolen bases), and Lee(homers, Average), Fukodome(all around). Like to have those stolen bases of Roberts at the start of that lineup.

By the way, it looks like I might of got my wish about Soriano being moved back in the lineup. Batting second was my original opinion on were he should hit. But I changed it to 5th because he doesn't need as much protection as other players would in that position because he can hit the bad pitches pretty good. But I do like him in the second spot, almost like a second lead off if the leadoff hitter doesn't get on.

If they go with that lineup, I see Theriot having an excellent season. With all that protection behind him(which he needs to do good) he could hit in the .300-.320 range with a lot of runs scored.

But Theriot will bat about .270-.280 if he bats anywhere elso other than the 1 or 2 spot though.

Good perspective points today!

In the event we get Roberts I wouldn't bat Soriano second. He's not a contact hitter, has little plate discipline, and strikes out too much.

I'd love to see Theriot behind Roberts. Ryan has a good eye for the strike zone, does make contact, and will be willing to do those little things (hit and run, bunt, etc) v. Soriano's mentality of the long ball.

So I'd prefer:

Roberts
Theriot
Fukodome
Ramirez
Lee
Soriano
Soto
Pie

Who do you pitch around in that lineup?

Also on Soriano, I was stunned to hear his comments on how uncomfortable he felt yesterday in the #2 spot. Now let's see, he only really leads off once, and now acts like he's never had a man on base in front of him before. What was with that? Geez!

Here's the thing about Ceda and Veal...

Just went out and looked at the top 100 prospects as rated by Baseball America. The Cubs that made the list were Fukudome (#30), Josh Vitters (#43), Soto (#47), Tyler Colvin (#75), and Gallagher (#82).

And Gallagher has 35 pitchers listed ahead of him.

What's it mean really? Nothing in the bigger scheme of things. BA is pretty respected, but it's just one ratings system.

here's my point though - those might be our top 3 rated pitchers (although I still think Samardja is in the discussion)... but just because they're OUR best prospects doesn't mean that they're really stellar prospects in the overall scheme of things.

Do I think they can do well? Sure - Ceda and Veal both have live arms and if they harness that power they could be special... but jerljr had a point - Farnsworth had a live arm too.

I agree though - it's a boatload - but when Roberts gets on base ahead of Soriano... causing Soriano to see a steady diet of fastballs.... OR when the weather is cold and the wind's blowing in and Roberts gets a bunt single, steals second, steals third, and scores on a sac fly....

It's a lot to give up, but it's a gold glove middle infielder and premier leadoff hitter. You don't get something for nothing. You HAVE to give up something of worth to get something of worth. And the fact is that prospects aren't worth as much in the overall scheme of things as proven talent.

The Orioles are rebuilding - they want prospects. The Cubs are THERE and need proven talent. Win win.

...and yes this might be more than the Mets gave up for Santana in prospects... but they also gave up $140 million dollars (plus he didn't want to play in Chicago).

I've been a strong believer in this trade for Roberts and I do believe he is worth 2, maybe, 3 good prospects. Homeruns aren't everything. This guy is a top 5 lead-off guy in the majors. He is an all-star and he is difference maker. Dont have to hit 500 yard homeruns to do that. Actually a good table setter like Roberts makes more of a difference in my opinion. Set the mood for the rest of the inning. but anyway.

More than the details of the trade and who we get for who and what we give up.

I like the idea of the Cubs management TRYING to win a world series. Going for broke. We have never had that. Never.

This is a team in the third largest markets in the league probably the most popular team in the league(next to probably the Yankees) and beofre a few years ago would never think of signing a Soriano, or signing a Fukodome, or trading for a having three starting pitchers makng over ten million.

I've heard the biggest argument against this trade and "going for it" is " it doesn't gaurentee a World Series" OK then what does??? NOTHING. NOTHING DOES. You could put the best team ever assembled on the field, With the top players form every position. The '27 Yankees would look at it and say "WOW, that's an awesome team" and it don't gaurentee anything. But does keeping all your prospects that may, but for the most part don't, become stars gaurentee anything? No. If it did the Reds, the Royals, the Devil Rays should have tons of World Series. Counting on prospects is a cheap way of running a business, thats all. Yes its nice when one works out, its a bonus. We've a a few(very few) Soto seems to be a nice player, Zambrano has been good, Marmol has been coming around nicely, Theriot I'm happy with, hell I 'll even throw in Fontenot. But hey, there only a few parts of the team. We had to fill in the holes that didn't develop with Yes, proven superstars by trade or by free agent signings. Would we have a better chance of winning this year if we didn't have Soriono or Soto, Lee or Marmol, Ramirez or Theriot. Hell even Zambrano. If you had to lose a player would you rather lose Zambrano(which I'm not saying wouldn't be a big lose or this one isn't close) or Lee, Fuko, Ramirez or Soriano.

For everybody that is saying that "we haven't won in 100 years because we lost all our prospects" name some. Who???? I'll start(I thought of some more since last night) Lou Brock, Joe Carter, Rafeal Palmairo, Gary Maddox, Dontrelle Willis.

OK I'm Done. Not saying there's not more but that's all I can think of right now. And these guys are from all different eras adn even if they weren't and they play during their prime on the same Cubs team. They still wouldn't of been enough to be a World Series team. I would take em, But they wouldn't be enough.

If we only had Bobby Hill, we wouldn't need Roberts(sarcasticly said). You're point is not valid. I respect it, because you guys are like me. You comer on this website to waste some time at work and read about whats new on the farm. How Veal is the next Dontrelle Willis(no offense Jim) and Pie can do everything from steal all three bases at once and hit .450 with his eyes close, and cook a mean plate of spagetti for Lou all at the same time. I get it. You fall in love with these guys and root for them, and want to see them do good. So do I. You a Cubs fan, so am I. Its part of it. But they aren't that, can cant do that, and more then likely(yes more than likely) will not be that. They have the "potential" but will more than like not.

I'm not putting anybody down. Don't think that. We're all Cubs fans and I love ya for it. We'll have a big group hug when Hendrey finally figures out what the hell he's doing and get us a Championship. And I'm not getting down on you for like the Cubs minor league players and thinking highly of them. Thats what your suppose to do. I live down here in Nashville and when teh Iowa Cubs come here and play this year I plan on going to see some of those players. But, I'm being realistic. Hell I love my girlfriend but she cant catch a softball worth a darn. Neil shut up!!!

I just saying we are going to have to break ties with a few of these guys to do this. Hope they have hall of fame careers wherever they go.

Sorry for the bad grammer.

And Neil, don't tell her I said that, she would kill me.

Worth mentioning - mlbtraderumors has a comment that they (quote) have it on good authority (unquote) that Ceda was never in the deal.

Why is it worth mentioning?

Because until Brian Roberts is sitting next to Lou and Hendry at a press conference saying how happy he is to be a Chicago Cub... EVERYTHING is just a rumor.