According to a report from the Tribune, the Cubs offered contracts to eight of their nine arbitration eligible players before Saturday's deadline. Jeff Baker, Mike Fontenot, Ryan Theriot, Tom Gorzelanny, Angel Guzman, Sean Marshall and Koyie Hill were offered contracts while Neal Cotts was non-tendered and will be removed from the Cubs 40-man roster.
Neal Cotts could re-sign with the Cubs. Many think Cotts could ink a minor league deal and continue his rehab from Tommy John Surgery in the Cubs' system. But as the Tribune pointed out, Cotts could go elsewhere with John Grabow under contract for the next two seasons.
Bruce Miles thinks the Cubs will try to sign Neal Cotts to a minor league deal with a non-roster invitation to Spring Training.
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Cotts will end up back on the South side. If so, don't let the door hit you on the way out. JH has stockpiled lefty relievers the past two years, I'm sure we can get by without Neil Cotts.
Hey Neil, since Fontenot was the last player to reach super two status but had a lousy year, what kind of money do you think he will earn?
I know Fontenot didn't have the season we hoped for last year, but I think its possible that Rudy could have more effect with him and Soto than any other players on this roster.
Fontenot made $430,000 last year. I would think in the $600,000-$700,000 range.
Neil, I assume since you posted the link that you saw this...
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"Covering the Cubs, as I do, it's fun to sit with Kenny at the winter meetings. His approach is unique. He exudes confidence. He hates media leaks. He's got a good sense of humor. He'd be fun to cover."
*Bruce speaking of Kenny Williams
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Did you also hear the words uttered out of Hendry's mouth this offseason several times when quoted over the winter meetings, "I remain hopeful..."
Really?!? I hope Ricketts was paying attention to that. Do you recall Ricketts saying the word "hope" would no longer be in their vocabulary, as in, "I hope to offload the awful Bradley contract," or, "I hope to acquire an OF, pen arm, and bench help"....
LOL...Hendry is in fact, the dumbest GM in the game. He made the Cubs the laughingstock of the winter meetings, parading around a "mystery team", etc. in efforts to offload an immovable contract, then he does absolutely NOTHING at the winter meetings, while other teams made significant upgrades, still hasn't filled holes, and actually created another hole (power bat) by trading away Fox, getting almost nothing in return. In fact, as some have aptly pointed out, Fox was Hendry's "get rid of Miles tax". How ludicrous is that anyway? Who will we have to include to get rid of Bradley? LOL
Hendry has made the Cubs into a joke again...like the Norman Rockwell painting.
Aaron, I did and posted in Sunday's article. I found that very interesting.
Oh, and here's a few ideas for bench/pen/starting help just available today:
IF/OF-Kelly Johnson, Garret Atkins, Gomes
pen-Mike MacDougal, McClung
rotation-Scott Olsen
Mcclung might be worth a flyer. We already have Johnson on our roster, his name is Mike Fontenot.
But Garrett Atkins if willing to accept the role would do the same as Hank Blalock for us and serve as our corner infield backup. One of the many mistakes JH made last season was not finding somebody for this role after letting go of DeRo. Atkins will probably still see 250-300 AB's with Lee's neck and we know ARAM will have at least one 15 day DL stint this year. Not sure what he is making on his buyout from the Rockies, and I don't think alot of teams see him as a starting third baseman any longer. If he would be willing to sign for a million or mill and a half plus incentives I think they should do it in a heartbeat.
i think Atkins will get more than that from someone. His numbers before last year were awfully good.
But i would love to see cubs get him.
so that means forget it. LOL
I think Atkins signs a 1 year deal in $4.5 million range ... similar to the Pedro Feliz deal. Hopefully it won't be the Cubs.
I would like the Cubs to conisder Kelly Johnson. He can play 2B and LF and has some potential on offense. His upside is higher than Fontenot.
Mike MacDougal:walks more batters than Marmol. That's why Sox released him.
Scott Olsen: really? 11 starts, 1.72 WHIP, .320 BAA. 6.03 ERA. We want him?
Seth McClung: injured in 2009. Better than MacDougal or Olsen.
"He battled an elbow injury last season and struggled with his command (40:39 K:BB, 62 innings) after moving back into a relief role. McClung still has pretty good velocity on his fastball (avg 93.5 mph in 2008 and 2009), so he'll likely get a chance to regain his 2008 form (4.40 FIP) and compete for a job somewhere during spring training."
How about lookin at Kevin Correia, was he non tendered?
sorry, i just saw that he did, so much for that idea.