Once again everybody is overvaluing our players

Two years ago, Pie how are we going to live without him

Last Year it was Hoffpauer, "trade away Lee now and give Hoffpauer the job." This is all I heard. Lee ended up have the probably the best offensive number on the team last year. Hoffpauer ended up getting sent back to the minors after hitting in the .240-250 range. Wow, like Fox. The next star that we let go.

He will hit about .250-.260, hit about 30-40 hr abd strikeout 100-150 times but wont make many errors but that will be because he is the dh most of the time that he plays. And this is if he plays everyday.

The guy is a catcher trying to play in the field. You didn't see him do that bad in the field because he wasn't put in the field that much and when he did he couldn't get to anything.

You cant make an error if you cant get to the ball.

This is why I dont post on here anymore.

its all complaining, complaining.

You expect him to trade for Ron Howard or Alex rodriguez, etc. etc.

and compalin about who he does sign.

Soriano was the top free agent available the year we signed him. And other then last year would have to say has done pretty good job. Worth what we paid, probably not. But that the price you pay for the top free agent to sign him.

Bradley may not have been the very top prospect but he was in the top 5 and he fit the positions that we had available but once again had to overpay for him to get him.

Need a reality check. Jim hendry has tried to do more to better this team then any general manager in the 30 years I've been a cubs fan.

Johnny Chi said...

Trade Hak-ju Lee Micah and Burshner for Granderson sign Byrd

They should move Soriano to Second. Put Byrd in Left with Granderson in CF and Fukidome in RF.

Granderson

Fukidome/Byrd

Soriano

Lee

Ramirez

Byrd/Fukidome

Theriot

Soto

Pitcher

Hmmm, I like everything you mention but Byrd.

My post wasn't directed at Aaron, but at the general observations of Fox's defense.

As for Baseball America ... A year ago Baseball America had Starlin Castro at age 18 as the Cubs 7th best prospect. So they actually detected Castro long before Cub fans were talking him up ...

Exactly. He was 7th with no " defense" in the

3rd worse system on the MLB. And now he tore

it up and he is a God? He is now compared to a young

Hanley? Sorry but that is not detecting a "super" prospect

in my book. Baseball America is indeed a great

reference but has holes that are evident in cases like

this one.

Any way I think Fox problem

in this team was not his average defense, it was the

fact that we already had Bad defense in Soriano, Baker,

Soto, Fontenot, Hoffpauir and somebody had to catch the

ball. Now I would take Fox over Soriano any day.

As for Fox's defense, the following is a quote from an April 2009 CCO news blurb:

"Baseball America described Fox's defense as 'a notch above horrific' with substandard speed, range, hands and arm strength."

If Baseball America (one of the most respected evaluators of minor league talent) called Fox' defense a "notch above horrific", I think I'd go with that over some fan observations of a limited sample size.

Um David, I'm not saying I totally agree with Aaron

here but I'll tell you this much; if the people of Baseball

America were that accurate and knoledgeable, Starling Castro would

have been, at the very least, detected earlier in our system and we all saw Fox play so we can create our own opinion. Jake Fox was

playing various positions and he never, ever looked horrific; Imo he is

an average defender, no range but with a good arm. So baseball America knows but misses a lot of details unlike Aaron here... So I wouldn't exactly call Aaron "some fan" that made an observation of a limited sample size ok. If BAmerica did better research they probably

had Aaron on their staff.

** for the record I think trading Fox was not a bad move due mostly

to his age and what we got in return which I like more than others here.

thought I'd weigh in on this one....

First of all, we need to look what we had:

Miles- overpaid journeyman middle IF with no power whatsoever, average to below average defense and range (I say below average, because how many liners did we see that an average MLB 2B would've made at 5'11" to 6'0" tall, but got over his head? I can tell you it was a LOT, and he didn't even play that much, so what does that tell you?). Plus, he was set to make $2.7 million next year. He's nothing more than an overpaid singles hitter that has absolutely no value to the team other than he was a midget switch hitter. Hell, he couldn't even play multiple positions like Hendry bragged about when he signed him.

Fox- career .293 avg, .357 OBP, .528 SLG, 20+hr, and 80+RBI average in minors. In just 216 AB's at the MLB level at age 26, he had 23 runs, 56 hits, 12 doubles, 11 hr, 44 RBI, 14 walks, 47 K's, and a .259 avg, .311 OBP, .468 SLG

*he was also subjected to heavy doses of breaking balls later in the season, and struggled badly. However, a silver lining in it all is that it was his FIRST season, and a LOT of players struggle with certain aspects of the game in their first call-up. The thing with Fox, is that he absolutely obliterated fastballs, which you see a heavy diet of early in the season when pitchers haven't quite gotten the feel for their breaking pitches. I would have to believe if he'd been called up in April, he probably would've been at 30+hr, 70+RBI on the season, and that's not even exaggerating. I would also have to believe under Jaramillo's tutelage, he would've been able to adjust to breaking balls. Also, he had value to the team as an emergency 3rd catcher and had experience at 1B, 3B, LF, and RF, and played adequate defense if you'll recall.

So let's see what we got in return...First of all, we gained one 40-man roster spot. But the return outside of getting rid of Miles is downright horrible, and reeks of the DeRosa trade where Hendry tried to get cute while trading an affordable AND productive player. Want to know a scary fact? Fox, with only 216 AB's last year (taking into consideration amount of AB's and relative production of the other players) out-produced everyone in our lineup except for ARAM and Lee.

As many of you already know, I'm a BIG believer that high OBP in the minors translates VERY well in MLB. If you have a .280-.290 avg, and a .370-.400 OBP, then in my research, it shows that hitter will be pretty good in MLB if he's done so consistently in the minors. If the hitter is sitting at .290-.300 and a .340-.360 OBP, chances are, he'll be a middle of the road hitter in MLB. If he's sitting at a plus-minus 30-40 between avg and OBP, there is a HIGH likelihood, he'll crash and burn at the MLB level, even if his average is around .300. At the MLB level, you MUST be selective in order to have a good chance of success. If you have a high OBP in the minors, chances are you know how to be selective.

The guy Matthew Spencer that we got in the trade is actually worse than Fox was at the same age. His average season consists of:

.281 avg, .338 OBP, .463 SLG, and about 15+hr, 70+RBI and nearly 40 walks and 100 K's

*so...if you're looking just at Fox vs Spencer, we got hosed. After all, a .293/.357/.528/20+hr/80+RBI is superior to .281/.338/.463/15+hr/70+RBI isn't it? The avg, OBP, SLG alone should tell you all you need to know.

As for the pitchers we got, they're an absolute joke. Hendry is trying to sell Gray as a "power arm". Fact is, Gray only recently added velocity, according to reports I'm seeing, and the only true standout pitch he has is a fastball, otherwise everything else is below average. It was also rumored that his fastball was extremely straight in the low 90's before, making one think of Gregg, right?

But just to put things into more perspective for you, here you go:

Gray-28 yrs old next year, career 3.38 ERA (misleading though, because he repeated AAA 3 straight years, and had ERA's of 4.09 in 46 appearances, 4.39 in 54 appearances, and 1.54 ERA last year in 37 appearances---this brought down his average ERA significantly. His K totals aren't impressive, and neither was his WHIP). So, basically, this is yet another case of Hendry over-hyping a mediocre player in a trade to save face.

*we gained an old "never was" prospect, so there's no gain whatsoever, considering he had to be added to the 40-man. It's essentially like adding a crappier version of David Patton to our roster. How'd that turn out for us?!? Don't believe me? Perhaps you want to look it up for yourself:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=patton001dav

Ironically, both were used as starters too at some point early in their minor league careers. Similar K totals, similar WHIP, similar ERA, similar ages. Patton was awful. Gray will most certainly be awful too, and I know that because 9 times out of 10, historical stats will predict future success (or lack thereof)

Next...let's take a look at Ronny Morla:

22 yrs old next season, 4.11 career ERA. (2 straight years in Dominican Rookie League, then 2 straight years in short season. Reports say low 90's fastball, decent changeup. For his competition and his age, it appears he's already a dud

The thing I always look at with Hendry's trades are present values (current stats) at certain age, and compare apples to apples. Yes, players can develop at different rates, have better coaching, etc., but overall, it's a pretty good gauge.

I took the same approach to the trade he made with the Pirates.

Hart for Grabow

Ascanio and Harrison for Gorzelanny

Hart=young and versatile (equally good as starter and reliever, great fastball and slider)

Grabow=30, no above average pitches, and actually worse at getting lefties out than righties, PLUS, earned about 10 times what Hart earned

Ascanio=young, excellent fastball and slider, also versatile, and actually did better as starter in the minors and had high K totals.

Harrison=young, did very well in low-A, high avg, great speed

Gorzelanny=average MLB starter that had just one good season.

While Hart and Ascanio (injured) fizzled for the Pirates, at face value, Hendry got hosed in that trade too.

Fact is, guys like Pie, Cedeno, Hart, Ascanio, and Fox held value across the league, but Hendry lacked creativity to get good value in return.

For instance, the Rays need a power bat for their DH, plus pitching, and even catching. Wouldn't it have made sense to have included Fox in a deal swapping Bradley as part of an expanded package including other Cubs players going to the Rays in exchange for BJ Upton and Burrell (who'd then be flipped).

OR...if Hendry was so intent on acquring Granderson, it would've made sense to include Fox in that deal (though I'm not sold on Granderson being the answer for us anyhow).

Yes, I know Miles sucks, and it was a salary dump...and 3 players for 1 1/2 (I'm counting Miles as a 1/2 player) is a pretty good haul...but is it really? Or....is it just quantity over quality? As with most Hendry trades, it's quantity over quality, and he almost always gets burned. I have a feeling he could've substituted Fontenot for Fox, and still received the same return, but he didn't, and that's why he's one of the worst GM's in the game, and it's also why this offseason will be very painful to watch, as well as next season in general.

So...let me get this straight...our only true power hitters on our team right now are Lee and ARAM. Soriano can't be counted on...with only 20 last year and regressing every year since he joined the Cubs. Soto had one good year where he showed power. Fox, at least had proven in the minors AND MLB that he was a power threat.

Fukudome=approx 10 hr

Theriot=7 hr at most

Fuld/Adduci=5 hr at most

Soto=approx 10 hr, maybe less if you look at his minor league historicals

Baker/Fontenot=10 hr at most

none of these players are RBI threats either, and only Fukudome represents a decent OBP threat. At least Fox as a LF option, 3B fill-in (in event of ARAM injury), and RF would've given us power/RBI threat we so desperately need. Who are we going to find via trade/FA that's a power/RBI threat?!?

Cameron? at 37 yrs old, that'd be an absolute joke if we sign him. Dunn? Not a chance Hendry trades for him, and rumor has it the Nats don't want to trade him anyway now. Granderson? I don't know about all of you but Granderson, IMO is almost exactly the same player Jacque Jones was at the same age, only Granderson is much faster and has a better arm in the OF. Same power, same RBI, nearly the same average and OBP...How'd Jones work for us btw?!?

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is we're stuck with what we have, and I fully anticipate Hendry re-signing Reed Johnson so he can platoon with Fukudome or whomever we sign for CF (unlikely). I've had varying thoughts this offseason on our roster, but I think we'll see something like this:

Z

Dempster

Wells

Gorzelanny

Samardzija

*Lilly on DL to start season

pen: Gray (so Hendry can prove a point...even though it's futile), Caridad, Berg, Marshall, Grabow, Guzman, Marmol

C-Soto

1B-Lee

2B-Baker

SS-Theriot

3B-ARAM

LF-Soriano

CF-Fuld/Johnson

RF-Fukudome

bench: K Hill, Blanco, Fontenot, Johnson/Fuld, Hoffpauir

I'd be willing to wager a good amount of money that at least 23 of the 25 I just listed will be on our Opening Day roster.

Do we have anyone to trade without a no-trade clause? We have all of our relievers (except for Grabow, because you can't trade a recently signed FA until June),Soto, Wells, Gorzelanny, Fontenot, Baker, Hoffpauir, K Hill, Theriot, Colvin, and Fuld. (Blanco, Fontenot, and Wells can refuse outright assignments to the minors and become free agents) Only Theriot, Soto, and Wells have any real value, and all 3 are virtually guaranteed to stick with the team next season, and Ricketts and Hendry have already been on record saying they're not trading top prospects...so how do you improve then?

Mark...

you clearly dont really know baseball that well. Jake Fox is a great story and played exceptionally well in his short time but was becoming more and more exposed (hence the .259 BA) as a AAAA hitter and theres a reason hes a 28 year old 'prospect'

He is a decent low cost option for a small market AL team that does not have hopes for a division title (ie, Oakland)

He is most likely the only reason we were able to rid ourselves of that pisspoor midget Miles and save almost 2 million in the process.

It was a very sound trade by Hendry and hopefully we will shortly be able to turn Milton Bradley into Luis Castillo and trade for Granderson.

Joel, hahaha... I know a lot more than you do, buddy!

EVERYONE, like you who "doesn't know baseball" at a professional level, knows that when yoiu have a guy that you built and can hit (hes' shown that in his 1/4 of a year at the plate) where people like you who "don't know baseball" at a professional level should know that the differnce between a professional talent and an amateur is AN ARM and one who can HIT (speed also). Fox has an arm and can hit.

Screw Miles, he was a piece of crap and had NO business on this team. Hendrey got rid of him, GREAT but included Fox (like I said earlier and I'll say it again) is a hitter and has an arm, plus is kind of young (28 isn't old), played ball mat Michigan, has a GREAT WORK ETHIC, can catch if needed, and was in our fram system. Pinella din't like him, who knows why, YOU DON"T KNOW, PLUS Hendey gave another 1 million. ALL THIS to clean uo his shit he made last year with Miles.

Don't make a comment like you know so much more than me buddy.....cause you don't. I'd appreciate it if you just keep you frustration and opinions about someone to yourself. THIS, CCO, IS A FREE SPEECH BLOGG WITH ONE'S OPINION....that's why it great.....don't ruin it.

Well, I'm on the bus "Henry is a freakin idiot" bus. That was a dumb ass trade. Jake Fox is a hitter and since he's a PROFESSIONAL baseball player who can catch which means he has an arm, means he can play left feild AT LEAST for the Cubs and save Soriano from looking like an ASS CLOWN! It's not looking good so far. BUT at least Miles is gone, he really sucks ass!

Suzy hit the nail on the head with 4 words. Hurray, MILES is GONE!! Thats all that matters in this deal. Didn't matter what we received in return. Bag of balls, a gatorade machine, whatever. Fox has no room in the Cubs lineup - give him a chance to make a name for himself. He flat out is not a NL player.

We dumped over a million in salary and added more prospects. Hendry has some grand scheme he is working here. It will all play out next week at the meetings. But he is scooping up prospects left and right for whatever he can trade. Something bigger is coming, I am just going to sit back and enjoy the ride, whether its Hendrys roller coaster out of town, or Lou's Last Hoorah bringing a championship to this city. I have no feelings for the 2010 season, just going to sit back and see what happens. Next offseason will be when Tom Ricketts makes his mark on the Chicago Cubs, and I have a feeling we will be in for a treat.

Some fantasy baseball site had this to say about Gray:

Going to the Cubs is 28 year old right-handed reliever Jeff Gray. Gray relies on great command and groundballs for success. He has only allowed 15 homeruns in 321 minor league innings.

Face it: this is another Mark DeRosa style trade. Trade away a bat for 3 minor leaguers who won't help out the big club.

The A's website is touting Miles as a sub at 2B, SS and 3B, solving a problem area for them. lol The reiterated that Fox will mostly DH and play 1B.

On Miles ... yes, nope and nope. Also, they should get ready for a lot of 6-3 and 4-3 outs in their scorecard.

Jake Fox tore up the minors, came up to the bigs, started off well, cooled down a bit towards the end. Jeff Gray tore up the minors, came up to the bigs, started off well, cooled down a bit towards the end. Maybe Fox has a little more major league experience, but he also is a bat without a glove. And Gray is a pitcher, ostensibly a more valuable commodity.

The rest of the trade is two warm bodies for one cold one, plus the Cubs get a little salary relief.

Sounds pretty even to me.

Here's an excerpt from the Oakland A's Daily Dish: http://www.mlbdailydish.com/2009/12/3/1184612/cubs-trade-jake-fox-aaron-miles-to

Gray, 27, appeared in 24 games for the A's last season, posting a 3.74 ERA and 19 strike outs to 4 walks. He'll be given a shot to crack the Cubs' bullpen next season, but likely will start in Triple-A.

Morla, 21, is a hard throwing right hander who is dealing with some control issues. He struck out 73 to just 24 walks, but can't break out of the Low-A league. The Cubs may decide that converting him to a full-time reliever could pay dividends down the road.

Spencer, 22, hit well after joining Double-A, compiling a .294 average with 9 home runs and a .347 on-base percentage. He'll likely start in Double-A in 2010.

See? Jeff Gray=JEff Stevens=AAA reliever

And do not forget: Kenny Lofton hit .327 for us in 2003, but JHendry didn't think HE could field, either, so JHendry cut him. He went to the Yanks as a free agent and played 4 more years. He's one of the best leadoff men of all time, too.

Remember, we dealt away Bill North for a one year rental of Bob Locker.

Are there any 5-tool CFs with a high OPS available in the upcoming Rule 5 draft? Cubs have 3 spots open on their 40-man. We can dream I guess.

Why, yes, now that you mention it:

Corey Patterson, Felix Pie, and Don Young! lol

Here's a thought...maybe after their season is over we can ask Patrick Kane and Jonathon Toews (along with their buddies) to switch over to the friendly confines and play.

Now there's a franchise that's now building a winning formula thru youth and athleticism.

but dont you guys think we could have gotten a lot more than some no name guys?

They are really high on Gray from everything I have been reading ...

Is Gray going to be the 2010 version of David Patton? Albeit, without the Rule V tag.

IMO, Jeff Gray and Jeff Stevens are the same pitchers.

They are comparing Gray's velocity to Angel Guzman ...

The short answer is NO. You like more than a few people here seem to think Jake Fox is poised to become an all-star. That's not happening. Fox is in his upper 20s and just broke into the majors. He is at best and average defensive player (and that is being generous). He also has a hard time hitting anything but the fastball. This is why not much was ever coming back. Despite that the Cubs got some useful parts back. They were never going to get a prospect from anyone's top ten and expecting that is delusional.

Fox's defense was certainly adequate, and he provided some position versatility. Here's a guy who hit, what, over .400 in AAA last year, and while the league may have caught up with him a bit, don't we think our new hitting coach could have transformed/developed him further.

Last year we tout this guy, tout this guy, tout this guy. Then Lou places him in the doghouse, and sure enough..."good bye". How many times have we seen this? Gosh, we need a new manager and GM...badly.

Jake Fox is not a good young prospect! People have to realize, Fox is a DH playing in the national league. Please people. It's a good trade because we got rid of miles! Fox, will be replaced. Good trade Hendry. Keep it going.

neil can you explain to me why you think the cubs made this deal? i understand giving up miles but giving up one of the best young prospects for a bunch of no name prospects?

This was a salary dump. They saved $1.7 million for next season and had to throw in Fox to move Miles in my opinion.

Fox did not figure into their plans ... that was obvious when Bobby Scales received so much playing time at the end of the year.

You're exactly right, Neil. Bobby Scales in LF was a loud signal that Hoffpauir AND Fox were dead meat, as far as the Cubs were concerned.

I would rather have Jake Fox on my team that Milty Eugene Bradley.

Unfortunately I have a feeling we will be stuck with Bradley. Any of you guys thought of the Cubs trading Fukodome.

I should mention Bill James thinks Gray will pitch 50 innings this year. That is 50 more than Cotts is projected to pitch.

Fox will be Jack Cust's other half of the DH in Oakland. And he can play LF, RF, C, 1B and 3B, too. See? Fox is just a worthless bench player. lol

Miles will probably hit .220 this year, with 0 HR and 10 RBI. It will be a big year for him, esp. as he enjoys sunny CA.

The Cubs tossed in an extra $1 million. How's that for a great trade???

JHendry secured some low lever minor leaguers who won't even pitch 25 innings for us. You know, ala Mark DeRosa trade with Cleveland.

Jeff Gray has pitched 31 IP in 29 ML games. That means he's a one inning pitcher. He walked 5, gave up 38 H and struck out 23. 0-1 record and a 4.36 career ERA. He's Jeff Stevens. Not much value here.

Robbed. Again.

I agree. Who is Jeff Gray?I feeling worst about the team now.

Robbed. Again.

I see that the Cubs is one of the leaders in getting Padilla. Jim Hendry please do not make that move he is like another Milton Bradley in your clubhouse.

I hate JH ok. Just wanted to point that out before this post.

Now I think we got a player as good as Jake or even better, with less power obviously, in Matt Spencer and much younger. Fox is 28 and Spencer is 24 and can catch the ball a tid better. Morla lead the league in strike outs in 2008 and Jeff Gray is an ok reliever who was set to be a fixture in the A's bullpen this year. Miles production will be missed, specially when he starts tearing it on the west side :s and Fox won't be wasted in our bench anymore. I hope he succeeds. But all in all it looks like JH won here.

Is it just me but I think Oakland got the better end of the deal. It looked like we gave Fox away.

I still don't get how Fox had a bad glove. From what I saw of him, it was average, at best. There's plenty of people worse than him, some on the same team he was.

I guess, if anything, there's a little more room to sign one guy this offseason. Just so long as Hendry doesn't go and sign Coco Crisp, we should be fine.

Boseph,

I totally agree.

I know Fox is not a gold glover, but wherever he played last year, he didn't seem that bad to me. I just don't get it. It seems like one of those situations of being labeled and not being able to shake it. Unfair.

The thing that baffles me is that people say he's terible on defense, and yet I see so many people always clamoring for a bum like Adam Dunn, who to me is WAY worse than Fox on defense. Not even close. Not too mention our leftfielder, who is absolutely brutal.

It's pretty pathetic when you think about the fact that we have to give away a good player like Fox in order to get some other team to take our crap (Miles).

ugh.

CC0...isn't that pretty cool when you make this type of move as a team with the 3rd highest payroll. It just reinforces the state of crap this franchise is in.

Bryan..agreed

Jake was a above average hitter, not great, but was a zero when it comes to defense.

Sure he hit great in the minors but that just means he can hit sub-par pitching.

He may become a decent DH in the AL but at best he will probably be a Matt Stairs with a worse glove.

This was a decent trade.

Jerljr...three times in one segment posting you've now made your point on Fox's "lack of defense". May I ask what you base that on? Where was he a liability? Please explain.

I'm sure I'll catch some flack for this but I think Hendry did the best he could with this. Not many teams were interested in Foxy anyways so it was either trade him now or let him rot on the bench for another year and let his stock dwindle. It wouldn't be such a problem if he could just operate a glove...At least he made a perfect trade buddy for us to unload Miles.

How do you know not many teams where interested and David, that Fox's value was low? Because Hendry couldn't get value from Billy Beane?

It is easy to see this headline and think "Hendry got rid of Miles! Hooray!" and Fox was just the add-in. But I look at it like Hendry traded Fox for low end middle relievers and tossed Miles in the deal. Beane didn't want Miles! He wanted Fox. And he got him for nothing. Miles will be dealt for another prospect.

How do I know teams weren't interested? Well, for one, the trade rumors have indicated only KC and Oakland had interest. Two, if you really look at Jake's stats, age, skills, etc ... he doesn't have a profile that is highly valued among major league teams. Three ... even bad GM's check around the league for alternative offers. All of that together leads me to believe there wasn't much interest.

I'm pretty sure it was just Oakland and Kansas City that were interested (check me on that though). Everyone acts like every single AL team was foaming at the mouth for him but he still can't field or hit a breaking ball. If it wasn't for Fox being traded, Miles and Fox would be wasting bench space for yet another pointless year. He had to go.

Update 5:47pm C.S.T.

Hendry gets abused in another trade.

Spencer and Moria are very low end prospects. I think this settles the debate over Fox's trade value ... clearly not much value.

Of course, the JH haters will say he could have gotten more if he was a good GM ...

Wow. Thanks for the update, Neil. I've been so busy my eyes are blurry, but I'm sure I just read that...

Sure it's nice to have Miles gone, but his 2 and a half million wasn't THAT much of a burden to add Fox in the deal if the return isn't at least usable.

How many middle relievers has Hendry picked up now in the last few weeks? Doesn't it make the Grabow signing that much worse? So he gave Grabow Miles' $$ plus a more. But couldn't he have found a usable middle man to trade Fox!

Billy Beane...not hard to project who will "win" this trade.

Beane doesn't let talented prospect go. He finds them and squeezes them from moron GMs.

But Jake was a just above average hitter that had zero defense.

Good Luck to Jake, I hope his career really takes off now. It should be interesting to see them come back to Wrigley with Oakland in mid June next year, I'm thinking that Fox will get a little better reception than Miles will

Jeff Gray is a dime a dozen middle reliever who will likely be up and down between AAA and majors.

David F ...I didn't expect Hendry to get much here...the key is how much didthe Cubs have to pay? If anything.

Since Miles was Worthless and Lou wouldn't play Fox/Value Fox...if we got anything backit would be a plus...

But if we pay the bulk of Miles salary...

then JH screwed up again....losing Fox for nothing.

Oh Joy!!!!...Miles is gone...did the Cubs send 4 million to cover his 2.7 million salary? Who cares??? Miles is gone!!! Miles is gone!!! Miles is Gone!!!

Miles is Gone!!! Miles is gone!!!

Oh Joy Oh Joy Oh Joy Oh Joy Oh Joy!!!!!

But it cost us Jake.

lol! Atleast JH traded him Miles away! I think only Seattle would've been farther!



Billy Beane,for some strange reason, has looked silly for the second time two straight years trading with the Cubs. At first sight it looks 55%JH 45%BB but this trade might mean one of two things;

#1 That Beane is a Genius and has a Brand new 30+HR guy for 3 years at the minimum weige...by accepting Aaron Miles and dumping mediocre prospects. OR

#2 That Beane is a Cub fan in real life and the Rickets are planning to bring him to the North to restock the farm and he just started! lol

I dont know it seems like a reasonable trade

Gray had a decent era, 3.74. Decent bullpen guy. But it does seem like a little bit of a dump of money.

Plus if the other two prospects are decent.

Good luck Jake. he should make a good DH.

He was a waste on our team with his defense.

So who is Jeff Gray? I hope there isn't any foreshadowing in his name.

I am still collecting info. Will post more once the other names are released.

The online info does not indicate cash was involved but a report on ESPN 1000 did.

...or what it took to get someone to take Miles...sounds like a "you take Miles and we'll give you Fox" but let's see

Well ... I suppose we will soon see just how much value Jake Fox really has.