It is December 1 and the next ten to fifteen days should be anything but boring throughout baseball.
The Cubs have until 11:00pm C.S.T on Tuesday night to offer salary arbitration to their own free agents in order to receive draft pick compensation. Kevin Gregg and Rich Harden are not expected to receive offers from the Cubs before the deadline. While Gregg and Harden can still re-sign with the Cubs even if they are not offered salary arbitration. Of the Cubs four remaining free agents, Reed Johnson is the only one rumored as a possibility to return in 2010.
Here is the latest from the mill ... including news on an expected minor signing.
$8,261.97
The Chicago Cubs received compensation for finishing in second place behind the St. Louis Cardinals to the tune of full shares worth $8,261.97. The total pool for the Cubs totaled $590,731.16 with each full share valued at $8,261.97 ... the Cubs awarded 58 full shares and 13.5 partial shares according to a report from Cubs.com.
Full shares for the New York Yankees winning the World Series were worth a record $365,053 and the Angels voted a full share to the estate of Nick Adenhart worth $138,039 ... a very classy move by a great organization.
Milton Bradley
According to a report from Bruce Miles, "Progress appears slow on the Cubs' efforts to trade Milton Bradley." Miles indicated the Cubs were hoping to have Bradley traded before the beginning of the winter meetings ... but that does not appear to be a realistic deadline any longer.
As Bruce Levine mentioned, trading Milton Bradley is not an easy process and may take a lot longer that originally expected.
Jon Heyman reported that the Rays, Giants, Royals and Padres are still possible destinations for Milton Bradley. According to Heyman, the Rangers are only willing to pay "a few million of the $21 million" remaining on Bradley's contract.
Heyman hinted at the possibility of Tom Ricketts wanting to do something big this off-season.
"Some folks came away from the owners meeting with the distinct impression new owner Ricketts wants to do something big. But as one owner pointed out, new owners don't often rock the boat with big-money signings."
Curtis Granderson
A report from FoxSports.com listed the Cubs among several teams that would be good fits for Curtis Granderson and Edwin Jackson. Jackson has not been linked to the Cubs by the mainstream media ... before Sunday.
According to the report, the Cubs "have some intriguing prospects" that could be used in a deal for Curtis Granderson ... Starlin Castro, Josh Vitters and Andrew Cashner.
Phil Rogers reported "the Cubs are serious about Granderson but have made it known they won't give up Carlos Marmol or Starlin Castro." Rogers mentioned the Tigers could ask for Andrew Cashner and Josh Vitters in return for Granderson.
Danny Rodriguez
According to a report from Buster Olney (in his blog), pitcher Danny Rodriguez of the Tomateros de Culiacan is "expected to sign with the Chicago Cubs soon."
Rodriguez is 3-0 in six starts with a 1.25 ERA this winter. In 36 innings the southpaw has struck out 22, walked 13 and surrendered 19 hits (0.88 WHIP).
Rodriguez will turn 25 on December 11 and was 7-9 in 26 games, 20 starts, in Mexico in 2009 with a 5.98 ERA.
Arbitration Eligible Players
Bruce Miles is expecting the Cubs to tender contracts to all of their arbitration eligible players, including Mike Fontenot. The deadline to tender contracts to arbitration eligible players (3-6 years of service) is December 12.
Players eligible for arbitration this winter: Jeff Baker, Neal Cotts, Mike Fontenot, Tom Gorzelanny, Angel Guzman, Koyie Hill, Carlos Marmol, Sean Marshall and Ryan Theriot.
Finally ... Chip Caray will not return to TBS in 2010. Caray and TBS parted ways on Monday according to multiple reports.
CCO News
The CCO Radio will return on Wednesday, December 2 to preview the Winter Meetings and discuss all of the hot stove rumors. Mark December 2nd down on your calendar ... as well as Tuesday, December 15. The CCO will take your calls and discuss the latest on the Chicago Cubs for an hour beginning at 7:00pm C.S.T.
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Well, that's the latest ... and I'm sticking to it!
i hate you milton bradley... you were a waste of a lineup spot...you were a waste of money... you were a cancer to our team...and now ur just holding up our plans...
only you could create a situation in which your getting paid millions upon millions of dollars to play the greatest sport in the world, baseball, all summer at the shrine that is wrigley field in the greatest city in the world and make it miserable.
I was one of your few supporters until the end but I have had enough of reading your name on a daily basis...
you are the laughing stock of this city and the entire league.
Why do we want a guy who throws almost a 6 era in Mexico? Makes no sense.
Ricketts wants to make a big move but probably not in his first year, I got one for you Tom for next season. Get Pujols and Mauer!! Mauer could be the cornerstone of this franchise for 8 years. Build the team around these two and Rami, what a lineup that would be.
Jim Hendry do something right for a change offer Rich Harden arbitration it will be quite puzzling after you protected his arm at the end of last season.
exactly.
nice tittle Neil. :p
TITTLE ??? Nice one Augustin :)
http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/mlb/news/story?id=4687981
According to this ESPN report, BoSox are actively pursuing Halladay. Here's the Cubs' chance to deal Z away. But if the Cubs' do, who have we got that can win 9 games to take his place in the rotation?
Answer: resign Hardin.
Hey, if you dealt away Z, you'd need Jason Marquis to take his place. lol
Ripsnorter maybe Jim Hendry will sign Mark Prior instead of Rich Harden. lol
According to Dave Kaplan, Harden and Gregg were not offered arbitration. Will post when news is made official
http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/david-kaplan-chicago-sports/2009/12/arbitration-decision-on-harden-coming-on-tuesday.html
Is it me or is this offseason getting depressing real quick....
Instead of the last few years where we were saying Roberts Roberts Roberts, Peavy Peavy Peavy... you know, the possibility of exciting additions that could really help the club, but alas never occurred. Now we are inundated with Bradley Bradley Bradley, not as an addition (Thanks Jim) but as a deletion. Sammy freaking Sosa was easier to trade.
And then the horrible news that Neal Cotts will be tendered a contract HUH!!!!!!!!!!!!!??????????
I am sorry but that guy has done nothing but suck and you get the opportunity to let him walk and not have to pay him any more and you re-up????????????? Why not offer Chad Fox a 3 year deal... he'll be healthy and figure it out, I am sure of it this year....
And does this Rodriguez guy get a 40 man roster spot??? That would really be a bummer. Let a guy like Snyder walk for what.... that's right another mediocre left handed reliever. I'll give him this he is younger... better than 40. But yet another pitcher. Has JH actually landed a position player since Baker?
Mr. Ricketts I am hoping that you do make a splash, because optimism for a makeover in 2010 is fading like an Early 90's June Swoon. And please reconsider your idea on letting Hendry fix his own mess. He is showing very quickly that he simply cannot!
Sorry forgot, we got a mid to low level prospect at 1B for Heillman. Who incidentally we traded a top level prospect (Who the Padres wanted for Peavy), who we traded Pie to get , and Ronny Cedeno. My Bad!
So we traded Heillman, Cedeno, Garret Stevens and Pie for a low level 1B and a mid level pitcher. Hendry supporters out there anyone anyone anyone... yeah didn't think so..
Great job Jim Hendry now you just made our rotation worst.
So what if Harden had accepted the arbitration he makes the team better and if he did not accept it we would of get draft picks. He actually want to return to Cubs despite we not giving him run support.I totally despise Jim Hendry.
Boy, I don't know but I think I'd let Castro go before Vitters...in the right deal for the right player.
The loser of the Halladay sweeps should be Jimbo's first call...deal 'em ZZZzzzzzzz!
Not offering arb to Harden is a very bad move. We won't find a replacement pitcher of his caliber on a one year deal. In my mind, it confirms that the Cubs won't be adding any payroll in 2010. Not paying Harden will offset other salary increases. Either we get really lucky in 2010 and everything comes together (which is unlikely but possible) or were really playing for 2011 or 2012 at this point. The Bradley/DeRosa/Miles mistakes of 2009 (plus poor prospect development for a few years) have tied our hands.
No quick and easy fixes for the mess the Cubs are in. The Cubs are shot for the next five at least. Really. The damage JHendry has done with poor talent evaluation cannot be mended on a limited budget. In 2006, after JHendry and Dusty had run the Cubs completely into the dirt, the fans were quite disgusted, and seats were empty [the seats had been sold before the season started, and fans didn't bother to come and watch the trash on the field]. Management feared that attendance would fall and lower the value of the Cubs, so Hendry was given an open checkbook to go out and sign a bunch of free agents to reignite the fire of Cubs' fans. SO he way overpaid for Sorry-oh-no and other pieces of trash. Now that the checkbook is closed, and the economy is shot, JHendry cannot build a team by just throwing money at the problem. If he is to be successful, he must build it with talent evaluation of what he already has on the ML level, the minor league level, and astute trades. But JHendry is incapable of doing that, so the Cubs are shot for years to come. The cure for the Cubs will be to (1) acquire good management that can accurate evaluate talent, and (2) spend the time to build up a minor league system. This will take 4-5 years minimum AFTER JHendry is fired. So the Cubs are shot for at least 5 years, and more than likely, decades to come. Ricketts ain't no savior; he's a businessman looking to profit off of his investment. So don't look for him to open his checkbook to deliver a winner to Chicago. Look for him to make financially viable decisions to milk the most $$$$ out of the Cubs. In other words, business as usual in Chicago. This is how the Cubs dealt away Bruce Sutter for 3 pieces of trash. Sutter wanted a raise. Etc, etc, etc.
Exactly my point David F.
The Mexican pitcher kind of surprises
me...and also if Cotts is offered arb...
Other than that all is going the way I thought...or according to plan lol.
...If you want the door to swing on JH's
butt on the way out the door that is.
I can see it now...Milton and the muppets show come back...Lou has a coronary trying to deal with him and Hendry starts saying..."What do you want me to do?...You play the cards you're dealt...my cards include Milton but I feel really good about this team!!!"
Bluuuuuuuurrrrrrrrpppppppp!!!
There have been a lot of questionable moves and there is still alot to be done before we go into the 2010 season, that is obvious.
BUT dont you all agree taht for as disappointing as last season was the Cubs still right now have more talent on their team than any other team in the NL Central (and are at least comparable to STL especially without DeRo, Holliday and whoever else they lose)
This is still a winnable division with the pirates being the pirates, the Reds always seeming to be 3-4 years away from really competing, the brewers with absolutely zero pitching, the Astros with not a lot of pitching or depth, and the Cards receiving many guys with career type years (piniero, wainwright, franklin, etc.) Plus Carps health is always an issue anyways.
We forget that even with a ridiculous amount of injuries and simultaneous career worst/down years (Soriano, Bradley, Soto, Gregg, Miles, etc.) that WE WERE IN FIRST PLACE AS LATE AS AUGUST
The cards literally cleaned out their top five prospects for DeRosa and Holliday so they likely wont be able to make a huge splash at the deadline either.
Also, consider this, what do you think Cards fans were saying going into 2009 after the Cubs won back2back titles and were the heaviest division favorites in the league.
Call me a homer but im still saying that we can win this division and if we can win divisions and get in the playoffs who knows what happens (83 win Cards, 2007 Rockies) also that brings us one year closer to our reshaped lineup, stadium, and youth movement...Its NOT all doom and gloom brothas.
GO CUBS!
Also do any of you see a possibility of the Cubs acquiring both Curtis Granderson and Edwin Jackson...
Would be an enormous addition especially with Lilly starting the season on the DL and the uncertainty of Randy Wells. Edwin (who is only 25) really matured into an allstar last season and a move to the NL should only further help his development.
Cubs get :
Curtis Granderson
Edwin Jackson
Tigers get:
Josh Vitters
Andrew Cashner
Sean Marshall
Jake Fox
Mike Fontenot
This would give the Tigers two top prospects (while allowing the Cubs to keep Marmol and Castro) and give them cheap MLB ready players which is what they specifically said they wanted in Fox, Marshall, and Fontenot.
The Cubs would fill out the rotation with a young stud to slot as the 3-4 starter and fill their need for speed, defense, and CF.
Then all we gotta do is find a way to turn Milton Bradley into Luis Castillo or sign one of the Orlando's and we are set and I bet you all money we'd be the favorites again!
Anyone??? anyone??? Bueller???