Neil,

I'm not sure why that website said so, but there is no relation to John and Scott Maine.

http://diamondbacks.scout.com/a.z?s=247&p=8&c=1&nid=4475431

Thank you. I corrected my article for today.

get some sleep Neil

Today's Tribune is talking about James Russell...he went 14 1/3 innings giving up no runs with a 0.93 WHIP...and is expected to play at AAA this upcoming year....He's another Lefty reliever.

Maine/Gaub/Russell???

Hendry's got a bigger trade up his sleeve.

Suzy, I had not seen that report from the Tribune .. and just finished putting together my stats from the AFL...

If you are still up Neil...the article is there...checked the "most read section...."Cubs Prospect James Russell Shines in AFL".

Yea I saw it ... just a little disappointed, trying to give out a little different info.

Now dollow JimC's advice...I am.

Possibly ... but I know they are high on John Gaub.

And for the record ... the Kevin Gregg Era with the Cubs ended 24 minutes ago (11:01pm C.S.T.)

Zambrano in 2009. The beginning of the end.

It says right here that David Patton will not be in the majors in 2010. Oh, he might--might get a call up if someone goes down on the DL, but I even doubt that right now.

27 IP, 19 BB and a WHIP of 1.81. But he's better than Smardzijz (statistically).

Cubs used 9 diffo LF last year.

Andres Blanco, the SS that many are clamoring to start at SS for the Cubs next year, has played MLB since 2004--for the Royals. He's been two years in the Cubs AAA Iowa team, yet hasn't gotten 300 AB either year. Hit .285 and .304 for AAA Iowa those two years, and really had a big year in 2009 with 6 HRs. All his other minor & major league highs were 2 hr in 2006 (almost every year he hit zero HR). Otherwise he hit his 1st ML homer this past Sept.

Give him some juice and toss him in there.

If Hendry HAD to move Heilman in order to sign Grabow as Sullivan suggests...

How in the heck are we going to solve our other issues?

Milton's trade won;t help that way.

Levine indicated the same as Sullivan. I wonder if someone without 'Heilman Glasses' told Hendry how bad he actually is and the younger arms in the system could be as inconsistent and cost a lot less money.

That could be...but I wish they would have talked with him about Grabow as well.

I hope Ricketts is following the commentary on Hendry's moves.

Cubs' pen allowed 52 HR last year. (With Gregg and Heilman, it sure seemed like it was 5200 HR). Braves allowed only 33; the Yanks pen allowed 72.

Did anybody here realize that the Cubs had the fewest SB in all of MLB? 56 SB in 2009 with 34 CS! El Stinko! Funko was 6 SB for 16 SBA.

Cub's bullpen was 27th in MLB for walks allowed. Only Nats and Marlins walked more batters.

Yes and Yes ... sorry to say

LOOK OUT ON GRABOW!

I mentioned the other day the it is just like JHendry to sign a 30 somthing pitcher to a high priced, long term contract. I also mentioned that JHendry is making a mistake signing Grabow to a 2 yr, $7.5 million deal since 2010 will be spent mostly on the disabled list, and 2011 Grabow will be ineffective due to rust, age, and trying to overcome a surgery to his pitching arm.

So now read this:

According to Paul Sullivan, the Cubs will announce later today that they have re-signed John Grabow to a two-year contract. Previous reports have put the value of the deal at $7.5 million.

Once again, we’re witness to the power of ERA as a negotiating tool. Over the last two seasons, Grabow’s thrown nearly 150 innings and posted an ERA of 3.09, giving the impression that he’s a high quality LH reliever. Yet again, ERA misleads.

Grabow’s FIP the last two years? 4.37, thanks to an atrociously high walk total. The entirety of his low ERA over the last two years is driven by an 82 percent rate of stranding runners, which is just not sustainable. He’s succeeded by putting men on base and then wiggling out of jams, but that’s not the same thing as pitching well.

It would be one thing if Grabow had developed this knack for stranding runners by elevating his strikeout rate, but he’s not any different now than he has been for his entire career.

Instead, he’s just posted artificially low BABIPs the last two years, and by not giving up hits, he was able to keep the guys he walked on the bases. That’s not a recipe for success.

Grabow is a generic left-handed middle reliever, the kind of guy you’re fine having for the league minimum but that you don’t really want to pay any real money to. He’s eminently replaceable, but the Cubs have decided to commit real money to him over multiple years because he has a low ERA.

The Cubs have money, and $3.75 million isn’t going to drastically alter their budget, but this is just a waste of cash. Betting on reliever ERA is a great way to get burned, and given Grabow’s actual talent levels, the Cubs are unlikely to be very happy with how this deal turns out for them.

Is there any relation between Scott and John Maine of the Mets??

Scott is John's younger brother.

http://diamondbacks.scout.com/a.z?s=247&p=8&c=1&nid=3217214

That bodes well. John Maine is a steady starter for a horrific team. I've been impressed by John early in his career with the Mets. Lets hope his brother can get a grip on his control issues and turn out to be a steal for us.

I am SO happy to be rid of Heilman and Gregg. Both were such a waste of roster space. Both pitchers had to have demoralized the team. I mean every time they came in to the game with a lead, the usually ended up blowing it. I know that the players would never say this, but they had to have been thinking "crap, there goes the lead again"...just like all of us thought. I think that's why the back end of the bullpen is SO important. I know we had plenty of offensive issues this past year, but there were plenty of games that we should've won, but just couldn't hold the lead thanks to these two clowns. Hopefully Grabow and Marmol can get it done this year.

And then there is David Patton...he's still on the 40 man roster...are they afraid Colorado's going to take him?

RJ Anderson on Aaron Heilman: (don't laugh; it's true!)

Aaron Heilman joined his fourth organization in the last 12 months tonight. Last year Heilman was part of a three-way deal that landed him in Seattle. Prior to the start of the regular season he was shipped to the Cubs and today he avoided being non-tendered and was instead sent to Arizona.

Heilman pitched in 70+ innings for the fifth consecutive season. He did a nice job putting an uncharacteristic 2008 season behind him. His FIP over the past three years have been 3.86, 4.91, and 4.37, with the final two seasons coming with HR/FB higher than Heilman’s career average. He’s a slight groundball pitcher who uses a low-90s fastball, slider, and change effectively. Heilman has experience as a set-up man and the Diamondbacks seem likely to use him in the bullpen.

The return for the Cubs are a pair of minor leaguers.

Scott Maine is a stout lefty with impressive strikeout rates out of the bullpen. He’s 24-years-old and Drafted out of the university of Miami in 2007, Maine throws from a low arm slot and has a fastball that breaks into the low-90s as well as a slurve. The mandatory Tommy John surgery is out of the way and it’ll be interesting to see if deception is the key for Maine or if his stuff can hold up in the higher minors.

Ryne White is a short left-handed first baseman drafted in 2008 from Purdue. He’s shown the propensity to draw a walk but flashes few other skills despite a supposedly quick bat. He played some outfield in college and given his height, there’s a chance he could return there sometime in the future.

Considering Heilman was on his way out for nothing, it’s hard to say the Cubs lose out on this deal. Maine might be a useful relief arm sooner than later, and who knows what the future holds for White. Obviously this isn’t an ideal situation, but at least they didn’t pay a marginal reliever seven million dollars today. As for Arizona, I’m not sure giving up anything of value for a middle reliever is a good play, especially given Arizona’s placement on the win curve.

Rip...are you sure you didn't write that last part about 7 million to a marginal reliever?

Hendry is constantly getting ripped by

EVERYONE and still seems oblivious to it all.

Woody, Snyder is a minor league Free Agent right now.

Neil, what's ther deal with Cotts?

He had Tommy John surgery this year and is still on the roster...Do the Cubs give him an injury settlement/Release

him...or what? I know if he were healthy

he'd be up for arbitration.

Due to the injury and surgery, Cotts is arbitration eligible again this year ... and is still under the Cubs' control for another year.

I have heard/read he could be non-tendered.

Bill James on Felix Eugene Pie:

Minor injuries and ineffectiveness have limited Pie to 142 at-bats this season, but the four-hit game on Friday night lifted his average from .234 to .254. As long as he remains in Baltimore, Pie won't be more than a fourth outfielder since Nolan Reimold, Adam Jones and Nick Markakis have sealed up the three starting jobs for the foreseeable future, but that's probably the best fit for his limited skill set anyway.

Who fills the new 40 man roster spot now, Clevenger or Snyder???

Woody, as Suzy mentioned Brad Snyder is a free agent and can sign with any organization.

The Cubs have three spots open on thei 40-man roster right now (9:45pm C.S.T.). At 11:01pm C.S.T., they will have four more open spots. Free agency begins.

Rich Harden, Reed Johnson, Kevin Gregg and Chad Fox will be removed from the 40-man. John Grabow will be as well, but it appears to be just a matter of time before his deal is announced.

John Gaub, Welington Castillo and Blake Parker should be added by tomorrow's deadline. Clevenger could be added but reports have suggested otherwise.

I would like to see the Cubs re-sign Brad Snyder and add him to the 40-man roster. Give him a chance to take a bench spot in the spring. With Jeff Baker, Snyder could take over Micah Hoffpauir's spot and give them an outfielder on the bench ... and just not a first baseman.

yes yes yes yes yes!

OH HAPPPYYY DAY!!!

I immediately retract my statement on Hendry being a complete doofus... This redeems him 10 moron points.

1 question for all the smart people: why are all our moves addressing our bullpen when our offense was the 3rd worst in baseball last year??? hmm!

Baron, the easy answer is too many large contracts with no-trade clauses ... and really two open spots once Bradley is moved.

I believe our bullpen was our momentum killer every time we seemed to be ready to take off.

Today is a great day!!!!Bye HellMan! Between this donkey and KGregg we lost 17 games that were in the bag!! Well 3 were tied at the time they got the ball but still 17 L's. Half of that would have probably taken us to the playoffs as the Wild Card. Oh well, JH sucks but I cannot understand how he tricked Arizona in to such a BAD move...and we even got back people that can breathe!!!!! Wooohu!

I'm Happy as a Hippo...wanna go scuba?!

Smart people? Smart people?

Baron...you're talking to Cubs fans

here. If we were truly smart we would have run years ago.

But we are good people lol.

No answers...yet.

The only way this news could have been better was if he had been traded to another team in the Central.

It frees up some money, now to dump the rest. Maybe these little deals will add up to create a little space to sign a worthwhile guy.

Watch Heilman next year has 30 holds as a reliever for Arizona. Or if he starts in the fourth of fifth slot goes 12-4. That would be the way our luck has gone.

OH HAPPY DAY THAT HEILMAN IS GONE! GONE! GONE! GONE!!!!

He was hated by the Met's fans for blowing saves, so Hendry runs out there and trades for him as fast as he could. He couldn't throw strike one. But he and Gregg made a great duo to blow games late. How the Cubs finished above .500 with these two in the pen, I can't understand.

I had the pleasure of coaching Scott Maine in a colliegiate summer league here in Northern Virginia. Let me tell you that the kid is dirty. He throws in the low 90's with a wicked curveball. He could end being a great lefty out of the pen for the Cubs.

Thank you for the insider scouting report. Very cool ... I have read good things about him since the trade.

gmmiller,

That's good to hear...and it's always cool when you have a connection on the team to root for.

YES! Heilman Gone!

Basically we received these two prospects for Pie & Cedeno now. lol.

I'm surprised also.

Another Lefty too!!! Maybe Hendry is going to stockpile lefties and corner the market...lol

Raise a glass !!

More purging from the great off-season of doom (last year) !!

Yippee...

Next: Gregg, Miles, Bradley ?

Keep your fingers crossed.

Gregg's already gone and forgotten. Just Miles and Bradley, and realistically only one of them is going anywhere.

Boseph, to whom are you referring... Little Miles or the OTHER Guy?

I suspect if Hendry can find a 50%

taker of Miles salary...He is gone.

Although Fontenot may go before Miles

because of his super 2 status.

That's why I'm leaning more towards Bradley.

Now lets trade the other Aaron.

Big deall! Heileman was set to get a raise from his $1.675 mil, if kept by Cubs. Grabow is at $3.3mil. Net difference just over $1mil

Doesn't bother you!?! This is the best news we've had in a long time!

Adios Heilman!

Man, I love that!

It's a start...but if they make a move to obtain a reliever from the Nats to fill the spot, then it was all for nothing.

Must say I am a little surprised given Hendry's infatuation with Heilman, but this doesn't bother me one bit. I was never much of a Heilman fan. This slightly softens the blow of Grabow's salary and frees up another bullpen spot.